//------------------------------// // Discord would be proud... // Story: Cutie Mark Crusader Culinary Chefs! // by The Princess Rarity //------------------------------// It was a regular Sunday morning in Ponyville; the sun was shining, the birds were singing, not a cloud in the sky and peace everywhere. It was nearly noon, when three little fillies awoke in their clubhouse; after a night of fun during their sleepover. "Get your fat flank off of me." Scootaloo muttered under her blanket, fidgeting. "I can't get up." Lying on top of her was a snoring Sweetie Belle, still very much in her Dream Land. "How the hay did you two git in that position?" Apple Bloom questioned, rubbing the sleepdust from her eyes. "How should I know?" the young pegasus grunted, struggling to get her friend off of her. "But have you seen Sweetie Belle when she's asleep? She rolls around everywhere." Scootaloo stood up on her weak legs; causing Sweetie Belle to fall off of her, with a loud *thump*, causing her to squeal in surprise. "Scootaloo, what did you do that for?" she whined tiredly. The unicorn filly snatched the blanket and placed it over top off of her. "It's too early to be alive, anyhow." "Actually Ah reckon it's 'bout noon." Apple Bloom declared. "We shoulda been up earlier." "I don't wanna get up." Sweetie Belle's voice was muffled underneath the thick blanket. "I'm tired..." "Come on, lazy bones." Scootaloo urged, grabbing her friend's tail between her teeth. "We've got crusading to do!" "Can't we do that later?" the unicorn protested, still underneath her blanket. "We were up all night." Ignoring the weak argument of her friend, Scootaloo kept the two-toned tail in her mouth and began dragging Sweetie Belle out of the clubhouse. "Nooo..." she growled. "Don't force me out..." "C'mon, you two." Apple Bloom called from the outside of the clubhouse. "We gotta fuel up..." "Then we can go crusading!" Scootaloo exclaimed, dropping Sweetie Belle's tail. Said filly whined in frustration and said something along the lines of "Shut up!" or "I wanna sleep!", who knows, because before she knew it, she was being dragged once more. "Sweetie Belle, can't you just walk?" the violet-maned pegasus muttered as she held her friend's tail in her mouth tightly. "And not be so lazy?" "I'm not lazy. I'm tired." Sweetie Belle argued. "Uh, Ah'm pretty sure that's the same dang thing." Apple Bloom said, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, and that's coming from the one who isn't a dictionary." Scootaloo chuckled. "For the last time, I am not a dictionary!" the unicorn filly pouted, her voice coming out in a squeak at the end. Rolling their eyes and ignoring Sweetie Belle, the three little ponies continued their journey through the acreage to the small household; where they'd find something to eat, then continue their adventures for their beloved cutie marks. "Can you stop dragging me?" "Gladly!" Scootaloo chuckled, dropping her friend's tail and continuing to walk with Apple Bloom by her side. "Hey!" Sweetie Belle opened an eye and dashed after her friends. "Wait for me!" Fortunately, the young filly caught up with her duo of companions and they became a trio once more; the lot of them venturing on the farm, and soon making to the house; despite their little to no energy of still being extremely tired, having the fact that they had all just awoken. "Applejaaaack!" Apple Bloom whined. Silence. "Big Macintosh!" No reply. "Granny Smiiith!" Again, nothing; except the bark of Winona far off in the distance. "Well, then." "Now what?" Scootaloo said, with a deadpan tone to her voice. "Ah guess we're gonna hafta find somethin' t' eat ourselves." the Southern filly shrugged. "Let's hurry it up then, I'm starving!" "Me too!" Sweetie Belle added as she trotted over to a nearby cupboard and looked inside, hoping to find something. "Nothing." Scootaloo flew off a few inches from the ground and inspected the countertop. "Nope." "Ain't anythang here." Apple Bloom said, sticking her head in a drawer. "Wait!" She gripped a bag of bread between her teeth. "Toast?" "Toast is ok." Scootaloo replied, landing on the tile floor. "But we can't fill up on it... Especially not what's in that." The bag that contained the bread had, maybe, five slices. It was the proper amount to fill a regular pony, but not nearly enough to satisfy three hungry fillies. "Well..." Sweetie Belle made a quick rendezvous around the kitchen, opening all of the cupboards, inspecting them thoroughly. "There isn't anything in there. Except this." She pointed a forehoof to a jar of peanut butter. "We can't just eat peanut butter sandwiches!" Apple Bloom protested, dropping the loaf of bread onto the floor carelessly. "We can't go into town and buy more food either." Scootaloo pointed out. "We don't have any bits." Sweetie Belle shrugged