> The CMC's Adventures in Radiator Springs > by Timelordderpy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > It Started As Just A Normal Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just a normal day in Ponyville everypony's going about their daily routines. Twilight and Spike are away on business in Canterlot, so there’s not much going on at the castle. Rarity had gotten an order for some costumes for a musical in Manehattan and is hard at work in getting all of them completed on time. It’s officially the first day of Applebuck season and Applejack couldn't be any more excited. Rainbow Dash is preparing herself for her very first tour with the Wonderbolts. At first she wasn't sure about leaving her friends and home for so long to travel all around Equestria. But after a while her friends finally convinced her to go along with them, and if they ever need her back Twilight can magically teleport her back to Ponyville in a flash literally. She had recently learned a new teleportation spell that can teleport anypony from anywhere in Equestria. Pinkie Pie will be joining the Cakes on a trip to Fillydelphia to cater a party for a big family so they’re going to be gone for a few days. Luckily Miss Cheerilee offered to take care of Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake while they’re gone. Fluttershy is going about her normal day taking care of her animals while receiving a few visits from Discord. Everypony's been active doing what they can to keep busy. While on the other hoof three little fillies in a treehouse on Sweet Apple Acres are bored stiff with nothing to do. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, The Cutie Mark Crusaders have gone through their cutie mark list for today and are sitting around with nothing to do hoping to find something to do with the other ponies and hadn’t planned a list for the whole day, but only half. They had completely forgotten that the others had their own things to do and are sitting around the clubhouse completely bored. Then finally Sweetie Belle broke the silence, “UHHG! This is so boring! What are we supposed to do if we’re not thinking of ideas to get our cutie marks.” Applebloom face hoofed herself “I already told ya Sweetie Belle. We hadn’t planned on everypony else be’in busy ta’day.” Then in an instant an idea suddenly popped into Scootaloo’s head and she shouted, “I’VE GOT IT!!!” “If ya mean painfully ringing ears. Than ya so do we.” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle both rubbed their ears Scootaloo jumped off her stool and trotted over to them “Nono I mean I have an idea of what we can do today instead of just lounging around the clubhouse.” “Well then, what is it?” Sweetie Belle looked at her confused. “Why don’t we go over to the castle and check out what new books Twilight's got? Maybe we’ll find something that can help us finally get our CUTIE MARKS! What do you think?” Sweetie Belle started bouncing up and down “OH WOW! That’s a great idea Scootaloo! I am so in on it! What about you Applebloom?” Applebloom was having her doubts about this idea but seeing she’s obviously outnumbered in votes agrees. “E’m not so sure it’s a good idea to go barg’in into Twilight’s castle while she’s still in Canterlot…But since we are just gonna be look’in at books I don’t see any harm in that so...E’m in!” All three shouted “YAY!” Applebloom trotted to the front of the door and turned to face her friends “Alrighty Cutie Mark Crusaders we are off to Twilight’s castle.” Trotting out the clubhouse the CMC head into town straight to Twilight’s castle. But just before they left Applebloom left a note on the table saying that they’re going to the castle in case somepony comes looking for them. . . . At Princess Twilight’s castle, the CMC got a little too excited to get started and rush through the front doors without knocking and head straight to the library. “Alrighty Crusaders let’s get started everypony grab some books and start reading.” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo gave a solute spread out to different corners of the library and started grabbing books off the shelves, not realizing that they basically just broke into the castle without asking. Applebloom looked up a bit to Owlicious with a disapproving look. She looked over to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo then back to Owlicious bringing a hoof up to her mouth. “I know I know. We should’in of just come barg’in in here like this. But Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo really want ta do this they really think that we might be able to find our special talent and get our cutie marks from one of these here books. Not ta mention I was basically outnumbered in votes. It was either me let em come here by em selve’s and get in trouble but not me. Or go along with the group and at least we all get in trouble together. It just wouldn't be right ta leave em alone like that. Please don’t be mad.” Owlicious simply hooted then flew out the library. Applebloom sighed to herself wiped the little bit of sweat from her forehead then turned back to her book. Maybe we should’in of come here by ourselves. she sighed, I'm suppose to be the responsible one of the group...and yet here we are in the castle library with no adult ponies around. Not to mention we didn’t ask for permission to come in. This ain’t very responsible ain’t it huh Applebloom? . . . Off in another corner of the library Sweetie Belle was looking through a whole bunch of spell books really wanting to improve on her magic skills. One book was really getting her attention with so many spells she's dying to try out. Hum. Maybe just one spell won’t hurt. She turned back the pages to one spell in particular a teleportation spell her horn glowed as she read through the spell. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!! Sweetie Belle’s horn started glowing even brighter lighting up everything as her magic took the form of a giant tornado spinning everything and every filly. Applebloom tried to give Sweetie Belle a good glare but being tossed around like a rag doll was making that one task extremely difficult. Spinning around in the tornado of magic and books she shouted to Sweetie Belle “SWEETIE!...BELLE!...WHAT IN!...TARNATION!...DID YA!...DO!!” “I DON’T KNOW! I WAS JUST TRYING TO CAST A SIMPLE TELEPORTATION SPELL! THAT’S IT! NOTHING ELSE!” Sweetie Belle was trying her hardest to stop the tornado before her friends got hurt. “SAY!...WHAT!...SWEETIE!...BELLE!...WHAT IN!...EQUESTRIA!...WERE YOU!...THINKING!!” Scootaloo shot back in anger. FWOOOOOOOSH!!! Suddenly a giant portal appeared above them and began sucking the girls inside. But before being pulled through Sweetie Belle used the best of her abilities to grab all the magical spell books she was reading in hope that wherever they end up she can use them to get back home. > Introductions And Explainations > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Radiator Springs “...Ugh What the hay just happened?” “Nice going Sweetie Belle.” “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” “It’s alright Sweetie Belle ya didn’t know this would happEN AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!” Applebloom shrieked Looking up at what should be her unicorn friend, but instead what looks like a hairless ape in front of her. She then turned to Scootaloo only see the same thing, looking down at herself seeing not hoofs but strange appendages coming from where her hoofs should be. “A-Applebloom W-What are we?” Scootaloo asks her voice shaken “I-I don’t know.” Applebloom stared at her hoofs?... “Excuse us? Are you three ok?” . . . A few moments ago at Sarge’s Surplus Store “But I’m telling you Sarge! I really did see something. Will you please just come with me to take a look?” Ramone asked Sarge again to come with him to check out a strange light that he saw coming from Willy’s Butte. “What’s going on with you two?” Lightning McQueen stepped inside seeing Ramone and Sarge arguing Sarge turns to face Lightning. “Ramone here keeps telling me that he saw some kind of light coming from Willy’s Butte and wants me to go with him to check it out. I for one think he’s just seeing things.” Lightning gave them both a shocked expression “You saw it too? That’s why I’m here I saw the same light and came to ask you the same thing.” Sarge growled under his breath, Great just great “Fine let’s go see exactly what you two saw out there.” Sarge grabs his hat and the three head out. . . . Back with the Crusaders There standing in front of them are three creatures that look exactly what they look like except they appear to be wearing strange clothes “Excuse us? Are you three ok?” “. . .” The Crusaders were completely shocked and terrified by what's happening. Lightning walks up to Scootaloo and bends down to meet her at eye level. “Hey there little lady are you three lost? Do you need some help?” He spoke softly trying not to mention the fact that these three little girls have absolutely no clothes on. L-lady? Scootaloo thought to herself. Why is he calling her a lady and what is a lady? Scootaloo could no longer hold in all her fear. “...Whimper…” Lightning’s eyes widen Uh-oh. She's starting to cry. What do I do? He thought for a second on what to do and started unzipping his jacket. Then wrapped it around Scootaloo slowly and gently pulling her close to him giving her a comforting hug to try and calm her down whispering softly to her. “Shhh... It's ok you don't have to cry. We just want to help you. You're safe with us. Promise.” Somehow Lightning’s voice sounded comforting to her and Scootaloo relaxed in his arms. Seeing that he’s gained her trust picked her up slowly holding her in both arms. Ramone and Sarge just stood there in shock surprised at how good Lightning is with kids, seeing at how easily he earned the little girl’s trust. Ramon bends downs in front of Sweetie Belle and gave her a small smile. While Sarge tries to gain Applebloom's trust. . . . It took a lot longer than with Lightning, but Sarge and Ramon finally got Applebloom’s and Sweetie Belle to trust them. And just like Lightningboth Sarge and Ramon had wrapped their jackets around the other two and are now heading back to town. . . . “So let me get all this straight. You two saw some kind of strange light coming from Willy’s Butte. Asked Sarge for help to check it out. Found these three little girls. They had absolutely no clothes on. Gained their trust. And then came here. Am I right?” Doc had just summarized everything that Sarge, Lightning, and Ramon just told him. “Yep. That's pretty much spot on.” Lightning replied. “Ok. Well first of all did you ask them their names?” “We tried but they haven't said a word since we found them.” Sarge looking down at the little red haired girl in his arms. “But we did find all of these books they were scattered all over the ground.” Ramone added. It was a good thing the little purple haired girl didn't mind riding on Lightning’s shoulders that way he can carry all the books, a total of 10. “Alright why don’t you set the girl's on table so I can give them each a checkup.” The guys did so and once they let go their jackets fell down and the purple haired girl's wings popped out! “GASP!!” All four of them gasped in shock never before seeing a little girl with...WINGS! Bright orange wings, how is this even possible? Lightning was even more shocked that he hadn't noticed this before. . . . “Ok? Why are you all staring at me like that?” Scootaloo looked up at the four creatures who were just staring at her. “Um...Are you four ok?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Yeah, ya’ll look like ya done seen a ghost.” Applebloom implied. . . . The guys snapped themselves out of their shock and Lightning spoke up. “You can talk?” “Well of course we can talk. Why wouldn't we?” The little purple haired girl responded a little annoyed. “I-I’m sorry it's just that neither of you have said a single word since we found you.” “Well ya see we weren't quite sure about ya at first. Cause ya see where we come from we don't have nor have we ever seen no creatures like y'all. So we was a little cautious ‘round ya.” The red haired girl replied in a country accent. “Creatures? Like us? I’m not sure we understand. Just where are you three from exactly?” “Equestria.” All three said in unision. “Ponyville to be exact.” The purple and white haired girl added. “Equestria? Ponyville? I have never heard of any of those places.” Sarge implied with annoyences. “I was afraid ya say that.” The red haired girl frowned. “Nice going Sweetie Belle! You just had to cast that STUPID spell didn't you!” The purple haired girl shouted at the purple and white haired girl. “Hey! It was your idea to go to the castle library in the first place Scootaloo!” The purple and white haired girl shouted back. “The both of ya stop! This ain't help’in our situation now ain't it!” The red haired girl intervened. “Sorry Applebloom.” The other two apologized. “Sorry to interrupt, but can we just pause for a second here?” Doc stepped in and the three girls nodded. “Ok first off Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Which of you is which?” The red haired girl raised her hand “I’m Applebloom.” The purple and white haired girl “And my name’s Sweetie Belle.” The purple haired girl “Scootaloo’s my name.” “And we’re... THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!” The three crusaders shouted in unison. “I’m Lightning McQueen.” “I’m Ramone.” “Sarge.” “And my name is Doc Hudson but you can just call me Doc.” “It's really nice to meet all of you.” Sweetie Belle extended her hoof... but then took a second look and all three girls start shaking with fear still not sure what they are exactly. “Are you three ok?” A bit of a worried look on Ramone’s face. “Can I ask ya a question?” Applebloom continued staring at her...hooves? “Sure.” Doc gave her a gentle smile “What are we?” . . . Shocked at first by the girl's question, after a while were able to explain to them about being human and then hearing that they are magical multi-colored ponies from another world. And that Applebloom is a normal earth pony, Sweetie Belle's a unicorn, and Scootaloo's a pegasus, which explains the wings. Now realizing that these girls are going to need a crash course in everything human, and being all male. They are going to need a female to help the girls with more... feminine things. And who also won't freak out and scream, that already leaves Flo out of the question which means there's only one person left. . . . “So why did you ask me to come here again?” Sally asked walking with Lightning into Doc’s clinic. “Well before I show you, you have to promise not to freak out. Kay.” he told her. Though a little scare by what he just said promised and Lightning opened the door to Doc’s check up room and the first thing she sees when she walking in are three little girls sitting on the check up table with no clothes on. But taking a closer look notices that one of the little girls has...wings! Shocked at this Sally turned back to Lightning “Um... Stickers can I talk to you privately?” Pulling Lightning by the shirt and out into the hall. “Alright Stickers explain.” . . . After about an hour of explaining everything that happened today and waiting a while for Sally to process everything they went back inside to meet the girls. > Settling In And Soaring High > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- At Ramone’s Fashion and Paint Shop “Alright they’re ready!” Sally shouted from the dressing room. She had just finished helping the girls get dressed in their new clothes that Ramone had made for them. After him and the others had gotten a chance to get to know the girls and decided to make something that best fits the crusaders’ personalities. “Well then.. What are you waiting for let’s see them.” Lightning shouted back into the closed curtains. Seconds later Applebloom stepped out first. Wearing a sleeveless blue plaid shirt, blue jean shorts, and brown faux leather material stitched design casual knee high cowboy boots, and a M&F western twister wool cowboy hat. Good thing her mother’s ribbon hadn’t fallen off when they entered this world so Sally had tied it into a tails down bow. “What da ya’ll think?” Applebloom did a pose with her hand on her hip while the other holding up her hat. “You look ok.” Sarge gave a small shrug, while everyone else applauded her. “Thanks ya’ll!” She stepped off to the side giving Sweetie Belle her time in the spotlight she stepped out the dressing room. Wearing a white sleeveless mini dress with a lime green bow, light purple leggings, light purple zip side wedge boots, and a lime green glitter headband. “How do I look?” Sweetie Belle shyly gave a small pose holding her hands behind her back. “You look fabulous.” Ramone and the others applauded her and Sweetie Belle smiled moving next to Applebloom, “Alright Scootaloo you're up! Let's see what you got!” Lightning shouts into the dressing room and Scootaloo steps out. She's wearing an orange sleeveless T-shirt that Ramona had also cut holes in the backs for Scootaloo’s wings, a mid wash contrast jersey sleeve denim jacket to hide her wings, blue jeans, converse black classic high top sneakers, and a grey slouchy beanie. “Well. What do ya say?” Scootaloo gives a pose her fist up in the air and her other on her hip. “You look awesome Scootaloo.” Lightning and the others applauded them as they show of their new looks one more time. . . . Now that the girls have gotten a few lessons in how the human world works. Some new clothes to wear as well, and finally decided to tell the rest of the town about them. All that left is to decide who the girls will be staying. It took a while but Doc had decided that the girls should stay with him the first night just to get settled in. Then Applebloom will be staying with Sarge, much to his dislike, Sweetie Belle with Ramone, and Scootaloo with Lightning. So far everything looked all good, they’ve taken care of everything that needed to be done...That is...until Scootaloo asked one little question that caught everyone off guard. “So..This is all cool and stuff. But when can I get started on my flying practice?” Scootaloo was sitting at a table inside Flo’s V8 Cafe giving Lightning and Doc a bored look. At a loss for words they haven't even given the thought that a pegasus would not want to be stuck on the ground all day. “Well..Scootaloo ya see we have a lot of people that visit own town quite often. And we don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be flying around. The wrong person might see you.” Doc and the others have already explained to them what might happen if more people find out that they’re magical, talking, multi-colored ponies from an alternate world. And the thought of being taken off to some lab and experimented on...didn’t sound to fun in the girl's mind. But still Scootaloo didn't like the thought of being grounded during their entire stay here, especially for who knows how long they’ll even be here. And Scootaloo needed to practice her flying or else she’ll go stir crazy. Everyone paused to think for a moment...suddenly an idea popped into Lightning’s head. “I got the an idea! What if Scoots goes flying at night around Willy’s Butte. It’s the perfect place and no one else will be able to see her because it’s so dark. And if they do they’ll think she’s a bird flying around. And I’ll be there to keep an eye on her to make sure nothing bad happens.” Doc put a hand to his chin in thought. His plan sounds possible, the fact no one will be able to she her, and Lightning standing guard keeping watch. It seems like the a pretty solid plan. Doc was instantly snapped out of his thoughts when he found Scootaloo kneeling down in front of him, hands out front in a begging manner, and giving him the biggest puppy dog eyes imaginable. Unable to resist the sheer cuteness of it all smiled “Sounds like the perfect plan…” Doc was stopped mid sentence when Scootaloo jumped in his arms giving him a great big hug. “Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!" . . . The sun set and the moon's now high in the sky. An excited Scootaloo cannot wait to get out, stretch her wings and finally teach herself how to fly. “ Come on come on hurry up! I wanna get all the time I can flying!” “Alright alright. Just let me get my jacket.” Lightning grabbed his jacket from the bed and slipped it on, locked his door and the two head off to Willy’s Butte. . . . It’s been three hours already and Scootaloo still could not get herself off the ground. Lightning had automatically assumed that she already knew how to fly...Boy was he wrong. For the past three hours Scootaloo had done nothing but fall flat on her face..quite literally. Covered in cuts and bruises Scootaloo was stomping the ground, kicking dirt and rocks everywhere, pretty much throwing a tantrum right there in front of him. Then she plopped down next to a rock pulled her legs up close and started crying. That’s it! Lightning got up from his spot and walked over to Scootaloo kneeling down in front of her “ Hey there Scoots you ok?” Sob Sob… “Aw Come on Scoots you’re not giving up are you? I thought you wanted to fly? Do you really think you’ll achieve anything by giving up every time you get frustrated?” “...” “You can do it if you really try.” She looked up at him and he held out both hands “Come on squirt. Give it another go.” She took his hands and he lifted her up, wiping away her tears she put on a determined face and took a deep breath, opening up her wings at first getting nowhere. “You got this Scoots! Don’t give up!” Scootaloo looks back at him for a second she could of swore she saw Rainbow Dash standing right there turning back looking up at the sky. This is what I want. I can’t give up,opening up her wings. I won’t give up.flapping hard. I won’t give in, floating off the ground. I won’t back down, closing her eyes. Not now. Not when I’m so close. I can’t stop. I won’t stop. I can do this. I believe in myself. I have faith in myself. I trust in myself. I trust in my heart. I’ve got the power. This is it. This is my goal. This is my dream. Everything I’ve worked so hard for. Is all for this. Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes, looking down at Lightning she was at least 30 feet high in the sky. “YAY! ALRIGHT SCOOTALOO YA DID IT!!!” Lightning shouted high in the sky cheering on Scootaloo eyes widen beaming with pride Scootaloo exploded “AWWWW YEAAAAH!!!” shooting through the sky, and soaring up higher. Feeling that she’s finally broken free from her cage. Spreading her wings out wide and soaring, finally flying. I’ve done it. I’ve finally done it. Lightning if it wasn’t for you I would have given up.. flying down into his arms Thank you Lightning. Thank you. > Chores > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning in Radiator Spring and both Sarge and Fillmore are up and going through their usual morning engagements. “ Will you turn that disrespectful junk off!” Sarge shouted over the fence into Fillmore’s yard as he heard Hendrix playing. “Respect the classics man. It’s Hendrix!” Do to habit Applebloom's up bright and early Sarge was a bit surprised by that it's usually him and Fillmore that are the early birds while everyone else are still asleep. “Yoo- wee! Alright everypony let's get to bu-” Applebloom stopped mid-sentence just remembering that she’s not home at the farm signing she stepped outside. Sarge watched as she plopped herself on top the fence. Seeing the look in her eyes Sarge walked up putting a hand on her shoulder. “Applebloom? Are you alright?” At first she just gives him a look of sadness sniffling a little before speaking “I-I miss home. Ma family ma farm. Sniff I miss em. I know we’ve only been here for a short time now. But it's normally at this time that I've got ma usually chores ta do. I know it sounds ridiculous but… sniff it's just another reminder that I ain't home. And… and sob I just don't know what to do.” She bringing hands up to her face she started crying Never being in this kind of situation before Sarge did something completely out of character. He picks up Applebloom and held her close giving her a comforting hug while gently rubbing soothing circles on her back. Applebloom just held on to him crying into his shoulder while Sarge held her close giving her the chance to let it all out. It took a while until Applebloom had finally stopped crying still sniffling a little, still thinking about what to do an idea popped into his head. Seeing as how the problem here is her not having her normal chores that she has back on her farm. Then maybe having her helping me with my chores will cheer her up enough where she's not crying every morning she wakes up. The kid’s really missing her home right now. She taking this so much harder than the other two are. And I don't blame her if I was ever this far away from home it be tearing me up inside too. After thinking it through Sarge decides it's the perfect idea. “ Hey Applebloom.” Sniff “ Y-Ya.” “ You know I've got quite a few chores here myself to do. You can help me out if you want.” Applebloom paused thinking about it for a moment. Maybe helping him out with his chores might help her feel a little more at home while being in this new world. Sniff “OK” Sarge sets her down on the ground giving something even more out of character a small and gentle smile and they both head inside to get started on the chores. It took a few hours of working on the chores until they finished all of them. The first thing they had to do was clean up all of the materials on the shelves which took an hour or so to do. Then they had to sweep up the whole store floor, and mop clean the windows, vacuum the rooms and make up the beds which took another hour or so to do. After finishing up they’re now heading over Flo’s place to get breakfast. “Howdy everyone!” Applebloom greets everyone as she and Sarge walk inside. “Hi Applebloom! Hi Sarge!” Everyone inside greets the two. Sarge takes his usual seat next to Fillmore while Applebloom takes her seat next to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “Alright Sarge spill.” Fillmore suddenly turns to Sarge with a smirk on his face “Excuse me?” Sarge gives him a confused look. “ Come man you know exactly what I mean.” Fillmore nods his head in Applebloom’s direction. Looking over to Applebloom than Fillmore and then back to Applebloom again. Heat rises in his cheeks realizing what Fillmore is implying “It ain’t nothing like that Fillmore alright. I’m just looking after her until they get back home. Ain’t nothing more than that.” “Alright if you say so...So what do you think it’ll be like having a daughter?” Sarge immediately shoots him a warning glare and Fillmore shuts his mouth. > The Doll > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside Ramone’s Fashion and Paint Shop Ramone was sitting at his desk working on some new personality designs for his friends ...Sob sob... Just then he heard someone crying and got up to take a look. He walked into the room to see Sweetie Belle sitting on the bed holding her legs close and crying. Oh Sweetie. She’s been like this for 3 days straight. Ramone thought for moment on rather he should try to talk to her now or wait for her to calm down a little. After a minute passed he decided to that this has gone on long enough and it’s time to see why she’s so upset. There’s got to be more to it than just them being stuck here. He walked inside and sat down next to her. “Hey Sweetie is everything alright? You’ve been like this for a while now and I’m a little worried about you. Is there something that you would like to talk about. I’m sure you’ll feel a little better once you talk it out.” She looked up at him with tear filled eyes. “ Sniff...I...Sniff...I...Sniff…” He picked her up and sat her on his lap gentle wrapping his arms around her in a comforting hug and she calmed down enough to talk. “ T-This is all my fault...Sniff...We’re all stuck here because of me. I was the one who cast that spell that got us trapped here and...Sniff...and I have no idea how to get us back. I...I’m terrible with magic. I don’t know what I was doing, thinking that I could cast such a high leveled spell. I can’t even do a simple levitation spell right. Let alone a teleportation spell. I...Sniff...I was only trying to go to one corner of the room to another and I end up sending everyone to a whole new world. So far from home Applebloom and Scootaloo probably hate me…Sniff...And I wouldn’t blame them I messed up so bad.” Ramone pulled her away just enough to look her in the eyes. “Now Sweetie calm down. Applebloom and Scootaloo are your friends and they could never hate you. That’s not what friends do. No Sweetie friends forgive each other no matter how big or bad a mistake they make. Your friends will always love you no matter what happens. And besides don’t you remember it was Scootaloo’s idea to go to the library alone without an adult. And Applebloom did confess that she should have spoke up against this. You know very well none of this is all your fault. Your friends all admitted that they too made mistakes. Remember you’re still just a little kid and you’re going to make mistakes every now and then. It happens with everyone even me. You see one time I was helping out my mom at her shop. I was carrying more stuff than I thought I could and I ended up tripping over my loose shoelaces and everything that I was carrying went flying everywhere. A pin cushion that was on top knocked over my juice I had sitting on the edge of the counter and all the juice spilled all over the new dress my mom had just finished for a new client. I thought that she was going to be really mad at me. But she wasn’t you know why?” Sweetie Belle shook her head “Because it was an accident and my mom knew that I would never do something like that on purpose.” She looks up at him then back down “Sweetie. Do you understand now what I’m trying to say?” She looked up at him nodding her head and giving him a small smile. “ Yes. This isn’t my all my fault and I shouldn’t be blaming myself for it. Because I made a mistake just like everyone does. And I going to make more mistakes but I should never let them get to me. Because making mistakes is all a part of life.” Ramone pulled her into a hug and a proud smile on his face “That’s right Sweetie! Now you understand.” She smiled at him, but it didn’t last long as another realization came to her mind and she started crying all over again. Ramone looked down at her “Sweetie? What’s wrong now?” she kept her eyes closed “Sniff Sniff Sob Sob Whimper...I...I miss her.” Her?...oh. “Your sister...Rarity?” She nodded, thinking for a moment not sure how to help with this...then an idea popped into his head remembering something his mom did for him when he was a little kid. “Hey Sweetie I think I've got something that will help.” “What?” “Why don’t you go on over to Flo’s for a bit and when you come back it’ll be done. Ok.” “Ok.” Though a bit confused Sweetie Belle wiped away her tears and left the shop and heading over to Flo’s cafe. Ramone headed back over to his desk and got started working. After drawing out the design Ramone picked out the softest material he has in white and purple, some stuffing, blue, white, black, and purple thread. . . . “Ramone I’m back.” Sweetie Belle walked back into the shop. “I’m in here Sweetie. Come in I have a surprise for you.” She stepped into his work room seeing Ramone standing next to his desk with both arms behind his back. “Sooooo...You said you had a surprise for me.” Rocking a bit on her heels she waited patiently for what Ramone has for her. After spending some time with everyone she started feeling a lot better. Ramone knelt down in front her with his arms still behind his back. “First close your eyes and hold out your hands.” She did so and Ramone took out what was behind his back and set the item in her hands. “Ok open them.” She opens her eyes and looked at the item in her hands. “...” It’s a doll that looks just like...Rarity! staring at the doll and at a complete loss for words Ramone took the chance to explain. “You see when I was a little boy my mom often had to go on really long trips for fashion shows. And I missed her all the time while she was gone. One day when she had to leave for another show I tried everything that I could to get her to stay but nothing worked and I was really upset about it. So my mom made something special for me. A doll that looks like her and she said that whenever I was missing her all I had to do was look at that doll and think about all of the good times we had together and I was always reminded that she comes back. So even though I still missed her I always felt a little better while she was away all because I had that doll with me to let me know that she’d always come back. And I thought you needed the same thing. A little something to help you remember that even though you’re so far from home you know that you’ll always have someone who loves you and will always be with you no matter how far away they are.” He waited for her reaction, still staring at the doll tears began to well up in her eyes. “So...What do you think? Do you like it?” She jumped into his arms hugging him tight tears streaming down her face “I love it! Thank you! Thank you so much!” He picked her up hugging her close. “I know how it feels being so far away from someone you love it’s very hard and especially for someone at your age. You just need someone there to help you get through it all. And that’s why I’m here you know that if you ever need anything I’m always here for you.” Tears falling down her face Sweetie Belle hugs him tighter “Thank you so much Ramone...Sniff…I love you.” “I love you too Sweetie.” > Applebloom Journal Entry #1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Howdy ya’ll this is Applebloom, so during our time being in Radiator Spring in this new world I decided to write a journal. We’ve already learned so much while be’in here and it’s amazing how everyone here is just like our sisters and their friends back at home. Fillmore is so much a like Fluttershy he’s a little shy when he’s ‘round new folks. I’ve notice that he has a real beautiful garden and i’m a sure if there a were more animals ‘round these parts they’d be all ‘round his house. But I’ve also noticed that he really likes to joke ‘round with Sarge a lot. And then Sarge he reminds me so much of ma big sis which now that I think ‘bout it I don’t feel so homesick anymore he’s a real hard worker and I might say as strong as ma big sis. Then there’s Ramon he’s like Rarity in every way he’s fashionable and real generous and I say I think Sweetie Belle just found herself a big brother. Speak’in of big brothers Red and Big Mac are two in the same shy and strong. And Lizzy is Granny Smith. Lightning is like another Rainbow Dash fast, energetic, dependable, loyal, and real hard work’in when it comes to his training. And him and Scootaloo became a real awesome brother and sister. Sally reminds me of Twilight she’s could be just as smart as Twilight. And Mater, woo-wee he’s another Pinkie Pie in every possible way. Sheriff is like another Shinning Armor, he would do anything to protect the town and everyone here. And this may sound a bit strange but Doc makes me thinks of Princess Celestia. Ya it sound strange but the two of them both care about others and always tries their best to keep everyone happy, healthy, and safe. And seeing the relationship between him and Lightning, makes me think of the relationship between the Princess and Twilight, maybe even more the two of them are like father and son. I know we’re not going to be here forever pretty soon Sweetie Belle’s gonna find the spell we need ta get back home. But until then I’m just gonna enjoy the time we have here with our new family. > April Foals/Fools > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A totally random day in radiator springs “ Hey girls look at that.” Applebloom said pointing to a huge swirling vertex “Wow cool! Hey let’s go through it.” Scootaloo said heading to the vertex “Ok. This will be fun.” Sweetie Belle said following Applebloom and Scootaloo through the vertex. FWOOOOOSH Applebloom blinked her eyes open “Oh Hey girls look. We’re back home.” “Cool.” The END > Sweetie Belle Practicing Her Magic > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside Sweetie Belle’s room,   “Alright Sweetie Belle today’s the day. Today you get the levitation spell right.”   She said to herself picking up one of the books with a simple levitation spell in it. Reading through the spell then taking a soda can and sitting it on the bed.   Alright Sweetie Belle concentrate concentrate…   Attempt #1   Focusing her magic on the can surrounding it with her magic… Uh oh. Suddenly can started rocketing around the room.   “AAAAAAAHHHHH”   She screamed trying to dodge the can flying through her room, ducking under her bed when the can nearly hit her in the head. She had to stop this before Ramone walks in, grabbing the umbrella from her closet she swung it smashing the can hard against the wall. Signing she dropped the umbrella and plopped down onto the floor.   Ok attempt #1 Failed   Attempt #2   FWOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!! CRASH!!!  The can flew across the room and crashed into the wall making a huge dent in it that She will later have to hide with a picture.   Sigh third time's the charm   Attempt #3   ...Nothing…   “OH COME ON!!!”   After about another hour of practice Sweetie Belle decided to take a break and go with Ramone to Flo’s Cafe.   “Howdy Sweetie Belle, Ramone how ya’ll do’in?”   “Hi girls we’re fine.”   She sat down next to her friends and told them how her attempts were going with her magic. Applebloom patted her shoulder and Scootaloo gave her a little bump cheering her up telling her that she’ll get better with time. After a little more cheering up Sweetie started feeling a little better.  ... When she and Ramone got back home Sweetie Belle went straight to her room and tried again.   Attempt #7 failed   Attempt #10 failed   Attempt #13 failed   Attempt #21… wait the can started to float in the air without rocketing around or smashing into the wall.   “I..I did it. I really did it. Ramone! Ramone! Come look I did it! I finally did it!” > Happy Father's Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’s Father’s Day in Radiator Spring and everyone’s celebrating it in their own way. Sally isn’t in town today, she’s visiting her dad for father’s day. Everyone’s going to be coming together at Flo’s Cafe for a Father’s Day dinner. But that’s not until later in the afternoon.   Lightning just finished getting dressed and was a little stressed because he doesn't have a clue on what to give Doc for Father’s Day. He wanted it to be something special he loves Doc as though he was his own dad.   “You ok bro?” Scootaloo stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed giving Lightning a concerned look.   “Yeah I’m fine. I’m just… it just… It’s father’s day and I want to get Doc something special. Something that show him how much I look up to him.”   He then started rambling off things that he thought of getting him. All were big and probable expensive. Scootaloo held her hands up to stop him from going on.   “Lightning! Bro. Relax. It’s doesn’t matter what you get Doc. He’ll love anything you give him. You don’t have to be so big with it. Just… Just write him a letter. Tell him how much you care about him and look up to him.”   He thought about it for a moment and smiled, telling Doc how much he cared and looked up to him as a father was the best gift he could ever give him.   “Thanks Scoots I’ll do that.”   Scootaloo smiled heading out leaving Lightning to work on his letter. The first few minutes weren’t going so well. He was having a tough time finding the right words to say. Another dozen crumpled papers later, Lightning just decided to write what his heart was telling him.   Dear Doc, You have taught me so much and you have been there for me when I needed you most. I know that when I first came here I was a real pain in the butt and not the easiest guy to get along with. And that’s why I look up to you show much. You helped changed into the man I am today. You’re more than just a mentor to me Doc you’re a father. Happy Father’s Day, Dad I love you   He read over the letter and put it inside a father’s day card ready to give it to Doc locking the door behind him, he headed straight to Doc’s place knocking on the door it didn’t take long for Doc to answer.   “Hey kid what brings you here.” “This.”   He held out the letter in front of Doc nervousness etched all over his face. Doc took the card from him and smiled.   “Ya didn’t have to.”   “Just look inside.”   Doc opened up the card to find a letter inside and read it tears forming inhis eyes. He looked at Lightning and then pulled him into a hug.   “Thank you son. I love you too.”   …   Over at the junkyard Mater was working on something very special for Sheriff. He set down the crayon looking over the picture he drew it was of him and Sheriff when he was a kid.   When Mater’s parents were killed by a robber Sheriff had adopted him in an instant with no second thought. Despite the fact that he wasn’t all that excited about living with a complete stranger. Sheriff never gave up on trying to help him and during time he really started warming up to him and then eventually started calling him dad.   Mater got up from his chair quickly and very excitedly heading for Sheriff’s office.   Knock Knock   “Come in Mater.”   “Hey there Pa!”   Mater didn’t waste anything wrapping his arm around Sheriff in a big hug.   “Happy Father’s Day!”   Mater pulled out the picture from his pocket and gave it to Sheriff. He looked at the picture and wiped away the tears from his eyes.   “Thank you son I love it.”   “I love ya pa.”   “Love you to son.”   …   At Sarge’s surplus store Applebloom was sitting in her room working on something special to give to Sarge. It wasn’t much but it was something that she did every year for her dad.   “Done.”   Applebloom looked at it smiling to herself heading out to give it to Sarge. He was cleaning off some shelves when Applebloom walked in.   “Howdy Sarge how’s it go’in?”   “I’m fine how about you?”   He turned around to face her and noticed she was hiding something he smirk at her.   “What’s that you have behind your back?” Applebloom smiled at him.   “First close ya eyes.” he was about to ask why.   “Just close 'em.”   He did so and felt Applebloom take his hand and put something in it.   “Ok open them”   Sarge opened them and looked at what was in his hands. It was an origami horse he look at her confused.   “I know it ain’t much. But it's something that I did for ma pa, every year I would make one and take it to his grave. He was actually the one that taught me how to make it. It took forever to learn how to do it myself.   “Thank you Apple”...wait grave?   She stared at the floor tears forming in her eyes looking up at Sarge she smiled at him he returned the smile and bent down wrapping her in his arms.   “Thank you Applebloom. I love it.”   “I love you Sarge.” shocked at what was just said he hadn't expect that looking down to see her with tear filled eyes smiling at him he couldn't but start to cry himself.   Oh the heck with it! For once that hippie was right.   “I love you too”   …   Later in the evening everyone was at Flo’s Cafe enjoying a nice dinner. Today had been a great Father’s Day for everyone. > Second Chance > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few days went by as normal, nothing interesting happening. Everybody's just going about their daily routines. It was also 4 months until the next race and as usual Doc and Lightning are up at Willy’s Butte practicing. Scootaloo's with them watching while every so often giving what she thought was advise forgetting that Lightning is a human not a pegasus. Applebloom's listening to one of Sarge's war stories which is one of her favorite things about him. However Sweetie Belle was sitting in the shop bored stiff with absolutely nothing to do. Ramone noticed this and decided now was a good time to take a break from fabric searching and gave her his laptop (after blockingcertain websites) she went straight to watching those silly cartoon videos she loves so much. While scrolling down looking for more videos she noticed one particular video about an abandoned pitbull. Because the thumbnail was of the dog, he looked so cute that she couldn’t help but click on the video and see it for herself. It started with a group of people posing and the title Pit Bulls and Parolees which is what she guessed is the name of the rescue group. They were driving through what looked like a small neighborhood, then the woman with bright red hair started talking about the situation. And as soon as she saw the dog she gasped seeing that it was just a little puppy, he was wandering around everywhere. As she watched Sweetie Belle was amazed at how gentle this lady was with him and how happy that little puppy was when she picked him up. After that first video Sweetie Belle started watching more about the dogs they’ve rescued. There was another video that got her attention, it was about a dog that was used for something called “Dog Fighting”. This was her first time hearing about this kind of thing, she had never heard of dog fighting before they didn’t have that back in Equestria. And Sweetie Belle was relieved about that, continuing the video she had learned all she wanted to know about dog fighting. How some people would be so cruel that they would force innocent dogs to fight each other then just abandoned them and leave them to die. After a few more videos she learned that Villalobos Rescue Center is the name of their rescue group, Pit Bulls and Parolees is the name of their show and that they have a website. She searched for it and was amazed at how many dogs they've rescued and everything they do to care for all of them. She had been silent for a while now after watching all those videos and learning about all the horrible things that some humans do to these dog. And all of the effort other humans do to save them from the abuse, she was just... shocked and horrified. She was still learning a lot about this world but she'd never imagined that she'd see something so...evil. To Sweetie Belle what these people do is so much worst than what other villains in Equestria had done. She had always thought that Tirek was the most evil one of all. But after seeing all this compared to those people Tirek's a saint. How could someone be so cruel? She thought to herself wiping away a few tears that started to fall. Moments later Ramone walked in and noticed the tears in her eyes. “Sweetie?... Are you alright?” He sat at the edge of the bed and pulled Sweetie Belle into his arms, sitting her on his lap hugging her close. Sweetie Belle didn’t look at him but told him everything she'd learned about dog fighting and the people who just abandoned their dogs for no reason. Ramone was shocked and amazed at how she was so affected by this. Despite her being so young she understood a lot about one of the most serious problems that’s going on in this world right now. During the rest of the day Sweetie Belle remained silent not saying a word to anyone, which only made everyone worried about her. Even at night she wasn’t able to get any sleep at all, she just couldn’t stop thinking about all of those dogs out there with no home and having gone through so much torture. The thought of it made her cry all over again. . . . The next day Ramone decided to take Sweetie Belle with him to the city to pick up some fabrics he ordered. Hoping that he could do something to cheer her up a little bit before the end of the day. While Ramone was inspecting his packages making sure that everything was intact Sweetie Belle just stayed put in a chair waiting for him to finish. After he finished inspecting everything and paying for it they left and started driving around. “So Sweetie would you like to go to that park you love to play at so much?” She didn’t saw anything and just shrugged. Ramone signed and turned into the direction of the park. While driving they past by a small vacant lot and for a moment Sweetie Belle could of swore she saw something move in there but she pushed it aside as nothing and just continued to look out the window. When they arrived at the park Sweetie Belle’s mood lightened a little bit when she saw someone with a large dog crate and a sign saying “Free Puppies To Good Home”. That made Ramone smile seeing that Sweetie Belle was feeling a little better. They got out the car and she headed straight to the puppies. The owner smiled at her and she knelt down in front of the crate looking inside, there were six “pit bull” puppies. She didn’t pay any attention to the sudden coincidence that they were pit bulls and spent most of her time there playing with the puppies and their mother which made Ramone and the owner happy watching them play together. After a few hours Ramone called Sweetie Belle over saying it was time to go at that same time the owner had just adopted out their last puppy and was now packing up getting ready to leave. She waved goodbye to the owner skipping over to Ramone’s car and getting in the backseat buckling up. While driving back they passed by that same lot and again Sweetie Belle saw something move in there. It wasn’t that late so the sun was still partly in the sky giving her enough light to see what looks like a tail. At that moment she turned to Ramone… “Ramone can we stop?” “Why? What’s wrong?” He slowed down pulling into a parking spot Sweetie Belle pointed back to the vacant lot. “I saw something back there! Back in that old lot over there!” “Now Sweetie are you sure you weren’t just seeing things?” “I’m positive! I saw it before when we were heading to the park. And I saw it again just now when we passed by.” Sweetie Belle starred at him with pleading eyes, he signed and put the car in drive making a U-turn. . . Parking in front of the lot Ramone pulled out a flashlight from his glove compartment and they headed into the lot. Sweetie Belle started calling out to whatever she saw while Ramone kept a tight grip on her hand. About a few minutes later she tugged on his arm pointing to a pile of garbage in the corner at the end of the lot. “Right there Ramone! I saw it again!” Before he could say anything Sweetie Belle broke away from his grip and raced over to the end of the lot. “Sweetie Belle! Get back here!” He ran after her and when he got there he was about to yell at Sweetie Belle for running off without him, but stopped when he saw what was under all the pile of garbage. It was a white pit bull that looked to be about one year old. It’s fur was more brown than white because of all the dirt and garbage it was lying in. He looked back over to Sweetie Belle who was sitting on the dirt in front of it just staring the dog it was clear that the dog's very scared and hurt too. Slowly Sweetie Belle reached her hand out to the dog, Ramone was about to tell her to step back but to his surprise the dog neither bit her nor backed away further into the hole. In stand it slowly inched closer sniffing her hand very carefully and when she went to pet it the dog didn’t flinch, but actually very slowly cradled out from it's hiding spot and nestled itself closer to her. Sweetie Belle didn’t really smile and just continued softly petting his head. It was then Ramone noticed that the dog is a boy as well as all of the bite marks and a huge chain attached to a rope wrapped around his neck. There was no doubt about it it was clear to both of them what happened to this little guy. Sweetie Belle was both horrified and confused, first she had seen a video just yesterday about a pit bull being used in dog fight, then today she met “pit bull” puppies, and now here she is a pit bull that looked like it had been through one of those horrible fights. Three coincidences in a row and all of them about pit bulls and dog fights. I don’t get it what’s this suppose to mean? And why me of all people? Ramone told Sweetie Belle to stay put and ran back to his car, he came back moments later with his jacket and pocket knife, telling Sweetie Belle to step back he pulled out the pocket knife and started cutting the rope from around his neck. It took a really long time for him to finally get the rope off especially since he was being very very careful not to hurt the dog. After finally getting the rope off Ramone grabbed his jacket and very gentle trying to be mindful of his injuries, picked him up and they walked back to the car. Sweetie Belle opened the back door and got in then helped Ramone set the dog down carefully on the back seat next to her. Ramone got in the driver’s seat they buckled their seat belts and Sweetie Belle kept both arms around the dog petting him gently while he kept his head on her lap. . . . When they arrived in town Ramone headed straight to Doc’s clinic. They got out the car and he carried the dog to the front door Sweetie Belle knocked and Doc opened up a smile on his face but that smile soon faded when he caught sight of the dog in Ramone’s arms. “Oh my god What happened?” “We found him out in a vacant lot chained up in a pile of garbage. I know you’re not a vet but do you think you could take a look at him?” “Of course! Come on in.” He made room for them in the doorway and told Ramone to set the dog down on his examination table picking up his stethoscope he started his examination on the dog. Looks like those veterinary books I bought came in handy after all. After a certain incident during his first few months in Radiator Springs when a customer’s dog had gotten injured playing near Willy’s Butte. He told them that he wasn’t a vet and that he couldn’t (and didn’t know how to) help them and that there was a veterinary clinic near by not to far from town. Not being able to help them had made him feel so useless that he went out and bought every book he could find on basic vet skills. After the examination Doc had a very disgusted look on his, he knew exactly where those bite marks had come from and the thought of it made him furious. Grrr! Are. You. Serious! Doc internally shouted dog fighting was one of the worst things he hated. Fortnightly nothing was to serious the bits aren't that deep. Which made things easier for Doc since he still only knows the basics. After cleaning the wounds and bandaging them up he called for Ramone and Sweetie Belle to come back in and the dog’s tail immediately started wagging as soon as he caught sight of Sweetie Belle. She gave him a huge smile running over to the table and began petting her new friend while he licked her face. Ramone smiled at the sight but it soon changed to concern when he saw the look on Doc’s face. “Doc? You ok man?” “Yeah. I’ll be fine. But I will be contacting the city police informing them on what happened. I’m not even sure if they’re aware or not that there’s a possible dog fighting ring going on there. Sometimes those people can be real absentminded.” Ramone was about to say something but closed his mouth when he didn’t have anything to say since he agreed with him. They both continue to talk about the situation for about a half an hour then went back into the room seeing Sweetie Belle scratching the dog’s ear. Before either of them could say anything Sweetie Belle looked at them and smiled. “Bulk!” “Huh?” Both of them looked at her confused then she said “What I mean is I’m gonna name him Bulk.” “And why did you pick that?” Doc asked her, his mood had changed and he smiled at her. “You see there’s this one pegasus that lives in Ponyville. He’s like… really big and muscular. And he’s got white fur with really really tiny wings about the size of his ears. And he looks like him.” Doc and Ramone tried their best not to laugh “So how exactly can he fly?” “I have no idea.” Sweetie Belle replied with a giggle and a yawn now it was late and time for her to go to bed. Ramone walked over to the table and picked up her and headed for the door but before leaving he turned back to Doc. “Thanks for the help Doc. No doubt Sweetie will be coming back in the morning to see Bulk.” “He’ll be waiting Goodnight.” “Goodnight.” . . . The next morning, as expected as soon as Sweetie Belle was dressed she raced over to Doc’s clinic not paying any attention to the others when she passed by, that got Applebloom and Scootaloo’s attention and they raced after her. “Hey Sweetie Belle! Slow down will ya!” “Huh...Oh Applebloom Scootaloo! This is perfect! Come on I wanna show ya something!” Well that easy… Applebloom thought to herself following Sweetie Belle to the clinic front door. She knocked and Doc opened the door smiling at her. “Just as I was expecting come on in he’s been waiting for you.” Wait! He!? Did Sweetie Belle find a boyfriend or something? And what’s he’s doing at Doc’s clinic? Scootaloo thought to herself shocked and curious she looked over to Applebloom who was just as confused. But as soon as they entered the room their questions were answered when they saw a white pit bull dog sitting on the examination table. He stood up wagging his tail fiercely licking Sweetie Belle’s cheek, unexpectedly Scootaloo jumped behind Applebloom a look a fear in her eyes. “Scoots! What’s the matta’ with ya? Why are ya acting so scared all of a sudden?” “I-I don’t do so good around dogs.” Scootaloo said shaken keeping her eyes on Bulk, Doc walked over to Scootaloo taking her hand and she immediately dashed behind him. Applebloom took this chance before Scootaloo did a slingshot and latched back onto her and walked over to Bulk slowly extending her hand toward him waiting for him to give it a sniff then started petting his back Bulk’s tail wagged even faster. “What’s his name?” “Bulk” Applebloom snorted at that “Snort Bulk? As in Bulk Biceps?” “Yep!” Both girls started laughing continuing to pet Bulk while Scootaloo remained hidden behind Doc. He bent down to meet her at eye level. “Come on Scootaloo there’s nothing to be afraid of. Bulk’s not going to hurt you I promise.” “I-I-I um gulp." He picked up Scootaloo’s arm and led her across the room over to Bulk despite her trying hard to pull away. “D-Doc! I don’t think this is a good idea.” “Shh it’s ok all ya gotta do is let him sniff your hand.” She gulped, holding out her hand and Bulk began sniffing it then she felt something sloppy on her palm and opened her eyes to see Bulk licking her hand. She giggled at the feeling and nervously move her hand up slowly stroking his head. When she looked back at Doc he smiled at her, she blushed embarrassingly and turned back to Bulk as soon as she did he gave her a big sloppy lick to the face. “AHAHAHA! EWWW! That’s gross!” Sweetie Belle turned her attention to Doc “Hey Doc is it ok to take him outside now? I wanna introduce him to everyone!” "Eh..not today Sweetie Belle Bulk needs to stay here until his heal." "When will that be?" Doc thought for a moment The wound aren't that deep and with enough rest and the right medicines which I have. Should be about 3 to 5 days till I can remove the bandages. "Give him about 5 days to rest up and heal." "Ok! Um..Doc can you keep Bulk a secret?" "Huh? Why?" "I want it to be surprise when I introduce him to everyone." That got her a small chuckle from Doc and a round of giggles from Applebloom and Scootaloo. 5 days later The girls ran off to Doc's clinic and as Sweetie did ignored everyone at the cafe. For the past five days they all managed to keep Bulk a secret as Sweetie Belle wanted. But they still had the whole town suspicious Lightning watched the girls leave then looked to everyone. "Does anyone else think those three are hiding something?" Everyone gave a nod and Lightning continued eating wondering what it was the girls Doc and Ramone are hiding it must be something something for even Doc to keep to himself. Inside Doc's clinic the girls were playing with Bulk while Doc removed his bandages. After checking him over one last time and giving him a clean bill of health Sweetie Belle beamed at him. "Can we take him outside now Doc? Can we?" “Of course you can just let me get a leash for him.” Just like with the books Doc had bought a couple of leashes and collars, including one mussel for more difficult patients. He came out with a yellow collar and leash in hand which made all three girls burst out laughing and Doc gave them a look. “And just what exactly is so funny?” “Bulk’s mane is yellow.” Scootaloo said between gasp of laughter even Doc chuckled a little bit. I should have seen that coming He adjusted the collar a little and clicked it around Bulk’s neck then took the leash and clipped it on, picking up Bulk and setting him down on the floor Bulk immediately started tugging on the leash excited to get outside. This made Doc laugh as he pulled back a bit telling Bulk to heal then all five of them headed out. Everybody in town was surprised when they first saw Bulk at least now they know what the big secret was. Lightning was the first one to introduce himself to Bulk, then Mater, Sally and everyone else. It didn’t take long for Bulk to get familiar with everyone then headed back over to Sweetie Belle licking her cheek she then kissed to top of his head Doc smiled at the sight. Well Bulk, looks like Sweetie Belle gave you a second chance. > Witness Protection Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning in Radiator Springs, Sarge raised his flag and Hendrix sounded from next door. “Will you turn that disrespectful junk off!” “Respect the classic man. It’s Hendrix!” Lightning yawned as his usually alarm clock went off got up and headed for the shower. When he got out Scootaloo went in and took her shower. He waited for her to come out and they both headed over to Flo’s for breakfast. Inside Flo had just set two plates of pancakes in front of Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. A third one all ready for Scootaloo she took her seat and started chowing down. Lightning took his usual seat next to Doc and Flo set down a plate of pancakes in front of him. After he had finished about half of them he turned his attention over to Doc. “Hey Doc.” He pushed his glasses up and looked over to Lightning. “Yes. What is it?” “I was thinking maybe we can take the girls with us to the race. I think they would really enjoy it. Plus Scootaloo hasn’t really been subtle with me about wanting to go. She’s constantly asking… no begging me to let her come. I thought about it and I really don’t see any harm in letting them come.” Doc leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. “Hm… I don’t know.” “Oh come on Doc. What’s the worst that could happen?” He thought about it for a little longer. “Well… Ok you’re right there’s no harm in letting them join us. And I was planning on letting them come to a race sooner or later. Guess now is as good a time as any. Why don’t you go ahead and tell ‘em.” “Thanks Doc.” He got up from his seat and headed over to the girls table. … “Awsome! Thanks Lightning! You here that girls we get to go to a real race!” “Glad you’re excited but don’t thank me thank Doc.” The girls got up from their chairs and rushed over to Doc throwing him in a hug. Sweetie Belle looked up and asked. “Hey Doc do you think Bulk can come too.” He picked her up and sat her on his lap. “Now don’t push it little lady. Plus dogs aren’t allowed at races anyway.” Referring to Sweetie Belle’s pet a pit bull that she had adopted about a month ago. She had named him Bulk because he made her think of Bulk Biceps with his white fur. “Ok.” … After breakfast everyone went back to doing their own thing. Except for Sarge and Fillmore who stayed in their spots watching the sky waiting for customers to start showing up. Ramone headed over to his shop to continue working on his new designs while also taking the time to look over his inventory and take note of what he needs to stock up on and how much of it he’ll need. While Applebloom and Sweetie Belle sat inside watching silly videos on Flo’s laptop. Doc and Lightning along with Scootaloo drove out to Willie’s Butte to continue practicing for the next race, that was only in two weeks. Two weeks later... “Alright girls! You all ready to gol?” “Ya! We’re waiting for you slowpoke!” Scootaloo shouted from Mack’s truck, she and the others had just finished putting the last of their suitcases in the trailer and were now waiting for Doc to come out with the rest of his things. Ramone was at the truck talking with the girls making sure they knew what to do and what not to do while being in the pits, around other racers and making it perfectly clear that Applebloom will be in charge. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo pouted...Applebloom’s always in charge, while she herself grinned. Doc came out with his last suitcase and turned his attention to the girls. “Alright girls let’s go!” Sweetie Belle bent down and gave Bulk a kiss on forehead in return he gave her a sloppy lick to the cheek and stepped into the trailer, Mack closed the back and they all waved goodbye saying they see everyone after the race. Scootaloo was ecstatic the whole trip she couldn’t stop thinking about how awesome her first race was going to be. The trip would take about 12 hours for them to get from Arizona to California. > Halloween special: Halloween? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greeting friend here take my hand, for this tale that I am about to tell will have you feeling unwell. Come with me and see, let’s take a peek, into the town of Radiator Springs. Folks up and down decorating the town lining streets with lights and buildings with things so chilling. Monsters and demons all around stalking the town, hiding under your bed a monster with eyes glowing red. A frightening creature “Is it the creeper?” with fingers of snakes that’s all it takes and spiders with a dark desire, crawling in hair so fair. A clown with a tear-away face, a flash gone in a trace. There’s a shadow in the moon of sorrow at night, fills you with fright. The wind blowing through your hair, you call out “who’s there?”.Something’s hiding in the corner you can’t help but wonder. Screams from nowhere, “Is someone there?” demons lurking in storefronts they’re on the hunt, behind windows “Look there’s a farrow, watching you through a mirror they think they’re clever. No one knows where but they’re out there, could that who be somewhere behind you… It’s the 1st of October and everyone’s decorating their homes and businesses for Halloween even adding a little extra spook to their clothes waiting till the 31st to really get into costume. Except for the girls who were confused about what all the decorations are for. Walking into Flo’s cafe the first thing they saw was Flo herself wearing a huge black pointed hat with webs and spiders all around the same can be said for the inside. Scootaloo went up to Doc and Lighting giving him a tap on the leg, looking down from his ladder he smile at the girls. At first she couldn’t help but stare at the...thing he was wearing on his head it was red and had two small horns on it. Putting that aside Lightning had climbed down from the ladder and was now standing in front of the girls. “What’s up girls do ya need something?” “Yeah what’s with all these weird decorations?” That got Doc’s attention, there was a pair of black goggles hanging around his neck, pushing his glasses back up his nose he looked over to Lightning both with confused and rather amused looks on their faces. “Um..not sure I gets ya Scoots all of this is for Halloween.” Still confused they asked “What’s Halloween?” “Oh no! Please don’t tell me you girls don’t have a Halloween in Equestria!” “Actually that exactly what we’re say’in.” Applebloom retorted with a bit of sass That got her a look from Doc and he stepped down from his ladder. “Alright girls sit down looks like it’s story time.” They all sat down at a table and Lightning began by telling them the basic customs of what people do on Halloween. Decorating everything with lights, ghost, bats etc. Carving pumpkins putting candles in and setting them outside. Dressing in costumes either simple, funny, cute, or scary, telling scary stories and of course everyone’s favorite going door to door demanding candy. “Trick or Treat! That’s what you say.” Finally getting it the girls’ faces enlightened with excitement “NIGHTMARE NIGHT!!!” “Nightmare Night?” now it’s the guys turn to be confused. Sweetie Belle perked up “Now it’s our turn to tell the story.” She explained about the similarities of their Halloween and Equestria’s Nightmare Night including an old silly tradition of having to leave candy by a statue. Good thing that Princess Luna herself made a few changes. And Sweetie Belle continued on explaining that their celebration was based off the legend of Nightmare Moon. Not knowing who Nightmare Moon was Applebloom said that she was Princess Luna one of the four princesses of Equestria... “Hold on!” all four turned to Lightning “Can you girls wait for a minute? I want everyone to hear this.” The girls nodded and Lightning went to tell the others. Minutes later everyone was back in Flo’s cafe, she’d even allowed Bulk inside knowing he probably didn’t understand her as well as Fluttershy did her animals she still wanted him to hear the story too. Everyone was seated waiting hear the story and the girls together told them the tale of Nightmare Moon… “Ok” “The legend goes…” “Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria. There were two megal sister who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn. The younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus the two sisters maintain balance for their kingdom and their subjects all the different types of ponies. But as time went on the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth. But shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One faithful day the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her. But the bitterness in the young ones heart had transformed into a wicked mare of darkness. Nightmare Moon! She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponyville. The Elements of harmony! Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony she defeated her younger sister. And banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon. And harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.” Everyone were astonished! Never have they ever heard a story like that. “Dad gum” “That was incredible!” “Amazing” “It was so beautiful” “Meravigliosa! Marvelous!” “Si’ Si’!” The girls started to blush a little as everyone went on “Aw shucks that’s real nice ya.” Scootaloo was the one to get back on topic “Alright now your turn to tell us the story about Halloween.” Doc paused for a moment thinking on how he should explain their holiday in a way the girls did theirs… Got it! He cleared his throat.. “Halloween. Once know as All Hallows’ Eve. It is believed that this celebration originated in the British Isles. From the Celtic celebration of Samhain. A festival where people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming spirits. Halloween is the evening before the christian’s holy days of All Hallow’s Day on the 1st of November and All Soul’s Day on the 2nd. Thus giving Halloween the 31st of October and the name All Hallows’ Eve. Over time Halloween evolved into a more community-based event. It wasn’t until a mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century that Halloween became a major holiday in North America. Confined to the immigrant communities during that time it was gradually incorporated into mainstream society. By the first decade of the 20th century it was being celebrated coast to coast in all social, racial, and religious background. Now as for legends and other traditions revolving around Halloween let’s say witches. Their legend originated from a priest who during All Hallows’ Eve was walking by a country road. When at the top of a hill he spotted bonfires burning. And there were people in costumes holding shafts and torches dancing around the fire. With the moon as a backdrop to the fires the people appeared to be flying in the air. Fearing that they were witches the priest hurried to warn the village. Halloween’s two most favored traditions are Trick or Treating and making Jack-O-Lanterns. Well their two origins are connected in a way. In medieval times one popular All Souls' Day practice was the making of "soul cakes," a simple bread dessert with a current topping. In a custom called "souling," children would go door-to-door begging for the cakes. Very much like modern day trick-or-treaters. For every cake the children collected they would have to say a prayer for the dead relatives of the person who gave it to them. These prayers help the relatives find their way out of purgatory and into heaven. The children even sang a soul cake song similar to the lines of the modern "Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat, give me something sweet to eat."  Dressing up as ghosts originated from the ancient Celtic. A tradition where townspeople would disguise themselves as demons and spirits. The Celts believed that in doing this may allow them to escape the notice of the real spirits wandering the streets. As part of the Samhain celebration Celts would bring home an ember from the communal bonfire at the end of the night. They were carried in hollowed-out turnips. Creating a lantern similar to modern day Jack-O-Lanterns. This was the result of a very popular character in Irish folk tale. Stingy Jack was a famous cheapskate who on several occasions avoided losing his soul to the devil. He’d done so by tricking him more than once and mostly on All Hallows’ Eve. According the story he had convinced the devil to climb up a tree for some apples. Then in order to trap him Jack cut crosses all over the tree trunks leaving him trapped up there. The devil promised to leave Jack alone forever if he would allow him to climb down. He agreed and when Jack died he was turned away from heaven due to his past sins. But in honoring their deal the devil did not accept him either. As he left the gates of Hell the devil threw him a burning ember to light his way. And he placed that ember in a hollowed-out turnip. Legend says on All Hallows’ Eve you can still see Jack’s spirit wandering in the darkness carry that same turnip lantern." That whole story had earned Doc a round of applause from everyone. “Wow Doc that was an awesome story.” “Thank you Scootaloo.” “Well girls you all what we have to do now.” they nodded and Sweetie Belle hopped off the chair Bulk right at her feet wagging his tail furiously. “We need to start picking out our costumes!” and all three girls along with Bulk raced out the cafe, Lightning shouted back at them. “You’ve got 30 days till then what’s the rush?!” and Applebloom shouted back in response “Ya know what they say! The early bird gets the worm!” then Scootaloo added “Or better yet. Early costumes are always the MOST AWESOME!” That in result caused everyone in the room to burst out laughing. > Halloween special: The Four Monsters > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’s the 20th of October and the girls are still trying to find the right costumes to wear. At a complete lose they decided to go to Ramone to ask for a little help. Sweetie Belle peeked her head inside the shop. “Ramone are you here?!” “I’m in here Sweetie!” his voice came from the other room and the girls followed it finding Ramone sitting at his desk stretching something. Everyone else had asked him for their costumes so the girls thought he wouldn’t mind making three more. “Can we ask you for something?” “Of course girls what do you need?” “ We a been hav’in a tough time try’in ta find what costumes we wanna wear. Can ya help us out?” He knew the girls would ask him for help sooner or later. “What did you girls have in mind?” “That’s just it dude! We don’t have a clue what to wear.” Hum...ok..he took out his laptop and waved for the girls to come closer. “Ok how about we look at some options? See what you girls like.” And so they began scrolling through a bunch of costumes trying to find the right one for them. Sweetie Belle “eep” and ducked behind Ramone when the costume of a really creepy doll popped up, Ramone skipped that one and any others like it and they continued on. Eventually all three picked out the one they wanted. Sweetie Belle even picked out one for Bulk and Ramone printed them out then asked the girls to get on his stage so he can begin getting all their measurements. Once he was finished and got each girl’s exact measurements they left the shop for him to get started. Scootaloo had picked a costume that she wouldn’t have to hide her wings but Ramone will still have to add holes to it. The girls exited the shop and began wandering around town they headed over to Sheriff’s station and found him in his office adjusting the arms on...something. It was a green human with really big hands and feets, it’s head was more square than round and seems to have stitches around the forehead, arms, and legs, there were also bolts in it’s neck. Scootaloo got his attention “Hey Sheriff!” turning to the direction of the voice Sheriff smiled at the girls “Hello girls! What brings you here?” “Noth’in we’re just wanderin round lookin for somethin ta do.” Sweetie Belle pointed to the thing “What’s that?” Sheriff looked at the decoration hanging on the wall then back to the girls smiling, he’d had a feeling the girls wouldn’t know who he was. “This is Frankenstein. He’s one of the four original monsters and one of my favorites.” all three girls looked at him confused “Who’s Frankenstein?” Applebloom asked. Sweetie Belle hopped in place “Oh boy! Story time!” Sheriff gestured to his desk and the girls sat on the floor in front of him. “Ok the story goes like this...Back in the 19th century in Europe there lived a young very brilliant scientist named Victor Frankenstein. Frankenstein was very much into the human sciences and reanimating the dead. So much he attempted it himself. But things had ended terribly. Frankenstein used various…” Sheriff paused realizing that the girls might not be able to handle the fact that Frankenstein used various decayed body parts. He thought for a moment not sure how to explain that part…though to his surprise Applebloom said “If ya worried bout us bein scared of real bloody parts don’t we’ve heard scarier.” “Are you sure? I warn you it’s not pleasant.” the girls nodded, Sheriff sighed and continued on. “ Alright...Frankenstein used various body parts that he had stolen from graves. His assistant Igor collected those parts and brought them to his master. Each body parts were carefully stitched together and they were almost done. But Frankenstein still needed one more thing. A brain for his creation. So Frankenstein ordered Igor to go out and fetch one. But Igor had made a horrible mistake. Instead of bringing Frankenstein a normal brain. He brought him one belonging to a murderer. Unbeknownst to this Frankenstein continued with the experiment placing his creation on the operation table and began rising it up to an opening in laboratory. Lightning struck the body and Frankenstein screamed out at the top of his lungs “ IT’S ALIVE!!!”. Frankenstein welcomed his creation into the lab and the monster did as he was told. That is until Igor entered with a flaming torch frightening the monster. His fright was mistaken as an attack and Frankenstein chained him in the dungeon. He left the monster locked up believing that he would wreak havoc if allowed to roam free. Realizing that his creation must be destroyed Frankenstein prepared a powerful drug to injected into the monster. But entering the dungeon found that the monster had strangle Igor to death. With some help from his old medical professor Waldman injected the monster with the drug and he fell unconscious. But it did not work as well as they had planned. For moments after Frankenstein left to prepare for his wedding Waldman stayed to examine the monster he awoke and strangled Waldman then escaped. The monster then encountered a farmer’s young daughter who asked him to play a game with her. Throwing flowers into the lake and watching them float. When they ran out of flowers the monster threw her in thinking she would float too. To his confusion she drowned upset by this he ran away. The wedding preparation were completed and Frankenstein and Elizabeth were to be married as soon as Waldman arrives. Sadly one of his friends had rushed in saying that Waldman was dead. Then a chilling scream and Frankenstein found Elizabeth dead the monster gone. The young girl’s father arrived with his daughter in hand. Knowing it was the monster a band of peasants forms a search party to bring him to justice. Frankenstein becomes separated from the group discovered by the monster who attacks him knocking unconscious and carrying him off to an old mill. The peasants heard his cries and regrouped to follow it only to find the monster had climbed to the top dragging Frankenstein behind him. The monster hurled Frankenstein to the ground but his fall was broken by the vanes of the windmill. The mob set the windmill on fire trapping the monster inside killing him.” After hearing the story Applebloom said “Oh! Ya mean Frankenstallion!” Sheriff just smiled of course then Scootaloo asked “And what about the other 3?” “Oh yes! Well next the Wolf-” “RIPPIN AND REVIN!!!” Came a very loud voice from outside. They peeked out the door to see what’s going on. The Tuners a group of street racers were racing through the town at top speed. Sheriff growled under his breath and headed to his cruiser “Not these punks again! Sorry girls I have to go now.” “But what about the other three monsters?” Scootaloo asked. Sheriff thought for a moment “Why don’t you girls go over to Mater’s and ask? The Wolfman is his favorite.” “YEAAAAAAH! TRY AND CATCH US IF YOU CAN GRANDPA!!!” Sheriff’s eye twitched and he sped off after them. “Gotta go girls GET BACK HERE YOU IMPORT PUNKS!!!” Scootaloo grinned as she watch chase after them remember he let her join him on a chase with those guys and the look on their faces when they got caught, he’d even let her use the siren. “Alrighty girls! Let’s head over to Mater’s.” At Mater’s Garage the girls found him bent over some boxes fiddling with something inside. Scootaloo looked over to her right and noticed a mask sitting on a pile of junk. It looked like what she guessed the Wolfman looks like, a guy with hair all over his face pointed ears and a really weird nose. An idea popped into her head and she picked up the mask slipping it over her head. Both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle gave her confused looks and she put a finger to her lips shushing them as she slowly tip-toed over to Mater. Mater on the other hand was to occupied by what was in the box that he didn’t see Scootaloo sneak up in front of him. Though he did have the sudden urge to look up and when he peeked out from the box “RWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!” “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” Mater shrieked kicking his head back instinctively knocking over a pyramid tires. Scootaloo fell back clenching her stomach laughing. Mater popped out from the pile, a tire around his head and a derp look. