> Cutie Mark Crusader Hypnotists! > by Butterfly Kisses > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Lost Package > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Outside a broken, weathered wagon that had been parked on the outskirts of Ponyville several months before, sat a dirty, disheveled-looking powder blue unicorn on a stump, feverishly flipping through a copy of the "Show Magician and Tricksters Summer '13 Catalog". Ever since her failed attempt at revenge against Ponyville, Trixie had been saving the last of her bits to buy something from the book that would save her otherwise doomed magic act. "Trixie NEEDS to find something that can save her TARNISHED and DESTROYED reputation!" Trixie said aloud to herself. It had not taken long for word to spread about her attempted takeover using the Alicorn Amulet. Even though Twilight Sparkle and her friends had forgiven her, others weren't so willing to let the incident go, making her usually small income next to nothing. *GRUMBLE* *GRRUMBBLE* Trixie looks down at her receding, rumbling stomach, cringing at the thought of food, knowing she had run out that morning. Trying to stay hopeful, she turns a page in the catalog, where a flashy ad for the new line of "Hypno Kits" catches her eye. Trixie suddenly believes that this is the perfect thing that will save her act! Nopony will be able to resist! She NEEDS this! Quickly filling out the order form, The Hopeful and Hungry Trixie hopes "Wagon on Southwest Border of Ponyville" is a good enough address. Shrugging, she puts the form and bits into the envelope and into her make-shift mailbox consisting of a tin can stuck to a piece of wood in the ground tied together with twine. "Now all The Great and Patient Trixie has to do is wait...." **************************************** Three to Five Business Days Later The Ponyville Post Office was getting ready to send the mailponies on their rounds that morning, when two mares began arguing over who should take a package with an unclear address. "You take it! I don't have the time to try and find a "wagon" outside town! yelled a light yellow mare with a mailbox for a cutie mark. "I don't want it! It's probably just some kind of prank pulled by some school aged brats!" an older green mare with an envelope for a cutie mark yelled. "Hey! I'd be happy to take it!" shouted a grey mare from across the room. The two ponies eyed each other and sneered, knowing Derpy would gladly take the package, even if the address would be just as confusing to her as it was to them. Unfortunately, Derpy would often get taken advantage of because of her good nature and eagerness to help and make others happy. These two mares in particular would often use her for their personal gain. "OHH! Are you SURE? Do you think you can HANDLE it?" The yellow pony asked with a heavily fake and surprised tone. "Yeessss! Letter Sorter you KNOW I've been doing extra extra GOOD lately!! PLEASE let me help you!!" Derpy pleaded. "You know, Letter, she HAS been working SUUUPER hard, maybe you should let her help us?" the green mare said, smirking. "You're right Envelope! Here, Derpy." said Letter Sorter handing Derpy the package. "If you can find out who this belongs to, I'll get you a muffin, OK?" "OH BOY! I'll get started with my route right away, bye guys!" Derpy excitedly shouted on the way out the door, leaving the other two laughing at their mean trick. ************************************************* Derpy waited until she was done with her usual route before trying to track down the owner of the package Letter Sorter had given her. Pulling the package out from the bottom of her mailbag, Derpy began to examine the address label. "Waaaaggg oooonnn" "......Oh! Oh! Wagon, Wagon!" "Wagon......on Soouuuuttthhh Weh essst?" "Hmmm.....Southwest!" After several minutes of such deciphering, Derpy concluded that this was for a pony named Trixie Wagon on Southwest Border Street! Luckily, Derpy had been taught how to fix labeling mistakes, so she pulled out her quill and fresh address labels and fixed what was most likely a mistake the sender made. As Derpy was turning to head towards Border Street, she flew into another pegasus, causing her to drop the package, and send it tumbling toward the apple trees below. "OWww.....Oh! Sorry Raindrops, I didn't see you there! Did I hurt you??" asked Derpy, rubbing her head "I'm OK Derpy, say!.....I'm kinda hungry! You wanna go get something?" Derpy forgot all about the package at the mention of lunch with a good friend, and happily accepted. Meanwhile, the package fell through the trees, tearing off the package