Chapter 1 From Hang Gliding to Marbles, We'll Never Stop Trying!

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“At this rate, we'll never get our Cutie Marks! We'll be as old as Granny Smith and STILL be blank flanks!” Apple Bloom remarked sadly as she laid down in the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse next to her two best friends and fellow Crusaders.

Scootaloo nodded as she laid her head on her hooves in despair. Their latest attempt (Cutie Mark Crusader Window Washers) hadn't worked either.

“Come on you guys! We can't give up! There must be something we haven't tried yet...” Sweetie Belle trailed off in thought.

“Oh, I know!” She exclaimed with a crack in her voice.

“What about Cutie Mark Crusaders Video Game Experts!” The two other fillies looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

“Yeh need bits to play them video games...”

“Yeah, and how can we be experts if we haven't even played them before?” Scootaloo asked with another roll of her eyes.

“Oh... well, what if we saved up our allowances for a couple of weeks and then played the games to see if we get a video game cutie mark?”

“Well, Ah guess that would work. But what do we do in the mean time?” Apple Bloom asked as she sat up. This gave Sweetie Belle pause, as video games were her only idea.

“Hey! What about hang gliding?” Scootaloo exclaimed as she jumped up from the floor. The others pondered for a moment before nodding along.

“Yay! Cutie Mark Crusaders Hang Gliders!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders yelled as one and took off for town.

As they ran, Apple Bloom turned to the others with confusion on her face.

“Where are we gonnah find hang gliders?” All three fillies pulled to a sudden stop as they looked at one another. They sat in a circle and put a hoof to their chins in thought. Their ears twitched as they heard somepony near by singing....

“... is my bestest friend, whoopy, whoopy,

she's cutest smartest the all-around best pony, pony,

I hope she'll soon like me, like me,

I just can't wait, hopefullllyyyy~”

The Crusaders' eyes went wide as they all yelled, “Pinkie Pie!”

“She'll know where we could get some gliders. Let's go ask her!” Sweetie Belle said as she bounced in place, glad for an answer close by.

The others nodded joyfully and they raced away towards the pink mare. They found her bouncing away from the library.

“Hey Pinkie Pie! We've got a question for ya!” Scootaloo said as she pulled up next to the older mare, Apple Bloom nodded along as Sweetie Belle chipped in with, “You wouldn't know where we could get some hang gliders do you?”

Pinkie Pie tapped her chin with a hoof as she looked skywards to think.

“Oh! Oh! Let's go to the Sporty Pony. They have lots of extreme sports things!” And with that the party pony hopped towards a large tent that was green with blue top and a large banner over the front with various sports equipment on it and its name 'The Sporty Pony”. The girls hadn't seen that store before and knew they were going to be frequent customers.

As Pinkie Pie trotted up to Ace, who was working the counter that day, the Crusaders looked throughout the store, ideas for many more Cutie Marks flashing through their minds. After a minute of talking and hoof-waving on Pinkie's part, the pink earth pony hopped over to the young fillies.

“Great news guys! Ace just received a shipment of hang gliders! But they're only one size, big, so you'll have to share one so you don't get hurt, ok?” Pinkie threw her front hooves out and pulled a green box over (the girls were nearly positive there wasn't any boxes like that near them a second ago).

“Here you guys! The bits are all taken care of, so long as you guys stay safe ok?” Pinkie asked with a wink and bounced away. The fillies were amazed, they didn't have to pay for it?

“This is so cool! Alright you guys! Let's go earn our Cutie Marks!” Scootaloo yelled as she began to push the box with her head.

The others joined in and soon they had pushed it all the way to the edge of Ponyville where the highest point was (which was the hill/mountain where they tried to earn their mountain climbing Cutie Marks previously).

It took the three friends thirty minutes to put together the glider. Fifteen was spent trying to put it together, ten to actually read about how to put it together and another five to untangle themselves from each other. Once they were done they climbed to the top of the hill/mountain and strapped their legs in.

“You ready guys?” Scootaloo asked from the middle of the trio.

“Ready!” The two others replied, Sweetie Belle's voice cracking a little from excitement.

“Here we go!” Scootaloo shouted as they pushed together and jumped off. It was at that moment that a gust of wind blew by and made them stay air born for a second longer, but not long enough for them to learn how to steer.

With a loud 'CRASH' the Crusaders tumbled from a tree that they flew into. They had crashed into no less than three trees before landing in a heap of twigs, tree sap and pine needles.

“Well, tha' could have gone better...” Apple Bloom said as she tried to get out from under the ruined glider.

“Well, let's find out. Any Cutie Marks?” Scootaloo asked as they managed to get out from the mess and looked at their flanks.

“Nope.” The three sighed and began to pack up the glider.

They managed to drag the wrecked glider to their club house, where they stuffed it into the attic. After putting it away, they went in search of water and cleaning rags to get all the tree sap off. They found some in the Apple's barn, and spent another half hour trying to get the tree sap off.

“Mah gosh, tree sap is really hard to git off. Maybe we'll get our Cutie Marks in cleaning ponies?” Apple Bloom asked as they used more soapy water to try and get cleaned up.

The others' eyes lit up and they began to clean more vigorously to see if they could find anything. Once they finally got cleaned up, they looked in excitement at their flanks to find them still blank.

“Awwww....” The three fillies cried as one.

They sat on the barn floor as they tried to think about what to do next, when Apple Bloom grew thoughtful.

“How 'bout we go inter' town and see if anypony could use some help?” The others sighed as they nodded, they would try just about anything at this point.

As the trio went back into town, they found some of their classmates in a side ally, with an older pony standing close by. As they drew closer, they noticed that there were marbles on the ground and the light cream colored pony with a two toned blue mane and tail in ponytails was giving advice to her audience.

As the Crusaders stepped up and looked at the pack of marbles laid out on the ground inside a circle drawn on the ground, Allie Way noticed the latest addition to her teaching and looked at the fillies.

“Hi girls. Did you want to learn about playing marbles too?” She asked as she leaned down towards the fillies as they looked back with blank stares.

They turned and looked between themselves as they all gave a small shrug and nodded. Apple Bloom spoke for the group as they all looked back at Allie Way. “Sure, thank ya kindly Ms Allie Way.”

“No problem, girls. Ok, so from the start, it takes a lot of practice to get the aim just right, but if you work at it, you can get the marbles to do just about anything.” Allie Way stated as her class hung on her every word.

To demonstrate her point, Allie grabbed a marble in her hoof, took careful aim, and shot it with a quick flick of her wrist. The marble shot forward before suddenly turning sharply, avoiding one marble to hit the other right behind it and knocking three more out of the circle before coming to a rest in almost the center of the circle.

Allie Way sat back, pleased with her shot as the young ponies gave cheers and all wanted to learn how to do that exact trick. For the next few hours, she helped each one with how to hold the marble, how much force to put behind it, how to aim and other important factors.

For the Crusaders, it was mixed results. Scootaloo used too much force and kept sending marbles ricocheting off the nearby walls, creates and other foals playing close by (who glared as they rubbed the sore spots). Sweetie belle didn't use enough force and the marbles kept rolling only halfway. Apple Bloom couldn't find the right way to aim, and her marbles kept rolling straight out of the circle without hitting a single one.

All too soon, the other ponies learning from Allie way kept glaring at the trio as they rubbed sore spots caused by all three of the Crusaders somehow. Allie Way felt bad that she couldn't seem to help the Crusaders like she was for the others and tried to keep up their spirits with more encouragement.

“Well, that was pretty good for a first time trying girls. Why don't you take some of the marbles to practice later on as well? Just remember, nopony ever got it the first time!”

“But didn't you get it the first time you ever did marbles Allie Way? Like you did for bowling, and darts and hoops and -” A blue-coated, red maned earth pony classmate asked as all the children looked at the older mare.

“Well, yes, but my special talent is near perfect aim. I just have a natural ability for it, but I've taught others who now have great aim as well, so I know these tips and advice work.” Allie tried to counter the colt's words as she could see it effect the Crusaders' spirits.

“It's ok Ms Allie Way. We'll just leave you guys to your practice. Thank you for teaching us, even if we couldn't get it right.” Sweetie Belle quietly said as she and the others turned around and left the ally slowly.

“Yeah, those were some pretty cool tricks. It's too bad we'll never be able to do something like that...” Scootaloo said as she dragged her hooves along; saddened by another failed attempt at getting their Cutie Marks.

“Thanks fer the marbles, Ms Allie Way. Maybe we'll get th' chance to practice more some other time.” Apple Bloom said as she picked up the small sack of marbles, following her friends as they went back into the main part of town.

As they came out to busier streets, they noticed how the sun was getting lower in the sky and two of them knew their sisters wouldn't want them to be out late. So they called it a day and went their separate ways, with Apple Bloom making a quick stop by their club house first to put the marbles away before heading home.

They remained hopeful that they would find their special talents someday though, and spent the night dreaming of what it could be.

Chapter 2 Maybe joining a sport's team is what we've mean to do!

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The Cutie Mark Crusaders visited The Sporty Pony often, looking for new things to try and get their Cutie Marks. They were in the section of sports that used balls when Sweetie Belle remembered that their school had sports teams.

“What if we practiced and tried out for the school teams? Surely we'll get a Cutie Mark for something if we tried a few different ones at the same time.” The others nodded as each of the fillies grabbed the needed equipment for three different sports.

Scootaloo took a soccer ball, Apple Bloom grabbed a baseball bat with her mouth and balanced it's corresponding ball on her head, and Sweetie Belle rolled a basketball along with her head.

As they pooled together all the bits they had, Ace waved it off with a hoof.

“You three have an open tab under 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'. Don't worry about the bits.” Ace said a little gruffly. He wasn't sure if the fillies were using the equipment properly or not and was a little worried for the safety of his store.

“Huh? But who'd be payin' fer all this stuff?” Apple Bloom spat out the bat to ask. Granny Smith raised her grand-kids the right way and it didn't feel proper to just take stuff without paying for it.

Ace huffed and was tempted to not respond but the pony who set up the tab didn't say anything about not saying who was paying for it all.

“Hmph. Well, if you must know, the one who is backing your activities is Pinkie Pie. Hay if I know why, but that's how it is.” Light brown shoulders gave a shrug as he marked down what was being purchased.

The three friends looked at one another as Scootaloo voiced what they were all thinking.

“Huh. Why'd she do that?” Two sets of shoulders shrugged as all three ponies gathered the equipment and walked out of the store.

By unspoken agreement the fillies kept an eye out for their pink benefactor as they headed for a clearing just outside of town to practice the different sports before trying out for the teams.

Luck was with them, they found the party pony bouncing along to the library. They ran up and plopped in front of the older mare as they placed their equipment in front of them.

“Ooh, what are you doing today? Are you going to play basebaskecer ball? Can I play too? Oh, but I have to get Twilight so we can go and help Applejack move Bloomberg. Can I play later?” Blank stares were the only response for the pink mare until Apple Bloom was able to break free of the shock and tried to set the older pony straight.

“No, we're not playin' all three at once, we just wannah try 'em all. But that's a different thing. Why'd you pay fer everything for us at the Sporty Pony?” Apple Bloom asked with a tilt of her head, her two friends on either side of her nodding along.

Pinkie blinked twice before realizing what the young filly meant and smiled while waving in an off-hoof manner.

“Oh that! Well I want my friends to be happy and everypony is my friend and I knew you guys want your Cutie Marks which is something you have to work and look for on your own and you need bits to get somethings and you're just little fillies and you'd have to save up your whole allowance and then you wouldn't be able to have fun or get yummy things and I make a lot of bits that I don't need most of the time and I knew you'd need bits and this way you don't have to do any crazy stunts to earn it and still try to get your Cutie Marks.” Three pairs of eyes were glazed over as they looked at the hyper mare in front of them, each of the fillies understanding different parts of the whole spiel.

Scootaloo rubbed a hoof against her temple as she closed her eyes, trying to understand. “So you want everyone to be happy...?”

Sweetie Belle scrunched up her face as she too tried to understand. “And we'd have trouble getting the bits to buy the various things to earn our Cutie Marks...? Which would make us sad?”

Apple Bloom rubbed the top her head as she tried to understand as well. “And ya earn lots o' bits and are offerin' some to us...?”

Three voices joined together for the last sentence, “So we can earn out Cutie Marks?!”

Pinkie Pie nodded rapidly, pleased that they understood so quickly.

“Yepperonie! Just let your ol' Aunty Pinkie Pie know if you need an extra hoof, okie dokie?” The three fillies' faces brightened and with a shout of 'YAY!' grabbed their equipment and ran for the clearing.

“What was all that about?” A lavender unicorn walked up to the pink earth pony as they watched the fillies run off.

“Oh, they're just playing different sports to earn their Cutie Marks.”

A purple brow rose as purple eyes looked at the pink mare.

“You're sure it's safe, all the things they want to do?”

Pinkie Pie covered her mouth with a hoof as she giggled at the look on Twilight's face.

“I'll make sure they have fun AND are safe. I Pinkie Promise that I won't let them do anything they can't handle.” Twilight was shocked, she didn't mean for her friend to take it to mean that she had to always be watching the fillies.

“Oh uh. I hadn't meant for you to take it that far Pinkie. I mean, I was talking about maybe guiding them along the right path, not obsessively watching them." Twilight shuffled on the spot, torn between invasion of privacy and making sure the rambunctious fillies stayed safe.

“Nopey dopey. It's no fun if someone got hurt and that would just make everyone sad, so I'll make sure they don't get hurt badly.” Pink hooves stomped resolutely before a large grin came across the pink face. Pinkie Pie bounded forward as she yelled to the studious pony behind her.

“Come on Twilight! We don't want to be late to help move Bloomberg!”

The lavender pony shook her head with a small smirk as she followed after her friend, heading for Sweet Apple Acres to help move a tree.

As soon as they reached the clearing, the three fillies tried to decide what to do first. After a few minutes of arguing, Sweetie Belle suggested they pick a number between one and three. The others thought for a moment before shouting at the same time, “Two!”

Sweetie Belle nodded and declared which they'd do first.

“Ok, we'll do baseball first.”

“Hey, how do we know that's what two stood for?” Scootaloo demanded with a raised brow.

Sweetie Belle sighed. She had a feeling something like that would happen, so she wrote on the ground what each number corresponded to. As the orange peagasus looked at the uncovered writing, she grew sheepish at her previous mistrust.

“Oh, eh heh. Right.” Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head with a hoof as Apple Bloom just shook her head at the impatient peagasus.

Apple Bloom grabbed the bat with her mouth as Scootaloo grabbed a glove and flew to the 'outfield'. Sweetie Belle grabbed the ball with a hoof and stood in the center of the clearing. As Apple Bloom's head tilted towards the side and downward due to the weight of the bat, Sweetie Belle stood on her hind legs as she threw the ball towards the batter, and Scootaloo was waiting in the outfield, smacking one hoof into the gloved one.

As Sweetie Belle released the ball, she wobbled for a minute before falling backwards with a cry, “Wooaahhh!”

Apple Bloom tried with all her might to the swing the bat from its position of leaning on the ground. With a muffled yell of effort, she managed to swing the bat before momentum caused her and the bat to go in circles before it flew out of Apple Bloom's mouth and into a tree that was near the clearing, cracking ominously.

As the young filly was circling around, she had a lucky hit that sent the ball flying high into the sky before it came down slowly. Meanwhile the earth pony had finally stopped spinning and fell over dizzy.

“I got it! I got it!” Scootaloo shouted as she ran forward to try and catch the high ball. But her wings propelled her too far and the ball landed on her head with a solid thud as she fell down, glove out-stretched to try and catch it.

The crusaders sat in their various positions on the ground for a moment before getting up slowly and assessing the situation. The three friends moaned in unison from the pain.

“Well. Tha' could have gone better.” Apple Bloom said as she shook her head to clear the dizziness from it.

Scootaloo stood up while rubbing her head. “Ugh. Did we get anything for it?”

“Nope.” Came the two short responses as the others stood as well.

As they met in the center of the field, Sweetie Belle asked what was on everyone's minds.

“Should we try again? We only did one pitch. Maybe we need to get better at it first.” The others pondered this for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

The Crusaders continued their baseball practice for a while longer before calling it quits when the bat gave up the fight and broke in two from when it had crashed into the tree. As they sat in a circle panting from the effort, Sweetie Belle tried to keep their spirits up.

“Come on you guys! Maybe we'll get our Cutie Marks when we try out for the team. How about we try soccer next?” The others sighed they put the baseball stuff off to the side and got the soccer ball instead.

They got the one used by younger ponies, which was half the size of a normal soccer ball, to accommodate child's smaller size.

Scootaloo had an easier time with this sport, though she would trip every now and then because of going too fast. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, on the other hoof, couldn't go for long without tripping, running to each other and knocking the ball into each other and nearby trees.

They continued practice until Scootaloo, in an attempt to be cool and make a super-shot, head bonked the ball high into the air and right into a pile of sharp rocks where they heard a pop and slow whooshing sound as their ball deflated.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle turned to their last friend with annoyance on their faces and in their voices as they shouted together.

“Scootaloooo!”

The young peagasus, for her part, rubbed the back of her head as she said with an apologetic look, “oops.”

The others face-hoofed as Scootaloo began to get indignant at the accusations.

“Hey, I'm not the only one wrecking stuff! Apple Bloom broke the bat!” She yelled as she pointed to the earth pony, which caused her to look sheepish as Sweetie Belle also turned towards her.

“Sigh. Let's just try basketball. Maybe we'll get our Cutie Marks in that.” Sweetie Belle turned away and headed to the side of the clearing.

The others two were surprised, they forgot about possibly getting Soccer Cutie Marks! As they checked that they were indeed still blank flanks, Sweetie Belle got the basketball.

As she brought it to the two others, they sat in silence as they realized that they were missing an important piece of equipment for this sport.

“Uggg, I can't believe we forgot about the hoop. We'll just have to practice dribbling and throws for now.” Scootaloo said as she face-hoofed.

“Why do we need tah scribble? Ah thought we were playin' basketball?” Apple Bloom asked with a tilt of her head, Sweetie Belle in a similar confused state. Scootaloo dragged her hoof along her face as she groaned.

“DRIBBLE not SCRIBBLE.” She stressed the difference. “You know, bouncing the ball as you run?”

“Ooooh.”

It is important to note that there were more peagasi who played basketball than any other kind of pony, since they had better ability to stand upright with their wings to help or dribble with their wings instead. Unicorns were the second most common players, but there were some talented earth pony basketball players like Shaquille O'Neighel.

None of these facts or disadvantages stopped the Crusaders though as they tried their hardest to dribble, pass and throw the ball to each other.

Scootaloo tried to balance on her hind legs with her wings to help but ended up just propelling herself face forward into the ground most of the time. Apple Bloom, due to her lack of balance, couldn't stay upright for longer than a few seconds and kept landing on all fours causing the ball to shoot out of her grip. Sweetie Belle was having the hardest time, not use to standing on her hind legs and uncoordinated as she was. She got so frustrated that she tried using her magic to dribble but used too much force and sent the ball rocketing into the woods.

They all ran after it as the ball bounced off of several trees and rocks at rapid speeds. The three fillies ran after it, yelling at the retreating object.

“Slow down ball!”

“Yeah, we won't hurt yah, we promise!”

“Dumb ball! Dumb magic! Dumb FOREST!” The two others looked at the unicorn with raised brows as the filly asked shrilly, “What?! It's TRUE!”

They heard the sound of a soft thud and a critter's annoyed high pitched chatter. They rounded a large tree and the sight before them made their spirits drop once more.

A porcupine was chatting angrily at the now deflated ball which had a few spines in it. The Crusaders could guess what happened and as the porcupine turned its attention to the fillies, they began to apologize for having bothered it.

“We're really sorry Mr Porcupine. We didn't mean fer the ball to hit ya. We'll make sure to be more careful from now on, right gals?” The others nodded as Scootaloo grabbed the offending ball.

They kept apologizing until they were out of sight of the small critter, then they trotted back to the clearing. As they gathered all the broken equipment, they sighed as one while sitting down to rest.

“Well gals, no Cutie Marks yet, but maybe we'll git them when we try fer the teams... let's put these away.” Apple Bloom suggested as she picked up the pieces of the bat and baseball.

“I don't know if we should try for the teams, we didn't do such a good job out here.” Scootaloo commented as she picked up the flat soccer ball.

“You never know, maybe we just need better equipment or more team mates to play against.” Sweetie Belle tried to cheer up the others as she grabbed the punctured basketball and lead the way back to the Clubhouse.

The trip back was a lot slower and quieter since they were exhausted and had their mouths full.

As they put the used equipment into the attic, Apple Bloom took mental note of how much more it would be able to hold before they had to expand or change something. The crusaders decided to take a break for lunch in the club house.

As they ate the various apple treats that Applejack had waiting for them, the young fillies tried to think of anything else to do in the afternoon. In the end, the trio decided that doing the various sports had exhausted them and that they would just add more finishing touches to their club house.

The next day was a school day, and luckily enough, when the various sports team would have tryouts.

They spent the day at school in high excitement. As soon as the bell rang and Cherilee let the class go, the trio ran to the courtyard where others began to gather for tryouts.

All the young fillies and colts were paired up for soccer tryouts and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were paired with other classmates. As the soccer tryouts continued, they found that they were NOT soccer players, though Scootaloo was doing ok until she tried to make a really cool kick which caused her to fall backwards as the ball hit three others, causing a chain reaction that resulted in everyone else hurt. As the coached looked at the three fillies they backed away with sheepish smiles.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had noticed when the crusaders went to the tryouts. As the trio backed away from the disaster they caused, the two school bullies laughed cruelly at the display.

The Crusaders tried baseball next, which went as badly as the first time they did it, with bats flying all over the place, Scootaloo running into all the other outfielders, making it so everyone got hit on the head, and Sweetie Belle tried pitching with and without magic, though her efforts were the same no matter what she did. The balls were sent flying everywhere aside from the batter, hitting everyone else instead.

As the trio withdrew from the baseball tryouts, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon laughed even more.

“Why do you even have a horn if you can't use magic?” Diamond Tiara sneered.

Silver Spoon laughed behind a hoof. “Yeah, and I guess those wings are just a prop!” The duo laughed.

“Oh no, watch out! Apple Bloom is going near the bats!” The bullies laughed even more as the Crusaders walked past, trying desperately not to listen to the mean spirited ponies.

The Crusaders felt honor bound to try basketball, but they knew it wasn't going to get any better.

Scootaloo tried without her wings and Sweetie Belle without her magic but it still didn't help. They were told to leave the court by their injured and jeering classmates.

The young fillies dejectedly walked through town, all the way to the Clubhouse where they all laid down with their heads on their hooves.

“Let's never do our Crusading in front of classmates again.” Scootaloo sighed.

“Uh-huh.” The others nodded slowly and sighed as they agreed.

They sat in silence for a few moments when they heard hoof steps up their ramp of the Clubhouse.

“Howdy girls! Apple Bloom here said y'all were tryin' out fer y'alls school sports … oh, eh... Ah take it things didn't go so well?” Three heads slowly shook 'no'.

“Well, shoot. Maybe yer not for sports, but Ah know yer'll find what yer talent is. Ah don't know a single pony who don't have one!” Applejack tried to cheer the three fillies up as she stepped further into the Clubhouse.

“Yeah well, now you'll know three ponies who will NEVER get their Cutie Marks!” Scootaloo said with a wavering voice as she turned her head away from the farm pony. The two others looked at their peagasus friend before sighing and leaning even more into their hooves.

“Aww, come on now. Ah know ya three will find yer talents one day. Ya still have lots o' time to find it!” Applejack scuffed the top of Scootaloo's head while looking at the other fillies.

The three fillies cheered up a little as they realized they did indeed have lots of time to Crusade for their Cutie Marks. As they looked at one another, they felt their smiles and energy come back slowly. Within moments they were full of vigor once more as they ran out of their Clubhouse to visit The Sporty Pony.

“She's right girls! We shouldn't waste a moment! Who knows when we will find our special talents! Let's go and find more things to try in the Sporty Pony!” Scootaloo yelled as she pulled out her scooter and attached it to their wagon. Once the other two jumped in, the peagasus propelled them all to town.

“Yeah! Maybe we just need to try different sports!” Sweetie Belle said as she and Apple Bloom held onto the sides of the wagon for dear life as they drove crazily through the orchard.

“Ah think so too! Maybe we should try some o' them sports that use more sticks than balls to play! Thank sis' fer yer help!” Apple Bloom waved briefly to Applejack who had stepped out of the Clubhouse to watch the fillies go.

Applejack chuckled softly as she waved back.

“Y'all be careful now, ya hear? Good luck gals!”

“Bye Applejack!” The trio yelled as they continued on their way into town, anxious to try different sports.

Chapter 3 Traveling into a Forest for forest-themed Cutie Marks!

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It was another sunny day in Ponyville. The weekend was just starting and the Crusaders were going to be busy.

To avoid the whole 'what HAVEN'T we tried' problem, Scootaloo was writing a list of things to try that weekend while waiting for the others. Just as she was putting the finishing touches on the paper before her, Scootaloo heard her two best friends talking as they entered the Clubhouse.

“Yer thinkin' too much; there ain't nothing going on between Twilight and Pinkie Pie.” Apple Bloom dismissed the white unicorn as she and Sweetie Belle entered inside.

“I don't know. They were acting weird.” Sweetie Belle tried to defend her position as the others rolled their eyes.

“Pinkie Pie is always weird. But never mind that guys, check out what I made!” Scootaloo displayed her list with pride. “This way we won't run out of ideas.”

“Ooohhh.” Two pairs of eyes lit up at the offered list, which had a lot of things written on it to do.

“I bet we'll get our Cutie Marks for something on that list!” Sweetie Belle clapped her hooves as Apple Bloom nodded with a grin on her face.

“So what are we gonnah do first?”Apple Bloom asked as both she and Sweetie Belle looked at the peagasus who was sticking up the list on the wall.

“Let's do running, extreme running, lumberjacks and tree climbers!” This statement drew blank stares from the remaining Crusaders.

“What's extreme running?”

“An' where in the hay would we git the ax fer bein' lumberjacks?” Scootaloo sighed, she had hoped for better reactions.

“Extreme running is when you go even faster than normal running, like breaking the speed of sound fast. And we could find an ax at the farm, can't we Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle gave a soft 'oh' of understanding as both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked to their last friend who gave a shrug.

“Ah don't know. Maybe BigMac has one...” Apple Bloom couldn't help but smile along with her friends, though she was weary about how heavy the ax was.

The fillies tried to earn their Running Cutie marks on the way to the farm. Luckily running is a relatively easy thing to do, and by the only downside was that by the time they got to the farm house was that they were out of breath. They leaned on one another as they got their breath back before realizing that they didn't know where Big Mac kept his tool box.

After a quick check to see if they earned a Cutie Mark (with corresponding 'awww' of disappointment) the girls made sure that the cost was clear and began their search.

The girls began to tip-hoof around the farm and barn, trying to find where Apple Bloom's older brother kept his tools without waking up Granny Smith from her nap on the porch.

“Where's Applejack and Big Mac? Wouldn't they think it's weird that we're sneaking around?” Sweetie Belle asked quietly as they peered around the corner of the house, looking for likely places to keep work tools.

“Nah. They're in the fields, making sure all the trees made it through the winter jus' fine.” Apple Bloom waved a hoof as they sneaked over to the barn.

“Then why are we sneaking around?” Sweetie Belle asked coming to a halt in confusion.

Scootaloo dragged a hoof across her face as she groaned while Apple Bloom tilted her head in realization.

“Because we don't want to wake up Granny Smith! Come on! We've searched the house, they've gotta be in the barn somewhere.” Scootaloo said as she took the lead, sneaking into the barn.

They searched the barn from the top down and at the very end they found all the tools near a workbench along the right wall. They opened all the drawers and opened boxes, looking for the ax.

After searching the tool box for a few moments, they found the ax leaning up against the wall nearby. The ax was much heavier than it looked and it took all three of the girls to move it. As they began to drag it out of the barn, Apple Bloom had a sinking feeling about the day's crusading.

Each filly had an odd grip on the handle as they dragged it along. Apple Bloom had the handle in her mouth as she gripped it near the ax head. Scootaloo had her fore-hooves wrapped around the middle of the handle and had her wings working over-time to help move it. And Sweetie Belle had a grip on the end of the handle with both her magic and her hooves.

They were going to try and earn the Extreme Running Cutie Mark on the way to the forest, but they could only manage a crawling pace with frequent stops to catch their breath. It was at one of these stops that Apple Bloom felt the need to point out the obvious.

“Scootaloo, Ah don't think we're gonnah be able to get any kind o' runnin' done carrying this ax. Could we just take it to the forest normal-like?” Apple Bloom asked at one of their frequent breaks as she wiped her forehead with a hoof.

Scootaloo sighed, she knew that the young farmer was right.

“Yeah yeah, alright. We'll try and get the 'Extreme Running' Cutie Mark later. Let's just make it to the forest on the edge of the farm.” And with that the three fillies picked up the ax once more and continued on their trek.

After making it half-way there, the young ponies were starting to doubt their ability to be lumberjacks. But Scootaloo wouldn't give up and began to try and encourage the others.

“Come... on... huff... you guys...! We'll... be... gasp.... really cool.... lumberjacks....!”

It may have been more encouraging if they all weren't out of breath.

After the grueling trek, they came to the edge of the forest that was next to Sweet Apple Acres. Unfortunately, the forest right next to the farm was the Everfree Forest.

The three Crusaders gulped as one at the ominous forest before them.

After they got their breath back -though their heart beats remained at a faster pace than normal- Scootaloo took a deep breath and turned to her fellow Crusaders.

“Come on you guys! It's just a forest. What could go wrong?” Scootaloo waved in a nonchalant manner. Sweetie Belle was still a little shaky though so Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom for help.

“But don't you remember what happened last time?” Sweetie Belle shivered at the thought of the cockatrice. The others shivered as well but they really wanted to try to get their Cutie Marks.

“Ah shoot Sweetie Belle. I visit Zacorah all the time. It's not really dangerous. Ya just gotta stay away from anything that lives in here.” Apple Bloom waved a dismissive hoof.

“Yeah. Don't worry. We'll just stay on the edge here to get our Cutie Marks.” Scootaloo reassured the unicorn. Sweetie Belle nodded and the trio got to work.

They wanted to get their lumberjack work out of the way, so they tried to find a tree for them to practice on. Scootaloo wanted to get this whole thing over with and chop at the nearest one, but Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom put up a fuss.

“Y'all can't jus' go and chop whatever tree ya want! Trees got the right tah live too!”

“Yeah! What about the little baby animals who might need the tree to live in or for food?”

“Fine! Alright already. We'll go find a tree that's already knocked over. Would that work for you?” Scootaloo huffed as she rolled her eyes at the others' plea.

The other two nodded happily and grabbed a hold of the ax once more. Scootaloo groaned as she grabbed it as well and the trio set off to find a tree already fallen over.

They had to head further into the forest to find anything that would suit their needs. When they finally did find one, it was much deeper into the forest than they were planning to go, though Sweetie Belle was concentrating on finding a tree and didn't think about any of the forest's inhabitants. The tree they found had fallen to be stuck between two others and was propped up to the point of being almost upright.

“It's perfect! This way, when we chop it down, it would help those other two trees.” Sweetie Belle clapped in excitement while Apple Bloom still had her doubts that they would be able to even lift the ax on their own.

Since they all wanted to be the first one to get their Cutie Mark, they had to play a game of 'Fire, Water, Tree' to find out who would be the first one to try.

“Fire, Water, Tree, Shoot!” The fillies yelled as they uncovered the marks they had made in the dirt to represent the element they choose.

“HA! Fire beats Tree, I go first!” Scootaloo yelled in triumph as she hoof-pumped. Sweetie Belle was saddened a little and Apple Bloom offered to let her go next, which cheered her right up.

The two others stood back a little as their peagasus friend took hold of the ax and faced the tree.

Scootaloo dragged the ax over and stood on her hind legs. She grabbed the handle with both hooves as her wings began to frantically beat trying to pull her backwards. The young peagasus managed to drag the ax along the ground but couldn't get enough force to lift it up.

Sweetie Belle went next and she tried to grab the ax with magic and her fore-hooves. Her efforts were met with less success than the peagasus'. Trying to use both magic and her hooves was hard for the young unicorn and she only managed to move it a little towards the tree.

Apple Bloom went last and she wasn't sure what method to try and use, her hooves or her mouth. First she tried using her mouth but couldn't get enough lift and her neck started to hurt from the effort. So she tried using her hooves instead and was met with some success. She lifted the ax from the ground, but due to lack of balance, started to go in circles.

Luckily the others were fast on their hooves after playing basketball with Apple Bloom and jumped back to avoid getting hit with the sharp object. Just as Apple Bloom lost all control the ax hit the tree on the blunt end and the ax head fell off the handle.

Since she no longer had a counter-weight to enhance her spinning, Apple Bloom also fell over next to the tree they were attempting to chop.

As Apple Bloom sat and recovered from the dizzy spell, the other fillies looked at the broken tool with growing guilt. Once the earth pony recovered, she joined her friends in their mournful watch.

“Uh, I don't suppose your brother has another ax he could use?” Scootaloo asked with a glance at the farm pony.

“Eeenope. This is his only ax. Maybe we could bring it back where we found it an' pretend it never happened?” Apple Bloom asked hopefully, looking towards the others. They jumped at the idea, nodding along rapidly.

“Wait, what about our Tree Climbing Cutie Marks?” Sweetie Belle asked as Apple Bloom made to pick up the ax head.

Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo as they remembered their last one to try for the day.

“Oh yeah, forgot about that one. Want to just climb this tree while we're here and then head back?” Scootaloo asked as she rubbed the back of her head.

“Sure. We'll see who can git to the top o' these trees the fastest! Ready, set, go!” Apple Bloom cried as she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo raced up different trees, determined to get to the top first.

In their haste, they didn't choose the proper hoof-holds. Which means that at the same time, at roughly the same height, each of their trees gave an ominous crack when they they were a little over a story high. The trio only had a moment to even register the sound before they were falling back down, hitting branches and getting covered in sap and needles.

Even with the ground covered by a decent amount of moss, the impact of hitting the ground from such a height left each filly dazed as they all landed with a soft 'thud'.

As they laid down in the positions they fell in, they pondered how they always seem to be covered in some kind of mess after trying to earn their Cutie Marks.

Unbeknown to the Crusaders, a lone Timberwolf pup was testing out his prowling skills and came across the trio. As they dragged the ax pieces back, the wolf pup followed close behind. Each time that the girls stopped, he stopped as well, preparing to make his grand entrance. But soon they were on their way and he had to wait to see if they stopped once more, no one could get a good roar out while prowling. This pattern continued for a while, until the fillies began to argue.

What had started out as a recount of their last adventure in the forest turned into a 'who was the most scared' contest, with each trying to say that it was the others. The wolf pup was confused, what was at first was a semi-quiet group of prey were now squabbling loud prey. He decided that he better start on the hunt fast before something else tried.

A roar sounded from the forest around the fillies, silencing their argument as their eyes widened in shock. They smelled a foul stink coming from the side. They turned as one to their right and saw a green pair of eyes staring back at them. They all froze for a moment until the Timberwolf pup jumped from the bushes and landed in the middle of the trio, who in turn all jumped back rapidly in different directions.

At this point the Crusaders were free of their shock, for the most part. But that didn't mean that they were all doing the same thing. Sweetie Belle was backing away from the pup, Apple Bloom had grabbed the handle and held it between the pup and herself, while Scootaloo had backed up onto her hind legs and took a few jabs at the pup much like her rainbow-maned hero.

The Timberwolf pup felt his control of the situation slip as while the fillies were scared, they weren't running away and some even took stances to fight against him. He went for the one who showed no resistance and leaped at the unicorn filly.

Sweetie Belle screamed as both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom leaped at the pup to defend their friend. Apple Bloom smacked the wolf pup on the head then Scootaloo ran into him, sending the two sailing over Sweetie Belle who had crouched down in fear.

The wolf pup was annoyed at this point, something was hitting and knocking him over, and he was one of the most feared creatures in the entire forest. As the peagasus tried to regain her balance from the jump the pup charged at her, knocking her over with him on top. Just before he could get a proper grip on her, a shrill voice yelled and he was pulled away from the peagasus.

“Leave her alone!” Sweetie Belle concentrated like never before and pulled the Timberwolf off her friend with a jerk of her head, urging her magic to mimic the motion with the Timberwolf in its grasp.

Apple Bloom ran over and swatted at the pup with even more force while yelling as well.

“Yeah! Git away from here ya stinkin' varmit!”

The Timberwolf pup had had enough. First there was the yelling, then the smacking, and being knocked around. He was going to find easier prey. Or find some of his friends to help him out. Either way, he was getting away from the young ponies.

As the Timberwolf pup ran away the Crusaders panted as they stood in shock at the sudden attack and retreat. Within moments they drew together in a group hug, glad that they were all safe.

“We... beat … a Timberwolf!” Scootaloo yelled from the hug, as the events caught up to her. “How cool is THAT! I bet Rainbow Dash hasn't even done that!”

Scootaloo broke from the hug as she jumped around their area in excitement. The others began to smile along as their success began to sink in.

Soon all three fillies were jumping around and shouting about how they beat a Timberwolf all on their own.

As a sudden thought came to their minds at the same time, each filly paused while they looked at their flank, hoping for a Timberwolf fighting-themed Cutie Mark. They sighed as one as the reality came crashing back.

They collected the ax parts once more and proudly walked out of the forest. Even if they didn't get a Cutie Mark and they were covered in tree sap and needles, they still beat a Timberwolf on their own. They had a glow of pride for the rest of the day, even if they didn't accomplish what they had hoped for the day.

What they didn't know was that the creatures of the Everfree Forest had long since come to fear a certain pink earth pony who was watching over the fillies on their trip into the woods that day. The creatures all knew of the hyper mare's powers of both perception and speed of tongue. It was by coincidence that the Timberwolf pup had come across the fillies, and had Sweetie Belle not been able to pull him away like she did, Pinkie Pie would have stepped in. Though she was glad that they managed on their own; it meant that the fillies were growing up a little. They wouldn't need a watcher forever.

Pinkie gave a small smile as she hopped back towards Ponyville. She had some baking to catch up on as well as getting ready for Gummy's birthday that was coming up soon.

(After all, turning one year old is a big deal! And it's always good to be prepared early, 'cause then you get to think about all the fun you'll have and it's going to be so cool and I gotta work on that singing telegram, I've only got another twenty-eight days before it's his birthday!)

Chapter 4 Camping by ourselves can't go too badly right?

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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....)

Chapter 5 Cutie Mark Crusaders Plumbers, let's a go!

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It was another sunny weekend and the Crusaders were ready to start the day. They had to change their list of possible Cutie Marks twice since the day that Scootaloo first made it. They didn't stop though, and managed to come up with more ideas to try as time went on.

The Crusaders were going to be camping on their own again and couldn't wait to start on their list of things to try. And while the first time they went camping went badly, no one found out and nothing happened like that again. By this point the girls did a lot of their sleepovers and Crusading on their own, to the point that Applejack no longer felt the need to check on the fillies to be sure they stayed in the Clubhouse or out of trouble.

As an attempt at avoiding being covered in tree sap after their Crusading, Sweetie Belle was insisting they try to earn their Plumbing Cutie Marks.

“Oh come on, please? We did extreme tree climbing, extreme biking and drag racing for the last few tries to get our Cutie Marks. Can't we do another inside thing again?” Sweetie Belle pleaded with Scootaloo who was sitting on the floor with her hooves crossed.

They were in their Clubhouse and and both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were facing their peagasus friend from where they sat in the middle of the room.

“Yeah. Ah'd rather not be covered in sap and needles. If we try for our plumbin' Cutie Marks, we won't git too dirty.” Apple Bloom commented with a nod as Scootaloo sighed.

“Fine. We'll try being Plumbers.” The others cheered while Scootaloo gave a small smile.

“Ah think BigMac has the tools we'll need. Let's git them and we'll go door to door, tah see if anypony needs help.” Apple Bloom led the way to the barn to once again raid her brother's tool box.

They sneaked over to the barn once again, making sure that nopony saw them. This was more of a habit than an actual need now, they knew that the older Apple siblings were working the fields while Granny Smith was taking a nap, but old habits die hard. By now, they had memorized where each of the tools were and quickly took their pick.

Each filly took a different tool for the job, Scootaloo grabbed pliers, Apple Bloom took a wrench and Sweetie Belle picked a hammer. The other two stared at Sweetie Belle with raised eyebrows at her choice.

“What? You never know if we'll need a hammer!” This did sound reasonable, so they nodded and turned as one to head into town.

While Applejack had heard of what happened with the Timberwolf pup from when the Crusaders tried to be lumberjacks, she never heard what ELSE they were doing in the forest aside from climbing trees. This meant that none of the Apples knew who kept borrowing the tools and who had broken the ax. They merely put it down to the weirdness of the town and other great mysteries of life.

The fillies made good time to the town since they weren't loaded down with supplies this time and began their search. They didn't try the farm first since they didn't want the tools to be recognized (though it was their backup plan in case nopony else needed their help).

To help provide unity and look more professional, the girls all wore their Cutie Mark Crusader capes. This also made it easier for everypony else to see who was coming to their doors with various tools in their mouths, a very scary sight indeed (especially since it was not Nightmare Night yet).

The Crusaders couldn't find anyone who needed help with their plumbing. Some slammed the door in their faces, some gave shouts of fright at the sight of them and some didn't open their doors at all. They were just about to give up when they walked by Sugarcube Corner.

“Maybe Pinkie Pie knows someone who needs help. She knows everyone!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in excitement, cheering up the others immediately. Pinkie was always helping them, surely she could help this time as well.

The girls walked into the bakery and looked for the hyper mare.

It was a rather slow day and Pinkie Pie was inspecting the chairs, making sure they had the right wobbly-ness. Too much and a pony couldn't sit still and too little and they wouldn't be able to jump back in surprise if the need arose.

At the sound of the door opening, Pinkie Pie gave a giant leap and landed behind the counter. She then leaned against the top and wiped at the glass with a rag she had pulled out.

“Hi girls...!” The pink mare made her voice go lower in an intimidation of a barkeeper like those from old Marefia movies. “What can I do you for?”

Sweetie Belle looked at the others who shook their heads and shrugged, it was Pinkie Pie after all.

“Uhm, well, we're looking for anyone who needs help with their plumbing. Do you know anyone?” Sweetie Belle asked after she set the hammer down. Pinkie's eyes lit up and she bounced over the counter and stood in front of the Crusaders.

“Yep Yep! I sure do! It's a'me! Follow me, I'll show you the problem!” The older mare waved a hoof for the fillies to follow along while the pink baker yelled to the Cakes that she would be back later.

The Cakes didn't mind that Pinkie Pie was leaving early, it meant that they could fix all the chairs that the hyper mare had looked at. They had tried explaining before that chairs shouldn't be wobbly at all, but Pinkie didn't understand why others would want their chairs to be still all the time.

As Pinkie bounced along, the Crusaders' curiosity grew. They were walking away from the bakery and so far as they knew that's where the pink earth mare lived.

“Pinkie Pie? Where are we goin'? Ah thought ya lived with Mr and Mrs Cake?” Apple Bloom asked around the wrench in her mouth.

Luckily Pinkie spoke 'mumble' pretty well and understood what was being asked.

“Yes, I live with Mr and Mrs Cake. Where would I live if I didn't? Well, I guess I could see if I could stay with Twilight, but it's a little early to be thinking of that.” Three pairs of eyes blinked in synchronization at the party mare, confused as to why she would be staying with the librarian if not at the bakery.

“Ok, well, where are we going then?” Scootaloo tried the direct approach.

“Oh that's easy! My Super-Secret Party Laboratory!”

“Super-Secret what?!” The three fillies asked together.

Now they were really confused and weren't sure if Pinkie was on some crazy sugar high or not.

“My Super-Secret Party Laboratory, where I invent really cool things to help set up parties. I thought of it when I set up Twilight's birthday surprise a few weeks ago and so I asked if I could have a lab near hers and she helped me make it.”

The Crusaders weren't sure what to be more shocked at, that both Pinkie and Twilight had secret Labs or that Pinkie was being rather concise. They were half-tempted to leave this odd Pinkie Pie but they already came this far they may as well go the whole way. They conferred silently with gestures and came to an agreement, they would keep on going, no matter what!

They followed the pink mare as she went up to Golden Oaks Library and walked along until they came a quarter of the way around from the front door. A Pinkie-sized hop from the tree trunk was a cellar door, painted a dark green. The girls wondered how they never noticed it before but gave mental shrugs; some things were best left to the unknown.

Pinkie Pie opened the double doors and led the way down. Once the fillies were following the party mare down a set of stairs, the doors somehow closed on their own behind them, giving them a start. The way down was lit by lanterns in the shape of balloons (much like a certain pink mare's cutie mark) and were different colors. Luckily the colors were soft enough to be similar and didn't cause the Crusaders' eyes to hurt from the change in hues.

As they came into the underground room, the Crusaders' jaws opened in shock and their tools dropped to the floor with a clatter.

The room was two stories tall and it needed every bit of the space. There were large and small cannon prototypes that were being put together and modified on the far side of the room. There was some kind of slide tube system large enough to hold a pony that came from the ceiling and circled the room a few times before stopping on the side. A large sink, oven and fridge were to the left of the door way and on the other side of the door was a couch with large screen T.V. with at least three different game systems hooked up to it.

The room had a bright color scheme of pink, blue and yellow, and there were only a few large roots from the tree nearby that hung overhead.

The girls were in so much shock that it was only after Pinkie Pie had bounced away and hopped next to the sink that they came to their senses.

“See, I just got the water system installed and this drain put in. But it won't work. Could you guys take a look?” Pinkie wore a proud grin as she pointed to the sink and large drain underneath and in the center of the room (placed there to help cleaning up any large messes).

The Crusaders picked up their tools with a new light in their eyes as they gave a muffled yell of “Cutie Mark Crusader Plumbers, go!”

They zipped over to the sink and began to examine it. The pink mare giggled and skipped off, since they were right next to the library, perhaps she could go check out a book. Or the librarian. Whichever she found first.

Meanwhile, the Crusaders were adjusting all the knobs, caps and screws on the sink to no effect. In fact they turned the knobs so much that they forgot which side was 'Off'.

They got so frustrated that they started to use the hammer to try and fix it. While it felt nice to try and use a hammer to whack at the problem, it didn't help much either; though it did give the sink a more 'used' look. After a few minutes, they sat in the center of the room, panting lightly from their efforts.

They sat on the grating, wanting to check out the room as much as possible while remaining stationary. The drain holes weren't that big though the drain itself was slightly larger than the three fillies sitting in the center of it.

“Come on you guys! We can't give up! Pinkie Pie has helped us a lot, we have to try our best to help her back!” Sweetie Belle tried to rally the others.

After more encouraging statements, they were all standing once again and gave a small jump as they shouted in agreement. What they didn't realize was that since the grates were new, they weren't screwed in all the way.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom landed on one half of the grate at the same time but earlier than Sweetie Belle who was on the other half facing them. This caused the grate to tip open and the two fillies started to fall down the rather large pipe underneath. As Sweetie Belle came down from her jump, the other end of the grate that wasn't being pushed down by the two fillies came up and swatted the unicorn towards her friends, making even more weight drop onto one side of the grate. As the three fillies began to fall down the large pipe, the cover kept swinging around wildly before settling peacefully closed once more as though nothing had happened.

The Crusaders tumbled down the pipe that was almost double their size, leaving enough room for them to fall over each other and bounce around a little.

“Ouch!”

“Watch it!”

“Ooowww”

“Woooaaahh!”

The pipe finally came to an end, spitting the Crusaders into an even larger pipe that had a walkway along one side and a small river of water on the other. There were some lights along the wall, though they were not bright enough to tell what color the water was.

The Crusaders, after a moment of recovery, stood up and took in their surroundings.

“Well, Ah sure am glad we didn't fall intah that water. Don't want to know what's in it really....” Apple Bloom looked at the water, waiting for some kind of stink to waft from it.

“You know, I can't smell anything odd. Maybe they hang things to freshen up the air around here?” Scootaloo asked as she looked at the lights and walls around them, trying to find the location of the lightly floral aroma that masked the smell of the nearby water.

Sweetie Belle was looking at the pipe they came from and saw a metal wheel next to it.

“Hey guys! Maybe this is why Pinkie Pie can't get any water?” She pointed a hoof to it as the others came closer to take a look.

“Yeah! I bet they used this to keep the water off until the work was done. Let's turn it back on!” Scootaloo lead the way to the metal wheel.

Fortunately, it was close enough to the ground that by working together, they could turn in to the 'on' position.

Up in the Super-Secret Party Lab, a blast of water began to pour from the tap at a rapid pace. It came gushing out faster due to the 'fixing' the Crusaders did before. It began to fill the sink faster than it could drain away, groaning a little at the extra rush of water.

After high-hoofing each other for a job well done, they checked to see if they got anything for it. After a disappointed 'awww' from the three, they began to look for the way out.

After searching the vicinity and finding no way back up unless they tried to crawl up the pipe (which began to trickle water), which they decided was too bumpy and steep to climb. So they started to walk down the pipe instead, keeping an eye out for any ladders or stairways to the surface. As they walked, they began to argue about what they would find at the end of the pipe.

“There has to be a giant plant where they clean the water at the end!” Scootaloo stated with a nod.

“No, they use magic to clean the water.” Sweetie Belle countered with a shake of her head at the peagasus.

“No, they use science to clean it.” Scootaloo argued with a frown at the unicorn.

“No, they use magic.” Sweetie Belle also frowned at her friend.

“No, science.”

“No, magic.” Tempers started to raise at this point, each filly getting sharper with her words.

“Science.”

“Magic.”

“Science!”

“Magic!”

Just as the two fillies took a large breath to continue and shout even louder, Apple Bloom cut them off as she noticed an odd sound.

“Shhh! Gals, quiet! Do you hear somethin'?” Apple Bloom strained her ears, trying to find where the sound was coming from.

The others did as well and soon they all heard it, the sound of scratching and some kind of chirping.

“It's the magic!”

“No, it's the machines!”

“No, yah both are wrong. It's comin' from the wall.” At this all three heads turned to face the wall on their right just in time to see it crumble inwards.

The Crusaders watched in stunned silence as a hole slightly bigger than them was made by small furry creatures. The girls had never seen anything like them before (though that wasn't saying much, since they were so young).

The creatures stood on their hind legs and looked like groundhogs but a little skinner. They had coats of light brown and wore light green armor on their torsos as well as the top parts of their arms and legs. They had two shields with them (even the ones who were digging) which looked like two halves of a turtle's shell. One shield was on their back while the other half was on their left arm.

The ones who weren't digging had torches in their paws to light the way. In the middle of the front row of creatures was one that had red armor instead of green. He led the way, chatting in a high pitched voice, and was the first one to notice the fillies who had remained rooted to the spot. He let out a loud cry and pointed at the girls, who were suddenly surrounded by the small creatures. They were about as tall as the Crusaders' shoulders, but for what they lacked in size they made up in numbers.

“Hey, hang on ah minute. We jus' were lookin' for the exit, we don't mean any harm.” Apple Bloom said as she faced the creatures who circled the fillies. The girls' backs were to each other as they looked out at the creatures who were shoving their shields into their faces.

“Right, we just want to go home.” Sweetie Belle added, a little worried about the look in the creatures' eyes.

“Yeah, just let us go and we won't do anything to you....! Or, ah, we could just do as you say and all....” Scootaloo tried to act tough but she crumbled when with a click sound spikes came from the shields, making them look like half-porcupine half-turtles.

The trio gulped as after some more chatter from the leader of the group, the fillies were herded into the newly made tunnel and farther into the ground.

“Where are ya takin' us? We demand you let us go! What we ever do tah ya?” Apple Bloom tried to keep her voice steady as she demanded answers.

“Please let us go...” Sweetie Belle cowered a little, unnerved by the silence that occurred after they entered the tunnel.

“Foolish ponies. You will meet your doom at the hands of King Koopa! Long live King Koopa, huzzah!” The creature in the red armor cheered raising his shield as his fellows followed along with the cheer and momentary raised their shields as well.

“King Koopa? Never heard of him. Who are you guys anyways?” Scootaloo watched their captors closely, if they raised their shields again they may have a chance at escape.

The leader noticed the sharp eyes of the peagasus and snorted at the attempt.

“Our King is a mighty warrior, leader of the Koopas. We are taking you to the kingdom, where you shall be dealt with. Try not to escape, my little pony, we would hate to have to hurt your friends.” The red armored Koopa said with a menacing glance at the others, which caused Scootaloo to gulp and look at her feet.

In a library, practically a world away from the Crusaders, a pink mare was cuddling next to a purple one who was reading in the middle of the floor.

Pinkie Pie had her fillyfriend in a hug with her hooves around Twilight's neck while resting her head on the back of purple shoulders, breathing in the unicorn's scent and relaxing.

Twilight was laying on her belly with a hoof over the two pink ones giving her a hug while she read. It was almost like she had a pink blanket warming her up as she relaxed in the library. That was, until Pinkie Pie started to twitch.

Pinkie froze from her comfortable position as both her back knees became pinchy, a shiver passed over her whole body and she felt tingles in all four of her hooves that seem to pull her towards the ground.

“.... Danger from underground kingdoms? But who would …. Uh-oh!” Pinkie murmured to herself, forgetting where she was for a moment.

“What's wrong Pinkie?” Twilight asked as she looked over her shoulder at the pink mare who had sat up a little.

“Huh? Oh, uh, nothing at all! I just got to check on something, I'll see you later ok Twilight?” Pinkie gave the purple unicorn a swift peck on the cheek and trotted out the door.

“Well! I wonder what that was about.” Twilight tried not to be too disappointed at the sudden departure.

“Oh boy does she have you wrapped around her hoof, Twilight.” Spike chuckled as he moved more books around the library.

Twilight gave the small dragon a glare, she didn't like how that sounded, almost like she couldn't stand to be on her own anymore!

“What do you mean by that Spike?” Spike turned to deadpan the purple mare.

“... You built her a laboratory for just inventing party stuff. You want any more examples?” Spike raised a brow at the unicorn as he crossed his arms.

Twilight grew sheepish as she blushed and looked back to her book. She shrugged, hoping to keep her hoof out of her mouth by not saying anything else. The purple and green dragon nodded decisively before returning to his task, silence once more filling the library save for the sound of pages being turned.

Chapter 6 Cutie Mark Crusaders Diggers, Escape Artists and Cave-In Clearers!

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The three Crusaders, with their capes and plumbing tools, were surrounded by small groundhog-like creatures who called themselves Koopas, who were leading our trio of fillies to their underground kingdom.

“How do we git ourselves intah these messes?” Apple Bloom asked the others who both shrugged while stating, “I don't know.” Apple Bloom sighed and turned back to their surroundings, looking for anything that might help them escape, as unlikely as it seemed.

“Maybe we can talk to the king and get him to let us go?” Sweetie Belle asked hopefully, looking at the other two fillies.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at one another and shrugged, maybe they would get lucky. As the group of Koopas and Crusaders rounded the last turn of the tunnel, the sight before them left the fillies in shock.

The space opened up to a large cavern that was three to four stories tall (it was hard for the girls to tell, their captors were slightly smaller than them and everything was made with Koopa sizes in mind). In the center of the caverns was a large castle structure, with two towers and a very sturdy double door as the entrance. Surrounding the castle was a town made of one and two storied buildings, though there were more single floor places than anything. There were lanterns all over to provide light while everything seemed to be made of the same dirt as the walls and floor, making everything one color and deceiving as to know how many buildings were actually there.

There were other tunnels with more teams of Koopas coming from them around the kingdom's walls, and overall gave the young fillies the feeling of smallness and uselessness. They didn't resist as they were pushed along the road towards the castle.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were amazed at the kingdom before them. They looked all over as they were led to the castle in the center and were trying to tell each other about the different landmarks and things they saw when they would get told to be quiet from the guards. After the seventh time this happened, the two remained silent and annoyed that they weren't even allowed to talk to one another. Sweetie Belle had just been looking around, taking note of where they were and where they came from during the entire walk up to the castle.