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” All three girls were on their backs laughing out loud. Mater shook his head looking up at the tire and he too started laughing. Trying to get the it off “AHAHAHAHA! Ya got me Scootaloo! That was a good one!” “Ahaha thanks Mater” Applebloom got up wiping away her tears “Say Mater can ya tell us bout the other three monsters?” “Huh?” “Sheriff already told us bout Frankenstal-stein, but than he had ta go chasing after them darn Tuners again and he said ya can tell us bout the Wolfman.” Mater’s face lit up “Well sure thang girls! The Wolfman’s ma favorite.” Scootaloo sat down next to her two friends and Mater sat in front of them finally gotten the tire off his head. “Ok y’all the story goes like this...In the early 20th century. After learning about the death of his brother, Lawrence “Larry” Talbot returned to his home in Llanelly to recoil with his father. While there Larry met a girl named Gwen Conliffe and instantly fell in love. She runs an antique shop. So in a way to impress her he purchases a silver-headed walking stick. Decorated with the shape of wolf’s head. Gwen tells him it represents the werewolf. A man who changes into a wolf. Not believing in such things she recited to him a poem. “Even a man who is pure in heart, and says his prayers at night, May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.” That night Larry attempts to rescue her friend Jenny from a sudden wolf attack. Larry managed to kill the wolf with his cane but was bitten in the process. A gypsy fortune teller named Maleva reveals to him that the beast was actually her son Bela in the form of a wolf. And that he himself will become a wolf. For those who are bitten by a werewolf and lives will become a wolf themselves. Talbot transformed into a wolf-like creature stalking the village and killing the local gravedigger. He retained vague memories of being a werewolf wanting to kill and continually struggles to overcome it. He was finally bludgeoned to death by his father with his own silver walking cane. Sir John Talbot and Gwen watched in horror and cried as the dead werewolf transformed into Larry’s human form.” “Wow that was so cool! Hey now that I think about it. We have a legend just like that in Equestria.” “Oh yeah! In Equestria they’re known as Wereponies.” Oh oh! Next one please what are the other two?”Sweetie excitedly “Alrighty girl next i’ll tell ya’ll bout vampires-” and just like with Sheriff they were interrupted. A customer had just walked in asking for Mater’s help. “Dad gum! sorry girls...say why don’t ya go ask Miss Sally! She’s a huge fan of vampires. She can tell ya.” “Ok thanks Mater.” and the girls left, leaving Mater with the customer heading over to the Cozy Cone. Inside Sally was at her desk filling out some papers when the girls walked in. Sweetie Belle ran up to Sally throwing her arms around her. She laughed at this returning the hug. “Well hello girls and what can I do for you?” “Can ya tell us about..um what was it...vampires?” “Why the sudden interest?” Sweetie Belle hopped onto her lap and said “ Sheriff told us that there were four original monsters and he told us about Frankenstein. Mater told us about the Wolfman, he was going to tell us about vampire but then a customer came in asking for help and he had to stop. So he sent us here says you can tell us the story. Can you? Please.” “Of course girls! I’ll tell you the story it’s one of my favorites after all.” Sally loves vampires and is a huge Twilight fan, and the only one in town. Scootaloo and Applebloom sat on the floor in front of her while Sweetie Belle remained on her lap. “Ok the legend isn’t vampires per se..it’s more about one vampire in particular..Dracula..Count Dracula is an undead centuries-old vampire. Living in his Transylvania castle. A solicitor named Renfield makes a trip to Transylvania in a stagecoach. Strangely the mentions of his destination to Castle Dracula had the locals alarmed. Telling him that Count Dracula is a vampire but he didn’t believe them. The Count welcomes him in where he then drugs him with wine and bites him. Now Dracula’s slave he boarded a ship, laughing maniacally as his master picked off the crew one-by-one. When the ship reached england Dracula was the only found “alive”. He met a man named Dr. Seward and his family at an opera. Lucia was completely fascinated by Dracula and that night became his next victim. Professor Van Helsing was called in and he recognized the danger and that Dr. Seward’s patience Renfield was somehow involved in all of this. But soon after meeting the Doctor’s new neighbor, Dracula and seeing that he had no shadow figured out who the vampire was. And not a moment too soon because Seward’s daughter Eva was beginning to fall under his spell. Fe;;ing weak and wild to the point of attacking her fiance Juan. With Seward and Harker help Van Helsing attempted to trap Dracula but he outwitted them and escaped with Eva by seizing control of a nurse’s mind. They followed Renfield Carfax Abbey ending with Dracula killing his slave and throwing him from a staircase. Now deep in the catacombs they find Dracula asleep with Eva still alive. Van Helsing took this chance that he had and drove a stake through the vampire’s. And he and Harker left with Eva after praying over Renfield’s body.” “Eh that wasn’t as exciting as I thought it was going to be..we do have the vampire legend in Equestria but it’s not really my favorite. They’re kind of boring I mean their one really big weakness is sunlight. They can’t even go anywhere during the day and it’s not like they do so good hunting at night since most people will be asleep. And seriously! A bat they can’t change into a more cooler animal. Bats are boring and the only cool they do is that sonic voice thing. And let’s not forget the way they transform. It’s just a poof of smoke and they’re a bat. At least with werewolves there’s actual body change.” Ouch! Low blow! Sally tried her best to hide it though. “Ok last one!” Sweetie Belle said eagerly. To embarrassed to go on Sally came up with an excuse. “Uh sorry girls but...I have a lot of paperwork to do right now..um why don’t you go ask Mack to tell you about the Mummy.” “The Mommy?” “Ehehe no Mummy” she set Sweetie Belle down and they left. Mack was sitting outside the cafe giving Bulk little bit of peanut butter from his sandwich laughing as he tried to lick it off his nose. The girls walked to him and Bulk immediately jumped into Sweetie Belle’s arms licking her cheek. “Hi Bulk! Have you been nice everyone coming in?” BARK! “Hehe good boy.” “How’s things going for you girls today?Having fun?” “Sure are!” the girls sat down at the table “You three look like you need something.” Mack waited to see the three wanted “Actually yeah we do. Do ya know the legend of the Mummy?” Mack smiled at this the Mummy has been his favorite ever since he was a kid. “Sure do. Did you want me to tell you the story?” “Yes please!” “Ok..the story goes...Back in Ancient Egyptian times there was a priest of very high status named Imhotep. He had fallen in love with the princess Ankh-es-en-amon. And when she died he stole the Scroll of Thoth in an attempt to resurrect her. But he caught and punished by the princess’s father Pharaoh Amenophis the Magnificent. The pharaoh ordered Imhotep to be tortured, mummified and buried alive. And the sacred spells meant to protect his soul on its journey to the Underworld were chipped off his coffin. Leaving his condemned in the afterlife. Years later an archaeological exhibition found Imhotep and was accidentally revived as a mummy when one archaeologist unknowingly read the scroll ancient life-giving spell. Imhotep escaped and assumed the identity of Ardath Bey, a modern Egyptian, helping the archaeologists to find the tomb of Ankh-es-en-amon. When he then meets Helen Grosvenor. A woman that bears a striking resemblance to Ankh-es-en-amon. Realizing that she’s a reincarnation of the princess attempts to mummify her making her his bride. Imhotep was able to use his powers and strength to control others in person and through a looking pool from afar. Giving both an attraction to him and death to those he disliked or felt was in the way of his plans. His powers allowed him to give orders to others and they would follow them without resistance or hesitation. Thus giving Imhotep the ability the control Helen and lead her to him. She could not remember what she did or why she was there. By in the end Helen recalled her past life and pleaded with the goddess Isis the save her. The statue of Isis then emits a beam of light from it arm burning the Scroll of Thoth breaking the spell that gave Imhotep immortality. Reducing him to a pile of dust.” “I say that Imhotep fella got what deserve.” Applebloom said her arms crossed “It’s like that old saying “Love make you do crazy things”.” Mack replied “But in this situation I always believed that wasn’t doing all that for love but instead for his own selfish desire. Not caring if the even wanted to be brought back to life or not. That he did it all because he wanted her back.” BARK! “Hehe I think Bulk wants more peanut butter?” “Here you go boy.” Mack scoped off some more peanut butter from his sandwich onto his finger and it out to Bulk, he started licking it immediately. “Hey Mack are there anymore Halloween monster stories?” “Sure are tons” “Can you tell us some more?” And during the rest of the day Mack went on to tell the myths and legends of other monsters such as Pumpkinhead and the Scarecrow. > Halloween Special: Ghost Stories > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HAPPY HALLOWEEN! It’s the 31st and everybody were at Ramone’s shop getting in their costumes. Lightning is Dracula, Mater’s a werewolf, Mack’s a mummy, Sheriff is Frankenstein, Doc’s a mad scientist, Red’s a dalmatian, Sarge is a ghost and Fillmore’s a military sergeant, despite against war he wanted to show the respect he has for his friend. Lizzie’s a witch, Guido’s a goblin, Luigi’s a gnome, Sally is Bella Swan from Twilight, and Ramone and Flo are zombies. The girls were still in the dressing room getting ready and when they came out everyone were astonished by their costumes. Applebloom’s a huntress, with her ribbon used as a bandanna tied around her arm. Sweetie Belle’s a magician and Bulk is her assistant wearing a suit and a little bow tie. Scootaloo’s costume is superhero based wearing a battery pack-like backpack made to look like her wings are attached to it. “What do ya’ll think?” “Wow. Ramone you made them?” Lightning was examining the pack “The battery pack was a bit difficulty. I had to make it look like her wings were attached.” “Now remember Scootaloo you have to be careful with your wings. It’s already a risk letting you have them out today. Don’t go overboard with showing them off. In fact don’t show them off at all.” Doc explained “Don’t worry Doc I get it.” Everyone nodded left to get back to work but not before letting Ramone make a few adjustments to their costumes. Lightning thought it would be a good idea to welcome customers as Dracula. While the girls stayed at Flo’s hanging out with what few kids were there dressed in costumes. A few asked Scootaloo how she made her wings and she would just say “Sorry guys but that’s for me to know.” They waited until it was dark enough to go Trick-or-Treating and Ramone took them to into the city to get some candy, everyone had already given them a head start. They had gotten a ton of candy in only an hour, Bulk had also gotten a few treats himself, some in cute decorated bags. There was a carnival at Sweetie Belle’s favorite park. They played every game and got more candy for each one. They also participated in an event call Trunk-or-Treating where you would do the same thing except you go up to people’s cars demanding candy. All three entered a costume contest and to no surprise Scootaloo won. The prize was a huge black and orange basket filled with candy, treats and toys. There were also wine bottles and plastic wine glasses, which meant Ramone had to accept the prize for her. When it was time to go all three girls’ bags were filled so full with candy that they were dragging them. When the five of them returned Ramone gave Flo the wine bottle and plastic glasses before giving Scootaloo the basket with the rest of the treats. Red and Mack had just finished setting up the big screen and it was ready for monster movie marathon. But that wasn’t until after the ghost stories which was about to start soon. Lightning and Doc were at Willy’s Butte getting the fire ready making sure it’s safe and not to big. Once everything was set up and ready Lightning went to get everyone while Doc stayed to watch the fire. Mater and Sheriff had three huge bags full of marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate, and a few packets of long roasting sticks. They didn’t even have to worry about Bulk trying to eat the chocolate, he was more interested in the nice medium size bone he had gotten. Everyone had a stick roasting marshmallows, then Doc asked “Alright everyone who’s wants to tell the first story?” Lightning raised his hand before anyone else could “Oh Oh! me I’ve got a good one!” “Let’s hear it Rookie” He cleared his throat “One night there was this guy, it was late at night and he was in his room trying to sleep. But there was a dog barking outside. Then out of nowhere his sister appeared in his room right next to his bed. She told him that their dog was hungry. He ignored her and went back to sleep...but then a realization came him and he whispered... “I don’t have a dog...and my sister died 10 years ago.” Sweetie Belle “epp”ed jumping a bit in her spot “Nice one kid. Good way to start off the night” “Thanks Doc” Lightning said with a smug grin “Hey Sheriff tell us the story of the ghost light!” “Alright.” Sheriff cleared his throat “The ghost light is a glowing orb of blue translucent light that haunts these very parts..It all started on a night light tonight the song dogs were wailin’ at the moon off Cadillac Ranch. While the summer wind blow hot like the breath of zozobra. A young couple was heading down this very stretch of the mother road when they spotted an unnatural blue glow...and all that was left was an empty vehicle.” “I AM THE GHOST LIGHT!” “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH” Mater took off running when Lightning flashed a blue flashlight in his face causing everyone to roll on their backs laughing. Doc wiped away a tear “Alright son go get Mater, who’s next?” Lightning returned shortly pulling Mater by his tail. “Why don’t you girls give it a go? Got any go Equestria stories?” Scootaloo grinned mischievously. “I got one! This is the story of The Olden Pony.” “It all happened on a night like this one,in a forest much like the Everfree... and then The Olden Pony asked (mimicking aged voice) Who’s got my rusty horseshoe?” Sweetie Belle shook in her spot Please don’t do it! Please don’t do it! Then Scootaloo got in her face and yelled “YOU DO!” and Sweetie Belle screamed jumping onto Ramone’s lap where he gave a good pat on the head while laughed hard. Sweetie Belle glared at Scootaloo..then grinned when an idea for revenge formed in her head. Glancing over to where Bulk’s lying down, still chewing on his bone, eyeing the stuffed black horse sitting next her Rarity doll. Forming the plot she raised her hand “Oh me next!” “Go ahead Sweetie Belle.” And she began telling the story of the headless horse will carefully levitating the black doll and rip the thread from around it’s neck quietly tearing the head off, she’d asked Ramone to fix it tomorrow. She got the head off just as she’s finishing the story and levitated the headless doll behind Scootaloo. “...Gasp! Scootaloo! What is that!” Scootaloo turned to face her and she pulled out the headless doll causing her friend to jump throwing the s'more she had high in the sky. Looking up it splattered on her mask and everyone laughed while Scootaloo stared annoyed at her friend Keep laughing Sweetie Belle. Cause I’m gonna get you back. “Ok Applebloom your turn.” Applebloom thought for a moment..she wasn’t all that good with scary stories… I’ve got it! “Alright y’all this story about the time I met a real ghost.” Everyone got a shocked expression on their faces. Sally asked “You met a real ghost?” “Eeyup...One night me and the girls were play’in hide-in’-seek near the Everfree forest. I found a hid’in spot right at the forest entrance an was wait’in fer Scootaloo ta find me. Well while wait’in I looked into the forest an saw a filly standing there staring back at me. She was white with long black hair cover’in her eyes. I waved over to her ask’in if she wanted ta play with us. But she just stood there and smiled at me. I heard Scootaloo get closer an turned ta peek out ma bush. And when I turned back I could a swore she’d gotten closer. I turned back ta the bush cause I was try’in ta comprehend what was happen’in. And when I looked back she was right in front of me. She had no eyes at all they were just two huge holes in her face. I blinked and she was gone.” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were clinging to each and Sally had her arms around Lightning’s neck pretty much choking him. “Sals..can’t..breath..” “...Ok how about we go on to the next one.” Doc continued too frightened to hear anymore “How about you Red?” Lightning asked and Red immediately began shaking his head “Ok Mack how about you?” “Ok I think I have a good one...This happened during my first few months being Lightning’s driver. We were on our way to the race and driving down this one road that is said to be haunted. But Lightning didn’t believe it. Me on the other hand will believe anything that someone says is haunted and this one was no different. Especially after what happened, I was driving through looking left and right scanning each side of the road completely paranoid. Then out of nowhere this man appeared in the middle of the street and I slammed on the brakes stopping several feet in front of him. I was so terrified I couldn’t move and Lightning was yelling at me through the radio. But I didn’t take my eyes off the man. He was just standing there looking like the guy from Texas Chainsaw and it only made things even more frightening with the giant hatchet he was carrying. I sat there for what was about 5 minutes but it felt more like an eternity. I wasn’t sure if I should move or not and I didn’t really have anywhere to go with him standing in the middle of the road. But things went way past worst when he started walking towards us and I had no idea what to do. I couldn’t go forward so what I did was, and Sheriff you’re probably gonna be mad at me for this. But I reversed back as far as I could and as fast as I could. And sat there for almost 15 minutes, positive that Lightning was getting mad. But I didn’t move and when I finally cooked up the courage I slowly drove back up to that spot and he wasn’t there. But when I looked in my rearview mirror he was right behind the truck! And I sped off probably breaking every speed limit. And when I finally stopped for good at a truck stop Lightning was ticked off screaming at me.” “Well considering the fact you almost killed me.” “And when I told him what happened he didn’t believe me and said someone was pranking me.” “Well at the time it seemed like too much to believe-” “I saw what I saw and no one can tell me otherwise.” “Alright! Alright!” “Ok guys who’s next?” Guido and Luigi went next and Luigi translated while Guido told the story “It was back in Italy we were walking home from work when we came across a bridge. And there was girl standing on the rail. We knew what she was about to do and ran to try and stop her. But we were too late and she jumped. However when we came to the edge and looked there was no body. I was still looking down at the river hoping maybe she swam out and Guido was searching for someone passing by. While I was still searching for the girl Guido started tapping me on the shoulder. When I turned to look at him he seemed rather frightened and wasn’t even looking at me. So I turned to the direction where he was staring at and froze myself when I saw it. The girl that we’d just seen jump the bridge was standing right in front of us. She didn’t move she was wearing a long white dress and her long black hair covered her face. We were both frozen with fear and when she took a step toward us we made a run for it and didn’t stop until we reach our home. And we never dared set foot near that bridge ever again.” Now Flo was clinging to Ramone as well as Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo hiding under her cape. Doc had Lightning and Sally holding tightly onto him and Mater was hiding behind Sheriff. “Ok let’s go on to the next story.” “I’ll go” Sarge raised his hand “Well you guys aren’t the only ones who’s met a ghost let’s see..I was about 4 or 5 when it happened. Me and my dad went to a cemetery to visit the graves of his old war buddies. While my dad was paying his respects I went wandering off. And I ran into a guy wearing a war uniform. I asked him if he was visiting a friend a he said “Yes”. I asked him who it was and we started up a conversation. A few people passed by just staring at us, one lady asked who I was talking to and I told her the soldier’s name was Jared. But she told me she couldn’t see him even though I he was standing right next to me. She didn’t say anything else and just left. I just ignored her and went back to the conversation, it only for a few minutes until Jared said he had to leave. But before he did he dug through his pocket pulled out a silver dollar and gave it to me. I thanked him and went back to show my dad. At first he was a bit confused but then he hugged me and told me to save that dollar.” Sarge reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver dollar “And I did.” “Wow.” “Cool!” “That was soo awesome” Doc turned to Fillmore “Fillmore you have one ya wanna share?” and Fillmore shook his head scary stories wasn’t really his thing. Mater didn’t really have anything either he was better with pranks than scary stories. And Sally was too scared to say anything still holding onto Lightning. “Ramone? Flo?” Flo didn’t have one but Ramone raised his hand. “I’ve got a really scary one..” and Sweetie Belle already tightened her grip around him preparing herself “When I was a teenager, my friends and I were really into the paranormal and ghost and spirits. And you know that 3am is well...the demonic hour where all the spirits and demons come out. So we stupidly decided to go ghost hunting at 3am. We had a ghost tracker with us and were at my friend’s apartment. And what we did was..we would walk around and if the tracker started beeping it meant that there was ghost near by and we would just asked it yes or no questions. Most of the time we didn’t get an answer but weird things always happened. Like during the first 3 or 4 minutes things would be moved around and blinds open all on their own. It was even more scary because my friend had this really creepy looking doll and whenever we take our eyes off it, the doll would move all around the apartment. But the last straw for me was when we went to the garage and the scariest thing happened to me. We caught traces of a ghost and followed it to the roof behind a corner. I went to check it out and as soon as I got there I started feeling really tired and out of breath and I couldn’t breathe. It felt like someone was standing on my chest then I felt a sudden burning on my back and when looked there were 3 long scratch marks. And that was when I decided that I was done with 3am and any ghost hunting period.” There were no comments from anyone, and Doc said “Ok anyone else dare to go next?” “You’re the last one Doc. Say ya never told us about the screaming banshee” “I don’t ya’ll can handle that one.” “Oh come Doc!” “Yeah Doc please!” everyone begged for Doc to tell the story “Hehe