Rise of the Maximals

by Jongoji245

Cosgrove's New Job\Into the Junkyard

Author's Note:

I accidentally closed my browser without saving at one point, so this may not be perfect the second time.

Edit: added a little scene at the end of this chapter because it has been in my mind for a while now.

April 14th, 2006

The sun rose once again over the Centennial State, but this day was not one of fun. Sunset was hard at work making a soup for Hydia. But this time she has become clever about it. During a visit at Sweet Apple Acres, she came across a patch of Deadly Night Shade. Eating in large doses can make the horses sick and even kill a man, but with a small amount it can be used as a sleeping drug.

"A pinch of Deadly Night Shade," - Sunset added the sample into the pot before grabbing a cup of cinnamon - "a few shakes of cinnamon, and" - she then grabs another container of chicken broth - "chicken broth should help."

"Sunset," - Hydia roared - "is that soup ready yet?"

"Coming!"

Hydia was watching her very old TV on her rugged couch when the adopted daughter brought the soup over to her.

"Ah, chicken broth!" - Hydia was about to dig in when her crooked nose caught a whiff - "And cinnamon?"

Sunset flinched, "Oh, I thought you like cinnamon?"

"Nothing is more suspicious than cinnamon," - Hydia brought a spoonful of the soup to Sunset's face - "until you try it. I won't eat a spoonful."

Sunset, knowing what she put inside, became hesitant.

"I'm not hungry." - Sunset accidentally flicked the spoon aside - "Oops!"

Hydia lurched back on her couch, "You want me to starve!" - she hissed as Sunset bent down to pick up the spoon - "An old woman for whom you owe your very life!"

Sunset placed the spoon in the soup, "I don't think it's that bad." - when she lifted the spoon out of the soup, the broth actually seeped through a few holes before she took a "sip" - "See, scrumptious!"

Delighted with this, the hag grabbed the bowl and wolfed it down, unaware of Sunset's grin. A few hours later, Hydia was out cold, much to Sunset's chagrin. After generously giving her a blanket, Sunset ran out the front door towards the school where she would meet up with her friends. Just as she was across the street when she heard the crashing of a tree. Curious, she approached the homestead, noticing the slight dull-green color scheme before a tree landed right in front of her.

"Sorry!" Tremor apologized before pulling the tree towards a dump pile

Cosgrove took notice of her before running towards her.

"What's going on here?" Asked Sunset

"Doin' a little outdoor renovation," - Cosgrove waved a hand - "somehow the estate has a massive backyard, full of dead trees, so we gathered the neighborhood and began tearing them down."

Sunset furrowed her eyebrow, "shouldn't this be way more difficult?"

"They have weak roots," - Cosgrove turned to a nearby tree - "watch."

Cosgrove quickly ran to the tree, preparing for impact...

---

August 5th, 2008

Cosgrove pushed down a tree, but not the dead tree in their backyard. This was a dead apple tree. At one point last year, a passing Big Mac took notice of the work and immediately referred them the month before now. With four more helpers, the work became much faster and by July, the tree Cosgrove knocked down was the last one needed to be removed.

"Good going there, slugger!" Applejack complemented with a pat on the back.

"It's too bad my friends aren't here today." - Cosgrove turned to the apple farmer - "So, what's next?"

Applejack scratched her head, "Well we do have something for you, but you may need to know how to ride a horse."

Getting the idea, Cosgrove leaned forward.

"Herding can be done on foot?" - he asked, receiving an answer with Applejack putting her hands in her pockets and making an uncertain face.

A while later, we view a quiet, grassy plain with a few rabbits and prairie chickens browsing. Gradually, the peace is disturbed by rumbling, becoming loud enough to cause the small animals to scatter. Soon, the field is greeted with a flock of stampeding sheep, their baying accompanying their hoof steps. To the right side, their dog Winona ran with them to keep them in line. A good distance behind, Cosgrove, all tuckered out, almost collapsed has he not used a cane to support himself. When a shadow loomed over him, he turned to find Applejack riding one of their horses.

"You win..." Cosgrove wheezed.

Applejack smiled, "Go and get yourself cleaned up, I can handle this."

With a nod, Cosgrove and Applejack moved passed each other in the opposite direction. After washing his face in an outside sink, Cosgrove spotted Apple Bloom leading an old cow out of the barn.

"Hey, Apple Bloom," - Cosgrove walked up to her - "watcha doing with the cow?"

"She's not producin' enough milk and..." Apple Bloom slowly revealed her small hunting rifle

Cosgrove rubbed the old beast one last time, "Must be hard to lose something close to you, huh?"