As they neared the largest structure in the kingdom, the doors seemed to loom over the group. With more high pitched chattering from the leader, the doors opened slowly from the inside swinging outwards, revealing a very tall and long hallway and more guards.

All the guards, who were stationed every few feet, wore green armor and stood at attention while the group filed through. They were silent as they traveled down the long hallway, passing many doors and heading towards another large double door at the end, flanked by two more guards in sky-blue armor this time.

As they reached the doors, the red armored guard ordered for the tools to be taken away before turning to face the doors once more.

“Hey! Them's mah big brother's tools! Give them back!” Apple Bloom cried as she tried to keep a hold of her wrench.

“Yeah! We need to get those back!” Sweetie Belle yelled as tried to grab the hammer.

“What would you want with some old tools anyways?!” Scootaloo shouted as she tried to fly up and grab any of the tools that were being taken away.

With quick thrusts of their shields, the guards had the fillies pinned once more while some put the tools into a separate room. The girls became very sullen at losing tools that weren't even theirs and had a feeling that things were only going to get worse from that point on. They pouted the entire time as the guards turned towards the doors once more and led them forward.

The doors opened inwards to the room which was slightly taller than the hallway they just left and was much wider, though still filled with green armored guards. At the far end of the room was a large red cushion chair with a much bigger Koopa sitting in it, the chair raising him half a Koopa's height from the ground. He was as tall as the girls' head when they were standing on all fours and was more heavy set than all the Koopas they had seen so far. He too had the two half shields, but the one on his back had the spikes out already and the other part was resting next to his chair. The King (for who else would be sitting in such a chair?) looked down his nose at the fillies as the red armored Koopa stepped forward and addressed his king.

After some more chatter in the native tongue of the Koopas, the King roared in shock and rage.

“WHAT!? Plumbers?!” He looked at the young ponies with a fire of hatred in his eyes, which made the girls cringe from the sight.

“Please, yer majesty, we didn' mean any harm. We were jus' tryin' to find our way home. Please let us go.” Apple Bloom pleaded as the trio cowered from the large Koopa.

“Yes, please! It was an accident that we came down here at all, we promise we won't tell anyone that you're here!” Sweetie Belle added fearfully.

“Yeah, it was a total mistake. We promise it won't happen again.” Scootaloo tried to pacify the angry king, worried for her friends who both had somepony who would miss them.

“You are not here as plumbers? What is that sign you wear?” The king demanded, perhaps these fillies weren't here to cause trouble.

“Well, these capes are represent the Cutie Mark Crusaders! And we were trying to earn our Plumbers Cutie Marks.” Sweetie Belle happily explained to the king with a grin on her face upon seeing his rage lessen. However at end of the explanation he grew angry once more.

“So you are Plumbers! Guards! Take these, these Plumbers, to the dungeons!” The King roared once more, green armored Koopas surrounding the girls once more with the spikes already out on their shields, leading them back out to the hallway.

“What?! But we weren't doing anything! This is crazy!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she stood on her hind legs, trying to get away from the spikes without backing away from the king.

“Yeah! We jus' want tah go home!” Apple Bloom yelled as she fearfully looked at the king.

The King merely glared and watched as the young fillies were led out of his throne room and turned to his grey and black armored General, who wore a grey mask in the shape of a bird's beak.

“Make sure they are given the worse treatment and constant watch, throughout our history plumbers have always heralded disaster.” The King commanded as he pointed a paw towards the retreating figures.

“Yes, my liege.” The Koopa bowed low and turned to follow the group out.

The Crusaders were led back down the hallway, but instead of heading back outside, they turned to the right and went down a dark set of stairs.

“How much farther down can we possibly go?” Scootaloo asked the others as they eyed the stairwell.

“I don't know. Maybe they have too much time on their paws and they just keep digging.” Sweetie Belle asked with a tilt of her head.

“Beats me. Wonder wha' got the King in a twist; sure can't be our fault.” Apple Bloom looked at the others who nodded as well, knowing they did nothing wrong though that wasn't exactly what the king was afraid of.

“Silence prisoners!” The girls were prodded a little with a blunt shield, causing them to trip down the rest of the stairs. Luckily they were near the bottom and they didn't have far to fall down.

“Where are we supposed to put them anyways?” A green armored guard asked the red one who snorted at the thought of having to worry any more about the three ponies.

“Put them in with the Toad. Not like they could do much down here.” With a sharp salute, the guards led the fillies down the darker hallway, past rows of cell doors showing small damp rooms with no furniture in them and depressed and weary prisoners.

“In here, foolish ponies. In the morn, you will join the prisoner crew in digging the farthest tunnels. Don't even try to escape; there are no windows or any other ways out aside from where we just came from. And no speaking!” The red officer commanded as the Crusaders were pushed into a slightly larger cell that already had an occupant in it.

As the guards all turned and marched away, the girls looked at one another and then to the other being sharing their cell. He was a slightly smaller Koopa with a lighter fur coloring and wore no armor, showing that he was pretty skinny. He shifted a little under the scrutiny and glanced at the girls before checking that the coast was clear. The girls caught on and also checked around, once they were sure no guards were standing nearby, they came closer to their cellmate and started to ask questions.

“Who are ya?”

“Why are you here? You a spy?”

“What's your name?”

“Whacha done that made them fellers put ya down here?”

“What tunnels? Are they dark and scary?”

“Is there a rebellion and a way to escape?”

The Koopa was a little shocked and overwhelmed by the questions. He waved his paws to get the girls to be quiet while he tried to figure out the best way to respond to their many questions.

“My name is not important.” The Koopa started to explain slowly and quietly.

“Though most call me Toad, because I've been in these dungeons the longest.”

“Well howdy Toad! Nice tah meetcha!” The girls all took turns shaking one of his paws while Toad's eyes widened at how they seemed unable to keep focused or at least let him finish.

“Right. Anyways, we're down here because we don't agree with King Koopa's plan for surface domination.”

“Wait, what? Surface domination? What's that mean?” Scootaloo asked in shock, she didn't like how that sounded.

“Domination, the control or power over another or others.” Sweetie Belle pipped up, pleased to help her friend understand more.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes before realizing what the entire phrase then meant.

“Woah, wait, what?!”

“Wait jus' a minute! Ya mean that there King wants tah control over the world? How in the world would he be doin' somethin' like that?” Apple Bloom asked as she rubbed her temple, realizing that the problem was getting bigger by the moment.

“My little ponies! Please, allow me to explain!”

Three sets of ears flipped back in sorrow at having annoyed the Koopa.

“Sorry.” The trio intoned together as they sat in front of their cellmate, willing to try and listen for the explanation.

Toad sighed and rubbed his face with a paw, though he was glad the girls quieted down, he hadn't meant to upset them. He gave them a soft smile as he continued to speak quietly.

“It's alright. Just please, listen to what I'm about to tell you.

“The Koopa Kingdom wasn't always after domination over the surface. In fact, our ancestors came to live underground in order to avoid fighting. Kooper, the leader of the small band of refugees, led everyone away from the fighting between a being of chaos and the alicorn princesses. But we still had to defend ourselves, so we had come up with the shields that are still used today, as a means of both defense and offense at the same time, saving time, energy and resources.

“Over time, our ancestors grew comfortable living underground and took the name Koopa as the new name of our race in honor of our great leader Kooper, with the kings being King Koopa, which is more of a title than their actual name. Soon our population grew and we were losing resources. A few decades back, a group of Koopas went to the surface and scouted the land. What they found amazed the rest of us, there was no more chaos and peace reigned instead. Perhaps we could rejoin the surface world and no longer worry about our resources!

“But the latest king didn't want us to rejoin the world as subjects to a different ruler nor equals with other kingdoms, but as a ruler of all. He decided that it was time for us to strike when no one was expecting it after such a long time of peace. For a while now he's had us digging more and more tunnels, looking for the right route to appear from and attack.

“From what I've been able to hear, he has found a small village a few hours away from the alicorn's capital that he wants to capture first before moving onto the capital. He will stop at nothing to be victorious.”

At the mention of a town near the capital, the three fillies gasped as one. The king planned on attacking Ponyville!

“Come on girls! We can't let him get away with this!” Scootaloo cried as she stood up once more, clenching a hoof upwards.

“Yeah! We gottah protect our town!” Apple Bloom stood as well as she stomped once on the ground to emphasize her point.

“Yeah! We, uhm, we have to save everyone from the crazy king!” Sweetie Belle declared as well as she too stood up and nodded along.

Toad was a little surprised at the sudden exclamations, and was taken aback when the fillies began to thoroughly search their cell for anything that could help or provide a way out. After a few more minutes punctuated with shouts of “nothing here!” the girls sat in front of the Koopa once more, panting lightly from their sudden burst of energy and movement.

“Alright, so we can't get out from this cell from the inside. Is there anyone we can trust to get us out from the outside?” Scootaloo tried to reason as they looked at one another.

“No one knows where we are, remember? Ever since that first sleepover by ourselves, nopony checks in with us, and we all promised not tah tell anyone what we were doing anymore so Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon don't pick on us.” Apple Bloom said dejectedly as she looked at the ground.

“Well, Pinkie knows we were trying to fix her plumbing. Surely she'll find us?” Sweetie Belle asked with a hopeful tint to her voice.

“Nah, Pinkie Pie might jus' think we went and moved on after tryin' to fix it. We jus' got tah think of a way out on our own. Come on, we fought Timberwolves! We can beat this here bully!” Apple Bloom stomped a hoof as she tried to get the others to cheer up and start thinking of a way to escape.

The three fillies all put a hoof to their respective chins, deep in thought. Toad wasn't sure how to make of these rambunctious ponies who flip-flopped from being depressed to working on a way out.

“Wait! They said that we would be with others to dig right?” Sweetie Belle shrilly asked, a sudden light in her eyes.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at one another before looking back at the unicorn.

“Yeaaaahhh... ?”

“Well, what if we tried to escape on the way to the dig site?” The others' eyes also lit up at the suggestion, plans forming in their minds.

“Would the other prisoners want to try and escape with us?” Apple Bloom turned to ask the Koopa who was weary that the guards would hear any of these plots.

Little did the Crusaders or their new friend know, the guards would not be able to hear what was being said because of a pink guard pony. Pinkie Pie had found the fillies rather quickly as they sat in their prison cell and made sure the guards were distracted the entire time so that they wouldn't stumble on the planning session.

She had come down to the kingdom in her spy suit once more and to help blend in even more, she had rolled around on the dirt to get the same coloring as all the walls and buildings. Once she found the girls, she was going to take out the guards and break the fillies out when once again they became hopeful and attempted to find a way out themselves; making Pinkie Pie very proud of the them.

So instead Pinkie Pie hung from the ceiling and watched for any guards that may be coming. She used her no-squeak-suction-cup shoes to help stay up on the ceiling, with a clear view of the entire hallway.

“Well, there are others even in the guards who do not like the King's plan. If we could escape our chains, I'm sure we could get the others to help rise up against the king. We'll need to get the word out for when it would happen so that everyone would be prepared, but we can never escape these chains! There are too many guards watching us, and only one key which is kept by the Sergeant in charge of the guards who keep the prisoners in line.”

Scootaloo rubbed her chin as she thought.

“Hmmmmmm, what if we tried to escape while we were digging? Then we'd have pickaxes and a small tunnel to narrow down the number of guards coming at us.” Scootaloo suggested as she looked towards the Koopa who frowned thoughtfully.

“We'd still need the key to get the chains off.” Sweetie Belle pointed out as she looked at her friends.

“What if we got intah a fight and Sweetie Belle grabbed the keys off that there Sergeant while he wasn't lookin'?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked at Scootaloo, who began to nod along.

“Yeah, I'm liking this idea! Alright, here's the plan! In the morning, we'll all go along with the guards and head to these 'digging sites'. Once we get there, Apple Bloom and I will start fighting and cause enough trouble that the Sergeant will have to come over, which is when Sweetie Belle will try and find the keys. We'll try to help and distract him to give you plenty of time, Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo waved reassuringly at the grey-ish white unicorn who had started to look worried about finding the keys.

Once Sweetie Belle nodded her agreement, Scootaloo continued to lay out the plan. Toad was in shock, these little fillies go from panicking to making a well-reasoned plan in moments.

“Alright, so after that, the keys will get passed around and once everyone is unchained and we're in the tunnels, we'll turn around and take them out! They won't know what hit them!” Scootaloo said as she smacked her hooves together threateningly.

“Right!”

“Sounds good tah me!”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Escape Artists!” The trio quietly yelled together in glee. Toad shook his head before turning to the wall behind him; they needed to get the word out fast.

He began to pull at a small section of the back wall and pulled a small square shaped part away, revealing a little bit of the outside, though it was near the top and too small for anyone to get out of. The girls watched silently as a pair of feet walked up and stood right in front of the whole, to which Toad then explained their plan of escape. As the feet disappeared once more, he put the small square back in place, making it seem like it never was removed to begin with.

“Hey, wait a minute! I thought you said there was no way out!” Scootaloo shouted annoyed, pointing a hoof at the Koopa.

“Yes, because this hole took me ten years to make, or so my friends on the outside tell me. So far no guards know about it, and since no one was able to think of a plan of escape and overthrow, it only helped to keep my mind off my current troubles.” Toad wore a sheepish smile at the shock and sadness in the faces of his new friends and allies.

“Oh.” Scootaloo slowly dropped her hoof to scrape it along the ground instead.

Toad gave a small chuckle before settling down for the night.

“Come my little ponies, we should go to bed so we will be ready in the morning to put our plan into action.” The girls nodded at this sound advice and laid down next to one another for comfort and warmth. Luckily they still had their capes and it helped keep them warm for the night.

The next day went almost exactly like planned. After a brisk wake-up call from the guards, a small breakfast of flat bread with some kind of jelly spread on it, and a quick check that all the prisoners were in line, they found themselves in a long chain of prisoners heading to the farthest tunnels to dig.

The fillies were able to guess as to which tunnel they had used to get into the Kingdom was based on the fact that they went straight from the tunnel to the castle doors, indicating that the one they would need would be four tunnels to their left.

As soon as they were given their cheap pickaxes and placed along the tunnel, they put their plan into action, with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo getting into a fight.

“Ah'm tellin' ya, ya hold the pick THIS way.”

“No, you have to hold it THIS way.”

“No, ya gettin' it wrong! It's THIS way!”

“No, it's THIS way!”

At this point, both fillies dropped their axes and started to resort to physical blows. While they both pulled their punches, they still had to make it look convincing to bring the Sergeant over. Luckily, they had enough practice that it was easy to cause a large disturbance to bring the Sergeant over, and while he stood over the two fighters trying to sort them out, he didn't feel the third filly search his armor for the keys.

The guards were well trained enough that they were not distracted by the fighting and kept an eye on their positions, while keeping an ear out in case their leader needed extra help.

Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, was watching closely, seeing if they needed a helping hoof or for her to throw the extra pair of keys she had swiped to Sweetie Belle so that they could get on with the plan. She wanted to help while at the same time allowing the Crusaders room to grow and learn. Fortunately, Sweetie Belle found the keys in the middle of the shield on the Sergeant's back and snuck away.

She looked at the fighting pair and gave a rather large wink that had anyone been watching properly would have thought it was odd. Once the others saw the wink (an impressive feat since they were both still thrashing around), they slowly quieted down, wanting to make their act realistic.

As the Sergeant felt that the fillies were slowing down, he gave them a rough shake, causing both to become dizzy and stop fighting each other. Once he had their attention, he snarled a warning to them before dropping them onto the ground once more.

“If I hear so much as a peep from either of you, it will be the stocks and a beating! Do I make myself clear?”

The girls nodded sullenly as they looked at the ground before turning to their pickaxes once more and starting on their work.

After remaining a moment longer to make sure there were no other issues, the Sergeant moved on, never noticing that he was missing his keys or that those same keys were now being passed down the line to unlock every shackle.

After the last shackle came off, everyone waited a moment longer before turning on the nearest guard and subduing them. The Crusaders went for the Sergeant themselves, knowing that he would be able to order his troops about or get word out for back up. While Apple Bloom and Scootaloo distracted him, Sweetie Belle had went around the back and tripped him, making him lose his balance and his hold on the other half of his shield while he was stuck on his backside.

The girls knew they had to do something to get him out of the picture, and as they were spinning the Sergeant around on his back (he was at this point going too fast to get any words out) Apple Bloom had an idea.

“Scootaloo! Grab the biggest rock ya can find and we'll knock the feller out cold!” Apple Bloom looked at the peagasus who nodded rapidly and began to look at the rocks near the trio.

Once she found one that she could both lift and still work for the idea, Scootaloo managed to hover just a little bit with a large rock in her hooves as she flew over to the Sergeant. As the two others saw their third friend fly over, they stopped their spinning and held the Sergeant in place. As Scootaloo hovered at the top of the Sergeant, the others felt the need to look at his face as well. The three fillies gave sugary sweet smiles as Scootaloo dropped the rock on the red armored Koopa's head, knocking him out cold and keeping him out of the way.

Since they had gotten free so swiftly and expertly, the guards were subdued just as quickly and they all let out a cheer.

“Come my fellow Koopas! Let us take back our Kingdom!” Toad led the Koopas back down the tunnel into the cavern where more freed prisoners and normal citizens awaited them, to help with the riot.

Just as everything was escalating, Toad turned to the three young ponies and spoke loud enough to be heard over the roar of rebellion.

“Girls, you should leave while you can! My friends set up explosives at most of the tunnel entrances to cause trouble and to delay any attempts at escaping or continuing their current plans of expansion. We shall always remember the Cutie Mark Crusaders who helped us rebel against the false king! Go, quickly!” Toad gestured towards the tunnels along the walls, wanting to be sure the fillies understood what he was saying before turning back to the large crowd and leading the way to the castle.

“Come on guys! We gotta get out of here!” Scootaloo waved at the others as she turned to face the tunnel they would need to use. The others saved their breath for running, following along dodging around the crowd who were still rushing towards the kingdom and the castle in the center.

They ran as fast as they could while keeping a hold of the pickaxes, since they weren't sure if they needed them to fight off any guards. Though they did feel really bad that they had to leave Big Mac's tools behind, they would have to get him some replacements instead.

Any Koopa who saw the symbol on the capes as the young ponies ran knew of the Crusaders and the help they did for the repressed population, and in turn helped keep the guards away from the fleeing fillies. The girls didn't meet any resistance because of this, and were just barely able to make it to the right tunnel before a series of explosions began to go off.

They spared one look between each other before running down the tunnel, trying to put as much distance between the oncoming explosion and themselves. A large boom and a blast of wind, which propelled the fillies forward, the girls knew they now had no choice but to continue onwards through the tunnel.

As they came to the end of the tunnel, they were met with a surprising and disappointing sight, the end had been closed off. As Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sat down in sadness and to catch their breath, Apple Bloom stepped up and placed her ear to the new wall. She quickly stepped back and looked at the others with shock on her face.

“Gals, there's water on th' other side. We gottah try and dig through this here wall, there is the pipe beyond it, remember, it had that weird water?” Apple Bloom asked as she picked up her ax once more, while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stood and nodded along as they too picked up their axes.

Soon the girls were swinging away (and with much better aim this time) at the bottom of the pile of dirt. With every shift of the pile and cascading of rocks and debris, they grew more hopeful as a new thought occurred to them.

Perhaps they could get their Cutie Marks in Cave-In Clearing! As one they dug with renewed vigor, until with small cracking sounds, the cave-in cleared in moments with a rush of water taking away the loosened dirt and shocked Crusaders.

They had forgotten that they were originally trying to help Pinkie Pie with her plumbing, which had gotten to the extreme opposite state than when they first came to help. The pipe couldn't handle the extra stress and had blew into a strong blast of water pouring out of the sink pipe into the drains at a rapid rate, making the drain and pipe below it to overflow. The Koopas had noticed the increase of water and sealed off the tunnel for that very reason, though the Crusaders did not know that.

Though they remembered what may have caused this as the water pulled them along at a fast pace, allowing them only moments to get air before being submerged once again. As they were rapidly pulled to the end of the pipe, they all wondered if they would find out exactly was at the end, a big cleaning plant or a magical one.

Soon they saw a light at the end of the tunnel and hurtled out as though shot from a cannon. As they flew through the air (Scootaloo making a flying pose while the others just kind of waved their hooves around) they noticed that the pipe emptied out into a pony-made lake with a magical barrier on the end of the pipe.

Even though their mouths were full (they managed to keep a hold of the pickaxes somehow) Scootaloo could see Sweetie Belle's triumphant smirk and could just imagine her bragging about being right, causing her to roll her eyes in return.

Eventually they angled towards the upcoming forest and the Crusaders all braced for impact. As they first hit the trees, the axes dropped from their mouths, soon to be followed by the fillies hitting most of the branches and ending up covered in tree sap and pine needles.

Had they the moment or the thought to look behind them, they would have seen a black suited earth pony sitting up in the water stream as though it was an amusement park ride, sailing a shorter distance than the Crusaders sine she was bigger and heavier. Pinkie Pie was envious; the girls got to have the most amazing adventures! The pink mare landed in some trees as well, though she somehow remained unhurt, and once she came to a stop she stood once more and dusted herself off as though nothing had happened. She knew the Crusaders would most likely not do much the rest of the day and set off for the library, she had a feeling about why the water filled the pipe like it did and knew she would have to do some damage control.

After a moment of rest, the girls sat up from their positions and took stock of themselves and their surroundings.

“Anypony hurt?” Sweetie Belle asked as she looked at her friends and the state of their capes (which were relatively good, they would only need a good wash).

“Nah, Ah'm good. How about y'all? And where are we?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked at the forest around them.

“I'm good. I think we're in the forest to the north of Ponyville. Maybe a few hours walk?” Scootaloo said as she looked in the direction she had vaguely seen Ponyville during their impromptu flight.

“I'm ok too. And it looks like our capes and pickaxes made it out ok too!” Sweetie Belle began to get excited, they had a great adventure and no one was hurt!

“Good, 'cause we outtah get Big Mac some replacement tools fer the ones we took and lost.” Apple Bloom said as she stood up, shaking what pine needles she could from her coat. The others soon did the same and each grabbed an ax as they walked back to town.

After their long trek back to their Clubhouse (they had to put away their new equipment) and the longer amount of time spent cleaning up, they went in search of Pinkie Pie to explain what happened.

They found the party mare in the library with the librarian who looked a little put-out. Once the fillies entered the room and closed the door behind them the two older mares turned their attention to the younger ones.

“Hello girls. I hear from Pinkie Pie that you tried to help fix her plumbing.” Twilight said in a neutral tone along with a small tense smile on her face.

“Uhm, yeah. We got the water to turn on!” Sweetie Belle tried to think of how to make it sound not as bad as it really went.

“Yes, we noticed. It flooded Pinkie Pie's Lab.” Twilight frowned a little at the fillies before her, though she kept her tone neutral.

The girls' ears all flipped backwards in sorrow as they looked at the ground.

“We're sorry.” The trio intoned together.

“I know you're sorry. But please, the next time something happens like that, get somepony to help you!” The purple mare couldn't help but get frustrated with the Crusaders, worried for both their safety and the safety of everything around them.

“Come on Twilight! You know they didn't mean anything by it. You forgive them right?” Pinkie Pie nuzzled under the purple mare's chin, causing the mare in question to lose focus a moment before closing her eyes and sighing.

“Yes, I know. I forgive you girls. But please, be careful and if something goes wrong get somepony to help!” Twilight added sternly as the Crusaders perked up once more.

“We will!”

“We'll be real careful!”

“Yeah! What they said!”

Twilight couldn't help but chuckle at the eager responses as the fillies turned around and shouted their goodbyes while they went in search of a proper breakfast/lunch.

Pinkie Pie laughed as well, knowing exactly what happened and what the Crusaders meant with their words. But they were growing up and getting better every time, soon she wouldn't need to step in at all and they could go on their own.

The Crusaders turned as one and began the trek to Hay's Hardware to get the replacement tools for Big Mac. Hopefully nopony noticed that they had been missing and they could put the new ones back without detection.

After such a trying adventure, the girls were more than happy to slowly trot through town and out to the farm, where they enjoyed the rest of their day in their Clubhouse, eating a proper (and multi-coursed) lunch.

Chapter 7 Trip to the Mountains

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In the small mountain range south of Ponyville, a sweet voice rang clearly through the skies.

“You've got to go dig those holes,
With broken hands and withered souls.
Emancipated from all you know,
You've got to go dig those holes.”

Two more voices joined in for the chorus, with varying degrees of ability.

“Dig it up, oh, oh. Dig it.
Dig it up, oh, oh. Ohh.
Dig it up, oh, oh. Dig it.
Dig it up, oh, oh. Ohh...”

A voice with a southern twang to it sang alone for a few moments.

“Take a bad boy, make him dig five feet,
The dirt in these shovels will give us ah beat.
Okay you gottah find suin' neva found before,
If not, we'll just have to dig some more...”

The others joined in once more for the chorus.

“Dig it up, oh, oh. Dig it.
Dig it up, oh, oh. Ohh.
Dig it up, oh, oh. Dig it.
Dig it up, oh, oh. Ohh...”

The third voice, with its pitch in the wrong octave and cracks showing through, sang alone this time.

“There is no lake, there is no shade,
There is no place to hide.
So just sit and wait to fry.”

Once more the three voices joined together.

“Dig it up, oh, oh. Dig it.
Dig it up, oh, oh. Ohh.
Dig it up, oh, oh. Dig it.
Dig it up, oh, oh. Ohh...”

The two voices continued this while the first voice rang clear through the open sky once more.

“Wake up in the mornin' before the sun,
Keep diggin' that hole till the day is done.
Wake up in the mornin' and before the sun,
Keep diggin' that hole till the day is done.”

The three Cutie Mark Crusaders continued to sing the chorus as they marched along in the mountains, on their way to try and earn their Cutie Marks in either mining or gem finding.

The trio of fillies were singing something the gray-white unicorn had thought of on the spot to go along with their plans for the day and while the orange peagasus' singing left much to be desired, her two friends were used to it and didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

They marched single file, with their capes flaring in the light breeze and pickaxes held in their left hooves, resting the top on their left shoulders. They had their saddlebags on under their capes to hold all the gems they hoped to find that day.

However, there was another trio who did have a problem with the out of tune singing; their extremely sensitive hearing made the already bad singing torturous. They followed the fillies through tunnels under the ground, which both did and didn't help to hinder the singing. The ground for the most part muted the sound but whenever they came across a tunnel that led near the singing ponies it would echo straight to them before trailing off. The Diamond Dogs would have popped up early on if only to silence them except that they weren't sure what the girls were doing in their territory and didn't want to be any nearer to the singing unless they had to be.

The Crusaders had high hopes for the day; hoping to find their Cutie Marks for the most part, but if it didn't work out, they would at least have some gems to pay back Pinkie Pie. She had helped to pay for the replacement tools they had lost on a previous adventure and it only felt right to try and pay her back somehow. Though if they were lucky, they would find lots of gems and have some left over for themselves!

“It's not too far now guys! Rarity comes here all the time to collect gems and she never runs into trouble, it should be easy pickings.” Sweetie Belle called over her shoulder as she led them deeper into the mountain range.

“We better be able to find a lot of gems, we've been walking for hours!” Scootaloo whined from the end of the line, causing Apple Bloom to roll her eyes at the exaggeration.

“It hasn't been more than an hour and a half Scootaloo. Ah know 'cause of mah internal farm pony clock.” Apple Bloom huffed as she looked ahead.

“You don't have an internal clock.” Scootaloo argued, rolling her eyes as well.

“Yes Ah do.” Apple Bloom glared over her shoulder.

“No you don't.” Scootaloo countered with a frown.

“Yes, Ah do.” Apple Bloom start to slow down as Scootaloo also slowed.

“No, you don't.” Scootaloo came to a stop as the two stared daggers at each other before Sweetie Belle noticed that she had lost the rest of the line.

“Guys! It doesn't matter. This spot will work too.”Sweetie Belle tried to break up the fighting as she looked around herself to see if it had lots of gems to be found. The others imminently broke off their staring contest and hefted their axes into position.

“Sweetie Belle, can you use some sort of gem finding spell?” Scootaloo asked with a glance at the unicorn.

“Rarity tried to teach me her gem finding spell once... Let me see if... I can … Do it...” Sweetie Belle concentrated hard, trying to do what her sister made seem easy.

The gray-white unicorn tottered back and forth around the area, marking possible locations with X's using her pickax. After marking the ground, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo dug like crazy only to come up empty hoofed. After each attempt the fillies started to get depressed about their lack of findings. What they didn't realize was that not even a foot away from where they were digging were the gems that they sought. This went on for half an hour, being close but never finding anything.

It was by sheer accident that Sweetie Belle tripped and marked the wrong (but right) spot but before she could correct it or say anything the others dug with a frenzy. Soon they had made a decent sized hole and struck gold (or gems, as it were).

All three fillies' faces glowed as they looked down at their prize.

“Alright! We found some!” Scootaloo put her hooves into the air as she stood up in excitement, the others following along soon after. They hopped around the hole, cheering about their find, when they all stopped as one and checked their flanks.

Finding them still blank put a damper on their spirits, but only slightly. They still had something to show for their hard work this time. They each grabbed some gems and put them away in their saddlebags before resuming their search. They were so psyched about their finding some gems that they all burst into song again, even as Sweetie Belle tried to use the gem finding spell once more.

The Diamond Dogs may have left the girls alone, they weren't finding all that much, but as they burst into song once more the peagasus' voice grated on their ears and incited their wrath. They burst through the ground surrounding the fillies who went silent at once at the sudden movement.

As the dust settled the Diamond Dogs found the fillies back to back, one facing each Diamond Dog with axes at the ready and steel in their eyes. The Diamond Dog trio were a little surprised, even larger ponies were afraid of them yet these fillies seemed ready to fight back.

“Who are y'all? What cha want with us?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked at the creatures before them.

“Yeah, we haven't done anything to you.” Scootaloo stated as she also looked at the dogs before them.

“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle pitched in, though it was a little a little shrilly. This caused all three Diamond Dog to flinch and growl at the fillies.

“This one makes the whiny sounds too.” The medium-build Diamond Dog (Rover) said to his companions, then he looked down at the girls with anger in his eyes.

“You came onto Diamond Dog territory and you make horrible sounds even worse than the old mule!” he pointed to the orange peagasus.

The fillies shared a look of confusion as to what he was referring to.

“What noise y'all talkin' about?” Apple Bloom asked while Sweetie Belle posed her own question to the dogs.

“What 'old mule'?”

Meanwhile Scootaloo was trying to think of a moment that she would have made really annoying sounds. The dogs, however, glanced around themselves as Sweetie Belle asked about who they were talking about.

“Not so loud, we don't want to her to hear us.” The smallest of the dogs (Spot) demanded.

The girls grew suspicious and filed the information away for later use.

“And the pony with the wings made the noise when all three of you were making noises together!” Rover stated with another furious jab at the offending pony. Scootaloo looked scandalous, having realized what he meant, thought the others were slower to catch on.

“Wait, you mean I sing badly?!” Scootaloo floated up a little in anger as the others tried to think of how their friend sang.

“She ain't that bad; Ah've heard worse.” Apple Bloom commented with a shrug.

“Yeah, she just needs some practice, that's all.” Sweetie Belle added while Scootaloo looked at them.

“You guys think I don't sing very well?” Scootaloo asked a little saddened that after such a long time, they didn't tell her an important detail like that.

“Well, it's like Sweetie Belle said. Ya jus' need some practice. Maybe we could find someone tah teach us how tah sing better?” Apple Bloom pondered while the others nodded along, completely forgetting the situation around them as they tried to reassure the peagasus.

The Diamond Dogs shared a look of shock at how the fillies were ignoring them.

“Enooouuugghh! Give us everything you found and leave our lands!” Rover commanded as he reached out his paw to the girls.

The trio of ponies were shocked, they only just some and they walked a long way for them. Sweetie Belle began to tear up at the prospect, the others looked nervously at one another before looking back towards the unicorn.

“But, but, we just got here! And we worked really hard for those!” Sweetie Belle almost yelled, tears present even in her voice.

All three dogs winced and held their ears.

“That little one is almost as bad as Miss Rarity.” The heavy-set Diamond Dog (Fido) commented as he looked to the others.

The Crusaders all paused at the name and looked at one another, a plan of action already forming.

“You know my sister?” Sweetie Belle asked, with little trace remaining of her tears.

The trio of Diamond Dog looked wearily at each other. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo noticed and gave each other evil grins as they turned towards Sweetie Belle who looked confused for a moment longer before grinning back.

They all dropped their pickaxes as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo covered their ears and Sweetie Belle took a large breath before unleashing a new type of defense.

“Waaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!” Sweetie Belle scream-cried with torrents of tears running from her clenched eyes. She sounded as though she had a broken heart and had just been told that there were no more Cutie Mark Crusaders.

The Diamond Dogs weren't expecting such a move and fell to the ground with their paws over their ears, trying in vain to block out the sound.

“The crying, it hurts!” Spot practically whined himself as he covered on the ground.

“Enough! Please, stop with the crying!” Rover pleaded to the fillies from the ground.

Sweetie Belle tapered off to sniffles as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shared a triumphant look.

“Ah don' know. Ya did scare us real bad...” Apple Bloom rubber her chin as she glanced over to the peagasus who also rubber at her chin.

“... And you tried to take our hard earned gems...” Together they turned to the unicorn and half-queried half-commanded, “Sweetie Belle?”

The unicorn was faster at catching on this time and began to take another large breath.

“No, no, wait! Ah hah, uh, we're sorry my little ponies. Here, ah, take these as part of our apologies.” With that Rover pulled out a cart that was full of gems already and offered it to the Crusaders with a tense smile.

The other Diamond Dog nodded along, hoping that this would make the fillies leave faster.

The fillies' eyes sparkled at the sight of so many gems but they quickly hid it and and took on shrewd expressions.

“I don't know, what do you think girls? This look like a proper apology?” Scootaloo glanced at the other Crusaders.

“Ah dunno. Ah guess if this is the best they can do...” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo gathered their pickaxes and trotted over to the cart.

“Yeah; though I may tell my sister, Rarity, about your behavior.” Sweetie Belle stuck her noise into the air as she picked up her ax and joined her friends pushing the cart along.

“We'll be goin' now. Thanks fer these here gems. Maybe the next time we meet, ya'll be more civil tah us.” Apple Bloom commented as they finally got the cart rolling back towards Ponyville.

The three Diamond Dog watched and waved goodbye to the fillies with tense smiles until they were out of sight before heading back underground to make up for the loss of gems.

The Crusaders were pushing the cart with all their might, but it was slow goings. Soon they reached the top of the last hill between them and Ponyville. As they panted next to the heavy cart, Scootaloo began to get an idea for an easier way to travel. They had long since put their pickaxes into the cart for safe keeping, the sight of which gave Scootaloo the idea for the Crusaders to ride the cart back.

“Guys, what if we all sat in the cart and used this hill to roll all the way back to town?” Scootaloo tapped the wooden cart with her right hoof while looking at the others. They grinned in return, anything to make the trip easier.

Soon they were all precariously perched on the cart (it was rather full of gems) and they had their axes posed to push off the hill.

“Ready? One, two, three!”

With a great heave the girls pushed off and put their axes back on the cart while holding on tight to the sides. However, they used one ax to steer much like a rudder at the back of the cart.

The trip went well for all of five minutes. The trouble began when the shaft of the pickax started to wear away, making it so the fillies didn't have control of their direction.

Before Scootaloo could use another one to regain control, the cart hit a bump causing the trio to hold on for dear life and the cart to wobble from side to side. It knocked into a tree, making it change directions rapidly and veer off towards the lake that was in between the mountains and town.

The Crusaders saw the approaching danger and tried to move it to either side, but since all three were trying different directions at the same time the cart stayed right on its current path.

What stopped them from continuing their attempts was the sight of a large rock right in their pathway, and as one they made a quick decision to abandon cart.

As all three fillies jumped out, they knocked the remaining axes out as well which landed in front of the speeding cart, causing it to flip up and spill all of its contents. The girls watched from where they landed as the whole load of gems lifted as one and dropped into the lake while the cart finished its trip and landed upside down.

Scootaloo dragged her hoof along her face as she turned towards the others, hopeful that they could still salvage the situation.

“Maybe we could go scuba diving and get all of the gems that fell?” Apple Bloom sighed while Sweetie Belle shuddered at the suggestion.

“Ah don' think that's such ah good idea. Remember the last time we tried tah go divin' in the lake? That big ol' Octopus?” Apple Bloom asked as she sat next to the upside down cart, her two friends slowly joining her as they thought of the creature that lived in the lake.

“How did that get into there anyways?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shrugged their ignorance and they all just stared at the mess for a few moments.

“Alright, we might as well pick up all that we can and head back tah town.” Apple Bloom commented as the others nodded along and started to clean up the area.

They picked up what they could and put everything into the cart that they had set right side up once more. They held out the small hope that not everything fell into the lake, but were faced with an empty cart. They put the two remaining pickaxes into the cart (the third having been destroyed beyond use and lost on the way down) and put their saddlebags inside as well.

Remembering about and checking the gems they first found put them in a better mood, they weren't completely empty hoofed after all!

With this slightly cheerful mindset, they pulled the much lighter cart to town and beyond to their clubhouse. After putting away their new broken in cart and remaining pickaxes, they tried to think of what to do with the gems.

“Ah don' think it's a good idea tah go walkin' around with a bunch of gems.” Apple Bloom looked at the small pile in front of the three young ponies as they sat in their clubhouse, away from prying eyes.

“And Spike really likes to eat gems, he may think we got him a snack!” Sweetie Belle realized as she looked at her friends in concern, not wanting their hard work to go into the belly of a hungry dragon.

“Maybe there's someone in town that can exchange gems for bits? Then we can know for sure how much each of us get to keep.” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin, trying to think of who would be willing to make such an exchange.

“Sounds like ah good idea. But who would be able tah do that?” Apple Bloom also rubbed her chin, thinking of all the ponies she and her family knew that might be able to help.

“What about Pinkie Pie? She knows everypony in town, maybe she knows who would buy the gems from us?” Sweetie Belle asked with a hopeful look to her eyes. The others put their hooves back onto the ground as they grinned back at the unicorn.

“Yeah! And we'd be able to pay her back for the tools we had to get for Big Mac!” Scootaloo stood up and grabbed her saddlebag to start packing the gems back into it.

The two other Crusaders also grabbed their saddlebags and together they got all the gems put away and filed out of the clubhouse, heading for town.

They had a feeling that the pink mare was just as likely to be found at the library as the bakery where she made her home, but to be safe (and grab a quick snack) the fillies went to Sugarcube Corner first.

They were lucky that afternoon, they found their pink benefactor just getting off her shift at the bakery.

“Hey Pinkie Pie! Can you help us with something?” Scootaloo asked as the trio walked inside, just to in time to see the party mare hop out of the way for Mrs Cake to take over.

“Oooh! Sure, what do you guys need help with this time? Trouble finding a pony that needs help with something? Ooh, ooh, do you need finding a certain type of equipment for your crusading?”

Pinkie trotted up to the fillies as they sat at a nearby table, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo paying attention to what she was saying while Sweetie Belle looked fondly at the baked goods; though as Apple Bloom began to respond, the unicorn focused once more at the task at hoof.

“Well, we got these here gems and now we need ah place to get them turned intah bits, so we're not carryin' around a bunch o' gems all th' time.” Apple Bloom looked up at the pink mare, hopeful that she would know somepony who could help.

“Oooh, I know just the pony! Follow me! Oh, wait, don't forget your cupcakes!” With that Pinkie Pie pulled over a dozen cupcakes for the girls to have, having noticed how the girls were staring at the baked goods when they first came inside.

The Crusaders grew even more excited and made quick work of the cupcakes, refueling their energy for more crusading later in the day. Once they polished off the snack, the girls stood up and followed the hyper mare outside, on the way to find the pony who can help them with their gems.

“Karat owns a jewelry store! He's always in need for some more gems and he can exchange them for bits for you!” Pinkie Pie hopped down the streets to a purple two storied building that had lots of windows to showcase the products for sale.

The girls exchanged quick looks of confusion and wonder, they haven't seen this store before and didn't know the pony that ran it, before following the pink mare inside.

The four ponies stepped through the door that had a large window in the center with a gem on it proclaiming what was for sale if you couldn't tell already. Inside were many glass cases with rings, necklaces and bracelets with different jewels on it, with a large range of pricing to fit the needs of many.

As a light purple earth pony with a light blue mane stepped out from the back room, the girls couldn't help but notice his mini-binocular glasses and all wondered how he could see anything in them.

“How can I help you today?” Karat asked while eying the fillies before him, unsure what such young ponies would want in a jewelry store.

Pinkie Pie also looked to the girls but with a grin, it was their gems that they were here for and she felt it was something the girls had to do for themselves.

After a quick glance between the three of them, Scootaloo stepped up and looked at the older stallion.

“Hi, we would like to exchange some gems we found for bits please.” Scootaloo tried to sound professional and stern, wanting to be sure they were taken seriously.

Karat raised a brow, unsure of the kind of gems such young girls would be able to find, but decided to humor them anyways.

“I can do exchanges, but the rate all depends on the quality of the gems being exchanged.” Karat adjusted his glasses and looked expectantly to the young fillies who grinned at one another before bringing their bags to the front.

They dumped their bags onto the glass counter, revealing the fifteen different jewels they had found in the mountains. Karat looked slightly impressed with the find, none of the gems were broken or fractured; and Pinkie Pie was proud of the Crusaders, since they found such a good haul by themselves.

After ten long minutes during which the older stallion looked at each gem before setting it into a pile on the side, they began the long process of bargaining of prices. The earth pony and unicorn knew that their friend was able to remain steadfast about getting the better deal, and left most of the discussion to her.

Pinkie Pie sat back, watching the whole thing with a large grin on her face as Scootaloo wagered with the jeweler.

They finally settled on the price of seven hundred and fifty bits and hooves were shaken to finalize the deal. While Karat went into the bag room to get the bits, the Crusaders shared a moment of joyful squeals and hopping up and down at the amount they got for their hard work.

After Karat came back with the bits, the Crusaders tried to contain their extreme joy to seem professional. They split the giant amount of bits into their saddlebags and left the store with the happy pink mare following behind them.

“Ah can't believe ya got us so much Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom smiled at the orange peagasus who waved a hoof bashfully back.

“Yeah! Now we can do lots more things!” Sweetie Belle added a little shrilly, excited at the chance for more adventuring.

“Aw, it was nothing you guys. Hey Pinkie Pie, where you going now?” Scootaloo looked at the older mare as she was just about to hop off.

“Well, unless you needed something else, I was going to head over to Twilight's. We're baking today!” Pinkie pie had a large grin on her face at the thought, the studious mare was slowly getting better at cooking and didn't burn most of what was being made nowadays.

The Crusaders shared a look of surprise; they didn't know that Twilight could cook, having assumed that the residential dragon took care of that part.

“Well, we wanted tah give ya back yer bits that ya used to help us pay fer the tools. Thanks fer always helping us, Pinkie Pie.” Apple Bloom stated as they pulled out a hundred and fifty bits from their bags; Big Mac's tools had cost a lot since he had pro-tools to keep up with the constant needs of a thriving but slightly run down farm.

Pinkie Pie was a little surprised, she didn't realized the girls were going to try and pay her back.

“Oh, well thanks! But are you sure you don't need the bits for something else? I make enough just fine, you didn't have to pay me back.” The pink mare was hesitant to take the bits from the young fillies, one never knew when they may need bits to cover something else that goes wrong.

“We'll be just fine, we still have a lot left and we can always go and earn more as well as our Cutie Marks!” Sweetie Belle reassured the party mare as they pushed the pile of bits her way.

Pinkie Pie raised a brow at the girls as she took a hold of the offered bits and put it into her mane. After trying to think if there was really a way to get out of them paying her back, she realized it just meant that they were growing up and standing on their own four hooves. She grinned and nodded rapidly at the fillies before her.

“Thanks girls! Good luck on any other adventuring you are planning for the day! You've got to tell me about how you beat the Diamond Dogs later, ok?” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked concerned while Sweetie Belle just shrugged.

“It's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.” Sweetie Belle stated as they all turned to head back to their clubhouse. They nodded resolutely and went to split up the remaining bits amongst themselves in a secured location.

Once they were in their clubhouse once more, they made another pile in the center of the room made of bits this time.

“Alright, we have six hundred bits left. We can split it evenly between us, it's perfect!” Scootaloo hoof pumped, excited at the prospect of not having to worry about bits for a few weeks.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom shared a look of concern for their last friend, and without speaking knew what the other had planned. They both scrambled to split the pile up rapidly before Scootaloo got a chance to touch anything.

Scootaloo sat back surprised at the sudden rush of movement and didn't notice how the two others put three hundred bits into Scootaloo's bags while giving themselves only a hundred fifty. They knew they didn't need the bits like the peagasus and had a more reliable way to get more if it came to it (by way of their sisters).

Once three sets of saddlebags were filled, the two friends sat back down and looked towards the other who raised a brow at their antics.

“Finished sorting? You know, I could have helped.” Scootaloo crossed her hooves as she looked at her friends, wondering what that whole thing was about.

“Oh, well, ah, we jus' wanted tah get it done fer ya, since it was yer idea and all.” Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her head as she looked sheepishly towards the unicorn who looked blankly back.

“Umm, yeah. What she said.” Scootaloo gave up trying to get a straight answer out of her friends and picked up her saddlebags, which were oddly heavy.

“Alright, well, whatever. Were we going to do anything else today?” Scootaloo asked as she stood and turned towards the door.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shook their heads 'no' rapidly and Scootaloo took her leave of the clubhouse and went to her secret hide-out.

Once the peagasus was out, the other two sighed in relief at how they had escaped further questioning. They decided to stash half of the remaining bits in case something else happened during their adventuring and dug near the base of the tree house.

After that task was done, they went their separate ways to hide the bits they had left at home.

Chapter 8 Learning Self-Defense and First Aid

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“Before we go anywhere else, I say we go and learn some Kung Fu.” Sweetie Belle resolutely stated as she and Apple Bloom sat in middle of their Clubhouse, waiting for their last friend to arrive before starting the day's adventures.

“Yeah, Ah guess so. Scootaloo sure won't mind havin' tah learn from Rainbow Dash.” Apple Bloom shrugged just as the peagasus in question walked through the door.

“Who wouldn't want to learn from Rainbow Dash? She's awesome!” Her two friends looked over and saw that the orange filly was loaded down with stuffed saddlebags and packs on her back, weighting her down and making her sound a little breathless.

It was actually amazing that she had gotten into the Clubhouse at all, barely squeezing through the doorway with all the things she was carrying.

“Scootaloo! What's going on?” Sweetie Belle asked as she and Apple Bloom rushed over to help unpack everything.

“Yeah, ya look like yer movin'. This gots tah be everythin' ya own.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle picked up the extra packs on the peagasus' back, allowing Scootaloo to stand up straighter and not practically drag along the ground.

“This isn't everything. I got the rest in the wagon with my scooter outside.” Scootaloo panted as she took off the remaining packs.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle just had enough time to share a confused and concerned look before Scootaloo slumped onto the ground and asked a question of her own.

“Guys, would it be ok if I stayed in the Clubhouse for the rest of the summer?”

“Sure it would! That's what it's here fer, in case we need someplace tah stay.” Apple Bloom waved to her friends reassuringly as she looked a little worried for why Scootaloo would suddenly need to use the Clubhouse all summer long.

“Let's get the rest o' yer stuff put away first, then yer'll have tah explain what's goin' on.”

“Alright.” Scootaloo gave a small sigh, knowing that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were both rather stubborn and wasn't looking forward to having to explain what happened.

Scootaloo had been correct in saying there was more in the wagon, all three fillies were weighed down with stuff as they helped move everything to the Clubhouse; though it only took one trip to get everything up, with each girl taking as much as they could in one setting. After putting most of the packs into the attic (which Apple Bloom promised herself to expand in the next few days) the girls all sat down in the main room of the tree house to talk.

“Alright, what's goin' on Scootaloo.” Apple Bloom demanded as Sweetie Belle leaned forward to better hear what was going to be said.

“Yeah, it looks like you emptied all your hideouts in a hurry. It's amazing you got it all to fit like you did.” Sweetie Belle added as Scootaloo huffed and crossed her hooves.

“We should look into Crusading away from Ponyville more often.” Scootaloo stated as she stared at the wall, unwilling to look at her friends who still didn't know everything about her past which was part of her current problems.

“Huh? Now, not that Ah'd mind, but why'd we have tah avoid Ponyville?” The earth pony and unicorn tilted their heads to the right in confusion as Scootaloo sighed, feeling as though she might as well get it over with.

“Because of the Hudson Orphanage ponies. Hannigan, the 'care-taker' of the orphanage, sent out the older orphan ponies to collect all the runaways. Seems like she's getting a review from the Manehatten Social Workers and she needs to show that she has everything under control, starting with having all the orphans that she's been saying that she has.” The others' eyes widened at this news and they ran to shut the door and windows quickly.

“How'd ya know all that Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked as she made sure nopony was nearby before shutting the door.

“Yeah, and was the orphanage really all that bad?” Sweetie Belle asked as she sat next to the orange peagasus.

“Yeah, it was real bad. It's a hard knocked life, no cares for you a smidge when you're in an orphanage. One of the older orphan ponies is sympathetic towards us younger ones and let me go, though she said if I got caught again she'd have to take me back.” Scootaloo's eyes were unfocused as she remembered what her life had been like before she ran away.

The two friends grew concerned once more at the faraway look in the peagasus' eyes and decided to fall back onto what they knew best, crusading for their Cutie Marks.

“Well, we can do today's crusadin' inside; like our martial arts cutie marks, we can go visit Rainbow Dash inside the Dojo and we'll find some other inside ones tah do.” Apple Bloom sat on Scootaloo's other side, happy to see her friend come back from her memories at the sound of her hero's name. Once Scootaloo nodded her consent, Sweetie Belle pulled out the three cloaks they had used at the talent show that were stashed in the attic.

“We'll all wear disguises, nopony will notice us if we all wear them. And we'll ask Fluttershy to see if she could find Rainbow Dash for us, so we won't be wondering all over town looking for her.” The greenish-yellow and orange fillies perked up at these suggestions, this would help avoid detection for sure!

Once they were properly dressed, they snuck out of their Clubhouse and headed into town. Along the way out of the farm, they came across a light orange earth pony with a tool box resting on her back who was also heading into town.

The fillies wanted to see how well they could sneak and tried to get past the farm pony without notice, but Applejack caught sight of them within moments and called out to them.

“Apple Bloom! What are y'all doin' with black cloaks on in the middle of summer?” Applejack demanded as she stood in front of the trio, concerned as to what they would need to wear cloaks for in the mid-morning heat.

“How'd ya know it was us?”Apple Bloom asked as she threw back her hood, the others following along soon after.

“Well shoot, Ah knew it was y'all 'cause we don't got another three fillies who travel together around these parts.” Applejack raised a brow at her younger sister, knowing she was dodging her question.

After a few minutes of standing there, scuffing their hooves and not looking into piercing green eyes, Applejack gave them one last chance to come clean before she would have to get serious.

“Apple Bloom...”

“Sneaking!” Sweetie Belle suddenly cried, drawing all eyes to her.

“We're trying to earn our Sneaking Cutie Marks on our way to town.” This sounded reasonable (and less likely to get them into trouble) so the others nodded along. Since they were sneaking around, this wasn't technically a lie so Applejack couldn't find fault with them, though she had the feeling that it wasn't everything they were going to do that day.

“Alright, but if Ah hear about somepony being scared, teased or what have ya by some ponies in black capes...” Applejack trailed off threateningly as she looked each filly in the eye.

“We won't do anything like that...” droned the three fillies as they tried to not roll their eyes. What was the point of sneaking if you went and bother others who would then know that you were there?

As they all resumed their walk to town, the Crusaders far enough away that they could try to sneak, Apple Bloom felt the need to ask her sister what she was doing that morning much like the Crusaders had been asked.

“So Applejack, what'cha doin' with the tools? Somethin' wrong with 'em?” Apple Bloom asked, slowly becoming concerned that they had noticed the difference in tools from having been replaced.

Applejack just sighed, oblivious to her sister's sudden nervousness.

“Rarity needs a helping hoof around the boutique and she don't have any tools. Ah've offered tah help fer a short while.” At this, the young unicorn perked up and began to describe what her older sister had been complaining about lately.

“Oh, well, there's that painting she's always wanted to hang up, and the kitchen light has been on the blink and the bedroom door squeaks and one of the blinds won't come down straight and...” the gray-white unicorn continued to explain the entire way into town, blowing the girls' cover but at least distracting the older farm pony from what they were really planning and how nervous they were about being in town.

Applejack, for her part, just sighed once more with a shake of her head, it sounded like what Rarity would say and complain about. As they were only a block away from the boutique, the other two Crusaders knew they had to go and get Sweetie Belle to stop jabbering on; so they zipped up to either side of the unicorn and put a hoof across her back to get her attention.

“Oh, would you look at that. There's the boutique now, and we have to go this way. See ya Applejack.” Scootaloo said as she started to pull the unicorn away as Apple Bloom nodded along. Sweetie Belle looked at her two friends in slight confusion as they both smiled up at the farm pony.

“Yeah, we'll leave ya tah yer work and we'll mosey on tah tah... Sugarcube Corner! Yeah, so, ah, bye Sis'!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo directed Sweetie Belle by the hooves they had on her back and trotted away as Applejack watched with a smirk at their odd behavior and waved goodbye to the retreating fillies.

Once Applejack was out of sight, the Cutie Mark Crusaders went back to sneaking around, sticking to the shadows and heading out of town towards the notoriously shy pony's cottage.

The Crusaders made it through town without indecent, though there was an older (though not yet an adult) pony who was looking closely at all the young foals in town. They had a bad feeling about the gray coated with dark-blue mane earth pony, but it was Scootaloo's hiss of “Pepper!” that made them even more weary of her. They stayed clear of the pony and while most noticed the three cloaked figures, they were gone too quickly before coming under close scrutiny.

Just as they were at the edge of town a pony wearing all black with night vision goggles on appeared at their side.

“Pssst!” The pony hissed at them with a hoof the side of her mouth to direct the sound.

The trio gave small jumps of surprise and were about to dive for cover when the pony lifted her goggles, showing chipper blue eyes in a pink coated face.

“Who are we sneaking from? Or are you spies right now? Oh oh, can I be a spy with you?! I learned from the best of the best!”” Pinkie whispered to the cowering fillies, who had lifted their hoods a little to see the party mare better.

“Sssssh! We're sneaking, not spying and you'll blow our cover!” Scootaloo whispered back as she looked around to see if anypony noticed the four black dressed ponies talking in whispers. Pinkie glanced around as well and nodded subtly before fading into the shadows behind her with a wink.

The Crusaders stared at where she had disappeared and made a promise to themselves to learn how she did that. After a quick check that they were still relatively undiscovered, they continued on their way.

They made it to Fluttershy's without a hitch after meeting Pinkie Pie and knocked on her front door. After a minute, the door opened slightly as one teal eye looked out to see who it was; though upon seeing three hooded figures at her door, Fluttershy closed it rapidly with a squeak of fear.

The Crusaders shared an eye roll before lowering their hoods and knocking once more.

“Go away! Nopony here!” Came a frantic cry from inside the cottage.

“Fluttershy, it's only us, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo! We jus' want tah talk with ya!” Apple Bloom yelled back as Scootaloo glanced around nervously, worried that saying her name would bring Hannigan's orphan helpers to them.

“Yeah, we just need your help!” Sweetie Belle added as she knocked as well.

After a moment longer, the door creaked open slightly and the nervous mare checked that it really was the fillies; once she saw that it was indeed the Crusaders, Fluttershy opened the door completely and smiled down at them.

“Oh hello girls, I didn't recognize you. Why are you wearing those cloaks?” Fluttershy asked as she stepped back to allow the girls' entry.