Alright alright I’ll tell ya but don’t say I didn’t warn ya’ll.” Doc cleared his throat “The Screamin Banshee lurks outside of Radiator Springs somewhere in Ornament Valley. It waits for anyone who wanders out alone in the darkness of night. She is rarely spotted but well known through myths and legends. She is a female spirit who heralds the death of others by shrieking. And anyone who hears the Banshee’s shriek knows that their death is soon to come.” Everyone were hugging another shaking like leaves. Even Sarge was frightened by it, both Fillmore and Applebloom hugging him tight. (Banshee shrieks) “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” Everyone screamed and raced back to town quicker than lightning. The shrieks continued until Sheriff pulled out his phone and hit pause on a video of banshee screams, he fist bumped Doc both grinning at their victory. They casual walked back to town to find everyone hiding in the cafe and told them it was a prank. Most of them were mad while Lightning and Mater actually congratulated them for pulling off such a great prank. They waited until everyone was ready and started the Monster Movie Marathon starting with The Nightmare Before Christmas for the girls. Then the four original monster movies and finished off with Casper. By the time the movie ended the girls were fast asleep. Everyone said goodnight to each other and headed home. Because of all the scary stories Sweetie Belle slept in Ramone’s bed with him and Flo, Bulk was asleep at their feet. Even Fillmore stayed at Sarge’s tonight. Everyone had a great Halloween and they can’t for next year. Far away on the other side of the world “Enjoy your fun while you can little fillies. For when the time arrives. I’ll be coming for you.” > Witness Protection: The Kidnapping > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere out in a forest, inside an old cabin three men were lounging around waiting for their boss to come out with the details of their next assignment. Vexx’s POV I was sitting at my desk staring at my computer screen, the man on the side smiled back at me. “I am correct to assume that your efforts have not been in vain.” he said. I smiled back at him “Of course Panther. We already have two of them now and are preparing to retrieve the last one.” “Excellent. I expect my package to be delivered as scheduled.” “If things go smoothly you’ll get it sooner than expected.” “Well done. I look forward to seeing you...however it is unfortunate for me to say that my boss requires three more.” I hadn’t expected an increase in the number “I can probably make that happen but I’ll need to increase the amount. Retrieving three more before the due date will involve extra work. Will that be a problem?” “Heh of course not I expect you to be as successful as you were with the first two.” “What are you looking for in these three?” “Female same age department as the first three-” he continued on as I listened intently writing down every detail. Once our conversation ended I shutdown my computer and headed out to inform the rest of my crew. … “You’re saying we have to do more work! Augh!” Zeph leaned his head back against the chair groaning. Zeph Winter is strongest one in my crew. 6ft, heavy built, with deep brown eyes, shaved head, and tattoos covering 80% of his body. One look from him and people run away in fear. “We better be getting paid extra for this.” My second crew man Charles Thornton sat at the table giving me a look that says “We’d better be. Or else”. Charles is the brains of my crew he’s the one who locates merchandise best fitting our clients’ request. “We are.” I kept a straight face “So what does he want now?” Darren asked a slight annoyance in his voice. Being the youngest of the crew means nothing to us. Darren Hallewell is that one guy you do not want to meet in a dark ally. With a frightening personality, most of the time he’s calm and content. But never let that fool you. Darren can very easily charm anyone to follow him no matter who they are, be it child, teen, or adult. Which is why I made him one who “retrieves packages” and delivers them to the clients. But when someone says or does anything to anger him, He. Will. Lose It. Darren has an insanely bad temper and we all know best not to tempt him. “Three, female, same age department as the others. Those are the primary details I will go over the rest tomorrow when we get to the raceway-“ “Wow wow wow wait a minute!” Charles intervened raising both hands in the air. “Did you just say “raceway”?” “Yes I did. And if I may continue..” I cleared my throat “Somehow our next target managed to get pit and garage passes. Panther had already acquired the passes that we will need to get in. So get some sleep, we’re leaving first thing in the morning.” The next day “Ok Darren do you understand the plan?” I gave him the earpiece and he hid it under his hair and jacket. “Yeah yeah I get it.” he jumped out the car before I say anymore Darren’s POV I entered the pit rows showing the guards my pass walking around scanning the area. Stopping to eat and talking to other people eliminating any suspicion. “Ouf!” I turned around to see a little girl with a beanie lying on the ground rubbing her head. I reached out an arm pulling her to her feet. “Thanks man! And sorry about that we’re trying to get to the snack stands before the lines get too long.” “Hey don’t worry about it kid. No harm done.” I pointed to the empty stands “And I don’t think you’ll have to worry about a line.” She and her two friends headed over and I went back to walking about. … Darren come in! We need an update have you found the target? I scratched my neck “No not yet. Give me a break man I’ve only been here for a couple hours. The racers haven’t even gotten on the track yet.” (Sigh) Fine keep looking. “Ugh he’s so annoying. This things aren’t as easy as he thinks they are” I mumbled under my breath casually looking around. Another half hour later and the racers were in the pits getting ready to start. I headed over to a section pits, turning my attention the #95 one, I spotted the same three girls that bumped into me earlier. The beanie girl noticed me and waved as did a man wearing a US veterans cap. I raised a hand in acknowledgment and turned back to watch the other racers. … Ok this is getting ridiculous! I internally screamed. The race had ended and it was almost time for everyone to start exiting the pits. I stretched both arms behind my neck. Hey Vexx! Darren please tell me you’ve found him. I been here all day and this kid is nowhere to be seen. Are sure he’s here? Yes I am. Just keep looking until they tell you to leave. If you don’t find him I will contact the client and inform him the target could not be located- Wait! What did you say the kid looked like again? I stopped him looking toward the garages seeing a kid that matched Vexx’s description to a T. I gave it to him and he confirmed that he was the one. Alright I’m going in. He was by himself and looked a little nervous I headed over to the kid and bent down in front of him. “Hey kid you ok? You look a little lost.” I gave him a small smile keeping a good distant between us. The kid looked up at me looking really upset. “I am.” “Where are your parents?” “I’m here with my dad. I wanted to get an autograph from my favorite racer and went over to his tent...I got the autograph but when I came back my dad was gone. I been looking for him for-” He paused trying not to cry “I don’t even know how long.” “Do you have a phone or know your dad’s number?” The kid shook his head. That’s the answer I was hoping for. “Can you describe him?” The kid gave me his dad’s description and I stood up held out a hand to him. “Alright kid let’s go find your dad?” He was cautious at first but took my hand and I led him out the now close food stands. “What’s your name kid?” “Drew. Drew Marshall.” “Jake Nash.” One of many fake names I use when dealing with kids. To keep Drew calm and not suspicious I walked around pretending to look for his dad. After about some time with no sign of him. I turned back to Drew and bent down. “Well kid it doesn’t look like we’re getting anywhere on our own. I would call the police for help but my phone’s dead and I left the charger in my car. If it’s alright with you you can come along and we can give them call. Because I really don’t feel comfortable about leaving you here by yourself.” Drew was a bit hesitant at first but in the end just said “Ok.” “Good. Now let’s go-” “Hey! Just where do you think you’re going with that kid?!” Crud! I turned around to see a guy standing behind me in front of one of the tents. He was giving me a nasty glare and began walking toward us stopping a few feet in front of me. I swallowed a lump in my throat and put on a smile. “Excuse me sir I think you misunderstood. You see I’m just trying to help this kid find his dad.” I tried to keep calm but I was really getting irritated. He bent down in front of Drew and started talking to him asking him the same questions I did. It was making me even more annoyed and angry. Then he went ahead and asked Drew if he wanted him to take him to the security office. I immediately grabbed Drew’s arm squeezing it so tight the kid began to struggle a bit. “Sir I’ve got this taken care of. You can go now.” I tried to keep calm but I was clenching my teeth this guy was really getting on my last nerves. But then he stood up and got in my face. “I don’t know who you are. But I do know that there’s something about you I don’t trust. Either you let the kid go or I call the cops and have you arrested for kidnapping.” That’s it! I pulled out my gun and pulled the trigger a loud bang rang out through the air. At that moment the kid was struggling hard to pull away from me but I kept a tight grip on his arm. I saw the kid was about to scream so I pulled him up and covered his mouth. There was still a scream but it didn’t come from the kid. I turned around to see those same three girls from earlier standing at a corner they turned and ran as soon we made eye contact. Vixx screamed at me through the earpiece Damn it! Darren I told you no guns! Get back to the car now! I grabbing the kid and ran away quick as I could. I got to the car and jumped in with the kid still skimming. “The hell were you thinking Darren!” Zeph screamed “Shut up and drive!” Vexx slammed on the gas and the car sped forward “You had one thing to do Darren! One thing! How could you possible mess that up?!” “Don’t get on me man! This guy figured me out! What else was I supposed to d- OUCH!!!” The kid bit my hand causing me to lose my grip he then jumped out toward the door trying to jump out the window. Drew’s POV I bit down hard on the guy’s hand and he yanked his arm back screaming. I took my chance and jumped out door! Gripping the handle I pushed with all my weight hard against the door..but it’s locked. Thinking fast I started banging hard on the window screaming “HELP!!!” hoping a passerby would see me. The other two guys pulled me down while the other pulled back his seat. I kicked and swung my fist in every direction. Satisfied when my foot connected with Jake’s nose causing it to bleed. But then he grabbed my legs and the three of them pushed me into the trunk pushing the seat back into place. I banged my fist against the back screaming at the top of my lungs. “LET ME OUT!!! LET ME OUT!!!” I looked around it was pitch black and I couldn’t see a thing...then I remembered something I’d seen on the internet. It showed a girl that escaped from the trunk of a car by pulling...I started searching frantically patting every inch of interior trying to find that latch. When I reached the where the handle should be I froze in horror there was nothing there. Panicking I searched everywhere over and over again only to come back to that same spot. A horrible conclusion had registered in my mind and it made my whole body freeze right on the spot. “They cut it…” It was at this moment I realized that these men..they’re smart..very smart. They knew to cut the latch so no one could escape. “..no..this can’t be happening..sniff..what do I do? I’m trapped in here..there’s no way out..sniff sniff..this is all my fault..I never should have gone off on my own..I never should have trusted that guy..I don’t even know what they’re going to to do with me..” He killed that other guy so easily...A-Are they going to kill me too?..I want to go home. “Please someone save me.” > Christmas Songs > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silent Night: Sweetie Belle Silent night, starry night All is calm, all is bright 'Round the forest, parents and young Gentle creatures everyone Home in burrows deep Home in their burrows deep Silent night, starry night Snowfall makes the meadows white Huddle close to keep family warm Tomorrow's dawn will bring Christmas morn Now the day is done Now that the day is done Silent night, starry night Leaves are still and the moon's in sight Dreams are born as their eyes fall closed Tomorrow's gift is that nobody knows [Sweetie Belle and Choir] Sleep in beautiful peace Sleep in beautiful peace [Sweetie Belle]       [Choir] Oh-whoa                Sleep in beautiful peace Oh-whoa-oh-oh     Sleep in beautiful peace Oh-whoa-oh-oh     Sleep in beautiful peace Oh-whoa                Sleep in beautiful peace [Sweetie Belle and Choir] Sleep in beautiful peace [Sweetie Belle] Sleep in beautiful peace... Jingle Bells: Scootaloo One! Two! One, two, three, four! Dashing through the snow In a one-horse open sleigh Over the fields we go Laughing all the way (Ha-ha-ha!) Bells on bob tail ring Making spirits bright What fun it is to fly and sing A sleighing song tonight! Oh, jingle bells (Hey!), jingle bells (Hey!) Jingle all the way (Hey! Hey!) Oh, what fun it is to fly In a one-horse open sleigh Jingle bells (Hey!), jingle bells (Hey!) Jingle all the way (Hey! Hey!) Oh what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh! Thought I'd grab some friends And take them for a ride Not so sure what's up As ponies run and hide Put Ramone in the back Right next to Tow Mater Better buckle up, my friends 'Cause we're about to fly! Oh, jingle bells (Hey!), jingle bells (Hey!) Jingle all the way (Hey! Hey!) Oh, what fun it is to fly In a one-horse open sleigh Jingle bells (Hey!), jingle bells (Hey!) Jingle all the way (Hey! Hey!) Oh what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh! Go grab Sarge and Filmore Who's hiding in the barn Put her in the back And leave behind the farm Sky is clear and blue And the wind is at our tails Ponies, hold on tight because We're about to tip the scales! Tomorrow is Christmas morning Tomorrow is Christmas day And Santa's coming 'round the corner and he's bringing presents 'Cause he's been filling up that, filling up that Santa sleigh We start speeding up As colors start to show Streaming through our manes The higher up we go Even faster still Faces fearing doom What fun it is to fly and sing As we sonic rainboom! Jingle bells (Hey!), jingle bells (Hey!) Jingle all the way (Hey! Hey!) Oh, what fun it is to fly In a one-horse open sleigh Jingle bells (Hey!), jingle bells (Hey!) Jingle all the way (Hey! Hey!) Oh what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh! Days Gone By: Applebloom When family cannot be here Havin' journeyed far and wide We sing a song to honor them To remember days gone by [Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle] So take your cup and raise it high Just as surely I'll do mine And laugh we will at stories told As we smile at days gone by As we smile at days gone by [Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo] For family not here, my dears Havin' journeyed far and wide For loyalty and kindness both We smile at days gone by [Choir] oooh... aaah... [Apple Bloom] Our paths will cross again one day In time to reunite For family is always near Even when the seas are wide [Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle] So take your cup and raise it high Just as surely I'll do mine And make a toast for family And the tales of days gone by [All] For family not here, my dears Havin' journeyed far and wide For loyalty and kindness both Take joy at days gone by For loyalty and kindness both We smile at days gone by Deck the Halls: Flo [Flo and Choir] Fa-la-la, fa-la-la Fa-la-la-ahhh Fa-la-la, fa-la-la Fa-la-la-ahhh [Flo] Deck the halls with boughs of holly 'Tis the season to be jolly Christmas day's around the corner [Choir] Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la [Flo] Light the hearth, let's make things warmer [Choir] Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la [Flo] Bring the tree in front and center [Choir] Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la [Flo] Gleaming bright in all its splendor [Choir] Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la [Flo] Boughs of fir upon the mantle Shining stars, each dancing candle Draped in ribbons red and silver Joy upon us is delivered [Flo and Choir] Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la Fa-la-la, la-la-la Fa-la-la-la Fa-la-la, la-la-la Fa-la-la-la [Flo] Wrap our gifts in colored paper [Choir] Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh [Flo] Tie with bows and store for later [Choir] Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh [Flo] Set the feast upon the table [Choir] Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la [Flo] Friends together, willing, able [Flo and Choir] Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la [Choir] Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la [Flo and Choir] Fa-la-la, fa-la-la Fa-la-la-ahhh Fa-la-la, fa-la-la Fa-la-la-ahhh... Jolly Ol Saint Nick: Lightning Jolly old St. Nicholas, lean your ear this way Don't you tell a single soul what I'm gonna say Christmas Eve is coming soon, now, you dear old man Whisper what you'll bring to me, tell me if you can Jolly old St. Nicholas Whatcha gonna bring to me? Is it a stash of cakes that I can eat all day and night? Or is it a diamond ring that I can give to Miss Sally? When the clock is striking twelve and I'm fast asleep Down the chimney broad and black, with your pack you'll creep All the stockings you will find hanging in a row Mine will be the shortest one, you'll be sure to know [scatting] Come and give me those Christmas presents [scatting] Don't make me wait no more [scatting] Give me some presents [scatting] Come give it to me, Santa, yeah! Mater wants an ice cream hat and Sarge wants to cook Red wants a flower pot and Sally wants a book Luigi wants a set of tire and Filmore wants a nest Now choose for me, dear Santa Claus, what you think is best Jolly old St. Nicholas Whatcha gonna bring to me? Jolly old St. Nicholas Whatcha gonna bring Whatcha gonna bring to meeeeee? [scatting] Yeah! We Wish You a Merry Christmas: Sally We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas And a happy New Year Day one: time to get my list in shape Christmas is around the corner So much to do, not a moment left to wait Have to get it done before the holidays are here It's that Christmas time of year So everybody sing We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas And a happy New Year Through the streets of boutiques Picking out the perfect presents Every shop, have to stop Try to find the perfect gift Now the tree has to be Just the perfect one – that's it! That's the one! Every light shining bright Starting from the base to tip Have to bake, decorate Now I need the perfect dress – a success! Oh, no, I can't be late I've got Mater's party date Where everybody sings We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas And a happy New Year People caroling, singing songs we know and love Music fills the air, rising to the stars above Watching snow, reading by the fire Family close, stockings hung with care Outside those ponies singing merrily Listen close as they start to sing [Sally and Choir] We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas And a happy New Year [Sally] Time to stop and count my blessings Put the craziness aside Christmas only comes around once a year And every year fills my heart with pride When everybody sings [Sally and Choir] We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas And a happy... New... Year Twelve Days of Christmas: Mater [Mater] On the first day of Christmas My true friends gave to me A big bowl of ice cream On the second day of Christmas My true friends gave to me Two tow cables And a big bowl of pistachio ice cream On the third day of Christmas My true friends gave to me Three air horns Two tow cables And a big bowl of pistachio ice cream On the fourth day of Christmas My true friends gave to me Four whoopie cushions Three air horns Two tow cables And a big bowl of pistachio ice cream On the fifth day of Christmas My true friends gave to me Five christmas cookies! Yum! Four whoopie cushions Three air horns Two tow cables And a big bowl of pistachio ice cream On the sixth day of Christmas My true friends gave to me Six streamers streaming Five christmas cookies! Four whoopie cushions Three air horns Two tow cables And a big bowl of pistachio ice cream On the seventh day of Christmas My true friends gave to me Seven races winning Six streamers streaming Five christmas cookies! Four whoopie cushions Three air horns Two tow cables And a big bowl of pistachio ice cream On the eighth day of Christmas My true friends gave to me Eight clowns a-clowning Seven races winning Six streamers streaming Five christmas cookies! Four whoopie cushions Three