//------------------------------// // In a Hurry // Story: Melody for my Dear // by FerociousCreation //------------------------------// Melody for my Dear Ch6 Mechanical gears twitched and ticked inside an alarm clock as the long arm slowly approached the twelfth number. Light from the sun was already on the walls of Applebloom’s bedroom. A blanket rose up and down as a little filly inhaled and exhaled air into her small lungs. Soon the silence was shattered by the alarm clock, rapidly swinging its brass pendulum and banging on the bells. One yellow arm quickly slammed down on the noisy contraption to make it still again. Then the small pony quickly sat up with her eyes still closed, but then yelled at the top of her lungs, “TODAY IS THE DAY I WILL FINALLY GET MY CUTIE MARK!” Several moments pass until the filly’s bedroom door slowly opened. “Ya know…,” spoke a female voice in a very tired tone. “…shouldn’t you be a little more quiet in the…” “MORNIN’ SIS,” exclaimed Applebloom as she zipped right in front of Applejack. “Oh,” Applejack replied with a yawn to follow. “Mornin’ Applebloom.” The older pony wrapped an arm around her little sister. It took a while for Applejack to collect her thoughts. “So…” “SO, GOT ANY CHORES FER ME TA DO? BUCK SOME TREES, MASH SOME GRAPES, HERD THE CHICKENS!? ” Ah can’t have anythin’ interferin’ with today’s plan, the filly thought to herself. “Umm…” The requests from Applebloom caused Applejack to lose her train of thought again. Meanwhile, the pink bowed pony kept listing off chores she could possibly do. “I could load the cart, sweep the floors, make some pie, sweep the floors, do the laundry, sweep the floors in the barn, clean the...” Applejack lightly touched the filly’s lips to stop her from speaking and said, “Just… clean yer room.” “That’s it?” “Yup. Ah forgot how work around the farm with Big Macintosh made chores a lot easier, so me an’ him got so much done in the past few days that I myself might take the day off.” “Well that’s good ta’ hear.” “Well if yer so eager to skedaddle on out of here might as well get started on cleanin’ up this pigsty.” “AN’ MAYBE I COULD GET MA CUTIE MARK! I could be… A PROFESSIONAL ROOM CLEANER! Ya know, ah can be like one of them fancy hotel ponies that come in to your room an’ clean all your stuff an’…umm … stuff!” Both sisters smiled as Applejack rubbed her little sister’s head. “Alright little filly, I’ll leave ya to yerself to clean yer room.” “YOU GOT IT,” Applebloom shouted with enthusiasm. As the older sibling walked out of the bed room, she turned and said, “Now make sure you clean-” Applebloom shut the door in her sister’s midway sentence. “Ah know ah know. Pick up everythin’ on the floor.” Ha, cleanin’ my room? This will be a piece of cake, the little filly thought aloud to herself. She turned away from her door and faced the rest of the room. Toys were scattered around the room, some clothes were tossed on the floor, and even some dishes sat on top of a dresser. Aww, this is gonna take forever… Wait don’t be all negative Applebloom. You know what Daring Do would say: ‘when in doubt, there is always a way out! It took no time at all before Applebloom had an idea. She grabbed a pillow from her bed, placed it on the floor, and began pushing it. As she shoved the stuffed sheet across the room, the filly began to plow her belongings that rested on the floor. Within a few moments, Applebloom had a pile of collected toys, clothing, and a various collection other items. Alright, now it's time for the easy part. The filly’s back foot scraped at the wooden paneling, readying herself; and with all her strength, Applebloom charged forward and shoved everything under her bed. However, the bed slightly tilted to the side because of all of the other things that were crammed underneath her bed. “ALL RIGHT, TIME TO GO,” exclaimed Applebloom. “I’ll quickly get a bite to eat an’ run to the clubhouse,” she said to herself as the pony ran downstairs. Quickly, she found an apple, one carton of milk, and her favorite cereal cinnamon hay crunch. Instead of using a bowl, the filly dumped a good amount of the cereal flakes from the box and into her mouth, and then she guzzled down some milk. A bit of effort was needed to swallow all of the food in Applebloom’s mouth, but managed in one large gulp. “Ugh… that was rough…” One apple remained on the table for only a few moments before Applebloom inhaled the red fruit into her mouth. Before she knew it, she was almost out the door ready to take on the day and see if Fluttershy and Big Macintosh will become special someponies. Just when Applebloom thought she was free, the filly felt a tap on her shoulder. “Applebloom?” “Oh, yes big sis?” Applejack towered over her sister as she asked, “Why you in such a hurry?” “Jus’ some good ol’ fashioned crusadin’ is all!” “You so sure? You got ready awfully quick?” “Umm… maybe I have a good feelin’ about gettin’ my cutie mark today!” Applebloom’s wide smile tried to mask what she was really up to, but Applejack knew when her little sister was lying. “Ah know you’re super excited for somethin’ today, whatever that may be,” the older sibling reassured. “What ah don’t want is you flakin’ out