Once the cream-yellow peagasus closed the door behind them, Scootaloo gave a small sigh of relief at being inside away from prying eyes and took charge once more.

“We need to find Rainbow Dash so she can teach us martial arts!” Scootaloo said as she struck a pose with her friends nodding beside her.

Fluttershy was unsure if this was a good idea, or even if Rainbow Dash knew any martial arts aside from what was in the movies, but decided to humor them all the same. Rainbow Dash wouldn't let anything happen to the girls and so long as they were being watched while they practiced, it should be fine. She nodded once and looked at the girls who sat in her living room without taking off their cloaks.

“Alright girls, let's go find Rainbow Dash.” As Fluttershy turned to go, she heard a small cough and some shuffling from the trio.

“Well, ah, we were hopin' ya could find her fer us and bring her here.” Apple Bloom nervously said as she peered up at the peagasus.

“Yeah, see, um, we're trying to earn our...” Sweetie Belle trailed off, unsure how to cover it up.

“Spy Cutie Marks but if it doesn't work, we'll try for martial arts ones.” Scootaloo covered for the unicorn, leaping on the excuse given to them by Pinkie Pie of all ponies.

Fluttershy gave a small frown, unsure if being spies was such a good idea but so long as nopony got hurt...

“Alright. I'll be right back, so please no crusading while I'm out ok?”

“Yes Fluttershy.” The trio promised, glad to have a place to hide in while they waited.

After the timid flier left to find her oldest friend, the trio of fillies sat down in the middle of Fluttershy's living room. It was getting warm under the cloaks and they figured it was safe enough inside the cottage, so they took off their disguises with relieved sighs.

“Whew, mah sister was right; sure is hot in those in th' middle of summer.” Apple Bloom wiped at her brow as the others nodded along. In an attempt to keep from playing or crusading in Fluttershy's house, they discussed the plan of action for the next few days.

“Now Scootaloo, ya can stay at the Clubhouse as long as ya need. If ya want, we can all stay there and make it like ah long sleepover.” Apple Bloom added as she saw the orange filly's guilty look at using the Clubhouse for such a personal problem.

Scootaloo felt bad about having to rely on her friends for help, she was getting used to being on her own and having to deal with her problems by herself; though it did feel nice to know that there were others who cared about what happened to her and were willing to help.

“Yeah! And then we could go take a trip outside of Ponyville with nopony noticing if we come back right away or not. And it's summer vacation, so we don't have to worry about school either.” Sweetie Belle said excitedly as she sat up straighter while looking towards the others.

Scootaloo began to smile at the thought of her friends helping her to hide out and their willingness to do some crusading outside of town, making it easier to avoid Hannigan's ponies and stay free of the orphanage.

They got through their serious talk and moved on to what kinds of things they could try while on their trips just in time as the older mares arrived shortly at the cottage after that discussion. Rainbow Dash was able to just barely wait for Fluttershy to let her in and zoomed over to hover over the trio once inside.

“Hey squirts. I heard somepony wants to learn some awesome Rainbow Dash Martial Arts?” The cyan pony asked with a smirk as she crossed her fore-hooves while Fluttershy settled down nearby to watch.

“You bet!” Scootaloo shouted as she hovered for a few seconds with a large grin on her face. Her friends also grinned, happy to see their peagasus friend in high spirits once more.

“Alright, come with me and I'll show you the true martial arts master at work! The Dojo is in town, so try to keep up, ok?” Rainbow Dash flew to the door and looked over her shoulder at the trio who hurriedly put their cloaks back on and ran to keep up with the speedster.

Rainbow Dash paused outside of the shier mare's cottage at the sight of the three cloaked figures and recalled how Fluttershy said something about that when she found the speedster, who had been taking a nap before then. She flew down and landed in front of them.

“Hey, what’s with the black robe-thingies? I'm not cool enough to be seen with?” Rainbow Dash asked with a fore-hoof to her chest as she looked at the crusaders, curious as to what they were doing and why.

“Oh, no, that's not it Rainbow Dash! It's uhm, it's -” Scootaloo tried to remember their cover but was worried about upsetting her idol when Sweetie Belle cut in.

“We're trying to see if sneaking is our special talent!” All three cloaked heads nodded rapidly while Rainbow Dash scratched at her chin for a moment before shrugging and taking for the open skies once more, she had seen weirder things from the local party pony and sneaking around for a special talent wasn't all that unusual compared to some of the things Pinkie Pie came up with.

Though the Crusaders did lose sight of the rainbow-maned peagasus for a moment while they sneaked back into town, Apple Bloom remembered where the Dojo was and was able to get them there in no time.

The three fillies managed to avoid being spotted and arrived only a minute or so after the speedster, who was waiting with little patience at the doorway. She was standing up against the wall with her fore-hooves crossed as she tapped her right hoof against the other as she looked around for the girls. Once she noticed the three hooded figures coming from the shadows, she frowned a little as she turned to face them.

“What took you guys so long? I was here in ten seconds!” Rainbow Dash asked as she landed back onto all fours once more.

“Oh, sorry Rainbow Dash; we were, we were trying to earn our Sneaking Cutie Marks.” Scootaloo said as she fidgeted in place, worried about annoying her hero and getting caught.

Rainbow Dash frowned for a little longer before shrugging and heading inside. “Alright, well, let's get started.”

The others were ecstatic and as soon as the Dojo's doors closed behind them they threw off their cloaks and lined up in front of the cyan peagasus in single file on the tatami mats. They couldn't keep still nor hide how excited they were to learn martial arts from the heroic pony.

Rainbow Dash noticed this and felt a little better about having been kept waiting; she put on her baseball cap and whistle from where she had stashed them after Apple Bloom's first attempt at martial arts. She walked up and down the line of fillies and tried to look intimidating and impressive before starting her speech that she had thought up while waiting for the girls.

“So you want to learn the art of self-defense? The way of the Martial Artists? From the most awesome flier in Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked at each filly.

“YES!” They cried as one, excited to learn.

“It WON'T be easy! A martial artist needs to be tougher than tough, willing to go to any lengths to train your body and mind to learn the awesome style of Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow Dash said as she stood resolutely in front of the girls who looked back at her in awe at the description of martial arts they would be learning that day.

“That's so cool!” Scootaloo jumped up a little, thrilled to be learning from the peagasus.

“Wow!!!” Sweetie Belle was amazed, the older mare made it sound very cool.

Apple Bloom was just as excited as the other two, even if she wouldn't be getting a cutie mark since she already tried to learn martial arts, and nodded rapidly with a grin.

For the next two hours the girls worked with the older peagasus, learning various kicks, chops and holds of 'Awesome Martial Arts', as taught by the most awesome pony around. While Rainbow Dash may not have actual training, she had watched lots of martial arts films and did lots of practicing on her own, which combined with her natural agility and talent meant that she made the 'Awesome Martial Arts' work pretty well for herself.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, on the other hoof, did not do so well; they may have gained a little balance from some of their previous adventures as well as being in actual combat, but that didn't mean they could suddenly do martial arts. They tried hard and weren't that badly hurt even after their first few failures to do the moves properly; they still continued to practice no matter the pain.

Rainbow Dash was actually rather impressed with the girls, they didn't stop trying. Even as Sweetie Belle knocked the sandbag over on top of herself, Apple Bloom toppled the wooden training pole over onto herself and the others who were waiting their turn to try, or Scootaloo flew into the wall after trying to land a hit on the cyan mare in a mock battle, they still tried to keep going.

After a while though, Rainbow Dash knew that she had to call it a day. Sure, the fillies weren't badly bloodied and were still standing upright, they now had a collection of bumps and bruises from trying to learn martial arts and Rainbow Dash could almost feel Fluttershy's disapproving eyes on her at the state of the girls' health.

“Uhm, alright girls, I guess it didn't really work out... Uh, how about we stop by Fluttershy's real quick before you get to any other plans for the day?” Rainbow Dash asked while trying to appear nonchalant, the girls being so enthusiastic about what they've learned that they didn't notice how Rainbow Dash seemed to look each of them over and flinched at each injury they got during practice.

Since the cyan peagasus was indeed a quick mare and couldn't help but try to save others, she had managed to prevent the accidents from getting worse than they were. This did not mean that she was able to prevent them from happening, a lot of the time she was stunned at how badly the Crusaders seemed to do that she only realized they were going to get hurt after the fact had happened. Rainbow Dash knew she would have to make sure absolutely nothing was wrong with the fillies before she would feel at ease about the day's activities and the best way was by going to the one pony who knew her best.

“Sure, then how 'bout we git ourselves fixed up afterwards. We don't want anypony to wonder what happened tah us.” Apple Bloom said to the others who nodded at the idea, they wouldn't want to draw attention to themselves when they haven't even done anything yet.

“Thanks Rainbow Dash, that was an awesome lesson! I can't wait for next time!” Scootaloo said as the three put their cloaks back on before heading out of the Dojo.

“Yeah, that was really cool! Even if we didn't get our cutie marks, it was really interesting.” Sweetie Belle said as she hopped in place for a moment before following the others out.

“Wait, next time? You still want to do more martial arts?” Rainbow Dash dropped down from hovering over the fillies to being in front of them, unsure if it was a good idea for them to continue learning Kung Fu.

“Yeah, it was amazing! We learned lots!” Scootaloo yelled as she gazed up at her hero who seemed to only get cooler as time went on.

“Uh, ok. Well, I am an amazing teacher. But, let's get you guys patched up at Fluttershy's, you have to take care of your bodies if you want to be the best you can be.” Rainbow Dash flew over the girls as they all made their way to the cottage on the outskirts of town.

The cyan mare wanted to get there at the same time as the Crusaders so she could try and present the situation in a less shocking way to the timid peagasus, who would most likely feel faint of heart at the sight of the trio and not as forgiving towards the brash pony who allowed them to get that way.

Even with the extra 'sneaking' through town they did, which was counteracted by the hovering rainbow maned pony above them, they arrived at Fluttershy's home minutes later without running into anypony else. While the trio waited in front of the doors, Rainbow Dash knocked while calling out at the same time, knowing that the cream yellow mare would want to know who was at the door before opening it at all.

“Fluttershy! Open up, it's me, the most awesome of ponies and the squirts!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she knocked soundly on the door. In moments she heard movement and a timid voice calling back to her.

“Oh! Uhm, ok. I'm coming...! Hi girls, hello Rainbow Dash. How did the lessons go?” Fluttershy asked as she opened the door and stepped back to allow them space to enter inside.

“It went swell! We learned all sorts ah moves!” Apple Bloom attempted to demonstrate but the cloak made her already bad balance worse and she just fell over instead.

“Yeah, it was amazingly cool!” Scootaloo agreed as she and Sweetie Belle took off their cloaks while Fluttershy helped Apple Bloom stand back up and removed her cloak as well.

As Fluttershy got a clear look at the trio, she uttered a soft gasp of shock before giving a stern look towards the cyan peagasus who was hovering near the doorway. Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head nervously as she tried to smile and shrugged nonchalantly but Fluttershy wouldn't allow for it to be brushed off like it was nothing and continued to stare at the brash pony while she had Angel Bunny get the first aid kit from a nearby closet.

“Eh heh... uh, it's not as bad as it looks, promise! The girls were just really excited and went a little overboard at times, they aren't badly hurt! You know I would have help save them before they got really hurt.” Rainbow Dash stated as she landed onto the ground and stepped closer, trying to convey that she wasn't irresponsible while watching little foals to her longtime friend.

Fluttershy sighed and stopped sternly looking at her best friend, she knew that Rainbow Dash wouldn't let anything bad to happen to them if she could help it; the timid peagasus also recalled how energetic the trio were during their first sleepover at her cottage and knew that they could get carried away easily.

Fluttershy listened to Rainbow Dash's explanation of what happened while she gave some basic first aid to the girls; Dash had one thing right when she said they weren't that badly hurt and wouldn't really need to keep the bandages on for long. After getting the majority of the story from Rainbow Dash, she turned to the girls with another stern look.

“Now girls, you have to be careful when doing that kind of thing. Somepony could get really hurt and that kind of thing isn't fixed by some bandages and an ice-pack.” Fluttershy tried to convey the severity of what could have happened, which partially worked; it made the girls realize that they should learn some first aid in case something happened while they were out Crusading.

“Yes Fluttershy,” they droned before looking with interest at the first aid kit.

“Say Fluttershy, what's in the box?” Sweetie Belle asked as she peered inside.

“Yeah, and how did you know what to use for the different hurts?” Scootaloo asked as she looked at the bandages and ointments on the fillies that were placed to minimize and help relieve any pain they had received.

“And where could we git some fer ourselves?” Apple Bloom quarried, looking up at the cream yellow peagasus with curiosity.

“Oh, uhm....” Fluttershy looked to Rainbow Dash who had sat down next to her while she fixed up the trio before looking back at the curious fillies after the speedster had given a shrug of ignorance at how to respond to such a question.

“I went to the general store for the wraps and bandages. I, well, I make the ointment on my own from the herbs in my garden and ones brought to me by my friends who live in the forest,” the timid mare stated as the trio began to tap their hooves to their chins in thought of how to get the same kind of basic kit together for themselves.

“Would you want me to make you a first aid kit for yourselves?” Fluttershy offered, hoping that perhaps this way she could tell if they were doing too many dangerous things or if they were using it improperly by constantly coming for refills on the various components.

The Crusaders cheered up quickly at the thought of not having to track down and make their own kit and nodded rapidly at the offer.

“Thanks Fluttershy!”

“Oh, it's nothing girls...” Fluttershy walked over to her closet where she kept her spare kits and gave it to the girls, who then threw their cloaks back on quickly and ran out the door.

“Thanks again Fluttershy! We gotta go now, we'll see you later!”

“Yeah, thank you Fluttershy! And thanks for the lessons Rainbow Dash, they were awesome, we can't wait for the next one!”

“Don't worry, we'll take really good care of ourselves Fluttershy, and we'll see ya later Rainbow Dash fer more lessons. Bye!”

The trio ran all the way back to their Clubhouse to practice a bit more on their own before settling in for the extended sleepover; excited at the prospect of all the new things they would see and do outside of Ponyville, with some self-defense training and a first aid kit just in case something went wrong.

The two older mares looked on in shock for a moment longer after the rapid departure before laughing at the Crusaders' usual antics. Rainbow Dash was almost as quick in her own departure as she went to resume her nap and Fluttershy began her afternoon rounds of checking her animals.

Chapter 9 A hard knocked life at Hudson Orphanage, Manehatten

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A/N: This is not essential to read, just a short backstory for the peagasus that would help clarify why she doesn't want to go back to the orphanage. Read at your own pleasure.

The trio was back in the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse, a little roughed up from their latest adventure and ready to spend the rest of the day not doing much of anything. The earth pony and unicorn sat facing their peagasus friend, waiting for her to explain what her previous living situation was like.

Scootaloo sighed and got comfortable on the ground, it was going to be painful to remember.

“Alright, I'll try and make this short and not so bitter.” Scootaloo began when she was cut off by Sweetie Belle.

“No no, make it long and not so sweet!” She stomped a hoof as Apple Bloom nodded, they wanted details not a two sentence explanation; Scootaloo sensed what they meant and sighed again.

“Alright, alright... So, long ago, my family was in an accident. I don't remember much of it, I was a really little filly; I think I was two or three years old, I can't remember. Well, no one else made it and I didn't know if I had any other family so they took me to the nearest orphanage which was in Manehatten; the Hudson Orphanage under the watch of Hannigan, a pony who seemed nice to grown-ups but is mean to little foals.

“I was in that orphanage for four years, I know this for a fact because Hannigan wouldn't let us forget how long we were a blight to her. We never had enough to eat, everything we had was extremely used and we never had fun. We were forced to clean the dump until it shined like the top of the Chrysler Building.

“When we weren't doing all the chores in the place and still needed 'exercise', she'd take us into the side alley that was blocked off at both ends, with the only way in or out was going through the orphanage, where we'd march in a circle. The top was encased with mesh wires so if you did know how to fly, you couldn't get out. She had us recite how much we 'loved her', so that when asked we'd say that so she wouldn't get into trouble, the drunk.” Scootaloo stared off into the distance as the old memories came back.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom jumped up and tackle hugged their friend, bringing her back from her past.

“Ifin' it was so bad, why didn't more of ya try tah escape? How did ya get away?” Apple Bloom asked as she nuzzled one side of the orange peagasus while Sweetie Belle did the same on the other side. Scootaloo gave in and hugged her friends back as she took a steadying breath.

“We were beaten anytime anypony tried to escape and most were caught and brought back and beaten the most. Soon I couldn't take it anymore and escaped through a window near the top of the ceiling. It was hard to get to, I had to half-fly half-climb up and if I had been any bigger I wouldn't have fit. I flew onto the mesh in covering the ally and used it to get to the outside. I then ran away under the cover of darkness; I was extremely careful and quiet, Hannigan never heard me leave.

“I knew the city wasn't safe, I'd just be taken back right away so I hid on the first train out of the city and stayed on it until it came to a stop much much later. I had arrived at Ponyville; first few months I just hid out on the edge of town but then one day Derpy Hooves found me.” The others gave nods of acknowledgment; Derpy was a very friendly mare and liked little foals.

“We worked things out and she helped me get the delivery job. That's about it.” Scootaloo shrugged as the others released her and sat right next to each other.

Sweetie Belle tilted her head as she looked at the peagasus.

“Why don't you become a family with Derpy?” The orange filly waved the suggestion off.

“Nah, I like living on my own. Besides, if it doesn't work then Hannigan will know where to find me. Better that I just make it on my own than worry about having to move all over Equestria because I wanted a 'family'...” Scootaloo looked out the window, trying to not picture what it was like to actually have parents who would care for her. Suddenly she was subjugated to another hugging session as her friends tried to cheer her up.

“Ya got ah family. Us, we're family; we'll never leave ya Scootaloo, promise.” Apple Bloom gave Scootaloo a squeeze before sitting back once more as Sweetie Belle also promised to never leave the peagasus hanging and without family.

“Yeah, we'll be the best family ever!”

Scootaloo gave a small smile before deciding that it was enough sappy stuff.

“Alright, alright. So you heard my sappy story, now how about those s'mores?” At the mention of the snack the others cheered and all three ran to make a fire and have a little cookout to start off their much longer sleepover, wanting to put the past behind them and set out for a better future, together.

Chapter 10 Canterlot, city of snobs and nobles!

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Like they had planned the previous day, the Cutie Mark Crusaders would start taking trips to places outside of Ponyville to avoid detection of orphan catchers. They spent the rest of their day figuring out the best place to start with and came up with an answer, Canterlot.

They choose Canterlot since it was only two hours away and their sisters and friends were always talking about it; they said that it was a nice, friendly and clean city to visit, the ideal place to go for their first trip outside of town. But first they had to get out of town without being noticed, meaning that they will have to pack lightly.

“Sweetie Belle, somepony is going to notice us if we travel with a mountain of bags!” Scootaloo face-hoofed as Sweetie Belle tried to bring her ten bags full of clothing and personal items into the Clubhouse where Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had been planning on how to get onto the train without detection.

Sweetie Belle looked from her pile of baggage to her two friends confusedly until she noticed that they didn't have anything with them aside from their saddlebags and their capes that draped over the bags, hiding them from view.

“Oh, I guess we wouldn't need a lot since it's only for a day huh?” The others nodded as Sweetie Belle scrapped a hoof along the floor with a sheepish smile before nodding along as well.

Together they pushed the baggage to the side to be put back later and packed lightly with their saddlebags full of food, bits and some first aid supplies in case anything happened.

Once they were ready, they snuck around the edge of Ponyville to get to the train station since Pepper seemed to know that one of her targets stayed near the town. Aside from the threat of being taken back to the orphanage, having the older orphan around meant that Scootaloo couldn't make any deliveries, costing her the only means of self-sufficiency she had. The orange peagasus was holding out the hope that by traveling they would either draw Pepper away from Ponyville or perhaps earn some bits elsewhere.

The girls had left early in the morning, so there wasn't anypony awake to see them leave making it easier to sneak around. They were only going for a day to see if their absence would be noticed or not, they didn't want to leave for a long time and get into so much trouble for it that they can't do so again ever.

Luckily the early morning train to Canterlot was very much empty and only cost two bits for the trip there. They found a private booth in case anypony did join them on the train, they wouldn't want to run into anyone from town who would turn around and tell their sisters/parents about it.

The whole train ride was spent in excitement of the sights of Canterlot and the things they could try to do. They had a goal of trying three different things to possibly earn their cutie marks as bankers, announcers or giving tours of museums, unless they came across something else they'd want to try as well.

They did try to be train conductors, but All Aboard was firm in his declining of their help.

Once they arrived the trio couldn't help but stare in awe of the city before them. It had been a long two hour trip filled with anticipation after stepping off onto the platform, spent a moment to stare at the large cities before them.

“Now that's ah city! The Koopahs have nothin' on this place!” Apple Bloom stated in wonder as the other two nodded their heads in agreement, their jaws slightly opened in amazement of size of the buildings and the quality of it all.

They snapped out of their stupor at the same time, giving their heads firm shakes before nodding at one another and heading into the city. While the Koopa Kingdom had made the girls feel small and insignificant, Canterlot made them feel doubly so; it also didn't help that a lot of the citizens seemed to be unicorn nobles who had their noses so high into the air that the Crusaders wondered how they could see anything.

Just as the girls were getting really discouraged by all the snobs' reaction to them, they came across a group of young unicorns and earth ponies who seemed to be picking on another unicorn. The trio walked up and the conversation came to a jarring halt as the two groups eyed each other.

The Canterlot group was made up of two unicorns and two earth ponies; one unicorn was a light pale-blue with dark-navy mane and a five-pointed star as a cutie mark, and the other was pale-green with forest-green mane and a with a pair of binoculars for a cutie mark, while the earth ponies were gray with forest-green mane with a large bag of bits as a cutie mark and the other was pale-yellow with purple mane, who didn't seem to have a cutie mark.

They seemed to be picking on a pale-pink unicorn with two-tone pink mane who was also a blank flank, though the girls weren't sure if that was the reason they were picking on her.

The Canterlot ponies weren't sure of what to make of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, with their hoof-sewn capes, worn saddlebags and blank flanks that all but screamed country-town to the snobbish ponies.

“What are y'all arguin' 'bout?” Apple Bloom demanded as they noticed how the pink unicorn was crouching fearfully from the others.

The city ponies flinched from the country accent that only affirmed their disdain for the trio.

“Nothing that concerns you country folk.” The light pale blue unicorn snubbed as he looked at the original target once more.

“While I admit that you are slightly above these ruffians, you still are not a proper Canterlot noble. But if you put these uncouth little foals in their place, you will be heading into the right direction.” The pale green unicorn stated while eying the Crusaders with distaste.

The pale pink unicorn looked a little surprised but before she could say anything Sweetie Belle cut in shrilly.

“What? That's a mean thing to say and we haven't done anything to you!” The city ponies (aside from the target of the bullying) all flinched at the shrillness of her response and stared at the trio with annoyance in their gaze.

“Yeah, everypony was born equal!” Scootaloo began to say before she was cut off with a rude laugh.

“You're uneducated as well. We're nobles, born with a higher rank, authority and responsibility than you peasants; though some need to be reminded of their place.” The gray earth pony colt glared at the pink unicorn as he said this, who crouched down lower.

The last filly didn't seem so sure of everything being said but remained silent least she became the new target; until she saw the indignation on the three Crusaders' faces causing her to think about everything being said.

“That's the silliest thing Ah've ever heard in mah life! And we live in the same town as Pinkie Pie!” Apple Bloom gave the city ponies a glare as she stood next to the pink pony, the others joining the united front against the bullies.

“Who?” The pale-blue unicorn asked with a slight raise of his brow while he still managed to have his nose in the air at the same time.

“A very good friend of ours, who's much nicer than you! Let's go girls!” Sweetie Belle turned on her hooves and started to walk away with her own nose in the air. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo followed along with small 'hmphs' of their own before all three stopped as they looked at the pink unicorn.

“Ya comin'? Ya don' have tah stick with these here snobs.” Apple Bloom tilted her head curiously as they all wore inviting grins.

The unicorn smiled back hesitantly as she nodded slowly and trotted over to the trio. All four fillies turned away together and 'hmph'd while sticking their noses high into the air and walked away.

The Canterlot nobles were shocked at the treatment and began to mutter angrily with each other, except for the pale-yellow filly who was staring at the retreating figures before turning to the raining nobles with a scowl.

“If we are such great nobles, we should treat those of other rank with respect and care for their wellbeing, in order to set a good example. You three are not proper nobles, good day to you.” The pale-yellow filly left the snobs in a shocked silence as she ran to catch up to the Crusaders and their new friend.

The fillies held their snobbish acts until they were a block and a half away when they all broke out laughing at each other's act and the shock they had caused. Just as they managed to slow their laughter and attempt to talk, they heard somepony calling out to them.

“A moment, if you please!” The four turned to find the pale-yellow noble who stopped next to them and was trying to catch her breath while four pairs of eyebrows rose up, remembering the filly as one of the four noble bullies from before.

“I wish to apologize. That was not the proper way to act to anypony. I'm also sorry for your treatment Sweet Success, it wasn't very proper either.” The pale-yellow earth pony bowed her head briefly to each in the group as she apologized, after which the four girls' expressions cleared of any doubt or suspicion into grins.

“Well shoot, that's mighty kind of ya tah find us and say all that. Mah name's Apple Bloom,” Apple Bloom stated with a nod, Scootaloo cutting in at that point.

“And I'm Scootaloo!”

“And I'm Sweetie Belle! What're your names?” Sweetie Belle chimed in as the three Crusaders looked at the two city ponies. They grinned back and introduced themselves.

“I'm Sweet Success.” The pink unicorn said as she turned towards the yellow earth pony.

“And I'm Golden Exchange.”

“Those are pretty cool names. Do you know all the sights around here? We're visiting for the day and we don't know our way around.” Scootaloo said as the three looked up at the nearby buildings. Sweet Success nodded slowly as Golden Exchange tilted her head in thought.

“Sure we can give you guys a tour. What are you looking for? Anything in particular?” Golden Exchange asked, watching the Cutie Mark Crusaders in amusement as they all shouted 'yay!' together.

“We wanna try tah be tour guides!” Apple Bloom stated before being pushed over a little by Sweetie Belle.

“And bankers!” Scootaloo then pushed Sweetie Belle aside as she put in her two bits.

“And announcers!” The two Canterlot ponies were amused at how the Crusaders were getting excited over rather mundane things.

“How would you be tour guides? Wouldn't you have to know about the museum first? And who would you give the tour to?” Sweet Success asked with a smile, she had a feeling that the day was going to be very interesting.

“Pssht. If you've see one museum, you've seen them all! We'll be fine, show us the nearest museum and we'll prove it!” Scootaloo waved a dismissive hoof while the other Crusaders nodded along.

Sweet Success and Golden Exchange shared a look of mild surprise at the boast and shrugged before turning and leading the way to the nearest museum, which happened to be one of the largest in the city.

“This is the largest museum in the city, home to-” Golden Exchange began to explain when she was cut off by Apple Bloom who waved a hoof to get her attention.

“Whoa nelly! We're the tour guides, we'll take over from here! This here is the largest museum in th' city, home tah lots of pieces of art. Uhm, let's head inside now.” The three fillies led their new friends inside the three storied museum, which had walls that were off-white in color so that they pieces of art would stand out the most.

It was full of large ionic columns and had arched ceilings and door frames, not that the Crusaders could tell the difference. The first floor was of masonry works and other art made from heavy material, the second full of the lighter material art and the top floor full of paintings.

As the five young ponies entered the lobby, the Cutie Mark Crusaders began to wave vaguely to everything around them.

“And this is the entrance... with nice big fancy looking doorways.” Scootaloo squinted at the sight, trying to find anything else to mention.

“Alright, this is the first floor, full of rock statues? They are inside so that passing peagasi aren't distracted by their awesomeness and crash? Um, yeah, so this one looks like a pony with a bad hair day? And that one is a pony, uhm, floating in the air without wings? Yeaaahhh....” The group followed the orange filly who ran a continuous stream of bad explanations for the statues around them as Sweet Success and Golden Exchange tried to contain their laughter. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, on the other hoof, seemed bored at the displays and agreed with Scootaloo's description of the art around them.

Soon they reached the end of the first floor and Sweetie Belle took over the tour for the second floor that was filled with art made of other materials. As they walked up the stairs to the next floor, Scootaloo did a quick check to see if she earned anything only to find she was still without a cutie mark.

“Ok, and now we've come to the second floor of the museum, where it's more statues? But not made out of rocks, which look pretty weird... Ok, um, here is one that is made from wood, it's a fish? Swimming in the wood? And this one is, ah, glass with a picture of peagasi, earth ponies and unicorns floating around? Um, over here is...” Sweetie Belle's tour was filled with more confusion and tilting of heads was done by all as they realized that some of the art was pretty odd.

Sweet Success and Golden Exchange were really enjoying the tour, never having thought about all the art that way before and unlikely to see it properly again. Soon they came to the end of that floor and Apple Bloom took over, as Sweetie Belle checked her own flank to find it blank still.

“Alright y'all, now we're at the fancy paintings floor. This one shows a forest with the sun settin'. This one is a bunch of ponies at a picnic... There's six diamond dogs playing go fish.. Ah dunno ifin' this one is done, they got half the pony's face all done and is kindah squarish, so they'll come back tah that one Ah'm sure. This here is a paintin' of another forest? These ponies must ah lived near lots of forests. Ah, this here is a picture of timberwolves, though they got the eyes an' teeth wrong...” Apple Bloom mentioned as the other Cutie Mark Crusaders nodded along, causing confusion to the two other fillies.

“Wait, how would you know if the eyes and teeth are wrong? Have you ever seen one?” Golden Exchange raised a disbelieving brow; amusing as the 'tour' was, she wasn't going to stand for flat out dismissal of art simply because it was 'wrong'.

The three Crusaders shared a knowing look and agreed silently, they could trust these fillies with the truth; besides, what was the point of having cool adventures if they couldn't tell anypony?

“We have. We fought off three of them at once befor'. Them teeth ain't so sharp lookin' like a bear's, and we've meet Harry the Bear. And their eyes are an evil green, not red.” Apple Bloom stated as the others nodded along solemnly.

The Canterlot ponies were in shock, if what the Crusaders said was true, it was an amazing feat indeed especially considering that they were still fillies.

“... Wow! Tell us about that! I don't think you'll get your cutie marks in tour guides anyways.” Sweet Success said as gently as possible, fearing their reaction. The Crusaders merely sighed and nodded sadly.

“Yeah, we figured as much; but we had to give it a try. If you really want to hear about it, we could tell you on the way to the our next objective, announcers! Do you think we could try and announce for the derby?” Scootaloo asked with excitement in her eyes at possibly see Rainbow Dash's heroes, the Wonderbolts.

The two natives shrugged at one another before nodding to the Crusaders. The girls jumped in joy and began to regale their new friends with stories of their adventures so far as they walked through the city.

The tales sounded farfetched at times (Koopas, really?) but they were so earnest and detailed about it that the two city ponies were beginning to think it really happened. The story telling lasted until they reached the derby track, which was another thing that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were in awe of; there was nothing like it in Ponyville after all.

The derby was held on the edge of the mountain, surrounded by a stone wall preventing just anypony walking in and watching the race. There were two arched doorways; one was an exit while the other was guarded by a ticket booth leading inside.

As they were looking in from the outside, they realized the latest problem; they didn't have tickets to get inside. They waited in line for tickets as they talked about ways they could try and be official announcers. Golden Exchange and Sweet Success were trying to convince them that it was unlikely they could be announcers while the Cutie Mark Crusaders were trying to think of ways to sneak into the box. Just as the five fillies stepped up to buy their tickets, a sold out sign appeared over the booth as it shut loudly in their faces.

“What?!”

“Hey!”

“That's not fair!”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were shocked at the rudeness of the ticket seller, while the Canterlot ponies expected something like this. They explained how most ponies usually got their tickets in reserve long before the event itself as the line that had formed behind the five ponies dissipated. This fact only confused the Crusaders more, who would be able to reserve whatever ticket whenever they wanted? What about all the other ponies who would want to watch too? Soon though this took a backseat to their main concern, getting into the derby and being announcers!

“No way are we missing this derby! Come on girls, let's find another way in.” Scootaloo checked that the coast was clear before leading the trio along the outside of the stands, looking for a way in that wasn't covered by guards.

The city ponies gave each other raised eyebrows before following along at a slow trot; though when the Cutie Mark Crusaders saw that they weren't 'sneaking', they gave them light glares and motioned for the city ponies to also sneak along. Golden Exchange and Sweet Success tried not to laugh too much as they did as commanded, crouching lower and tip-hoofing along behind the more experienced sneakers.

The guards watched the fillies curiously until they continued to move along. As they passed the last guard who stopped watching them after they turned the corner, they jumped into a nearby bush which they then picked up and edged closer to the building while using it for cover. They found a small gap in the fence where it met the stand walls and squeezed through while leaving their bush there as cover for when they needed to get back out.

The derby was mostly stone stands with an important pony box at the very top, facing an open air track with clouds as a means of keeping the racers in place. The announcers' box was on the ground level as a means to see who was in the lead the easiest, along with a several microphones to help announce the race with extras for any guest speakers.

Just as everypony was getting ready for the upcoming races, the fillies slipped into the speaker box before the regular announcer could and locked the door behind them. The normal announcer came by not even a moment later and knocked trying to figure out who had locked the door.

“Who's in there? This is my announcer box, open this door!” The light brown pony knocked even more on the door, while the girls shared a moment of panic before Scootaloo answered as she deepened her voice to try and sound more like a grown-up.

“Oh, uh, I'm working this shift instead, the higher ups made the change. Gotta follow the boss' orders after all.” Scootaloo tried to convince the actual announcer to not cause a fuss about being locked out.

“Oh, why I never! I was told that they wanted me to come as a special announcer today!” The pony outside of the door continued while the girls gave each other more panicked looks.

“Welp, I just do as I'm told, and the boss wanted me to announce. Come back again later.” Scootaloo tried to sound more forceful, starting to get annoyed that the older pony wasn't giving up. Any more of this and the gig would be up, the race was supposed to start soon and if they spend any more time arguing the others would know that something was going on.

“The nerve! This is the last time I announce for this derby track! Of all the...” the pony continued to mutter about inconsiderate ponies as she walked away while the fillies gave small cheers and high-hoofed each other.

The city fillies were in slight shock that it was working so far and could only watch as the Cutie Mark Crusaders set themselves up at the desk to watch the derby and announce the race. The referee looked to the speaker box to find that the girls had pressed the button to signal that they were ready to start the race.

“Hellllooo Canterlot! Welcome tah today's race.” Apple Bloom welcomed the crowd who all frowned as one and began to wonder who in Equestria was announcing the race, though the girls didn't notice since they were looking at the racers before them and not the noble crowd.

“Today's race is going to be awesome, especially since these are the Wonderbolts! And they are lining up as we speak!” Scootaloo pointed to the racers even though nopony else aside from those in the box could see it.

“That's right, and now it's time to begin. There's the flag and they're off!” Sweetie Belle shrilly announced as the three Crusaders held the mics in their hooves and they watched the race before them.

“And the fiery red maned pony is in the lead, now it's the dark blue one, the fire red, blue, red, blue, red!” Apple Bloom tried to keep up with the incredible speeds the Wonderbolts were racing at, as each tried to nose past the others. As the earth pony was shouting out mane colors, Sweet Success was trying to explain that they were Spitfire and Soarin', to which Apple Bloom paid no heed as she continued to announce.

“But wait! It's the white maned Wonderbolt, Fleetfoot! She's pulling ahead of the herd with Spitfire and Soarin' duking it out between the two of them.” Scootaloo cut in as Fleetfoot edged around the two ponies who were fighting for the lead; Scootaloo knew about the Wonderbolts since they were Rainbow Dash's heroes and could only barely make out who was who in the mad rush of the race.

“And there's the flag! The white maned peagasus -” Sweet Success cut into Sweetie Belle's announcing with a hiss of 'Fleetfoot!' which Sweetie Belle managed to hear “-uh, right, Fleetfoot, has crossed ahead of the others! We have a winner for our first race, the Wonderbolt Fleetfoot! Let's give her a hoof everypony!” Sweetie Belle said to the crowd, who could only stare on in shock at the unusual command.

The Wonderbolts looked between themselves in wonder at the unusual announcing but gave shrugs of indifference; they had something interesting to listen to while they raced at least. Everypony else (aside from a light blue maned noble who sat in the top box) was beginning to wonder who was announcing and debating if they should complain to management about it.

As they moved onto the next race, everyone settled back down, hoping that the odd announcers would straighten themselves out while the girls got ready for another race to try and earn their cutie marks announcing for.

After two more races announced by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, management received enough complaints that they had guards break down the door to reveal the five girls, three of which looked the most sheepish sitting in front of microphones. The two other races had been announced in a similar fashion as the first, with the earth pony not knowing any of the names, the unicorn only barely able to keep up and the peagasus making side comments distracting from the race.

As the five fillies were lead out of the derby, the Cutie Mark Crusaders took a quick peek to see if they had earned anything, which they found they had not. Towards the end of the third race, Sweet Success couldn't help but take over the announcing, doing a better job by far and had actually enjoyed herself doing so. Though by the time she was able to help announce, it was far too late and the guards were already gathering to break into the announcer's box.

Unknown to the group of young ponies at the time, Sweet Success had earned her cutie mark that looked like a silver horseshoe, which resembled the small token given to the winners of each race.

It was as they were told that they may NOT ever come back to the derby unless accompanied by an adult with proper tickets that the Cutie Mark Crusaders noticed the new cutie mark.

“Golly Sweet Success! Ya got yer cutie mark! What do ya think it means?” Apple Bloom asked as everyone gathered around to check out the new talent.

“Huh? Wha- Oh my gosh!!! I got my cutie mark!” Sweet Success spent a moment going in circles, trying to get a clear look at her cutie mark while she thought about what could have caused it to appear.

“Oh! It was when I was announcing! It was actually pretty fun and I may have never gotten a chance to do that if weren't for you guys! Thanks so much!” Sweet Success grabbed the three crusaders in a hug while Golden Exchange looked on with a smile, happy for the unicorn.

“That's ok, at least somepony got a cutie mark...” Sweetie Belle said with a small smile, glad for their friend but saddened by lack of cutie marks of their own.

“Yeah, that's great Sweet Success. Did you want to do anything else? Or did you want to keep going with us? Perhaps we could try something else next...” Scootaloo smiled a little at the unicorn as well, trying to be happy for their friend even though she was hoping to get a cool cutie mark as well.

“Huh? Why would I go and do something else? Didn't you guys want to look into a banking cutie mark...? Oh, I get it,” Sweet Success gave the others a small smile and shook her head at how they seemed to think that since she had a cutie mark now, she wouldn't want to hang out with them anymore.

“Just because I have a cutie mark doesn't mean that I don't want to hang out with friends! It just means that you guys may be onto something, and somepony else might get their cutie marks as well!”

Everyone else nodded in agreement, somepony getting their cutie mark did help encourage them that they may get their own as well.

“Well, I don't see how we could try banking unless we broke into one which is NOT a good idea.” Golden Exchange began to state as she saw three pairs of eyes lit up at the thought before reality came back to the adventurous Crusaders.

“But we could try the stock exchange. They don't mind others coming in and spending their bits.” Golden Exchange suggested as the Crusaders looked confused while Sweet Success nodded in agreement.

“What's ah sock exchange? Why would anypony want tah exchange socks with somepony else? Do ah lot o' ponies wear socks?” Apple Bloom looked to Sweetie Belle as she posed this last question, since the unicorn's older sister was the local fashionista.

Sweetie Belle wore a pensive frown and was about to respond when Golden Exchange cut in with a confused smile, wondering if they usually got things this confused.

“No no, not sock, STOCK. It's where ponies gather to trade either bits or stuff with one another in one place. If you know how to work the system right, you can make lots of bits or own lots of one kind of thing, or even many different kinds of things. Come on, I'll show you where the stock exchange is.” Golden Exchange waved a hoof to the others before heading into the city while the others followed; though the Crusaders were still confused, they couldn't understand how one could gain a lot of bits if they were buying a bunch of stuff from others.

They walked through the city, and while most of the nobles still avoided the fillies, they didn't get as many snobbish looks since they had two natives with them. They still got looks because of their capes however which had started to gather a light coating of dust from the constant walking around.

They were almost at the stock exchange when the trio realized that it was long since passed noon and they haven't even eaten yet. As they pointed out the need for food, Golden Exchange realized that most of the agents would actually be having lunch right about now and there wouldn't be as much trading going on and consented to a picnic.

The Crusaders had actually packed a lot of food and shared it between all five of them, having found a table and seating to relax at a nearby cafe while they ate. While most of their food stuff was apple themed or just plain old baked goods, they still managed to have a mostly balanced meal. They made quick work of the lunch, eager to finish and keep trying to earn their cutie marks.

Once everyone recharged their energy, they set out once more for the stock exchange building. It was two stories high but very large, and while the building was a normal square shape, the inside was open in the center in the shape of a circle; in the middle of the center was a board that constantly changed its display, showing current stock prices as ponies shouted to one another about buying and selling.

The two Canterlot nobles helped to get passes for all five of them (no sneaking in this time) and got how much they could spend registered so that others would know that they could pay for only so much as they traded with other agents. Once they were set up in style to try their hoof at trading, Golden Exchange led the way onto the sales floor, where everyone was in shock at the noise of all the adult ponies shouting.

“Ah can barely hear mahself think; how can all these grown-ups shout so much?” Apple Bloom half-shouted to her friends who only barely heard her, though once they figured out what was being said they completely agreed.

“What should we do?” Scootaloo shouted to the others, unsure of all the rules that came with the exchange.

Golden Exchange thought only for a second before deciding that doing a demonstration was the best way to learn. She watched the screen for a little while and decided to buy some stock in crystals.

As she looked for the pony selling the stock in crystals, she realized that due to their smaller size it was going to be hard for anypony else to see them to trade with them. The pale-yellow filly led the others to nearby chairs to stand on so it was easier for others to see them before starting the demonstration.

“I'll take two shares of crystals, at 13 bits a share!” Golden Exchange shouted to the trader-pony who jerked his head towards the voice before writing down her number in the little electronic notepad to see that she could indeed pay for it and they did the transaction by shouting and electronic means.

After gaining two shares of crystals, Golden Exchange kept an eye on the screen, watching crystals go up a little, then down and going up seven bits than when she bought it. At this point, Golden Exchange started to look for anypony buying crystals and sold it one bit cheaper; once she successfully sold her two shares of crystals, she turned to her friends with a triumphant smile.

“That's how you do stock exchanges. You buy stock at lower prices and try to sell it at higher ones.” Golden Exchange said to the Crusaders who looked at her in wonder before grinning and staring at the screen for other things they could try and buy to sell.

They spent the next hour trying to buy and sell stock with minimal success. The Crusaders would buy things that would drop in price soon afterwards and never managed to make profit, though they got enough to keep a balanced amount from when they started trading. While Sweet Success had a little more success at trading, it was Golden Exchange who led the way for all of them. They tried to mimic what she did, but that only worked for an extent, especially as the adults around the fillies noticed and kept an eye on the pale-yellow filly's transactions to gain the upper hoof.

It was after the Crusaders lost most of the bits they brought with them that the five fillies called it quits on trading stock. Golden Exchange managed one last haul before they turned in their badges and got the bits they earned, or in the case of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, acknowledged the loss of the bits.

As they regrouped outside of the exchange, Golden Exchange turned to the trio and gave them the bits she had earned.

“Here, take these. I've got plenty of bits, I don't need all this much extra. Besides, I can always go and make some more later if I need to.” Golden Exchange said as the Cutie Mark Crusaders looked doubtful of taking their friend's bits.

“Ah dunno. It don't feel right taking yer bits that you made; though ya did earn yer cutie mark for it!” Apple Bloom said as she pointed to the golden scales that rest on Golden Exchange's flank while the other Crusaders gave her large grins.

Golden Exchange looked at her new mark and gave the others a large grin, all the while pushing the sack of bits towards them.

“I got my cutie mark! It's my special talent then! You guys don't have to worry about me, I can always make more, but you have to be able to pay for your ride home.” Golden Exchange smiled happily at the sight of her cutie mark before looking at the others who were staring at the pile of bits being offered.

Sweet Success nodded along with what Golden Exchange said; while she didn't make as much either, she hadn't lost all the bits that she had on her like the Crusaders did and would hate for them to be stuck in the city.

“I guess... thanks Golden Exchange. Congratulation on getting your cutie marks you guys! Though I guess this means it's back to the drawing board about getting our own cutie marks.” Sweetie Belle looked to the others as they split the pile between the three of them as Sweet Success and Golden Exchange looked on.

“Hopefully you guys get your own cutie marks soon. It was a pretty fun day, thanks you guys.” Sweet Success gave the Crusaders a hug which was gleefully returned as the trio realized that it was indeed very late in the day and that they would need to head home soon before anypony noticed their absence.

“It was pretty cool! Even if we didn't get our cutie marks, and we did lose most of our bits... it was still pretty cool.” Scootaloo said as she waved a hoof in a circular manner to help describe the day with a smile.

“Yeah! We'll come back and see you guys some other time!” Sweetie Belle said with an excited leap at the thought of coming back to visit later.

“Yeah, an' when we earn more bits we'll pay ya back Golden Exchange. No matter what y'all might say, we don' take no charity, we'll earn bits jus' like we'll earn our cutie marks one day.” Apple Bloom stated with a proud smile, already trying to think of how to earn over three-hundred bits to pay back their friend.

The two Canterlot ponies smiled at how energetic the trio could be and their stubbornness about taking bits from others. The five friends walked together to the train station just in time to catch the latest one to Ponyville, just after the usual rush of ponies heading home for the day.

With cheerful goodbyes, the trio headed back onto the train for home. The train ride back was almost as empty as when they first left, most of the other ponies having already returned from their work that day making it easier to find another empty compartment to hide out in.

Once they arrived, they remembered why they were traveling outside of town in the first place just in time to avoid Pepper as the gray earth pony asked All Aboard if her target had left town. As they avoided detection All Aboard recalled seeing the trio leave, though he hadn't seen them return yet. Pepper groaned in frustration and demanded to know where they had gone; at finding that they went to Canterlot the dark-blue maned pony left to send a letter to the pony who was looking around in Canterlot to keep an eye out for the orange peagasus.

Once that was done, Pepper then started to look in the nearby areas for Scootaloo or any other orphans, she had quite the lead in Ponyville that unless the young filly flew the coop, she would come back eventually and Pepper planned to be there to catch her.

The Crusaders made it back to their Clubhouse without incident just in time as Applejack stopped by to invite them all to dinner at the farm house. The trio figured that that was the best way to start their awesome sleepover/camp out and raced to the house in excitement. They were starving from having such a long day and more adventures; though they were glad that it was of a more peaceful kind this time around and were hopeful for the kinds of adventures that awaited them that summer.

Chapter 11 Film Stars of Applewood, here we come!

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The Cutie Marks Crusaders waited several days before planning another trip out of town. They wanted to be sure that no one noticed their absence; previous camping trips and sleepovers helped to make not seeing the fillies almost normal.

They remained at the farm, playing and practicing in the fields; taking it easy after their first successful trip (even if they didn't earn their cutie marks). If it weren't for the fact that they continued to make plans of possible Cutie Marks it would almost seem like a normal summer vacation; aside from the fact that Scootaloo was hiding out in the Clubhouse because of circumstances.

Once the fillies knew no one thought twice about their trip, they explained to Applejack (who would then explain it to everypony else) that they were going to try and earn their 'Survival' Cutie Marks so they may not see the fillies for long stretches of time. It was the perfect excuse for day long or slightly longer trips, so long as they didn't run into relatives or ponies they knew.

Since last time they went to Canterlot which was in the north, they were going to go southwest to the city of Applewood, which was near Las Peagasus, in order to try and earn film related Cutie Marks.

Once again they packed their saddlebags with food and bits, donned their capes and snuck out to the train station. They left early since the trip would take four hours this time and because it was still 6am in the morning the train was completely empty; making it easy for the girls to find a compartment for themselves once more.

While the trip was going to be a long one, the Crusaders needed every minute of it to plan out their day. They were going to become famous celebrities through their film, 'Cutie Mark Crusaders: the Journey' where they would all have a chance to act, produce and film; they needed to finish figuring out the entire movie though and used every minute of the trip to do so.

By the time the train reached its destination, it was full of tourists who wanted to check out the latest Stars, like George Clueneigh, Nicoltas Cage and Marel Streep. The fillies followed the crowd into the sprawling city, craning their heads to try and look at all the sights quickly as they were hustled away from the train station before the crowd dispersed a few blocks away.

It was still early, only 10am, so there wasn't heavy traffic yet allowing the girls to take their time. The city wasn't tall like Canterlot but made up for lack of height vertically; the only really tall places were the warehouses where film sets were kept, though there were some two storied apartments that were mostly bunched together on one side of the city.

The Crusaders took in famous landmarks (Graupony's Chineighes Theater, the Applewood Bowl and the giant white lettering spelling out 'Applewood' on the nearby mountain to name a few) and just before they set off to find a film making rental store, they heard a commotion in the side alley near an apartment complex. The three friends looked at one another and silently agreed: they were going to help!

“What's goin' on back here!” Apple Bloom led the charge as they found the source of conflict, three colts were beating up a fourth who had crouched into a ball to try and prevent more injury.

“None of your business!” One of the colts, a dark red peagasus, yelled as he looked at the trio before continuing beating on the younger colt.

The colt being beaten on looked up at the girls and in desperation called for help one last time, “Somepony help!”

At this shout the Crusaders leapt into action, using everything they ever learned from Rainbow Dash to fight back.

While they still didn't get the movies quite right, by joining the fight and making it three on three helped their odds though they still were beaten in the end. The girls were tougher scrappers than the colts had expected and the bullies had to resort to their martial arts training, tipping the scales into their favor once more.

The girls kept up the fight, even as they were slowly beaten down like the colt they had tried to defend and never begged for mercy. They had a feeling that they wouldn't get it anyways and that by being silent and trying to still fight back made a better or even stronger impression on the bullies.

After the heavy thrashing, the three colts left the four younger ponies in the alley. Once the girls saw that the coast was clear, they pulled out their first aid supplies from their saddles and began to treat everyone's injuries.

As they helped the colt, they saw that under the light amount of blood and bruises his coat was pale brown with light blue mane and tail. He was an earth pony with no cutie mark and the gentle treatment helped him to relax, unclenching from his balled up position.

As the trio started to work on their own injuries, the colt looked at his saviors with awe.

“Thanks for helping; I was starting to think that nopony cared. My name is Daniel Donut and I've gotta ask, where did you learn those moves?” Daniel wiped at his nose to stem the flow of blood while the girls looked at one another before deciding that it would be in the colt's advantage to perhaps learn some 'moves'.

“We learned from the awesome-est peagasus ever, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo loudly exclaimed as Sweetie Belle placed a band-aid onto her foreleg.

“Who were those colts anyways? Why did they want to hurt you?” Sweetie Belle asked as Scootaloo then went and placed a band-aid onto Apple Bloom who flinched at the touch.

“Those colts go to the martial arts school of the Red Dragons. I only just moved here and we just don't get along...” Daniel looked off to the side as he thought about what caused all the fighting; it was as though the colts had been looking for any reason to fight and the fact that he was new gave them all the reason they needed.

“Well Ah'll be; that's just plain ol' mean. Why don't we show ya some of our moves so ya don't get as hurt?” Apple Bloom asked as she put some bruise cream onto Sweetie Belle's side where a colt had kicked her.

Daniel looked back to the Crusaders with hope in his eyes.

“Really? You think it will help?”

“Sure thing! Ah'm sure it'll help ya, at least a little 'till somepony can help! There ah place nearby tha' we can practice in?” Apple Bloom asked as the trio finished patching each up other; Daniel nodded and turned to head deeper into the alley where it came around to the back of the apartment complex they were next to.

They spent the next few hours trying to show Daniel some 'moves'; while they couldn't quite get the moves done properly it was even harder trying to teach them to another pony. Daniel was able to learn some but he doubted that it would help in the end since it was only a few moves and not done properly at all.

Little did any of the foals know, an older earth pony watched the 'lessons' from his small janitor office. The light gray stallion looked on with a light frown at the Crusaders, wondering where they learned their poor styles of martial arts and what they wanted to accomplish with it.

After their attempt at lessons (which proved that they were NOT martial arts teachers), the girls asked Daniel if he knew of anywhere they could barrow filming equipment. He wasn't sure, having just moved to the area, but knew that they were on the wrong side of the city for it. After giving directions to the nearest film studio where somepony may take pity on the trio, Daniel went back to practicing the new moves he just learned.

The girls went in search of film equipment and soon found the studio that their new friend spoke of, a Haysbro Studios. They never heard of it before, but figured that it was a good place to start. After speaking with five different staff ponies, they were pointed to the local film rental store that was only a few blocks away.

It was a rather plan store, the only thing eye catching was the old reel of film that hung like a sign over the doorway of the single floored shop. Once inside, they saw the various types of video recorders, lighting, microphones and types of film hanging from the wall and in display cases. A pony who stood behind the counter glanced over and then away, assuming that the trio had come into the store on accident only to soon be proven wrong as the first thing they asked about was prices of rentals.

Having never filmed before, the girls asked a lot of technical questions which the staff pony found amusing and answered as best as he could, though he could tell that some of the more technical parts of it went over their heads.

After spending a half hour asking questions and comparing prices, the girls rented the basic equipment (only a video recorder and microphone along with film that they would keep) and went in search of a place to make their masterpiece. The staff pony offered a few places they could film, but they all involved paying a small rental fee to use them and since the Crusaders already had to pay a hundred and fifty bits for the film and equipment, they decided to just film around the city instead.

They went to the various landmarks of the city and tried to film with only one actress at a time (since somepony had to fold the video camera and somepony else the microphone) with varying amounts of success. Their plot idea was that some kind of monster was attacking the city and the Crusaders were the only ones who could stop it, but it was hard to pull off when only one pony could act at a time.

They tried to place the video recorder onto a nearby table and perform in front of it, but by the time they did so it was well into the afternoon and tourists were all over the place, often coming into the shot and having to be shooed away by the young actresses.

They continued to spend the afternoon filming and when they got to the final scene, they decided to do it near Daniel's home so that there would be less tourists involved. Since it was the last part, they decided to set the video recorder onto a nearby chair to catch all of their attempts at acting.

“We did it! We saved the city from the alien invaders!” Scootaloo leapt into the air (though not too high, since no one could control the camera to follow her).

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders Planet Savers! We'll get our cutie marks for sure with this!” Sweetie Belle shouted as all three grinned and checked their flanks with a flare of their capes. They had pasted 'cutie marks' onto their flanks in the shape of the world so that it would seem like they earned them and had hidden them before then by the capes they wore.

“Well Ah'll be, we sur' did! Cutie Mark Crusader Planet Savers, yay!” At the last word the trio all shouted together in joy and paused for a moment afterwards.

“Aaaannnnddd CUT! That should be a good ending for our movie girls! Let's go and get it all fixed up!” Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly as she walked over to the chair while looking at her friends, meaning that she didn't notice the trio of bullies were back until she saw the look in her friends' eyes.

Scootaloo rapidly snapped her head forward and could only watch as the red peagasus grabbed their video recorder from the chair and lift it into the air. The other two bullies, an orange earth pony and a dark-blue earth pony, stood nearby and sneered at the trio of fillies.

“What are you three idiots doing here still? Don't you know this is Red Dragon territory?” The dark blue pony asked as he tried to intimidate the girls.

“Give that back! It's not ours, we're only borrowing it!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she tried to focus enough of her magic to grab the recorder from the flying peagasus.

The bullies just laughed as the magic fizzled out with no other physical effects apparent. Sweetie Belle flipped her ears back in embarrassment while her two friends stood next to her and stared back defiantly.

“Ya'll leave us alone! We never did anythin' tah ya'll, what do ya want with us?” Apple Bloom asked as she kept an eye on the peagasus, trying to find the right moment to try and grab the video recorder. The microphone was in the center of the two groups and would be much easier to reach, they just had to worry about the video recorder and film which was sure to cost a lot more to fix.

