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

by Wolfie 03

Chapter 5 Cutie Mark Crusaders Plumbers, let's a go!

It was another sunny weekend and the Crusaders were ready to start the day. They had to change their list of possible Cutie Marks twice since the day that Scootaloo first made it. They didn't stop though, and managed to come up with more ideas to try as time went on.

The Crusaders were going to be camping on their own again and couldn't wait to start on their list of things to try. And while the first time they went camping went badly, no one found out and nothing happened like that again. By this point the girls did a lot of their sleepovers and Crusading on their own, to the point that Applejack no longer felt the need to check on the fillies to be sure they stayed in the Clubhouse or out of trouble.

As an attempt at avoiding being covered in tree sap after their Crusading, Sweetie Belle was insisting they try to earn their Plumbing Cutie Marks.

“Oh come on, please? We did extreme tree climbing, extreme biking and drag racing for the last few tries to get our Cutie Marks. Can't we do another inside thing again?” Sweetie Belle pleaded with Scootaloo who was sitting on the floor with her hooves crossed.

They were in their Clubhouse and and both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were facing their peagasus friend from where they sat in the middle of the room.

“Yeah. Ah'd rather not be covered in sap and needles. If we try for our plumbin' Cutie Marks, we won't git too dirty.” Apple Bloom commented with a nod as Scootaloo sighed.

“Fine. We'll try being Plumbers.” The others cheered while Scootaloo gave a small smile.

“Ah think BigMac has the tools we'll need. Let's git them and we'll go door to door, tah see if anypony needs help.” Apple Bloom led the way to the barn to once again raid her brother's tool box.

They sneaked over to the barn once again, making sure that nopony saw them. This was more of a habit than an actual need now, they knew that the older Apple siblings were working the fields while Granny Smith was taking a nap, but old habits die hard. By now, they had memorized where each of the tools were and quickly took their pick.

Each filly took a different tool for the job, Scootaloo grabbed pliers, Apple Bloom took a wrench and Sweetie Belle picked a hammer. The other two stared at Sweetie Belle with raised eyebrows at her choice.

“What? You never know if we'll need a hammer!” This did sound reasonable, so they nodded and turned as one to head into town.

While Applejack had heard of what happened with the Timberwolf pup from when the Crusaders tried to be lumberjacks, she never heard what ELSE they were doing in the forest aside from climbing trees. This meant that none of the Apples knew who kept borrowing the tools and who had broken the ax. They merely put it down to the weirdness of the town and other great mysteries of life.

The fillies made good time to the town since they weren't loaded down with supplies this time and began their search. They didn't try the farm first since they didn't want the tools to be recognized (though it was their backup plan in case nopony else needed their help).

To help provide unity and look more professional, the girls all wore their Cutie Mark Crusader capes. This also made it easier for everypony else to see who was coming to their doors with various tools in their mouths, a very scary sight indeed (especially since it was not Nightmare Night yet).

The Crusaders couldn't find anyone who needed help with their plumbing. Some slammed the door in their faces, some gave shouts of fright at the sight of them and some didn't open their doors at all. They were just about to give up when they walked by Sugarcube Corner.

“Maybe Pinkie Pie knows someone who needs help. She knows everyone!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in excitement, cheering up the others immediately. Pinkie was always helping them, surely she could help this time as well.

The girls walked into the bakery and looked for the hyper mare.

It was a rather slow day and Pinkie Pie was inspecting the chairs, making sure they had the right wobbly-ness. Too much and a pony couldn't sit still and too little and they wouldn't be able to jump back in surprise if the need arose.

At the sound of the door opening, Pinkie Pie gave a giant leap and landed behind the counter. She then leaned against the top and wiped at the glass with a rag she had pulled out.

“Hi girls...!” The pink mare made her voice go lower in an intimidation of a barkeeper like those from old Marefia movies. “What can I do you for?”

Sweetie Belle looked at the others who shook their heads and shrugged, it was Pinkie Pie after all.

“Uhm, well, we're looking for anyone who needs help with their plumbing. Do you know anyone?” Sweetie Belle asked after she set the hammer down. Pinkie's eyes lit up and she bounced over the counter and stood in front of the Crusaders.

“Yep Yep! I sure do! It's a'me! Follow me, I'll show you the problem!” The older mare waved a hoof for the fillies to follow along while the pink baker yelled to the Cakes that she would be back later.

