//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Return // Story: Team Cutie Mark Crusaders // by LE_MALEM //------------------------------// Hello everyone! I'm so happy to see you again even if I haven't recieved many comments or feedback! A man can dream! Oh well I wanted you readers to guess what was Engineer's idea for the CMC to use guns, well you're about to discover it in this chapter. So without further adeu... Oh yeah, I WILL NEVER OWN MLP OR TF2. Chapter 3: Return A year later, Canterlot's castle "This vision is still haunting me! A year has passed but still...", those were Princess Celestia's thoughts right now. The vision still haunts her even at daytime. She hoped that it will be gone soon but it's still there. A mystery, an unbeatable castle this vision was. But in her heart, Celestia still hasn't lost hope for help shall come, soon... Outskirts of Ponyville On a mountain outside of Ponyville from where you can see its beauty, its beating sun and its apple trees, stood three shadowy figures. It is true that they 'stood' but their shadows couldn't be mistaken; they were ponies. "So, we have finally returned huh?" "Ah sure can't wait to see the look on their mugs. Probably they won't recognize us." "Ok, mes amies, will we proceed as planned?" "Sure we are!" "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MERCENARIES, GO!" The first pony ran as fast as she could, the third one just disappeared into thin air while the second one fiddled her hat down on her eyes and went to the direction of Sweet Apple Acers. Sweet Apple Acers As always, Applejack was bucking her trees hard. A year has passed and she didn't lose her hooves. She was doing her usual job as an honest applefarmer while Big Mac, her brother, was supervising the quotas with his fancy mathematics. Suddenly, from the biggest tree, somepony was acting strange. He or she was standing on its hinder hooves and was touching the tree with its frontal ones. He/She was mumbling: "Maybe if..." it was a mare's voice. Anyways, she passed her hoof on the tree trunk many times and then stopped and hit the tree with her frontal hoof. The whole tree was shaken yet only one apple fell onto her other hoof. She took a bite: "Mmmmmm, still as delicious as ever, and Ah was hungry to begin with..." she said "The trip sure was long." Applejack sure saw that and automatically thought that it was an applethief. She trotted into her direction: "STOP RIGHT THERE, YA APPLETHIEF SCUM!" she yelled. The other pony wasn't even fazed by that yell. She continued to chew on her apple. "Ya sure got some guts comin' here and stealin' ar apples! Now either ya pay for what ya eat or ya face the facts that ya'r gonna spend a little time in jail," but as soon as the other pony finished her apple, she put a hay straw between her teeth and said. "You sure can't handle a guest quite well here. And I thought that Ponyville was a very good and charming town," she said in a different accent as she laid her back on the tree trunk, still standing on her back hooves and chewing on her straw. Now, Applejack was beyond pissed off: "Can't say Ah didn't warn ya! Here I come!" and she charged onto the shadowed (by the tree) figure and tried to place a double buckshot on her but the stranger surprisingly blocked her with her hoof, if we say it was a hoof because it was too hard to be a hoof in Applejack's eyes. She finally laid her eyes on the stranger; she was a yellow mare with a cowboy hat on the top of her head, googles on her eyes and two crossed wrenches with an apple at the center as a cutie mark, but what was strange were her hooves: They weren't actual hooves because their extentions were covered in metallic things that seemed like claws. That's what she felt when she tried to buck her but that claw thingie moved, trying to grab her hind hooves. Applejack anticipated that by backing up. She was astonished at this weird pony who seemed to 'walk' slowly towards her. "Not bad! I really felt that!" she said with excitement, gripping both her claw thingies and smashing them in each other. "I never had actual combat since my mentors and my friends actually. Come on! Hit me with your best shot!" she taunted. Applejack gritted her teeth as anger was shown in her eyes. She took a couple of apples in her mouth, threw them and hit them with her hooves. The apples were pretty fast and pretty accurate yet the strange pony took both apples with bare 'hooved claws' but didn't crush them and eat them. "Thanks for the 'free stuff', pardner," her accent changed just right now "Ah don't need anymore apples. Ah can say Ah'm stuffed, for now." and she laughed like crazy. Applejack now realised that she was toying with her so she used her last resort. A rope came out of no where and tied one of the metallic claws. Applejack was grinning while holding the rope as if she was saying 'Gotcha now', but she received a grin back as the stranger used the other claw to pull a string on the tangled up one. A loud noise was heard from the latter claw as the rope was being ripped to shreds. "If that was you, it'll be one hell of a bloody mess right now," the stranger said as Applejack's jaw was gaping at the scene. She had used up all her techniques. She was out of ideas as the stranger was approaching her slowly. She thought that her fate would be the same as her rope. The stranger gripped her clawed hoof and raised it upon the air. Applejack closed her eyes, awaiting her unavoidable fate of... being hugged? A hug, she recieved a hug instead of a 'big mean metallic punch' in the face. Applejack couldn't believe her eyes as the stranger shed tears from her googles. "What's with fancy emotions right now? Ya tried to kill me for Celestia's sake!" those were Applejack's thoughts right now. "Aw come on, big sis, Ah know Ah can't harm mah family dammit!" this sentence stroke Applejack like Rainbow's stormcloud. Sister? "Then y'ar... no it can't be..." she was suttering. The stranger broke the hug and walked back to the tree, removed her hat, her clawed suit and put them back to a black toolbox that was behind the tree. Then she trotted back to Applejack and removed her googles. It was indeed Applebloom trotting back to her like that. She had became a beautiful adult mare with sparkling