“You guys thought you could stop us from teaching that useless colt a lesson on where he belongs; now we're going to have to teach you three a lesson too.” The orange pony stepped forward and snapped their microphone in half with a single step as he glared at the crusaders.

The girls knew they wouldn't ever have a better moment to catch the bullies off guard and jumped into the fight before the bullies could. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle tried to reach their video recorder before any heavy fighting happened while Apple Bloom went to knock both earth ponies into one another and made a swipe at the peagasus' tail.

The colts half-expected a rush attack and weren't caught off guard as much as they were the first time. The peagasus quickly flew higher and threw the recorder to the ground off to the side, instantly breaking it into multiple pieces. This drew cries of shock and indignation from the Crusaders as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle turned to look at the peagasus responsible. Scootaloo jumped from the chair into the air, trying to catch the peagasus who only flew higher and then swooped down and began to beat Scootaloo up as Sweetie Belle was knocked into the ground by the dark blue pony who had recovered from Apple Bloom's first charge.

Apple Bloom, while the damage of the video recorder was happening, tried to keep the other bullies' attention with little luck. It was harder to fight two on one and by the time that the peagasus joined the fighting, Apple Bloom was already getting tired and it was with a sigh of relief that Sweetie Belle took over fighting one of the earth pony bullies.

The fight was soon getting worse than the one they had in the morning, considering that the Crusaders were already injured and tired as well as a few sizes smaller than the bullies. Before it came to permanent injuries, which the fillies were suspecting that the Red Dragon Dojo taught and encouraged, the older earth pony appeared.

The girls had been forced to be back to back crouched down and could only watch from their viewpoint on the ground as the light gray stallion used mostly defensive moves to redirect and cause the bullies to injure one another instead of the new target. The stallion stood on his hind legs as he moved like water, grabbing one attacking hoof and pulling its owner to be pushed into another attacker, redirecting a flying kick so that its owner crashed into the ground.

After five minutes of rapid moves and attacks, the bullies had just as much injuries as the fillies and were all panting in exhaustion.

“Let's get out of here!” The peagasus led the way as the colts all ran out of the alley, the peagasus running along since his wing was injured in a throw.

The Crusaders watched in amazement as their savor turned back to them, showing a short white mane and tail with a long mustache and goatee on his muzzle. He picked them all up in one sweep and took them into his 'office' to look at their injuries.

Little did any of the ponies involved know that a pink earth pony watched the whole thing from a nearby rooftop; it had taken two hours of almost constant running for the pink mare to find her way to the latest crusading location after having gotten a Pinkie Sense that the fillies were going to be in danger; the kind of danger that, if not stopped, would have hurt them for a long time.

Just as Pinkie Pie was going to jump into the fray with the rubber chickens that she had brought, the old stallion stepped in and took care of the meany bully mean pants. She was concerned about who the stallion was but after watching him defend the fillies and having her Pinkie Sense reassure her, the baker decided that this was the better outcome after all. The girls would even be able to learn proper martial arts if they play their cards right, and if they were playing 'go fish' then it would be just fine.

As the Crusaders were carried into the office of the older pony, the hyper mare decided that it was most likely time to let the girls make their own way in the world; especially if they got the old teacher to show them a few new tricks. But before she left town, Pinkie Pie made one a quick stop to the nearby police station to leave a tip about some of the citizens of Applewood.

The girls could barely focus on their surroundings as the old stallion placed them on an extra cot in his office. He then began to mash up herbs and used an open flame on the paste, causing it to combust rapidly before going out just as quickly. The gray pony then took a dab of the cooked herbs and rubbed it onto the injuries the Crusaders sustained.

While they all had tensed at the sight of the open flame, once the paste went on the three fillies sighed at the cooling touch.

“That was amazin' Mister! Ya gottah teach us, please?” Apple Bloom tried to plead from where she laid, barely able to move.

“Yeah, and what did you just do to make our pain go away?” Sweetie Belle was attempting to sit up as the herbs soon took effect on the Crusaders' injuries.

The gray stallion looked over the girls as they all began to get up and test out their pains and aches. He gave a decisive nod as he put away his supplies.

“Why would little ones want to learn Kung Fu?” The light gray stallion turned back to the girls as they watched his every move. Three sets of ears flicked forward at the Chinieghes accent that came through as the older pony spoke.

“You know Kung Fu? So do we! What did you think of our 'moves'?” Scootaloo tried to demonstrate but winced as she moved not yet fully healed limbs.

“Phhsstt, that was not Kung Fu. That was poor attempt at martial arts.” The stallion stood in front of the girls who kept staring back resolutely from their sitting positions.

“Can you teach us then?” Sweetie Belle asked as all three began to get annoyed, they worked hard to learn those moves and it did help them a little during their fight.

“Why do you want to learn?” The old stallion waited for the answer, sure that they were like every other foal in the area, obsessed with beating others and the power it could give.

“To defend ourselves and others who can't.” The trio stated with conviction while being in sync with one another.

The older pony stared back in surprise before giving them a small grin. The Crusaders weren't expecting a smile from the older pony but grinned back hesitantly all the same, hoping that it was a good sign.

“Shi. I will train you three in the art of Kung Fu. Come back tomorrow and we will start.” The old stallion settled onto the floor as he crossed his fore-hooves, plans for how to train the three excitable fillies already being made.

At this news the girls leapt into the air with shouts of joy.

“Alright! We'll have to get up sooner but we can do it, right girls?” Scootaloo looked to the others who nodded rapidly.

“Yeah, we'll jus' have tah rest on the ride, we wouldn't want anythin' tah make us late!” Apple Bloom bounced in place, already excited to learn more Kung Fu.

The stallion looked at them curiously, it sounded as though they traveled far.

“Where are you traveling from?” The stallion stood and started to rearrange his supplies in a nearby cabinet, trying to seem unconcerned about the answer while he was actually thinking about how to help make it easier for them.

“We come from Ponyville by train. We'll have to meet you at 10am; I don't think the train runs very often before 6am...” Sweetie Belle tapped her chin in thought as the others also thought about it, unable to think of a moment when the train made normal stops and starts so very early in the morning (the exception being special and/or important trips).

The older pony pondered this for a moment before setting everything down once more and walking to the door.

“Come.” The light-gray earth pony waved a hoof to the Crusaders as he stood by the doorway.

“Huh?” Three heads tilted in confusion at the shortly issued command.

“Come, come, I show you closer place to meet.” The Crusaders shrugged at one another before following the older pony outside.

“Thanks ah bunch Mister for teaching us!” Apple Bloom said as the stallion led the fillies to the train station.

“Miyagi.” Another confused look was shared between the three friends who then turned to their new teacher.

“What?”

“Who?”

“Huh?”

“My name. Miyagi.” The girls looked between themselves once more before trying to pronounce the name the proper way.

“Meeyarje?”

“Aya. MII-YA-GE.” Another confused blink was shared as the older stallion slowly stated how to pronounce his name.

“Miyagi?”

“Uhn.” Miyagi nodded that they finally were not mispronouncing his name.

“Ah'm Apple Bloom!”

“I'm Scootaloo!”

“And I'm Sweetie Belle!” The fillies took turns introducing themselves as they brushed one another to the side to do so, though in a friendly and light hearted manner.

The older pony raised a brow at these antics and the large smiles slowly wiped off the Crusaders' faces as they realized how they may have seemed to their new teacher; they proceeded to fall in line behind the light-gray pony as he continued on his way to the station and tried to appear somewhat serious.

The four ponies stepped onto another train that would eventually lead back to Ponyville. After a quiet thirty minute ride during which the Crusaders tried not to pester their new teacher, they arrived at a small way point for ponies who lived in the country side.

Once they got off, they traveled down the road to a large house with lots of land around it within ten minutes of walking. It was a single floor building with a red roof, a large living room, a kitchen leading off on one side and a few extra rooms aside from the master bedroom. The house was right against the road with the rest of the five acres sprawling out from behind it.

“This is where you are to meet me to train. Not as far to go.” The gray stallion pointed to his house while the Crusaders tried to see what may be hiding behind it or even more of what was inside.

“I will see you tomorrow.” And with that short farewell the older pony walked away leaving the girls a little surprised at the sudden exit.

The trio stood by the front entrance for a moment longer, excitement and half formed ideas running through their heads when Apple Bloom realized something extremely important.

“Shoot! Girls, we haven't paid fer the busted video recorder! Come on, befor' we're too late!” Apple Bloom swiftly turned on the spot and all three raced to the train station to go back to Applewood.

They had forgotten about the video film in the excitement of getting a new teacher and when they finally get back to the city, they found that the recorder hadn't been moved from where it lay and the film they worked most of the day was ruined. They had to pay an extra three hundred bits for the damaged, completely emptying their emergency fund with only barely enough left to be able to pay for the trip home.

Once they got home it was nearing 10pm and the only thing they had to eat all day was a quick lunch so the first thing they did was have a quick supper and then re-applied pain reducing herbs to their injuries before turning in for the night. Since it was so late at night, they didn't run across anypony else which meant that they didn't have to worry about questions of why they were so injured.

The trio settled down into deep sleep, having exhausted themselves during the course of the day and all the excitement and anticipation for the next day having an even greater drain on their energy reserves; meaning that they didn't have any trouble sleeping through the night, especially as they dreamed of super-hero like feats they would be able to do once fully trained.

Chapter 12 Learning Martial Arts and being in balance with oneself

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The next morning all three Crusaders woke up sore but exited; it was the first day of training. Since they didn't want to wear themselves out before getting any training done they tried to remain as calm and relax on the train trip there; once they arrived however, they couldn't help but race to Miyagi's house.

As they assembled in front of the martial arts teacher in the front of the main entrance, he gave each a stern look while they panted lightly from their sprint.

“You have come to me to learn the ancient art of Kung Fu. You will do everything I tell you to do and I will teach you Kung Fu in return. Promise?” Miyagi asked the fillies with one brow raised to see if they are willing to do anything asked of them.

“Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” The fillies almost shouted the promise as they did the motions making Miyagi amused and bemused.

“What is 'Pinkie Promise'?” The old stallion looked to his young students who smiled back once they were done making the motions.

“It's a very big promise back home in Ponyville.” Sweetie Belle explained as her two friends nodded solemnly along. Miyagi nodded slowly and he turned around and began to lead the girls into their first day of training.

They walked around the outside of the house to the backyard where the girls took in the sight before them; the first acre was the backyard with most of the other four being lightly covered with trees and bushes. Surrounding the whole plot of land was a fence that was half a stallion's height taller than a grown pony; the garden was a little overgrown and the house was a little run down. While it was a little odd to the fillies, they weren't going to question it and tried not to jump in place.

The old stallion walked over to the fence where there were three buckets and paint brushes which caused even more confusion to the girls. As the four ponies stood over the buckets, the girls noticed that they were filled with white paint.

“So ah, what are we gonnah do now?” Apple Bloom looked up at the stallion to find that he pulled over a step ladder to where they stood.

“You are to paint the fence. Scootaloo, you are to stand on this ladder and paint the top. Sweetie Belle, you are to stand on your hind legs and paint the middle. Apple Bloom, you are to paint the bottom portion.” As the older pony turned away, the trio stared after him in confusion and shock.

“Wait, that's it?! Paint the fence?!” Scootaloo cried after the retreating figure who only reaffirmed it with a nod. The girls shared one look before sighing and getting to work.

They spent most of the morning painting the entire fence line, with each uncomfortable with their position and none able to think of why that it was so. Scootaloo had a hard time looking down from the step ladder; Sweetie Belle tittered between having trouble balancing and working in between her two friends, while Apple Bloom had trouble with holding the brush and switched between using her mouth and using her hooves.

In the midst of painting Miyagi came back out to check their progress and saw how they were going a little overboard in their swipes and brush strokes.

“No no no no. Go up, then down, up and down, up and down.” He demonstrated for a moment, using both fore-hooves to hold the brush as he went straight up then downwards in a clean stroke.

The girls groaned at this instruction since they figured they could get more done if they went a little nuts with it, but simply followed the older stallion's instructions; making it take much longer than it would have before.

After four long hours of work the girls went to the back door leading to the kitchen where they found the stallion sitting at the table and sipping tea.

“We're... done...” Sweetie Belle panted as she and her two friends stood in the doorway.

Miyagi nodded to them and waved a hoof to the table, where the girls noticed three places prepared for lunch time. The girls half-dragged themselves over to the seats and dug into their meal. The older pony only watched as they ate with barely any table manners and once a good portion of the food had been consumed, he set down his cup of tea to ask his question.

“Did you do the outside?”

The girls paused in shock; there was more painting to do? After sharing a look to see if they could escape their fate, they simply sighed as one and shook their heads no.

“Once done, do outside like you did inside. Work together and use those brush strokes.” Miyagi picked up his tea once more and watched the girls take more time to finish their meal; which wasn't easy to do since they had already consumed most of it before the old teacher had asked his question.

Once the girls were done, they followed the old stallion back outside and around the corner where more paint cans sat in front of a long line of fence. As one the girls sighed and hung their heads before getting the ladder to reach the top parts and starting on their newest task.

By the time the girls finished the fence, it was extremely late in the day and they were exhausted from the specific way they had to paint the fence. Miyagi came out just as they were finishing the work and gave them a small smile at the job done properly.

“Good, good. Good work girls, come back tomorrow.” With this simple statement, Miyagi left the girls three paper bags full of supper for the fillies to eat on the train ride back.

“Do ya think that we're gonnah do this every day?” Apple Bloom looked to the other Crusaders as she stepped up to the bags.

“I don't know; I don't see what this kind of thing has to do with Martial Arts...” Scootaloo crouched lower to the ground after having spent so much time in the air on a ladder.

“Maybe he has a secret plan to teach us Kung Fu?” Sweetie Belle grabbed one of the bags and led the way out of the house, with the others following along after giving shrugs of ignorance.

After taking the supper in bags the Crusaders waited at the way station for a few minutes before catching a late train ride home. By the time they got back to the Clubhouse it was once again 10pm at night; they had a few more days they could use the excuse of 'Survivalists' for why nopony sees them during the day time and weren't worried about anypony missing them just yet.

The next day they arrived bright and early at their teacher's house; Miyagi was waiting outside his doorway for them with three sets of cleaning tools next to him.

“Today, you work on things alone, to build balance in yourself. Apple Bloom, you are to clean all floors inside with these rags, use back hooves to clean and front hooves to wipe. Sweetie Belle, you are to wash all windows, use this brush and wipe while staying upright, when done you are join Apple Bloom in cleaning floors but only use front hooves. Scootaloo, you are to patch roof and paint all of it, use half circles with brush. When done, come join me for lunch.” After pointing to each cleaning tool, the older stallion went inside once more as all three fillies sighed and nodded slowly.

Each filly went to work on their task, more bored than they were the day before since they weren't working together. Within the first few hours of work, each filly grew more and more frustrated at lack of training; though what made it all the more worse was that each girl actually had a hard time with the task.

Apple Bloom found that leaning forward and using both front and back hooves to wash the floor felt more balanced but different than how she usually stood. It used more muscles and while it felt more natural for whatever reason, she didn't usually balance on her front hooves so it exhausted her all the more for it. It also meant that she had to go backwards, and she didn't have as much experience finding her way in that position.

Sweetie Belle found that standing on her back hooves to be as hard as all four hooves, and while she did have a bit more balance than she used to, it was still hard. Another difficult thing was using her hooves to hold the brush and wipe, she tried to use some magic to help but couldn't hold anything in her power. This only helped to build her frustration and make everything all the more worse. It was a little easier to wash the floors, though it was a different kind of balance than just standing upright.

Scootaloo had the hardest time, being on the roof and high in the air. As much as she wanted to fly, being this high off the ground was making her nervous. She tried not to look down as she patched up the roof and repainted it all. She used a mixture of hooves and her mouth to hold the tools, and had a thorough workout during her task, tiring as it was.

The girls finished their tasks after a few hours and joined their teacher at the table. Another lunch was laid out for them while the gray stallion sipped more tea. The meal was spent in silence as each filly thought about how they hadn't seen one instance of martial arts teaching so far.

As they were finishing up, they looked to the older pony to find out what they were to do next.

“If you are finished, there is more for you to do. Scootaloo, you are to trim trees. Sweetie Belle, you are to mow the lawn. Apple Bloom, you are to sand the walkways outside.” Miyagi pointed a hoof outside where the girls looked on what seemed like endless tress, grass and a new pathway made out wood that wound its way through all five acres of land.

All three Crusaders wore frowns as they looked at all the work they were now expected to do and felt the need to riot.

“Why are we just doing all your house work?! We came to learn Martial Arts, not earn our House Care Cutie Marks!” Scootaloo cried as she sat up farther as she looked back at the older pony.

“Yeah! What does any of that have to do with Martial Arts anyways?” Sweetie Belle asked as she sat up straighter with confused look on her face.

“Yeah, if'in Ah wanted tah do chores, Ah'd have stayed home.” Apple Bloom folded her hooves as she half-glared at their 'teacher'.

Miyagi looked calmly at the Crusaders before standing up and beckoning the girls to follow him outside. They followed with skeptic faces and once outside, the older pony had them all sit in a circle. The gray stallion made sure he had their complete attention before starting his lecture.

“Martial Arts is in everything. How one cleans, how one cooks, how one walks, how one lives, how one grows. I try and show you best way for YOU. Each is different, and must be taught different. Tomorrow, we start different style, but need to do one last thing to show differences in you from each other before we do different kind of training. Think about what is it you may have to learn as you do these things. Go now, and I will speak to you at the end.” Miyagi stood from the circle and left the girls to their thoughts as he put the needed tools in the doorway where the girls would find them easily.

In a slight daze the trio picked up their tools and got to work on their tasks, trying to think of how it would reveal what they needed to learn and work on.

Each filly found their second tasks of the day to be just as hard as their first ones and for much the same reasons. By the time everything was done they were exhausted beyond what they were used to and could barely stand when they finally finished. Miyagi stood by his door with three more paper bags and a smile for the hardworking fillies.

“You have done well. Go home and rest, tomorrow, we start real work.” His smile grew even larger as all three crusaders groaned at the sound of even harder work.

They got home even later than the first night and fell asleep right away. They barely had the energy to get up early the next morning but managed to do so, the thought of actual training helping them get up.

Once again, the older stallion was waiting for the girls outside of his home and led them to the backyard where they sat in another circle. They were already more alert because of the change in start, and looked at the gray pony in excitement.

“Today, we are going to do training according to what you need to learn.” Miyagi looked at each of them and tried to think of how to phrase his next sentence.

“But first we must talk. I have watched and I know what troubles you, these are things that I must speak with each of you about before any progress can be made. You must decide, do you want to share these fears with the others or do you wish to overcome them on your own?” At this the girls shared confused looks; they didn't understand what they would fear and why they would want to not share with the others who could help them get past it.

As one the trio turned to their teacher and stated “share.”

Miyagi nodded, he had hoped they would want to share since it would make them a better team and help them get over their fears faster than on their own.

“Scootaloo, you fear falling. While you do want to fly, you are afraid of falling down. Your balance is much like any other pegasi's, in the center of your body where your wings are but you cannot manage to lift yourself from the ground due to your fear.

“Apple Bloom, you fear being different than your friends. You are of an old farming family, generations of Apple Buckers have made your body naturally want to balance more forward and while you are just as skilled at using your fore-hooves and mouth to do things, most of what you will do will be with your hind legs.

“Sweetie Belle, you fear failure. You are influenced by many talented unicorns in your town and you feel that you cannot keep up with them; but in an attempt to do as much if not more magic you are forcing it to not work, making everything all that much harder. Your balance is like most other unicorn's; a little lower than your center since you would normally use magic for a lot of tasks, allowing you to use your front hooves for other things.

“Each of you will have to learn how to put this behind you or come to terms with this new knowledge. But for now, we have work to do!” With a clap of his hooves he brought the girls back to the real world after they had been thinking of what was said.

For the next several hours the four ponies worked on stances, using some of the techniques that the girls had used during cleaning that apparently were martial arts moves in disguise.

A lot of what was shown to Apple Bloom were moves that used her back legs, though she was to practice some front leg movements in order to stay in balance.

Scootaloo learned and practiced using both fore-hooves and back legs equally as well as standing on taller structures to help her get used to being higher up generally.

Sweetie Belle learned to use her fore-hooves more than anything else, with some back leg work to stay in balance. Another thing that she was assigned to do was meditate, learning to calm herself and picture clearly different feats she wanted to do with magic.

All three girls did some meditation as well as learning of the nature and balance around them; working hard to remember everything they were told. They were worked harder than when it was just chores and while Miyagi was somehow able to help all three with almost vastly different techniques, the girls drew strength from one another as they all worked towards the goal of learning Martial Arts for the sake of self-defense.

Miyagi was pleased with such eager learners and made sure they had lunch and a supper to take home after every day. It was a little after a week of doing this kind of training when the crusaders ran into trouble.

They had returned home well after 11pm this time and had been doing a new kind of exercise where they stood on a small ledge and did some of their movements; meaning that their hooves were extra sore that night from trying to stay in balance even as they were moving. When they had finally made it up the ramp to their Clubhouse they found a certain orange-coated farm pony waiting in the center of the main room, tapping her hoof impatiently.

“Where have y'all been?! Ah've been lookin' all over them fields an' never saw head or tail of ya. An' why have y'all been gettin' back so gosh darn late? We ain't seen y'all in over a week an' a half, what kind of 'surviving' are y'all doin'?!” Applejack glared at the fillies before her for disappearing all the time and scaring their relatives with fears of hungry Timberwolves and lost fillies.

The girls couldn't think of an excuse and just stared dejectedly at the floor.

“An' Rarity has been worrin' too, she had gone visited yer parents Sweetie Belle, an' when she heard that nopony heard from YA that she came a runnin' tah me an' Ah had tah be the one tah tell her that AH hadn't seen none y'all fer days. How well did ya think that went? What do y'all have tah say fer yerselves?” Applejack continued to glare at the young ponies, trying to get across all the trouble they caused this time by disappearing without telling anyone where they were going.

“We're sorry,” all three intoned as one while they scuffed their hooves along the floor.

“We didn't mean tah make y'all worried like that Sis', honest. We jus' plum fergot cause we was trying real hard this time around.” Apple Bloom peeked at her sister who now looked a little skeptical about what they had been doing.

“We just lost track of how long we had been doing that; we are really super sorry. I'll go and visit mom, dad and Rarity first thing tomorrow, promise.” An eyebrow rose at this statement, as the glare lessened once Applejack saw that the girls were indeed sorry for the worry they caused others.

“Yeah, we'll make sure to check in with you guys and we won't lose track like that again, promise.” Scootaloo felt the need to seal the deal and the three nodded in agreement with the promise made.

After another stern look to be sure that she was getting the truth, the orange mare nodded and gave each filly a hug before saying goodnight.

“Alright y'all, sleep well an' Ah'll be seeing at least one of ya at the breakfast table tomorrow right?” A single brow rose with this question only to be lowered with a smile as Apple Bloom rapidly nodded.

“Good night Applejack!”

“Night Applejack!”

“Good night Sis'! See ya tomorrow!”

Once the older sister had returned to the farm house the Crusaders looked at one another in concern; how were they going to keep traveling to Miyagi's house for lessons if they had to show up around town so nopony became worried for them?

“What if we went every other day?” Sweetie Belle asked shyly, unsure if this would be enough for the others and their teacher.

“Maybe, but how do we tell Miyagi about all this?” Scootaloo looked to each of her friends as they all put a hoof to their chin in thought.

“What if we sent ah letter tah Miyagi telling him that our folks don't want us tah go traveling everyday so we have tah cut back tah every other day fer training? We could give it to the post office so that he'll git it fast and know what's goin' on.” After seeing two nods of agreement, the green-yellow filly grabbed nearby paper and pencil to write their note trying to make it seem as innocent as possible without getting anyone into trouble.

Once that task was completed, the girls fell into slumber quickly once more; concern for the next day already gone after their plan was made.

This would become habit for the next month, spending a day in Ponyville then the next day going to Miyagi's for more training. To make up for only working on their lessons every other day, they worked doubly hard at learning and often spent their off days in the fields of the farm practicing.

Rarity and the Belles forgave Sweetie Belle for having gone on such a long camping trip and she would go to bed at her own house on the days that they stayed in town; which meant that she could stay at the Clubhouse on the nights that they would get home late from their Martial Arts training.

Apple Bloom made sure that she and her two friends went for lunch and supper at the family farm on the days that they stayed in town just to show that they hadn't disappeared into some dangerous region.

Scootaloo remained on the farm for the duration of summertime, though she kept an eye out for Pepper or other older orphans on the lookout for runaways. It seemed like staying out of Ponyville and even traveling outside of town threw Pepper off the trail; though the orange pegasus stayed out of town just in case. She appreciated the effort Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle made to include her in family activities or event just hanging out at the Clubhouse and knew she had the best friends a pony could ask for.

What none of the girls knew was that their efforts of becoming more balanced and proper Martial Artists were showing in what they did around town. Ponies found the girls were more coordinated and didn't seem to trip or fall over themselves as much, as well as becoming surer of themselves. None of their relatives or friends knew what was causing this change, but only assumed that it had to do with growing up.

Even though they were training, the girls still made plans to visit other towns later on as well as other things to Crusade for in the meantime. It felt natural and normal, and they wanted to spice things up with another attempt at Crusading in Applewood once all the heat and worry died down at home. For now, they planned to enjoy their very unique summer together as Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Chapter 13 Back to Applewood to try again!

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It was a crisp cool morning when Crusaders decided to go ahead with their plan to visit Applewood once again. Miyagi had given them the week off (though they were to keep practicing) and they used most of it by doing stuff around town; making it less likely to be missed for a day of traveling.

Once more they got up early to avoid the crowd and boarded the train heading southwest. They used the four hours to get more Martial Arts practice done which had the extra benefit that the train was moving, making them need to use more balance than before. They had another compartment to themselves with nopony to bother them; though some did see what they were doing, causing the other passengers to not want to stick around out of fear of getting caught up in the training somehow.

Time passed quickly for the girls since they were focusing so much on their work and only the sound of the train whistle and a pony shouting that they had arrived pulled them out of their trance. The sights of the city were just as impressive as when they first came and they craned their heads to try and look at it all; unfortunately, this meant that they didn't see the green coated filly until they all crashed together.

“Sorry!”

“Ah'm sorry!”

“We didn't mean it!”

“Sorry, sorry.”

After a moment of untangling, the trio found themselves looking at a green with purple mane unicorn filly who looked back through half circle glasses.

As one the Crusaders bowed their heads and apologized once more.

“We're sorry!”

The new filly waved away the apology as she replied with a smirk.

“It's ok, I'm sorry as well. Should have looked where I was going... No one's hurt right?” The trio looked at one another before doing a quick check; nothing was hurting and they were right as rain.

“We're all good. Are you?” Scootaloo asked as she pointed with a hoof. The filly nodded.

“Yep, I'm good too. I'll be on my way then.” With that short farewell the green unicorn trotted off, searching the ground once more.

The Crusaders shared a look of confusion before continuing on their way; they wanted to give acting one more shot. After getting lost just a little bit, they started to recognize some of the area around them and found the rental place within moments; once inside they started to look at all the equipment, trying to find the cheapest deal once more.

The store clerk remembered the fillies however, and due to the damages done previously upped the cost of renting anything; instead of 150 bits, it was 300 to start with a greater cost for any damages done.

The fillies had scrapped and saved all they could, but they didn't have near enough for the new cost. Downcast, the girls left the shop as they tried to think of more ways to either earn Cutie Marks or bits.

They walked down the street slowly when Scootaloo noticed a news bulletin; when she realized what it was she perked up and rushed the other two over. Ponyville had something similar and she always found something useful anytime that she checked; surely this time would be no different.

“Come on! This has all sorts of news on it usually; it can help us find some jobs or even ideas for Cutie Marks!” The two friends grew a little more hopeful as they picked up their pace to look at the rather large news board; it was filled with ads for just about everything a filly could hope for.

“You see guys! Lots of stuff, like delivering newspapers!”

“Or being bodyguards for celebrities!”

“Or being newsponies!”

“Or construction workers!”

“There's even an ad for performers!”

“Well Ah'll be, these ponies sur' do look familiar... What do y'all think?” Apple Bloom turned to her friends before turning back and pointing with a hoof to a wanted poster.

“It's those Red Dragon Colts that we fought last time!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in recognition as the others' eyes also lit in recognition.

“You're right! Wonder what they are wanted for?” Scootaloo squinted at the poster when Sweetie Belle piped up as she read it out loud.

“Wanted for questioning about possible involvement of theft, damaging property, assault and battery and extortion.” The pegasus and earth pony stared at the unicorn in confusion about some of the terms used.

“Well, what does that mean?!” Scootaloo frowned lightly as Sweetie Belle sighed.

“It's a lot of bad things. But look, there's a reward for either information about them or help with the capture of them; one thousand bits for it!”

The girls' eyes lit up in excitement at the prospect of a way to earn lots of bits in one go. They looked at one another with large grins.

“Cutie Mark Crusader Bounty Hunters, yay!” The trio shouted to the air as one, wild plans and fantasies of how they would catch the bullies running through their minds only to be cut short by a voice behind them.

“Wait, what? You're going after their bounties too?” At the sound of somepony behind them the girls turned as one to find the green filly from earlier staring back in surprise.

“Huh? Are ya goin' for them Dragon Colts firs'?” Apple Bloom asked with a slight frown; if somepony was already going for the bounty then it would be rude to try and do the same.

“Well, I am. But that doesn't mean that you guys can't as well.” The filly tilted her head while the Crusaders looked even more confused.

“Ok, soooo?” Scootaloo asked as she looked at the filly who seemed to grow excited as she hopped in place.

“So, we can work together! You seem to know who they are already too, that will help in the long run.” The purple haired unicorn nodded in satisfaction to herself.

“... You want to work together with us? Why? Who are you anyways?” Sweetie Belle asked with a small frown, confused and concerned about who this filly was and why she would want to work with them.

“Oh, right, we didn't introduce ourselves. I'm Eripio Rescue, from Manehatten. I take it you guys are the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'?” Eripio asked with a curious frown as she made an educated guess; though she did notice that they didn't have Cutie Marks, so it would make sense to 'crusade' for them.

“You bet! I'm Scootaloo, this is Apple Bloom and this is Sweetie Belle. We're from Ponyville and we're trying to find our Cutie Marks all over Equestria! So, about this bounty...” Scootaloo raised a questioning brow at the unicorn before them once the introductions were out of the way.

“Well, four fillies working together would be better than just one or even three; you know the wanted colts, I come from a family of guards, rescue agents and detectives. I'm sure we can be mutually helpful to one another.” Eripio smirked at the trio huddled together and whispered to one another.

“What do you say girls?” Scootaloo looked to the others as they put their hooves on each other's shoulders.

“Well, Ah think tha' it would be ah good idea, she seems tah know what she's talkin' about. She may be able tah help once we get these colts.” Apple Bloom looked to Sweetie Belle for final comments before they came to a judgment.

“Well, I dunno. I mean, I guess so; she'd be able to help with knowing what to do exactly once we get them.... What about the reward? We'd have to split it to be fair.”

The other two Crusaders thoughtfully frowned at this new fact. After weighing the new information, they found themselves nodding along.

“Sigh, I guess so. It would split evenly, two hundred and fifty bits each; we'd be able to pay for a few things at least.” Scootaloo rolled her head slightly as she conceded the point and the three girls nodded as one before breaking the huddle and turning back to the new filly.

“Sure, we'll work with you. Even split of the reward?” Scootaloo looked to the unicorn with a raised brow as the trio stood in a single line.

“Reward? Oh right, the reward. Actually, well, it's a personal thing I'm doing; I'm not really interested in the reward. You guys can have it if you want.” Eripio held out a hoof to the Crusaders who all took turns shaking it. Once they were finished sealing the deal, Eripio looked at the wanted poster once more.

“So, what do you know of these colts?” Eripio asked in a professional voice as she looked to the Crusaders.

“Well, we know 'em 'cause we fought 'em befor'. They are part o' the Red Dragon Dojo, an' we know somepony who could help. Come on.” Apple Bloom waved for Eripio to follow after the Crusaders as they thought on the same wavelength and headed towards the apartment complex.

“Red Dragons? What Dojo? Where are we going? Who's this contact?” Eripio raced to keep up as the Crusaders continued on while giving mental eye rolls at all the questions.

“We're going to our friend Daniel Donut, who should know where we can find the Red Dragons, since his home is in 'their territory'.” Sweetie Belle explained looking over her shoulder at the green unicorn.

“Ooooh, you have a contact and informant already?! That's pretty neat, you sure you haven't been bounty hunters or detectives before?” Eripio asked as they neared the apartment complex.

Sweetie Belle grew even more excited, detectives sounded much cooler than bounty hunters!

“How about that you guys? We can be detectives!” She shrilly made the comment just as they turned the corner to come face to face with Daniel who had heard the shrill sound and came to investigate.

“Oh, hey guys! Nice to see that you're alright, never heard back from ya last time. Still Crusading?” Daniel smirked at the excited fillies, wondering what they might be up to this time.

“Hey Daniel! Sorry 'bout tha', we went and got proper trainin' fer Martial Arts, maybe we can show ya some later! Anyways, we're lookin' fer them Dragon Colts. They said this here was their territory right?” Apple Bloom asked as the four fillies stood in front of the colt; Eripio was interested in how the Crusaders seemed to be full of surprises and knowledge.

Daniel wasn't sure to make of the news and question; from the sounds of it the fillies were getting stronger and better than him (a colt!) and they were looking for the colts that dealt them a harsh blow the last time they were in town.

“Why do you want to find them? Sure, they might still be coming around and bugging me and the other foals who live around here, but how are YOU three -” “four!” Eripio cut in “-four fillies going to do anything to them?” Daniel raised a curious brow as he noticed that the Crusaders' eyes nor their smiles wavered even for a second as he posed his question.

“Don't worry about us, we'll just follow them and find out where their hideout is and report them. If they want to cause trouble, I think we'll have better luck this time around.” Scootaloo proudly exclaimed as she waved a dismissive hoof.

Daniel shrugged and decided to give in; who was he to tell them to stay out of trouble, he was getting into trouble with the Red Dragons as well.

“Alright, your funeral; don't say I didn't warn you. Those colts still come by this area every so often just to remind us that it's their turf... Actually, I haven't seen them in a few days, they're probably visiting today. They stick to the apartment blocks and only a few of the streets nearby. Good luck, hopefully you'll be in an ok shape to show me those new moves later.” Daniel waved a hoof in farewell as he made a fast-paced retreat to his house, unwilling to be nearby when all the fighting broke out.

The Crusaders were a little surprised at this hasty retreat but shrugged as one before turning around and beginning their search for the bully colts.

Luck was with the four fillies that day; after having checked all four of the nearby apartments, they found their targets exiting a grocery store in a cocky and swaggering manner, laughing at their latest 'score' and the fear they caused the store clerk.

“Guys, check it out, it's the colts! Let's follow them and find out where they are heading to.” Scootaloo commanded the others as they all got into sneaking positions; Eripio was a little amused at the seriousness of their sneaking but they were pretty good since they had so much practice at it already.

The four fillies followed their prey as the bullies stole from two other stores; during which Eripio had to hold back the Crusaders from rushing in and stopping the thieves, reminding them that they should see if there is a large gang hideout first before going for the take down.

They spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon following the colts, after each event the Crusaders grew more angrier at their treatment of the ponies around them and their attitudes. They soon forgot about the reward entirely and were determined to bring these troublemakers in, no matter what.

Finally after traveling all over Applewood, the colts went to a warehouse on the edge of the city and snuck inside. The four fillies shared an intrigued look before searching the entire building for other ways in or any signs of who else might be in there; they found that there were five entrances and none of them had guards on the outside at least, but no sign of who else might be in there.

The warehouse itself was at least two and a half stories tall and rather long, it seemed to have belonged to one of the many film studios in the past but was closed off due to non-use. The fence that once encircled the whole thing had a few pony sized holes in it, allowing for easy passage to the building.

Being extremely careful of extra sounds or ponies on the lookout, the four girls snuck inside through a different entrance than the one the colts had used and found themselves both amazed and disturbed.

It turned out to be an easy task to hide once inside since the warehouse was filled with boxes, crates and other things holding stolen loot. There was poor lighting and the entire building was filled with the talk of hundreds of colts (as well as a few fillies) as they did whatever they wanted to; they played poker, shot pool, played video games, skateboarded around the inside and more. It was easy for the girls to hide in the shadows and take in the large scope of the place before them, as well as finding their targets.

The colts wore red belts on their foreheads as they bowed respectfully to an older dark blue earth pony with a white mane and tail who seemed to be in charge; the older pony then nodded once to the colts before pointing a hoof towards the city, signally for them to return to the outside for whatever reason. The fillies scrambled to catch up with their prey while memorizing where the warehouse was located so they could tell the police after catching the bullies.

The three colts trotted quickly back to the city, taking sharp turns and heading further into backstreets of apartment buildings. The fillies continued to follow the colts when as they turned a corner into an alley between two apartments they found the colts had disappeared.

“What in th' world? Where'd they go?” Apple Bloom searched the alley they were in before turning to the others who were just as confused. Suddenly Eripio went stiff before shoving the Crusaders to the side with a shout.

“WATCH OUT!”

Where the four had been standing was now a large crate which had been pushed from the top of the nearby house by two earth pony colts who sneered at the girls when they searched to find where the crate came from.

“So, you it's you three again. Didn't learn your lesson last time huh? Well, there's no old pony to help protect you this time!” The pegasus flew down as his two friends jumped to encircle the four fillies, who tried to seem un-intimidated by the threat.

“Oh yeah?! Well, you guys are bullies and thieves and worse! You're gonna stop doing that or, or, or else!” Sweetie Belle shrilly shouted to the colts who began to laugh.

Without a moment's notice the colts rushed at the Crusaders who in turn pushed Eripio out of the way and farther towards the exit.

“Eripio, ya gottah go get th' police! We'll handle these here bullies.” Apple Bloom shouted to their friend before charging towards one of the earth ponies.

Eripio nodded once before turning tail and finding the nearest emergency phone to call for help. Meanwhile Scootaloo distracted the pegasus who had been about to go after the green unicorn by jumping from a nearby ledge and landing squarely onto his back, making him drop from the sky in surprise.

This wasn't the only surprise the colts suffered from as they hadn't expected the girls to get as strong as they did in the month and a half since their last fight. While the colts had used brute strength and numbers to win their fights, the fillies had worked on their balance and teamwork, causing the colts to crash into one another reminiscent of when Miyagi had fought them.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle fought the two earth pony colts while Scootaloo fought the pegasus; and while the pegasus filly still couldn't fly, all the practice with being in high places and learning of how pegasus usually fought in the sky helped to balance the fighting between the two. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had an easier time with their fights, being essentially a ground based fight since the unicorn filly hadn't gotten full control of her magic yet.

While the colts fought on their own and snapped at one another when one got into their way, the fillies used teamwork, sending the boys crashing into each other often and even into the walls and ground around them. All their training on balance and repeating basic movements paid off as they had stronger and faster reaction time than the colts; often allowing them to escape in the nick of time from any punches or kicks the colts tried as well as having more power in their attacks in return.

The Crusaders did take some hits, but all their previous adventures helped them get over the pain and fight back. But what really tipped the scale into the girls' favor was when Eripio came back and joined the fighting.

Eripio may have liked to research, track, use facts and logic to win fights but she came from a family of guards, detectives and rescue ponies; learning and using self-defense moves was a normal thing in the Rescue Clan. She helped each of the Crusaders at one point or another, slowly but surely giving the girls the advantage while the colts grew more frustrated and sloppy with the fact that a bunch of fillies were beating them.

By the time the policeponies arrived at the scene, they found the fillies victorious and the colts lying on the ground in pain. After getting the complete story, as well as sending ponies down to the warehouse to round up the rest of the gang, the police had the four girls go to the station to fill out paperwork explaining what happened and receive their reward for their help in the capture of the thieves.

“Tha' was pretty cool Eripio, we didn't know ya can fight.” Apple Bloom said as she wrote what happened in the alley and what they found in the warehouse.

“Yeah, where did you learn all that?” Scootaloo asked while she filled out her own paperwork.

Eripio waved away the praise with a light blush, more interested in where the Crusaders learned to fight; she had never seen movement like theirs before and was amazed at how well they worked together.

“It's nothing. My family believes that it's a good idea for everypony to know some self-defense. Where did you guys learn your moves; I've never seen anything like it.”

“We learned from Miyagi, a Martial Arts teacher of ours.... Hmmm, Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle called softly to her friend, pulling her to the side. The pegasus looked confusedly back to the unicorn as they huddled close to Apple Bloom while hiding what was about to be discussed from all the policeponies around them.

“Scootaloo, if we put our names here, doesn't that mean that Pepper or anypony else can find us?” Sweetie Belle pointed to the papers in question, where the girls had indeed written their names and where they lived (or in Scootaloo's case, the general area). Scootaloo's eyes widened as did Apple Bloom since she was just barely able to hear what was said and realized the trouble they could have gotten themselves into had Sweetie Belle not notice in time.

“Shoot, you're right; I totally forgot about that!”

“But, we need tah fill out these papers befor' we can collect th' reward...” Apple Bloom frowned lightly as the girls sat in a circle thinking of a way to both get the reward and to go unnoticed.

Eripio noticed when the girls grew edgy and in the midst of their whispering walked up to the trio just in time to hear about being unable to collect the reward.

“Why can't you collect the reward?” Eripio asked the girls as they gave small jumps of surprise at the intrusion.

“Oh, uhm, well, we're not supposed to be traveling this far out by ourselves, so if we left proof that we were all the way out here we'd get in trouble, right girls?” Scootaloo elbowed her friends who then nodded along as she tried to keep the police from overhearing.

Eripio thought for a moment and nodded; she suspected that there may have been more to it but the Crusaders didn't want the police to know for whatever reason so she couldn't ask about it in the middle of the station.

“Ok, well how about you guys head outside while nopony is looking and I'll claim the reward and then give it to you instead? That way you don't leave proof that you got the bits and were in Applewood while still getting the reward.” The Crusaders looked at one another before nodding their consent and slowly edged their way to the outside.

They made it just in time, for not even a moment later a policemare came by and asked where they went. Eripio played dumb and made it seem like there hadn't been anypony else around; she made sure to destroy the half-finished papers the Crusaders had left behind and even started her own report over so that nopony else was named. The policemare was suspicious but since she couldn't find the trio she had to drop the subject and collect the one finished report; which she noticed also didn't say much about the Crusaders aside from the fact that some other ponies helped to fight the colts in the alley but had 'disappeared' before the police came.

Once all the paperwork was finished, Eripio claimed the reward and stepped outside, looking around for three tell-tale manes when she noticed a hoof waving at her from a nearby alleyway.

“I feel like we're doing some kind of illegal trade. Here's your bits, you guys did a good job! Maybe we'll see each other around, see you!” Eripio wasted no time in turning over the bits and heading home.

The sudden departure was another shock to the Crusaders but they figured that it must be how the Rescue family said goodbye; short and to the point. After checking that all the bits were there, the trio found that it was getting late in the day and they would have to head home if they wanted to avoid getting into more trouble.

“I guess we aren't bounty hunters or detectives, but it was pretty fun!” Scootaloo hovered for a moment before landing once more as they walked to the station.

“Yeah, and we may be hurt a little but at least it's not like when we first fought those bullies. We should try and figure out how to visit Miyagi more, we need to keep practicing.” Sweetie Belle stated as she quickly glanced at the others' and her own injuries, planning out the herbs and band-aides they would need to use.

“At least we found ah way tah earn more bits, we can pay back Grand Exchange now AN' still hav' bits left over. And here's th' train, perfect timin'.” Apple Bloom led the way onto the train back home during which the girls made plans and discussed ideas for how to keep on traveling and crusading without getting into trouble.

“What do you mean our Dojo in Applewood has been captured? How did anypony find us or even had the task-force to stop them?”

“Tono, the police were led by one of the Rescue Clan; the ones who found and gave this information to the police were four fillies...” A dark blue earth pony with white mane and tail shivered as he bowed to the figure sitting in the half dark.

“WHAT? Not only a pony of the Rescue Clan but four little girls helped to take down a Red Dragon Dojo? Find out who these fillies are, the Rescue Clan we shall deal with but none are to challenge the Dragons without getting burned! Go and do not fail me a second time...” The pony in the dark thundered to the one who was giving the report, who turned rapidly and exited the half dark room.

Chapter 14 Off to sail the open seas!

View Online

The Crusaders waited a few days before making more travel plans; they were still being watched by relatives though since school started in a month they were given some leeway to have fun.

Since they got a large sum of bits for bringing in the local gang in Applewood, the fillies decided to make a stop at Canterlot on the way to Baltimare; they still had to repay Grand Exchange for the bits they borrowed. Luckily the reward had been a thousand bits, so they still had seven hundred left to themselves after paying back their friend.

“Why are we going to Baltimare again? It's awfully close to Manehatten...” Scootaloo looked at her friends with ears laid back in worry.

“Because, it's someplace they wouldn't expect to find us! And it's in a different direction, throws them off the trail.” Sweetie Belle shot the pegasus a grin before looking at the plans before them for their latest adventure.

"Yeah; besides, Baltimare is the city that's closest tah th' docks, where we can find ah boat tah try an' be sailors! Or some other sea-type of Cutie Marks.” Apple Bloom nodded happily to herself before reaching for their saddlebags and packing everything up before setting everything back down in the center.

“Come on, we gottah ask if we can go Crusadin' fer a few days without our sistahs worryin'. It's a much longer trip tah Baltimare than the others especially if we're making a stop at Canterlot firs'.” Apple Bloom waved for others to follow her out of the Clubhouse to find the orange farm pony.

The trio found Applejack just as she was about to start her morning chores; though when she saw three figures running up to her, she waited for them, having a feeling that they were about to ask something of her.

“Hiya Sis'. We were jus' wonderin' if we could go Crusadin' fer ah few days. We wouldn't be able tah report in with ya, but Ah promise we'd be safe.” As Applejack looked hesitantly about it she was subjected to three pairs of pleading eyes; the older mare gave in with a sigh and rubbed the back of her head.

“”What are ya Crusadin' fer? We'd need ah way tah find y'all ifin' something happens.” Applejack sternly looked at the trio who were a little less sure of their success.

“We're trying to earn postal delivery Cutie Marks! So we thought we'd stay with Miss Derpy to learn some tricks of the trade; but since the postal ponies have to travel far we thought we'd need a few days to try.” Scootaloo stepped forward as they nodded along; the postal ponies were their original cover story but they weren't sure about getting more ponies involved.

“Alright, but ya got tah make sure Rarity knows.” Three faces fell at the new obstacle; while Applejack may be easy to convince, Rarity knew every trick in the book and would be harder to convince.

“Awwww.... Rarity never lets me have fun.” Sweetie Belle sat with a huff as the other Crusaders looked mournful on her behalf. Applejack chuckled at the dramatics and sat down as well.

“Now th' ain't true, she jus' wants ya tah be safe. Ah'm sure if you go an' explain like ya did tah me she'll let ya go as well.” At this Sweetie Belle perked up with an idea that may help.

“Ooh, can you come with us and help explain to her?! She doesn't listen to me, but maybe she'll listen to you!” Applejack found herself facing another triply puppy dog eyes as the Crusaders tried to look as pleading and sad as possible; they had noticed how the orange farm pony had been spending more time with the fashionista and had been the one that got the girls un-grounded after their first fight with a Timberwolf.

Applejack sighed again before nodding; as she stood up to go with the Crusaders, the fillies all gave cheers and high-hoofed one another. The older mare rolled her eyes at these antics but led the way all the same.

Soon the four ponies found themselves in the Boutique with a gray-white unicorn who had been preparing to go to out for the day.

“I don't know...” Rarity put a hoof to her chin as the girls tried to plead with puppy eyes once more to little effect.

“Come on sugarcube, th' girls' will be safe; would Ah lie 'bout somethin' like that?” Applejack added her own two bits in as Rarity smiled briefly at the orange mare before turning a stern eye to the trio of fillies.

“Of course not dear; but it's not something you are doing, it's the girls who have done things like it before.” Applejack nodded slowly as she conceded the point.

“That's true, but they know how much trouble they'd be in if they lie tah us.” Applejack glared as well as the Crusaders gulped nervously, they were taking large risks by traveling so much.

Rarity saw how serious Applejack was and how the girls were properly worried about upsetting their sister and nodded her consent.

“Alright, but be careful! And try not to get too dirty!”

As the girls cheered and ran outside they paid little attention to their older sisters as Rarity called to Applejack before she could leave with the girls.

“Applejack, would you be a dear and come help me pull carts of gems back to town?” Upon seeing Applejack's inquisitive brow the gray-white unicorn went on to explain.

“Lately the Diamond Dogs have been giving me two extremely heavy carts of gems and it's just been the hardest thing to pull it all the way back to town on my own.” Applejack shook her head at the thought of the prissy unicorn dealing with the very dogs that she had issues with before and gave the unicorn a slight frown.

“Why are ya dealin' with them dogs Rarity? Ah thought they caused you nothin' but trouble?” Rarity waved a dismissive hoof as she laughed lightly.

“Nonsense! Why, they are the most well behaved a lady could ask for. So will you help?” Applejack shook her head as she smirked.

“Shucks, Ah was goin' tah help even if it's tah protect ya from them dogs in case they had any funny ideas. Lead th' way, sugarcube.” Applejack bowed her head slightly as she swept a hoof towards the door, allowing the unicorn to go ahead of her.

“Thank you darling!” Rarity smiled at the farm pony before leading the way to the nearby range of mountains for her supply of gems that would help her business prosper.

The girls raced through town, wanting to tie up loose ends before going on their trip.

“Scootaloo, how ya gonnah get Miss Derpy tah go along with us leavin' town?” Apple Bloom glanced at the orange pegasus who led the trio to Derpy's house on the outskirts of town.

“You know Applejack wasn't going to let us unless there was somepony she could check with about us. All we have to do is make it vague enough that Ms. Derpy won't question it or know where we are exactly. I'll take care of it, don't you worry.” Scootaloo waved away their worries as they came to the small one floor cottage on the edge of town.

The cottage had a thatched roof like all the other buildings in town with brown-red walls and a clear front yard; its mailbox was slightly bent from being a means of brake and there was a smooth walkway leading to the front door. While the trio couldn't see it from the front, there were three bedrooms as well as the living room, kitchen and bathroom; making it just slightly too large for a single pony but still retaining its cozy charm.

As the trio lined up in front of the door, Scootaloo knocked a few times with a confident smile on her face; it was Sunday and there was no postal service unless it was an emergency, so the blue-gray pegasus was bound to be home.

Fortunately the orange pegasus' theory was right and soon the trio was face to face with the older pegasus who smiled at seeing them.

“Hello girls; I'm glad to see everything is going ok for you, Scootaloo. How can I help you three?” Derpy looked from one to another as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked to the confident pegasus filly.

“Hello Ms. Derpy, we were wondering if it was ok to go Crusading in the forest in your backyard. We promise to be safe!” Derpy looked from one filly to the other as they tried to appear innocent; the pegasus frowned slightly, causing her eyes to drift in different directions.

The girls knew it was rude to say anything about this and waited for the older mare's response instead, almost able to sense that she had questions for them.

“Do your families know about this newest Crusade?” The girls remained as still as possible while they allowed the orange filly to speak for them.

“Yeah, they know; but we're trying to earn our secret agent Cutie Marks too, so nopony can know where we are. Can you promise not to tell?” At this the girls used their puppy eyes for the fourth time that day as they looked at the older mare.

Derpy always had a weakness for foals and the Crusaders were no exception, even if not telling family members where they were exactly didn't sound very good at all. It helped that while she did have a good size forest in her backyard, Derpy knew it rather well from her own foal-hood and was confident in her ability to find them if the need arose.

“Alright, I promise I won't say where you are or give away secretive information.” As Derpy gave in and relaxed, her eyes went mostly back to normal and she gave the now ecstatic Crusaders a smile and polite farewell as they abruptly turned around and went back into town to reach the other side where the orchard waited for them.

“I don't know if we should be doing all this lying. It's one thing to sneak off... But Applejack was right; we would get into a lot of trouble if they found that we lied to them...” Sweetie Belle trailed off as the three friends walked back to Sweet Apple Acres for their supplies.

“Ah dunno; while Ah don't like lyin' to mah family, they wouldn't let us do anythin'. Do ya not want tah go?” Apple Bloom looked at the unicorn who seemed shock at the suggestion.

“What? No, I want to go! I'm just not sure about lying to our families.” Sweetie Belle tried to show how much she wanted to go by picking up her pace, leading the others to the Clubhouse at a run.

“Hey, Scootaloo, why would Ms. Derpy have a forest in her backyard?” Apple Bloom looked at the pegasus briefly as they ran through the town.

“Hmm? Oh. Well, since she lives on the edge of town like she does, she has the forest really close to her house. She owns part of the forest, I guess from her family? And when I had my various hideouts, one of them was in that forest; that's how I met her and worked out a deal for a way to earn bits and place to stay and all.” Scootaloo shrugged as well as one could while running.

The trio were silent the rest of the trip to the Clubhouse, not wanting to chance getting into trouble by arguing about their cover story on the way.

Once they arrived, they picked up the prepared saddlebags and threw on their capes before heading out again; they wanted to present a unified front on their longer trip and the best way was to take their Crusading capes. Since they weren't sure how much renting a boat would cost, they brought their bits along as well as the amount to pay back Grand Exchange; they were going to make a stop at Canterlot on the way there and they had already sent a letter explaining that earlier in the week so their friends would be expecting them.

Considering how long it was going to take to reach the port city, the trio had booked a private compartment for themselves so they wouldn't be bothered during the ride. It was still early in the day, only 8am, so there weren't that many ponies taking the train at the time; and All Aboard had seen the fillies take the train so often that it no longer gave him pause, though when they asked to try and be conductors he made sure to say no firmly.

Once again they used the extra time to work on their Martial Arts techniques and made a list of sea-themed Cutie Marks they could try for, trying to fill the empty long hours of their trip.

Within two hours they arrived at Canterlot City, and the trio hopped off the train in excitement of seeing their friends even if it was briefly; the train was making a ten minute stop and so the Crusaders had arranged to meet the two Canterlot fillies at the station. As they got off the train, they searched the platform frantically, they didn't want to miss the chance to repay a friend nor miss their time to leave.

A pink unicorn waved to the trio of fillies as they ran over with smiles of joy at seeing a friendly face.

“Sweet Success! Are we glad tah see ya, but where's Grand Exchange? We were supposed tah meet her here tah give her her bits back...” Apple Bloom scanned the crowd as the three girls stood next to their pink with two-tone pink maned friend.

“Well, about that.... Grand Exchange said that she doesn't want the bits back; and if you can't meet her, then you can't give them back.” Sweet Success scuffed a hoof along the platform as she sheepishly looked to the Crusaders who stared back in shock.

“But, but... We have more bits! We can afford to pay her back! What if you took the bits and gave it to her for us?” Sweetie Belle pleaded to Sweet Success who backed away slightly while having a hoof in denial.

“Nope. They're not my bits, I can't take them. We know that it's harder for you three to get bits than it is for us, we don't mind helping out.” Sweet Success shook her head before pointing to the train that was just starting to blow the warning whistle.

“Besides, you can't stay longer to argue with me. How about this? Once you guys get your Cutie Marks, then you can pay Grand Exchange back? That way, you know what your talent is so you can possibly get a job and earn more. Sound good?” The pink unicorn smiled as she watched the Crusaders frown but nod thoughtfully at the suggestion.

“Alright, but you guys can't try and pull that kind of try when we do come to payback the bits. We'll see you later Sweet Success.” Scootaloo pointed a hoof to show they meant it before waving goodbye to the pink filly.

“Yeah, we'll see y'all later then.”

