Chapter 16 The Mild West
The Cutie Mark Crusaders only had two weeks before school started again and wanted to visit one last place; the question was, where were they going to visit?
“Ah say we go north!” Apple Bloom stomped a hoof onto the wooden floor of the Clubhouse to emphasize her point.
“No, we should go south!” Scootaloo stomped her own hoof as she glared at the earth pony.
The two friends had been fighting since it was decided to go to one last town; they wanted to be unpredictable and change the direction of their travels but couldn't decide which way. Once they went to one more town, they were going to figure out how to keep visiting their martial arts teacher for more training during the school year; the start of which was fast approaching.
Sweetie Belle sat in the middle of her two friends and shook her head at the meaningless fight.
“Why don't we flip a bit for it? You can call out the side and we'll go with winner's choice?” At the rather reasonable way to end the fight, the two others nodded along and watched as Sweetie Belle got a bit ready for the toss.
Once she saw that everything was set, the gray-white unicorn threw the bit high into the air as the fillies called out the sides they wanted.
“Heads!” Apple Bloom shouted as soon as she saw the bit leave the gray-white hoof.
“Ugg, I wanted heads... Fine, tails!” Scootaloo pouted for a moment before all three settled to watch the bit as it bounced around their clubhouse, its momentum causing it to ricochet off the walls and table.
After a few seconds the bit rolled along the ground before landing tail side up, to which Scootaloo hoof-pumped in joy.
“Yes! To the south!” Apple Bloom was annoyed for a moment before turning thoughtful.
“What's in the south?” At this the two other Crusaders paused from their plan making as they realized that they didn't know all that much of the southern portion of Equestria.
“I guess we should get a map to see if there is anything down there before we go.” Sweetie Belle led the way out of the clubhouse and into town; she figured that the library or train station would have such a map. As the trio headed for the library first (since it was less suspicious to look-up information there), they came across a pink mare bouncing her way along the road.
“Hey Pinkie Pie!” At the three voices calling her name, the baker paused in mid-bounce until she spotted the Crusaders and allowing gravity to resume, bounced over to the trio.
“Hey girls! You having lots of adventures? You may have a future in pyrotechnics with the kind of explosions you caused!” The trio were surprised at this comment and checked their surroundings rapidly before leaning towards the older mare in suspicion.
“How'd ya know about explosions?” The three girls watched closely, concerned that the gig was up before they even started.
Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, just smiled and waved away their fears.
“Don't worry, nopony else knows what you've been doing. Where are you heading this time?” The trio weren't sure what to make of the older mare not answering their question but decided to go along with it anyways.
“We're heading south; but we don't know what's south of Ponyville.” At the mention of 'south' the hyper mare's eyes lit up in excitement.
“Oh! There's lots of things to the south! There's E.U.C.C., Dodge Junction and Apploosa!” The girls shared a confused look at the letters and tilted their heads in unison before asking, “E.U.C.C.?”
“Yup! It's a college that grew so big that it became a town! There's tours for it and everything!”
“Huh?”
“Yep yep! It was really fun! Some ponies in town went there too, like Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody!” At the mention of two famous musicians the girls started to wave their hooves to the pink mare to get her to slow down so they could question her.
“Wait, so Dj Pon-3 lives here, in Ponyville?” Scootaloo asked with growing excitement. At Pinkie's nod of agreement the pegasus turned to her friends with a smile on her face.
“We should try to be DJs!” The others liked the idea but they were already on their way to try something.
“But Scootaloo, we're already gonnah go travlin' today; before school starts remember?”
“Oh yeah; ok, we'll try that some other time then. So there's three places to the south?”
“Yeah and Ah got family livin' in Apploosa.” Apple Bloom pointed out in an attempt to remind them about not getting caught, something they didn't get as Pinkie Pie interrupted.
“Yeah and they make the yummiest pies! Maybe you could learn to cook them? And the buffalo are really nice too!” Pinkie Pie started to drool at the thought of the aforementioned pies but reminded herself of the reason why she was heading to the library. The librarian was going to get a surprise party and it was going to be the first in the field test for the pink mare's latest creation, the party cannon!
The Crusaders started to imagine possible wild west Cutie Marks and it wasn't until they thought of the train ride did they snap out of their daze.