The Cakes didn't mind that Pinkie Pie was leaving early, it meant that they could fix all the chairs that the hyper mare had looked at. They had tried explaining before that chairs shouldn't be wobbly at all, but Pinkie didn't understand why others would want their chairs to be still all the time.

---

As Pinkie bounced along, the Crusaders' curiosity grew. They were walking away from the bakery and so far as they knew that's where the pink earth mare lived.

“Pinkie Pie? Where are we goin'? Ah thought ya lived with Mr and Mrs Cake?” Apple Bloom asked around the wrench in her mouth.

Luckily Pinkie spoke 'mumble' pretty well and understood what was being asked.

“Yes, I live with Mr and Mrs Cake. Where would I live if I didn't? Well, I guess I could see if I could stay with Twilight, but it's a little early to be thinking of that.” Three pairs of eyes blinked in synchronization at the party mare, confused as to why she would be staying with the librarian if not at the bakery.

“Ok, well, where are we going then?” Scootaloo tried the direct approach.

“Oh that's easy! My Super-Secret Party Laboratory!”

“Super-Secret what?!” The three fillies asked together.

Now they were really confused and weren't sure if Pinkie was on some crazy sugar high or not.

“My Super-Secret Party Laboratory, where I invent really cool things to help set up parties. I thought of it when I set up Twilight's birthday surprise a few weeks ago and so I asked if I could have a lab near hers and she helped me make it.”

The Crusaders weren't sure what to be more shocked at, that both Pinkie and Twilight had secret Labs or that Pinkie was being rather concise. They were half-tempted to leave this odd Pinkie Pie but they already came this far they may as well go the whole way. They conferred silently with gestures and came to an agreement, they would keep on going, no matter what!

They followed the pink mare as she went up to Golden Oaks Library and walked along until they came a quarter of the way around from the front door. A Pinkie-sized hop from the tree trunk was a cellar door, painted a dark green. The girls wondered how they never noticed it before but gave mental shrugs; some things were best left to the unknown.

Pinkie Pie opened the double doors and led the way down. Once the fillies were following the party mare down a set of stairs, the doors somehow closed on their own behind them, giving them a start. The way down was lit by lanterns in the shape of balloons (much like a certain pink mare's cutie mark) and were different colors. Luckily the colors were soft enough to be similar and didn't cause the Crusaders' eyes to hurt from the change in hues.

As they came into the underground room, the Crusaders' jaws opened in shock and their tools dropped to the floor with a clatter.

The room was two stories tall and it needed every bit of the space. There were large and small cannon prototypes that were being put together and modified on the far side of the room. There was some kind of slide tube system large enough to hold a pony that came from the ceiling and circled the room a few times before stopping on the side. A large sink, oven and fridge were to the left of the door way and on the other side of the door was a couch with large screen T.V. with at least three different game systems hooked up to it.

The room had a bright color scheme of pink, blue and yellow, and there were only a few large roots from the tree nearby that hung overhead.

The girls were in so much shock that it was only after Pinkie Pie had bounced away and hopped next to the sink that they came to their senses.

“See, I just got the water system installed and this drain put in. But it won't work. Could you guys take a look?” Pinkie wore a proud grin as she pointed to the sink and large drain underneath and in the center of the room (placed there to help cleaning up any large messes).

The Crusaders picked up their tools with a new light in their eyes as they gave a muffled yell of “Cutie Mark Crusader Plumbers, go!”

They zipped over to the sink and began to examine it. The pink mare giggled and skipped off, since they were right next to the library, perhaps she could go check out a book. Or the librarian. Whichever she found first.

---

Meanwhile, the Crusaders were adjusting all the knobs, caps and screws on the sink to no effect. In fact they turned the knobs so much that they forgot which side was 'Off'.

They got so frustrated that they started to use the hammer to try and fix it. While it felt nice to try and use a hammer to whack at the problem, it didn't help much either; though it did give the sink a more 'used' look. After a few minutes, they sat in the center of the room, panting lightly from their efforts.

They sat on the grating, wanting to check out the room as much as possible while remaining stationary. The drain holes weren't that big though the drain itself was slightly larger than the three fillies sitting in the center of it.

“Come on you guys! We can't give up! Pinkie Pie has helped us a lot, we have to try our best to help her back!” Sweetie Belle tried to rally the others.