“Yeah, and once we do have our Cutie Marks we will pay it back! Bye!” As one the trio returned onto the train and watched from the window as Grand Exchange stepped out just in time to wave goodbye to the fillies as the train started on its journey once more.

“HEY!” The girls started to shout at their other Canterlot friend when the train started to pick up speed, only allowing them time to wave goodbye as the two nobles just smiled and waved back.

“Well, at least she came out tah say goodbye.” Apple Bloom shrugged as they sat on one of the four bunks, pleased that they were able to see their other friend while upset that they couldn't speak with her nor repay her that day.

“That was one heck of a trick they pulled. Think they're going to keep at it if we tried to give back the bits before we earn our Cutie Marks? We don't even know how long that will take!” Scootaloo thumped a hoof on the bed as she frowned; being one upped didn't sit right with her.

“Well, by the time we get our Cutie Marks, we should have had a chance to earn lots more; we can give back it easily. She means well, and hopefully it won't take that long. We just have to keep Crusading, that's all!” Sweetie Belle tried to be positive to counter the orange pegasus' sulking, Apple Bloom nodding along.

“Yeah, we can always try an' tah play a joke back on her if ya want. We'll hav' tah think of a good one too...” Apple Bloom rubbed her chin as she started to think of different pranks they could try and pull on their Canterlot friends.

“Yeeaaahhh, that could work. So what can we do?” Scootaloo raised an inquisitive brow to the young farm filly who smirked back before the two started to come up with prank ideas with some input from the young unicorn, who was happy that their pegasus friend was no longer sulking.

The trip would take half a day, meaning that the girls would have to find a place to stay for the night since it would be too late to try and Crusade safely. They planned to check on when boats left at what times the next day so they could get up in time to either go with a boat that has a crew already and learn or get their own to rent for the day; depending on costs and how big of a task it was would dictate what the girls would end up doing for their sea Cutie Marks.

They spent their trip in high spirits; making prank plans, practicing their Martial Arts, making lists of ideas and figuring out financially what they could do in the city. They even took a nap at one point, all the excitement and rush catching up with them; the trio had been up since early that morning planning out their latest Adventure and their cover story for relatives.

Just as they were beginning to doubt themselves about the long trip, the train pulled in with a sharp whistle, drawing everypony's attention at having arrived. The girls all perked up from their place on the bottom bunk where they had sat down in despair not even moments ago and jumped up to grab their saddlebags from the corner of the compartment where they had thrown them.

Once they had their capes on over their bags, the girls followed the crowd out of the train and onto the platform that was on the edge of the city farthest from the sea. The trio followed their noses through the mid-sized buildings and wide spaces to find the docks and ocean.

The fillies from Ponyville had never seen the ocean before and could only stare in wonder at the continuous blue that seemed to blend into the sky which was darkening by this time, slowly outlining where the sea ended with the backdrop of dark-navy sky.

Lamp posts were slowly coming to life as the girls stood on the wooden walkway that allowed ponies to reach the beach; dotted along the sands were life-guard stations where ponies watched the swimmers to ensure their safety during daylight hours. Behind the stunned trio, the three and four storied buildings began to light up for the night as hotels tried to tempt ponies into a comfy place to rest with signs proclaiming their prices and special offers.

The thing that drew the girl's attention away from the slapping of waves onto the sand before them was a chilly wind that blew their capes out and caused them to shiver. They looked away from the view before them to share huge smiles at having come out this far and turned to face the city that was behind them, taking in the night life of a much larger place than their hometown.

“Well, we should find a place to sleep for the night. Any ideas you guys?” Scootaloo half-glanced to the others who looked back in thought; the pegasus could stand being just about anywhere, but knew that her two friends weren't as used to ruffing it like she was.

“We could always try to find a hotel to stay in just for tonight...” Sweetie Belle began to think out loud when she realized a problem they may have with this idea.

“Yeah, but what hotel would let a couple of fillies stay without an older pony with them?” Scootaloo pointed out the problem that Sweetie Belle had started to realize as she waved with a hoof to the buildings in front of them.

“What if we said we had an older pony tha' would be comin' later an' that we was tah get the room fer 'em?” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at one another before turning back to Apple Bloom and nodding their consent to her idea; it wasn't like they were getting any better ones anyways.

The girls stood up from where they had sat in thought and made their way to the nearest hotels that faced the ocean; where they found an unfortunate truth, any hotel that was right next to the beach cost ten times as much as any one block away. It was as they exited the third hotel that they saw a sign for a smaller one across the street exclaiming its cheaper price with a sign over the doorway.

It was much easier for the girls to book a room than they thought; the staff pony didn't seem to care all that much that they were foals and gave them the same kind of attention as all the other clients, bored indifference. In an attempt to save on bits, the girls ordered a double sized bed to be shared; they had shared a bed in other sleepovers and it wasn't going to be any different this time, it was just in a different city, so they thought nothing of it.

The room they had was of decent size; it had the double bed in the center, some dressers along the side with a T.V. screen on top of it, a large window on the wall with the door and a small bathroom that had a shower stall in it along with other basic hygiene needs.

The girls found a basic phone in their room and ordered in for the night from a local pizza place, the Italian Stallion. As they ate, they pondered about how Ponyville can be rather old-fashion and not have that many electronic features available; though this trend was slowly eroding away, especially considering how foals now had an arcade to play at during non-school hours.

While they considered themselves too wired to sleep that night, the Crusaders knew they would have to get some kind of rest in order to get up in the morning to search for a ship to work on. They had come to an agreement on the fact that they would learn a lot more by getting work on a ship with an experienced crew already and hoped that there would be such a ship hiring.

Bright and early the next morning found the trio of fillies on the docks of Baltimare; having eaten a breakfast of leftover pizza from the night before and taking all of their possessions with them in case something comes up. They found the docks as both a hive of bustle and yet quiet; the fishing boats were just setting sail while passenger boats waited on the ponies who wanted tours of the harbor and local area. As the trio walked along the pier, looking for just the right kind of boat to try and work on, they weren't watching the path before them and bumped into a filly who was like-wise distracted.

“Ah'm sorry-”

“Sorry!-”

“We're sorry-”

"Ah, sorry, sorry-”

As one the four fillies paused in their apologies as they found themselves faced with a friend.

“Eripio?!” The trio cried as one while the green unicorn exclaimed in surprise as well.

“Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo? What are you guys doing here?” Eripio adjusted her glasses that had been knocked lightly in the bump as the four fillies stared at one another in surprise.

"Us? What about you?” Scootaloo pointed with a hoof as Sweetie Belle was just about to start explaining. After giving the pegasus a slight frown for having cut her off, Sweetie Belle continued with what she had been about to say.

“We're trying for any sea-themed Cutie Marks we can, what are you doing around here?” Eripio frowned slightly in confusion, she had thought the Crusaders may have come for a different reason.

“Well, actually I'm here because there seems to be some sort of trouble going on around these waters.” Three brows rose at this, unsure of what troubles could lie in wait on the high seas.

“Seems that a group of pirates have been pillaging local ponies; I thought that you had heard of it and came to help.” Eripio looked at the Crusaders curiously who started to thoughtfully frown at the news of pirates.

“How'd ya know 'bout pirates in the area?” Apple Bloom asked as the trio tilted their heads in unison, confusion flashing across their faces.

“It's a Clan magic that the unicorns of my family can use; it helps us find trouble locations and send the right kind of help. It's a type of divination magic, something that only a blood relation of the Rescue Clan can use; I've been trying to find my own Cutie Mark and since I can use that spell, I thought it might be something that I'm do to so I've been going around to different trouble locations to try and help.” Eripio scanned the horizon as she explained to the girls who looked gleeful at the fact that their friend was also Crusading for her Cutie Mark, in her own way.

“You should join the Cutie Mark Crusaders! We go on lots of adventures!” Scootaloo hovered in the air for a moment as the others chimed in as well.

“Yeah, maybe you need to try other things to get your Cutie Mark!”

“An' ya never know, ya might find tha' your talent is somethin' completely different.” The three Crusaders gave the green unicorn large grins that she returned due to amusement of their excitement.

“Thanks for the offer girls, but I'm going to try my way for a little longer. You said you were trying to earn sea-themed Cutie Marks? How about trying some of those boats, they have slightly nicer crews and are a little bigger; it's more than likely they could use some extra help with something or other.” Eripio pointed further down the dock where more mid-sized ships were tied, ones that were waiting for passengers to come abroad for tours.

“That sounds like a good idea, thanks! And remember, the offer still stands! See you later Eripio!” Sweetie Belle led the way as the trio waved goodbye to their friend who returned to searching the docks and horizon for signs of trouble.

The girls tried boat after boat, and upon reaching the fourth passenger boat were finally able to be hired as cabin-ponies. The ship, called 'The Classy Mare', had an older crew who were rather fond of foals and respected the fillies desire to learn how to work on a ship.

The first two hours were spent learning the proper nautical terms for things as well as tips and tricks as the crew waited for their passengers of the day. The Classy Mare was to take a tour of the bay as well as some of the more famous landmarks nearby; such as various collections of rocks as well as other natural features that have amazed ponies for generations.

Once the passengers for the day arrived, which were a couple of large mid-class families, the ship set sail out of the harbor and onto the open seas. The Crusaders earned their sea-legs the hard way, having never been on a ship before and spent a half hour leaning over the railing seasick before adjusting to the new environment. Since they had all equally been sick, it was agreed to never be spoken about again.

Much like their other attempts at earning Cutie Marks, the Crusaders made a mess out of the work given to them. They couldn't tie any knots without tying each other up at the same time, any time they tried to move supplies it typically got away from them and the trio were seen to be chasing barrels and objects across the deck, climbing into the rigging usually led to them either be tangled up or dangling off the edge and they couldn't try to navigate the ship without getting into a fight with one another about the directions.

As much as the passengers were annoyed by the three fillies' actions, the crew thought it was cute and tried to offer tips and help to the girls. They had signed on for an all-day workload and though they spent the first few hours on the sea getting into trouble, they slowly got the hang of it. The crew found that they had to be taught slowly with repetition and practice, as well as lots of encouragements so the girls didn't feel like complete losers and give up on whatever task they worked at.

Just as the girls seemed to have gotten better and may actually be able to do normal crew-type things, everything went downhill. Pirates appeared out of nowhere and boarded their ship with demands of hoofing over all valuables and supplies; the Crusaders would have tried to stop these robbers, even if they were outnumbered three to one, but the crew made sure that the foals were all safe and out of harm's way by keeping them well away from the pirates. It wasn't much protection considering how the pirates made sure to search every room for any hidden valuables; making it easier for the Crusaders to get a good look at them as well as over hear some of the pirates' conversations.

Once the pirates took all they could and retreated as fast as they appeared, The Classy Mare returned to the harbor to report the theft. The three fillies were among the first ones off and it was to their surprise to find Eripio and a team of coast guards waiting for the ship.

“Whatcha doin' here Eripio? We was just goin' tah go lookin' fer ya.” Apple Bloom led the way over to the purple maned filly who seemed only slightly surprised that the Crusaders were involved with the incident.

“I was trying to predict when the trouble would happen and it told me to come to this dock; I told the coast guard, but they didn't listen to my warning early enough to sail out and help. Is everyone alright?” Eripio checked over the fillies as well as the other passengers for any injuries, pleased to note that no one was hurt.

“Nah, we're fine; they gave in to the pirates' every demand and no one was hurt. We would have tried to stop them, but they kept all the foals back 'for safety'. Pfhh, like we were safe; the pirates searched every room for any extra valuables, including the one where the crew made all the foals wait in.” Scootaloo glared out at the sea, thinking of when the pirates would likely strike next.

“Yeah, we totally heard and saw them! They wore the same symbol as the Red Dragons from Applewood, but they sure didn't fight or act like those colts... Though they were all colts and stallions...” Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin as she stated these facts, wondering if they had any connection with the gang from the other city. Eripio watched closely, also connecting the dots while being amazed at the luck the girls have with finding trouble and gathering clues.

“An' them pirates are probably gonnah rob somepony else today; the families that were on th' boat today weren't very rich or nothing and the cargo The Classy Mare had wasn't all that much either. They was sayin' somethin' 'bout tha' when they was searchin' the ship fer mor' loot. We gottah stop them!” Apple Bloom looked to the other Crusaders who nodded back sharply before all four fillies began to run along the pier.

“Good theories, we'll get the coast guard and let them know; they'll have to listen to me this time! Come on girls, this way!” Eripio took off running down the pier that headed further inland, happy to have found others who want to stop the villains as much as she does.

“I'll bet they go for one of these bigger cruise ships, they have a lot more cargo and their passengers tend to be richer ponies; what do you think girls? Girls?” Eripio looked behind her and found that she was NOT leading the Crusaders as she had thought; she spent a few minutes trying to find them in the growing afternoon crowd without luck.

“... Why do I get the feeling that they are going to be in the thick of trouble again?” Eripio asked herself rhetorically as she continued on her way to the coast guard; without knowing where the fillies had gone she had to do the next best thing, tell the proper authorities of their theories concerning the pirates and hope they would do something before it was too late.

“So, do you think these bigger fancier boats will most likely be robbed next, Eripio? Eripio?” Sweetie Belle looked back to find that the green unicorn was nowhere to be seen.

“What the-? Where did she go, she was right behind us!” Scootaloo circled in place before looking to her two friends who could only shrug in return.

“Ah guess she went tah tell somepony else 'bout these pirates comin' back. We'll do things our way an' she can do it her way, an' we'll see who gets the job done faster.” Apple Bloom suggested as she looked for the nearest boat that would be setting sail shortly.

“Sounds good to me, we'll see who is faster, the Cutie Mark Crusaders or some old coast guard ponies.” Scootaloo joined in the search as the trio spun in place trying to find the ship that was about to leave the dock.

“Yeah! Ohh look! That big one there, it's about to leave! Come on!” Sweetie Belle led the way as the trio ran up to a much larger cruise ship named The RLS Legacy that was just finishing loading its precious cargo of wines, arts and gems for the nobles who were traveling by boat to Manehatten; they had heard about pirates and most of the trains heading to the northern city were booked, leaving them no choice but to go by sea. They had heard that the pirates had already struck that day and hoped it would be another before they came back for more prey.

The Crusaders snuck aboard and hid in one of the half-filled crates of cargo; the crew of the Legacy knew they had to be extra careful to satisfy their passengers of the day and did a thorough search of the cargo bay, checking for stowaways or any other issues. Since most of the nobles insisted on privacy, the crew didn't search in the boxes and crates, making it the perfect hiding place for the fillies.

Their plan was a simple one: they would wait for the boat to be hijacked and when the pirates came into the hold to take the valuables, they would pop out and fight them off and capture who they could; the captured pirates may even lead them to their hideout where they can get the others at the same time. It was foolproof.

That was until somepony set more crates on top of the one the Crusaders were hiding in. In an effort to stay near one another to better work as a team they had chosen to hide in the same large crate that was half-full of high-end clothing; but the box that was placed on top was full of gems and was heavier which meant that the fillies wouldn't be able to surprise the pirates like they originally planned.

They discovered this fact when, after two hours of sailing, the ship was boarded by the pirates; the girls could tell when the floors above them were filled with screams and shouts of 'take him/her, not me!'. They waited for the sound of hoof-steps into the cargo hold and then pushed together on the top of their crate only to find it immovable.

The trio listened in fear as the pirates described what each box held and found that they were blocked by a heavier box of gems; they face-hoofed as one while the pirates began to load up all the cargo onto their own ship.

Within thirty minutes of the attack the pirates had everything they could grab and beat a hasty retreat; the girls could only sit and listen to the pirates around them praise themselves for a job well done and describing their latest job as 'one of the best that will for sure get them out of their current location and onto better things'. The Crusaders shared a concerned look before their faces set into one of resolve; they weren't going to let the pirates get away, ever!

The only question was: how would they stop them?

Chapter 15 Foiling the plans of Pirates

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It was just after noon when the orange and gray-white mares walked up to a small cottage on the edge of town. The cottage was only one floor but had multiple rooms as well as a spacious front yard with a very large backyard leading into the nearby forest. Without hesitating a moment the orange mare knocked on the front door, bringing the sole-occupant out to greet her two guests.

“Howdy Derpy; Rarity an' Ah were jus' comin' by tah see how th' fillies were doin'. Do ya know where they are?” Applejack asked with a smile, hoping that she and Rarity were just being overcautious and that the Crusaders were just fine.

“I'm afraid I've been sworn to secrecy.” Derpy said with a serious face before leaning forward with a smirk.

“The girls are in the backyard; was there something you wanted to tell them? They want to try and be secret agents along with whatever else they are working on.” The two sisters' smiles grew larger at the explanation as they rolled their eyes at the Crusaders' precaution.

“If you would be so kind as to tell them that Applejack and I, along with some of our friends, will be having a pre-Summer Wrap-up picnic tomorrow afternoon? In case they decide to come and have something proper to eat.” Rarity flicked her mane behind her as Derpy smiled and nodded her consent to pass the message along.

“Sure will; was there anything else you needed?” At the two short head shakes, Derpy dipped her head in farewell as they all shared farewells before the two sisters returned to town.

“Alright, now to find those fillies; a picnic is the perfect time to be with family even if one is looking for their special talent. It shouldn't take me too long to find them, the forest isn't that large.” With a quick check that nopony else needed her attention, the blue-gray pegasus took to the skies as she went in search for the troublesome trio.

“Way to go Sweetie Belle! Great idea; have all three of us in this crate and get picked up by the pirates!” Scootaloo hissed at the gray-white unicorn who frowned in return.

“It's not my fault they put some heavier box on top of ours! Besides, I didn't hear you come up with any ideas!” Sweetie Belle whispered furiously back while Scootaloo gave her a small glare.

“Well, I wouldn't have put all of us into one box that can be easily trapped!” Scootaloo leaned forward as she continued to heatedly whisper to the unicorn who leaned forward in turn.

“Well, maybe you should, you should... go and find your own crate to hide in!” Sweetie Belle looked around the confined space for a moment as she searched for a proper comeback to which Scootaloo merely snorted in annoyance.

“I would, except that we're stuck in THIS ONE!” Scootaloo's voice began to rise at this point as the two friends started to butt their heads together in anger.

“SSSSHHHHH!!! Ya want them pirates tah hear us?!” Apple Bloom shushed her friends who looked surprised at the interruption but sat further apart from one another with both hooves crossed in annoyance.

After giving her two arguing friends a shake of her head at their actions, the green-yellow filly put her ear against the wall of the crate they were in to try and hear what was happening around them; the sounds of the pirates and waves changed as they sailed along, suddenly echoing more than if they were on the open seas.

“Guys, Ah think we're headin' intah ah cave or somethin'. We may have found their hideout, we could still try an' keep goin' with th' mission.” Apple Bloom turned to face her two friends who were still annoyed at one another but willing to try and get the real cause of all this trouble, the pirates.

The trio sat for a moment, waiting for one of the others to suggest the plan of action, looking at each other to see who would go first. As Scootaloo's eyes rested on the unicorn, Sweetie Belle turned away with a small 'humph' of annoyance to which the pegasus scowled before trying to think of a plan in order to prove that she could.

“Alright, how about this? We wait for when the pirates pick up this box, jump out, and start knocking them out!” Scootaloo tried to sit up in excitement only to find that there was just enough room to be hunched over due to the crate they were in.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both rolled at their eyes as they thought the same thing; somepony has been hanging out with a certain rainbow-maned pegasus.

“Scootaloo, how'd we do tha' if we don't know how many of 'em are there? Yeah, we've gotten better at Martial Arts, but we ain't masters yet. What about waitin' till they've set the crate down an' try openin' the top again? Maybe they'll put our box on top this time.” Apple Bloom suggested as she kept an ear out for any pirates that may be coming to move the cargo.

Scootaloo thought about this with a frown; after being stuck in the box she wanted action!

“I guess...” Apple Bloom grinned at having convinced one Crusader; now to do the same for the other.

“Sweetie Belle? What do ya think of the new plan?” At Apple Blooom's question the gray-white unicorn turned a haughty nose to the pegasus as she replied.

“Well, it's better than somepony's plan anyways; so I'm in.” With another soft 'humph' the unicorn turned away from the orange filly and put her ear to the other wall to listen for the right moment for escape.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes at the display and put her ear onto a different wall than her two friends as she grumbled silently to herself about wayward plans.

Apple Bloom gave them one last check to make sure they wouldn't attract attention with arguing before turning back to her wall to be on the lookout.

Not long after the trio implemented their new plan did the pirate ship come to a stop and the sounds of unloading could be heard by all three. They felt their hiding place lifted upwards and placed back onto a conveyer belt; at least they assumed it was a conveyer belt since they could feel themselves moving but without the sound of scrapping along the ground nor the feel of other ponies lifting the crate. Ten minutes later they were picked up once more and placed on top of another crate as the sound of pirates working and moving things became even louder.

The Crusaders checked with one another before going to the side of the crate that had the less noise; hoping that there wouldn't be any pirates to see the lid of their hiding place raise up as they looked out. The cave they were in was only barely lit, making it easy for them to check their surroundings before trying to exit their box.

Once they saw that they had a moment to exit before anypony came along, the girls took turns leaving their hiding place; Scootaloo went first, followed by Sweetie Belle and then Apple Bloom. They stood on top of another box, hiding behind the crate of high-end clothes as they checked one last time before lowering one another to the ground.

The trio found that they had been placed next to the cave wall along with the rest of the cargo; making a shield that hid them from the pirates' eyes, with just enough space between the wall and wall of boxes for the three fillies to stand in single file and creep along the edge undetected.

They made it to the middle of the stack of cargo and got a complete view of the cave before them through a crack between some of the boxes; what they saw amazed and worried them greatly.

The cave was a story and a half high, growing larger as one headed towards the mouth of the cave where a dock had been made for the pirate ship. They could see that the mountain range extended a little on either side of the small cove, giving the pirates a hidden and more defensible position.

Right next to where the dock met the rocky floor was a conveyer belt that was operated by two stallions who had backups waiting for when they got tired that moved all the cargo away from the ship to where it could be piled along the side of the wall.

Near this wall of cargo were tables with lights shining directly over top to help the pirates sort out the different loot and placing them in the corresponding piles near an exit on the other side of the cave, opposite from where the pirate ship rested.

There were at least a hundred stallions and colts working in the cave, with an earth pony who had a dark blue coat with white mane and tail traveling between the different stations, checking each pony's progress.

“Well, Ah guess it was ah good thin' we didn't jump out an' tried tah fight them all off...” Apple Bloom glanced towards Scootaloo who was looking through a crack on the second level of boxes; though when she heard that comment she gave the earth pony and unicorn a scrunched up face of annoyance before sighing in resignation.

“Yeah, I guess so... Sorry I thought your plan was stupid Sweetie Belle; at least we got into their hideout.” Scootaloo couldn't bring herself to look at the unicorn in embarrassment.

“That's ok, it was pretty annoying being stuck in that crate anyways. But any ideas about how we stop these guys? There's too many to fight off; and look, that pony with the small white beard is here, he was the leader at the Red Dragon Dojo. He probably knows lots of Martial Arts; we wouldn't be able to fight him just yet...” Sweetie Belle pointed to the dark blue earth pony who was inspecting some of the cargo.

The others nodded along as they gazed about the cave for ideas and to take stock of what was currently there.

“What if we trapped these stallions in here an' got the police? Since we can't fight 'em ourselves.” Apple Bloom suggested as she pointed to the one exit at the back of the cave.

“But then we'd be trapped in here as well.” Scootaloo shook her head as she pointed out the flaw in their one idea.

“Maybe we can escape on the boat!” Sweetie Belle pointed to the pirate's ship that was now practically empty as the majority of the stallions sorted through their loot.

“Sail an entire ship by ourselves?” Scootaloo didn't want to be the downer of their group, but they had to come up with a better plan than what they used to get into the hideout.

“Wha' if we used one of them life boats on the pirate ship tah git away? An' we make it so them pirates can't follow us on their ship?” Apple Bloom gazed at the orange pegasus who sat with her hooves crossed as she tried to find any flaws in the ideas so far.

“What would we use to make it so they can't use the ship?” Scootaloo looked back at the young farmer when Sweetie Belle sat up straighter upon noticing a feature the pirate ship had; cannons.

“We'll blow it up! We can use one cannon to fire at the cave entrance and another to blow up the ship so that nopony can get out!” Sweetie Belle hopped slightly in place, excitement coursing through her veins at all this action.

The others glanced at one another before looking back to the unicorn with growing smiles; it was the perfect plan! Now they just had to get to the ship, aim the two cannons and make their getaway!

After a shared nod the trio quietly landed back onto the ground and made their way along the edge of the wall. They stayed behind the crates and boxes which proved to be a tricky task since stallions would come by and take another box to be sorted every so often; what made it harder was the fact that the wall of cargo did not go all the way to the ship nor even finished with the cave wall before it became open sea.

With a quick silent debate, the girls found a painting held in an exact fit box to creep along with as cover; they had to go slowly and pause every so often when a pirate would glance their way in order to not be spotted. After what felt like half an hour the girls reached the conveyer belt where they left the painting behind and crept along underneath; keeping out of sight of the two ponies who controlled the belt and the workers who were removing the last of the cargo from the ship.

By the time they got to the ship itself the pirates had finished unloading and were working overtime to sort through their loot; this meant that they were either too busy or slightly blinded by the lights to notice the trio of fillies climbing up the side of the ship.

The pirates, having been at this for a while, were not expecting trouble and didn't leave anyone on the ship as guards; they needed every hoof to get their product along as fast as possible. So when the girls came aboard, they found it completely empty. After a swift grin between the three of them, they split up to gather the supplies they would need to put their plan into action.

Using the new seafarer knowledge, they set up their escape first. With the skills still fresh in their minds and a little over half a day's constant practice of these skills, the trio was able to get it done mostly in silence. What little noise they did create went unnoticed in the general hubbub further in the cave.

After setting up the life boat for quick release, the girls turned with shining eyes to the row of cannons. The pirate's ship had eight magical cannons that fired specialized ammunition that could break through shields, create fires, explode into shrapnel or contained tightly packed gunpowder and explosives that caused large disruptive explosions to its target. All of the supplies needed for it were within easy reach and in moments the Crusaders had four of the cannons aimed at the cave exit and the rest pointed at some major part of the ship.

They remembered the various tips they learned so very long ago to help their aim (while cannon balls weren't marbles, it was similar ideas) and tried to make sure they were well covered. They used some of the longer fuses to be able to wait in the life boat before the second wave of cannon fire went off; which would blast the ship into pieces, or so they hoped. When the cannons were just about to fire, the girls began to drop their little boat into the sea and just in time.

Unfortunately, while they had gotten their aim just right, they got the fuses mixed up; so half of each cannon section went off instead of waves for a single purpose. This was both a blessing and a curse for the girls; the mixed cannon fire meant that the pirates were confused and couldn't escape either way but it also meant that the trio was a lot closer to some of the explosions than they had first wanted.

Their life boat touched onto the water roughly and they were trying to row away through the explosions when one of the cannons aimed at the ship struck the rest of the ammunition supplies; the pirates had been ready for any kind of returning attack and had a vast range of weapons on board: magic cannon balls as well as hand-held types which were still in prototype stage due to its more sensitive nature, as well as fully stocked gunpowder and explosives. All of which went off with a large blast of sound and shock wave propelling the Crusaders' boat further out of the cave entrance, half of which had collapsed due to the impact of the explosion.

The three Crusaders held onto the sides of their ship for dear life until the blast slowed enough for them to sit back upright and gaze at the damages they had managed to cause. Their cannons to the exit were spot on; it would take the pirates two days to dig out the tunnel even with help from the other side (the girls knew this for a fact, having seen other cave-ins). While the shots to the ship were just as effective; they watched in amazement as the mast disappeared under the waves with various supplies from the pirate ship floating from the wreckage.

The trio gave whoops of glee before settling down to row their way out of the little cove; hearing shouts from behind them of irate pirates cursing them. Just as they got out of the cove, the Crusaders found themselves face to face with a fleet of brightly colored ships that all had flags of the local coast guard.

While the flagship pulled up along their little life boat, the rest of the fleet continued into the cove to start rounding up pirates. The girls were confused; they hadn't gotten the word out about where the pirates where located, so why was the coast guard here?

Their confusion and faces cleared as they heard a familiar voice come from the main ship as a rope ladder was thrown over the side for the Crusaders to use to climb aboard.

“Ahoy there Crusaders! I should have known you would set off a signal for us to find the scoundrels.” A green filly called as the trio used the rope ladder to reach the deck.

“Eripio!” The three fillies engulfed their friend who gave a tight hug in return; she had been worried for the girls' safety, even if they did prove themselves to be capable of great feats.

“I just don't know how you three do it; I go to get the coast guard and you not only stow away to find the pirates' lair but cause large explosions!” Eripio reluctantly let go of her friends who grinned proudly back as she wiped at her eyes where she had teared up with relief.

“We totally caught those guys! We blew up the exit -” Scootaloo stood on her hind legs as she hoof-pumped when Sweetie Belle cut in with an excited smirk.

“-and their ship-” Apple Bloom squished in as the trio finished together, almost shouting their news and amazing feats.

“-and trapped them all!”

“We planned it all an' now th' ponies of Baltimare can rest in peace; if only we got our Cutie Marks fer something along th' way.” While the girls had nodded sagely to how they protected the city, at the reminder of why they had traveled to the port city in the first place caused them to gaze forlornly at their blank flanks.

Eripio couldn't help but smile at the antics and almost completely misguided priorities as she shook her head at the trio.

“Well, you guys did a great job anyways! What are you planning to do now?” The trio glanced at one another before sighing; they couldn't stay away from Ponyville for too much longer and would have to go back as soon as possible.

“We have to go back to Ponyville; our families will be missing us soon.” Sweetie Belle scuffed a hoof along the deck when a glint of extra color on their friend's flank caught their attention.

“Oh, that's a shame; I would have wanted to show you some of the pretty neat sights or talk about what happened in that cave. Why do you guys have to go back so soon? Can you stay to answer the guardsponies' questions about what happened?” Eripio gestured around the four fillies at the ponies on the ship who were giving them a moment of peace before starting to get to the real work.

At these questions the girls tensed and momentarily forgot about their friend's new Cutie Mark.

“No, no no no no no. We can't, ahm... No time to lose!” Sweetie Belle started to wave her fore-hooves around as she tried to think of reasons why they couldn't as they looked at one another in panic.

Eripio raised a brow at these actions and decided to get down to business; if she wanted to help her friends like they have been doing for her, she would have to understand what was wrong.

“Alright you guys, what's really going on here? This is the second time you can't stay to give the official story for the grown-ups and had to 'leave quickly'. Are you not supposed to be out or what?” Eripio watched as the trio silently argued before all three sighed in resignation; so long as they kept quiet, it should be ok to tell their friend what was really going on.

“I'm a runaway from an orphanage.” Scootaloo stared at the deck with ears flipped back, worried that their rather morally-correct friend would try and bring her in.

“An' we're not supposed tah be away from town; but tah try an' find our Cutie Marks -”

“-as well as throw off the orphanage ponies-”

“-we've been goin' tah other cities tah try.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle explained as they too looked at the deck worriedly, though at the sound of Eripio's pensive 'hmm' they looked up in trepidation.

“Hhhmmm, I see. Well then, you best take off when we get back to port; I'll cause a distraction so they won't notice right away.” Eripio held onto her serious face until she was tackled into a hug when she broke out the grin that she was only just barely able to hide away.

“Thanks Eripio.” Scootaloo said on behalf of the trio before they pulled away to grin at the filly who looked confusedly back at their growing excitement.

“So, when did ya git yer Cutie Mark?” Apple Bloom pointed to the image of a red circle with four red slightly curbed tabs that led off the center as Eripio looked at it in confusion before she realized what they were talking about.

“Oh that; it's a rescue symbol, I got it for bringing ponies to the rescue of others. Namely, when I got the coast guard to believe me and send out rescue ships to help you guys; though I can see now that you don't need anypony rescuing you.” Eripio smirked at the Crusaders who proudly grinned back as they congratulated their friend.

Once everything important had been settled between the four fillies, they turned to watch the scene before them of guards capturing the Red Dragon Pirates. The pirates had put up a bit of a fight before realizing how outnumbered they were and surrendering; soon ship after ship was filled with prisoners that were to be put in jail and dealt with after a court date had been decided.

As promised, once the fleet returned to port Eripio caused a commotion that drew all the grown-ups' attention, giving the Cutie Mark Crusaders a chance to slip away and take the first train back to Ponyville. It was late at night, after 9pm, and the long twelve hour trip would be the perfect time to sleep and prepare for the next day when they would have to explain what happened.

Their first stop when they reached home the next day was to Ms. Derpy's to check in before heading back to their families. The girls couldn't help but laugh and giggle to one another as they relived moments of their latest adventure only to trail off at the sight of the annoyed blue-gray pegasus waiting for them; Derpy had heard the girls as they were walking up and stood outside of her doorway with her fore-hooves crossed while trying to keep her eyes from drifting apart in frustration.

“Hey Ms. Derpy... We're back!” Scootaloo tried to smile up at the older pegasus only to frown slightly when Derpy didn't smile back.

“Where were you? I searched all over that forest; there was no sign of a camp, trail or anything that would be there if a trio of fillies stayed two nights in the wilderness. And why do you smell of smoke and look like a mess?” Derpy demanded only to find the Crusaders tight-lipped of what they had been doing. As she frowned once more at the slightly guilty faces before her, Derpy decided to really go for the guilt trip to convince the girls to fess up.

“Your sisters came by yesterday; I didn't tell them where you were or weren't.” Derpy held up a hoof at the sight of three fillies about to ask that very question, wanting to make her point clear.

“I told them I couldn't reveal your exact location having been sworn to secrecy; had I known that you wouldn't be anywhere near the forest I would not have promised at all. Don't try to tell me you were in a part I didn't know of; I spent a lot of my foalhood playing in those very woods. AND I didn't see or smell any smoke or fire, so you had to have been somewhere else to get into this state.

“Girls, as much as I love working with foals, until you tell me what's going on I won't cover for you again. So, do you have anything you would like to say to me?” Derpy gave the trio an expectant look to which none of them could meet as they stared at the ground, unwilling to explain what they had been doing.

As the silence continued, Derpy could only shake her head sadly.

“I see; I may not be related to you, but I do care and knowing that you lied to me and your families makes me very sad. The next time I know you aren't where you are supposed to be, I will be telling your families. I suggest you go home now, girls; even though I don't think you deserve such a thing, your families are having a picnic today at noon, you'll need to get cleaned up for it.” The trio couldn't meet the older mare's eyes as they turned together to head back into town; though they paused when they heard the blue-gray mare call out for Scootaloo.

“Scootaloo, can I speak with you alone please?” Her two friends gave the orange pegasus concerned looks that she tried to reassure with a confidant grin before shooing them on; they had families to meet with and get cleaned up for.

Once the earth pony and unicorn were well on their way back to town, Scootaloo turned to face the pegasus who now wore a half concerned and half disappointed face as she looked at the last filly. They stayed that way for a moment looking at one another before Derpy stepped forward and leaned down so she was closer to the younger pegasus' eye level.

“Scootaloo, you know I care about what happens with you and your friends; is crusading for your Cutie Marks as important as your safety? Please, I don't want to see you get hurt-” As Derpy tried to convince the younger pegasus of the importance of staying safe, Scootaloo grew more nervous and annoyed, unused to older ponies trying to care for her or tell her what to do.

“Why should you care? You're not my mom! You're just some mare that lives by herself on the edge of town! What I do is none of your business, now leave us alone!” Scootaloo shouted at the older pegasus who could only watch in shock as the orange filly ran off away from town.

A cyan pegasus happened to be flying overhead when she heard the sound of shouting and flew down to investigate, wanting to make sure her town stayed safe from danger. What Rainbow Dash found surprised her as instead of a monster she found the blue-gray mare in tears and the normally apathetic mare tried to think of the best way to help.

“Derpy? What's wrong? Is somepony bothering you?” Rainbow took a hesitant step forward when Derpy came to her senses enough to realize she had company.

“Oh, hi Rainbow Dash. I, I just don't know what went wrong; I was concerned about what Scootaloo and her friends were doing and then she just, just shouted at me and ran off. I have to find her.” Derpy tried to straighten up from her hunched position when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up through blurry ears to find Rainbow Dash staring back in a serious manner.

“Don't worry, I'll find the squirt; you just head inside and gets some, ah, -what would Fluttershy suggest?- uhm, tea. Right, get some tea and relax; I'll try to talk to her and we'll be back in ten seconds flat.” Rainbow Dash waited for the nod of consent before speeding high into the skies, searching for a speck of orange and purple-cerise.

Derpy slowly went back inside while trying to not crash into anything; all the distress was making her eyes invert badly making her depth perception worse than normal. After a few rocky attempts at making tea, the blue-gray mare was able to make herself a cup and settled into her sofa while trying to not imagine worse-case scenarios.

The cyan speedster had searched the town quickly and had begun to look in the nearby areas when she noticed an orange figure huddling under an old oak tree south of the town. Within moments Rainbow landed and heard the sound of crying, making her even more nervous about her task.

“Hey squirt; uh, what's up?” The cyan mare slowly walked over as the huddle of orange flinched at the sound of the greatest flier in Equestria finding her in such a situation.

When it became apparent that Rainbow Dash was not going to go anywhere until they spoke, Scootaloo sat up swiftly as she scrubbed at her eyes, trying to remove the traces of tears that she feared made her seem 'uncool' to her idol.

“Ooh, he-hey Rainbow Dash. What, what are you doing around these parts?” Scootaloo tried to give her idol a smile only to find a concern face looking back; as Rainbow watched concerned, Scootaloo turned to look at the ground instead of trying keep up the smile.

“I, uh, I heard some yelling by Derpy's place and come to find out that you two got into a fight? That's almost as unbelievable as Fluttershy picking a fight with somepony, heh heh...” Rainbow rubbed the back of her head as she stared out at the view before her, unsure if she should be watching the younger pony or allow her to talk on her own.

“... Yeah. That, that seems real unbelievable.” Scootaloo tried to laugh it off but could tell that the cyan pony wasn't buying it.

“What happened squirt? I haven't seen Derpy that upset in years; whatever was said really hurt her.” Rainbow knew she was out of her element and decided to just go for the direct approach; it hadn't let her down yet.

Scootaloo could tell that Rainbow Dash had little patience left and sighed before coming clean.

“I yelled at her about how she wasn't my mom and that she didn't have to try and care about me.” Scootaloo could feel shocked cerise eyes on her and scuffed a hoof along the grass.

“Squirt, just because somepony isn't related doesn't mean they can't care for somepony else. I'd never leave my friends hanging; does that mean I have to stop caring about them because we aren't related by blood?”

“No...”

“That's right!” Rainbow poked at the filly next to her to emphasize her point.

“And just because Derpy isn't your mom doesn't mean she cares any less; was that a nice thing to say?” Rainbow watched the filly become bashful as she saw where the conversation was heading.

“No...”

“Exactly! So, what are we going to do about it?!” Rainbow tried to get more of a response out of the filly while giving the filly another poke to her shoulder.

“Go apologize...” Rainbow raised a brow at this lackluster answer and decided to invite enthusiasm into the conversation.

“I can't hear you!” Scootaloo rolled her eyes as the cyan mare demanded the response once more.

“Apologize.” By this point Rainbow Dash was standing up and was wearing a smirk at the still rather quiet answer.

“Louder!” Scootaloo couldn't help but start to smile at the playful glint in the older mare's eyes and started to put effort into her responses.

“Apologize!”

“LOUDER!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she leaned towards the younger pony.

“APOLOGIZE!” Scootaloo could hardly contain her giggles after shouting the resolution as Rainbow Dash nodded contently to both the volume and what was said.

“Right, let's get going squirt.” Without warning Rainbow picked the filly up in her hooves and flew back to Derpy's cottage in record speed; she wanted to get everything settled quickly before anything else happened.

“Derpy! We're back!” Rainbow let herself in with hardly a knock as the two pegasus' looked around the living room before spotting the blue-gray mare sitting in a chair with a steamy cup of tea sitting untouched next to her.

At the sight of Scootaloo Derpy perked up and was about to rush to the young pegasus before stopping herself; Rainbow sighed at the display and nudged the orange filly into action.

“Ms. Derpy? I'm sorry for what I said...” Scootaloo hung her head in regret until she felt a pair of hooves wrap around her as Derpy gave her a hug in gratitude before releasing the filly and hugging the cyan mare as well.

“Thanks Rainbow Dash.” Derpy whispered before turning to face the filly once more.

“Thank you for coming back and I just want you to know, even if I'm not your mom or if I ever did get foals of my own, I will still care about you Scootaloo; even if you and your friends insist on getting into trouble.” At the last sentence the filly couldn't hold back her smirk at the thought of how much trouble they probably were going to get into.

Once Rainbow saw that her work was done there, she turned to leave for the picnic; though she paused as she noticed the hopeful eyes of the young foal behind her.

“Well, you coming squirt? You may want to wash up first though; Rarity would throw a fit if somepony came smelling like smoke.” Rainbow smirked at the joyous face of the orange filly who leapt into the air for a moment before setting off for the nearest stream to wash off some of the soot and smoke.

As the two older mares watched this Derpy glanced at Rainbow for a moment before turning back to the young pegasus.

“Thanks again Rainbow Dash; and for inviting her to the picnic that you and your friends are having. I think she was feeling a little left out when we had our disagreement.”

“Yeah well, you let me know if you ever need help Derpy; I never leave my friends hanging.” Derpy smirked at the well-known phrase of the cyan mare before waving the two pegasi goodbye as they headed for the picnic that would be taking place in the local park.

On the other side of town, the remaining Crusaders walked slowly through town, concerned for their last friend.

“What do you think Ms. Derpy is going to do to her?” Sweetie Belle glanced at Apple Bloom who shrugged in reply.

“Ah don't know, but we gottah wash off this here smell or else we might git intah trouble too.” The two friends nodded once at each other before looking about themselves to find the closest water source; before the girls could take a single step they heard a southern accent that made them extremely nervous.

“Well hey girls! We was getting' worried tha' y'all couldn't make it tah the picnic... what's tha' smell? Have y'all been in ah fire?” Applejack sternly looked at the fillies who glanced at one another before hesitantly smiled back.

“Well, ah, we was makin' camp fires while we was in th' forest.”

“Yes, making fires... in the forest...” Sweetie Belle tried to sound convincing as Apple Bloom nodded along. Applejack couldn't pinpoint what was wrong, but she knew that if they didn't hurry up they would be late; and Celestia forbid the girls smelled like smoke and covered in soot anywhere near a certain fashionista.

“Alright y'all, let's go git cleaned up. Rarity'll throw ah fit ifin' we're dirty tah her picnic...” Applejack led the way with a roll of her eyes; the girls decided not to press their luck and followed along meekly to get a quick bath at Sweet Apple Acres before joining their friends and family at the park for lunch.

Chapter 16 The Mild West

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The Cutie Mark Crusaders only had two weeks before school started again and wanted to visit one last place; the question was, where were they going to visit?

“Ah say we go north!” Apple Bloom stomped a hoof onto the wooden floor of the Clubhouse to emphasize her point.

“No, we should go south!” Scootaloo stomped her own hoof as she glared at the earth pony.

The two friends had been fighting since it was decided to go to one last town; they wanted to be unpredictable and change the direction of their travels but couldn't decide which way. Once they went to one more town, they were going to figure out how to keep visiting their martial arts teacher for more training during the school year; the start of which was fast approaching.

Sweetie Belle sat in the middle of her two friends and shook her head at the meaningless fight.

“Why don't we flip a bit for it? You can call out the side and we'll go with winner's choice?” At the rather reasonable way to end the fight, the two others nodded along and watched as Sweetie Belle got a bit ready for the toss.

Once she saw that everything was set, the gray-white unicorn threw the bit high into the air as the fillies called out the sides they wanted.

“Heads!” Apple Bloom shouted as soon as she saw the bit leave the gray-white hoof.

“Ugg, I wanted heads... Fine, tails!” Scootaloo pouted for a moment before all three settled to watch the bit as it bounced around their clubhouse, its momentum causing it to ricochet off the walls and table.

After a few seconds the bit rolled along the ground before landing tail side up, to which Scootaloo hoof-pumped in joy.

“Yes! To the south!” Apple Bloom was annoyed for a moment before turning thoughtful.

“What's in the south?” At this the two other Crusaders paused from their plan making as they realized that they didn't know all that much of the southern portion of Equestria.

“I guess we should get a map to see if there is anything down there before we go.” Sweetie Belle led the way out of the clubhouse and into town; she figured that the library or train station would have such a map. As the trio headed for the library first (since it was less suspicious to look-up information there), they came across a pink mare bouncing her way along the road.

“Hey Pinkie Pie!” At the three voices calling her name, the baker paused in mid-bounce until she spotted the Crusaders and allowing gravity to resume, bounced over to the trio.

“Hey girls! You having lots of adventures? You may have a future in pyrotechnics with the kind of explosions you caused!” The trio were surprised at this comment and checked their surroundings rapidly before leaning towards the older mare in suspicion.

“How'd ya know about explosions?” The three girls watched closely, concerned that the gig was up before they even started.

Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, just smiled and waved away their fears.

“Don't worry, nopony else knows what you've been doing. Where are you heading this time?” The trio weren't sure what to make of the older mare not answering their question but decided to go along with it anyways.

“We're heading south; but we don't know what's south of Ponyville.” At the mention of 'south' the hyper mare's eyes lit up in excitement.

“Oh! There's lots of things to the south! There's E.U.C.C., Dodge Junction and Apploosa!” The girls shared a confused look at the letters and tilted their heads in unison before asking, “E.U.C.C.?”

“Yup! It's a college that grew so big that it became a town! There's tours for it and everything!”

“Huh?”

“Yep yep! It was really fun! Some ponies in town went there too, like Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody!” At the mention of two famous musicians the girls started to wave their hooves to the pink mare to get her to slow down so they could question her.

“Wait, so Dj Pon-3 lives here, in Ponyville?” Scootaloo asked with growing excitement. At Pinkie's nod of agreement the pegasus turned to her friends with a smile on her face.

“We should try to be DJs!” The others liked the idea but they were already on their way to try something.

“But Scootaloo, we're already gonnah go travlin' today; before school starts remember?”

“Oh yeah; ok, we'll try that some other time then. So there's three places to the south?”

“Yeah and Ah got family livin' in Apploosa.” Apple Bloom pointed out in an attempt to remind them about not getting caught, something they didn't get as Pinkie Pie interrupted.

“Yeah and they make the yummiest pies! Maybe you could learn to cook them? And the buffalo are really nice too!” Pinkie Pie started to drool at the thought of the aforementioned pies but reminded herself of the reason why she was heading to the library. The librarian was going to get a surprise party and it was going to be the first in the field test for the pink mare's latest creation, the party cannon!

The Crusaders started to imagine possible wild west Cutie Marks and it wasn't until they thought of the train ride did they snap out of their daze.

“But Pinkie Pie, mah sis' and y'all were gone for two days when y'all visited Apploosa. How're we gonnah get there and back before anypony notices we're gone?” Apple Bloom looked to the older mare who wasn't the least bit worried.

“We took the slow ride last time to make sure it was a smooth and safe trip for Bloomberg. You can take the express and get there in two hours, easy peasy.” The fillies' faces cleared and they grinned in anticipation.

“Thanks for the help Pinkie Pie!” Sweetie Belle said on behalf of the others as they raced out of town to get ready for their trip.

Pinkie Pie waved to them before continuing her way to the library; she had to make sure the three month anniversary party was one to remember.

After gathering the needed bits, supplies and their capes the girls went to find an express train to Apploosa. It seemed that most trains were express lines unless somepony needed to transport certain or large objects and trio were soon on their rapid way south. It was just a little before noon which meant they would have plenty of time before they were expected back home.

The girls watched with interest as the scenery around them changed from rolling green hills and forest to one barren of plant life and filled with sand. Just as they edged past a tall ridge the land opened up revealing an apple orchard with a path winding through it, which some buffalo were currently running on.

The Crusaders had never seen buffalo before and watched as the train passed a group of them before coming to a stop at the train station in the desert town. As the trio disembarked they felt the dryness of the air around them as they looked at the town before them.

The town was made up of one and two storied buildings along with stores that had half a floor over top of the business as well as large signs describing what it was for. While the main street had mostly shops, along the edges and further beyond the main road were more houses and new buildings being made as the town grew.

While most of the townsfolk wore large hats to protect them from the harsh sun, it didn't stop Apple Bloom from recognizing by sight if not by name her kin that lived there. Before Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle came out of their daze, they found themselves sheltering a nervous earth pony.

“What's wrong?” Sweetie Belle turned to face Apple Bloom as Scootaloo kept an eye out for trouble.

“It's mah kin! An' if Ah can recognize 'em then they're bound tah know me! Ah knew it was a bad idea tah come here!” Scootaloo rolled her eyes as Sweetie Belle looked to her for help.

“Look, maybe they recognize you now but what if we got you a hat? We're wearing our capes, with a hat no one will be able to see you right away.”

At the suggestion Apple Bloom perked up slightly before following closely behind her two friends who found the nearest convenience story to buy a cowpony hat for the green-yellow filly. It was a large red one so that it went with their capes, making it less obvious to others who it was and wouldn't attract extra attention.

Once that was settled (along with a firm promise to avoid the Apple family) the trio went off in search of places to learn how to cook the famous Apploosain pie. They asked around town and found that the best pie bakers were the Apple Family; it was with great reluctance on Apple Bloom's part that they found some ponies who would teach them.

They managed to keep their capes on for the lesson and got right down to it; at first they tried pies, then cupcakes, then cookies, then pancakes, but nothing came out right. The pies fell apart, cupcakes exploded, cookies burnt and pancakes were slimy goo; it was all exponentially better than Sweetie Belle's attempt since as a last resort she tried to make juice only to end up with a cup of black sludge. Nopony was sure what happened; one moment Sweetie Belle was squeezing the fruit to make it, the next she was pouring it out of a frying pan into a cup.

The two professionals stared at the mess before pointing to the exit with a glare at the girls. The trio filed out slowly as they hung their heads in sadness at another failed attempt at getting cutie marks.

As they stood in the middle of the road, they noticed a building with a large salt shaker on it. Curious as to what kind of store had that for a sign, the fillies entered the bar.

Luckily the townsfolk were friendly and the bar reflected this, though the girls did receive many stares at their entrance. They trotted up to the counter and were just barely able to pull themselves up on the stools to look at the stallion behind the counter. The barkeeper, Mortan Saltworthy, eyed the foals skeptically.

“A little young to be in here aren't you girls?” The girls looked at one another in confusion before looked back at the well dressed stallion.

“What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked defiantly, knowing that they needed to give the right kind of image least they not be taken seriously.

“This is a bar, where grown-ups go to get something to drink. You three probably don't even have your cutie marks; ain't no way you're old enough to be here. Go on home now young'uns.” The bartender pointed a hoof to the exit as the Crusaders sat up in the indignation.

“We can too be here; we can do anything you can! We aren't bothering anypony!” Sweetie Belle stated with a cracking voice which didn't help their case as some of the stallions in the room laughed at the sound. Morton shook his head before giving the girls a serious look.

“You are too young; do I need to get the Sheriff Silverstar to escort you three home?” At the threat of being forced home the girls shook their heads rapidly and jumped down before leaving The Salt Block.

As the door was closing the trio heard Morton tell somepony to fetch Silverstar to make sure the Crusaders stayed out of trouble. They shared a panicked look before taking off further into town; hoping to either get lost in the crowd or find a place to hide for a while; they only got to try one thing so far after all.

As they walked through the small market place (most of the goods for sale being in buildings to protect from the heat) the girls realized that their capes gave them away as they saw an older stallion with a black hat and blue vest with a silver star on it catch sight of them occasionally before they slipped away in between buildings to lose the stallion.

They soon came to the conclusion that it may have been better to hide in the orchard then in town and made their way carefully around the small town to the orchard on the east side. They hid behind trees as they could but became distracted when another wave of buffalo passed through. As they watched, a much smaller buffalo broke off and walked over to the fillies in curiosity, never having seen ponies that small before.

As the Crusaders tried to decide between running or staying, the light orange-brown buffalo waved a hoof to the girls.

“Hello, I have never seen ponies as small as you before; are you new around here? I'm Little Strongheart, who are you?” Little Strongheart watched the trio realize that they were less likely to get into trouble with buffalo, unfreezing and grinning back.

“Hi, I'm Scootaloo!”

“I'm Sweetie Belle!”

“Ah'm Apple Bloom!”

“And together we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” The trio remembered at the last moment the need for staying hidden and managed to merely state that they were the Cutie Mark Crusaders instead of shouting like they usually would.

Strongheart looked at them curiously, never having heard of such a thing and didn't know about Cutie Marks.

“That sounds very interesting; I would like to hear more, but I am stampeding currently.” At the sight of the disheartened fillies, Little Strongheart tried to cheer them up with an offer not usually made to pony kind. “Would you want to come and tell my village about it?”

The girls leapt from the ground as they wore large smiles at the chance of seeing a buffalo's village. After a quick nod of agreement the three fillies joined their new friend in the run, passing by some of the townsfolk without notice and joined the other buffalo at their village of cloth tents.

Little Strongheart gave the trio the tour as they asked questions before settling down at the unlit fire pit. The girls soon had a large crowd as they explained their mission and about ponies in general; while the buffalo had been getting along with their neighbors, it was seen impolite to ask about such things.

The Crusaders didn't find any issue with their questions and kept up a steady stream of explanations. By the time supper rolled around the fillies got the chance to learn a little about the buffalo as they were treated to an interesting meal of indistinguishable color and texture (had they not seen Sweetie Belle's cooking, they may have turned down the offer). During the explanation of some of their history and traditions a brown buffalo with two feathers by his left ear ran up to the Chief who was giving the presentation to the fillies.

“Chief, it's the Dogs; they came back to town demanding that we leave.” The Chief sighed before choosing two of his strongest to accompany him to town to meet with the dogs. The fillies turned to Little Strongheart with confusion all over their faces, not understanding what was going on now.

“A pack of Diamond Dogs have been coming to town trying to buy this land for the past month. When we wouldn't sell, they have started to threatening us and the settler ponies instead.”

At this news the girls frowned at one another; that didn't sound like what other Diamond Dogs would want to do.

“Little Strongheart, are you sure that it's Diamond Dogs who are bothering the town and the buffalo?” Sweetie Belle asked to which the young buffalo looked confused in return.

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“Because we've seen and met other Diamond Dogs and they liked to dig. Coming all the way out here, not being near any mountains, not going for gems, doesn't sound like Diamond Dogs.” Scootaloo stated flatly as the others nodded to her claim.

“Can we go with the Chief tah see them?” Apple Bloom asked as the three fillies tried to plead with puppy eyes, which didn't really help Strongheart's confusion; she wasn't in charge of them and they could do as they wished, why would they need to ask permission?

“Of course you may head back to town with us, why would you not be able to?” The girls couldn't respond as they realized that they didn't really have to answer to anyone out so far from home and just shrugged.

The Chief also had no issue with the fillies coming along and soon they found themselves back in town by the train station where a crowd had gathered to watch the confrontation between the settlers, buffalo and the Diamond Dogs.

The Crusaders checked that the cost was clear of any Sheriffs who would want to send them home and began to sneak through the crowd to reach the front to see these 'dogs'. As they pushed past the taller and older citizens, trying to follow in the swath made by the four buffalo, they came across a familiar filly.

“Why aren't we surprised tah see ya Eripio?” Apple Bloom whispered to the green unicorn who turned with little surprise on her own face as well.

“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo! My, what a not-surprise!” As Eripio called loudly to the fillies she drew attention to them from the crowd, especially from the Apple Family present.

“SSHHHhhhh!” The trio tried to silence their friend who noticed that something more was wrong by their actions when a yellow stallion walked over to confront the four fillies; though it was more to confront a certain green-yellow filly than any of the others.

“Cousin Apple Bloom? Well hey cousin! Fancy finding you here; is Cousin Applejack around too?” Braeburn asked as he began to search the older ponies for Applejack's hat and colorization. Eripio raised a brow to the Crusaders who gave wavering smiles in return as Apple Bloom responded to her cousin.

