//------------------------------// // Rotten Attitude // Story: Melody for my Dear // by FerociousCreation //------------------------------// Melody for My Dear Ch. 12 In all the years the Cutie Mark Crusaders knew each other, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo never thought they would see Applebloom in a fit of rage. Jabbing a hoof in Peal’s direction, the yellow pony exclaimed, “That colt right over there is the most disrespectful, arrogant, and… most… ugliest color of green ah have ever seen!” “Applebloom?” Sweetie Belle said with a nervous smile. “We know you’re mad, but maybe you should keep your voice down…” “How can I when some low-life jerk face comes on over to ma sister’s stall and… AND…!” Both of Applebloom’s friends understood they would be to if something like that happened to them or their family. “Ah just need to exhaust all of this anger right now!” From afar, a merchant called, “Come one come all and get your very own Scream in a Bucket! Got a family member you want to shout about but don’t want to yell at them? Stubbed your hoof and don’t want to say profound words? Have some pesky merchant walk over to you and give you unnecessary criticism? Then this is the item for you! All you got to do is fill it with water and then let the bucket have it!” Before the seller knew it, a small filly with a pink bow dashed to his stand and said, “I’ll take one please.” “That will be three bits.” When Applebloom placed the money on the table, she slammed the coins down without knowing how angry she was. “Got a sister to yell at?” the merchant asked. “Well ah do have one, but there is somepony I do have to shout about…” “How about I have the bucket filled with water already?” “That would be nice.” “Well here you go!” As soon as Applebloom got ahold of her bucket, she thanked the seller and dashed back behind the trash can. “Hey, how many times do we need to address that we need to stay hidden?” Scootaloo asked. “One second,” Applebloom smiled as she turned to answer the pegasus. A splash of water was made when Applebloom submerged her head into the bucket. The sound of hollowed screams came from the bucket as bubbles emerged to the surface. “I think it would be best if we let her cool off,” Sweetie Belle suggested to Scootaloo. “What do you think Abblebloom?” Raising her head from the water and gasping for a breath of air, the filly replied, “Yeah, I need to vent a little bit.” She then shoved her head back into the liquid to continue screaming. “Now how do we go about this?” Sweetie Belle asked Scootaloo. “Hmm…” Looking around for an answer, Penelope was struggling to pick up some rope that rested in the wagon. “I got an idea.” *** “So let’s review the plan before we plunge into the fish barrel.” Sweetie Belle was poking her head outside of the blanket that rested on top of her. “Okay. So I push you out into the market area to get closer to Big Macintosh and Fluttershy. If you are about to get caught, I can yank you back with the rope. I made sure to use the extra-long rope we brought along.” On the handle of the wagon was a knot of rope while Scootaloo held the long coiled line as she explained to her friend. “And while I am out there, take very valuable notes.” “Correct!” “Then let’s go!” “But before we do our chant, let’s be a bit quiet on this one.” “Heh, I agree…” “cutie mark crusader undercover investigators are still on the case!” With confidence in their hearts, Scootaloo placed the rope she was holding on the ground and pushed the red cart to the edge of the ally way and turned her back. “Alright, I’m going to kick it now.” “Let’s jump into that fish barrel!” Still going on about that, the orange pegasus thought while rolling her eyes. With all of her might, the filly bucked her hind legs and pushed the wagon into the market. To Scootaloo’s surprise, the wagon actually made it really close to Peal and Par’s stall and nopony seemed to notice. “Not a bad push, if I do say so myself. Right Penelope? Penelope?” The pegasus looked around and behind her but could not find the yellow wasp. “Where did you- WAGH!” Crossing her eyes, Scootaloo saw her friend resting on her nose, giving a friendly wave. “Oh, heh… there you are…” Several meters ahead of Scootaloo, was Sweetie Belle peeking out of a small hole and listening in on the conversation in front of her. “Well howdy do you two! Whatever can ah do for you?” Par happily smiled as he spoke while his brother had a stale glare glued to his face. “Hello,” Fluttershy responded to the merchant. “We would love to buy some pears from your stall please.” A sour look came