After more encouraging statements, they were all standing once again and gave a small jump as they shouted in agreement. What they didn't realize was that since the grates were new, they weren't screwed in all the way.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom landed on one half of the grate at the same time but earlier than Sweetie Belle who was on the other half facing them. This caused the grate to tip open and the two fillies started to fall down the rather large pipe underneath. As Sweetie Belle came down from her jump, the other end of the grate that wasn't being pushed down by the two fillies came up and swatted the unicorn towards her friends, making even more weight drop onto one side of the grate. As the three fillies began to fall down the large pipe, the cover kept swinging around wildly before settling peacefully closed once more as though nothing had happened.

The Crusaders tumbled down the pipe that was almost double their size, leaving enough room for them to fall over each other and bounce around a little.

“Ouch!”

“Watch it!”

“Ooowww”

“Woooaaahh!”

The pipe finally came to an end, spitting the Crusaders into an even larger pipe that had a walkway along one side and a small river of water on the other. There were some lights along the wall, though they were not bright enough to tell what color the water was.

The Crusaders, after a moment of recovery, stood up and took in their surroundings.

“Well, Ah sure am glad we didn't fall intah that water. Don't want to know what's in it really....” Apple Bloom looked at the water, waiting for some kind of stink to waft from it.

“You know, I can't smell anything odd. Maybe they hang things to freshen up the air around here?” Scootaloo asked as she looked at the lights and walls around them, trying to find the location of the lightly floral aroma that masked the smell of the nearby water.

Sweetie Belle was looking at the pipe they came from and saw a metal wheel next to it.

“Hey guys! Maybe this is why Pinkie Pie can't get any water?” She pointed a hoof to it as the others came closer to take a look.

“Yeah! I bet they used this to keep the water off until the work was done. Let's turn it back on!” Scootaloo lead the way to the metal wheel.

Fortunately, it was close enough to the ground that by working together, they could turn in to the 'on' position.

---

Up in the Super-Secret Party Lab, a blast of water began to pour from the tap at a rapid pace. It came gushing out faster due to the 'fixing' the Crusaders did before. It began to fill the sink faster than it could drain away, groaning a little at the extra rush of water.

---

After high-hoofing each other for a job well done, they checked to see if they got anything for it. After a disappointed 'awww' from the three, they began to look for the way out.

After searching the vicinity and finding no way back up unless they tried to crawl up the pipe (which began to trickle water), which they decided was too bumpy and steep to climb. So they started to walk down the pipe instead, keeping an eye out for any ladders or stairways to the surface. As they walked, they began to argue about what they would find at the end of the pipe.

“There has to be a giant plant where they clean the water at the end!” Scootaloo stated with a nod.

“No, they use magic to clean the water.” Sweetie Belle countered with a shake of her head at the peagasus.

“No, they use science to clean it.” Scootaloo argued with a frown at the unicorn.

“No, they use magic.” Sweetie Belle also frowned at her friend.

“No, science.”

“No, magic.” Tempers started to raise at this point, each filly getting sharper with her words.

“Science.”

“Magic.”

“Science!”

“Magic!”

Just as the two fillies took a large breath to continue and shout even louder, Apple Bloom cut them off as she noticed an odd sound.

“Shhh! Gals, quiet! Do you hear somethin'?” Apple Bloom strained her ears, trying to find where the sound was coming from.

The others did as well and soon they all heard it, the sound of scratching and some kind of chirping.

“It's the magic!”

“No, it's the machines!”

“No, yah both are wrong. It's comin' from the wall.” At this all three heads turned to face the wall on their right just in time to see it crumble inwards.

The Crusaders watched in stunned silence as a hole slightly bigger than them was made by small furry creatures. The girls had never seen anything like them before (though that wasn't saying much, since they were so young).

The creatures stood on their hind legs and looked like groundhogs but a little skinner. They had coats of light brown and wore light green armor on their torsos as well as the top parts of their arms and legs. They had two shields with them (even the ones who were digging) which looked like two halves of a turtle's shell. One shield was on their back while the other half was on their left arm.

The ones who weren't digging had torches in their paws to light the way. In the middle of the front row of creatures was one that had red armor instead of green. He led the way, chatting in a high pitched voice, and was the first one to notice the fillies who had remained rooted to the spot. He let out a loud cry and pointed at the girls, who were suddenly surrounded by the small creatures. They were about as tall as the Crusaders' shoulders, but for what they lacked in size they made up in numbers.