“But Pinkie Pie, mah sis' and y'all were gone for two days when y'all visited Apploosa. How're we gonnah get there and back before anypony notices we're gone?” Apple Bloom looked to the older mare who wasn't the least bit worried.
“We took the slow ride last time to make sure it was a smooth and safe trip for Bloomberg. You can take the express and get there in two hours, easy peasy.” The fillies' faces cleared and they grinned in anticipation.
“Thanks for the help Pinkie Pie!” Sweetie Belle said on behalf of the others as they raced out of town to get ready for their trip.
Pinkie Pie waved to them before continuing her way to the library; she had to make sure the three month anniversary party was one to remember.
After gathering the needed bits, supplies and their capes the girls went to find an express train to Apploosa. It seemed that most trains were express lines unless somepony needed to transport certain or large objects and trio were soon on their rapid way south. It was just a little before noon which meant they would have plenty of time before they were expected back home.
The girls watched with interest as the scenery around them changed from rolling green hills and forest to one barren of plant life and filled with sand. Just as they edged past a tall ridge the land opened up revealing an apple orchard with a path winding through it, which some buffalo were currently running on.
The Crusaders had never seen buffalo before and watched as the train passed a group of them before coming to a stop at the train station in the desert town. As the trio disembarked they felt the dryness of the air around them as they looked at the town before them.
The town was made up of one and two storied buildings along with stores that had half a floor over top of the business as well as large signs describing what it was for. While the main street had mostly shops, along the edges and further beyond the main road were more houses and new buildings being made as the town grew.
While most of the townsfolk wore large hats to protect them from the harsh sun, it didn't stop Apple Bloom from recognizing by sight if not by name her kin that lived there. Before Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle came out of their daze, they found themselves sheltering a nervous earth pony.
“What's wrong?” Sweetie Belle turned to face Apple Bloom as Scootaloo kept an eye out for trouble.
“It's mah kin! An' if Ah can recognize 'em then they're bound tah know me! Ah knew it was a bad idea tah come here!” Scootaloo rolled her eyes as Sweetie Belle looked to her for help.
“Look, maybe they recognize you now but what if we got you a hat? We're wearing our capes, with a hat no one will be able to see you right away.”
At the suggestion Apple Bloom perked up slightly before following closely behind her two friends who found the nearest convenience story to buy a cowpony hat for the green-yellow filly. It was a large red one so that it went with their capes, making it less obvious to others who it was and wouldn't attract extra attention.
Once that was settled (along with a firm promise to avoid the Apple family) the trio went off in search of places to learn how to cook the famous Apploosain pie. They asked around town and found that the best pie bakers were the Apple Family; it was with great reluctance on Apple Bloom's part that they found some ponies who would teach them.
They managed to keep their capes on for the lesson and got right down to it; at first they tried pies, then cupcakes, then cookies, then pancakes, but nothing came out right. The pies fell apart, cupcakes exploded, cookies burnt and pancakes were slimy goo; it was all exponentially better than Sweetie Belle's attempt since as a last resort she tried to make juice only to end up with a cup of black sludge. Nopony was sure what happened; one moment Sweetie Belle was squeezing the fruit to make it, the next she was pouring it out of a frying pan into a cup.
The two professionals stared at the mess before pointing to the exit with a glare at the girls. The trio filed out slowly as they hung their heads in sadness at another failed attempt at getting cutie marks.
As they stood in the middle of the road, they noticed a building with a large salt shaker on it. Curious as to what kind of store had that for a sign, the fillies entered the bar.
Luckily the townsfolk were friendly and the bar reflected this, though the girls did receive many stares at their entrance. They trotted up to the counter and were just barely able to pull themselves up on the stools to look at the stallion behind the counter. The barkeeper, Mortan Saltworthy, eyed the foals skeptically.
“A little young to be in here aren't you girls?” The girls looked at one another in confusion before looked back at the well dressed stallion.
“What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked defiantly, knowing that they needed to give the right kind of image least they not be taken seriously.
“This is a bar, where grown-ups go to get something to drink. You three probably don't even have your cutie marks; ain't no way you're old enough to be here. Go on home now young'uns.” The bartender pointed a hoof to the exit as the Crusaders sat up in the indignation.