and then turned to face her two best friends. "So what do we do now? We need breakfast." "Wait a second!" Apple Bloom's expression suddenly brightened. "The pantry! Granny Smith said that it's only for emergencies!" "Well, we're starving. Does that count?" Scootaloo questioned. "You betcha!" the farm filly grinned as she led her friends down the hall. "It's exactly what the pantry's for! In case we run outta food and can't buy anymore!" Sweetie Belle gave a wide smile as she and her friends turned the corner. "That's perfect!" she beamed. "Ah know!" Apple Bloom replied, as she opened the nearby door. "Let's find somethin'!" The three fillies ran into the walk-in closet; searching for something decent to eat. Quick and easy, an item that they could grab and just chow down on. Or if it needed cooking, whatever could be heated up in a matter of minutes. "How's this?" Scootaloo turned to her friends with a package of instant noodles held between her teeth. "There's a whole box of 'em." "Ew... those things are nasty." Sweetie Belle wrinkled her nose. "Ah gotta agree," Apple Bloom added. "Those thangs don't ever come out right." "Oh." the pegasus frowned and tossed the package back to where she found it. "How about these?" Sweetie Belle inquired, gesturing to a small box of pastries. "Those there are treats." the Southern filly shook her head. "Can't eat those for breakfast." The three of them all frowned. It would've been simply fantastic to have such a sweet decadent satisfying morsel of goodness right about now, but they were responsible... or trying to be, anyway. "Hey, look!" Scootaloo pointed a hoof at a box of Pop Tarts. "I eat those for breakfast all of the time!" "Yeah... but they ain't so healthy for ya." Apple Bloom hesitated. "Maybe if we had somethin' else with it, it'd be alright." "They have real fruit in them." the pegasus filly argued. "Still, Apple Bloom's right." Sweetie Belle declared. "Pop Tarts can't fill us up either." "Here we go!" A crash was heard and soon, Apple Bloom was surrounded by several boxes of pasta. "Dang it!" "Spaghetti?" Scootaloo questioned. "For breakfast?" "You got a better idea, Einstein?" the farm filly muttered, with an eyeroll. "Well... no..." the pegasus hesitated. "But we don't have any sauce." "Yeah, we do!" Sweetie Belle beamed, rolling a jar over to her friends. "Right here!" "Let's get cookin'!" Apple Bloom grinned, balancing a box of pasta on her head and exiting the closet, with her partners in mischief right behind her (with Sweetie Belle rolling the jar of sauce along the floor and Scootaloo carrying the box of Pop Tarts on her back). "So what do we do?" the young pegasus inquired once the lot of them entered the kitchen. "I've never used anything except the toaster before." "Well... Granny Smith taught me how t' use the oven an' stove." the yellow filly said. "So Ah can heat this up. Sweetie Belle can make the Pop Tarts. Scootaloo can help me with the sauce." "Uh... I'm not really great at... things like this." the unicorn filly hesitated. "Oh, come on, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo urged. "You can't be worse than the rest of us!" "Well... alright." Sweetie Belle shrugged, taking the box from her friend and she opened it up, looking around for the toaster as the young pegasus attempted to open the jar of sauce. "Come on... come on... come on..." she muttered, wrapping her hooves around it tightly and turning. It wasn't working. "Scootaloo, hurry up already with that!" Apple Bloom called. "Now... hmm... 'Cook pasta in pot with boiling water'; easy!" She took a medium sized pot from the cupboard and expertly tossed it into the sink. Standing up on the edge of her hooves, she turned the water on, just a loud bang was heard, with a scream to follow up. "Sweetie Belle, what the hay did you do?!?" Scootaloo shrieked as she turned to face her friend, who was standing before a now mangled toaster. The sides of it were practically blown off, the button was stuck out; hanging on it's spring and it was literally smoking. "I don't know!" said filly replied. "I just turned it on all the way because I wanted them to cook really fast! And... I might have put more than one in each slot." "It's alright, y'all, we'll just eat 'em cold then." Apple Bloom said calmly; trying to soothe her friends. "Yeah, put down that box and help me!" Scootaloo whined, kicking the jar over to Sweetie Belle. Unfortunately, the jar didn't roll over to it's target, and instead, outside. A bark was heard and then that was it, Winona was off running... with the container of sauce in her mouth. "Scootaloo!" both the earth pony and unicorn filly shrieked. "I didn't know it was going to go outside!" the pegasus in question defended. "The open door's right there!" Sweetie Belle squeaked as she noticed Apple Bloom run outside