“Hey, hang on ah minute. We jus' were lookin' for the exit, we don't mean any harm.” Apple Bloom said as she faced the creatures who circled the fillies. The girls' backs were to each other as they looked out at the creatures who were shoving their shields into their faces.

“Right, we just want to go home.” Sweetie Belle added, a little worried about the look in the creatures' eyes.

“Yeah, just let us go and we won't do anything to you....! Or, ah, we could just do as you say and all....” Scootaloo tried to act tough but she crumbled when with a click sound spikes came from the shields, making them look like half-porcupine half-turtles.

The trio gulped as after some more chatter from the leader of the group, the fillies were herded into the newly made tunnel and farther into the ground.

“Where are ya takin' us? We demand you let us go! What we ever do tah ya?” Apple Bloom tried to keep her voice steady as she demanded answers.

“Please let us go...” Sweetie Belle cowered a little, unnerved by the silence that occurred after they entered the tunnel.

“Foolish ponies. You will meet your doom at the hands of King Koopa! Long live King Koopa, huzzah!” The creature in the red armor cheered raising his shield as his fellows followed along with the cheer and momentary raised their shields as well.

“King Koopa? Never heard of him. Who are you guys anyways?” Scootaloo watched their captors closely, if they raised their shields again they may have a chance at escape.

The leader noticed the sharp eyes of the peagasus and snorted at the attempt.

“Our King is a mighty warrior, leader of the Koopas. We are taking you to the kingdom, where you shall be dealt with. Try not to escape, my little pony, we would hate to have to hurt your friends.” The red armored Koopa said with a menacing glance at the others, which caused Scootaloo to gulp and look at her feet.

---

In a library, practically a world away from the Crusaders, a pink mare was cuddling next to a purple one who was reading in the middle of the floor.

Pinkie Pie had her fillyfriend in a hug with her hooves around Twilight's neck while resting her head on the back of purple shoulders, breathing in the unicorn's scent and relaxing.

Twilight was laying on her belly with a hoof over the two pink ones giving her a hug while she read. It was almost like she had a pink blanket warming her up as she relaxed in the library. That was, until Pinkie Pie started to twitch.

Pinkie froze from her comfortable position as both her back knees became pinchy, a shiver passed over her whole body and she felt tingles in all four of her hooves that seem to pull her towards the ground.

“.... Danger from underground kingdoms? But who would …. Uh-oh!” Pinkie murmured to herself, forgetting where she was for a moment.

“What's wrong Pinkie?” Twilight asked as she looked over her shoulder at the pink mare who had sat up a little.

“Huh? Oh, uh, nothing at all! I just got to check on something, I'll see you later ok Twilight?” Pinkie gave the purple unicorn a swift peck on the cheek and trotted out the door.

“Well! I wonder what that was about.” Twilight tried not to be too disappointed at the sudden departure.

“Oh boy does she have you wrapped around her hoof, Twilight.” Spike chuckled as he moved more books around the library.

Twilight gave the small dragon a glare, she didn't like how that sounded, almost like she couldn't stand to be on her own anymore!

“What do you mean by that Spike?” Spike turned to deadpan the purple mare.

“... You built her a laboratory for just inventing party stuff. You want any more examples?” Spike raised a brow at the unicorn as he crossed his arms.

Twilight grew sheepish as she blushed and looked back to her book. She shrugged, hoping to keep her hoof out of her mouth by not saying anything else. The purple and green dragon nodded decisively before returning to his task, silence once more filling the library save for the sound of pages being turned.

Author's Note:

I can't help it, I love references! There shall be more throughout the series!

Comments

[gwg]

oh good you listened to me about the crossover tag
I must say this is a fascinating story that I can't wait to see continue

[Wolfie 03]

3157258 man, even I don't know what these girls are getting up to until the story keeps going! I know a few points that I want to hit, but half the time they take the story and run with it. Half the reason why it's so hard to keep up with them

And after thinking about it, yeah, I'm going to need the crossover tag. At least this way I won't worry about if I'm tagging it right or not.

Thanks again for all the help!

[TangoForce141]

There were large and small canon (cannon) also twilight and pinkie are mare friends?