“We can too be here; we can do anything you can! We aren't bothering anypony!” Sweetie Belle stated with a cracking voice which didn't help their case as some of the stallions in the room laughed at the sound. Morton shook his head before giving the girls a serious look.
“You are too young; do I need to get the Sheriff Silverstar to escort you three home?” At the threat of being forced home the girls shook their heads rapidly and jumped down before leaving The Salt Block.
As the door was closing the trio heard Morton tell somepony to fetch Silverstar to make sure the Crusaders stayed out of trouble. They shared a panicked look before taking off further into town; hoping to either get lost in the crowd or find a place to hide for a while; they only got to try one thing so far after all.
As they walked through the small market place (most of the goods for sale being in buildings to protect from the heat) the girls realized that their capes gave them away as they saw an older stallion with a black hat and blue vest with a silver star on it catch sight of them occasionally before they slipped away in between buildings to lose the stallion.
They soon came to the conclusion that it may have been better to hide in the orchard then in town and made their way carefully around the small town to the orchard on the east side. They hid behind trees as they could but became distracted when another wave of buffalo passed through. As they watched, a much smaller buffalo broke off and walked over to the fillies in curiosity, never having seen ponies that small before.
As the Crusaders tried to decide between running or staying, the light orange-brown buffalo waved a hoof to the girls.
“Hello, I have never seen ponies as small as you before; are you new around here? I'm Little Strongheart, who are you?” Little Strongheart watched the trio realize that they were less likely to get into trouble with buffalo, unfreezing and grinning back.
“Hi, I'm Scootaloo!”
“I'm Sweetie Belle!”
“Ah'm Apple Bloom!”
“And together we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” The trio remembered at the last moment the need for staying hidden and managed to merely state that they were the Cutie Mark Crusaders instead of shouting like they usually would.
Strongheart looked at them curiously, never having heard of such a thing and didn't know about Cutie Marks.
“That sounds very interesting; I would like to hear more, but I am stampeding currently.” At the sight of the disheartened fillies, Little Strongheart tried to cheer them up with an offer not usually made to pony kind. “Would you want to come and tell my village about it?”
The girls leapt from the ground as they wore large smiles at the chance of seeing a buffalo's village. After a quick nod of agreement the three fillies joined their new friend in the run, passing by some of the townsfolk without notice and joined the other buffalo at their village of cloth tents.
Little Strongheart gave the trio the tour as they asked questions before settling down at the unlit fire pit. The girls soon had a large crowd as they explained their mission and about ponies in general; while the buffalo had been getting along with their neighbors, it was seen impolite to ask about such things.
The Crusaders didn't find any issue with their questions and kept up a steady stream of explanations. By the time supper rolled around the fillies got the chance to learn a little about the buffalo as they were treated to an interesting meal of indistinguishable color and texture (had they not seen Sweetie Belle's cooking, they may have turned down the offer). During the explanation of some of their history and traditions a brown buffalo with two feathers by his left ear ran up to the Chief who was giving the presentation to the fillies.
“Chief, it's the Dogs; they came back to town demanding that we leave.” The Chief sighed before choosing two of his strongest to accompany him to town to meet with the dogs. The fillies turned to Little Strongheart with confusion all over their faces, not understanding what was going on now.
“A pack of Diamond Dogs have been coming to town trying to buy this land for the past month. When we wouldn't sell, they have started to threatening us and the settler ponies instead.”
At this news the girls frowned at one another; that didn't sound like what other Diamond Dogs would want to do.
“Little Strongheart, are you sure that it's Diamond Dogs who are bothering the town and the buffalo?” Sweetie Belle asked to which the young buffalo looked confused in return.
“Yes, why do you ask?”
“Because we've seen and met other Diamond Dogs and they liked to dig. Coming all the way out here, not being near any mountains, not going for gems, doesn't sound like Diamond Dogs.” Scootaloo stated flatly as the others nodded to her claim.
“Can we go with the Chief tah see them?” Apple Bloom asked as the three fillies tried to plead with puppy eyes, which didn't really help Strongheart's confusion; she wasn't in charge of them and they could do as they wished, why would they need to ask permission?