wrapping and leaving the box inside exposed on the ground. ************************************** Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were excitedly talking over the different ideas to discuss at their club meeting that morning. They were just on their way to get Applebloom, when they spotted a colorful box on the ground beneath one of the apple trees. "Hey! what's that!" shouted Sweetie. Both crusaders trotted up to the box, Scootaloo, being curious, picked it up and read the label. "Swirly Spirals' Genuine Hypnosis Kit? Everything a beginner hypnotist needs to make anypony fall into a trance......" Smiling wickedly, Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle. "I don't we will be needing that grappling hook anymore....I think we just found a much better way to earn our cutie marks!" > Cutie Mark Crusader Hypnotists! Yay! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle continued walking towards the treehouse, they knew Applebloom would be waiting for them to arrive. The were both very excited to show Applebloom the hypnosis kit and start trying earning their cutie marks as hypnotists. "Who do you think we should try this on first?" asked Sweetie. "Hmmm......We should probably test it on one us first to make sure it works." Scootaloo replied. Both fillies agreed. Soon, they arrived at the clubhouse, Applebloom waved at them from the window and motioned them to come inside with her hoof. Once they were inside, Applebloom noticed both fillies wore very secretive looks on their faces. The yellow earth pony was very curious, she could tell Scootaloo was hiding something behind her back. "Watcha got behind yer back there, Scoots?" asked Applebloom, trying her best to sneak a peek. Scootaloo effortlessly dodged Appleblooms attempts to peek, moving away every time she did. "Don't ruin the surprise, Applebloom! Just hold on a sec!" Scootaloo exclaimed between dodges. Applebloom gave in, and sat down, anxiously waiting for her to reveal whatever it was her fellow crusader was hiding. Scootaloo, smiling, pulled the box out from her back. Applebloom snatched the box out of her friends' hooves, and eagerly looked the box over at every possible angle. Reading the label, Applebloom looked up at her friends, puzzled. "A hypnosis kit? What wer ya plannin' we do with this?" Scootaloo facehoofed, and gave Applebloom one of those looks that said: "Isn't it obvious?" Sweetie just arched an eyebrow, thinking the same thing Scootaloo did. "Really, Applebloom? We can try to earn our cutie marks by hypnotizing ponies! Duh!" said Scootaloo, annoyed. Sweetie Belle, unable to contain her excitement, exclaimed "We can be Cutie Mark Crusader Hypnotists!" The trio of fillies looked at each other, all three understanding what this meant. Leaping into the air, the crusaders hoofbumped and shouted their latest cutie mark attempt "Cutie Mark Crusader Hypnotists! YAY!" Landing on their hooves, the fillies quickly tore open the box, and examined the contents. Inside, was a set of instructions, and what appeared to be a pocketwatch on a long chain. Sweetie Belle took the instructions and opened them to the first page. The other two crusaders gathered around Sweetie. The first page showed the Table of Contents: Table of Contents Introduction to Hypnosis Picking a Target Inducing a Trance Trigger Words and Coming out of the Trance Excitedly, Sweetie turned the page and began to read out loud: "Welcome to the wonderful world of hypnotism! By purchasing this kit, you would like to learn how to hypnotize ponies. Lucky for you this kit comes with everything you need! As long as you follow these instructions carefully, you will be hypnotizing ponies in no time!" "Wow! How excitin'!" Applebloom exclaimed. Scootaloo nodded in agreement, and both fillies urged Sweetie to continue. Sweetie continued down the page, and began to read the next passage: "When picking a first target, it is important to remember the subject has to be either willing, or not smart enough to resist being put into a trance. This does not mean an unwilling target has to be stupid, an example of this would be foals or ponies of regular intelligence, geniuses or the elderly would not make suitable first targets." Sweetie read the rest of the instruction booklet aloud. Once they thought they had a pretty good idea of what to do, the fillies had to decide which one of them to test it out on first. In the end, Scootaloo offered to be the first to be hypnotized. > Scootaloo > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scootaloo had volunteered to be hypnotized first to test the hypnosis