orange eyes a long crimson cross-twintailed mane (I don't know hairstyles) and her usual red bowtie. "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAW SISTER! Ah can't believe how much Ah missed ya!" Applebloom said, yelling. Applejack was in shock. Her sister came back. She couldn't believe it. She was the strongest mare in Ponyville yet she was defeated by no one... until now. She was still regretting the words she said a year ago. She cowered her head in shame. How could this be Applebloom? "Ummm, sister, about that incident that year, Ah'm really sorry for making you suffer this seperation. But Ah had to do what must be done! And Ah don't even regret it! Good to see y'all again!" she said, apologetically (sp?). "C'mon sis, don't make that face in front of me! So how bout we all forget bout the past and make one big party for our return?" Applejack was still stunned: I mean she forgave her so easily. She was happy of her choice. It was as Big Mac said: Applebloom IS indeed an adult pony right now. "Don't ya use yar fancy feelings on me! I'm a tough pony Ah tell ya, Ah'm..." and Applejack burst into tears while hugging Applebloom. "There there, sis, there there..." were the only words of Applebloom as they continued talking under that tree. At the same time, Ponyville "Ohhhhhh hell yeah! It is a good day to do some exercise!" a certain rainbow-maned pony named Rainbow Dash said (I hate you so much!) as she flew the horizons. She was flying towards Ponyville's trees when she decided to do some ground easive moves. When suddenly, an orange blur passed by her like thunder. The blur was in fact a mare trotting 'on her hind hooves'. She had some machinery attached to them and some to her front hooves as well. She was fluttering her small wings while trotting but her face couldn't be seen due to being a back view and also due to her big black helm with two black canned sodas attached to her. Still, the mare looked back to Rainbow as if she was telling 'I'm faster than you are'. This look made Rainbow furious and decided to begin the chase. She flew at max speed towards her but the orange mare was a perfect challenge since she couldn't gain any distance in this one-sided race. But then she decided to use her ultimate technique; the Sonic Rainboom. Rainbow Dash took some altitude and noticed that the orange pegasus that she strangely didn't use her wings to fly. But she didn't seem to care as she gained enough speed to do the Sonic Rainboom so that she could catch with her. She was side by side with her opponent but the latter didn't phase by the Rainboom coming at her as she trotted backwards and put her 'clawed hooves' together. "You really have a good reputation, Rainbow Dash. But it's over! BLAZING INFERNO!" flames appeared from her claws as she was bursted forward towards the mountains and reached the top with unimaginable speed: The Sonic Rainboom was beaten by a total stranger. It took time for Rainbow Dash to reach the top of the mountain by flying. She saw the orange mare now with her helmet between her hoofpits. Her cutie mark was a pair flaming wings attached to a shoe. Her mane fuchsia-colored, long and dashing backwards (Imagine Fluttershy's hair when she was licked by the manticore), her gray-purple eyes were eyeing a beaten-up Rainbow Dash with a smirk on her face. "You see now, Rainbow Dash? This is the level between you and me! Once upon a time I was only but a mere fan of you, but right now, I guess I can brag about being the fastest pony in all of Equestria, but I'm not that low y'know? It is true that I've beat you but in a flying contest, not a chance cause I can't fly!" and with those words she went to Ponyville with a blast. Rainbow Dash stared in awe: A total stranger just beat and outsmarted her by telling her she couldn't fly? That's impossible! It struck her ego like a blade. She was beyond furious and pissed off right now, boiling with rage. She decided to get to the bottom of this, no matter what. Ponyville, Carousel's Boutique (Warning, this passage's dialogue is almost all French! Translations will be supplied later!" Rarity was doing what she has done best all her life: Making new fashioned clothes. When suddenly, the door rang "Welcome..." she said but nobody entered. I guess that was a wasted welcome. "Must've been the winds! she thought closing the door. "Oh non, ma chère! Ce n'est pas que de l'air!" a Fancy stallion voice was speaking out of no where. Rarity was startled. A thief? In the morning? "M-mais qui êtes-vous au juste? J'espère que ce n'est qu'une blague!" replied Rarity "Oh mais ce n'est pas une, ma chère! Croyez-moi," This time it was a mare's voice speaking "Je suis belle et bien réele." then some clothes were being 'felt' by the voice. "Oh mais c'est de la haute couture! J'adore la haute couture. C'est si bien fait. C'est ce que j'espère de ma soeur!" "Ta...soeur? Sweetie c'est toi?" asked Rarity anxiously. Suddenly, a pony appeared before her, she had a knife and watch cutie mark and she was a spitting image of Rarity, besides the mane color which was pink and light-purple. "Yep, you guessed right, sister! Oh how I missed you so much." said Sweetie Belle with a smile. "Oh Sweetie, whatever you did right now, don't you ever do it again, darling." said Rarity as she shed some tears while hugging her sister. Her hooves were so hard when she recieved the hug back. "Oh my stars, darling, what is this monstrosity you're wearing?" asked Rarity, again. "Oh, forgive me, sister! I didn't put out my Gunslinger suit yet." answered Sweetie. "Gunslinger suit?" as a loud *thud* was heard from the direction of Sweetie. She noticed that she was walking only on her hind hooves when wearing that but now she was walking normally. "I think you got some explaining to do, darling." said Rarity. "Not now, dear sister, at Twilight's library, follow me." as she carried her suit with her, Sweetie and Rarity trotted outside in direction of Twilight's library. Finally this chapter is over! I know I focused on Applejack the most this time but in the latter chapter I focused on Scoots. Definitly looking for your comments and feedback. Thanks for reading! Sorry for the French! As I said translations will be included later. See you later for a bonus chapter!