“Well, ah, hey Cousin Braeburn. Uh, yeah, Applejack's around here somewhere, ah, we just uh, lost her in the … Crowds, yeah, lots of ponies here. What's, ah, what's goin' on?” Apple Bloom tried to distract the golden and orange maned earth pony from his search and was successful for a moment as he led the way to the front to help show what was happening.

“These Diamond Dogs want this here land and won't take no for an answer. Now they're threatening the townsfolk and the buffaloes to try and get us to leave; it just ain't fair, we are finally making great progress with the buffalo and everything.” The four fillies turned to face the front and saw four Diamond Dogs talking with Chief Thunder Hooves and Sheriff Silverstar.

The dogs looked slightly different from the ones the Crusaders ran into before; while three were roughly the same height being a pony and a half tall with black fur and short muzzles, the one who was doing the talking on their behalf was only slightly taller than the Sheriff and had reddish-brown fur with a longer muzzle.

As Braeburn walked up to stand next to the Sheriff, the girls began to mutter to one another about what was going on; mainly the sight of red bands of cloth around each of the Diamond Dogs' right fore-leg.

“They really are Diamond Dogs...” Apple Bloom looked to the others as a frown appeared on their faces; the features of the dogs were right, the actions they were doing were not.

“They must be really hot since they have black fur; why would they want a desert town?” Sweetie Belle noted as the dogs fidgeted in place; even though it was late in the day the heat was still harsh.

“There aren't any gems to be found around here, what can they be doing here? And that red cloth looks suspicious.” Scootaloo added with a nod to which the other Crusaders nodded; it looked almost exactly like what the pirates of Baltimare wore along with the rest of their pirate-y outfits.

Eripio could hardly contain her amazement; the girls had once again found the trouble without outside help and already know about the kind of creatures they were dealing with.

“Alright you guys, any ideas of what's going on? You're making me look bad, coming up with everything ahead of time.” Eripio smirked to show she was teasing with her last comment, though her quest for knowledge was true enough.

The trio quickly checked that nopony was paying attention to them before ducking down and waving for Eripio to follow along.

“We'll tell you what we know, but not here. Apple Bloom has a LOT of family around town; we have to go into hiding.” Scootaloo whispered as they started to edge their way out of the crowd to the nearest hiding place, under the train station platform.

Eripio raised both brows at this but knew she would have to go along with the 'sneaking' until the girls felt it was safe. Once they were hidden away and keeping an eye out for anypony who might notice them, they turned to their friend and explained what they knew; the situation at hoof, who and what are Diamond Dogs and how every other pony in Apploosa was part of the Apple Family.

“Gosh, aside from how much is happening in a small settler town, you've got a large family Apple Bloom; it sounds as big as the Rescue Clan. And they're all farmers? That's pretty interesting.” Eripio watched the crowd as the two groups were still 'talking' with one another.

“Ah don't think how big mah family has tah do much with this here problem. It just don't make sense fer the Diamond Dogs tah be here at all.” Apple Bloom glared at the ground before glancing up at the platform as they heard hoofsteps above them.

“Now where did my cousin go?” Braeburn's voice drifted down as he searched the now dissipating crowd for the fillies.

“Who is it you are searching for?” The girls gave startled jumps at hearing Little Strongheart with Braeburn; she knew who they were and was actually with them before they came back to town, making it very likely to give away what they had been doing.

“Oh, my cousin Apple Bloom and her friends; I can't find my other cousin Applejack, who's Apple Bloom's sister by the way, and wanted to check with Apple Bloom about it.”

“Oh, I met them! They were visiting my village before returning to town when we heard the Diamond Dogs had came back; I don't think Applejack was with them. At least, they did not mention that she came as well.” Little Strongheart frowned slightly as she thought about if she had seen the orange mare or not.

“That's mighty odd. Well, it was nice seeing you again Little Strongheart but I have to find my cousin and make sure she's not getting into trouble. Have a good afternoon.” Braeburn tipped his hat as he smiled to the young buffalo who smiled back as she dipped her own head in response.

“Yes, have a nice day. I will let you know if I find them.” Little Strongheart went to follow the other buffalo back to their village while keeping an eye out for the fillies.

Once the four girls knew that neither of them were nearby they resumed their conversation.

“Alright, how about this? You guys go follow the Diamond Dogs and find their hideout; they may go over their plan and we can figure out how to stop them that way. Meanwhile, I'll go around town and see what resources and valuables they may have that the Diamond Dogs would want. We'll meet back here in a few hours, sound like a plan?” The Crusaders were impressed with the speed of Eripio's plan making and nodded before heading out; the 'talks' having been over meant that they had to try and catch up with the Diamond Dogs quickly while still being sneaky.

As the Crusaders began their part, Eripio crawled out from under the platform and started her own search, determined to prove that she knew how to help towns as well.

The trio were in luck, all the afternoon heat still hovering in the air meant that the dogs hadn't gotten too far in their travels northwest from the town. They followed behind them, crawling from rock to rock that dotted the landscape as the four Diamond Dogs continued traveling until they came to the edge of the ridge and entered into a cave there.

The girls snuck up and hovered on the outside; listening as the dogs spoke with someone else about the recent encounter with the townsfolk. It helped that the cave echoed the voices, meaning the girls didn't have to worry about heading further inside to find out their plan.

“So, settler ponies and buffalo still do not want to give up their land?” A deep japaneighes voice asked while the dogs whimpered.

“No, even after we destroyed some of the town the night before they still will not move away.”

“Then we continue with Tono's plan; take the explosives we have gathered and start to set them up at the mouth of the river that feeds the town. Let us see how long they are willing to stay if they cannot drink. We set them off in the morning, so that the settlers and buffalo can watch the water dry up before their very hooves.” The deep voice chuckled darkly as the dogs started to scamper around the cave.

At the sound of more movement, the girls retreated to hide behind the rocks in case the Diamond Dogs exited the cave for their plan.

“We gottah tell the others about this!”

“Let's head back into town and warn Eripio!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo suggested similar ideas at the same time, causing them to pause and work out was said. When they realized they were in agreement of telling someone about it, they all nodded and tried to retreat rapidly while still remaining hidden.

“Wait! We have to remember how to get here again for when the guards come to arrest the ones responsible!” At Sweetie Belle's suggestion, they girls started to try and memorize as much of the landscape as they could while they made their way back to town; even going so far as to make arrows pointing the way that would be hidden by rocks over top to help make sure of the direction.

What they hadn't noticed was that the trip out had taken well over two hours by hoof, and while returning meant they didn't have to hide as much they still had to mark their path and keep out of the dogs' sight. By the time the Crusaders managed to reach Apploosa once more it was well past their meeting time with Eripio who had begun to fear the worst for her friends; before she could actually leave the hiding place to cast a locating spell she noticed three caped figures sneaking their way to the train station.

Eripio wasn't sure if she should tell her friends that the capes did NOT help their sneaking and only made them stick out worse than before or to just be amused at their attempts and logo. They seemed really attached to the capes with the bright colors and design, which would make it hard to convince them of who much it gives them away; the hat Apple Bloom still wore also didn't help matters.

“Am I glad to see you guys! What happened out there? What took so long? Did you find anything?” Eripio couldn't hold back her questions as the trio plopped onto the ground exhausted from their trek.

Eripio noticed this exhaustion and raced to bring them water and something to eat after the long trot. Once the Crusaders had a little something inside them they were able to relay what they had learned out in the desert.

They watched as Eripio took this new information and added it to what she had already gathered; they didn't have to wait too much longer before the purple maned filly explained what the Diamond Dogs were after and now planning to do.

“Well, as you guys traced the dogs to their hideout, I searched around town and found a few interesting facts. It seems that the town had just opened up a salt mine that is showing tremendous profits aside from their literal fruits borne of their hard labor, the apple orchard. The mine is a recent discovery, but as soon as word got out about it the Diamond Dogs showed up trying to buy the whole thing and all the land around it. Since they can't get their way by 'peaceful' means, they plan to make the settlers and buffalo leave by taking away the one sure fire water source.” While the Crusaders nodded along for most of the explanation, at the mention of water source they became confused; they hadn't really understood what the Diamond Dogs and their boss had meant either when they said it.

“Why would they go after a river? Isn't there more water elsewhere?” Sweetie Belle asked as they stared blankly back at the other filly.

“.... You know that in a desert there isn't much water right?” Eripio felt ridiculous for asking but was starting to feel confused as well.

“Of course we know that! We rode the train here; we saw there wasn't much water IN the desert, but what about around it? Or near it? There was a river we rode over on the way here, what about that one?” Scootaloo asked after rolling her eyes at Eripio while the others looked mildly insulted by the question the filly had posed.

“That's just it, the river that runs into the orchard? It's from that river you guys crossed on the way here. The settlers had made the river that now runs through town and if these Diamond Dogs and whoever their boss is are going to blow up the beginning part of that river, it would take much longer for everyone to get water to drink let alone feed apple trees with.” As the green filly explained the Crusaders' faces cleared of confusion only to be replaced with horror at the thought; Apple Bloom, being an almost full time farmer herself, especially felt the pinch of pain for the trees and all the work put into them.

“It's probably why the buffalo stamped all over the place; they needed to get to the water source and then to their food source and all....” Eripio trailed off as the determined glint came into the girls' eyes, causing the green unicorn to smile back.

“You want to take them down yourselves?” Firm nods from the girls made Eripio smile even more. “Well then, let's get down to business.... You need to stay hidden out of sight from family while you do all this, and it's much to dangerous to try and trek through the desert at night without supplies, we can get lost very easily and be in real trouble. Yep, I want to come too; last time you guys got all the fun.” Eripio smirked at the surprised but pleased faces of the others when she said how she wanted to go with them; it wasn't as interesting to get help when one had the Cutie Mark Crusaders to help instead.

“You said that they were going to set off the explosives in the morning right? So we'll gather all the supplies for the trip out there and sleep for half of the night in order to make it in time. I'll book us a room and you guys gather the supplies; I'll meet you behind the motel to let you into the room so nopony will know you're there. Then, in the middle of the night, we'll head for the source of the river either in time or just before the Diamond Dogs can set it all off.” The Crusaders listened intently to the plan and once Eripio gave the all-clear signal, they shot out of the hiding place to start gathering the supplies.

First they bought what they could for food; light dry stuff that would be fulfilling but easy to carry. While it was getting to be late in the night, the store clerk was kind enough to wait until the fillies made their selection and paid for it all. Then they went to the river and made sure all their canteens (plus some extra) were full for the trip through the desert. Once that was done, they found Eripio waiting just like she said and shared the single bed of the motel room.

They would have had trouble falling asleep but they had Eripio to constantly remind them (even as she was holding back laughter) to go to sleep as well as the need to remain quiet to stay hidden. Luckily, it was only 8pm by the time they did fall asleep, meaning they were able to get some rest before starting their next adventure.

Chapter 17 The Wild West

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The Crusaders woke in a flash when Eripio said it was time for them to put their plan into action. Eripio had only rented the room for one night and promised to be out early so she wouldn't have to check out with anyone in the morning.

In order to not attract any attention when they left, the four fillies exited through the window; luckily their room was on the first floor and it wasn't that much of a drop to the ground outside. They wore their capes once more and all four had saddlebags full of supplies for the trek into the desert. While they weren't sure how they were going to stop the Diamond Dogs, they knew they could figure something out.

As they snuck through the town, the fillies followed Eripio who led the way to the river; they knew that the fastest way to where the Diamond Dogs planned to lay the explosives was to follow the river all the way to where it split off the main one. As they edged around buildings and kept a low profile, watching for anyone who was staying up late, they discussed their plans and how long the trek would take.

“We're going to have to keep up a fast pace to get there in time to stop them... Unless you know of someway to get a ride or a faster way than just running.” Eripio kept an eye out for adults and missed the confident smirk the Crusaders shared.

“We might know ah way tah help...” Apple Bloom smirked as she and Sweetie Belle glanced towards the pegasus who raised her head proudly.

“Oh, really?” Eripio glanced back and saw the confident look on the orange filly; she silently raised a questioning brow at the confident look as the Crusaders all smirked back.

“Know where I can find a find a scooter?” Eripio looked towards the trio in curiosity before casting her gaze around the town, trying to think of where she may have seen a scooter.

“Nooo... But I do know where a cart is that can be pulled by someone, would that work?” Eripio watched as the trio glanced at one another before Scootaloo nodded that she would try.

Once she saw the agreeing nod, the green unicorn led the way to where several of the wooden carts where lined up waiting for somepony to pull passengers along. The carts were mostly too large for the young pegasus to pull; finally at the end of the line-up was a smaller one pony cart that was meant to haul supplies. The three fillies sat in the cart while Scootaloo attached herself to the harness; while she wasn't used to pulling three others with full packs of supplies, the orange pegasus saw this as a challenge and a way to get stronger.

The girls slowly made their way out of town before Scootaloo poured on the speed; within moments they were speeding across the desert, following the river through the orchards and beyond.

Since it was very late at night, the Crusaders had moments where they would nod off before jerking awake once more; Eripio took note of this and realized that they weren't as used to late night adventures or very little sleep as she was. What was more concerning was that she realized that Scootaloo wouldn't be able to pull them the entire way; not if she wanted to have energy for later that day.

“Hey guys...? How about we take turns pulling the cart while the others rest? That way everypony has about the same energy level and not one of us exhausted beyond helping.” Eripio was barely able to make herself heard over the buzz of Scootaloo's wings but could tell the others had heard the suggestion.

The girls pondered the suggestion while they continued on their way; Scootaloo was half-tempted to brag how she was able to keep going but could already feel the strain of pulling more weight than she was used to.

Almost in sync with one another, the girls gave their answer.

“Sure, I guess.”

“Alright...”

“Ah guess so.”

Eripio smiled at how they were such a close team that they could answer practically at the same time with the same decision. The purple maned filly was used to odd hours of sleep and awake to make sure that they did indeed take turns pulling the cart; something that wasn't needed as Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom seemed to sense when Scootaloo grew tired and the three others played 'water, fire, tree' to decide who was going next.

After that, the girls spent the next hour and fifteen minutes taking turns pulling the others. They made good time considering the distance they had to travel and found that they arrived before the Diamond Dogs set up anything or even before the Dogs arrived themselves. The four girls tried to search the area for the explosives just in case but couldn't find anything in the dark.

After the Crusaders almost fell asleep while they searched, Eripio suggested that they take a quick nap before facing their opponents in order to be closer to full strength when the time came. They pulled their cart off to the side and used it to give them some cover in case the Diamond Dogs came by earlier than they thought and settled down for a nap.

When the girls woke up later, they discovered the sun had risen already and Diamond Dogs were just finishing placing their explosives. Under the supervision of the dark blue pony, the four dogs had placed the gunpowder and TNT mixture along the hills that were on both sides of the river, with a second wave set to ensure that they blasted enough rubble to close off the river.

The Diamond Dogs were just patting soil over the explosives when the girls had a moment of panic before huddling into a circle; even Eripio was panicking since she had not expected to oversleep so badly, she could normally dictate when she wanted to get up without the use of an alarm clock.

“What do we do now!? They're almost ready to blow it all up!” Sweetie Belle tried to keep her voice down as she squeaked to the others.

“How'd we sleep in?! Who was watchin' tah make sure we got up before the Diamond Dogs got here?” Apple Bloom questioned to which they all shrugged in ignorance; it seemed as though they all fell asleep together, never stating who was suppose to wake the others.

“Well, we're up now! What do we do? They're just about to begin and they're on both sides!” Scootaloo pointed a hoof to both of the edges to help illustrate her point.

“Shhh, shhh. I'll think of something, give me a moment!” Eripio frowned in concentration as she rubbed her temples with her hooves, things were moving rapidly and they needed to do so as well.

Noticing how the others were about to continue and lay blame on one another, the glasses wearing filly cut in with a stomp of a hoof.

“Alright already! Here's what we're going to do! There's four Diamond Dogs and four of us, right? So we'll split up and go after both sides at once. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, you two go after the ones on this side; Apple Bloom and I will go after the other side. We'll figure out some way to get the explosives over to THIS side and we'll... we'll... we'll put it all into the cart and send it away from the river! Come on, no time to waste!” Eripio took off before any of the others could even agree, making them run to catch up and get into position.

As the four girls rushed towards the demolition sight, the Diamond Dogs were just starting to put away the boxes and crates that held all the explosives into a large carriage that was their way out of the danger zone. The stallion in charge had looked back to their work and noticed the girls running to the waiting fuses and growled in annoyance.

“Dogs! Look there, stop those fools!” At the call and pointing hoof, the four dogs quickly ran towards the girls with growls of their own.

Apple Bloom and Eripio were confused at first at how to get across the river but soon found that the dogs had made a temporary bridge which they hadn't taken down yet. As the four girls rushed to gather the volatile mixture, they found that the dark stallion had lit the fuses from afar; making it more like a race against time than ever before.

The two fillies on the far side of the ridge didn't pause for a moment, with Eripio lifting all of the highly volatile explosives away from their original places and over towards Apple Bloom who grabbed some of the carts the Diamond Dogs had left and made a make-shift catapult rapidly; they then sent the explosives soaring through the air and which landed perfectly into the cart that the four fillies drove out with.

Such a feat was not witnessed by the other two fillies as they rushed over to their own pile of explosive mixture and tried to move it by hoof since Sweetie Belle couldn't use her magic as well as Eripio. Two of the black dogs caught up quickly to the pegasus and unicorn, distracting them from their task; though neither forgot as they watched from the corner of their eyes the fuse slowly winding down to set off the volatile load.

In desperation, Scootaloo grabbed Sweetie Belle's hoof and ran in between the two opponents to the half full cart; as soon as they reached it the pegasus hooked the both of them up and proceeded to run back to their side of the river. The Diamond Dogs, seeing that a cart full of lit explosives ride their way, dove into the river instead with a howl of fear.

As the two fillies moved the load of gunpowder and TNT into the cart, Apple Bloom and Eripio faced the other two Diamond Dogs on the temporary bridge. Not having taken training together, the two friends' didn't work as a single unit like the Crusaders often did; but this didn't stop them from giving the two dogs a sound thrashing. Being smaller and less susceptible to the desert heat, the two fillies were able to knock both of the opponents into the river before long and raced to meet their friends who had just finished loading the explosives into the last cart.

Just as they began to wonder what to do with their cart of highly explosive materials, the dark coated stallion jumped in front of the four fillies, startling them so much that they knocked the cart onto a new path; none of the ponies watched as the cart with ever shortening fuses headed straight for the Diamond Dogs' getaway carriage, being much too busy threatening one another.

“You foals have interfered one too many times! I shall deal with you myself; prepare to be defeated!” With this the stallion launched himself at the fillies who took defensive stances, ready to fight back.

The girls leapt into action, trying to attack all at once to catch the older and more experienced stallion off guard. They soon found that they couldn't keep up and were slowly losing ground; the older stallion was ahead of their attacks and was slowly but surely gaining the upper hoof.

After an intense but short fight, the four girls stood panting as they faced the gray-white maned earth pony who hadn't even broken a sweat.

“Who... Who are you?” Eripio just barely panted out her question as the girls felt the strain and new bruises.

“I? I am Kobun, and you shall learn of the Red Dragon's wrath -!” At the last word, a large fiery explosion cut through the air, blowing everypony's mane back from the shock wave.

All five ponies looked towards the carriage to only find a smoldering mess where the dynamite and carts collided together. As Kobun looked at the mess, the four fillies signaled to one another to try and back away unnoticed.

Once they were several paces away the girls took off running, drawing Kobun's attention. He gave a roar and started to follow after them; in desperation, the girls searched their surroundings as they ran for anything that could help them get away.

Luck was with them as Eripio noticed that in the previous fight, the temporary bridge was dislodged from its location; with a quick jerk of her head and a shout of 'over here!' the girls barely made the jump onto the make-shift raft. They used some of the loose boards to paddle through the water leaving the dark-blue stallion in the dust as they continued down the river back to town.

Kobun waved a furious hoof into the air as he yelled to the skies, “I won't forget you four! I know your sign, we will find out who you are!”

The girls merely laughed in relief at their escape and high-hoofed one another; they sat tiredly on their raft and watched the scenery around them.

“Well that was pretty cool; do you guys do this often?” Eripio looked at the Crusaders who shared grins at how often their travels seem to get them into extreme adventures.

“Pretty cool? Try pretty awesome!” Scootaloo raised both fore-hooves into the air excitedly as the other two smirked at one another.

“We don't always cause explosions, but they can be really fun.” Sweetie Belle stated as Apple Bloom nodded along.

“Yeah, but we still just wannah get our Cutie Marks; it ain't our fault that bad ponies are trying tah ruin everything.” Apple Bloom nodded decisively before looking to her friends.

“You know, I've always wondered this but why do you wear those capes everywhere? They don't really help with sneaking around you know...” Eripio stated, watching in concern as Sweetie Belle seemed to deflate and tear up while the others gave dark stares to the filly; in an effort to reassure her friend the purple maned unicorn tried to cheer up the other.

“Not that they look bad, of course! I was just wondering.” At the reassurance, the tears dried within moments and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stopped glaring at the green unicorn who sighed quietly in relief.

“Sweetie Belle made these capes and they represent the Cutie Mark Crusaders; we wear them to show that we are a team and who we are.” Scootaloo proudly stated as her two friends energetically agreed, causing Eripio to raise a curious brow.

“I see... Did you know that the pony on your 'shield' is one that is from an old prophecy?” At the word 'prophecy' the girls perked up and stared intently at the knowledgeable filly.

At the blank but curious looks, Eripio continued with her statement.

“Yeah, that filly is from an old prophecy about a group of secret heroes. They went around Equestria saving others using their skills, wits and teamwork. They prevented a dark organization from ruining the land, though this was not known during their lifetime. A close friend to these heroes had written everything down and when they all died it was discovered along with a prophecy/threat that the dark organization would be back and a new group of heroes would be needed.” At the three blank tilted heads, Eripio could tell that her explanation went over their heads and they saw no connection to anything in present day.

“Huh, that's pretty cool that Sweetie Belle made our capes like that.” Apple Bloom conceded before turning her attention back to their surroundings.

Scootaloo glanced at the gray-white unicorn who shrugged at the actual backstory of the symbol.

“I saw it at the library and thought it looked cool; I didn't know that that's what it meant.” Satisfied with the answer, the two friends also turned their focus to their surroundings while Eripio only shook her head in amazement at how the trio lived a simple, unassuming life.

The ride back to town took a little longer than when they first left and Apploosa was well on its way to become completely awake; including a curious Braeburn who was checking that Apple Bloom and her friends weren't still in town. As the four fillies hid behind a couple of trees near the start of the town, Eripio turned to the others in curiosity.

“Well, what do you guys want to do? We still have some supplies left; did you want to do something else or just head home?”

“No way are we going home!” Scootaloo stood on her hind-legs as she smirked to her friends.

“We only got to try one thing yesterday AND we didn't get a Cutie mark for blowing stuff up! So we have to try at least one more thing!” The other Crusaders agreed Scootaloo's logic while Eripio managed to not face-hoof before giving in.

“Alright, what would you want to do? All the Apple Family would be ready and waiting for you guys. Is there something else you can think of that you want to try?”

The trio sat in a circle with their other friend and put a hoof to their chins in thought. Soon Apple Bloom jumped up in excitement as she grinned to the others.

“Ah know! What about that salt mine that they opened up? We could try an' be salt miners!” Sweetie Belle tilted her head in confusion at this suggestion.

“But, didn't we do miners in the Koopa Kingdom?” Apple Bloom waved a dismissive hoof.

“That was for makin' tunnels, not minin' salt!”

“Yeah, totallllyy different!” Scootaloo joined in the conversation before all three looked to their last friend.

“Hmmm? Oh, well, whatever you guys want to do. Besides we should try and make sure that the Diamond Dogs or that Kobun stallion don’t come back to bother the townsfolk again...” With this the four girls made their way to the salt mines in the north; on the way Eripio had the girls explain what they meant by 'Koopa Kingdom'.

By the time they got to the mines, Eripio had a whole new respect for the trio; they had loads of adventures before they met, explaining how they were able to handle themselves so well during their missions.

While the older ponies who worked at the mine were unsure about letting foals help, they give in after being subjected to puppy eyes and pleading; soon the four fillies were outfitted with pickaxes, hats and trailing a cart behind them for anything they dig up.

Eripio noted with interest how the Cutie Mark Crusaders knew how to mine properly and got the most out of their swing but couldn't seem to handle putting the mined salt into the cart. They lifted the axes right, but had trouble lifting the blocks of salt; they would crash into one another and more often than not they crushed the salt instead of storing it away. With so much salt in the air, the four girls became goofier and goofier before they realized that they just weren't cut out for salt miners and returned their supplies.

Eripio could see how the girls could try so many things and know a lot but still not find their special talents; they just weren't meant for any of it and therefore things went wrong to show that they weren't the talents they were looking. And while the green unicorn didn't need to find her special talent, doing things (even non-threatening stuff) with the Crusaders was fun and bound to be amusing to watch. The filly would try to help her friends figure out what their talents actually were but due to the very nature of their trips and crusading, she didn't know what they were meant to do and could offer no help to them.

The four girls edged around town to the train station; they couldn't put off going home anymore, especially since anything else they would want to do would involve others who were more than likely to know that they didn't belong there by themselves. By this time, it was just before noon and while the train station was slightly busier, it was out in the desert meaning that there still weren’t that many others using the trains at the time.

“Well you guys, guess this is goodbye for now. Good work out-” Eripio was trying to keep her farewell short when she was cut off by firm voices nearby.

“What in the hay are y'all doin'?”

“What do you have say for yourself?!”

At the two voices, the three Crusaders gave a large flinch and crouched down; they spent a moment wondering if they could run for it but noticed that it wasn't just two older sisters waiting for them. As the four fillies faced the group of older mares, they saw that not only were Rarity and Applejack waiting for them, but Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and even Twilight Sparkle had came along as well.

“Hey, uh, sis'...”

“Hi Rarity...”

“Uh, hi...”

Eripio watched in surprise and wonder at the three fillies being yelled at by three of the older mares before she realized she may be able to help them by covering for why they were in town.

“Do you know the kind of trouble you're in?”

“Ah got ah letter from Braeburn sayin' y'all were running around Apploosa!”

“Running away is not cool squirt; what would your parents think of that?”

The three fillies froze before turning to the young pegasus who looked stricken at the question; the older mares waited for any kind of response after saying their bit and watched the foals closely, waiting for an answer. The girls weren't going to say anything on behalf of Scootaloo, instead waiting to see what she wanted to say about the subject.

“I don't know what either one of them would think of that; they've been dead for over five years now.” Scootaloo replied flatly before taking off into town as fast as she could.

Rainbow Dash stared on in shock, not having expected the response and no idea of what to say. Fluttershy gave her a small nudge and whispered to the cyan mare, trying to help her friend be a better pony.

“Go after her.” At the soft command, Rainbow took off in a flash; chasing after the filly before anyone could move or say anything.

The two remaining Crusaders would have tried to chase after their friend as well but felt the presence of their sisters and knew that any attempt to leave would be seen as them running from the problem and lead to worse punishment. Before anyone could think of anything else to say, Eripio stepped forward.

“Please, don't be too mad at them; I asked them to come here. I wanted them to try making some of the pie here and they didn't really want to but I managed to convince them to come out this way.” Eripio tried to look sad and properly ashamed of her actions to sell the bit, unfortunately the older sisters weren't willing to accept that at face value.

“An' how did y'all meet in the first place if ya live here?” Applejack stared sternly back as she kept an eye on her younger sister, looking for signs of trouble or lies.

“We met when I visited Ponyville during summer break, back before I got my Cutie Mark.” Eripio firmly replied, sounding rather convincing to the other fillies who knew it to be a lie but tried to look like they knew it to be true.

“That was rather irresponsible of you girls; what if somepony got hurt? We didn't even know you had left Ponyville until this morning; something dreadful could have happened and we wouldn't have known in time to help.” Rarity stomped a hoof as she frowned at the girls who looked properly chastised.

“We're sorry...” The girls droned as one while they hung their heads, secretly hoping that this was the end of it and that they wouldn't dig too much further into the matter.

Their luck was not with them as the two older siblings continued to scold and chastise the fillies for their actions. Fluttershy had left to find Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo shortly after the cyan mare took off, she wanted to provide support since the other pegasus was almost notoriously short-tempered; this left the other two mares to whisper among themselves as they kept an eye on the scene before them.

Twilight was barely able to keep her whispering to a low level as she spoke with her marefriend; Pinkie Pie tried to reassure the lavender mare to little effect.

“Pinkie, I thought you said you would watch over them!” Twilight frowned at the baker who looked almost as downtrodden as the fillies being scolded.

“I was/did/have/am! I knew they were safe and that they wouldn't get into any kind of trouble they couldn't handle and-” Pinkie tried to defend herself and the girls as she stared at the purple unicorn with big pleading eyes and flat ears only to be cut off as Twilight realized the possible implications.

“What do you mean 'trouble they couldn't handle'?! Does this mean that they've been in trouble before and we didn't know about it!? Pinkie, that's dangerous! What if they got hurt?” Pinkie flinched as Twilight used educated guesses and made assumptions that were rather close to the truth; the baker knew that the girls didn't want anypony to find out what they had been doing and felt as though she had Pinkie Promised not to tell.

“Don't worry, I made sure that they were safe! Promise!” Twilight tried to remain suspicious, but Pinkie was firm and sincere in her assurances that the girls had been safe; and while she felt that there was more going on than being told, she also felt that she wouldn't be able to get more out of the pink mare out in public.

“.... Alright, but we're not done talking about this. Come on, let's see what they decided...” The lavender unicorn gave the pink earth pony a quick nuzzle before they stepped forward to listen to more of the siblings' discussion to find that it came to an end with the girls grounded for the foreseeable future; and no amount of pleading, begging, or puppy eyes would convince them otherwise.

Further into the desert town, a sky-blue pegasus watched from around the corner as an orange filly stared dejectedly at the ground behind a few of the buildings. Due to her speed, Rainbow Dash was able to find the young pegasus easily; now the issue was what to say after learning about such a fact. Fluttershy made her way over to her best friend and looked at Scootaloo with her.

“Hey.”

“H-hi... Um, were you able to …?” The shaking of a rainbow mane silenced the cream-yellow mare.

“What would I say to something like that?” Fluttershy nuzzled her friend; finding no reaction to this the shy mare realized how disturbed Rainbow Dash was. The cyan mare wasn't all that willing to be nuzzled, even from her oldest friend; and to find no reaction, not even an eye roll, showed just how serious she was at the moment.

“You know what it's like, to lose somepony you care about from an early age...” Sensing that Rainbow needed all the support she could get, Flutterhsy kept up the nuzzling.

“Yeah, but I never knew my mom; you know that she died giving birth to me Fluttershy. The squirt knew her parents and lost them both....” Scootaloo remained unaware of her surroundings, not even noticing the two older pegasi talking quietly not that far away.

“Yes but... your dad died... and you had gotten to know him...” Fluttershy was even more hesitant as she brought up this point; she was sure the cyan mare buried the pain of losing her father deep down and even to this day didn't like to talk about it. The flinch and shifting afterwards was proof that it was indeed still painful for the brash pegasus.

“Yeah, but Scootaloo is at least nine if not ten years old; much younger than I was but still close enough to remember them. Why don't you talk to her? You lived in an orphanage, you know what it's like...” Rainbow tried to push her friend towards the filly only to find one of the rare moments of strength from the timid mare.

“No; she wouldn't listen to me about it. She looks up to YOU, Rainbow Dash, not me. You should be the one to talk with her.” At the shy mare's unusually firm stare, Rainbow sighed in defeat before nodding.

It was at this last part that Scootaloo became aware of her surroundings once more; the argument between the two pegasi had gotten loud enough to notice though not enough for the young filly to hear. Upon seeing who it was, Scootaloo was torn between leaving and seeing what they wanted; she remained in place wearily as Rainbow Dash walked up to her with a hesitant smirk on her face.

“Hey squirt...” Seeing no change in Scootaloo's face, the smirk dropped from the older pegasus' face as she pawed the ground lightly.

“Uhhh... I just, wanted to say that... I know what it's like to not have parents and all... And you're doing a good job for yourself!” At the soft hiss of 'Rainbow!' from the mare behind her (which Rainbow Dash felt more than heard since it was so soft), the rainbow maned pegasus backtracked slightly.

“Uh, but what I mean is that ah, even if you're doing ok, you can come to any of us for help or if you're in trouble. I know Derpy cares about you...” Rainbow trailed off slightly as she noticed Scootaloo's face turn more pensive and annoyed, and could practically feel Fluttershy's encouragement to keep going on this kind of thought and speech.

“Ugh! Look squirt, I'm not very good at sappy but you have good friends and ponies who care about you so don't think you're on your own or alone, alright...? Come on, let's get back to the others; your friends are probably worried for you.” Rainbow made no move in order to see what kind of reaction she would get from the filly and sagged in relief when Scootaloo got up and started for the train station.

Rainbow Dash followed the young pegasus and once they reached where Fluttershy timidly waited, the quiet mare joined the parade by the sky-blue mare's side; they then engaged into a quiet 'conversation' while Scootaloo tried to ignore them.

“Rainbow...”

“Look Fluttershy, you know I don't do sappy! And that was getting WAY too sappy for me. I tried, you saw that!” Rainbow was more than willing to take off into the sky at the muted sigh from the mare next to her but could tell that it would be seen as a move worse than she meant; especially considering how neither of the other pegasi she was walking with could fly much at all.

“Do you think... She's living by herself?” Fluttershy could barely contain her shudder of sympathy if that was the case; having grown up alone and afraid to make friends gave her a good understanding of what it was like.

“I dunno, I thought she was staying with Derpy; she was concerned about Scoot before, so I thought that she was taking care of her or was a relative or something...” Rainbow Dash felt Fluttershy's eyes bore into her with a question that she couldn't get out but felt like it should be asked; thinking about what had just happened, Rainbow could guess at what the timid mare wanted to know.

“Sigh... All right, Fluttershy; I'll ask Derpy about it when we get back...” Fluttershy gave a large smile before turning to face forward once more.

The three pegasi were quiet as they rejoined the others who hadn't moved far from the train station; which was done as both a way to make sure the girls didn't try to escape and as a way to make it easy for the pegasi to find them once more. Once the group was reunited, they went in search of Braeburn to get a complete explanation of what happened. The four girls hung back slightly (though not enough to draw attention to themselves) as they compared notes and stories told.

“Why'd ya say all that Eripio? It was all a lie, from start tah finish.” Apple Bloom whispered to her friend, after explaining to the pegasus what had been said while she had left. Eripio rolled her eyes before answering; she had hoped her friends knew her well enough to know why but she supposed she would just have to explain it anyways.

“You guys are my friends, and friends always come first in my book. As much as I follow my Clan's morals of justice and harmony, I'd do just about anything for friends; including lie for them.

“My family has thought for years that I was a 'black sheep' of the family for lying and getting into trouble; they never realized WHY I did all of that or how it was actually for the right reasons... So I went on my own 'crusade' to find my place in the world. Helping others from the shadows like we have is what I like doing... Sure shocked my folks when I came back with a rescue Cutie Mark.” Eripio kept her explanation to a whisper as she smirked, not wanting the older mares to find out that they had been doing more than just visiting a different town.

The trio pondered this new information about their friend before tackling her in a hug of gratitude and friendship.

“We like helping others too. You can count on us to help when you find more ponies who need our special style of flank kicking -” Scootaloo smirked to the others who added their own adjectives.

“-Mystery solving-” Sweetie Belle smiled back as she recalled the adventures they've had so far fondly.

“- Grand adventure but secretive-” Apple Bloom looked to the others as they realized that they may never be able to tell others what they were doing but wanted to help all the same.

“-help!” As usual, the trio finished together, bringing forth an amused smirk from the green filly.

As the older mares found the yellow stallion talking with Little Strongheart, the fillies realized that in order to keep more of what they did and planned to keep doing a secret, Eripio would need to leave right away; finding out that her parents weren't actually from Apploosa would open up a whole new can of trouble that they couldn't answer without giving up everything.

“Eripio! Quick, while no one is looking, you have to leave!” Scootaloo glanced to the older mares as she gave the bespectacled unicorn a nudge away from the group.

“Yeah, if they find out that you don't actually live here we're all going to be in more trouble!” Sweetie Belle gave a push of her own as Eripio realized what they were talking about and started to edge away.

“But what about you guys?”

“Don't worry about us! We promise tah not tell them anythin' about we've been doin'!” As one the Crusaders mimed the motions for a Pinkie Promise which, while Eripio didn't really know anything about, she could feel the seriousness of the promise. The filly nodded before slowly edging away, taking off once she was out of sight.

They were just in time, for the next moment the older ponies (and buffalo) turned to the fillies for more of an explanation; at the sight of the missing unicorn they grew more upset and started to scold them once more.

The next half hour was filled with accusations and demands for the truth which left older siblings frustrated and young fillies in serious trouble as nothing new was discovered. The group made to return home while Braeburn and Little Strongheart gave a moment of thought to the Diamond Dogs before heading their own ways as well.

Eripio watched the argument from a distance for a minute longer before taking the first train back to Manehatten without notice; she felt bad for not being able to help her friends but knew that finding the truth of how they met along with everything else was not going to help them.

“I promise to find out about the Red Dragons you guys. Then you won't have to hide what you're doing anymore as soon as we take them out of the picture...” Eripio stared blankly out the window as the train left the desert for greener lands before the sight turned more industrialized, already planning ways to dig up information about the Dojo.

“Tono, those fillies were back and ruined our plans to gain the salt mines of Apploosa...” Kobun stated with a bowed head to the figure hidden in shadows. While the room was dark, Kobun knew his master sat on the only chair in the room and could feel his annoyance at being stopped once more.

“... Do you have any knowledge of these, these fillies that prevent our success?” Came a dark and gravelly demand from the shadows; Kobun straightened slightly as he actually had some good news to give.

“Yes, they wear a cape with a certain symbol of a rearing foal on it. I have our best working on discovering and finding these fillies and their intentions.” Kobun didn't raise his head fully, but stood straighter as he knew preemptive actions pleased his boss.

“Good, good. For now, we shall slow down our advancement until we are sure of who these 'fillies' are. You are to tell me at once when anything is discovered.... You have my leave to go, and remember Kobun; do not fail me again.” A flash of red light shown through the darkness as Kobun flinched at the tone before giving one last full bow and edging out of the darkened room.

“Yes Tono....”

Chapter 18 Dealing with a little storm of Chaos

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It was the worst punishment the fillies had ever had; even after three weeks of being grounded, they were still very much in trouble. Even Sweetie Belle's parents, who were normally laid back about most things, agreed that traveling out of Ponyville without telling anyone was bad and she had to do a lot more chores than before. Apple Bloom had to deal with her grandmother ramble on about the previous dangers of the world along with so many chores that she often didn't have the energy to do anything even if she could.

What both fillies knew was that their last friend had it much worse; because she had told the six noisiest mares in Ponyville that she no longer had any parents, Scootaloo had to go into hiding. Staying at the Clubhouse was no longer an option since Applejack would just force her to either stay with the Apple Family or go back to the orphanage; there was no way Scootaloo wanted to stay with some other adult and to top it off, Rainbow Dash had been searching for her for a good while.

All the searches and grounding got to the point that Scootaloo took a trip on her own to explain to their martial arts teacher that they wouldn't be allowed to leave town anymore; he responded with gifts and reminders to keep practicing for the trio. After giving the gifts of bansai trees and a dogi for each filly that had both his symbol (a bonsai tree against a setting sun) and the Crusader symbol on it, Scootaloo went undercover, doing more night work than before and making whole new hideouts that weren't as secure or warm as her old ones.

If there was one thing Scootaloo did know, it was that a pony had to have their education to get anywhere in the world; Derpy had signed her up for school and it was the one thing Scootaloo wasn't going to miss out on. Not only was it a way to actually learn important things, but it meant that she could see her friends; even if they were grounded.

It was in the school yard that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were talking about the weather when Sweetie Belle was escorted to the school by her sister.

“Ah'm tellin' ya Scootaloo, it was startin' tah rain chocolate milk! My Sis' was havin' trouble with it and our crops started actin' weird too.” Apple Bloom was waving her hooves to emphasize her point just in time for the two unicorns to hear it.

“That sounds yummy!”

“That sounds dreadful!” The trio of fillies looked at the older mare in surprise; Rarity had gotten into an argument with Applejack when they had collected the Crusaders from Apploosa about why the girls kept getting into trouble; it was odd to see her concerned about what was happening on the farm.

“Does Applejack have everything in hoof?” Rarity leaned forward slightly as the fillies shared a surprised look before facing the older mare once more.

“Well, Ah don't know; she was mighty worried about it all.” Apple Bloom pondered the situation at the farm a moment longer before glancing towards the school as the warning bell rang, signalling all the young ponies that it was soon time for school.

“Come on you guys! Ms. Cheerilee doesn't like it when we're late.” Scootaloo waved to her friends as she led the way to the school house.

“Have a nice day at school Sweetie; I'll be back later to pick you up.... Perhaps I should check on Applejack... It would be the right thing to do...” Rarity mused to herself before heading for the Boutique; if it was raining she had to have the right protection after all! And she did have that new pale lavender coat with matching umbrella after all.

The trio turned in their essays about disharmony to Cheerilee as they entered the classroom; after having gone to Canterlot the day before, they had been annoyed at how closely they were watched and prevented from seeing their friends who lived there. With all the trouble they were in and being stuck at home constantly (or on the run and having to hide from everypony), they had been rather grouchy when they went to visit Canterlot. The result was a page long report and more punishment from their families.

School promised to be boring lectures that day and most found themselves staring outside where the weather slowly got weirder by the minute. Pink clouds gathered while a herd of animals with extremely long legs rushed past; it was at this point that Scootaloo signaled to the other Crusaders and subtly flicked her eyes to the window where things slowly started to get even weirder.

It was as the sky suddenly darkened with a loud uneven cackle that the girls decided to bring their teacher's attention to the growing trouble outside.

“Miss Cheerilee!” Sweetie Belle raised her hoof, pausing the dark cerise mare's lecture on weather around the world.

“Miss Cheerilee, look outside!” At this statement from Scootaloo, everyone in the class looked to the outside and weren't sure of what they were looking for.

“So it's dark outside; it's probably going to rain.” Diamond Tiara sneered at the Crusaders who all rolled their eyes; before Cheerilee could comment on the young pale-gray filly's tone of voice, the trio of friends responded.

“Yeah, but Ah've never seen chocolate milk rain!” At this the rest of the class took a closer look and found that something was indeed wrong, and was slowly getting worse. As they watched, the ground changed colors, turning into a pink and white mixed with blue and white checkered patterns.

While their classmates started to panic with their teacher trying to maintain order, the Cutie Mark Crusaders huddled together to try and figure out a plan.

“What are we gonnah do, y'all?”

“Who would do all this?”

“How do we stop it?”

The trio paused as they managed to come up with more questions than answers; the odd weather and sudden mess was making them lose focus and caused them to remain at this point of the discussion for a while longer.

“We have to know who's doing it before we could stop them!” Scootaloo frowned at Sweetie Belle who responded with a frown of her own.

“Just because we could find out who it is doesn't mean we'd know how to stop it?” Apple Bloom cut in and was just about to respond when they heard their teacher over the din.

“Calm down everypony! We need to remain calm and find a safe place for shelter.” As Cheerilee put a hoof to her chin in thought, the Cutie Mark Crusaders suddenly found themselves aware of their surroundings and the fact that their classmates were in danger; they may have gotten used to a little danger, the others had not and protecting others was one of their main goals now.

Apple Bloom looked to her two friends who stopped fighting and they all nodded in agreement; protecting the others came first! But they weren't sure how, Ms. Cheerilee may have said to find a safe place but the town was slowly become crazier.

As the trio searched the area, they found themselves looking at the Everfree Forest; they tilted their heads in unison before snapping to where a voice called for their attention.

“Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! Are you guys alright?” the trio went to the doorway of the school unnoticed since their teacher was still trying to calm the other students; they found Eripio galloping up the walk way.

“Eripio! What'cha doin' here?” The girls ushered their friend inside as the green filly panted for breath before answering.

“There was a huge need for all Rescue Clan members and when I tried to divine where the trouble was, it led me here. Then I remembered that this is where you three live; do you have any idea what's going on?” The Crusaders led their friend to a corner so no one would notice an extra filly and make her leave.

“No, we don't know and we want to get everyone else to safety first before finding out.” Scootaloo replied as she checked on what everyone else was doing; most of the other foals were gathered around the older mare who in turn tried to reassure them while trying to think of a safe place to go.

“I see... It looked like most of the town was under whoever's control, we'd have to lead them outside of Ponyville.” The girls tilted their heads in unison as they looked at their other friend who was looking out the window.

“We?” Eripio turned back with a grin that the girls couldn't help but share.

“Well yeah! No way am I letting you guys do it without me and I like helping others too, remember? What's with the forest? Does it normally look like that?” The Crusaders looked to where the purple maned unicorn pointed with a hoof and nodded.

“Yeah, that's the Everfree Forest; it always looks like that but it can be real dangerous; why?” Apple Bloom asked as the others shared knowing looks; they weren't the only ones to find that the forest hadn't changed even as the rest of the world did it seemed.

“Well, considering how every other thing around here aside from the buildings is now a shade of neon colors, I'd say it's safe to assume that the forest is actually the safest place to go... The Everfree Forest, you said it was called?” Eripio asked softly as the four girls turned to look at the others in the room as they continued speaking softly with one another.

“Yeah...” Sweetie Belle raised a curious brow while Eripio tapped her chin briefly in thought.

“I think I read a book about odd magics in Equestria and it said something about how some Everfree Forest had its own kind of magic; setting it apart from the rest of the world and seeming to be unnatural to pony kind.”

“Yep, that's what my big Sis' said about it; but our friend Zecora lives there just fine an' we've gone in it a few times ourselves...” Eripio nodded before turning to face the Crusaders who stared back expectantly; the green filly came up with good plans and it was no different this time.

“Alright, so here's the plan, if you think it will work. You guys take everyone to the forest and we find a cave or something for them to stay in. If it dangerous due to monsters or beasts, two of us will fight them off while the other two keep the group going. Once they're hidden away, we can try and figure out what's going on with the town and how to stop it.”

“There were some caves in the forest we can use... But are you going to be one of the ones leading the way? Our classmates don't know you like we do...” Sweetie Belle pointed out to which Eripio rubbed her chin some more and gave the girls a contemplative glance.

“Who would your classmates trust the most to lead them someplace? I wouldn't be able to handle the beasts on my own, otherwise I'd say we should have all three of you lead the way.”

“What if we led the way but when a monster did come by one of us would break off and take care of it with you? That way they see all three of us but we can still help you fight?” Scootaloo suggested which received nods of approval.

“Alright, if this works for everyone then I'll head outside and follow behind you guys; good luck!” After the normal short farewell, Eripio snuck out of the school to hide in the bushes that were right by the doorway; the Crusaders drew in a deep breath and gathered their courage to speak in front of all their classmates, it had been a long time since they tried to do anything in front of others.

They trotted up confidently to their teacher, shoulders back, heads held high and a strong look in their eyes; the other foals noticed the change and stepped aside to allow them to reach the older mare. Cheerilee noticed the silence and found the trio standing in front of her; before she could say anything the trio stated their idea firmly.

“Miss Cheerilee, we know of a safe place to do.” Sweetie Belle started, with Scootaloo taking over after her statement.

“It's the only place that hasn't been effected by whatever is going on outside.” Scootaloo firmly stated as the two other crusaders nodded.

“We promise that it will be safe, y'all just need tah follow us out of here to reach it.” Cheerilee took in the confident faces of the fillies before her and glanced once more outside where the land started to shift, slowly making hills and valleys that weren't there before.

“Alright girls, lead the way. Everypony! Please follow me in an orderly fashion, we're going to a safe place!” it took another ten minutes before everyone got into a proper line, during which Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon complained about having to follow the Cutie Mark Crusaders to which Cheerilee scolded (bringing private joy to the trio of fillies).

Once everyone was ready, the Crusaders led the way out and along the edge of town; a hard feat to do as more parts lifted up to become hills while some kept going, removing themselves from the ground to float in the air. The trio tried to focus on getting the others to safety and not on what was going on or how it was happening; as a precaution, they tried to sneak as much as possible which drew some ire from the other foals but after they watched one pony get chased by a cotton candy cloud they went silent and just followed along.

It was as they started to head for the Everfree Forest that Cheerilee came forward to speak with the fillies.

“Girls, where are we going?” the trio flinched, knowing that the older mare wouldn't like their answer but tried anyways.

“We're goin' tah the forest.”

“It's safe, we promise!”

“Yeah, and besides, it's the only place that has been changed at all! We would be safe from any of this weirdness in there for sure.” Scootaloo added her own bit as they tried to convince their teacher who stared back hesitantly; they had valid points but they had been told for so long to avoid it that it was sure to raise some eyebrows.

Cheerilee searched their faces and found only determination; As she watched the scenery around them change (plants popped up in weird designs), the older mare nodded slowly.

“Alright girls, but please be very careful!” The Crusaders nodded and continued to lead the way out of town.

“Why are we going into the forest?! I thought it was dangerous and nopony was to go there.” Diamond Tiara sneered at the trio who stared back firmly; due to the danger they were all in, they weren't going to stand for Diamond Tiara's sass.

“Yes. It's the only safe place.” The girls stated in unison which caused Diamond Tiara to blink in surprise before scowling.

“Whatever...” Diamond Tiara was the only one to voice her worry as the others merely followed their teacher who in turn followed the girls into the dark forest.

They stayed in two lines as they began their trek into the woods; there were fourteen other students not including the Cutie Mark Crusaders along with Cheerilee (and hidden in the bushes was Eripio using a detecting magic as well as her eyes to search for trouble). The first few miles were quiet, showing no sign of trouble though all the other foals were shivering in fear as they followed the Crusaders.

The darkness began to surround them while they followed the path as it disappeared and reappeared every so often; the Crusaders remembered passing a cave when they first came into the Forest in search of a lost chicken, they figured it would be the perfect place for their classmates to hide.

The sky above the forest remained slightly gray as clouds settled across the special forest, oblivious of the cotton candy clouds hovering over the nearby town or even some of the other weird clouds covering Equestria; wind blew through and almost covered the sounds of the beasts that reside there.

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom all searched among the trees around them, looking for both the cave to take shelter in and for any creatures that may pose a threat to them; what gave them a start was the voice from behind them.

“What was that?!” Silver Spoon shouted from her place beside Diamond Tiara, both of whom were right behind their teacher who was at the start of the double line, following the Crusaders.

The trio of fillies jumped slightly and looked around the woods, trying to spot anything that would have scared the silver filly but couldn't see anything.

“This was a stupid idea! Let's get back to Ponyville!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed as well, making the leading girls glanced back before continuing their search of the surrounding area.

“Ssshhh! Quick an' we'll tell ya what it was!” Apple Bloom scolded the pink filly before their teacher could; Cheerilee scowled at the response but due to the possible dangers remained silent.

The trio of girls listened and watched their surroundings for a moment longer before relaxing and nodding to one another.

“I'll go and make sure nothing's wrong; be right back.” Scootaloo stated as the others waved to the group to continue following them. Cheerilee didn't like the idea of one of the girls breaking off but before she could say anything Scootaloo seemed to disappear among the foliage.

“Was that a growl?” Silver Spoon looked to her right with a quiver in her voice.

“Nah, yer hearin' things.”

“Are those eyes!?” Diamond Tiara pointed a hoof to their left while the two leading girls waved dismissive hooves to the bully.

“No no, it's the sunlight reflecting off of something.” The whole group paused as a yowl sounded through the air before cutting off sharply.

“What was that?!” Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon shouted together as they grabbed a hold of one another in fright, the rest of the class weren't in much better state.

The two leading fillies shared a look, concern flashing across their face too fast for anyone else to see, though Cheerilee caught sight of it slightly and frowned in concern as well; within moments the two friends deadpanned the two bullies as they replied together.

“It was just the wind.” By this point, the two bullies were annoyed at being dismissed and clenched their muzzles shut. Scootaloo appeared from the right (opposite from where she had entered) and nodded a greeting.

“Yeah, it was nothing; don't be such a scaredy pony.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes as the trio began to lead the way once once more into the forest.

The trio continued and ran across two more instances of beasts, each of the Crusaders got a chance to fight off monsters with Eripio. While Scootaloo had fought Timberwolves, Apple Bloom fought a baby Cragadile, and Sweetie Belle fought a young Cockatrice (who had backed away at the mention of Fluttershy). No one else was the wiser about what happened in the bushes on either side of the traveling group; after another half hour of walking, they found a cave that emerged from the ground.

“Ewwww! What lives in there? How do you know if it's safe?!” Diamond Tiara whined as she peered into the cave that the Crusaders pointed into; upon hearing the whine, the trio of fillies rolled her eyes.

“We promise it's safe, ya got tah go inside.” As the two groups of fillies faced off, the older mare stepped forward with a frown of her own.

“Girls! That is enough; everypony, let's get inside the cave.” Cheerilee clapped her hooves before leading all the class inside; once the Crusaders were out of sight, Eripio stepped out of the foliage, slightly scruffy from the almost constant fights.

No matter what the girls told everypony else, the Everfree Forest was a dangerous place to travel in; Eripio didn't mind however, it was for a good cause.

“What now?” Sweetie Belle looked to her friends after giving the area a quick glance to check that it was safe for the moment.

“We can't keep fighting off the things that live in here forever...” Scootaloo glared at their surroundings as Apple Bloom looked towards the cave.

“We don't even know if the cave is actually safe either...” The young farmer whispered to her friends.

“We also need to figure out who's doing all this and stop them.” Eripio looked in the direction of Ponyville only to find the sun suddenly dip down and the moon to shoot upwards instead; the four girls blinked in surprise before nodding in determination to one another.

“Alright, we'll set up your classmates in style in the cave; make them a fire and figure out if there is a reason to be worried about the cave exit. Once that's done, we'll head into town and find out who's doing all this.” The fillies nodded once more before gathering firewood to bring to the cave entrance, as a source of light and to ward off predators.

Their teacher was impressed by their fire making skills and started to teach the foals about fires and some of the plants; she felt that it would help the kids feel more at ease and lessen the fear while still keeping an eye on the fire. While most of the others were occupied, the four adventurous fillies went deeper into the cave, hoping that it was a dead end and perfectly safe to leave their friends in.

As they traveled further and further down the tunnel, the hope of a small cave slowly died and they started to make their way more cautiously; while Cheerilee hadn't noticed the four sneaking off, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon did see them and frowned at the sight; they would have tried to follow but their teacher did see the two fillies attempting to do so.

After sneaking further down for another ten minutes, the tunnel started to lighten, something that puzzled the girls. Once they turned a corner the tunnel brightened rapidly as they found themselves in a large cave with a silver-blue tree with dark silver leaves glowing in the center of the cave; it pulsed slightly with power, relaxing the girls with a sense of peace. Eripio tilted her head along with the others (with only a slight thought of how she was becoming in sync with them) as she pondered the magical aura that filled the cavern.

“Girls, I think this is what's making the Forest so different from the rest of Equestria...”

“Ya think?”

“I think it's something that's good...”

“Yeah, it's a pretty cool tree and all, but we need to get out of here and help Ponyville!” Scootaloo nodded towards the exit opposing where they just came from.

The others shared a nonplussed look before shrugging and nodding towards the pegasus. As one they circled around the glittering tree and found themselves at the bottom of a ravine; it took them a moment to find the exit in the dark but it helped that it suddenly lightened up (the moon and sun switched once again). They spotted a long winding staircase and followed the trail away from the ruins of a castle, heading back to town.

It was easier to travel with only four ponies in their group, going unnoticed through the forest and passing by groups of beasties that huddled together in fear of whatever was going on in Ponyville. When the girls got to the edge of the forest, which had still remained normal looking (normal for the Everfree Forest that is) they found an almost unrecognizable town; sure, the ground color was still the same blue, pink and white checkered board but there were a lot more hills and more pieces of land (with houses!) floating in the air. Before the four girls got a proper look at the town, the sun and moon switched places plunging the land into darkness.