kit. Since Sweetie Belle had read the instructions, she was chosen to do the hypnotizing, while Applebloom would supervise. Sweetie asked Scootaloo to make herself as comfortable as possible. Picking up the pocket-watch, Sweetie began to swing it slowly back and forth, instantly, the pocket-watches' swirly designs began to rotate. As if by magic, Scootaloo found she couldn't look away from the watch, her eyes following its every move. "Ok, Scootaloo, I am going to count backwards from ten, with every number I want you to relax. By the time I count to one, you will fall into a deep sleep, do you understand?" Sweetie instructed. "Yes." Scootaloo nodded, never looking away from the pocket-watch. "Ten...." Scootaloo visibly relaxed her entire body. "Nine....." "Eight...." Scootaloo's wings drooped, and she began to feel sleepy. "Seven....." "Six....." Her eyelids began to feel heavy. "Five....." "Four....." "Three....." "Two...." ".....One..." Instantly, Scootaloo fell to the floor, out cold. Sweetie and Applebloom looked at each other, grinning. For a few minutes, Sweetie was unsure what to use as a command. It was only when Applebloom suggested something she remembered from when they were trying to find Fluttershy's lost chicken in the Everfree Forest, that they knew what to do. "Scootaloo....I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm going to tell you, and whatever it is, you must do it, understand?" Sweetie asked. "......yes......" Scootaloo said, still asleep. "Very good. Now, whenever you hear the word "feather" I want you to cluck like a chicken, ok?" Sweetie commanded. ".....yes...." "By the time I count to five, you will wake from your trance, and you will not remember what you were told." "One." "Two." "Three." "Four." "Five." Scootaloo woke up, got back to her haunches, and yawned. "So, did it work? asked Scootaloo. "Yea! Ya fell asleep an' everythin', just like the instructions said!" Applebloom excitedly exclaimed. Sweetie Belle nodded, noting that everything went perfectly, but they needed to test one more thing. "What? Didn't you just say it went perfectly?" Scootaloo asked. Both fillies exchanged mischevious glances. Applebloom looked back at the confused orange pegasus, smirking, and said, "Feather." "Cluck!...." Scootaloo clucked like a chicken, then looked around very confused. Both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were on the floor of the treehouse, laughing. They knew it worked, now they had to choose new targets......And what better a place, then Ponyville? > Applejack and Rainbow Dash > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applejack was bucking apples in the orchard, when she saw her little sister and her friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle running towards town wearing their crusader capes. She knew whatever it was those fillies were up too, it couldn't be good. She decided to catch up to them and see what they were going into town for. Running up to them, Applejack shouted to her sister. All three crusaders skidded to a stop. The fillies huddled together quickly, and before Applejack could ask them what they were up to, the crusaders turned towards her, Applebloom was in front, and held what looked like a pocket-watch in front of her face. ************************* "Applebloom!" "Hey! Applebloom!" Upon hearing her big sister calling her, Applebloom skidded to a stop, along with the other crusaders. Applejack was trying to catch up to them! They huddled together, concerned Applejack would take the hypnosis kit, not wanting them to mess with other ponies. They decided to catch her by surprise and hypnotize her so she would be too distracted to stop them. Applebloom wanted to be the one to do it, since it was her big sister. When Applejack got close enough, Applebloom got in front when they turned around. Before Applejack could get a word in, Applebloom had gotten her with the pocket-watch. Following what Sweetie had done to Scootaloo, Applebloom told her big sister to relax, and counted backwards from ten. Upon reaching "one", Applejack collapsed, just as deeply asleep as Scootaloo had been. Applebloom instructed her sister to do all of her chores for her, then make her favorite foods for dinner that night, knowing that would keep her busy. After Applejack agreed, Applebloom counted to five, and woke her up. Applejack jumped up, and ran off to the farmhouse, where she began to prepare all Appleblooms' favorite foods for dinner, and do her little sisters' chores. Laughing, the Cutie Mark Crusaders ran off back towards Ponyville, more confident then before that this