"We have livestock die each year," - Apple Bloom added before handing him the rope - "then we put them out to market."

"Still a noble-" - Cosgrove stopped in the middle of tying the rope to a post - "into market you said?"

"Yessum." Apple Bloom answered as she took out a bullet.

Cosgrove walked out of firing range, standing a foot to the farmer's right.

"I may have to ask Dad about this," - Cosgrove continued when Apple Bloom took aim - "but a cow like this can make a good crockpot of -"

August 16th, 2008

The following Neighborhood gathering, Cosgrove landed a steaming crock pot on the table with a loud thud.

"Kale and bovine stew!" Cosgrove finished.

The other guests took a whiff of the crockpot before Big Mac served a bowl. Granny Smith was given the bowl and ate a spoonful.

"Feels a little strange, sonny." Said Granny Smith

"Eeyup." Big Mac

"Well usually it's bison meat, but the meat store ran out." - Cosgrove waved his hand - "Otherwise it's the same recipe."

---

August 19th, 2008

By a chance accident courtesy of her two oafish daughters, Hydia found out Sunset's use of Deadly Night Shade. The adopted mother immediately had the bacon haired girl in her room, holding a bag of ice on her head.

"You've ruined me for the last time, you wretched girl!" - Hydia slammed the door, the echo ringing her ear - "Oh, my head!"

Over the wall, Cosgrove, Dapplewood, Chelsey, Zipper, Diver, Cogsworth, Flash Sentry, First base, Crescendo, and Hooflock walked along the sidewalk. The slightly introverted Hooflock amused himself when he lifted Dapplewood off the ground from time to time. Diver rubbed her hands along the wall when her hand caught the large crack, stopping her in her tracks.

"Woah," - Diver looked into the crack, the others looking inside soon after - "you know what this means?"

"Nuh uh!" - Cosgrove berated - "we are not stealing things!"

"Just a peek." Diver sucked up her ponch and shuffled inside the hole

The others waited a while before noticing Diver not coming back.

"What do you see?" Asked Crescendo

"That's the thing-" echoed Diver's voice from the crack- "I can't see."

The others looked to each other, "She's stuck."

Starting with Dapplewood, one by one they enter the crack and shuffle towards the Merpony's human counterpart. Cosgrove, Chelsey, and Zipper began pushing her.

"It's too bad your not a skinny girl," - Cosgrove applied more pressure on her - "'cause this is really difficult!"

Taking that as an insult, Diver sucked up a breath, unintentionally loosening herself and causing them to fall into the junkyard. Immediately the five youngsters pinched their noses at the awful smell.

"Pee yoo!" First Base adds "what is that smell?"

The older individuals walked out before they too flinched at the smell.

"Gyuh!" Flash Sentry glared at Diver "you happy now?"

"Not really." She answered

Getting accustomed to the smell, they explored the junkyard. Sunset, hearing the many footsteps outside, looked outside.

"Who would want to live in a place like this?" Asked Chelsey

"Hey!" Sunset beckoned their attention.

"Sunset?" Flash Sentry cocked his head "what are you doing here?"

Sunset shushed him, "Not the best place to explain, look can you guys distract Hydia so I can get out?"

Dapplewood asked with a series of hand gestures when Hooflock collapsed a pile of garbage.

"Sounds good to me." Cosgrove responded.

Sunset went to work on making a rope from her ragged covers. Outside the anti-bullying coalition force found a more musical method to their madness.

At the end of the song, Hydia slammed the door with a broom in her hand.

"Showsover." Said Zipper before he quickly ran towards the crack in the wall.

One by one, the rest of the coalition ran through. Diver, of course, got stuck and would have been whacked by the old crone's broom had it not been for them pulling her in at the last minute. After they got clean away, Hydia, gaining this new knowledge, hobbled back to Sunset's locked door.

"Sunset, you can come out now, child." - she cooed as she took out a key - "but only if you-" Upon opening the door, Hydia found the cover rope and growled - "Gone again!!!"

---

A good distance to the playground, most of them were shocked at Sunset's story.

"You have to tell my parents!" Said Cosgrove.

"How will that help?" Sunset responded.

Dapplewood answered that with a series of hand signals, calming his older friend. It's not that Sunset doesn't know how to report to the police, but with only one phone in Hydia's bed chamber, well...

A few hours later and the Man and Woman of the Thunderfoot Home walked inside to the smell of their favored dish: Kale and Bison (er, Bovine) Stew. While Clamp Jaw went to his room to change, Claire walked into the kitchen to find her sons and father in law, the first two giving an ecstatic grin.