The four friends stared at one another in shock, they didn't know of anything that could do such things.

“This is absolute chaos!” Eripio stated with a vague wave which gave the Crusaders a start of realization; Eripio turned to find her friends looking at one another in worry.

“What is it?”

“Chaos....” Sweetie Belle whispered as the three friends looked guilty.

“So?”

“Confusion...” Apple Bloom whispered as she peered into the gloom.

“Yeah, we're pretty confused... ?”

“Very evil...” Scootaloo muttered as she watched the moon dance in place before switching with the sun once more.

“What's going on?” Eripio flatly asked while the trio glanced between themselves once more.

“Discord...” They answered the green filly in flat tones to which Eripio's blue eyes widened in shock.

“Oh. That might be too big for us to fight...” At this the girls stood straighter and half-glared at the green unicorn who deadpanned them in return.

“You want to try anyways don't you?” Three heads rapidly in agreement while Eripio sighed.

“Alright, alright.... Let's go and make a plan along the way...” Eripio followed the others as they marched confidently forward and tried to not to be distracted by the very weird sights around them.

As they quietly planned among themselves, they watched from the corner of their eyes buffalo in tutus pirouetting around the ground, a pony with crazed eyes flying in the sky (without wings no less!) and pies flew into the sky.

Just as they were running out of ideas, there was a flash of light and a clap of rubber duck squeaking; once the girls cleared their eyes from purple polka dots, they weren't sure they were seeing the creature before them properly. The Crusaders felt their spirits fall as they recognized the lion's paw, eagle's claw, snake tail along with bat and feathered wings; Discord laughed at the mixed reactions and flipped over to looked at them upside down as he sneered.

“Hello there my little ponies! Here to play the hero?” The girls frowned at the draconequus and got into tense stances, something that made Discord break out into laughter as he held his sides.

“Oh ho! You think four actually think you can stop me? Me? The spirit of Chaos and Disharmony? Oh ho ho ho!” The girls gave each other weary looks before gaining a determined glint in their eyes; without a second thought or a word, the four fillies jumped for the draconequus who disappeared in a flash of light with a clap of camera clicking sound.

The girls landed in a heap while Discord appear over them as he tapped his chin with a claw.

“You know, I would almost feel bad for you...” Discord put on a sad look as the girls disentangled themselves from one another to growl at the being of Chaos.

“Oh yeah?! Well, you should worry for yourself instead!” Scootaloo tried to threaten while Discord smirked before regaining his 'sad' face.

“Oh I don't know... Being attacked by a pegasus who can't fly, a unicorn who can't use magic, an earth pony who doesn't fit in with her own kind, and another unicorn who can't save anypony doesn't fill me with fear.” Discord smirked at the falling faces of the girls before him before standing up right and strolling along the ground around them.

“Well, well... Even if we don't stop you, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony will!” Sweetie Belle tried to remain optimistic even as the others drooped from the draconequus' words; at the reminder of their family and friends, the other fillies stood straighter (with Eripio making a mental note to ask about it and how they knew the bearers of the Elements); this sentence only caused the mean spirited spirit to break into cackles once more.

“Ha ha ha, Oh ho ho ho, you, you really believe that! You are just too pathetic!” The girls gave him a sharp glare which caused him to raise a brow at the sight.

“Those silly ponies will never be able to stop me; they can't stop fighting amongst themselves to do anything to me!” This caused the girls to gasp in shock before Apple Bloom stepped forward.

“Yer lyin'! They're the best of friends who would always win in the end!” While the others agreed, Discord disappeared once more to appear in four miniaturized sizes next to each filly in order to pinch their cheeks as he coed at them.

“You're all just adorable in your faith! I broke their spirits rather easily; it won't be but a moment to do the same to you!” Four pairs of eyes widened at the threat and the girls tried to back up into a protective circle only to have the Discords flash into one giant Discord once more and wave a lion toe at them as they froze in place due to his magic.

“Ah ah ah! Not like ANYTHING you can do would actually have an effect on me, but I'll go ahead and freeze you just so you know how utterly helpless you four really are.” Discord leaned forward to somehow look all of them in the eye with his own swirling ones, which in turn caused the girls' eyes to swirl.

As the girls stood paralyzed from their fears being lived out, Discord gave one last evil laugh before teleporting to rest on his thrown in the center of town, over looking his new domain.

The four fillies took no notice of this as they watched their deepest fears play out before their eyes and in their minds.

“Git outtah here! You and yer new fangeled 'ideas', yer've ruined our crops!” Applejack glared at the young farmer, who crouched down as her family faced her in a straight and frowning line.

“Bu-but! Ah was tryin' tah help!” Apple Bloom tried to defend herself only to have her grandmother step forward giving her a stern look.

“Ya went too far from tradition while ya played with yer 'friends'! Yer ain't no Apple, Apples don't leave the farm! Ya decided yer friends were more important!” Apple Bloom's lip trembled as she started to back away slightly while her 'family' pushed forward and was slowly forcing her off of the farm.

Scootaloo was inside a storm; lightning flashed around her while the clouds rumbled their anger. Winds buffeted the cart she was riding in as she was being pulled along in the sky; vague forms ahead of her were lit up briefly as lightning flashed while a bolt shot them and caused them to fall.

“Noooo!!!” Scootaloo rushed to the edge of her cart, knowing that she wouldn't be able to save them but reached a hoof out anyways. In desperation she jumped from the already descending cart and tried to fly her way over to the other figures when suddenly a gust of wind blew her off course and knocked her in the now rapidly falling cart. Being knocked around and in pain, Scootaloo couldn't do anything as she fell through the air aside from screaming for help.

Rarity, Pearl and Magnum were unconscious, their forms resting under a pillar that had been knocked over. Sweetie Belle stood nearby, trying in vain to lift the extremely heavy pillar from the forms but did very little to help.

“... Sweetie Belle.... Use, your magic...” Rarity's weak voice drifted over Sweetie Belle's sobs, making the unicorn pause in her efforts as she tried to focus on levitating the heavy rock.

After a long ten minutes of pure effort, Sweetie Belle collapsed next to her sister as her tears returned.

“I can't... I can't make it work... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.” There was no reply from the still figures.

A three storied building was burning in the night, flames jutting from windows as members of the rescue clan and fireponies tried to save as many as possible and put out the fire before them.

Eripio watched in horror, keeping her eyes on a particular window on the third floor where the fire had yet to reach or so it seemed. Within moments, a flicker of orange grew into yet another inferno in the window the green filly so desperately watched.

A scream of denial and pain sounded from near the young filly and Eripio turned to find a soot covered mare standing nearby with both hooves on the side of her face as tears stream down.

“Noooo!” Eripio flinched at the sound and sight, taking a half step back which drew the mare's attention to her. The earth pony dashed forward and grabbed the terrified unicorn filly, giving her a rough shake.

“It's all your fault! How could you?! We trusted you! It's all your fault!!”

“No... I'm sorry...! It wasn't me... Please, I'm sorry...”

A flash of light suddenly appeared, blocking out all sight and sound aside from a large whoosh as a wave of harmony and balance spread across the land. As four fillies slowly blinked their eyes, trying to adjust to the sudden return of Ponyville and it's restoration, they heard shouts of joy and relief that were so loud it was as though the entire land of Equestria was rejoicing.

The four friends looked around and found themselves just where they had been when they tried to face off with Discord, except that they were surrounded by six familiar faces that seemed relieved to find them coming out of their trance.

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo all leapt to their corresponding big sister (or in Scootaloo's case, big sister-like figure) and gave them a tight hug as their tears started once more; Eripio hung back until it became a giant hug between the six older mares and four fillies which she had needed even if she wasn't going to explain why. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle started to try and explain what they saw as the hug continued.

“Y'all said Ah wasn't family -”

“You were trapped and I couldn't -”

“- an' that Ah had chosen mah friends over family -”

“- my magic wouldn't work and -”

Applejack and Rarity shared a swift glance of concern before tightening their hold on their sisters; even though Scootaloo hadn't said anything, she got a tighter hug from both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy who had stepped forward when she had remained silent. Eripio was still in the middle of the all the hugging but was too distressed to try and comfort her friends.

“Apple Bloom, ya know we'd never say yer not family; family is forever.”

“Indeed; and while there may be times that get the best of me, it is unlikely that I would remain 'trapped' for long. You have nothing to worry about.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle smiled up at their sisters before burying their heads into their coats in order to both feel safe and to be sure that it was real this time.

While Twilight and Pinkie looked on, the lavender mare remembered that the girls were originally in class at the time Discord's takeover; as much as she hated to break the moment of bonding, she was slowly growing concerned for the other foals and Ms. Cheerilee.

“Girls, where are the others? Your classmates and teacher?” At the question, four older mares looked at the girls in surprise as they remembered the same fact; the girls had been in school before this whole thing started.

“An' how'd y'all get out here trapped in Discord's spell?” Applejack demanded of the fillies who looked sheepish at what they had done.

“Welllll....” The girls took turns explaining how they led the class to the Everfree forest for protection and had tried to come back for help (they had a feeling that stating how they were originally planning on taking Discord down was not going to help them and went for a half truth); the older mares were surprised at what the girls had done and tried to do. With only light scolding, the six friends went into the forest to retrieve the other foals and Cheerilee who was not happy that the trio had run off into the forest on their own.

Once again Eripio slipped away while the older mares weren't looking after getting more hugs from her friends who promised to write to her and wanted to be sure she would be ok heading home on her own. After feeling better by this and reassuring the Crusaders as well, Eripio made her way back home to Manehatten, intending to write another letter to a certain mom, even if the mare wouldn't respond ever again.

After being lectured on leaving the group behind as well as the dangers of the Everfree Forest (which they were pretty much sure was overblown on purpose now, considering how often they had gone into it), the girls had a sleepover at Sweet Apple Acres for old time's sake as well as a means to reassure one another about what they had seen; they knew they weren't about to forget having fought Discord for a long time....

Chapter 19 Learning about your enemies

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It had been a few days since Discord had been defeated and Equestria was still recovering from the reign of terror. Everyone was still rather unaware of their surroundings, allowing two grounded fillies to run around town unnoticed or missed.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle could see the toll the chaos had on everyone and worried for their pegasus friend; while they got a little relief by telling their sisters had seen Scootaloo had disappeared again after they had been found. Since school had been cancelled the girls didn't have to worry as they started to search the town. The town was quiet, quieter than usual since most were indoors doing a lot of self-reflection, leaving the girls to not have to worry about sneaking.

There were a few ponies going around, though typically they were heading for friends and family. The duo came across a familiar pink earth pony on her way to the library in a rather subdued manner; Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared a worried look at how the usually peppy mare was acting and hurried to catch her.

“Pinkie Pie!” As the two fillies drew up to the baker, Pinkie gave a weak smile in return.

“Hey girls, are you guys ok? No frowny faces?” At the two no's, Pinkie smiled a little stronger.

“That's great, it's not very fun to be sad all the time. What great awesome amazing adventures are you gonnah do now? Where's Scootaloo?” The pink mare asked as she noticed the trio was a filly short; upon seeing the worried frowns Pinkie started to frown as well.

“We were hopin' ya seen her...” Pinkie frowned a little deeper at Apple Bloom’s hopeful inquiry before closing her eyes and sticking her nose in the air.

The older mare took a large breath of the soon-to-be fall air and stood on her hindlegs and spun in a circle. After making three spins, Pinkie licked her hoof and stuck it into the air with her tongue sticking out in concentration.

“Uhmmmhh....” The two girls watched in fascination as the older earth pony stuck her ear against the ground and listened; after giving a few experimental taps on the earth, Pinkie Pie stood rapidly while pointing with a hoof to the east.

“There! Two point three clicks, not clops, east; on a lovely little hill surrounded by trees except on one side where you can see all of Ponyville.” The two fillies blinked in shock at the answer and the method to reach it; instead of worrying about it, the two friends merely shook off into their surprise and smiled at the mare.

“Thanks Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie smiled back in almost her usual manner, glad to see others happy after such a tough time.

“You're welcome! I'll see you guys and the other filly later!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle blinked at the sentence but shrugged as they continued on their way.

The two girls ran due east, desperate to find their friend. Once again they came across no one and soon found themselves at the foot of the hill with the only way up through the forests on either side.

The girls didn't pause for a moment and rushed up the slope and burst through the foliage to find their quarry sitting in the center of the clearing, facing the town below.

The three friends sat side by side, looking down from the hill to the town that was clearly visible from their vantage point, with Scootaloo in the center.

“Hey guys.... What's up?” The young pegasus asked her friends in an almost monotone manner.

“We were worried about you and if you were doing ok after we tried to fight Discord...” Sweetie Belle stated while Apple Bloom nodded on the other side.

“Yeah, we hadn't seen ya much since then and whenever yer at school, ya seem so, so...” Apple Bloom fumbled for wording, trying to explain why they became concerned enough to sneak away from their punishment.

“Withdrawn.” Sweetie Belle finished for the young earth pony who smiled briefly in thanks before looking to their friend in the middle.

Scootaloo merely shrugged as she remained silent; she wasn't used to having others care for how she felt and she certainly wasn't used to talking about emotions. It was almost a foreign concept to her, the orphanage that she grew up in wasn't the best place to talk about feelings.

“You know we're here for you...” The young unicorn nudged their silent friend who didn't resist nor show any sign of receiving the nudge.

“Ya don't have tah talk about it, but it helps.” Apple Bloom stated firmly as she tried to catch her friend's eye.

“Nothing to talk about...” The two others shared eye rolls; they recalled all too easily what the nightmares were like and knew the statement to be untrue.

“It helps tah talk about it...”

“Please, don't run away from this too...” Sweetie Belle leaned forward as she also tried to catch Scootaloo's eye; something she succeeded as the pegasus raised a questioning brow to the unicorn.

“Who said I was running away? I don't want to leave Ponyville, it's nice here; even if there are nosey fillies running around.” Scootaloo smirked while her friends looked on in annoyance.

“Stop tryin' tah change the subject Scootaloo; ya know what we mean, yer running from talking about yer feelings.” Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement at Apple Bloom's statement while Scootaloo just frowned at having been caught in her attempt.

“So you want me to just be all emotional and sappy...? It won't help and it won't change anything.”

“Yes it will! We had our own nightmares just like you, we know what we're talking about when we say that it helps to talk about it.” Sweetie Belle stomped a hoof lightly as she tried to convince her friend to talk with them about what she saw.

The trio fell silent as they thought about that day that nopony would be able to forget; Scootaloo sighed and shook her head, at least she had friends that were there for her.

“What were your nightmares like then?” The young pegasus tried a different tactic to make her friends stop pestering her about it, which failed utterly with their next words.

“Alright, we'll tell ya about ours an' then you tell us about yers.” Apple Bloom firmly stated to which Scootaloo sighed in aggravation before nodding.

“.... Ah... Ah dreamt that because of hangin' out with y'all an' learnin' so much new stuff, mah family kicked me off the farm.... They, they said Ah wasn't ah part of the family anymore.” Apple Bloom stared forward into nothing as the not-real memories came back, feeling the hopelessness of not having such a large family anymore to lay claim to.

The other two fillies gave the green-yellow earth pony a reassuring hug as they now sat in a circle in order to reach one another. Scootaloo was starting to realize that they were hurting just as much as she was and wanted to help them just as much as they wanted to help her.

“You know that's not true Apple Bloom...” Scootaloo whispered to her friend who returned the hugs gratefully.

“Ah know that now and Ah know that it won't ever happen... It doesn't mean it don't hurt though.” Scootaloo tilted her head as she thought about the last part before focusing on Sweetie Belle who was having trouble speaking; she was already crying and now clung to her friends for support as she thought about her own nightmare.

“You, you don't have to tell us Sweetie Belle...” Sweetie Belle shook her head and gave a watery smile to her friends even as they looked at her in concern.

“If it helps you with your nightmare, then I'll talk about it... Besides, it does help to talk about it and realize that it's not true.... My whole family was trapped under a pillar and I couldn't get them free. I tried to use magic, but it was no use and soon they weren't responding....” The two others flinched at the brief description and redoubled their hug on the unicorn this time.

“Sweetie Belle, that's awful... Ya know we're here tah help, especially if something like that happened right?” Apple Bloom nuzzled the unicorn who smiled gratefully back as she sniffed back her tears.

“Apple Bloom's right, we'll always be here to help if you need it. Besides, I'm sure you'll learn and be a great magic user; you just need to practice.” Scootaloo tried to cheer up the unicorn and was pleased to see a watery smile in return.

Suddenly the young pegasus didn't feel so alone in her fears or pain, and realized that her friends would be there for her just as she would be for them. The orange filly sighed and steeled herself to finally admit aloud what she had seen, now realizing that it would be helpful in the long run.

“... I dreamt about the night my parents died.... I was in the moving cart my parents were flying with, in a storm; I watched as they were struck by lightning. I tried to save them but I couldn't fly; instead I just started to fall and knew that I wasn't going to make it this time....” The two other Crusaders gasped at the description of both the nightmare and what had most likely actually happened to Scootaloo's family; something she herself wasn't too sure about but the nightmare gave the memory substance and made it feel more real.

As the two friends wrapped their hooves around their friend, Scootaloo flinched at first as they moved towards her; after seeing what they were trying to do, the pegasus allowed them to hug her and even returned the sentiment.

“I'm sure you'll be able to fly one day too Scootaloo...” Sweetie Belle gave her slightly shaking friend a nuzzle while Apple Bloom did the same.

“Yeah, an' we'll always be here tah hold ya up and keep ya from fallin'.” Scootaloo allowed herself to shed a few tears at the promise of always having her friends there to help and gave them a squeeze in thanks.

“... Thanks you guys... I do feel better after telling you, and I'll be there for you guys as well.” The three Crusaders stayed in that position for a moment longer before breaking apart and smiling at one another.

The trio had never felt closer as they went back into town; they had a whole day before ponies came out of their shock fully and resume their normal days and the trio weren't going to waste it.

Unfortunately, by the time they got back more ponies were breaking free of their stupor so the girls had to be on the look out for anypony who'd question them.

As they stayed to the back alleys, they found a green unicorn with brown saddlebags enter from the main road a block ahead of them; the filly was looking around the alley when she spot the blurs of movement as she was tackle-hugged by the Crusaders.

“Eripio!”

“Hey guys, I was just looking for you.” The four friends kept their voices low, previous experiences teaching them to be cautious of who might be listening.

“Eripio, what are ya doin' here?”

“I found out more about the Red Dragons.” Three pairs of brows raised the four girls checked their surroundings once again.

“Is there a safe place to talk about this?” Eripio asked which earned two slow no's from the earth pony and unicorn.

“Our sisters grounded us and if we went back home we'd be in even more trouble...”

“Yeah an' our Clubhouse is in the orchard, Ah'd have tah pass through where mah family would be.” They looked to the third Crusader who nodded slowly.

“One of my new hideouts is by a bridge; ponies don't check under them all that much, we may be able to talk among ourselves there.” Scootaloo led the way to the nearest bridge, which led eastward towards the Everfree Forest, guarantying that they would be left alone.

The four girls huddled just inside a water drain pipe that was hidden underneath.

“So what did ya find Eripio?” The Crusaders leaned forward eagerly which drew a weary smile from the purple maned filly.

“You remember that book I was telling you about? The one with the same mark as your capes? I brought it to show you guys.” The green unicorn reached into her saddlebags and drew out the reddish-brown book with golden image of a rearing filly; the Crusaders shared blank looks before giving a shrug to which earned an eye roll from Eripio.

“There's a prophecy in here about a trio of fillies who stop the rising ‘red beast'. I believe that this is referring to you and the Red Dragons.” Eripio set the book onto a dry portion of the pipe as the Crusaders watched.

“So? You said this before; we'd still stop them even without some prophecy.” Scootaloo stated decisively while the others nodded.

“Yes, but I want you to keep it in mind when... I... tell...” The four girls slowly tensed as they realized they were no longer alone; without any signal or verbal command the four leapt at the new presence which fought back with advanced martial arts.

As the dark figure retreated out of the pipe, they saw that they were fighting a pony dressed in all black with a mask covering his face, allowing only his eyes to be seen. Eripio's eyes widened in surprise as she realized a few facts about their opponent.

“Guys! It's a ninja from the Red Dragons! And he's got my book!” While the Crusaders had slowed slightly at the new term, they redoubled their efforts in order to recover the book.

“What are ninjas?!?”

“Who are the Red Dragons anyways!?”

“Where is he goin'?!” Eripio couldn't help but grin at the questions while they chased after the fleeing ninja.

“Not now! We have to catch him before-” Just as the girls were finally gaining on the black clothed figure he drew out a little ball from a hidden compartment and threw it onto the ground where it exploded, releasing a swath of smoke.

The fillies drew to a halt as they coughed and waved a hoof to clear the smoke screen, only to find Eripio curled up in a ball staring into nothing and shivering in fright.

“Eripio?” The green filly twitched as the trio put a hoof each onto her.

“Huh? Oh, ah, sorry, sorry.”

“Eripio, are you ok?”

“Is it what ya saw when we fought Discord?”

“Talking about it helps you know.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared rueful smiles at the pegasus' sentence; not even a few hours ago they were telling that to her.

Eripio took a few calming breaths and shook her head.

“Yes, it's what Discord did, but we should try and get that book back first!”

“Oh, I don't think you'll make it; he's already used his Ninjistu to run among the leaves... Oh! Hello, I'm Pinkie Pie, what's your name?” As the pink mare leaned towards Eripio, the Crusaders stared in shock.

“Pinkie Pie!”

“Silly, that's my name! Unless...” Blue eyes shifted back and forth as the older mare leaned forward towards Eripio even more.

“Unless that's your name too! Oooh! That'd be so neat, I've never met another Pinkie Pie, though you don't look like me at all and -”

“Pinkie Pie!” The older earth pony paused in her rambling and opened and closed her mouth while blinking before suddenly smiling again.

Eripio had a sudden hunch that the Crusaders were rather normal considering their town and tried to smile back as she realized the pink mare was waiting for an answer.

“Hi, I'm Eripio and you said we wouldn't be able to catch the ninja?” Pinkie smiled a little wider and nodded.

“Yep, I did say that! He's too far now and you don't have super secret ninja training to fight him, not yet at least.” The four fillies looked at the pink mare blankly for a while before coming back to their senses as more ponies started to become active.

“Okay... So, um, it was nice meeting you but we must be going...” The green filly started to edge away and checked her surroundings.

“Yeah, thanks Pinkie Pie.”

“Thanks...”

“Thanks fer yer, ah, help.” The green unicorn nudged the others and nodded towards a pony who looked rather menacing while heading towards the fillies.

As the four girls took off in the opposite direction, Pinkie hopped forward to stand in the stallion's way.

“Hi! You must be new here because I know everypony and I've never met you before!” The girls spared a glance behind them and saw the frustrated stallion being delayed by the hyperactive mare.

They shared a triumphant look that turned to ones of shock as they ran into a gray coated with dark-blue mane earth pony who growled in annoyance.

“Hey, watch where you’re going twerps... Scootaloo?! Gotcha!” Scootaloo had looked up sharply at the familiar voice and yelped when the older mare lunged forward.

“Pepper!” The other Crusaders wasted no time in dragging the pegasus away from the older orphan; Eripio followed closely behind them, wanting to get away before asking questions about what was going on.

Something that wasn't needed as the Crusaders began to explain as they ran; Scootaloo leading for where she stashed her scooter to help them get away.

“That's ah pony who's tryin' tah catch Scootaloo an' take her back tah the orphanage.”

“So we're being followed by two different ponies?!” Eipio nodded slightly at Sweetie Belle's question.

“I think the other one is from the Red Dragons. Where are we going and is there is any place that's secure?” After coming to a silent agreement, Scootaloo answered the bespectacled filly's question.

“I'm trying to find my scooter and cart to get us away faster. There is a place we can go to but we may end up being questioned by Apple Bloom's family instead.” The trio waited for the response; it wasn't just the three friends who were avoiding grown ups and their question.

“It will be better than caught by either of the others, let's go!” The Crusaders smiled and Scootaloo led the way to some crates with the others following close behind her; with a sudden loud buzzing, they burst out and sped along the road, passing both of the trackers who were soon left in the dust as the orange pegasus drove with desperation.

Within moments they left the town behind and were heading up the trail to Sweet Apple Acres; they were going to go under a fenced part to try and avoid the Apple Family. As the four fillies quietly trotted through the orchard they listened for anypony apple bucking; while they heard nothing, this didn't relieve them since they could be either searching for the fillies or in deep contemplation of what happened with Discord.

This reminded the girls that they hadn't heard from their friend about what she had seen when they fought Discord.

“What happened with Discord? What did you see?” As the four friends entered the Clubhouse, they turned one by one to the purple maned filly with a question.

“How'd ya find out about them Dragons ponies?”

“What do you find about them?” Eripio was gazing at the Clubhouse as they shut all the windows and door though she kept track of what they asked as was evident by how she answered.

“I saw a nightmare, same as you guys. I went to different towns and read through guard reports to find out about the Red Dragons and I'd be more than willing to tell you what I found out but I have a few question of my own.” The Crusaders nodded to one another and proceeded to set out cushions so that they were next to one another and still be able to keep an eye out for intruders. Apple Bloom knocked the board down on their ramp to make it into a drawbridge once more and fastened it up, preventing easy access to the tree house.

Eripio smirked at the surprises the girls still had left and settled on one of the cushions to start her tale.

“So, the Red Dragon; you already know that they have been popping up in various places. What you may not know is that it is all over Equestria, literally. There are reports of ponies causing trouble all wearing a red bandana with the same symbol and claiming to be a part of the Red Dragon.”

At this news, the Crusaders frowned; they were grounded and couldn't go out to fight them, something that seemed more important as the green filly spoke.

“They're working around the world to gather importance; whether from wealth through objects and businesses or favors by helping the corrupt get or stay in power.”

“What do you mean? The Princesses rule Equestria, they wouldn't let the bad guys be in charge.”

“Normally yes, but the Princesses have to worry about all of the Equestria; they can't always stop the bad guys.” The Crusaders frowned at the almost casual dismissal of the two powerful rulers.

“The Princesses can too stop the bad guys! They're really strong and kind and caring!” The two friends nodded to Sweetie Belle's statement while Eripio rubbed a temple; this was a common reaction but she now had the facts to prove her point.

“The Elements of Harmony, you said you know the current ones?” The trio nodded while Apple Bloom clarified how they knew the bearers.

“Yep! Two of them are our sisters an' they're all best friends so we know the others!” Scootaloo felt the need to point out how the other filly technically met them already.

“You've seen them back at Apploosa! They all came to find us.” Eripio's eyes widened in recognition and filed the information away for later.

“I guess I have and hadn’t noticed. But it use to be that the Princesses were the ones using them and saving the world from trouble; now the new Bearers are called to help instead.” The Crusaders opened their mouths to retort but slowly realized that their sisters and their friends were called on to save the world instead of the Princesses; Eripio nodded slowly as she watched her friends realize she was right.

“I don't know this for sure but I think the Princesses are getting older and tired making them not able to help as much; this means that others have to step forward and help... Like us.” The trio were frowning in thought once more and Eripio realized she should let them think about it more before pressing for more action on their parts.

“Anyways, so that one pony was trying to catch you Scootaloo?” The three Crusaders snapped awake once more and nodded.

“Yeah, the orphanage I ran away from is now being investigated so they are trying to round up all the runaways to prove that everything is fine. So I have to be especially careful now that Pepper is back.” Eripio tilted her head in curiosity at the name.

“Pepper? That's the one pony right? Who's she and how does she know you?”

“She's an older orphan who works for Hannigan, the pony who runs the place. She uses the older ones to keep the younger ones under control.”

“Ah, I see...” The green unicorn trailed off, unsure of what else to be said; she recalled the rest of the information and the other reason for the visit.

“Ah yes, I have more information on the Dragons to share before I forget again.” the others perked up and listened closely; even if they couldn't do anything right now about it didn't mean they shouldn't pay attention.

“You remember that one stallion Kobun? I tried to find out about him and his boss and came across some interesting facts and rumors. Kobun is probably the second in command; he shows up everywhere, setting up the different branches of the Dragons. He works for 'Tono' which is Neighponese for 'Lord', who is usually called Tono or Boss making it nearly impossible to know who he is exactly. Rumors, however, say that he may not be all pony anymore; due to some kind of accident, he now has robotic parts as well.” Eripio couldn't help but lean forward as she waved fore-hooves in a spooky manner to the three others who stared back slack jawed at what that could possibly look like.

“Wow!” Scootaloo breathed the word as they stared at the smirking filly before them.

“Oh and one more thing.” The Crusaders leaned in excitedly, wondering what could possibly top a cyborg-pony.

“The Red Dragons are on the search for you by wanted posters focusing mostly on your capes.” The girls' faces fell rapidly and the checked that the area was still clear before turning back to the glasses wearing filly in concern; Eripio had removed a poster from her saddlebags and laid it in front of them.

On the poster was three rough sketches of them prominently displaying their capes though it didn't have their faces or names.

“They don't know who you are or where you live but they know you wear the capes and your basic features. You may want to only wear the capes when you fight them.”

“But, they saw us in town!” Sweetie Belle sat up in alarm as she realized they may be on their way to catch the fillies.

“I think it's just a scout and they have ponies searching all over the place for you. If you be careful and keep traveling, you maybe able to throw them off the trail. Besides, you personally know the ones who use the Elements of Harmony, they should be safe.” Eripio watched in curiosity as Sweetie Belle grew slightly downtrodden with her friends glancing at her than away again.

“What is it?”

“Well... My sister Rarity... Isn't all that tough of a pony. “

“So? She has to be able to take care of her own stuff right?” Sweetie Belle scuffed a hoof along the ground and sighed.

“No, she's a really 'proper' mare... Apple Bloom's sister has to come over all the time to help out.” Eripio blinked but shrugged it off.

“Then Apple Bloom's sister can help keep her safe.” This time it was Apple Bloom who seemed ashamed.

“But they're fightin' because of us travelin'.” Eripio barely staved off the need to face-hoof and settling for deep breaths instead.

“Then we can protect our families by keeping it a secret and fighting the bad guys.” The others nodded with relieved smiles before realizing they still know very little about their friend.

“Eripio, what about your family...? What did you have a nightmare of?” The green unicorn flinched at the gray-white unicorn's questions and glanced away; the trio realized something was wrong and focused on their friend, not allowing the topic to be changed.

“... You won't let this go huh...? Alrighty, I'll tell you... My family doesn't really care what I do any more and have only recently started to take an interest again since I got a 'rescue' kind of Cutie Mark.” The girls frowned and tilted their heads in unison.

“Now why'd they go an' do that? Yer a good pony.” Eripio smiled sadly to Apple Bloom before looking at the ground.

“My family thought I wasn't a rescue pony... My nightmare was about something that happened a long time ago... There was a robbery in a friend of mine's house; I tried to stop them and we ended up starting a fire... I made it out, but my friend didn't … I never found out who was the robber and have been trying to find him and my purpose in life ever since... Until I met you guys.” Eripio gave a small smile before three pairs of hooves wrapped her into a hug.

“Yer ah really good rescue pony tah us Eripio.”

“Yeah, the best.”

“Yeah, and we'll keep helping others and maybe we can find the one who caused you all the trouble.” Scootaloo promised for the group which left Eripio fogging up her glasses as she held back tears.

After another moment, Eripio and Scootaloo decided it was enough sappy and backed away from the hug.

“So, what now?”Sweetie Belle asked in general, as all four girls gave the Clubhouse another check.

“I'll head back to continue my search on the Red Dragons, see if I can either predict where they'll strike next or at least figure where their command center is... I'll keep in touch with letters, I've learned a new spell and I'll teleport the letters to you guys... Hopefully...”

“What do you mean ‘hopefully’?”

“What spell?”

“Can ya really teleport stuff? Can ya teleport yerself?” Eripio smiled at how excited they were again and waved a calming hoof.

“I learned about it but hadn't practiced yet. I can't manage anything very big since my magic is for smaller things and divination. Wanna try?” The challenging smirk was met with three eager ones that encouraged the green unicorn to focus on the new spell; she closed her eyes and spoke out loud so that the other unicorn could try and learn to do it herself later.

“You picture the object clearly in your mind then the place you want it to go. Feel your horn fill with magic and will it to appear to the location... Just focus and will... Will... Will it!” With a shout and blaze of light a scroll appeared overhead before dropping down with a gentle thud.

Eripio collapsed exhausted but pleased all the same; with a little practice, she would be able to get information to the Crusaders quickly.

“Are you to going to be alright?” Sweetie Belle leaned towards the other unicorn who nodded wearily.

“Ain't there another way tah send us letters? Yer really tired and you've only sent one.” Eripio chuckled as she sat up.

“Yes, but it won't help.” Scootaloo frowned at the tone and sat up straighter.

“Oh yeah? Go ahead and tell us and we'll decided if it's no good.” The other filly shrugged as she flatly stated the other option.

“You would need a laptop or computer with internet access; something it seems Ponyville doesn't have a lot of.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, Ponyville really likes tradition...”

“What about Pinkie's Super-Secret Party Laboratory?” As the two other Crusaders recalled the laboratory Sweetie Belle spoke of, Eripio was once again confused.

“Wait... What secret lab? Pinkie Pie has one? That pink earth pony right?” It was the trio's turn to smile in amusement at Eripio's reaction and opened the door to find the pink mare again.

It was only an hour since they first escaped detection, so they remained stealthy as they went back. The four girls remained on lesser roads and stayed in the shadows, hoping to come across the older mare as they went to the library. Since the lab was right next to Twilight's home the girls figured she might know who made it if they didn't find the hyper mare before then.

Once they made it to the town library, they didn't wait to knock before entering, having felt exposed in the empty space before it. They had crept so quietly that the two main residences hadn't noticed that they had extra company.

Pinkie Pie had been in the midst of tickling the lavender mare in order to get a smile from the other mare; she had Twilight underneath her and was tickling her barrel with both hooves. Upon seeing the four girls the older mares paused in their antics, with half smiles on their faces.

“Hey guys! Do you have ticklish spots?” Pinkie grew an evil grin as she hopped off Twilight and crept closer to the girls who were in shock at the sudden change and stood frozen in the middle of the room.

“Guys, do ya think we came tah the wrong library?” Apple Bloom glanced out the side of her eyes to the others who were all slack jawed at the pink menace.

“Maybe…” Scootaloo tried not to break eye contact with the party pony lest she pounce as the pegasus looked away.

Twilight watched with a smirk at the crouching pink earth pony and her need to put smiles on ponies' faces on these difficult days. The girls' noticed the smirk and shook their heads clear of their shock; they had much more important things to deal with currently.

“Wait!” Pinkie merely grinned larger as she came closer, ignoring the three shouts as she began to wiggle her hind end as she crouched further; Eripio saw and decided a different tactic was needed.

“Secret Labs!” Both older mares paused at the shout and looked to the green filly who was wide eyed and looking between the two mares in slight desperation; Pinkie tilted her head in confusion at the shout and stopped her advancement.

“We want to know about secret laboratories...!” The others nodded rapidly and began to chime in as well.

“Yeah, we wanted tah know where ya got yours from.”

“We, ah, we wanted one too.” Scootaloo was nervous as the lavender started to frown as possible bad ideas ran through her mind of what the girls could do with a 'secret laboratory'.

“But we wouldn't want to use it for much! We just want to have internet and computers and... And things... So we can talk with Eripio when she goes back to Manehatten.” Sweetie Belle finished with an innocent smile, which was soon copied by the others as they looked to the party pony who began to smile in return with realization in her eyes.

“Yes, we wanted to know who helped to make it; the Crusaders said that it was really cool when they were telling me about yours.” Eripio flashed a smile at the pink mare who nodded happily before bouncing to Twilight and giving her a quick nuzzle.

“I'll be right back Twilight! Don't you worry your pretty little head, Auntie Pinkie Pie has it all sorted out in a big ol' knot!” Twilight raised a brow at the phrasing and smirked at the nuzzle before frowning a little towards the girls.

“You girls are going to be safe with that kind of thing?” The four fillies smiled reassuringly at the studious unicorn.

“Yes ma'am!” Twilight relaxed slightly at the answer while the pink earth pony led the way outside with the four girls following behind.

The four friends tried to keep an eye out while the older mare led the way to a small tinker shop filled with clocks and various gadgets that moved and made soft sounds in the background. As they made their way further into the shop, they could hear two voices arguing; though they couldn't make out what about.

“Hellllooo in there! We need the Doctor's help!” The four girls shot the older mare a surprised look at the title of the pony they were there to see; the five ponies stopped in front of the counter that was in front of a doorway leading to the basement.

“Who’s the Doctor?” The four girls looked at the older mare as Sweetie Belle posed her question. Pinkie gave the girls a reassuring grin as she answered.

“Why, Time Turner is of course! He fixes clocks and gadgets and just about anything, like a Doctor!” The girls stared on in surprise at the description before turning to face the doorway where the voices were coming closer from.

In moments a brown earth pony stallion with dark short mane and tail came up from the basement followed by a blue-gray pegasus; four of the seven ponies gave small starts at the sight of the others though before anyone can say anything about it, Pinkie started to explain the situation.

“Hey there Time Turner! Hi Derpy! The girls need your help Doctor, they want a secret laboratory.” Derpy quickly looked to the pink earth pony in surprise before staring at the Crusaders in suspicion; the girls tried to appear innocent as they looked pleadingly towards the brown earth pony.

“We want tah be able tah talk with our friend when she goes back tah Manehatten. Can ya help us?”

“What kinds of things did you want in it?” Time Turner rubbed his chin with a hoof as he looked to the girls in curiosity while Pinkie smiled.

“We want some computers!”

“And ways to get internet and email.”

“An' maybe some way tah watch out for ponies coming towards the Clubhouse...” Derpy started to frown at some of the things the girls wanted in their Clubhouse.

“... And maybe... Some basic defense abilities...” Eripio stared off to the side as she practically muttered, unwilling to have either of the older mares hearing her while trying to ask for it from the stallion.

Derpy was flat out frowning at this last request and was about to question them when Turner spoke first.

“That sounds rather reasonable, but I need something from you guys in return.”

“Oh, I can cover the cost!” Pinkie waved her hoof in the air to which drew indignation from the Crusaders about who would pay for all of the work to be done.

“No way!”

“Yeah, we can take care of it!”

“We earned lotsa bits an' we can pay for our own stuff now!” Eripio remained silent since it was their Clubhouse while Pinkie merely raised a interested brow as she smirked at the outburst.

“You can't expect a couple of foals to have to pay for a large amount of work do you?” Derpy turned her frown towards the stallion who seemed slightly offended at the accusation.

“Of course it won't be a large amount for the work; it will only cost four hundred bits and they must tell me four facts of history.” Turner smiled at the girls who seemed relieved at the cost to the confusion of the blue-gray mare.

“Facts of history?” Sweetie Belle tilted her head as the others looked just as confused about the last part of the cost.

“What kinds of facts?” Scootaloo asked with a slight frown.

“Any kind of fact, whatever you can think about.” Turner smirked as the four fillies screwed up their faces in thought.

“Uhmmm, Nightmare Moon had been trapped on the moon for a thousand years?” Sweetie Belle tentatively stated to which earned a nod from the stallion, emboldening the others to state facts.

“The Elements of Harmony saved the day when Nightmare Moon came back.” Scootaloo firmly said to which earned a bit more of a smile from the brown earth pony.

“Uh, the Elements of Harmony stopped Discord when he got free a few days ago.” Apple Bloom tried to not show any guilt at how the spirit of disharmony had gotten free; the girls guessed at the reason of how it happened and promised not to fight because of it (or at least, not as much). Time Turner continued to smile as he looked to the last filly who stared resolutely back.

“In the years right after the Princesses began their rule, many prophecies were made that have long since turned into old mare tales that few still believe in. One of which was the prophecy about the fillies of Justice and their constant struggle with a rising Red Beast.” Time Turner raised a single brow at the particular prophecy Eripio stated and glanced to the Crusaders as the lines of said prophecy ran through his mind; the Time Clan had always kept track of all prophecies and he knew them by heart.

The stallion had been taught that there was no such thing as coincidences and had a sneaking suspicion that Eripio was right in her belief of who the prophecy was about, meaning that they did indeed need all that technology they requested and perhaps even more. He nodded his agreement and waved the girls forward.

“Alrighty then, you've met half of the agreed amount of the cost so I'll take a look and start to come up with some plans. Lead the way ladies!” The fillies smiled and took the lead out of the shop with the brown stallion and blue-gray pegasus following behind them; Pinkie Pie had done her part to help the fillies and she had a mare to meet for a tickle session, so she bounced her way back to the library pleased that things were going so well.

“Time Turner, you can't be serious about this...” Derpy whispered to the Doctor with a frown as she watched the girls who still checked their surroundings for possible threats.

“These girls are the perfect example of why my family has wanted to record the proper history; they only know of what has been dealt with or at least around the time of Nightmare Moon. Nopony knows the real history and if you help me we can find out what really happened all those years ago!” Turner tried to impart the importance of the pegasus helping with his project as they lagged behind the girls; Derpy rolled her eyes and shook her head at the insistence of the stallion next to her.

“I still don't think it will work or that this is a good idea at all... But if you cut out the price for helping the Crusaders then I'll do it.” Time Turner stopped in his tracks and looked to the mare who had kept going for a little while before realizing that he had stopped.

“Brilliant! Then let's get going, the sooner I set up the kids the sooner we can get started!” The stallion raced forward after the girls who hadn't stopped their trot through town.

The girls had been on the constant watch as they led the way through town; while it was much later in the day, it didn't mean that their pursuers had given up yet. As they continued to lead, they tried to stay off of the main roads while not making the older ponies following them suspicious of why they were practically sneaking around.

It was as they were almost in the clear that they heard a shout; four heads snapped to the right to find Pepper charging straight towards Scootaloo.

“Run Scootaloo!” Eripio shouted which drew the older ponies' attention but they were too late to do anything as the pegasus ran and the others tried to stall the older orphan but were soon pushed out of the way by the gray earth pony.

“I'll be alright guys, keep going! I'll lose Pepper in no time!” Scootaloo shouted as she ran through the crowds in an attempt to lose the bigger pony by slipping through smaller gaps.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared concerned looks before continuing to lead the way to the Clubhouse; they wanted to help the young pegasus but knew that it would only make it harder on her to convince the pursuing pony that she didn't live there and to stay away from town. Eripio saw the worry and kept up a steady stream of assurances of the pegasus' abilities which did help the girls keep calm and collected as they went to the Clubhouse.

They were only just able to show the Clubhouse and present some ideas to the brown earth pony when the two still rather grounded fillies realized the time and cut the presentation short. Eripio was able to make a list for the stallion to show the kinds of things the girls would need that was a bit more than what they first asked for; writing it down allowed it to be a slight secret from the older mare who didn't seem too keen on how long the list appeared to be but could do nothing to stop them as they were rushed off the land soon afterwards.

Eripio promised to check back with the Crusaders later on; hopefully they would be ungrounded by that time and able to adjust and test out their new secret Clubhouse. She then took side and back ways to get to the train station to head back home; even if they didn't get as much done about the Red Dragons, the Crusaders did help the green filly feel a little better about what had happened in the past.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared one last worried look before splitting up to head back to their respective homes. It was to both of their shock to find their sisters in much better mood and didn't notice (or didn't mention) the fillies' disappearance for most of the day; this didn't mean they were ungrounded, to the girls' dismay, and they spent the rest of the day in their rooms reflecting on their previous actions and what the orange pegasus might be doing at that very moment.

Chapter 20 The new Clubhouse

View Online

“Ooh! What does this button do?” Sweetie Belle peered at the new console that was attached to wall on the right side of the Clubhouse from the doorway.

She and her two friends were looking over the newest changes made to their Clubhouse; Time Turner had been quick to make the upgrades requested and some additional ones that he thought were needed. Unfortunately, it had been almost two weeks since they asked for the update and they hadn't had the chance to look at anything that had been done. A lot had happened and it was only finally calming down, giving the Crusaders a chance to look at the newest additions.

In fact, they hadn't gotten a chance to look at the Clubhouse at all and when they stepped inside they could barely hold their glee at the silver and gray colors of the three machines that appeared from the walls and floor. There was a collection of monitors over a panel with lights, switches, and buttons that was directly across from the doorway. The wall to the right of the doorway was a larger monitor with correlating panel of buttons and switches. In the center of the room was another panel with lights, buttons, switches, and with a large monitor of it's own. All of these computers appeared from the very walls and floor that were able to retract into their hidden places.

The girls had soon raced to the various stations and looking at how these new additions merged from their wooden Clubhouse. They didn't have as much experience with advanced technology and weren't actually sure of what most of the features did. They pushed a few buttons, and after each sound or effect, would pause to see what happened.

For example, a large red button on the main computer turned on the whole system, which led to more button pushing. A knob on the computer with seven different sized monitors turned on hidden cameras that showed a part of the outside that couldn't normally be seen from inside the tree house. A switch on the center computer put the whole tree house on lock down, with heavy duty protection covering the windows and door; from the sound coming from the wall, it seemed like the whole house was insulated with this extra protection. Apple Bloom gave her friends a sheepish glance afterwards and flicked the switch back into it's original position, making the heavy walls retreat back to where they came from.

While Apple Bloom looked at the center console, Sweetie Belle looked at the main computer and Scootaloo enjoyed the ability to see the surrounding areas without leaving the safety of the Clubhouse. Just as they were about to try out more buttons, the main screen of the wall computer went from fuzzy static to an image of Eripio looking confused.

“Hello?” The three friends all jumped at the voice coming from the two speakers along the sides of main computer and turned to face the monitor.

“Hello?” Sweetie Belle peered curiously to the screen to which Eripio raised a curious brow.

“Guys? I can't hear you, can you hear me talking?” The Crusaders all looked at the image in surprise while nodding silently.

“... It would help if you talked, to see if the system just needed to warm up.” The trio shared confused gazes before facing their friend once more.

“What did ya want us tah talk about?”

“How are you doing that?”

“How can we do that?”

Eripio smirked at the sudden animation of the girls as they came to terms with her speaking on the monitor even as she still couldn't hear them. The green filly waved a calming hoof to which the girls slowed their questions to watch her expectantly; having so little interaction with technology, their town being a traditional earth pony settlement, they weren't sure of what to do now.

“Sorry guys, I still can't hear you. I'm glad to see that you are checking out the new machines, but you should learn how to use it before something happens. For now, just shake your head 'yes' or 'no' to answer my questions.” The girls nodded firmly as they sat on their haunches before the main monitor.

“Alright, so do you have anyone who can show you how to use all the new features.” The girls frowned slightly as they thought; they didn't know Time Turner all that much and he seemed to be extremely busy lately. Aside from the brown earth pony, nopony else would be able to, so in response to the question the girls shook their head 'no'.

“Huh, ok. I do know about some of the technology, so I'll come by to help; Manehatten is one of the leaders of advanced technology after all.” The trio shared relieved smiles knowing that their friend would be able to help with all the new features. Their eyes lit up in excitement as they all thought of an idea at the same time.

Eripio noticed with an amused smirk the light above their head turned on suddenly as they all gave large smiles to the monitor before watching in confusion as the trio quickly grabbed writing supplies and pencils.

The three friends quickly wrote their question and faced the unicorn on the monitor once more while holding the signs up.

[Would you want to stay for a sleepover?]

Eripio read it just as quickly and tilted her head in thought; she didn't really have much to do at home and her friends needed help. It was a six hour trip and it would be a relief to not have to travel constantly.

“... Sure, I guess I can stay for a sleepover after I show you how to use some of the new stuff.” Eripio smiled at the gleeful whoops that she couldn't hear as the Crusaders danced in a circle at the news of a sleepover with their friend.

“Alright, so I'll be over as soon as I can and I'll help with all the new features that have been installed. See you guys in six hours!” Eripio left the chat as most Rescue clan members did; short and to the point.

The girls continued to shout and jump for joy until they realized that they would need permission to have a sleepover. It was early in the morning while they had until 2pm to get everything ready, they wanted plenty of time to beg their sisters for permission.

The trio ran for the farmhouse first, being the closer sister to ask. Since it was still early in the morning, the three Crusaders searched the barn first where they found the older mare taking care of her chores.

“Well howdy girls, what are y'all up tah today?” Applejack smiled at the girls as she wiped her forehead after setting down a sack of grains she was moving. The Crusaders looked back with pleading eyes to which earned a curious brow from the older farmer.

“Sis', can we have a sleepover tonight?” Applejack was pleased to hear her younger sister ask permission before they did something, which hopefully meant that they were trying to behave, and smiled at the trio.

“Shoot, 'course ya can if Rarity says it's ok.” The Crusaders smiled in relief, while Apple Bloom received an encouraging glance from the two others.

“Sis', could ya come with us tah ask Rarity?” The orange farmer reared back slightly as she blushed and looked away, something that was noticed by the fillies before her.

“Why'd, why'd ya want me tah come with ya? You can ask her yerself.... ya don't need me tah help.”

“But she listens to you more than she does to me....” Sweetie Belle pleaded with flipped back ears which deepened Applejack's blush.

The older mare was torn, her latest interaction with the unicorn was still fresh in her mind and she wasn't sure how to face the fashionista. The girls turned up the pressure by adding two more pairs of pleading eyes; Applejack sighed and decided to face the music, giving in with a short nod.

“Alright girls, Ah'll come with ya tah talk with Rarity.” The trio gave small cheers and followed the farmer as she led the way into town.

The four ponies soon found themselves in front of the purple door where Applejack hesitated before knocking soundly and striding inside.

“Howdy Rarity...” The fashion mare turned from the display of her latest work with a relieved smile at the sound of a southern accent.

“Applejack! Darling, so nice of you to drop by. Ah yes, hello girls; what can I do for you today?” While the older unicorn posed the question in a general sense, she looked at the other mare who tried to remain calm and collected in the gaze of piercing blue eyes.

“The girls here wanted tah have ah sleepover at their Clubhouse.” Rarity shifted her gaze to the Crusaders who tried to appear innocent and trustworthy.

“I see; what do you say about this Applejack?” The orange farmer cast an appraising eye on the trio before smirking.

“Well, Ah say let 'em have the sleepover tah see if they can behave; let 'em earn our trust back.” Rarity nodded at the plan and smiled back.

“That sounds lovely dear; Sweetie Belle, you may go to the sleepover but only for tonight, you have school on Monday remember.” The Crusaders nodded rapidly to the terms, desperate to be allowed for the night; they wasted no time in rushing out the door to get all the needed supplies for an awesome sleepover, leaving the two mares awkwardly behind them.

The Crusaders raced through town, heading towards Sugarcube Corner for the snacks they'd need. Even if the main point of the sleepover was to find out about their new Clubhouse, it didn't mean they couldn't host a good sleepover.

As they entered the sweets shop, a bell rang overhead drawing the pink earth pony's attention to the newest customers. Pinkie grinned from behind the counter and waved ecstatically to the three friends.

“Hey guys! What cool things are you up to today?”

“We're havin' ah sleepover with Eripio!”

“Yeah, and we'll need amazing snacks to share with her.”

“What they said!” Sweetie Belle stepped forward, trying to think of anything to add but failing.

Pinkie nodded with each statement before waving her hoof out to the display.

“We have a large selection, from cakes, pies, cookies and even candies! We're sure to find something for your amazing sleepover!” The Crusaders shared amused glances before looking at the colorful displays and cases, almost drooling at the wonderful scents waffing through the air.

As they browsed along the cases, seeing the frosted goodies brightly colored and decorated with different designs and sprinkles, the girls paused to consider how much they had stashed away; they had used a lot of their bits already and hadn't had a chance to earn more yet.

“Scootaloo, could ya head tah the Clubhouse an' get our stash of bits? Should be buried in between the tree roots...” Apple Bloom whispered to the pegasus who nodded mutely before heading out with her scooter that was stashed nearby to make it faster.

Pinkie watched the exchange with curious eyes before settling on the two remaining fillies who looked back with shrewd business faces.

“We'll need your finest cupcakes and chocolate covered oats.” Sweetie Belle asked when Apple Bloom pushed forward to grab the baker's attention.

“We'll need enough for the four of us, but at ah proper price. What're yer deals of the day?” Pinkie smiled at the attempting haggler and leaned closer in earnest.

“Cupcakes run at four bits a dozen and chocoats are five bits for ten.” The two girls shared calculating glances before the green-yellow filly leaned forward once more.

“What about nine bits for two dozen and twelve bits for twenty?” Pinkie couldn't help but chuckle at the poor bargaining skills and waved a hoof to stop the young farmer.

“No silly, that's not how you do it! You have to ask for it at the smallest you can, not larger! You should practice some more. I'll make you a deal; two dozen cupcakes for 6 bits and twenty chocoats for eight bits. See? If you want more, you ask for less of the normal amount of the more thingy.” The young earth pony stared confusedly back while the young unicorn giggled behind a hoof at the look on her friend’s face.

“Oh, uh, alright, if, if ya say so. Uhm, Scootaloo will be here in ah moment with our bits tah pay for it.” The baker nodded briefly with a smile as she prepared the order.

The two friends watched as the older mare bounced, pirouetted and skipped around, gather icing, frosting and chocolate while humming a familiar tune about cupcakes. Just as the four boxes of treats landed on the counter, the young pegasus burst through the pink doorway with a shout.

“I'm back! I've got the bits, right here.” With a gentle thud, the small pouch landed onto the counter which earned a pleased smile at the timing from the pink baker.

“Ooh, good work Scootaloo! New record!” Pinkie Pie pulled out a stop watch that was paused at five and a half minutes, earning a smug grin from the speedy pegasus.

“Okie Dokie Lokie! Here you go girls! Fresh treats for the perfect sleepover! Have lots of fun and I'll see you later!” The Crusaders gave cheerful waves as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle carried two boxes each as Scootaloo sat at the helm of the scooter and cart.

They had the rest of the needed supplies at their Clubhouse from all the other sleepovers they had before, so they went directly back, not wanting to waste any time..

Scootaloo raced through town,weaving through the crowd at high speeds; it was a common occurrence by this point, with most ponies not even pausing a moment as the trio whizzed past. The pegasus flew across the road, trying to make it a workout for herself while getting to the Clubhouse with a full load in record time.

The trio leapt from the wagon and scooter just as they pulled up to the ramp, dashing up as fast as they could while keeping their cargo steady; while the three consoles were still out, they could still reach the attic and get the rest of the supplies down. They were on a record breaking frenzy, setting it down and positioned it for the optimal fun in a blur of speed.

Just as the last pillow was in place, there came a sound dreaded by all little sisters everywhere.

“Apple Bloom! How's it comin' along?” The three shared panicked glances before looking towards the doorway where the older mare's voice floated up from.

“Ah know yer there Apple Bloom, y'all left yer cart and scooter down here. Ya must have set ah new record for land carts, busting ah trail like there's no tomorrow.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle waved to Apple Bloom to head her sister off, unwilling to have many other ponies to know of the newest features they now had access to.

“Ah! Stall her! We'll figure out how to hide the computers!” Scootaloo whispered to the earth pony who nodded rapidly before racing out and down to meet her sister at the foot of the ramp way.

“Heya sis'... What's goin' on?” Apple Bloom's voice could be heard as the two remaining Crusaders rushed to the consoles.

“Hurry Sweetie Belle! Do something!”

“I'm trying!” The two fillies started to randomly press buttons and flipped switches as they kept their voices to a minimum.

Applejack shot her sister a curious glance as the two voices still barely floated down, their agitation removing their ability to keep their voices low.

“Well, you started it!”

“Yeah but that doesn't mean I know what I'm doing!” The older earth pony looked to her sheepish sister who spoke loudly to cover the others.

“So, uh, yer here tah check on us? We're doin' just fine!” The orange mare smirked at the attempt to cover what was going on and decided to tease the nervous filly.

“Oh, just fine huh? Guess ya won't mind me seein' the preparations then?” Apple Bloom grew concerned and pranced in place while trying to distract her sister.