could be their special talent! ************************* Trixie was losing her patience. She had sent for the hypno kit almost a week ago. Thinking "Wagon on Southwest Border of Ponyville" might not of been a sufficient enough address, she set off for the post office. ************************* Rainbow Dash had been finishing up her shift helping with the weather, when she spotted three familiar fillies running into town. Rainbow wasn't about to let her number-one fan go without seeing the most awesomest pegasus around! So, she flew down to meet them. "Hey guys! Where ya goin' in such a hurry?" Rainbow asked the trio. All three crusaders were lost for words. They couldn't just go and tell her the truth! She would undoubtedly fly off and warn everypony! Then they would never know if this was their special talents! Scootaloo jumped at the chance to hypnotize her idol, and reached for the watch while keeping Rainbow distracted. "Oh!..uh...hey, Rainbow Dash! We were...um headed to......." Scootaloo quickly said, while reaching behind her back to reach the hypnosis kit that was hidden under her crusader cape. Scootaloo fumbled around in the box until she could grab onto the pocket-watch. She then pulled it out and held it out in front of Rainbow's face. "Whoa! What is tha-" Rainbow stopped mid-question. She couldn't help but stare at the swirling design in the center of the watch as it slowly swung back and forth. Learning from watching the others, Scootaloo followed the same steps that her friends had taken, and successfully put the pegasus into a trance. She didn't want to do anything mean to Rainbow, so she just convinced her that if she had any free time from now on, she would give her flying lessons. But for now, to just go home until Scootaloo called for her, that way, she to, would be out of the crusaders' way for the rest of the day. As Rainbow Dash flew off towards her cloud home, the Cutie Mark Crusaders kept walking towards town, ready to spot their next victim. > Pinkie Pie Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pinkie Pie was busy in the Sugarcube Corners' kitchen. She was baking up a storm! Mrs. Cake had given her full control of the bakery for the day, and Pinkie was determined to do her best! Rarity had come by earlier and placed an order for two dozen lemon-berry cupcakes, and three dozen heart-shaped shortbread cookies. Rarity was hosting a fancy tea party for some of her upper-class Canterlot clients later that afternoon, hoping to convince them to continue to order from her, and spread the word around to their friends. Reading the order slip again, Pinkie gave a small laugh. "That would explain the gem-encrusted cupcake liners!" Pinkie put the paper down, and bounced back over to the counter, and began placing the extremely sparkly and fancy cupcake liners into the holes on the baking pan. Pinkie stopped to marvel at one of the liners. It was white, with small purple and blue gems carefully arranged on the ridges on the liner. She was happy that the Cakes had purchased these at the bakers' convention they had attended earlier that month, and even happier she had the chance to use them! Just as Pinkie Pie had finished putting the cupcakes into the oven and was about to start on the cookies, the bell on the front door of the bakery had rung, alerting her that somepony had entered the storefront. Not wanting to keep anypony waiting, she went up to the front counter. Looking around, she spotted three very familiar fillies. "Hi girls! What can I getcha today?" Pinkie asked. "Hi Pinkie Pie!" All three Crusaders said in unison. Suddenly, the fillies took in the sweet aroma of something delicious baking. "Something smells really good, Pinkie Pie! What are you baking?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Oh! Rarity came by this morning and dropped off an order for some treats she needed for a tea party she's hosting later this afternoon!" Pinkie replied, making wild gestures as she did so. Sweetie Belle had noticed that Rarity had been in quite a rush that morning. Her older sister had shoved her out the door as soon as she had finished her breakfast. Until now, Sweetie had been unsure of the motivation behind her sisters' actions, but surprisingly, Pinkies' explanation had made things much clearer. An audible ding came from the kitchen, snapping Sweetie Belle out of her thoughts. "Oh! The cupcakes are ready! Be right back girls!" Pinkie said excitedly, running into the bakeries' kitchen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Crusaders turned to face each other, they needed to come up with a plan--and fast.