after the dog, calling it's name. "Oh, geez..." "Winona, ya dumb mutt, gimme that jar!" the farm filly exclaimed, running after her pet. However, no luck. That canine was no match for Apple Bloom, and before you could say 'zap apples', Winona was much too far for anypony to catch her. "Well, now what?" Scootaloo questioned, stealing a glance at Sweetie Belle. "I guess we eat the pasta without any sauce." she replied, with a shrug. "That... stupid... dog..." Apple Bloom panted, reentering the household; completely exhausted. "Phew." She collapsed onto the floor, when all of a sudden, another scream nearly caused her to go deaf. "Consarn it, Sweetie Belle, what now?" "Oh, gosh, oh, gosh, oh, gosh..." the unicorn filly chanted, rushing over to the sink... or more specifically, the now-wet floor right in front of the sink. "Don't just stand there, turn it off!" Scootaloo yelled, grabbing a towel. "I'm... trying...!" Sweetie Belle responded, jumping up on her hooves; trying to reach the faucet. As the pegasus tried to dry the floor, her friend proceeded with her jumping; and within seconds, the water was turned off. "Well, now what?" Scootaloo muttered as she left the towel on the floor and glanced to each of her friends. "I'm thinking..." Apple Bloom began before pausing for a moment. "Ya know what? Ah think it'd be best if we just find something else." "I saw a can of beans or two in the pantry." the unicorn filly said simply. "You want me to go get them?" "Yes. Please." the young pegasus muttered as she fetched more rags; continuing to dry the floor. "Uh-huh." the farm pony added, with a nod; still tired from chasing her pet. Sweetie Belle left the kitchen for only a moment before quickly returning with three cans of beans and one of ravioli. "There we go!" she beamed, placing the four of them onto the counter. "Here!" Scootaloo kicked over a pot to the unicorn. "Start cooking!" "Ok, ok, geez." Sweetie Belle shook her head and placed the pot on top of the counter, only to pause for a short moment. "Uh... guys?" "Yeah?" Apple Bloom inquired as she stood up; her tiredness now slowly subsided. "... How do I open these cans?" A moment of silence passed between the three fillies, before a bark was heard again and who happened to run in? Winona. The dog blew by one of it's owners and nearly tackled Sweetie Belle, grabbing one of the cans; then dashing out of the household at lightening speed. "Ya dumb mutt! Git back here and give us back that dang can!" Apple Bloom yelled, running out of the house with her friends; chasing after the border collie. 0.0.0.0 It was late in the afternoon, almost two 'o clock, to be precise, and basking themselves in Celestia's sun, on a bed in a room in the back of the house, two figures lay together, half-asleep; enjoying one another's company. "Sugarcube, you gotta stop hittin' me in yer sleep..." Applejack muttered, nudging her marefriend. "Oh, come now." Rarity huffed. "It's only because this bed of yours is so incredibly small." "Rares, Ah could have the biggest bed in all o' Equestria an' still have ya beatin' me at night." "Hmm, but when are we ever asleep in the nighttime hours?" the unicorn smirked, placing a quick kiss on those of the mare she loved with all of her heart. Applejack chuckled, and ran a hoof through Rarity's already ruined mane. "C'mon, sugarcube. It's 'bout time we get up and outta bed." The alabaster mare whined and pouted. "Do we have to?" "Rare, it's past noon." the farm pony said simply. "Ah shoulda been workin' today, but instead Ah spent the whole day here, in bed, with ya." "I don't see any problem in that whatsoever." Rarity replied, with a mischevious smile. "Well, too bad for you, missy." Applejack kissed her marefriend, who sighed in defeat. "Fine, darling, if it'll make you feel better, we can get out of bed... I was feeling a bit bored anyhow." "Uh-huh. Bored. Right." the blonde-maned mare smirked and got out of bed, with the unicorn soon following suit. "C'mon, it's late in the day. We'll get something t' eat, then Ah'll walk ya home, how's that?" Rarity smiled and tied on her robe, leaning over to place a kiss on Applejack's cheek as she did so. "That sounds just perfect, darling." Sharing a smile, the two mares walked out of the bedroom and down the hall to the stairs, where rustling along with barking could obviously be heard. "Now, what in tarnation...?" both AJ and Rarity descended down the steps at a speed only a slight bit faster than average and peeked into the nearby kitchen to see that Winona was tied to the dining table, the floor was shining wet with water, small bits of glass were scattered about, two jars were cracked open from the bottom and who sat in the middle of the kitchen, eating peanut butter sandwiches and uncooked Pop Tarts? Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.