on your chores.” “Course ah didn’t! Why would ya think I would?” “Ah jus’ want to know if you shoved everythin’ under your bed.” “Umm… OH, GOO’MORNIN’ GRANNY SMITH,” Applebloom waved into the house. “Hugh?” Applejack looked to see if her old relative was hobbling down the stairs, but instead found no pony. “Hey App…” Caught in the middle of her sentence, the earth pony realized Applebloom dashed away while she wasn’t looking. Hmm, wonder what she’s up to, pondered Applejack as she walked up the stairs and towards her sister’s bedroom. *** Four little hooves slowly dragged up a wooden ramp that lead up to a pink clubhouse. Scootaloo would have flown up to the door, but her small wings were not strong enough to pick her body off the ground for longer than a few seconds. As soon as she cracked the door of the makeshift tree house, a voice spoke, “Come on in Scoot! I saw ya from a good ways away.” Instead of greeting her pink bowed friend, Scootaloo walked over to the table where Applebloom was sitting, sat down, and plopped her face onto the table. “Uh, yall right Scoot,” questioned Applebloom. “Yeah… I was just so excited for today I hardly got any sleep. I tried… to hurry as fast as possible… but all I need now is… Hey, where is Sweetie Belle?” “I dunno. Maybe she is doing chores or something.” Not a moment too soon when a white unicorn burst through the door. “So sorry I’m late!” “Not a problem; But if I may ask, what held you up,” Applebloom asked her friend. “Well…” *** I was finished cleaning up my room and helping my sister move some heavy boxes. Too bad she didn’t bother to help. “Okay sister…” panted Sweetie Belle as the small filly pushed the final box atop of a large pillar of brown packages. “I got all of the boxes stacked.” “Thank you Sweetie Belle,” called her sister from upstairs. "It’s so nice to have a sister do all that heavy lugging for me.” “Yeah, so nice…” the white unicorn spoke quietly to herself. “Now would you be a dear and clean up after yourself. I know you had to make some… adjustments when lifting those boxes.” Right next to the last pillar that Sweetie Belle constructed was a large hill of pillows and blankets and she was on top of the pile of soft fabric. A heavy sigh gusted out of the small pony’s mouth as she thought, I’m never gonna make it out of here. But with no way of getting out of it, Sweetie Belle got off her makeshift hill, pushed the final pillar of boxes, and began disassembling her large lump of cloth. To Sweetie Belle’s surprise, she finished in no time at all. “All RIGHT,” screeched the unicorn filly as her voice cracked as she said “right.” She ran to the top of the stairway and shouted, “ALRIGHT RARITY, I AM LEAVING!” “Alright, have fun dear.” Little did the filly know that her next action would undo all of her hard work she had just finished. When Sweetie Belle turned to walk down the stairs, her forearms crossed each other and caused the white unicorn to stumble downs the stairs. She attempted to stabilize herself, but ended up picking up enough speed and made her roll down the stairs. As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, Sweetie Belle bowled across the floor and headed straight for one of the large tower of boxes. Before she knew it, her back struck the box with a thump. Even though she was dizzy, Sweetie Belle’s spinning reality saw the large tower of boxes she bumped into teeter forward and backward. Unfortunately, the tower teetered too far forward and bumped into another stack of boxes and soon that pillar fell onto another. The filly was hoping that her vision was still dizzy, but she was seeing the reality of the domino effect. Luckily for the sake of lesser messes, the stacks of boxes stopped falling because the momentum of the toppling stacks slowed down. At least half of the boxes remained standing. Nevertheless, the mess was catastrophic. Random colored strips of fabric littered the room in a somewhat organized half circle. Some boxes that fell did not open but were upside-down. Sweetie Belle flinched when she heard her sister speak from upstairs, “Sweetie Belle, is everything alright?” “Yeah,” the young sister responded while trying to muster up a lie. “I’m just umm… drumming on the boxes. That’s it! Never know if I might get a cutie mark in being a drummer.” “Ooo, that would sound like a great special talent! You could do a drum roll every time I release a new design.” “Well I’m off!” And before I knew it, I was out the door. *** “Did your sister find out about the mess,” Applebloom questioned her friend. “Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe she is still upstairs making dresses.” Sweetie Belle spoke too soon when a voice screamed in the distance, “SWEEITE BELLE!” All three of the fillies flinched as the glass window of their club house cracked from the distant shriek. “I guess she found out,” said Scootaloo as she scratched the back of her head. “Good thing I didn’t tell her where I was going.” “Well ah think we wasted enough time,” exclaimed Applebloom. “Time for business!” All three of them sat at the table Scootaloo was resting at. Each one of them then pulled a note book from underneath their benches, ready to jot down some notes.