The Adventures of the Cutie Mark Crusaders - Fillies on a Mission!

by Wolfie 03

Chapter 11 Film Stars of Applewood, here we come!

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.

Author's Note:

Couple of things: 'Shi' is chinese for yes (I've looked it up on googletranslate) and 'aya' is roughly like 'oh no' or an exclamation type of thing.

Another thing, Miyagi is canon since Big Mac knows about him in the comics

And lastly, now they are on their own, Pinkie isn't going to step in anymore (unless it's something really really really really bad or important I imagine)... I'm sure they'll know when to stop getting into trouble too

Comments

[TangoForce141]

Heh haysbro I would what station tha could be also sorry on taking so long to get to reading again sport wise last weekend really kept me occupied

[Bubbly Toast]

Okay, the whole time I was reading this, I had scenes from "The Karate Kid" flashing in my head.
"Daniel-san! Show me Wax On--Wax Off!"