Maretime Bay, Part III
Sprout closed the doors of the sheriff's station behind him, and made sure they were locked, taking a deep breath before turning around and heading down the street at a full gallop. There were some Maretimers on the roads tonight, but not nearly as much as there usually were, and that made his concern skyrocket. Right now, the one thing he wanted to do was to follow Hitch's instructions.
'Get to Sunny, tell her to get her friends out of the city to safety.'
He made his way down the coastal road, and saw the lighthouse in the distance at the top of the hill on the cliff. He saw the lights were on for both the main floor as well as the second floor. Galloping up the dirt path, he skidded to a halt at the doorstep, and pounded on the front door.
"Sunny? Sunny are you in there?" He called out, continuing to knock, signalling to the occupants that this was urgent.
Several moments later, the door was pulled open, and there stood Sunny, a half-worried look on her face.
"Sprout? Is everything okay? Where's Hitch?" Sunny asked.
"We've got a situation, and Hitch is trying to deal with it. We need to get out of here. Get your friends and let's go," Sprout told her.
"Whoa, whoa. We're not going anywhere Sprout, we have to find—"
"Sunny, maybe you don't realize what's been happening here during your little escapade, but it's not safe here, especially for your friends!" Sprout interrupted her.
By now, the conversation had grabbed the attention of the unicorn that Sprout had last seen in the station, as well as a light pink pegasus, who came up to Sunny.
"Everything okay, Sunny?" Pipp asked, eyeing their visitor carefully.
"Pipp, Izzy, this is Sprout Cloverleaf, Deputy of the Maretime Bay Police Department. Sprout, what has been going on?" Sunny asked after introducing him to her friends.
"Mom has gone off the deep end, Sunny. She's had the lighthouse under watch, so she probably knows that you brought unicorns and pegasi back to town, and the last thing we need right now is to fuel her paranoia," Sprout explained.
Sunny's eyes widened, both from wondering what 'off the deep end' meant coming from Sprout's lips, as well as the fact that he seemed to be honestly concerned with their safety. Maybe he deserved more credit than she thought.
"Sprout, the unicorns and pegasi have just as many ridiculous tales about earth ponies as we do about them. They're no threat to us," Sunny told him.
"I'll tell you what they are a threat to; CanterLogic's profits! And I don't want to think about how far mom will go to protect those!" Sprout exclaimed.
Sunny took a deep breath, and Sprout saw another pegasus, a white one, spread her wings up near the rope lift and glide down to the ground floor.
"Sprout, we think a set of crystals can prove that the three tribes were meant to be together, and we've got two out of three. We're looking through my dad's research to see if he knows where we can find the earth pony crystal. If we're right; if all of ponykind are to reunite, then confrontations with ponies like your mom are inevitable. I appreciate your concern, Sprout, I really do. But we're not going anywhere," Sunny told him, turning to Zipp. "This is the last of my new friends, Zipp Storm. Zipp, Sprout Cloverleaf, Maretime Bay Deputy."
Sunny stepped aside to let Sprout come inside.
"Sunny, you don't know what she's built. I don't want anypony hurt," Sprout continued to protest.
"We have to know what we're looking for," Sunny countered.
"I may have found something," Zipp said. "Come on upstairs."
"Help yourself to a glass of water, Sprout. You look a little wheezy," Sunny told the red stallion as she turned to follow Zipp back to the lift upstairs. Sunny pulled the handle, and the wooden platform rose up to the second floor. Once they had dug out Argyle's lifetime worth of research, they spread out to give themselves space. Zipp had opted for the spare bedroom on the second floor.
"I found a drawing of the crystals we've found, including a third one," Zipp said, coming to the open notebook on the floor surrounded by dozens of other notebooks, bound books, and file folders. On the center of the open page were the two crystals they had already collected; the pegasus crystal on the bottom of the formation, and the unicorn crystal on the top. There, in the middle, was a round white diamond; the earth pony crystal.
"Alright, well, at least now we know what we're looking for," Sunny said, just before she felt the floor beneath her hooves begin to softly, but noticeably vibrate.
"You feel that?" Zipp asked, moments before the lights went out.
Five minutes earlier...
Hitch rushed away from the sheriff's station towards CanterLogic at the fastest, steadiest pace he could, with Sprout's debrief echoing in his mind.