"Happy to be a new member of Cosgrove's school?" Claire asked before getting a cup.

Dapplewood nodded before nudging his brother.

"Yeah, and so do we!" Cosgrove added.

Claire immediately dropped her cup, spilling water over the white tile floor. She turned her head to her sons, who (with Dapplewood implying so) gave a nervous chuckle as they noticed their mother's twitching eye.

"Cosgrove, Dapplewood," - the two boys turned to find their father having a firm grip on Sunset's shoulder "does this belong to you?"

Cosgrove eyed his brother before nervously saying, "Surprise."

Releasing her, Clamp Jaw and his wife sat on the chairs in front of their children.

"Children, you know better than to bring a stranger in!" Claire berated

"Sunset's not a stranger she's a-" Cosgrove was interrupted by a slam on the table.

"We're talking!!!" Clamp Jaw roared, silencing him.

As they continued, Sunset noticed Dapplewood fidgeting his fingers as a subtle sign language, announcing her cue to speak.

"They did the right thing to bring me out of that prison!"

That exclaim caught Clamp's attention as he turned his glare at her before looking back to his sons.

"Cosgrove, take your brother to your room, we'll continue this later." He ordered

Immediately Cosgrove picked up his brother and ran to his room, hastily closing the door in the process.

"Please sit down." - Clamp brought Sunset to attention before she sat down.

Tremor gently pinched her wrists, feeling a gentle pulse.

"Tell us everything truthfully," Claire added "any falsified report can and will lead to conflict with the law."

Not only was Cosgrove and Dapplewood at risk, but now she too as well. With a great breath, she told them everything, from how she did hard labor, with injuries to acclimate with them, to the description of her foul caretakers. Clamp and Claire turned to Tremor who gave a slow nod.

"Based on this account, your caretakers are deemed unfit." Clamp Jaw stated "Granted a warrant, we will provide an investigation. Now, we cannot house you under suspicion of arbitrary confiscation but we can provide a temporary household until this matter is resolved and another citizen adopts."

Claire leaned forward, "In the meantime, we advise you to take caution, should this Hydia prove even more hostile. Are we clear?"

Sunset nodded, "Yes." - as she got up to Cosgrove's room, Sunset turned around- "What should I tell your children?"

The man and wife looked at each other, raising their own eyebrows.

"Your dad said you're grounded for the rest of the month." Sunset told Cosgrove who was setting up a floor blanket.

"Better than being beaten with an old cane." He said before lying on the floor with his brother and a now much larger Schnookums.

Out of courtesy, Sunset slept on Cosgrove's Queen size mattress while her hosts slept on the floor. A few hours after turning off the light, she woke up, eying the two boys dead asleep. Dapplewood held the much larger Schnookums like a teddy bear while his brother laid on his tummy, his chin supported by the pillow. They were disturbed when they found Sunset scooting in between the sheets before giving each one of them a hug.

"Thank you so much." She said with a sniffle.

"Oh, anything for a friend." -Cosgrove yawned- "and maybe when this is over, we can find where you came from..."

Sunset became puzzled, "Where I came from?"

Cosgrove was already dead asleep, and so too is Dapplewood holding the monitor lizard once more. Looking up at the ceiling, Sunset curled a smile before entering tonight's slumber.

August 20th/2008, around 5 AM

It was the smell of burnt coffee that slowly awoke the flame-haired girl from her sleep. Looking out the window, the night sky was starting to become purple. Looking at the cuckoo clock, school would not start until eight. Looking to her left and right, Cosgrove and Dapplewood have been noticeably displaced, the former now on his back one foot away and the latter lying on top of Schnookums. How the monitor lizard puts up with this, Sunset didn't know.

Her ears did pick up a muffled conversation. Rising on her feet, Sunset tiptoed across the room, gently pressing her head on the door.

At the other side, the conversation in question was coming from the kitchen. Clamp Jaw and Claire sat across the table from Night Dancer, having been called in earlier this morning.

"How long will this be?" Asked Night Dancer.

"At least until Detective Horsetails turns up any evidence regarding Sunset's biological parents." Clamp Jaw answered.

Sunset arched her head back after hearing that before placing her head back on the door, holding an index finger between her teeth.

"This is a very serious matter," Claire leaned forward "we can choose another probable foster parent."

Night Dancer looked at her hands as she shuffled her fingers one after the other before looking up and answered, "I will be honored to look after her for the time being."

Just after saying that, a loud thump was heard, drawing their attention towards the boy's room. A quick peek from the father showed everything to be normal. But in truth, while she laid by her side with her back to the door, Sunset had her eyes open, excited about the possibility of seeing her parents for the first time.