from Big Macintosh as Fluttershy said “pears.” Eck, such a discusting fruit! The distasteful look on the stallion’s face grabbed Peal’s attention. “What’s with the nasty look partner?” Big Macintosh gave a small glare to the green pony before looking back at the fruit that sat at the stall. “Now now, brother we don’t want to anger these fine customers and ah think we don’t want a repeat of what happened at that apple stand.” “What apple stand,” Big Macintosh spoke with a bit of an angry look on his face. “Oh! Umm… it was nothin’. Say, how about them pears, hugh?” Par was trying ever so hard to change the subject and sell some produce. “I will take five please,” Fluttershy spoke with a smile, immune to the heated tension that was in the air. “Sounds like we have ourselves a dealio! That’ll be six bits please.” While Fluttershy and Par were making a friendly transaction, Peal gestured Big Macintosh to come close. “Ah got somethin’ to tell yea partner.” The request only made the red pony make one pace forward before remaining stagnant with his still angry look. “Ah can’t whisper somethin’ to ya if yer all the way over there.” Slowly moving closer to the stand, Big Macintosh stretched his neck a bit toward the earth pony. In a deep tone, Peal smirked and said, “Ah can tell yer related to that apple merchant jus’ by lookin’ at your cutie mark. Ah would ask yer relative out on a date, but she seems like she is the apple at the bottom of the barrel.” “Ya want to run that ba me again, bud…” Big Macintosh was now clenching his jaw while his angry gaze remained. What in the hay is this suborn mule’s issue? “Ah don’t like repeatin’ myself, but ah can say this: yer relative may look nice an’ all, but… na I’m not gonna tell ya.” The small conflict between Big Macintosh and Peal grabbed Fluttershy and Par’s attention. “Umm… bro, please tell me you ain’t causin’ no trouble?” No response. “Big Mac, are you okay,” Fluttershy asked her friend with concern. “Nnope…” Pretending like nothing happened, Peal decided to polish one of the pears that rested on the stand with a clean rag. “A… are you angry Big Mac?” “Eeyup…” “How come?” Big Macintosh gestered to Peal and said, “This friendly pony here…” “But if you say he is ‘friendly’, then why are you angry with him?” Ah was bein’ sarcastic. The red pony was not amused on how his friend was oblivious to the conflict he was having. “Umm… I don’t mean to intrude on other pony’s business, but were you causing Big Mac any trouble?” “None at all,” Peal responded with a smile. “LIAR!” Big Macintosh’s shout caused Fluttershy to shudder and crouch downward. “Please don’t yell…” Sorry, Fluttershy… Ah didn’t mean to scare ya… “What’s yer problem partner?” Peal asked as he continued to polish more produce. “Yer talkin’ smack about ma sister!” “The only ‘smack’ that needs to be done aroun’ here is upside your head.” “Well… you are-” “What, rotten pear? Sounds to me like you are more of a sour apple.” Big Macintosh tried to come up with a witty comment to combat with Peal, but could not think of anything to say. “Umm… that was kind of mean to say,” Fluttershy spoke in a light tone. “OOOHOOO, nice comeback,” Peal gawked. “I better tell your friends to watch out because you are one smart mouth.” “Actually, I do tell my friends a lot of animal facts, so… hmm…” The pegasus dwelled on the thought for a bit and then said, “You are right! I am a smart mouth! Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” “I… guess? N… never mind that. Well, if you like animals so much, why don’t you live with them?” “Brother,” Par interjected. “Let’s not be mean to the nice mare here an-” “Oh no, he is not being mean, I do live with a bunch of adorable animals like bunnies, and birds, and even a bear! And I live with…” Fluttershy continued to list off the animals she lived with, too oblivious to the circumstance she was in. To Peal’s surprise, Fluttershy was beginning to irritate him. “Well maybe… you can crawl in a rabbit hole and stay there!” “I actually have. See this bunny on my head? One night he had a bad dream, so I had to dig my way into his home and-” “Ah don’t care about your rabbit! Jus’ stop bein’ oblivious to ma insults and be angry!” Looking at the glare from Peal, Fluttershy asked, “Umm, why are you angry?” “I’m angry because yer not angry!” “Well, being angry is actually bad for your health. Did you know that anger can increase blood pressure?” “GRRRUUGHGH!” “Oh no, was that my smart mouth again?!” Peal has been defeated. He could not find anything to say. The stallion had no insult, no reply, and no witty comment; just a clenched jaw and bared teeth. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” Big Macinosh gawked at Peal. He then leaned in toward the merchant and said in a low voice, “Don’ worry, ah am sure ma friend here with her smart mouth can fix it.” “HOW’S ABOUT YOU GO-” Peal was about to finish his sentence but his brother jumped in front of Big Macintosh. “HEY, let’s all be kind to one another an’ have a good dailyo. What do you think partner?” “Yes, I agree; kindness is good!” Fluttershy agreed as she spoke beside Big Macintosh. “Don’t you think so Big Mac?” “Eeyup.” “Well alrighty,” Par smiled. “Yall have a nice dailyo!” “Okay, goodbye,” the pegasus said with a soft farewell. Big Macintosh didn’t say anything, but gestured a nod at Par without looking at Peal. Before looking away, Fluttershy glanced at the angry earth pony that gave her a nasty stare. “Eep!” she squeaked as she carelessly bumped into the wagon Sweetie Belle was hiding in. “Oh my, where did this come from?” “Hmm, looks like the wagon from earlier…” Par said in a low voice. “What?” “Ah, don’t worry about it mam. Ah will take care of it.” Jogging around his stand, Par stepped in front of the wagon. Turning around, the colt bucked his hind legs and sent the red carriage speeding away; a scream was heard as the wagon barreled down the road. “What was that?!” “Who knows… Anyways, yall make your way on outa here and have a good dailyo!” “Okay, goodbye.” When Fluttershy and Big Macintosh were out of earshot of the two brothers, the mare asked, “Why was Peal so angry with me? Was it something I said?” “Nnope.” “What do you think Angel?” The rabbit would have replied if it weren’t for the fact that he was sleeping on top of Fluttershy’s head. "I guess he fell asleep a while ago..." Back at the pear stand, Peal was now glaring at a stack of pears, lost in thought. “Yall right brother?” “Bro?” Peal asked, ignoring his brother’s question. “What’s up?” “Umm… when was the last time ah went to the doctor’s?” “Heh, ah bet you are wonderin’ if your blood pressure is too high.” “NO! …Okay, maybe…” *** “So whatcha write down Sweetie Belle?” Applebloom said excitedly. “Did Big Mac tell off that horrible jerk face?” Scootaloo grinned. “Will you hold on?!” Slowly but surely, Sweetie Belle climbed down from the wagon and was happy to be on the earth again. “I think we need a different approach to how we get close to Big Mac and Fluttershy. When that colt kicked the wagon gave me a bad headache.” “I wouldn’t disagree…” Scootaloo replied. “Alright alright, ah will admit the approaching tactic needs some work,” Applebloom remarked. “But for now, let’s take a look at them notes.” Looking into the wagon, the unicorn pulled out the note book. “Alright, here is what I got written down…” With anticipation, Sweetie Belle’s friends bunched together in excitement on what exciting things happened at the stand. “Well… it turns out…” “Yes?” the two fillies said in unison. “…that anger can increase blood pressure.” “IS THAT ALL YOU WROTE? FACTS?!” Applebloom barked. “I thought it was important. If we are going to get our cutie marks in being detectives, we might as well learn everything we can.” “Let me see your notes,” Scootaloo asked as she stretched out her arm. Once the pegasus got ahold of what her friend wrote down, she said, “Hugh, interesting…” “What is it?” the earth filly asked. “It seems that Fluttershy can’t be offended…” “How is that important?” “Judging on what Sweetie Belle wrote, every time Peal tried to offend Fluttershy on being an animal lover, Fluttershy just took it as a compliment.” “And?” “If we can convince Fluttershy that she wants Big Mac to be her special some pony-” “She can take it as a compliment and may fall in love with Big Mac!” Sweetie Belle squeaked when she figured out what Scootaloo was trying to say. “Seems a bit farfetched, but AH WILL GO WITH IT!” Applebloom then looked at her friends; all of them had an excited look on their faces. “So now that we have a general idea on how to convince Fluttershy, let’s get a move on!” “YEAH!” The trio shouted. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER LOVE DETECTIVES ARE HOT ON THE CASE!” After the chant, Sweetie Belle asked, “So, where is Penelopy? I don’t see her on Scootaloo’s nose.” “Hardyhar, very funny…” the orange pony responded. “Anyways, she was keeping an eye on where Fluttershy and- WAGH!” A quick “zup” sound came from the sky as the wasp quickly landed on Scootaloo’s snout. “Oh there ya are!” Applebloom exclaimed. “Have ya found our fish barrel?” Penelopy nodded. “Well alright, show us where they went!”