“Of course you may head back to town with us, why would you not be able to?” The girls couldn't respond as they realized that they didn't really have to answer to anyone out so far from home and just shrugged.
The Chief also had no issue with the fillies coming along and soon they found themselves back in town by the train station where a crowd had gathered to watch the confrontation between the settlers, buffalo and the Diamond Dogs.
The Crusaders checked that the cost was clear of any Sheriffs who would want to send them home and began to sneak through the crowd to reach the front to see these 'dogs'. As they pushed past the taller and older citizens, trying to follow in the swath made by the four buffalo, they came across a familiar filly.
“Why aren't we surprised tah see ya Eripio?” Apple Bloom whispered to the green unicorn who turned with little surprise on her own face as well.
“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo! My, what a not-surprise!” As Eripio called loudly to the fillies she drew attention to them from the crowd, especially from the Apple Family present.
“SSHHHhhhh!” The trio tried to silence their friend who noticed that something more was wrong by their actions when a yellow stallion walked over to confront the four fillies; though it was more to confront a certain green-yellow filly than any of the others.
“Cousin Apple Bloom? Well hey cousin! Fancy finding you here; is Cousin Applejack around too?” Braeburn asked as he began to search the older ponies for Applejack's hat and colorization. Eripio raised a brow to the Crusaders who gave wavering smiles in return as Apple Bloom responded to her cousin.
“Well, ah, hey Cousin Braeburn. Uh, yeah, Applejack's around here somewhere, ah, we just uh, lost her in the … Crowds, yeah, lots of ponies here. What's, ah, what's goin' on?” Apple Bloom tried to distract the golden and orange maned earth pony from his search and was successful for a moment as he led the way to the front to help show what was happening.
“These Diamond Dogs want this here land and won't take no for an answer. Now they're threatening the townsfolk and the buffaloes to try and get us to leave; it just ain't fair, we are finally making great progress with the buffalo and everything.” The four fillies turned to face the front and saw four Diamond Dogs talking with Chief Thunder Hooves and Sheriff Silverstar.
The dogs looked slightly different from the ones the Crusaders ran into before; while three were roughly the same height being a pony and a half tall with black fur and short muzzles, the one who was doing the talking on their behalf was only slightly taller than the Sheriff and had reddish-brown fur with a longer muzzle.
As Braeburn walked up to stand next to the Sheriff, the girls began to mutter to one another about what was going on; mainly the sight of red bands of cloth around each of the Diamond Dogs' right fore-leg.
“They really are Diamond Dogs...” Apple Bloom looked to the others as a frown appeared on their faces; the features of the dogs were right, the actions they were doing were not.
“They must be really hot since they have black fur; why would they want a desert town?” Sweetie Belle noted as the dogs fidgeted in place; even though it was late in the day the heat was still harsh.
“There aren't any gems to be found around here, what can they be doing here? And that red cloth looks suspicious.” Scootaloo added with a nod to which the other Crusaders nodded; it looked almost exactly like what the pirates of Baltimare wore along with the rest of their pirate-y outfits.
Eripio could hardly contain her amazement; the girls had once again found the trouble without outside help and already know about the kind of creatures they were dealing with.
“Alright you guys, any ideas of what's going on? You're making me look bad, coming up with everything ahead of time.” Eripio smirked to show she was teasing with her last comment, though her quest for knowledge was true enough.
The trio quickly checked that nopony was paying attention to them before ducking down and waving for Eripio to follow along.
“We'll tell you what we know, but not here. Apple Bloom has a LOT of family around town; we have to go into hiding.” Scootaloo whispered as they started to edge their way out of the crowd to the nearest hiding place, under the train station platform.
Eripio raised both brows at this but knew she would have to go along with the 'sneaking' until the girls felt it was safe. Once they were hidden away and keeping an eye out for anypony who might notice them, they turned to their friend and explained what they knew; the situation at hoof, who and what are Diamond Dogs and how every other pony in Apploosa was part of the Apple Family.
“Gosh, aside from how much is happening in a small settler town, you've got a large family Apple Bloom; it sounds as big as the Rescue Clan. And they're all farmers? That's pretty interesting.” Eripio watched the crowd as the two groups were still 'talking' with one another.