'Mom's been building something, Hitch. It's like she's preparing to defend Maretime Bay from an all-out invasion or something.'
Hitch didn't know what to make of that description at first, since CanterLogic had been making those sorts of defensive products for years, the most popular ones of course being the anti-mind reading cap, and the Unicorn Entrapment Device, which almost every business owner in town had installed in front of their storefronts.
What little hope he had that things were going to stay calm were quickly evaporating as he heard the echoing of a loudspeaker, moments before he felt the ground under his hooves begin to vibrate.
"What the...?" He asked himself as the vibrating only got stronger, accompanied by a growing engine noise. Just when he was ready to cover his ears, there it was coming around the corner; a large metallic pony chassis resembling none other than CanterLogic CEO Phyllis Cloverleaf, roaring forward on a pair of treads and tracks; an absolutely overkill all-terrain vehicle, and no doubt was the 'emergency defense' Sprout had just told him about ten minutes ago.
The vehicle cruised down Maretime Bay's main street away from the factory and towards the coast. He glanced back at CanterLogic to see the entrance being patrolled and guarded by memory-cap-wearing employees, before he turned to give chase to the 'Roverleaf', according to the license plate on the back. To his fear, the speed was just slightly faster than the gait of his gallop, and he saw it make a left on the coastal road, towards the lighthouse.
Part of him hoped that Sprout instilled a sense of urgency in Sunny and her friends to get out of her home and out of town, but another part of him knew that Sunny wouldn't go anywhere until they had a solid lead on the earth pony crystal.
As the sheriff chased after the vehicle as it went from the stone road onto the dirt path towards the lighthouse, he heard a metallic whirring just barely audible above the roar of the engine, and a small turret popped up on the back right panel above the track. It immediately faced him with a targeting laser, and fired the projectile it had loaded with a defining 'thunk!', and a glob of green goo was launched out of the barrel towards him.
Due to how fast he was galloping, he couldn't exactly turn on a dime. He barely evaded the first glob, but the second caught his front right hoof, causing him to nearly skid to the ground. Two more subsequent shots caught his back right hoof, effectively pinning him to the ground. He pulled, and his hooves slowly began to come loose, but he was immediately losing the vehicle as it climbed the hill to Sunny's home...
"Well, that's great, now what?" Pipp asked, turning on her smartphone's flashlight moments after the whole lighthouse had gone dark, effectively putting a halt to her searching through the small pile of Argyle Starshine's records that she had brought down to the coffee table. "Do you feel that?"
The floor had begun to shake, moments before their eyes were drawn to a brightening light source shining through the front windows. Sprout set down the glass of water he had been drinking down on the counter and headed for the front door at the same time as the unicorn and pegasus.
"Sunny Starscout!" they heard the shrill tone of a loudspeaker.
Sprout arrived at the front door, pulled it open, and was nearly blinded by the front headlights of the Roverleaf. He couldn't see beyond the lights, but he knew the voice of his mom all too well. Pipp and Izzy were right by his side as he stepped out onto the doorstep.
"Well, that's all the proof I need. Sunny Starscout, you have conspired with the mortal enemies of the earth ponies of Maretime Bay. I demand you surrender into the custody of the Maretime Bay Police Department," Phyllis demanded over the loudspeaker.
"As acting sheriff," Sprout yelled above the idling engine, stepping farther out from the doorstep. "You don't have that authority, mom. Turn that thing around before somepony gets hurt!"
Sprout heard his mom sigh over the loudspeaker built into the 'head' of the vehicle.
"I can sadly see that they've gotten to you too, sugarcube. I should have known better when you didn't take the position of sheriff the moment Hitch left. Rest assured, sweetheart, I'm not going to let Sunny or her poisonous ideals ruin everything I've built!" Phyllis screamed, moments before the engine revved up, and the Roverleaf lurched forward towards the lighthouse.
"Get back, get back!" Spout yelled, turning and quickly shoving Izzy and Pipp back into the house away from the front walls.
Sunny had just barely gotten into her bedroom after feeling her way down the pitch black hallway when she heard Sprout challenge his mom downstairs. There was no way this was going to be resolved peacefully. She squinted her eyes when she got into her bedroom, and saw the faint outline of the lantern her dad had made for her when she was younger. She stepped around her bed, and was just about to reach for the portable light source when she heard the engine outside roar, moments before there was a deafening crash. She heard wood splinter and glass shatter as the whole structure violently shook and she was knocked off her hooves. She looked up just in time to see her lantern, teetering on the edge of the shelf, fall to the ground and break.
