Flash Fog

by Kwakerjak

September 2 – 12:46 PM

Not surprisingly, Pinkie Pie didn’t seem particularly worried upon learning that her party would need to continue for a few more hours: “Now there’s time to break open both piñatas!” she squealed as she she grabbed Applejack in a bear hug before galloping through the crowd towards one of the back rooms. Now left to her own devices in the doorway of the bunker’s main hall, Applejack decided to take the opportunity to check up on her little sister. Apple Bloom had been unusually grumpy about attending the party, which was a little odd, since Pinkie Pie was throwing it, but Applejack had just assumed that her sister had really been unhappy with her lack of any choice in the matter, rather than having any genuine belief that the party would be boring. Still, it would probably be a good idea to take some time to touch base with the Crusaders, if only to make sure they weren’t hatching some harebrained scheme out of boredom.

Applejack scanned the room, and a smile appeared on her face as she looked at all the joyful foals playing assorted games and generally having a good time. She didn’t see her sister’s large, pink ribbon sticking out from the crowd, but for all she knew, that just meant that the Crusaders were off in a side room. Wow... Pinkie’s really outdone herself this time, Applejack thought to herself as her eyes settled on the massive bounce house, which was obviously the most popular attraction at the party. Applejack strolled towards the elastic edifice to all things fun; if anypony would have a clue as to the Crusaders’ whereabout, it would probably be the pony supervising the inflatable structure... who turned out to be an unexpectedly familiar face.

“Howdy, Pencil,” Applejack said once it seemed that the bureaucrat’s duties weren’t taking his full attention.

“Oh, hello, Ms. Applejack,” Pencil Pusher replied. “How are things going outside?”

“Pretty good, all things considered. We’ve had to take a few ponies to the hospital, but so far there haven’t been any unexpected bumps in the road, if ya know what I mean.”

“I think I do,” Pencil replied with a nod.

“How about you, then? I take it watchin’ a bounce house is foal’s play compared to what Fluttershy’s had you do over the last few days.”

“Compared to that, yeah... though I have to admit that I never expected to have a heart-to-heart with a lovesick dragon.”

“Beggin’ your pardon?”

“The little purple guy,” Pencil Pusher said as he waved a hoof to another corner of the room, where Spike was officiating a limbo contest. “Apparently, he’s got his sights set on Ms. Rarity, and for some reason, he thought she was interested in me. Can you believe it?”

Applejack didn’t answer right away; she wasn’t certain that this was the time to reveal just how much she knew about Pencil Pusher’s own romantic goals. Eventually, she settled on an old Apple family standby: the “technically true” statement. “Yeah, I s’pose I can believe it. Say, you wouldn’t happen to have seen my sister and her friends around, have you?”

“I might have,” said Pencil. “What do they look like.”

“Yellow earth pony, white unicorn, and an orange pegasus. No cutie marks.”

“Hmm...” Pencil rubbed his chin as he went over his recent memories. “You know, I think I did see them. They all took a turn on the bounce house soon after the party started. I remember because the pegasus wasn’t too happy that the unicorn didn’t wait for the other two. I don’t think I’ve seen them since, though.”

“Swell,” Applejack said as she rolled her eyes. “Where’d you last see them?”

“I think they were headed towards the exit. I’m not sure why, though. The door’s being watched to prevent anypony from getting out without authorization.”

“I see...” Applejack said. Sounds like those three were up to something. “Well, I s’pose I’ll just ask the guard pony where they went. See ya later, Pencil.”

However, talking to the guard pony turned out to be a bit more complicated than Applejack had anticipated, because the pony at the bunker’s entrance wasn’t the one who’d been there when the Crusaders were last spotted; indeed, hardly anypony had seen Derpy Hooves at all since she returned to the party from her shift at the door. This wouldn’t have bothered Applejack too much in itself, except she hadn’t found any sign of the Crusaders, either. Admittedly, there were several plausible explanations for their apparent absence, but with the possible exception of some variation of “hide and seek,” none of them were pleasant. They’ve probably managed to find some doohickey Bon-Bon keeps down here, Applejack reasoned. And I bet they’re off in some empty room tryin’ to “earn” their cutie marks again.

Of course, she didn’t exactly have all day to find the wayward trio, so Applejack decided to cut to the chase and just ask Pinkie Pie about it. The ever-cheerful pink pony stopped fussing over a massive pair of papier-mâché changelings long enough to tell her that she hadn’t noticed the Crusaders in all the hustle and bustle of the party, but that Derpy was recuperating from a mysterious stomach malady in one of the quieter side rooms.

Indeed, Applejack found the grey pegasus lying on a rollaway bed in the room Pinkie had pointed out to her. “Uh, hey there, Derpy,” she said.

“Oh, hi, Applejack,” Derpy replied as she tilted her head in the earth pony’s direction.

“Er, I heard you had a little stomach trouble a while back. You feelin’ up ta talkin’ at the moment?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Derpy replied as she ascended to a sitting position. “It’s really all the noise of the party that’s giving me trouble right now more than anything with my tummy.”