“Ah don't think how big mah family has tah do much with this here problem. It just don't make sense fer the Diamond Dogs tah be here at all.” Apple Bloom glared at the ground before glancing up at the platform as they heard hoofsteps above them.
“Now where did my cousin go?” Braeburn's voice drifted down as he searched the now dissipating crowd for the fillies.
“Who is it you are searching for?” The girls gave startled jumps at hearing Little Strongheart with Braeburn; she knew who they were and was actually with them before they came back to town, making it very likely to give away what they had been doing.
“Oh, my cousin Apple Bloom and her friends; I can't find my other cousin Applejack, who's Apple Bloom's sister by the way, and wanted to check with Apple Bloom about it.”
“Oh, I met them! They were visiting my village before returning to town when we heard the Diamond Dogs had came back; I don't think Applejack was with them. At least, they did not mention that she came as well.” Little Strongheart frowned slightly as she thought about if she had seen the orange mare or not.
“That's mighty odd. Well, it was nice seeing you again Little Strongheart but I have to find my cousin and make sure she's not getting into trouble. Have a good afternoon.” Braeburn tipped his hat as he smiled to the young buffalo who smiled back as she dipped her own head in response.
“Yes, have a nice day. I will let you know if I find them.” Little Strongheart went to follow the other buffalo back to their village while keeping an eye out for the fillies.
Once the four girls knew that neither of them were nearby they resumed their conversation.
“Alright, how about this? You guys go follow the Diamond Dogs and find their hideout; they may go over their plan and we can figure out how to stop them that way. Meanwhile, I'll go around town and see what resources and valuables they may have that the Diamond Dogs would want. We'll meet back here in a few hours, sound like a plan?” The Crusaders were impressed with the speed of Eripio's plan making and nodded before heading out; the 'talks' having been over meant that they had to try and catch up with the Diamond Dogs quickly while still being sneaky.
As the Crusaders began their part, Eripio crawled out from under the platform and started her own search, determined to prove that she knew how to help towns as well.
The trio were in luck, all the afternoon heat still hovering in the air meant that the dogs hadn't gotten too far in their travels northwest from the town. They followed behind them, crawling from rock to rock that dotted the landscape as the four Diamond Dogs continued traveling until they came to the edge of the ridge and entered into a cave there.
The girls snuck up and hovered on the outside; listening as the dogs spoke with someone else about the recent encounter with the townsfolk. It helped that the cave echoed the voices, meaning the girls didn't have to worry about heading further inside to find out their plan.
“So, settler ponies and buffalo still do not want to give up their land?” A deep japaneighes voice asked while the dogs whimpered.
“No, even after we destroyed some of the town the night before they still will not move away.”
“Then we continue with Tono's plan; take the explosives we have gathered and start to set them up at the mouth of the river that feeds the town. Let us see how long they are willing to stay if they cannot drink. We set them off in the morning, so that the settlers and buffalo can watch the water dry up before their very hooves.” The deep voice chuckled darkly as the dogs started to scamper around the cave.
At the sound of more movement, the girls retreated to hide behind the rocks in case the Diamond Dogs exited the cave for their plan.
“We gottah tell the others about this!”
“Let's head back into town and warn Eripio!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo suggested similar ideas at the same time, causing them to pause and work out was said. When they realized they were in agreement of telling someone about it, they all nodded and tried to retreat rapidly while still remaining hidden.
“Wait! We have to remember how to get here again for when the guards come to arrest the ones responsible!” At Sweetie Belle's suggestion, they girls started to try and memorize as much of the landscape as they could while they made their way back to town; even going so far as to make arrows pointing the way that would be hidden by rocks over top to help make sure of the direction.
What they hadn't noticed was that the trip out had taken well over two hours by hoof, and while returning meant they didn't have to hide as much they still had to mark their path and keep out of the dogs' sight. By the time the Crusaders managed to reach Apploosa once more it was well past their meeting time with Eripio who had begun to fear the worst for her friends; before she could actually leave the hiding place to cast a locating spell she noticed three caped figures sneaking their way to the train station.
Eripio wasn't sure if she should tell her friends that the capes did NOT help their sneaking and only made them stick out worse than before or to just be amused at their attempts and logo. They seemed really attached to the capes with the bright colors and design, which would make it hard to convince them of who much it gives them away; the hat Apple Bloom still wore also didn't help matters.