The top projecting lens popped out of its fitting just below the handle on top, and rolled on its side towards Sunny. The structure lurched again as the lights outside moved again, and gave her a small amount of illumination through her now broken bedroom window, and she saw the lantern lens that had rolled towards her and settled in between her front hooves.
The Earth Pony crystal.
"Oh my gosh. It's here... It's here! It's here! I found it!" Sunny cried out, picking up the crystal and getting to her hooves. She would leave Phyllis to the judicial fury of one Hitch Trailblazer; right now she needed to get herself and her friends out of here...
Sprout got to his hooves, getting off of the pegasus that he had shoved back inside moments before the Roverleaf collided with the front of the structure. He looked around quickly and was grateful that nothing had come down on top of them... Yet.
"You two listen to me... The moment I say, you run for the front door... Or rather, where the front door used to be, and get out and run for the hills," Sprout told Izzy and Pipp as they got to their hooves.
"What about Sunny and Zipp?" Pipp asked.
"We're not going to do them any good sticking around here if this place could come down at any moment," Sprout replied.
The blinding headlights shifted as the Roverleaf began to back up after its initial collision with the lighthouse.
"Now, go!" Sprout yelled.
The trio ran for the gaping hole where the front door used to be. The moment they got outside, the unicorn and pegasus cut to the right, while Sprout continued towards the reversing vehicle, digging into his saddlebags as he galloped. His hooves found what he was looking for, pulling out the CanterLogic Level 3 Access badge, which he immediately put in between his teeth the moment before he leapt up onto the plating above the left track, and went for the door of the driver cabin. He nearly lost his balance as the Roverleaf stopped going in reverse, switched gears, and headed for the damaged lighthouse again. He waved the badge across the panel beside the door, and the lock indicator went from red to green. He dropped the badge and yanked the door open.
"By the authority entrusted to me by Sheriff Trailblazer, this ends now!" Sprout yelled, momentarily getting the attention of his mom as he charged towards her and the steering levers...
Hitch heard the collision as he galloped towards the cliff where Sunny's lighthouse was. As he ran under the last overpass, his fears were confirmed as he saw that Phyllis Cloverleaf's gargantuan vehicle had rammed the lighthouse. He had no idea what he was going to do to the rampaging mare, but he knew she had to be stopped, now. He rushed up the dirt path as he saw the Roverleaf reverse. He saw Izzy and Pipp run out of the house with Sprout, but where they took off towards the hills, Sprout headed right for his mom's vehicle. The sheriff saw him leap up onto the track, yank the door open, and charge in as it sped towards the lighthouse a second time. But right before a second collision was certain, he saw the whole vehicle unexpectedly lurch to the right after Sprout had dove inside the driver cabin. He wanted to let out a breath in relief, but all in the next instant, he saw the left track of the vehicle barely scrape the side of the lighthouse, and saw that it was far too late for it to stop from its new trajectory.
"Sprout!!!" Hitch screamed as he ran for the lighthouse.
The Roverleaf veered from side to side and showed no signs of slowing down as the two occupants no doubt struggled for control of the controls, moments before the whole contraption vanished over the edge of the cliff.
Hitch's heart crept up in his throat as the sickening crunching, scraping, and tearing of metal reached his ears. It felt like it went on forever, but in reality it was only a few moments before the sounds of crashing stopped with a splash of water last of all, and smoke began to rise from the cliff edge and block out the stars and moon.
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RIP Sprout.
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I know. That was a truly brave thing he did in this version of the climax. Here's hoping he managed to pull something akin to many of those old school movie serials or the climaxes of most Disney movies and make it to safety JUST BARELY in time (even if it isn't explicitly shown until the next chapter). Even if he didn't, well, going out saving lives is one of the best ways to go.