“Uh, okay. Don’t worry, this’ll be pretty quick. Have you seen my sister an’ her friends? Last anypony saw ’em, they were headed up the stairs to where you were.”

“Oh,” Derpy replied as she abruptly broke eye contact (at least, Applejack had the impression that the eye that had maintained contact had done so of its own accord). “Um, well, I guess I did see them. It was near the start of the party, right around the time I let Twilight Sparkle’s dragon friend in.”

“You mean Spike?”

“Yeah,” Derpy nodded, but then she hesitated, apparently unsure how to continue. “They, er, wanted to bring me something, since I was by myself while the party was going on.”

“Really? That was mighty nice of them. What’d they get ya?”

“Um, a blueberry muffin.”

“Sounds nice,” Applejack said. “So, you got any idea where they got off to after they were done talkin’ to you?”

“N-Not really.”

Under normal circumstances, this answer might have been satisfactory, but the obvious wavering in Derpy’s responses suggested that there was something being unsaid. “Derpy... is there somethin’ you’re not tellin’ me?”

Derpy swallowed hard, and after a few moments of hesitation, she began explaining things more clearly. “Well, you see, after I ate the blueberry muffin, I sort of had that stomach problem that you heard about. It was... well it, wasn’t pleasant. To be honest, this muffin didn’t quite taste like the muffins I normally get at Sugarcube Corner. It had a sort of medicine-y aftertaste to it, though at the time I didn’t really pay very close attention to it because that was when I had to open the door to let Spike inside. It was right after that that I got really sick for a few minutes. When I came back, the three of them weren’t there.”

Applejack looked slightly panic-stricken. “And you’d already opened the door?” she asked, clearly trying to force herself to remain calm.

“Well, yes, but I closed it, too. At least, I’m pretty sure I did.”

“So... do you reckon that they accidentally gave you a bad muffin, and they’ve been hidin’ because they think you’re mad at them, then?”

“Well,” Derpy said sheepishly as her face reddened with a tinge of embarrassment, “I guess I kind of thought that they might have done it on purpose, because I can’t imagine that the Cakes would ever serve muffins that tasted like that. But I can’t imagine why anypony would want to make a muffin taste bad, either, and, well, after thinking about it for a bit, I figured I’d just drop the whole thing. I mean, I don’t really have any proof that they did anything wrong, and I wouldn’t want some innocent foals to get in trouble on my account.”

“But you’re certain that they’re inside, though?” Applejack said. “There’s no way they could have gotten out while you were distracted?”

“I don’t think so... though, now that I think about it, I don’t actually remember closing the door, even though it was shut when I came back to my post. I guess they could have left and closed the door behind them... but really, why would anypony want to go outside where it’s dangerous when Pinkie Pie is throwing a party inside?”

Applejack let out a pained, exasperated sigh and placed one of her forehooves on the grey pony’s shoulder. “Bless your heart, Derpy Hooves,” the farmpony said in a strained tone of voice that made her sound like she was desperately trying to avoid visibly cringing in front of the other mare—and only partially succeeding.

“Oh, thank you,” Derpy replied happily as Applejack turned and left the room.

A minute or so later, the farmpony was tapping Pinkie Pie on the shoulder. “Pinkie, I need to find the Crusaders. Now.”

Pinkie arched one of her eyebrows in concern. “Sure, Applejack. Any reason?”

“Yeah. I’m worried they might be off somewhere bein’ themselves, and after talkin’ to Derpy, I think there’s a chance that this particular somewhere might be outside the bunker.”

Pinkie’s eyes grew wide as her mane deflated ever so slightly. “Oh no!” she gasped. “Are you sure?”

“Well, I ain’t totally sure yet, which is why I’d appreciate a headcount as soon as you can get me one.”

This turned out to take a shockingly brief amount of time, even by Pinkie Pie’s standards. As she stood against the wall watching the pink blur dart around the bunker, Applejack couldn’t suppress her amazement at Pinkie’s ability navigate the densely crowded rooms without interrupting the partygoers. Just a few minutes later, she returned, looking grim.

“We’re three foals short,” Pinkie said, her ears drooping. “I counted twice, just to make sure, and none of them were the Crusaders. I mean, I might have missed them if they’re in a really crowded part of the bunker... but I didn’t see Apple Bloom’s ribbon anywhere, and I can’t imagine why she’d take it off.”

“Neither can I,” Applejack said as she bit her lower lip and willed herself to remain calm. Getting worked up into a tizzy wouldn’t help anypony right now.

“Do you want me to stop the party and do a full roll call?”

“No,” Applejack replied after some consideration. “There ain’t no need to panic the ponies that are here. Just be on the lookout for the Crusaders in case you missed ’em the first time around, and let one of the safety patrol members know if you find them.”

“And what about you?”

“What do ya think I’m gonna do?” Applejack said as she located her coat and put it on. “I’m gonna find my sister, that’s what.”

“Oh, right. Good luck!”