“Am I glad to see you guys! What happened out there? What took so long? Did you find anything?” Eripio couldn't hold back her questions as the trio plopped onto the ground exhausted from their trek.
Eripio noticed this exhaustion and raced to bring them water and something to eat after the long trot. Once the Crusaders had a little something inside them they were able to relay what they had learned out in the desert.
They watched as Eripio took this new information and added it to what she had already gathered; they didn't have to wait too much longer before the purple maned filly explained what the Diamond Dogs were after and now planning to do.
“Well, as you guys traced the dogs to their hideout, I searched around town and found a few interesting facts. It seems that the town had just opened up a salt mine that is showing tremendous profits aside from their literal fruits borne of their hard labor, the apple orchard. The mine is a recent discovery, but as soon as word got out about it the Diamond Dogs showed up trying to buy the whole thing and all the land around it. Since they can't get their way by 'peaceful' means, they plan to make the settlers and buffalo leave by taking away the one sure fire water source.” While the Crusaders nodded along for most of the explanation, at the mention of water source they became confused; they hadn't really understood what the Diamond Dogs and their boss had meant either when they said it.
“Why would they go after a river? Isn't there more water elsewhere?” Sweetie Belle asked as they stared blankly back at the other filly.
“.... You know that in a desert there isn't much water right?” Eripio felt ridiculous for asking but was starting to feel confused as well.
“Of course we know that! We rode the train here; we saw there wasn't much water IN the desert, but what about around it? Or near it? There was a river we rode over on the way here, what about that one?” Scootaloo asked after rolling her eyes at Eripio while the others looked mildly insulted by the question the filly had posed.
“That's just it, the river that runs into the orchard? It's from that river you guys crossed on the way here. The settlers had made the river that now runs through town and if these Diamond Dogs and whoever their boss is are going to blow up the beginning part of that river, it would take much longer for everyone to get water to drink let alone feed apple trees with.” As the green filly explained the Crusaders' faces cleared of confusion only to be replaced with horror at the thought; Apple Bloom, being an almost full time farmer herself, especially felt the pinch of pain for the trees and all the work put into them.
“It's probably why the buffalo stamped all over the place; they needed to get to the water source and then to their food source and all....” Eripio trailed off as the determined glint came into the girls' eyes, causing the green unicorn to smile back.
“You want to take them down yourselves?” Firm nods from the girls made Eripio smile even more. “Well then, let's get down to business.... You need to stay hidden out of sight from family while you do all this, and it's much to dangerous to try and trek through the desert at night without supplies, we can get lost very easily and be in real trouble. Yep, I want to come too; last time you guys got all the fun.” Eripio smirked at the surprised but pleased faces of the others when she said how she wanted to go with them; it wasn't as interesting to get help when one had the Cutie Mark Crusaders to help instead.
“You said that they were going to set off the explosives in the morning right? So we'll gather all the supplies for the trip out there and sleep for half of the night in order to make it in time. I'll book us a room and you guys gather the supplies; I'll meet you behind the motel to let you into the room so nopony will know you're there. Then, in the middle of the night, we'll head for the source of the river either in time or just before the Diamond Dogs can set it all off.” The Crusaders listened intently to the plan and once Eripio gave the all-clear signal, they shot out of the hiding place to start gathering the supplies.
First they bought what they could for food; light dry stuff that would be fulfilling but easy to carry. While it was getting to be late in the night, the store clerk was kind enough to wait until the fillies made their selection and paid for it all. Then they went to the river and made sure all their canteens (plus some extra) were full for the trip through the desert. Once that was done, they found Eripio waiting just like she said and shared the single bed of the motel room.
They would have had trouble falling asleep but they had Eripio to constantly remind them (even as she was holding back laughter) to go to sleep as well as the need to remain quiet to stay hidden. Luckily, it was only 8pm by the time they did fall asleep, meaning they were able to get some rest before starting their next adventure.
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Hey Wolfe you forgot to in-underline where in the first para.
Also I would love to say my name is TangoForce
3538011 sure thing, I wasn't sure about username type of things.
Thanks for the help and all
3538026 Yup no problamo.