“Well, we're not ready yet!”

The two fillies in the Clubhouse shot panic stricken faces to one another before speeding up their efforts; on the main control panel, Scootaloo swiped at a yellow button as she ran her hooves over the console which began to flash as a slight tremble ran through the room as all three stations folded up and pulled back into the dark spaces.

With a soft click it finished just in time for the older farmer to step into the doorway; upon seeing the two slightly panting fillies and mess of pillows, blankets, games and snacks, Applejack drew to a halt as she stared curiously at the girls.

“What were ya doin'?” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo tried to even out their breathing and shifted some of the supplies before answering.

“.... Sweetie Belle wasn't putting the games out right.” Sweetie Belle shot the pegasus an annoyed frown which earned one in return.

“Was too.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes as she retorted rapidly.

“Was not.”

“Was too.”

“Was not!”

“Was too!” The farmer grimaced slightly as the arguing slowly grew, with the two friends almost nose to nose as they started to state their position over and over.

“Er, that's nice; glad tah see everything is goin' well... Ah, Ah'll be goin', enjoy yer sleepover girls!” The two friends kept up their argument until they got a nod from the younger farmer that the coast was clear.

“Whew, that was ah close one.” The pegasus and unicorn took a step back from one another and shared pleased grins.

“Not bad in coverin' up what was going on.” The two friends blushed slightly before actually shifting the supplies around to fit better.

“Yeah, well, we better keep an eye out in case something like that happens again.” The others nodded to the orange filly's words as they worked.

The trio made sure everything was in place and then sat in the center facing one another.

“What do we do now? Everything is hidden and the supplies are out.” Scootaloo shrugged at the question while Apple Bloom rubbed her chin as she gazed at the pile of games.

“Why don't we play some games before headin' to the station tah pick up Eripio?” At the agreeing nods of the others, the young earth pony pulled over the box of snakes and ladders to play.

After several hours and having gone through most of the games, it was time for Eripio to arrive. The girls left a little early to make sure they wouldn't miss the 2:15 train that hopefully had their friend on board and waited with a few other ponies on the wooden platform.

Luckily the train came before any of them could grow bored waiting and they could barely contain their excitement at the visit while they waited for the majority of the passengers to leave the now slightly crowded platform. The trio craned their necks to peer through the steam and didn't notice the green unicorn step up from their right; they all gave small starts of surprise at the call which earned an amused smirk from the bespectacled filly.

“Hey guys, who are you looking for?” The Crusaders turned as one and, upon identifying who was talking, gave the green filly a hug.

“Eripio!”

“We didn't notice ya there!”

“Good trick, but we totally noticed you and everything.” The three girls shot blank looks to the pegasus who tried to appear cool and calm after having been startled before they all broke out in laughter.

“I'm glad to have made it; the trip wasn't too bad, and it would be nice to not have to board the train so quickly after we look at the Clubhouse.” The trio nodded before leading the way into town and beyond, with a few hoof waves for the unicorn to follow them.

“Come on, we have everything ready for the sleepover!” Scootaloo grabbed her scooter and made sure the cart was firmly attached as the three others sat; Eripio took note of the quality and obvious wear and was slightly jostled as the pegasus started to zoom down the road.

“Hmmm, I see where you got the strength to pull the cart in the desert Scootaloo.... Your town does look rather nice, you know, without the chaos.” Eripio smirked at the others who chuckled as they looked around with new eyes, seeing how very cozy and close knit their home was.

“Yeah, it is a nice place to live; it doesn't see that much trouble most times... Aside from a rampaging monster or creature every so often.” Sweetie Belle nonchalantly stated as she watched the roads fly by, which earned a surprised look from the other unicorn.

“Or magical catastrophes.” Eripio looked to the earth pony, wondering if they were making up the trouble.

“Or sudden odd weather disasters.” Scootaloo called from her place on the scooter, not even glancing behind her as she drove onwards.

The green unicorn made no comment as she looked at the surrounding town with new insight, seeing the new work mixed with old due to some of the very troubles the Crusaders mentioned. Eripio shook her head as she once again reflected on how the Crusaders (and their hometown) was indeed a different kind of force to be reckoned with and remained silent until they reached the tree house.

The young Rescue filly hadn't had the chance to properly look over the Clubhouse as they had been in a rush the last time and took a moment before heading up the ramp to gaze at the wood work and design. As the others encouraged her to enter, Eripio was surprised at how spacious the room was even though it had seemed smaller on the outside but didn't see the new consoles that should have been there; though the sight of the sleepover supplies did bring a smile to her face.

“Looks like you have all the things needed for a proper sleepover; but where are the computers?” The trio shifted in place while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shared sheepish glances.

“Well, Apple Bloom's big sister came by and we had to hide them so she didn't find out about it.” Eripio rubbed her chin while Scootaloo stepped over to the center of the room.

“Yeah, there was a button on this computer that made everything pack up and hide away.” The pegasus tapped on the floorboards twice, which drew the green unicorn's gaze before she rushed over and tapped on the ground once more.

The others watched in confusion that turned to surprise as the third tap activated a switch which set the room to tremble as the three stations appeared slowly once more. They couldn't help but watch in amazement as the pieces of wood folded back with only soft machine noise while the computers unraveled from their hiding places, with the monitors turning on with a soft static sound and the various lights turned on.

Eripio nodded in satisfaction while the trio stared slack-jawed at the sight before creeping forward to gaze over the panels once more. The purple maned filly waved for the others to gather around the center console that she displayed with a wave of her hoof, jumping right into the explanation.

“If I'm guessing right based on the things we requested, this is the main computer. This controls hiding and revealing all the others and turns on the whole thing. The secret is in tapping the right sequence to make it not hide anymore; something the Doctor wrote to me in an email as well as what the address to contact you guys.” Three pairs of eyes looked over the buttons as they were described; the most easily found was the 'on/off' button and the 'hide' button, along with switches and levers that controlled the ramp and attic ways as well as the 'protection' encasing.

The green unicorn led the others to the computer with seven monitors, with switches and lights as well as some buttons in certain patterns.

“This one is the viewing station; this gives you access to all the hidden cameras placed so far and allows you to move them manually with these joysticks. The lights are in case there is movement and alerts you if something is wrong; these buttons allow you to switch between the different cameras to focus on one or the other.” The girls watched as a bird flew by one of the hidden cameras before turning to the last station.

“This one should be communication and information; it has speakers and a microphone that should allow us to talk with one another across the distances. Here's the button that would have made the microphone work.” With a teasing smirk, Eripio glanced at the once again sheepish fillies before continuing her explanation.

“These are buttons that allow you to search the internet; seems like the Doctor made you guys an access point with a strong internet connection. You should be able to search the online databases for a lot of newer information. Some places still haven't upgraded and use paper so it won't be perfect, but it should help you.” As the young rescuer stepped away from the last station, she cast an appraising eye over the room to be sure she had covered the basics; with a satisfied nod, Eripio looked to her friends who were practically jumping in glee at their new Clubhouse.

“Well guys, with all this stuff, you should be set for just about anything. The Red Dragons won't know what hit them!” The Crusaders cheered with their friend before remembering their recent family matters.

“Oh, uhm, that might be a problem...” Sweetie Belle scuffed a hoof along the ground which earned a curious brow from Eripio.

“Yeah, we only just got off our groundin'; our sisters are tryin' tah keep ah close eye on us tah make sure we don't leave town again without supervision.” Apple Bloom glanced at the green unicorn from the corner of her eye as she stared at the ground in embarrassment; they were trying to be brave super heroes and yet they were worried about what their sisters might do to them.

“Yeah, and I've still got to watch out for Hannigan and Pepper trying to find me; I have to keep my head down somewhat as well.” This statement earned concerned looks from the other fillies as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared a confirming glance before stepping forward, drawing the pegasus' attention to them.

“About that....”

“It seems that Derpy had started the investigation of the orphanage...” Sweetie Belle finished Apple Bloom's sentence as they both looked on in worry at the shocked pegasus.

“What? Because of Derpy? But, how does she know about the orphanage?” The others shrugged their ignorance before Scootaloo frowned angrily at the ground.

“Ah'm sure she meant tah help ya, she just didn't know that this would have happened...” Scootaloo glanced at the others before shrugging the reassurance away.

Eripio watched this in silence as she contemplated how the Crusaders could possibly help without being caught.

“... Is there a pony who could teach you to sneak around and not be caught from? When did you get ungrounded anyways?” The Crusaders recalled Eripio's presence once again and sat in a circle as they thought.

“We've been ungrounded for about ah week an' ah half now....” Eripio accepted this knowledge with a nod as the four girls continued to think in their circle.

“Who could teach us to be super sneaky and not tell anypony about it....” Apple Bloom suddenly lit up as she heard Sweetie Belle's sentence, the perfect mare for the job coming to mind.

“Ah know! We could get Pinkie Pie tah help us! She knows everypony in town; if she can't teach us, maybe she knows someone who can!” The others cheered up as well as they heard the idea and were soon rushing down the ramp to ride into town once more.

As the four fillies rode through the orchards, Eripio kept her voice low to keep it from traveling as she purposed her solution to their grounding issue.

“About being in trouble with your families... What if we did just research stuff for awhile? It's not like we know where the Red Dragons have their base; we can just find out what they're doing and report it while trying to figure out what they need it for or use it for. This way, you guys can stick mostly to town and still be doing something against the Dragons.”

The Crusaders shared weary glances as they thought about the purposed suggestion; while it was a more passive action to the problem, being grounded again wouldn't help at all.

“I guess so...”

“Ah suppose...”

“Sigh, alright, if you say so....”

Eripio noticed the downtrodden tones of the response and tried to expand her suggestion.

“Well, you could try and slowly get your families used to you traveling and investigate what's going on in the various towns and cities while proving that you could behave. Then you'll have a better knowledge of the area when you can actually get away to deal with the Red Dragons. You'll just have to take it really slow and not leave town as much for a few months....” The three Crusaders cheered up slightly at the suggestion; recon was better than just waiting around in town.

“Yeah, that's a good idea; right guys?” Scootaloo smiled slightly over her shoulder at the other fillies who nodded back with small smiles of their own at the revised plan before picking up speed again to fly down the roads towards Ponyville.

The four friends were soon back in town, in search of the pink baker. They had first tried at Sugarcube Corner, but Mrs. Cake was working and didn't know where Pinkie had gotten to. So now the fillies were searching the town as they slowly made their way to the library, since for whatever reason they seemed to find the hyperactive pony often hanging around there.

As they turned a corner to the last stretch before reaching Golden Oaks library, they found good news and bad news. The good part was they found their quarry tracking the residential librarian through the market place; the bad part was that Derpy was currently on her rounds as a mailmare and Scootaloo swerved to a stop at the sight of the blue-gray pegasus.

The three fillies in the cart shared worried glances before reaching for their driver who was starting to tremble in anger.

“Scootaloo, ya don't have tah -”

“Scootaloo, maybe it would be better if -”

“... Please don't be too mad at her...”

At the soft calls behind her, Scootaloo snapped her head up and shouted to be heard over the low hum of the crowd.

“Hey! Ms. Derpy!” The blue-gray pegasus wearily looked about her, half afraid that she had somehow broken something while she wasn't looking. Upon seeing the fillies, happiness and worry flashed across her face as she noted how mad Scootaloo seemed to be before she floated down to sit next to the scooter and cart.

“Hello girls, who's this?” A short chopping motion from the orange pegasus prevented anypony from responding while Scootaloo glared at the older mare.

“It doesn't matter; anything me and my friends do shouldn't matter to you, especially since it seems that you don't care what happens to me after all.” Derpy frowned sharply at the accusation as they soon became the center of a circle of quiet due to the sharp tones.

“That's not true! I do care about you guys and-”

“If you cared you wouldn't have messed with a perfectly fine deal! I was content as I was hiding from Hannigan and she didn't care a smidge about any of the runaways that got away! But noooo, you had to go and 'fix' things.

“Now I can't hardly do anything because I'm being chased all the time! And I can't go to the hospital if I get hurt, they'd just take me back! I almost didn't make it after I escape from Pepper in a pipe! If my friends, the only ponies who do seem to care about me, hadn't found me I'd probably not be here! So thanks! My life's sooo much easier now!” With a final glare at the stunned mailmare, Scootaloo started on her way once more in search of the now hidden baker as Twilight's attention was brought back from where it had wondered to.

The three fillies in the wooden cart shared concerned looks at the outburst before gazing morosely at the usually chipper muffin loving mare staring back in remorse at what she had inadvertently done. As they sped past all the spectators who looked on in shock, they found their quarry no where to be seen while Twilight resumed her trek to the post office.

Since it had seemed like Pinkie was trailing the lavender unicorn, the four friends also followed her from a distance, trying to keep an eye out for the tale-tell sight of pink.

“Psssttt! What are you guys following Twilight for? Are you also curious as to where she's going on this lovely day when she would normally be inside totally ignoring it in favor of boring old books?” Scootaloo jumped with the others at the sudden voice on their left, causing the scooter and cargo to tip perilously to the side before they came to a stop.

Pinkie had appeared out of nowhere as they traveled and watched the four kids take steadying breaths before remembering that she was trailing her special somepony. Just as the four fillies got their heartbeats to a more normal rate, they found Pinkie had already moved on ahead slightly as she watched the unicorn from around corners and behind crates.

“Pinkie Pie, what are ya doin'?” The girls followed sedately on their ride while the hyper earth pony glanced briefly at them before resuming her watch.

“Shhh! I'm following Twilight to see what's she doing, didn't I say? What are you guys doing?” The girls shared blank looks before moving forward with their plans.

“We were hoping that you could teach us how to be sneaky like you can.”

“Or at least, if you know somepony who could teach us.” Pinkie Pie smiled at the request and dropped out of her sneaking stance to stand before them.

“Sure I can! I learned from the very best; Pony 07! Well, maybe some of it I learned from my Granny and Nana, but I learned the important parts from Pony 07; like when is a good time to wear a disguise or the use of distractions!” As the hyper mare spoke, she pulled out filly-sized disguises for the girls, of which were large light brown coats and light gray fedoras; Eripio could only stare blankly at what the older mare thought were good disguises while the Crusaders stared on in amazement.

“Cool! What about sneaking around, we need to learn how to get around without others noticing us!”

“Yeah, my sis' is always tellin' me how ya can sneak up on anypony!”

“Yeah!” While the Crusaders asked for help, Eripio couldn't say anything as she watched the seemingly easy to spot mare suddenly vanish from sight, whispering to the girls in a floating manner.

“Oooohhh! So you mean like this?” The hyper mare didn't wait for a response, sensing that the girls were stunned into silence once more and instead reappeared by their side.

“Sure I can teach you guys! Follow me!” With a jubilant smile, Pinkie hopped further down the alley to the road that rested behind some of the bigger food stores where deliveries were made out of sight of the store fronts.

Once they were gathered there, Pinkie twirled on one hoof before plopping down to sit in a serene pose with a fake white goatee on her face that she stroked with a hoof. Before any of the girls could say something about it, the older mare started her lesson.

“To become one with your surroundings is the key to being well hidden... From hiding in plain sight to being invisible to the naked eye, you must always be focused and aware of your surroundings my pupils.... Let us begin!” With only enough time to blink at the sudden start, the four friends began to learn from the pink earth pony as she hopped from one to the other, constantly adjusting their stances and giving tips.

The lesson went pretty badly, with no one being able to pull off the complete disappearing act that Pinkie Pie had at first. Eripio and Sweetie Belle had gotten close, hiding in the shadows pretty well, but weren't able to seemingly vanish into the wind; they both did better than Scootaloo and Apple Bloom who were barely able to mask their presence at all and resorted to hiding under or in things to pull it off. They moved on to disguises and while it was easy to wear different clothing, it didn't seem to help hide them from curious ponies (something Eripio had a suspicion about why, but couldn't get a realistic comment in). After a head scratch, Pinkie decided to try and paint the fillies to help them blend in or hide; while this did work after a fashion, it was temporary as proven by a splash of water from a nearby puddle which caused the paint drip and run down their coats.

The four girls listened to some more tips before giving up on the idea; Pinkie style of hiding was obviously something that wasn't available for most others to copy. They soon trudged back to the scooter and walked the rest of the way to the Clubhouse, no one willing to sit in the cart and wanting to walk off their disappointment.

Chapter 21 Let's try being the most Radicalist DJs around

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Four fillies made their slow way out of the quiet town, exhaustion and failure weighing their steps. While the trio of Crusaders were dejected at not being able to sneak like Pinkie Pie, the other filly was also in a shocked stupor at the older mare's abilities.

Eripio believed even more that this small town in the middle of Equestria was the epicenter of great importance; making the green unicorn more determined to help her friends in anyway possible.

While the girls would have kept trying to learn from the master of sneaking and surprises, Pinkie Pie received a sense that Twilight was looking for her and left early (something that Eripio had trouble believing but was quickly hushed and assured that it was perfectly normal).

The four friends tried to be sneaky as they left the town but could tell it wasn't as successful as they would have liked. The closer they came to the clubhouse, the more their energy returned at the planned activities; the trio were soon pulling the bespectacled filly along as they raced up the ramp to make Eripio sit in the center with the various games on display before her.

As the trio showcased how they were going to have the best sleepover ever, the green filly watched with amused smirk; noticing the smirk, the trio looked back inquisitively as they paused in their actions.

“What's so funny, Eripio?” Apple Bloom tilted her head as she paused in the midst of pulling over more cushions.

The unicorn shook her head as she waved a hoof to the supplies cast about.

“Nothing really, I just think it's interesting how much effort you guys put into everything.” While Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle wore bashful grins, Scootaloo threw out her chest with a confident smirk.

“Of course! If we want to find our Cutie Marks and stop those Red Dragons, we can't do anything halfway.” With a chuckle at the bold words, the bespectacled unicorn nodded her agreement and watched as the activity resumed once more.

“You have been at sleepovers before right?” Sweetie Belle looked at the other unicorn curiously while Eripio watched in amusement at the piles of games and snacks that were being placed closer to hoof for easy reach.

“Hmmm? Oh, no no, I've been sleepover before; but it was many years ago...” At the soft tones the three others paused to look at Eripio inquisitively.

“What do you mean?” Eripio sighed, having guessed that this topic would come up if she stayed for a sleepover.

“Do you remember when I told you about my friend who died in a fire?” After checking for the three nods of recognition, the purple maned filly continued.

“Well, she was my best friend; we had lots of sleepovers but that all stopped after the fire...” The trio shared concerned glances before nodding with renewed determination.

“And that's one of the reason we are going to have the best sleepover ever!” Eripio broke out of the melancholy with a laugh at the response.

With that positive note, the girls got down to business of having fun. Even though they already played for several hours, having an extra player made it soon completely different; and since there were now four players, they could play on teams changing how games were played.

They played all the classics: 'oops', 'Snakes and ladders', 'tornado', 'battle clouds' and even 'pin the pail on the pony'. Afterwards they had an epic pillow war, with causality on all sides and alliances that broke with little notice. They spent hours playing and having a blast, enough to forget their failure earlier in the day and all the troubles they planned to shoulder in the near future.

After becoming exhausted from the very physical fight (with lots of martial art moves on all sides), they all sat in the center of the room panting, unsure of what to do next. While it was very late at night, they didn't want to go to bed just yet and tried to think of what to do next.

“Do ya want tah play more board games?”

“Nah!” the others shrugged indifferent while Scootaloo rolled her eyes while exclaiming.

“How about we build some more forts?”

“... Isn't this clubhouse pretty much the ultimate fort?” Eripio looked at the pegasus curiously; at the green unicorn’s question, the other fillies froze in shock before looking at the hidden compartments with a gleam to their eyes.

“We should check it out to be sure we can work the machines!” Sweetie Belle lead the way to where she could activate the opening of the stations and opened the compartments with the other Crusaders close behind. Eripio couldn't hold back another smirk at their excitement and remembered another use of computers in terms of entertainment.

“You know... There's another thing you could do with computers.” Eripio smirked at the inquisitive glances from the others and stepped forward to the main console in the center of the room; within moments the green unicorn soon had a new different browsers with various online multiplayer games.

“What is all this stuff?” Sweetie Belle leaned forward with her best friends close behind while staring at the screen, eyes wide at the colors and images before them.

“These, my friends, are online games; other ponies can play together and do stuff together so long as you have an internet and computer. There's different kinds, like pretend worlds, real-life strategy games, action and adventure games...” The glasses wearing filly trailed off with a smile at the awe and wonder in the Crusaders' faces at the different possible games.

Even if it was late at night, this didn't stop them from spending the next four hours playing games like Oakstory, Hero's Duty, and War of Lands. They took turns playing since there was only three computers at the clubhouse but it worked out well for the four friends, spending more time learning how to play before getting into their usual patterns and teamwork. When they worked together against other ponies, they were practically unstoppable once they knew how to play; with unusually good balancing out, the trio were able to work their way through most of the obstacles to Eripio's amazement.

While she knew that the Crusaders had great potential and worked well together, she hadn't expected them to be so good at games they never played or even knew about. The green filly couldn't wait to get her computer and see just how well they could take on some of the greater players.

By the time they managed to go to bed, it was well past 2am and they were all exhausted. It had been a long time since any of them had such an extreme sleepover, and it had been the one to top them all. They would have slept in the next morning except that they were soon woken up by a sharp poke and soft laugh; it was to Applejack's great surprise, the four girls stood rapidly and tackled her to the ground, pinning her hind-legs and fore-hooves while facing her with serious and suspicious faces.

“What in tarnation? What are y'all doin'?” At the accent and question, the girls paused in their efforts and looked to the orange mare in surprise.

“Oh, uh, hey Sis'... What are ya doin' here?” After giving a deadpan to the girls who were still holding her limbs, the fillies jumped up and lined up before the older sibling who shook her head at the actions.

While the girls woke up further, Applejack looked at the mess of the tree house with amusement; the girls had remembered to put the stations away but didn't do much for the rest of the supplies, leaving it in the same state when they finally went to bed: a total war zone and disaster area.

“Ah see ya had fun, hope yer ready for ah big discussion first thing in the mornin'.” The older farmer smirked at the girls who were confused and tried to understand through their sleep haze.

“What, what do we have to talk about?” Scootaloo stared worriedly at the older mare who smiled back reassuringly at the pegasus before waving for them to follow along.

“Come on girls, we wannah talk with ya in the house.” With barely a glance towards the girls who followed closely behind with strictly blank looks so not to incriminate themselves.

In moments, they arrived at the farmhouse where they found their older sisters waiting in the middle of the living room; the group sat in silence for a moment or two before the girls couldn't hold back their questions.

“What did we do?”

“What's goin' on?”

“Why is Rarity here too?”

Eripio barely held back her face-hoof and watched how the older mares also seemed amused at the reactions of the Crusaders. After sharing an amused glance, Rarity took the lead in the conversation.

“We have discussed the finer points of our agreement concerning your ungrounding.” The orange farmer nodded agreement before stating her own part after she noticed the slightly blank look on the Crusaders.

“Remember? Ya said that you'd ask us when goin' someplace; well, since ya want tah go visitin' other places so much, we figured out a way for y'all to be able to while showin' if you'll behave.” Seeing four heads tilt in question, Rarity returned to explain what the orange earth pony meant.

“What Applejack means is that we have come to an agreement for how you can visit other towns. Since you seem determined to go traveling, we will give you the chance to do so; but you will be accompanied with two older ponies to be sure you are behaving and can actually do what you're told.” The gray-white unicorn gave the Crusaders a firm gaze which earned sheepish smiles in return.

Eripio wanted very much to ask a few defining questions but knew that it wasn't her place to do so; she hadn't been the one grounded nor the one who 'agreed' to the 'deal'. Luckily, the other girls were slowly waking up and thinking of what was being said.

“Hang on, you mean we can go traveling again?” The older mares frowned thoughtfully at the straight forward question while they wondered if they were indeed still rather asleep.

“Yes, but with proper supervision.” The girls took on shrewd expressions as they focused on the main point of the new aspect of this 'deal'.

“So we can go tah any place we want tah?” Applejack smirked at her sister's question at the repeating questions but answered anyways.

“Yes, but only with two older ponies with y'all an' if we have the time.” Four frowns came at this statement with Sweetie Belle asking what was now on their minds.

“Wait, so we have to wait until somepony can come with us?” The fashionista's face soured at the annoyed tone and took on a haughty one in return.

“We can't just suddenly drop everything and go with you when you want to go someplace, Sweetie Belle.” Applejack shot a reassuring glance to the girls before looking to gray-white unicorn sternly at her tone.

“We're gonnah make sure ya get the chance tah go places, but ya got school tah worry about an' we have work tah do too.” The girls nodded as they thought about it before getting to the next point.

“So, where can we go?” Scootaloo tried to find the limits again and the older siblings actually answered this time.

“We have been invited to preform the Hearth's Warming Eve play in Canterlot; and since we would all be going, this would be a good time to see if you could behave in a different town. We shall see what can be done afterwards based on how well it goes.” The four fillies glanced at one another before huddling together in a circle to discuss the 'deal'.

“What do y'all think?”

“This may be our chance to go traveling again without getting into trouble.”

“But with somepony watching us at all times! We wouldn't be able to do anything about the Dragons either.” The other Crusaders paused in thought at this point, while Eripio gave her own suggestion.

“Well, this would be a way to check out the large cities, kind of like recon. We know the Dragons are going for control of the land, and they would need to take the cities first; knowing the area and setting up bases would help us keep ahead of them.” The girls looked to green filly as they digested this new ideas.

“So.... We would go to these places and somehow figure out ways to know the area in case we need it later?” Eripio nodded to the pegasus' question before giving the clincher.

“Yeah, and you could do enough to either prove yourselves to be able to go on your own or act like you are good and somehow get away later; you just have to wait patiently before trying anything.” The Crusaders sighed as one before nodding their consent and breaking free of the huddle to face the older mares who hadn't really heard the conversation, out of respect and the fact that the girls were whispering in hushed tones.

“So, do ya think we could do this? Yer'll behave an' we'll see if y'all can travel on yer own eventually.... Eventually.” Applejack repeated the time frame at the hopeful looks on the fillies' faces and the shocked face of the fashionista. At the rapid nodding, the older mares smiled and relaxed their stances before they brought the girls' 'ultimate' sleepover to an end.

“Now Sweetie Belle, while I'm sure you would rather stay and have fun with your friends, we must go back home.” The young unicorn groaned which earned a disapproving frown from the prim mare.

“Now now, we simply have to go home! You must go and make sure everything is put away properly, you have school tomorrow.” Sweetie Belle hung her head in dejection with the others following close behind, only to have the older farmer also burst their bubble.

“Yep, an' Scootaloo an' Eripio are goin' have to go on home too. Ah saw the mess y'all left in the Clubhouse, so y'all have tah do a lot of cleanin'.” The other fillies found it was their turn to groan and walk out dejected with the older mares following close behind.

The fillies were careful to not reveal their computers while cleaning up the mess left from the night before, much to the sisters' amusement of how much they apparently did. Once the task was done, Applejack escorted the others to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres; after a brief goodbye, they went on their ways while the girls promised to talk later.

For the next month the girls did their utmost to lay low and not get in trouble; they didn't want to risk getting into trouble and losing their chance of traveling. They stayed in town and spent only a few hours a day crusading for their talents; and while they felt like it wasn't as useful, it gave them practice at various skills and something to do while keeping an ear out for more trouble from the Red Dragons.

The only downside was same as before they decided to fight bad guys, running out of things to try around town. They finished another two lists of possible talents when Scootaloo came across something that she had forgotten about.

She was picking up newspapers that were to be delivered when she saw the current headlines; 'DJ Pon-3 Rox Out In Canterlot, starting new craze of music that will spread across the nation!'.

“Oh! That's right, DJ Pon-3 lives here in Ponyville!” The newspaper ponies looked inquisitively to the young pegasus who smiled shyly back at her at her outburst before grabbing the pile set aside for her and rushing through the morning.

The orange pegasus sped on her way through town, throwing the latest issue rapidly before grabbing one for herself to show the others. With very little pause in her wing beats, Scootaloo drove her scooter with incredible speed and skill out to Sweet Apple Acres where the other Crusaders waited to start another weekend of adventures around town.

With a sharp bang, Scootaloo burst through the door with brandishing the newspaper to her friends who smiled back as they turned from the camera monitor.

“Guys! I know what we can do today! We totally forgot about trying to be DJ!” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom brightened at these words, pleased at an excuse not to try for extreme scuba-divers in the local lake (they remembered the giant octopus that lived there rather vividly).

“Where would we learn tah be DJs anyways?” The young farmer looked at her friend who rolled purple eyes in return before spreading out the newspaper once more and pointing to the front page with a hoof.

“Remember? DJ Pon-3 lives right here in town! She's the best DJ ever, we can ask her to teach us all the tricks of the trade!” The remaining Crusaders smiled once more before nodding consent and following Scootaloo back down the ramp to the scooter and cart and speeding back to town.

It was just as the town was coming into view that Sweetie Belle noticed the flaw in the plan and asked about it over the buzz of orange wings.

“Scootaloo, do you know where DJ Pon-3 lives?” Scootaloo pulled over the scooter in a dramatic skid, creating a large dust cloud that slowly settled while she looked back to the two fillies in the cart.

“... Oh.” Two hooves met their corresponding faces while Scootaloo sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, scuffing her mane even further as she gazed to her friends in hopes of an answer.

“... Any ideas for how we can find her? We could try to drive around town and see if we find her place that way...” The two girls sitting in the cart rolled their eyes before looking to the sky in thought.

“Maybe Pinkie Pie could tell us? She was the one tah tell us that DJ Pon-3 lives here in town.” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shared a shrug before shaking their heads in agreement to the suggestion; Pinkie Pie has done a lot for the girls already and hasn't let them down yet, she'd be able to help this time too.

With renewed determination, the young pegasus started up her wings and pulling the others to the bakery where the pink party mare worked.

They entered the shop, hoping that it was one of the days that Pinkie was working and looked to the main counter expectantly; it was their lucky day, for the pink earth pony was working and seemed to be waiting for the trio.

“Hey girls! What's the plan for today?” The trio shared smiles at their fortune and looked to the older mare as they stepped closer to the counter.

“Hello Pinkie Pie, we were wondering if you knew where DJ Pon-3 lives? You said she lives in town right?” Sweetie Belle stepped further than the others as she posed the questions, earning a smile and nod from the hyper mare.

“Yeppers! Of course I know where she lives! I know where everyone lives here in town, because I know everyone who lives here! Come on, I'll show you!” The hyper baker leaped over the counter and pranced towards the door while shouting to the kitchens an explanation for the Cakes as to where she was going.

“I'll be back later Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I'm going to drop the girls off at Vinyl's and be back before the lunch rush, I promise!” The older bakers stuck their heads out of the kitchen door curiously before smiling at one another at Pinkie's usual antics and nodding their consent.

“Alright deary, be back soon though!” Pinkie smiled even more at Mrs. Cake's words and waved while walking backwards through the door, to the amusement of all the ponies watching.

After walking through the center of town with an in depth explanation of the DJ's latest work, the four ponies arrived before a two storied house that wasn't too far from the center of town; it had a small garden in the window sills that had small bunches of herbs and a few flowers and a large front window.

The pink baker bounced up to the front door and gave it a few rapid taps; within moments it opened to show a white unicorn wearing large purple sunglasses that covered her tired eyes as she leaned on the door frame with a smirk.

“Hey Pinkie... I just got back from a sick show, but was there something you needed?” The trio stood amazed at the sight of the famous unicorn, allowing the older earth pony to explain what was going on.

“Heya Scratchy! I heard about your latest and greatest show! Good work, prove them who's the best DJ around!” Vinyl rolled her eyes at the loud tones of her old friend and debated whether or not to interrupt the tirade; it was to her great surprise when Pinkie seemed to actually finish her thought and got to the point.

“Anyways, we need your help! The Cutie Mark Crusaders want to learn about being DJs; who better to teach them than the best of the best?” The older unicorn raised a curious brow before looking to the trio of fillies who were slowly coming out of their awe of being in the presence of one of the greatest musicians ever.

“Oh, uh, yes! We'd like to learn how to be DJs from you! Can we, please?” Sweetie Belle was the first to wake from her stupor and tried to give the older mare a winning smile; she nudged her friends who closed their mouths and smiled as well.

Vinyl looked at the girls and tried not to long for her warm bed on the second floor as she looked at the hopeful trio.

“... You guys want to learn to be DJs? I'm guessing that you were hoping to learn this today?” At three rapid nodding heads, the musician sighed to herself before cursing her soft spot for foals.

“Alright, I'll teach you guys the basics of the turn tables. Not everyone has the ability or ears to make it work though, so don't be too sad if it doesn't work.” The hooves waved in reassurance of how they would take failure along with 'phhffs' of dismissal.

“You should have seen us as window washers or plumbers or acrobats or zip-liners or professional marble players or soccer players or basketball players or...” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom took turns explaining their previous attempts to the amused disc jockey who lead them inside with a smirk at their energy; Sweetie Belle glanced to the pink mare who stayed outside and waved goodbye which was returned before Pinkie turned and hopped back to work.

After another minute of listing previous Crusades, Vinyl had the feeling that the girls needed to be stopped much like Pinkie used to and got their attention with a few waves of her hoof. Once they fell silent, the white unicorn proudly showed her machine that gave her the ability to make the ultimate sounds ever heard by ponykind.

The girls hadn't realized that computers could be hooked up to other machines to mix and match tones and beats and watched the DJ explain each part of the turn table; while most of the terms went in one ear and out the other, they remembered about the speakers, vinyl players, treble and bass, as well as cords for power, sound and connecting to the computer that enhances it all.

Only after learning the terms and what each thing did were they allowed to try and play a few things; while Vinyl hadn't expected masterpieces on their first try, the girls proved that some just didn't have any ability to make music using turn tables.

Scootaloo had little to no focus on the beat and tried to make cool or interesting poses while doing anything. Apple Bloom was a little better with keeping the beat but it was too simple and she had trouble finding anything that would spruce it up. Sweetie Belle did the best and showed the most potential but she still had trouble with all the technology as well as focusing on just the instrumental portion of making music; song lyrics and tunes wouldn't stop popping into her mind but she felt self-conscious about singing in front of other ponies (aside from her friends), meaning that she often suddenly stopped in the middle as she controlled the lyrical urges.

Vinyl noticed this tendency of the young unicorn's and just as she was going to mention it to Sweetie Belle there came the only sound that would bring a smile to the famous DJ.

“Vinyl! I'm home! Have you gotten enough sleep yet?” The four ponies in the cozy living room paused as they heard the door open and shut, turning to face the pale-gray earth pony as she trotted inside.

Upon seeing the Crusaders and Vinyl decked out like 'proper' DJs with glasses and glow stick leg bands, Octavia paused mid step with a bag of donuts on her back. At the scent of the sugar coated food, Vinyl rushed over and greeted her marefriend with a swift hug and kiss before relieving her of her burden.

“Hey Tav'! Those look good! Thanks a bunch!” The trio watched in surprise at the display and sudden change of attitude of the 'cool and collected' DJ; within moments the young pegasus could barely stand the obvious emotion and gushy stuff and turned away with a barely heard 'ewww', drawing the attention of her two friends who looked her inquisitively.

“What? They're way too mushy for me!” This sentence brought the two older mares' attention to their surrounding once more and they broke from the nuzzles to look over the trio.

“Sorry guys, heh heh, got a bit distracted for a moment there. Octavia actually knows some stuff about being a DJ AND is great at all other music stuff; being DJs might not be your thing... But there's other music stuff you could try.” Vinyl smiled at the renewed grins of the fillies who had been slowly growing dejected at their failures; Octavia smirked at how the white unicorn roughed up their manes before settling in the center of the room once more with the pale-gray mare at her side.

“Ok, Tavi, take it away!” The earth pony musician shook her head at the command but followed along anyways, having heard of the Crusaders before and their rather unique mission.

The pale-gray mare started with some the technical information about music in general and of the instruments they would be trying (something she could tell the fillies really wanted to do). Like previously, the technical information went in one ear and out the other, and heavily effected any chance they had at playing the double bass, saxophone and trumpet. Even Sweetie Belle, musically inclined as she was, had trouble using her hooves in such new ways and the different use of breathing.

As Octavia rubbed her temple with a hoof at the latest sounds that grated on the ears, Vinyl chuckled at the pained expression on her marefriend's face and gave her a nuzzle; due to her highly sensitive hearing, the unicorn heard the exasperated sigh from the pegasus at the showing of feelings and shook her head before facing the trio who stared back dejectedly.

“Wellll, uh, I guess being DJs or regular musicians aren’t your talents... That doesn't mean that you can't be musical!” Vinyl rushed on to say as three pairs of eyes teared up at the latest failure while Octavia picked up on that point.

“Well, have you guys tried being singers yet? You should have Vinyl teach you to sing, she has a lovely singing voice.” The pale-gray earth pony smirked at the shocked gazes of the fillies while the DJ blushed at the praise.

“What, how's ah DJ ah good singer?” Apple Bloom tilted her head curiously along with her friends while Vinyl chuckled lightly at the question.

“I learned how to sing by copying the radio that played in the orphanage; it was the only nice thing we had, until the care-taker decided that we were too happy.” Vinyl rubbed her head in bashfulness while receiving a comforting nuzzle from the other mare while the trio stared on in surprise.

“That sounds just like Scootaloo! Her orphanage was that kind of mean too!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shot Apple Bloom annoyed looks at the confession and tried to shush her before older mares questioned it.

“Huh... Really? Where did you go?” Vinyl and Octavia's poses turned serious at the sudden turn in the conversation, while Scootaloo glared at the now sheepish filly before grumbling to herself.

After sharing understanding glance, the older unicorn sat before the trio and tried to put out a reassuring air.

“Look, I promise-” at the three disbelieving brows, Vinyl amended her sentence, “-I Pinkie Promise not to turn you in; cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” At the severe oath, the two fillies looked to the pegasus to leave the decision in her hooves.

“.... Alright, fine. You tell me where you went to and I'll tell you where I went to.” Vinyl nodded to the deal and decided it required no sugar-coating.

“I went to Hudson Side Orphanage in Manehatten, under the watch of Hannigan.” Three pairs of eyes widened at the reveal, making the two older mares concerned as to where the young pegasus lived before.

“Huh, well, I went to Hudson Side too... Hannigan's still in change too...” Dark cerise eyes darkened with painful memories behind the large sunglasses, though Octavia could feel her marefriend stiffen next to her and could tell that it wasn't good news; from all accounts she had been told before, it wasn't a very pleasant place to live.

“... Oh....”

“How did you get away from it?” Sweetie Belle asked softly in hopes that there was some hope for Scootaloo yet, but was disappointed with Vinyl's next sentence.

“I didn't, I managed to just barely get through it and went as far as I could by going to college.” The other fillies tried to cover their disappointment while Scootaloo tilted her head in interest.

“So you went to college? What was that like?” Vinyl could tell the pegasus wanted to shift the focus from where they came from.

“Well, it all started when I found myself in this college so large it's like a town itself...”

Chapter 22 Special talent means it has to be 'Special'!

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Vinyl Scratch was sitting in a dark-purple loveseat with the Cutie Mark Crusaders sitting across from her on the floor of the two musicians' house; the fillies had hoped to try and be DJs (or classical ponies after Octavia got home) but had been sidetracked when Octavia teased the white unicorn with offering the girls lessons on how to sing; bringing into question how a DJ would know about or even sing A Cappella, leading her to tell them how she had met her marefriend and others in college.

Octavia was standing behind the chair where the white mare sat as they were all gathered in the living room of their two storied house in Ponyville. Before Vinyl was able to comment on how cute the gray mare's face was as she shook her head in exasperation at how much detail the white unicorn was willing to go into, they were distracted by a higher ranged voice from the floor.

“Wait, that's it? Were you two together for the rest of the time? What about when Ms. Octavia graduated? How did you come to live in Ponyville?” Sweetie Belle asked as she sat up from where she was on the ground between her two best friends.

“We stayed together ever since that first year of college; we have had a few fights but we got over them.” Vinyl looked towards the fillies who continued to sit on the floor as they thought about the story they were told.

“I always wondered how you managed to graduate a year early...” Octavia raised a brow at the young yet already famous DJ who sheepishly grinned back when she heard the comment.

“Well, you know... I couldn't stand the thought of being without you for a year; so I worked twice as hard and pulled ahead faster than the others.” Vinyl smiled up to her mare who gave a soft 'awww' at the emotion behind the sentence and shared a quick kiss; though they kept it less intimate considering the ages of the fillies in front of them.

As two of the three fillies 'aww'ed at the sight of love-struck ponies, the last one couldn't help but cross her hooves as she fake-gagged at the sight.

“Ewww; I'd thought Hannigan beat the sappy out of her orphans.” At this simple sentence, the atmosphere went from a happy to serious one; Octavia looking concernedly at her marefriend who shrugged back at how true it was while the two fillies looked to their other friend in concern for what she may not have told them about her past.

“That may be kid, but meeting Octavia here taught me to feel and trust again. I hope that you meet someone like that as well, for your sake.” Vinyl gazed at the small pegasus in all seriousness as the two felt a connection due to their mutual up-bringing and pain.

Scootaloo couldn't hold the caring gaze for long and looked out the nearby window instead as the room remained silent.

To break the awkward silence that had grown since the re-opening of old wounds, Apple Bloom perked up as she realized something about the story hadn't told them.

“Ms. Vinyl, ya didn't tell us how y'all got tah Ponyville. Did ya move right away or check out other places or...?” Apple Bloom trailed off at the return of the smirk on the DJ's face as the white mare faced the other two fillies.

“Well, if you really want to know...” Vinyl started to get back into the mood when she was cut off by an annoyed voice as the orange pegasus jumped up from her spot on the ground.

“Come on you guys! We've already heard one really sappy story; do we really need to hear about them moving out of college? Can't we go crusading or something?” Scootaloo looked at her friends who were torn between hearing more of the story and trying to do more things to get their Cutie Marks.

Scootaloo watched as her two friends looked between the white unicorn and the orange pegasus rapidly before Sweetie Belle came to the decision that they may not get another chance to hear the story and tried to make a deal.

“Please Scootaloo? Just one more story? What if we do whatever you want afterwards, would that be ok?” Sweetie Belle held her hooves pleadingly to the pegasus who sighed dramatically and sat back down with a 'thump'.

“Fiiinnnee; but we are doing whatever I want to afterwards, right?” Scootaloo crossed her hooves as the two other fillies smiled back in triumph.

"Right!” Vinyl and Octavia watched curiously as the whole discussion went on and when it was decided to continue the story both mares gave small shrugs. As Octavia showed no signs of taking over the story telling (aside from making sure it was kept to a 'G' rating), Vinyl settled into her tale once more.

After Vinyl explained how the couple came to Ponyville and their reception the trio couldn't help but smile at Pinkie's actions. After a moment, Scootaloo realized she was supposed to not like sappy stories and stood up as she looked to the others.

“Yeah, great, more sappy stories; come on you guys! The day's almost over and the most we've done is listen to a few sappy stories and learn a little about music. Let's get out of here and do some real Crusading!” The girls knew that Scootaloo was trying to maintain a 'tough' image and gave in to her demands; they had promised to do whatever thing she wanted next after all.

“Ok, let's go ahead and do some more Crusading.” Sweetie Belle stood up along with Apple Bloom and followed the young pegasus towards the door after waving goodbye to the older mares.

“Thanks fer tellin' us how y'all learned tah sing A Cappella and how ya moved here; we'll be back fer singin' lessons later! Bye!” Apple Bloom called out to the older mares on her friends' behalf as they left the two storied house quickly.

The two mares could only shake their heads at the rapid exit before the light-gray mare turned to the white one in concern.

“Was the orphanage really all that bad? Is it still open?” Vinyl continued to sit in the loveseat as she kept her hooves crossed as she thought about a place she had long ago been willing to pretend never existed.

“Yeah, it was pretty bad and I don't know if it is still open.... It may just be time to find out though.” As Vinyl's face cleared with this plan of action forming in her mind Octavia decided on a different way to relieve the pain of the past; the gray earth pony snuggled close to the white unicorn on the loveseat and rested her head onto Vinyl's back.

“I agree and I can think of a few extra things to do concerning that... 'Orphanage'. However, let's just sit here for a moment so I can help remind you about all that good stuff you were saying earlier.” Octavia smirked at the bashful look on the unicorn's face at how sappy she had been; though Vinyl didn't mind the current plan at all and settled more firmly into the couch with the mare of her heart.

“Come on you guys, we've been sitting way too long!” Scootaloo led the way, desperate to get away from the happy home of musicians.

The other two noticed this desperation and shared concerned looks, unsure of the best method to help. In the end, they decided knowing what the new plan was their first priority and gazed questioningly to the pegasus in the lead.

“Scoot, where are we goin'?” At the earth pony's question, the orange filly skid to a stop and searched the nearby area for inspiration; they had gone further in town, and found they were in front of the Sporty Pony.

“Well, let's see if Ace has any new equipment for us to try!” The others rolled their eyes at the hopeful tone from the pegasus before following along.

It had been a few months since they last visited and found that it had indeed gained more equipment and displays; there was a large (and rather new) display of extreme winter sports. The Crusaders browsed through skis, hockey sticks and pucks, snowboards and even mountain climbing equipment for cooler climates.

It was as Scootaloo found the snowboard with a flame design that she knew what their next crusade would be. Within moments, the three fillies had a set of skis and snowboards and trekked out of the shop, escorted by a lazy wave from Ace who was running the register; as they stood proudly in front of the tent shop, they gazed out at peaceful town around them with excited smiles.

Smiles that slowly fell as the bright sunlight and an usually warm breeze for November reminded them of a certain requirement that the town currently lacked.

“Scootaloo! There ain't no snow! How are we gonnah go skiin' when there ain't the one thin' that we need?” The orange filly looked sheepishly to the others who signed in resignation of another failed attempt.

“Well, at least we won't be in danger of getting hurt, unless there was some other way to get us ride them without snow.” At the word 'ride', purple eyes lit up as an extreme and potentially very dangerous idea came to Scootaloo's mind.

“Sweetie Belle, you're a genius!” The other two fillies shared concern glances before looking to their pegasus friend who had taken off once more; after they caught up, the gray-white and olive-yellow fillies tried to ask what was going on in between their pants.

“What is it Scootaloo? Did you see somepony?”

“Yeah, did we have to fight 'em off for ya?” Scootaloo pulled to a sharp stop next to her scooter (which had been stashed away near Sugarcube Corner), and turned to her friends in confusion.

“Huh? No, I didn't see Pepper or anypony, it's just that there might be another way to earn our skiing Cutie Marks.”

“Oh?” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom tilted their heads curiously as Scootaloo displayed her scooter.

"Yeah, I'll pull you guys as you're skiing then we can switch, so everyone can get a chance.” Apple Bloom shifted in place while Sweetie Belle gazed at the scooter.

“Ah don't know...”

“Come on, it will be easy. Besides, we already have the equipment, might as well try and use them.” Since no one could argue with this logic, they set up a basic rig so they could ski across the dirt.

As Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle strapped their back hooves to the skis and grabbed onto a rope tied to the blue scooter that should pull them forward.

Once they gave the all clear, Scootaloo started her wings and found a different kind of resistance to her pulling; instead of questioning what caused it (she had a hunch about it anyways), the young pegasus merely put more power behind her wings and they surged forward with a shout.

They were able to travel half-way across town when Scootaloo came across a couple of carts that had been knocked over and swerved to avoid them; this shook the others precarious hold on the ropes (not to mention their balance) and they crashed into the mess.

Scootaloo shot forward as the extra weight disappeared and had to do some quick maneuvers and impressive jumps before regaining complete control and finding the others once more.

“Are you guys ok?” The two Crusaders were face first in the mess with their hind legs (and skis) waving in the air; with a gentle tug to their skis, the unicorn and earth pony were free of the crash and sat in place; once they were sure they weren't badly injured, the three fillies looked at one another in confusion.

“Ah don't think this is gonnah work...”

"Yeah, and besides, you can already do really cool tricks Scootaloo, why would you want to try and get a ski Cutie Mark?” The young pegasus rolled her eyes at the question while they picked up the equipment and got out of the older ponies' way.

“Yeah but it's no special if I can always do it; we're Crusading for our special talents.” Dual 'oooh's came from the others at the explanation and they prepared to try and find special things they could do; starting with skiing.

“Maybe you guys were holding it wrong; try placing your hooves into all the straps and hold on with your mouths. I'll try and get us out of town.” Two determined nods greeted the instructions and in moments they were set to try again.

This time the young pegasus drove to the edge of town, finding that with her two friends in better balance made the trip much smoother. To create more of an extreme feeling, Scootaloo started to try and do more tricks, some thing that caused the skiers to shriek in fear at first but soon enjoyed it and gave muffled shouts of excitement.

They decided to try and head towards Sweet Apple Acres, where there was less ponies to almost run over in their travels; but instead of ponies to dodge, they now had trees and critters to watch out for. Scootaloo enjoyed the new challenge but while her scooter was used to and upgraded for such off-road and harsh works, the rope was not.

With a resounding snap, the two fillies were free of being pulled along and could only watch in concern as the sudden loss of extra weight made the pegasus shoot forward once more straight into a fence that kept the cows safe from possible threats. She had attempted to avoid a rather large apple tree but ran into the fence instead, and after the first few crashes, Scootaloo just tried to brace for more impact.

Once the dust settled, the girls found the orange filly under various broken boards; Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom rushed over to uncover the pegasus with concern; Scootaloo held a hoof to her head, trying to stop her spinning eyes once the pieces of wood were picked off her.

“Scootaloo! Are you ok?”

“Golly, ya really broke the fence, are ya ok?” The pegasus shook her head and sat up, bits of wood and dust falling off as she did.

“Uhhh, yeah, I'll be ok.... Sorry about the fence Apple Bloom, your family won't be mad would they?” Orange-yellow eyes widened at the reminder and the earth pony took a quick look at the damages done.

“Oh no! They're gonnah be so mad at us, we gottah try and fix it!” Sweetie Belle helped the pegaus up before they reached for the least broken pieces and stood at attention before the young farmer.

“Ready for instructions!”

Apple Bloom kept a close eye on her friends as they rebuilt the fence, wanting to be sure that it was actually functional (their attempt with Fluttershy's table came to mind). Trying to be fast in order to not be found, the girls finished their task and ran off with their supplies, unwilling to be in trouble for damaging farm buildings.

Applejack would later find the much sturdier fence and would wonder for days as to who went and fixed the weak woodwork; it was better designed and while the materials were the same, it seemed like whole new wood with a clean shine and smooth. After shrugging at no sign of who did the work, the orange farm mare continued on her way to finish her afternoon chores.

“What happened with the rope anyways?” Scootaloo glanced to her friends as they ran with all their stuff on their backs to be stashed away.

“Looks like it snapped right off, it wasn't strong enough tah handle bein' extreme.” Apple Bloom looked at the ends of the ropes in frustration while the others groaned at the plausible reason.

“I guess we better get stronger equipment if we want to do more extreme things later...” The others nodded to Sweetie Belle's suggestion as they finally came upon their clubhouse.

Once their latest acquisition was put into the attic, they sat in the center of their clubhouse in thought; while the earth pony and unicorn knew what they wanted to try next, they weren't sure how to get the pegasus on board to learn how to sing.

Suddenly Sweetie Belle's eyes lit up and she gasped loud enough that it drew the others' attention, looking over to the gray-white filly with curiosity.

“I know what we can do!”

“Yeah?” Apple Bloom shot a confused look to the unicorn while Scootaloo remained unaware and inquisitive.

“We should try one last music type before giving up on musical cutie marks!” The pegasus tilted her head in confusion and tried to keep from rolling her eyes in aggravation at the thought of possibly going back to the musician couple to learn more stuff.

“What last music thingy?”

“We should try and be singers!”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, we should learn how to sing!”

“But Sweetie Belle, you already know how to sing! You sing really nicely anyways, why would you need to learn more about it?” While the young unicorn blushed at the praise, she took on a pouty face as she fluttered her eyes to the young pegasus.

“Yes, but I wanted to sing with you guys!” Scootaloo flinched at reminder of her singing ability while Apple Bloom joined in the pleading, causing Scootaloo to sigh dramatically and slumped in place.

“Fiiinnneee, I get it; I sing really badly and could use a few lessons.... Sigh, let's just get this over with...” The two other fillies cheered with waving hooves and gave the pegasus a hug of thanks, which earned a groan and blush while she pushed them away.

Even though Scootaloo wasn't looking forward to going back to the sappy house of musicians, she wanted to get it over with as soon as possible and sped across the land with the cart firmly attached. They were in front of the two storied house soon after and it was to Vinyl and Octavia's great surprise to find the trio back for their singing lessons.

Vinyl had a gig that night but was willing to try and see how much help they would need while Octavia would be the teacher for the most part since the DJ would have to leave in an hour to catch her train. Considering how well the Crusaders did while learning just instruments, they weren't expecting all that much in the way of results; what the girls did do blew all expectations to the far corners of the room.

Sweetie Belle was a natural singer, changing pitch easily and keep a proper rhythm; she even picked up new songs in moments and improvised the rest. The one drawback was that she was very nervous at the start and even during the song at times, not used to singing in front of others and over-conscious about how she was doing. The older mares tried to subtly (and in Vinyl's case, not so subtly) hint that it very well might be her special talent but was quickly dismissed by the unicorn since she didn't like to do it in front of others (as well as the fact that it wasn't 'special').

Apple Bloom wasn't too bad either, having a lower range and while her accent did come through, it was still rather pleasant. She was able to keep a steady beat as well as proper projection, though it wasn't an obvious special talent.

Scootaloo was the polar opposite, her voice piercing the two mares' ears with its too high of pitch and sharp tone. They flinched at the sound and rubbed their ears while the pegasus stopped soon after 'singing' a few bars, knowing that it did hurt others' ears (though she wondered why the other Crusaders didn't seem as bothered by it).

Vinyl glanced to the clock and found that she had to start leaving, giving a loving nuzzle to her marefriend before bending towards the young pegasus for some last minute advice.

“Look, I know it's hard to let go and allow yourself to feel again but believe me, it is worth the risk; especially if you find a special somepony of your very own. Keep safe and maybe I'll see ya around, ok kiddo?” The DJ scuffed up Scootaloo's mane and exited shortly afterwards, knowing that she wouldn't get a response to her words.

Octavia smiled at the retreating figure before turning to the girls and starting with the basics; projecting, range, rhythm and courage. After working with the girls for another hour, Scootaloo was able to sing a single note without shattering nearby glass while the others got bolder with their singing. Once they were done congratulating the young pegasus on her progress, the trio promised to stop by one day a week for more work and practice.

Soon after their practice, the trio called it a day and went their separate ways, promising to do more Crusading later in the week.

The Adventures of the Cutie Mark Crusaders - Fillies on a Mission!

by Wolfie 03

Chapter 1 From Hang Gliding to Marbles, We'll Never Stop Trying!

Chapter 2 Maybe joining a sport's team is what we've mean to do!

Chapter 3 Traveling into a Forest for forest-themed Cutie Marks!

Chapter 4 Camping by ourselves can't go too badly right?

Chapter 5 Cutie Mark Crusaders Plumbers, let's a go!

Chapter 6 Cutie Mark Crusaders Diggers, Escape Artists and Cave-In Clearers!

Chapter 7 Trip to the Mountains

Chapter 8 Learning Self-Defense and First Aid

Chapter 9 A hard knocked life at Hudson Orphanage, Manehatten

Chapter 10 Canterlot, city of snobs and nobles!

Chapter 11 Film Stars of Applewood, here we come!

Chapter 12 Learning Martial Arts and being in balance with oneself

Chapter 13 Back to Applewood to try again!

Chapter 14 Off to sail the open seas!

Chapter 15 Foiling the plans of Pirates

Chapter 16 The Mild West

Chapter 17 The Wild West

Chapter 18 Dealing with a little storm of Chaos

Chapter 19 Learning about your enemies

Chapter 20 The new Clubhouse

Chapter 21 Let's try being the most Radicalist DJs around

Chapter 22 Special talent means it has to be 'Special'!