Applejack took the time to silently nod a farewell to her friend and galloped up the stairway and out of the bunker. Fortunately for her, a member of the safety patrol was passing by the candy shop as she exited the building. “You!” she shouted, startling the stallion.

“Applejack! Is something wrong?”

“Yeah, there is. Get to the clock tower and sound the alarm. By the time the rest of the patrol is there, I’ll have already explained everything to Fluttershy and we can get started.”

“Get started? Doing what?”

“I’ll explain later!” Applejack shouted as she rushed away into the mist.

Comments

[Harwick]

"Sound the alarm... The Crusaders have gotten loose!" There really should be a dedicated alarm for that by now.

[DreadedCandiru2]

I'm taking it that Dinky's comments about how insane and stupid the CMC are have been taken with a salt lick.....

[theblueblur92]

I guess they could have left and closed the door behind them... but really, why would anypony want to go outside where it’s dangerous when Pinkie Pie is throwing a party inside?

Now see, that is logical thing to assume of a reasonable group of foals. Logic and reason are, unfortunately the first two things to leave the building when dealing the the CMC; "leave the building" in the way that lighting yourself on fire and jumping out of a 2 story window counts as "leaving the building". One should not be mad at her though, no one really could have expected something like this from those three

[RanmaChaos]

Good

[Emptybee]

5069647 What do you thing that siren that Spikezilla stole is normally for?

[Tchernobog]

5069647 http://youtu.be/3iPKjSHUjNE?t=7s?

[Rocketknightgeek]

Insane... stupid... crusaders...

Must be Tuesday.

[Tangent]

5069946
*Siren sounds*
"Code: 3! Code: 3! CMC Alert! Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo have been spotted hanging out together within city limits after school hours! Be on alert for three young fillies giggling, planning, and borrowing supplies without asking!"

"That's not that the emergency alert siren is for, Rarity..."

"Well, it should be!"

[Booster Spice]

The cogs of beurucracy move extremely slowly, but they grind exceedingly small.

They could do with Pencil Pusher around, dealing with organising stuff relative to Twilight, well, that, and permanent coded tracking spells on the CMC with specific area warnings and Direction and ranging from the library and Sweet Apple Acres with common points premarked.

But, Im getting paranoid and over cautios there. Theres no need for such an effort.

[Blue_Paladin42]

Applejack at her tendency to act sensibly to the rescue!

[WanderingPony]

5070315
After this:
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140310134034/mlp/images/3/37/Apple_Bloom_being_put_on_a_second_helmet_S4E17.png

TRIPLE HELMET.

[djthomp]

Poor AJ, you'd think she earned some positive karma for her no nonsense romantic intervention earlier.

5070410 Apple Bloom is never going to get to be helmetless again.

[Amneiger]

a massive pair of papier-mâché changelings

Does this exist? In real life? Because it would be amazing if it did and even more amazing if there were pictures.

[Scyphi]

Get to the clock tower and sound the alarm.

The Crusaders are coming, the Crusaders are coming!

...no wait, that's not right...

[Misdirection01]

Great chapter! For some reason, Fimfiction hasn't been sending me my damn update notices!

[Blue_Paladin42]

5070410
Frankly, after this, she deserves triple helmet.

[strangephantasm]

In case you haven't figured it out - Applejack is, was, and has always been the hero of this story.

[Kagitaar]

From one of the southerners who were consulted: yes, you used it perfectly well. I'd honestly imagine AJ would be using it a lot around ponies who don't know the Crusaders well.

[Pepperbrony]

5071222
If they don't exist yet, they surely will soon. I give it a week.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Well, at least they know now. Derpy definitely deserves the "bless your heart" in pretty much all senses of the phrase, and I mean that in a kind way.

Looking forward to more.

[howard035]

Man, that is a relief! I was actually worried about the crusaders for a few chapters, but now that Applejack is on the case... they're basically already rescued.

[metallusionsismagic]

Seems to me Pinkie's mane deflates a lot in stories. She only did it once, and in an extreme situation. Heck, we've seen her hair perform incredible acts of strength (and cookie storage) more often!
(Headcanon: Pinkie Pie has Samson-like strength, except it is channeled through her hair instead of coming from it.)

“What do they look like.”

Use question mark

[Kwakerjak]

5079610 - This was only a partial deflation.

[Firebirdbtops]

I think three particular foals are going to fondly recall the numbness of hypothermia soon enough.

[Night_Moon60606]

i think u should read this blog reguarding ur tipjar...

[Rokas]

5069647
That's why they had the air raid klaxons installed.

[Kage no Brony]

5073976

Definitely needs the "Bless your heart" after being drugged by the crusaders.

[Seraphem]

Well, CMC are going to be fine now. AJ's on the case.. and one things that's been true this story.. she get's shit DONE!

[TheGreatEater]

5775342

Like a boss!

img00.deviantart.net/3010/i/2012/050/0/9/applenoir___applejack_in_noir_style_by_diegotan-d4q9wzr.png

[Senko]

5070540
She probably did which is why found out BEFORE her little sister froze to death.