Whoa. Great job on the climax of this story. Definitely liked the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations, action (at the end) and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Really appreciated Sprout rushing to warn Sunny and the others about his mother's big weapon, even if Sunny and her friends already knew that clashes with somebody LIKE Phyllis was inevitable. And that Roverleaf came barreling down JUST as Sunny and Zipp found the Earth Pony Crystal. REALLY loved Sprout leaping inside the vehicle to fight with his mother and keep that big vehicle from hurting anybody else. That was a stunt worthy of those old school movie serials or the climaxes of many Disney movies. So, now we have a twofold cliffhanger (hoping that Sunny and Zipp managed to make it to relative safety with all three crystals and the realization on Unity [they probably did] AND hoping Sprout managed to get clear of the vehicle with Phyllis in tow [so Hitch and Sprout can book her for attempted murder and malicious fraud] JUST as the Roverleaf went over the cliff [there is a slim chance of that, but it isn't impossible]). But still, that was a downright brave act and going out saving lives IS one of the best ways to go in the event that Sprout DIDN'T make it.
Anyway, REALLY looking forward to the final chapter/final few chapters.
I hope Sprout can still swim after the crash that thing made. I wouldn't be surprised if he had to drag his mom to the shore. I woner how Sunny will activate the Cystals this time.
I was thinking tha Phyllis most likely will drive over the edge...but you did not just.......Sprout better be ok
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I'm pretty sure we'll get our answers to all three of those questions next chapter (which will be either the last one or at least one of the last ones).
I mean I'm glad that sprouts is helping out the situation
Oh shoot she here 😰
The tragedy of a 3AM EDT upload when I have work the next day. I have to find time later to read this.
She gone psycho
Yep there it is the Earth crystal
Noooooo sprout!!!!!
Oh man that was crazy well anyway sprout was heading for the lighthouse to warn sunny and the others about Phyllis coming towards here but Sunny wants to reassure him that they need to find the Earth crystal before they can get out and unfortunately they didn't have enough time because she was here hitch tried his best to catch up to the machine but got caught by the green slime meanwhile sprout had to stop his mother for making the big mistake but of course because of her paranoia she thinks she needs to destroy them so Sprout told Izzy and pipp to get out and he went to the machine to stop his mother and while the scuffle was going on inside it was heading for a cliff but before hitch could get there it fell and the robot was completely destroyed the only question is did Sprout ever got out I guess we'll find out next time and I'm a little bit worried
What does 'off the deep end' actually mean?
That can't be good!
dirt path*
Oh my god!
Wow. That ending was just... wow.
I never thought I'd be saying this, but RIP Sprout. Though I hope to God that I'm wrong on that count.
Great job with this chapter! This was excellently done!
Trying to come up with an alternate chapter title for this one. I'm inclined to pick "Deployment," but "Siege" isn't a bad one either. Or maybe something to do with Sprout being MVP here. That's some actual heroism on display, and that was certainly a disquieting place to end the chapter!
Yes, I will come up with an alternate title for every part of the Maretime Bay "chapter." Don't judge.
Could use a space there.
So basically anyone with Level 3 access can get in there? Good thing she didn't invent car keys yet.
camo.fimfiction.net/FiMjK8DHcgZG-h9uZX42tU77FW6yXoXsHUS2_ZdngdA?url=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-Aj3aw1BryJM%2FVBdZ8etXhnI%2FAAAAAAAAA10%2F47Lj56V851E%2Fs1600%2FGreen%252BRanger%252BHates%252BTrini.gif
It's OK! I'm a Power Ranger too!
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I think Sprout showed at least as much reckless disregard in the movie, and all he got was a wanted poster in TYT and community service in MYM. But we'll see.
Huh. Sprout saves the day. Who'd have thunk it?
Hitch: There's no way he could've survived that fall.
Sprout: Actually, I seem to be okay.
Sunny: Nope, he's definitely dead.
Sprout: You guys are idiots!
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Immediately gave me Red vs Blue vibes (back when RvB was good).
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Actually, I think that's Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged.
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Wouldn't be the first time two comedy series have made the same joke.
Now this whole story is how MLP:TNG SHOULD HAVE BEEN not the cop out that Hasn'tbro given us. I mean it was good (and that poor earth pony who was a victim of one
Of canterlogic's products who was seen at least two times during MLP:TNG and his relief then terror at the end were mildly funny) but this story feels better than that (ugh) movie. I liked the movie but I found it somewhat lacking. The main six cameo at the beginning but I feel Hasbro was rushed getting it out. And that showed in the movie.