air horns Two tow cables And a big bowl of pistachio ice cream On the ninth day of Christmas My true friends gave to me Nine drums a-drumming Eight clowns a-clowning Seven races winning Six streamers streaming Five christmas cookies! Four whoopie cushions Three air horns Two tow cables And a big bowl of pistachio ice cream On the tenth day of Christmas My true friends gave to me Ten gifts for family Nine drums a-drumming Eight clowns a-clowning Seven races winning Six streamers streaming Five christmas cookies! Four whoopie cushions Three air horns Two tow cables And a big bowl of pistachio ice cream Whew...! On the eleventh day of Christmas My true friends gave to me Eleven rubber chickens Ten gifts for family Nine drums a-drumming Eight clowns a-clowning Seven races winning Six streamers streaming Five christmas cookies! Four whoopie cushions Three air horns Two tow cables And a big bowl of pistachio ice cream [deep breath] On the twelfth day of Christmas My true friends gave to me Twelve candy apples Eleven rubber chickens Ten gifts for family Nine drums a-drumming Eight clowns a-clowning Seven races winning Six streamers streaming Five christmas cookies! Four whoopie cushions Three air horns Two tow cables And a big bowl of pistachio ice creeeam! WHEE!!! It’s a Pony Kind of Christmas: Everyone [Towns Folk] It's a pony kind of Christmas In every color shade All around the world of Equestria It's Christmas time here today It's a pony kind of Christmas Its light never fades All around the world of Equestria Christmas is here to stay [Sally] Christmas is a time of joy When the light of friendship burns bright [Sarge] Takin' time for family To recall the past and do what's right [Filmore] And outside gentle snow is falling Forest creatures keeping warm below [Towns Folk] And all throughout Equestria We feel the light of friendship only grow It's a pony kind of Christmas Its light never fades All around the world of Equestria Christmas is here to stay [Lightning] Dashing through the snow In a one-horse open sleigh Over the fields we go Laughing all the way [Ramone] Decorate with boughs of holly Fill the halls with wonder Wrap the presents, silver paper Trim the tree and place them under [Mater] Time for counting down the days to Christmas Every day that passes is a party we can throw [Towns Folk] Time for counting down the days to Christmas And everyday our friendship grows [Towns Folk and Choir] It's a pony kind of Christmas In every color shade All around the world of Equestria It's Christmas time here today It's a pony kind of Christmas Its light never fades All around the world of Equestria Christmas is here... To stay > Valentine's Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning in Radiator Springs, the girls walked around town to see everything decorated with hearts. They didn’t need to ask anyone to know what day it is they had a pretty idea of what it was. Stepping inside the cafe to find Sally sitting at one of the tables eating a heart shaped cookie Bulk was under the table eating a heart biscuit. Every once in a while Flo would allow Bulk inside for a bit, but too often. Sally waved to them and they went to sit with her, Bulk immediately jumped on Sweetie Belle’s lap and she proceeded to scratch his head. Applebloom didn’t waste any time asking.. “So what do ya’ll call this day? I take it ain’t called Hearts and Hooves Day.” “Nope. Valentine’s Day...and from the sound of it I’m guessing there’s not not much we need to explain to you girls.” “Unless this ain’t a day dedicated to love.” Sally just nodded since it was clear she didn’t need to say anything else. Then Sweetie Belle leaned in a little closer. “Sooo...Do you have any plans with your very special somepony?” Sally giggled a little at the question and the fact that she missed correcting herself with “somepony” to “someone”. “Not sure yet. Stickers said he had a surprise for us after his morning training.” “Ehehe. Before Stickers came to town Mater tried to urge me to go cow honking with him as his idea of a romantic date. What about you girls? Have any interesting Hearts and Hooves Day stories.” “Oh! There’s this one time we accidently gave a love po- mffhh mffffhffhhh-” Scootaloo immediately put a hand over her mouth. “Wait! A love what?” “NOTHING!” both girls yelped putting on a couple not too very convincing smiles “Ok. Now I need to know.” giving the girls her complete attention. “Sigh Might as well tell her the rest.” Applebloom slumped and Scootaloo removed her hand “OK. So it started at school after we made our teacher Miss Cheerilee a card and we asked her what gifts she got from her special somepony and she said she didn’t have one! And we made it our mission to find her the very best special somepony. So we searched all around Ponyville until we found Applebloom’s big brother Big Mac who didn’t have a special somepony either. And decided to set them up on a date hoping they would get together..but it didn’t work...Sooo we thought it would be a..good idea to...eheh use a love potion on them…” Sally just gave them a look that made all three girls’ faces burn red with embarrassment. “And it turned out just as you’d expect. The love potion was actually a love poison and it made them literally crazy and obsessed with each other. And the only way for us to fix it and break the spell was to keep them separated for the whole day...And let’s just say things ended up with Miss Cheerilee wearing a veil and stuck in a giant hole with Big Mac.” “Heh Sounds like you girls didn’t think that through very well.” Sally smirked at them as they tried to hide their embarrassment. … A couple hours later Lightning showed up to take Sally on their surprise date. He told her to close her eyes, curious she did so and he lead her away. They walked for a bit until they came to a stop and Sally could feel Lightning turn her away from him. “Ok open your eyes.” She did and her eyes went wide with surprise. They were at Willy’s Butte, a beautiful Lady and the Tramp style picnic was sitting in front of them. There were spaghetti, fruit, sparkling cider, and an assortment of heart shaped treats. A mix of candles and lanterns, a small bouquet of pink roses sitting in a simple vase. But what really made her tear up was the music playing on a speaker, it was beautiful and like nothing she had ever heard. “So? Do you like it?” Lightning smiled at her wiping away her tears and she wrapped her arms around him. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.” They pulled apart and he lead her over to the blanket, they sat down and ate, at first staying quiet just enjoying each other’s company, then talked for a bit, Sally even told him the girls’ story and he just laughed at the whole thing. After a while Lightning turned back to look at Sally “So Sally I‘ve got another surprise for you…” He nervously reached behind him and that’s when she first noticed a rather large case sitting behind him… “Just..don’t tell the others.” It wasn’t just any case, it was a guitar case! “I wasn’t sure if the guys would make fun of me or not if they found out I could play. Mater definitely would have.” She just smiled scooting closer closing her eyes and leaning against his shoulder, relaxing a little he held the guitar and began to strum... And of course it was her favorite song Rascal Flatts’ Bless The Broken Road And he sang in the most beautiful voice imaginable the words seem to move with the wind filling the air like a sweet sweet melody. “Happy Valentine’s Day Sal, I love you.” “I love you too.” And they shared a sweet passionate kiss. > Witness Protection: They're First Race > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mack entered the raceway’s garage and parked his truck in the #95 spot. The girls jumped out the back completely ecstatic. “Wow! This is awesome look at all of these racers! This place is so cool!” Scootaloo was looking around everywhere with the biggest smile on her face, while Lightning just smirked at her. If she likes this just wait until the race starts. … The girls just sat around for a bit while everyone was getting everything prepared, getting cars and racers prepped and ready to go. While waiting the girls decided to headed over to the snack stands to get some snacks- “Ouf!” Scootaloo had just bumped into someone. The man reached out an arm and pulled her to her feet, that’s when she got a good look at him. He looked about the same age as Lightning with short black hair and green eyes. He was wearing black jeans, blue sneakers, a pale blue shirt, and a black leather jacket. Scootaloo looked up at him smiling nervously. “Thanks man! And sorry about that we’re trying to get to the snack stands before the lines get too long.” He waved it off “Hey don’t worry about it kid. No harm done.” and he pointed over to the empty stands “And I don’t think you’ll have to worry about a line.” Scootaloo waved goodbye and the three ran over to the empty stands. They got quite a few snacks and began their trek back to the pits- “Hey girls look!” Sweetie Belle stopped and pointed over to a table where a guy was sitting with his..dog? I thought Doc said dogs weren’t allowed at races? Sweetie Belle ran over to the table and stopped a good feet in front of them “Excuse me? Would it be ok if I pet your dog?” The guy turned to her and said with an apologetic look “Sorry kid you can’t she’s working right now.” he seems to stutter a bit with the words Working? Sweetie Belle was confused so she asked “Um...How is she working?” The guy looked at her confused “She’s a service dog.” Sweetie Belle’s expresion didn’t change, then the guy finally got it and asked her straight forward. “Kid? Do you know what a service dog is?” again stuttering with his words Her blank expression was the answer he needed. “A service dog is a dog that helps people with certain medical or mental problems.” “What kinds of problems?” Sweetie Belle really just wanted him to get to the point He thought for a moment “Well for example I have a stutter and Stella helps with a lot of everyday life things like helping me pack bags, turning on and off lights, holding the door open, ect.” Sweetie Belle understood the stuttering now but was now confused as to why he needs a dog for such basic thing, not wanting to be be rude she just smiled and nodded. “Oh ok! I get it now!...Mind if I ask what breed she is and how I would know if a dog is a service dog?” “She’s a vizsla and service dogs always wear a vest that tells you they’re working.” Then the guy proceed to pat the vest, that Sweetie Belle hadn’t noticed before, and pointed to the big patch reading DO NOT PET! WORKING SERVICE DOG. “Oh Ok. Well thanks for the lesson! Bye!” Sweetie Belle waved goodbye and headed back over to Scootaloo and Applebloom. “What was that all about?” “Well..I now know what a service dog is.” They both looked at her with the same blank expression and Sweetie Belle repeated what the guy explained to her while on their way back to the pits. ... The girls sat with Doc and ate their snacks while watching the other racers prepare to start. Scootaloo glanced over to her side and spotted the man she had bumped into earlier. When the guy turned in her direction she waved at him as did Sarge who was standing next to them. The guy raised a hand in acknowledgment and turned back to watch the other racers. “Who was that?” Sarge looked up at them “Scootaloo had bumped into him by accident when we was run’in ta get ta the snack stan’s.” Applebloom explained behind the chocolate she was certainly chewing on- ALRIGHT! IS EVERYBODY READY!!! THE RACE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!!! The girls turned their attention back to the track as they watched Lightning and the other racers get in their cars and enter the track. The green flag was out and the racers were off! … The race had ended and everyone was preparing to leave, the girls entered Lightning’s tent to see him just finishing an autograph for kid and he ran out wearing the world’s biggest smile. Doc turned to the girls as they entered the tent a smile across his face “So what did you girls think of your first race?” “It was AWESOME!” Scootaloo was practically floating in the air, then stood completely still, a small tint of red on her cheek when she felt her wings flutter a bit under her jacket. Then looked at everyone with a nervous smile.. “Ehehe...um..oops..my bad.” Lightning bent down in front of her, ruffling her hair a bit “It’s ok Scoots. But you really need to learn to control that, you’re lucky it’s just us in here right now-” “Howdy Y’all!” “Eep!” Tex had just stepped into the tent behind Sweetie Belle, she jumped not hearing him approach. “Woops! Sorry little lady didn’t mean to startle ya.” Nervous she immedietly ducked behind Doc, while he and the others just laughed a bit. Though not as sudden as Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo backed up behind Lightning and Sarge not taking a step closer to the new men that had just walked in. Strip Weathers (The King), his son and current driver for DINOCO Cal Weathers came in after Tex, and behind them came Bobby Swift. Lightning went to shake Tex’s hand “Hey Tex. Guys. Great race today.” “Keep this up and I just might replace Cal with ya.” Said racer gave them an unamused look “You know I’m standing right here. I can hear you.” And we all just laughed at him, he glanced down a smirk pulled across his face as he nudged his father, and he did Tex, smiling at them remembering that there are three new faces in front of them. “Well Well. What do we have here?” Tex bent down to meet Scootaloo at eye level and tipped his hat to her “And who are these little ladies?” She remained silent and kept her grip on Lightning’s leg, Lightning himself chuckled at this and patted her head. “This is Scootaloo-” he pointed to the other two “-and that’s Sweetie Belle and Applebloom.” Bobby grinned at Lightning “So you and Sally finally h-” Cal jabbed him in the gut before he could finish. Bobby clenched his stomach and shot a glare in Cal’s direction, he returned it nodding his head in the girls direction. The girls themselves looking confused curious about what he was about to say. After fixing Bobby with a glare of his own, Lightning explained. They had already come up with explanations for anyone who asked where the girls came from. Lightning didn’t like lying to his friends but he knew he had no choice. People wouldn’t understand and worst of all the girls might..no they will be taken away. And no one was going to let that happen. “Actually no she’s my little sister. My parents have been working a lot lately so they can’t really look after her that often anymore. So now I’m taking care of her.” He point to Sweetie Belle “And her story is pretty much the same. She’s Ramone’s little sister.” Then he pointed to Applebloom and Sarge held up a hand “No need soldier, I’ve got it.” Sarge patted Applebloom’s head “And this little cadet here is my daughter. Well adopted. She didn’t have anywhere else to go so I took her in.” “Wow. I never really fancied ya a father Sarge. But this kid seems real keen on ya-” After a while the girls decided that these guys were friends and started talking to them as well. Eventually the adults were the only ones deep in conversation, so the girls decided to go meet the other racers while they were still there. Applebloom told Sarge where they were going and he told them to make sure they’re back at the tent once the speaker announces there’s only fifthteen minutes left until it’s time to leave. The girls assured him they will and were out. And that’s when things took a very very bad turn... > Witness Protection: Witnesses > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The girls explored the rest of the pits talking to other racers, getting a few autographs and pictures. It didn’t take long until the speakers rang out ATTENTION EVERYONE! 15 MINUTES UNTIL THE GARAGES AND PIT ROWS WILL BE CLOSING. PLEASE GATHER UP ALL YOUR BELONGING AND HEAD TO THE NEAREST EXIT. AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ACCOMPANIED RACERS SHOULD START HEADING BACK TO THE TENTS AS OF NOW. Applebloom turned back to her friends “Y’all heard em girls. Let’s get a move on.” “But Applebloom I have to pee.” Sweetie Belle raised her hand twisting a little in her spot. Scootaloo groaned glaring at her with an annoyed expression. “Ugh! Seriously Sweetie Belle! You wait till now to tell us!” Applebloom signed “Alrighty girls let’s go find a restroom.” … “Ya almost finished in there Sweetie Belle!” Applebloom shouted behind the closed door “Yes!” Seconds later the door to the restrooms opened and Sweetie Belle stepped out “Alrighty Let’s get go’in!” The girls headed back to the tents- BANG! All of a sudden they heard a long bang. “What in tarnation was that!” Applebloom turned to the direction of the sound and before she could say anything Scootaloo was already running towards it. “Come on girls let’s go check it out!” “Scootaloo! Get back ‘ere!” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle ran after her. They stopped behind a corner and Applebloom was about to say something when Scootaloo put a hand over her mouth without even looking at her. She had a look of horror in her eyes and they turned to what she was staring at as soon as they saw it both froze. Right in front of them was the same guy that Scootaloo ran into when they first arrived. But that wasn’t what had them frozen in fear..it was the bloody body lying ground in front of him. Sweetie Belle was so terrified she let out a high volumed scream. The guy turned to their direction and girls took off immediately heading straight to Lightning’s tent. … “Did you guys here that!” Lightning turned away from the others when he heard the sound. Sarge was standing next to him “It sounded like a gun…” Doc had a look of horror on his face “Where are the girls!” As if on cue the girls came running towards them screaming. They all jumped into the guys’ arms, all crying clearly terrified by something. Doc patted Sweetie Belle’s back trying to calm her done. “Hey Hey. It’s ok girls calm down and tell us what happened.” She didn’t say anything behind her tears and Doc can feel her shaking. He looked over to Sarge and then Lightning both with looks of worry and neither of the girls were saying anything. “Golly! What’s got ‘em all shaken up?” Tex was behind Doc watching the girl with concern. Strip never took his hands off Cal since they heard the loud bang. “You think it might have something to do with that gun shot we just heard?” They all stared at the girls in horror and Lightning’s hold on Scootaloo tighten when a frightening thought occurred to him “...D-Doc…” He couldn’t get the words out. But there was a security guard next them the whole time. He turned suspiciously to the direction the girls came from and gripped his gun slightly in his hand. He told everyone to stay put and slowly headed for the tents. Once he got to the corner he stood in shock and picked up his walky “I’m gonna need the police here. Immediately!” > Where Are They? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back in Equestria in Ponyville, it’s been months since the CMC disappeared. That day Applejack had gone to the CMC’s clubhouse to take the girls home when she found Applebloom’s letter. Flashback “Applebloom! Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! Come on girls it’s time ta go it’s get’in late.” Applejack looked around the clubhouse to find nopony there. She turned her attention to the desk with a note sitting on top, she read it aloud… Howdy! If anypony comes looking for us we’ll be at Twilight’s castle. Applebloom Applejack shook her head and trotted out the clubhouse heading to Twilight’s castle. End of Flashback But when she had gotten there she looked all around for the girls only to enter the library and find it destroyed books scattered all over the place and the whole room looking like a tornado hit it. Applejack sighed as she sat in the middle of the girl’s clubhouse. “Oh Applebloom where did ya’ll go?” She stared blankly at the ceiling “Ma, Pa please look after her wherever she’s at Sniff.” She layed back down on the floor and began crying once again. … “CRASH!!! WATCH OUT!!!” Rainbow Dash snapped out of her trance just in time to dodge the flagpole that she was only seconds away from crashing into. Breathing heavily she landed on the cloud ground of Wonderboltz Headquarters. Spitfire flew over and put a hoof around her shoulder. “You ok Crash? You’ve been really distracted lately.” “Yeah I’m fine.” “Are you sure? I know you’ve been having a hard time since-” “I SAID I’M FINE!!! NOW JUST DROP IT!!!” Rainbow shouted and took off to the locker rooms. Spitfire just stood there staring, all the other Wonderboltz followed her gaze. “Is she going to be ok?” Soarin asked a worried expression on his face. “I’m not sure? I know she’s been upset ever since those Crusaders disappeared...” “Isn’t there anything we can do to help?” Spitfire though for a moment “Hmm...Princess Twilight’s library is pretty big...maybe if she had some help looking through all those books. She might be able to find a solution a lot quicker...Alright we’re not just going to leave Rainbow Dash like this. Practice is ending early today I’ll go and try to talk with her while the rest of you head over to Princess Twilight’s castle and see what you can do to help her out.” All the other Wonderboltz exchanged glances and stared at her with confused looks on their faces. “Are you sure about this Spitfire?” Soarin asked “Wonderboltz stick together! When one of us in trouble we all stand together and do everything we can to help!” “YEAH!!!” all the other Wonderboltz cheered “Alright Wonderboltz move out!” the rest of them took off and headed for Twilight’s castle while Spitfire headed straight to the locker room. … Spitfire opened the locker room door to see Rainbow Dash curled up on the floor in a corner staring off into space. Her ears perked up at the sound of hoofsteps getting closer but she didn’t move. “Crash? You ok?” “…” She sat down next to Dash and put a wing over her shoulder “Look Cr-Dash I know you’re upset about those fillies. But this isn’t the way to handle things.” “...” Sigh “Ok now you’re just being selfish!” “!” “Do you really think you’re the only one upset about this?! What about Applejack and Rarity those are their little sisters that are missing.” Growl “Look I’m not trying to upset you I’m just telling you that you’re not the only one suffering. Those two just lost an important member of their families. They don’t know where they are or what’s happening to them.They don’t even know if they’re safe or not. Your friends have been trying their hardest help and Princess Twilight’s working herself to the bone trying to find a solution.” Spitfire put a hoof on her shoulder “And holding it all in isn’t making things any better.” Rainbow felt a trickle of tears fall and immediately wiped them away. Spitfire glared at her with disappointment. “How do you think the spurt will feel? Seeing her hero, her idol slumped down on the floor bottling up all her emotion snapping and screaming at all her friends even though they’re only trying to help.?” Rainbow Dash knew where she was getting at and knew what Scootaloo would think about her right now. She wouldn’t see the brave, strong and confident mare she idolized. She would only see a shivling coward hiding all her pain by shutting out everyone who tried to help. “She would be disappointed…But..I don’t know how else to handle it.” Spitfire took both Rainbow’s hooves in her own pulling her into a gentle hug. “Just let it out” And she did. All the fear, worry, and sadness came rushing out like a waterfall. Spitfire stayed with Dash letting her release all the emotions she’d had locked up for months. … At Rarity’s boutique Rarity was curled up on her bed tears were streaming down her cheeks and her mascara was running. This wasn’t like all the other breakdowns she’d had before. No, this one was different she felt as though a large piece of her heart had just been ripped out her chest. After she had heard what happened she ran home with tears in her eyes and locked herself in her room. Day after day she hoped and prayed that the girls would just reappear somehow and this whole nightmare would end...But it has yet to happen. Now she just sits in her praying that wherever the CMC are they’re safe. … “Hey Twilight, you still in there?” Spike peeked into the door of the library to see Twilight sitting in the middle of the floor with multiple towers of books around her. “...um uhm…” was all the answer he got. Sigh Of course she is. Why do I even ask? “Well...um...ya see a few of the Wonderboltz showed up and are wondering if there’s anything they can do to help.” Twilight hesitated for a moment wanting to say “no”...but she took a second look at all the shelves full of books, and this isn’t even the only library in the entire castle. With tired eyes and without looking away from her book, she replied… “...please…” Spike stood there shocked for a moment surprised that she actually agreed, then pushed the door wide open letting in the group of pegasi. The group wasted no time getting to work, pushing away each tower of books into their corner of the library and began reading through their first book. Twilight never took her eyes off the pages not even for a glimpse. I promised everypony that I’d find them and I will. I’ll never stop searching until I find them and bring them back home. Girls...one way or another I will find you...I promise. > Witness Protection: Questions > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’s been a couple hours since the police and CSI arrived and everyone who were still in the pits had been ordered to stay until they were allowed to leave. They did the initial walk-through getting the overall feel of the crime scene and find out if anything was moved. Then they began to document everything, taking pictures, drawing sketches, and collecting all potential evidences, tagging, logging, and packeting it. They continued doing so for hours while the lead detective started over in the direction of the #95 tent. Lightning was sitting in a chair still cradling Scootaloo who at the time was no longer crying but still held a tight grip on his jacket. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were no different though Sweetie Belle had unintentionally fallen asleep. She shook every so often tightening her grip on Doc’s shirt each time, no doubt having a nightmare about what she and her friends just witnessed. Apple Bloom was the only one who’s face wasn’t currently buried in her father’s shirt. Tex, Strip, Cal, and Bobby stayed in their tent with them despite being ordered to go back to their own, they weren’t going to leave their friends like this. Cal continued to stare at the girls as he did since they first came in screaming, the same feeling of sadness and fear for what they might have seen never left him. Even more so was the feeling of wanting to do something to help to cheer them up, at least just a little. He pondered for a moment about what to do and as he did his mind went back to something his parents always did for him whenever he was feeling sad, upset, or just having a bad day. They would always make him some hot chocolate and s’mores. He beamed at the thought, he couldn’t do the s’mores part but he could bring the girls some hot chocolate. There’s section of snack stands cut off from the others that are only for racers. The police had closed down all but one and to his luck it was the one that sells hot cocoa. Cal turned to his dad and whispered in his ear, Strip smiled at the thought and gave him the ok to go. Cal walked over to the officer guarding the tent and asked if he could go and get the girls their drinks. Luckily for him the officer was one of the nice ones and he called over another cop, a female, to escort him to the stand. Just a few moments after they left the lead detective, Morgan Burns, stepped into the tent and Doc stood up from his chair still holding Sweetie Belle in one hand while shaking Morgan’s with the other. “Mr. Hudson is it?” “Yes that’s me.” “My name is Morgan Burns, I’m the lead detective in charge of the case. I presume she is one of the witnesses.” “Her name is Sweetie Belle, over there with Sarge is Apple Bloom and with Lightning is Scootaloo. And yes, unfortunately we believe they saw what happened. But neither had said a single word since and had been crying non stop till now. You’ll have to be patience with them, they’re still little girls and have never been in this kind of situation before.” “Of course, do you think they’re up for at the least giving a description of the suspect?” “Apple Bloom or Scootaloo maybe, but Sweetie Belle I’m sure will only start crying all over again. You can see she’s still shaking even in her sleep.” And as if on cue Sweetie Belle shook again and let out a small whimper. Detective Burns stared at her for a moment than turned away from Doc. “Alright, you can sit back down and I will try to talk with the other two.” Detective Burns went over to Lightning and Scootaloo, Lightning didn’t look at him and was still whispering comforting words in Scootaloo’s ear. “Mr. McQueen?” “Yeah?” Lightning replied, though he seemed to have a bit of a attitude. Detective Burns gave a mental sigh Ok..Right away I’m already getting an attitude with this kid. “Alright..Scootaloo is it? Do you think that she might be up for some questions?” “Oh, I don’t know what do you think? A little girl that had just watched someone get Shot! And now is being asked to talk about the man she’d just seen shoot a guy. Oh yeah. Great way to help with the trama she’s already dealing with. It’s not like she’s gonna start freakin out again and gettin all upset. No of course not.” Lightning retorted with complete sarcasm. Burns took a deep breath and decided to give Apple Bloom a try. He stood in front of Sarge and before getting to the questions asked. “Is there a reason I’m getting an attitude from him?” Sarge signed and signaled over to Doc tilting his head in Lightning’s direction. Doc nodded and head over to his driver. At this time Cal had returned with the officer carrying a paper cup holder with three cups of hot chocolate. The officer had another one with three cups of coffee for the adults. Sweetie Belle had woken up when Doc moved from his spot to sit next to Lightning and all three girls took their cups, as did Doc and Sarge, Lightning doesn’t drink coffee so he refused. Sarge took a long drink than turned his attention back to the detective. “I’m sorry about that Detective, he just gets really defensive when it comes to Scootaloo.” “Nevermind that.” Burns took a seat across from them and turned his attention to Apple Bloom, he had to get at least something from one of these girls. He gave her a small smile. “Apple Bloom is it? Think you might be up for a few questions?” “..yeah..” Apple Bloom replied in a hushed tone. Burns’ smile softened a bit and he pulled out a pen a notepad from his pocket. “Whenever you’re ready.” Apple Bloom started from when they first bumped into the guy to see him with the gun. She was hesitant and shaky during that part. Burns wrote down every bit of information. “Can you give me a description of the man?” “Um...He looked about the same age as Lightning, he had short black hair, green eyes...he was wearing black jeans, blue sneakers, a pale blue shirt, and a black leather jacket.” Burns wrote down the description and continued with the questions. “Is there anything else you remembered about what happened? Any more details you may have missed or forgot?” Apple Bloom took another sip of her hot chocolate and thought about what she might have missed. “Hmm..um..Oh! He had a kid with him.” Burns looked up from his notepad an intrigued look on his face. “A kid? And can you describe the kid?” “Um...He looked our age..um..he had spiky black hair, blue shirt and jeans..black jacket and tennis shoes, and blue and gray armbands and dark eyes...and that’s it I think.” “And was he Caucasian or African?” The girls were still a bit confused about that part of the human world. But Apple Bloom went back to what little they currently know about it. “Umm..African..” I think Burns wrote it down and stood up from his chair. “Thank you, that will be enough questions for now. Sir I will need you phone number if I’m in need of any more information.” Sarge gave the detective his and Doc’s as well as Sheriff’s phone numbers and Burns left the tent, leaving the group to themselves. … Back in the hideout, “Did you put him with the other one?” Vexx asked as he watched Darren walk through the front door. “Yeah yeah I put the little brat with the other one.” Darren retorted, Vexx glared at him. “What part of “No guns” do you not understand?” Darren’s eye twitched and Vexx raised a hand. “Forget it for now we’ll talk about it later. Now just go and change out of that disguise.” “Whatever.” and Darren headed to the bathroom. He washed the dye out of his hair and removed his contacts… > Witness Protection: What Happened > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After a few more hours everyone were finally allowed to leave, Doc had already arranged for Ramone and Sally to come and pick up the girls. The next day the two arrived early in the morning Ramone ran to Sweetie Belle pulling her into an embrace as she cried in his shoulder. Bulk jumped out the car and jumped on Ramone trying to reach Sweetie Belle. “You brought Bulk too? Doc questioned “Not exactly…” Ramone replied “Just as we were about to leave he jumped in the car and refused to come out and he growled at everyone that tried to pick him up.” Ramone set Sweetie Belle down so that she could see her pet and Bulk jumped in her lap almost immediately began softly licking her cheek in a way that looked as though he was...comforting her. This did bring a smile to Doc’s face, the first one since this whole incident started. “Ya know, it’s said that dogs can sense their owners feeling and I’d say this is proof that it’s true. Somehow even from this far away Bulk could sense that Sweetie Belle was upset and was intent on being here to comfort her.” “You really think so Doc?” Ramone bent down and watched as Bulk comfort his little girl, Doc went a petted Bulk’s head. “Dogs are a lot smarter than we give them credit for.” … The guys had to hurry a get all the girls things in the car and get them out of here before the paparazzi showed. While most people marvel at the thought of a group of people clamoring to take their pictures to others it was completely different. To other people the paparazzi care about nothing else other than getting pictures. That they have no respect for other people's privacy let alone personal space, and in some cases it’s true. But it becomes an even bigger problem when children are involved since most of them seem to forget that it’s illegal to harrass minors. They had gotten all the bags loaded up and were prepare to leave all while security ,who Doc had asked to, kept an eye out for anyone who looks as though they may be paparazzi or reporters. Without any problems everyone got in their cars and headed home and I mean ‘everyone’. His friends were all shocked to find out Lightning had dropped out of the the race. But for Doc he understood completely why his driver had done so. After all that happened it just didn’t feel right leaving Scootaloo for that long and Doc felt proud of Lightning for doing so. Giving up the race, something that he looks forward to every year just to help the kid that he had made it his responsibility to care for, despite her not even being of our world. For Doc it just shows how much the kid has grown and how much more responsible he’s become. … As soon as the team got home they were crowded by the rest of the town folks flooding them with questions and worry, asking “What happened?!” and “Are you ok?!” so many questions at once that Doc had to step in to calm everyone down enough for him to explain. Sarge, Lightning, and Ramone got the girls settled back in their rooms and stayed with them til they fell asleep. Bulk had adjusted himself so that he was at the top of Sweetie Belle’s bed, using his body as a pillow for her. Ramone gave a soft smile, tucked Sweetie Belle in and patted Bulk’s head. “Good job Bulk.” He closed her bedroom door and left the two to sleep. Ramone left the shop and entered Flo’s cafe as Doc was explaining everything that had happened. Flo came up to her husband and kissed his cheek. “Oh the poor girls I can’t even imagine how scared they must have been.” “I don’t even wanna think about it.” Fillmore shuddered Sarge put a hand on his shoulder. “Do you think they’re gonna be ok.” Sally asked “It’ll take some time but I’m sure they’ll get over it...until then let’s try not to talk about it when they’re around.” Doc answered Everyone nodded in agreement. ... In Lightning’s room, the young racer was lying on his bed leaning his back against the wall, a small pegasus girl curled up in his lap sleeping. She had wrapped her wings around her body hugging herself, Lightning had placed a blanket around her to keep her warm as she continued to shake and whimper in her sleep. Scootaloo had stuck close to Lightning holding his hand or any part of his clothing constantly, not wanting to be seperated. Lightning himself continues to wonder why someone would shoot that guy in the first place. Did he do something wrong? Did the other guy do something to piss him off? I overheard Applebloom tell the detective that the guy with the gun had a kid with him. Was he...trying to kidnapped him? Lightning shuddered at the thought, he had watched a lot of “Criminal Minds” and “Law and Order: SVU” to know how things like this go. The criminals would do anything to “get rid of” any witnesses. And if there’s one thing those shows have taught him, it’s that there are a few reasons why people would take kids...and Lightning didn’t like any of them. Another even more frightening thought sent a chill up his spine. W-what if he comes after the girls? I mean everyone knows I lives here. But they don’t know that’s Scootaloo’s my “sister”. But there were enough photos taken at the race for people to start thinking that we must have some connection...and what they do find them. What if they see Scootaloo’s wings?! What will happen then? Will they tell someone? People like that will no doubt try to make money off a little girl with wings... Lightning shook his head and held Scootaloo closer trying to shake the thoughts out of his mind. “Well...if they want her they’ll have to go through me.” > Halloween Special: Monster Springs > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vampires: Lightning(Soran), Sally(River) Werewolves: Mater(Lucas), Sheriff(Seff), Calvin Coolant(Felix, Mater’s cousin) Ghosts: Stanley(Stan) Mad Scientist: Doc Frankenstein Monster: Applebloom(Bloom), Witches: Sweetie Belle(Belle), Lizzie Demons: Scootaloo (Drakoloo) Zombies: Ramone(Zero) Mummy: Mack(Tat) Wight: Fillmore(Lezael) Gremlin: Luigi(Zuct) Goblin: Guido(Drozz) Gargoyle: Sarge(Gazar) Cyclop: Red(Alas) Banshee: Flo(Maiden) Orc: Chick(Olog) Wendigo: The Weathers, Strip(Braxed), Lynda(Zellney), Cal(Ryzan) Hellhound: Bulk(Zarro) Boogeyman: Bobby Swift(Vonnor) Ah! You have returned friend what a grand! Have you come for another? Well then let us dig in further. But I should warn thee. For this next tale is no less frightening. My next tale is one to dwell. In a town not too far down. It resembles Radiator Springs. They call it Monster Springs... On the edge of the Nightmare Realm sits the quaint little town of Monster Springs. A small little town filled with creatures of all kinds. The leader of the town is the mad scientist named Doc, he keeps everyone inline, undead, and working. He is also the creator of the young Franken-monster Bloom, who is under the guidance of her teacher the gargoyle Gazar. His best friend and next grave neighbor is Lezael a wight. He will often join the Weathers on a trip to the human realm, the Weathers are a family of wendigos the father Braxed, the mother Zellney and their son Ryzan. They are almost always joined on their trips to town by their son’s friend a boogeyman named Vonnor so that they can hang out with their friends. A vampire couple Soran and River, Soran’s best friend a werewolf Lucas. His father who is also a werewolf is the town sheriff named Seff. Unfortunately the Weathers’ visits are sometimes accompanied by the not so friendly Orc, Olog who just loves to make the town folks’ lives and deaths a living heaven. Two of the towns folks are a goblin Drozz and his mischievous little gremlin friend Zuct. However Doc isn’t the only leader of the town he is joined by the ghost/founder of the town Stan and his wife a witch named Lizzie. Lizzie herself is also teacher to a young witch in training named Belle, her training is joined by her faithful companion a hellhound she named Zarro. Belle’s friends in town are the young Franken-monster Bloom and the demon child Drakoloo, the sister of Soran. Whenever our young monsters get hungry they stop by at Maiden’s Night Shift for a bite to eat. Maiden is a banshee who runs the place. Her husband is a zombie named Zero who is also Belle’s guardian/brother. The last two members of the town consist of a mummy called Tat and a shy cyclops who goes by the name of Alas. And now that this long introduction is finished let the story begin… Inside one of the small houses layed two coffins in the center of the room, above them in a corner of the roof a large mash of black and red goo formed into a sort of misshapen hammock. Sitting in it a small black and red lump sleeping inside. The lid on one of the coffins began to slide open as a young pale skin woman rose from inside her blond hair a mess, River yawned revealing her sharp fangs, rubbing her dark red eyes she turned to the coffin next to her. An arm and leg sticking out the side, she couldn’t help but giggle at the picture before her. Why does he always sleep like that? River thought as she climbed out of her coffin and proceeded to knock on the other. “Sun’s low Sor! Time to get up!” She announced and as always Soran’s response was to pull back his arm and leg and shutting the lid closed. “Five more minutes Riv..” Soran groaned, River sighed then flew up to the goo mash hammock and shook the lump inside. Seconds later a groan came as the lump unfolded itself to be a young child with dark skin and red marking spread across her body. Her nails were sharp as knives but short nonetheless, her eyes are completely red, and her hair was short literally fire with tiny horns poking out from the sides of her head. She yawned baring her sharp teeth as her large dark wings extended outward. “Oh hey River...yawn...is it night already?” Drakoloo rubbed her eyes, stretching as she shook herself awake. “Woo! Alright! Let’s get movin’!” Drakoloo shouted wide awake and about to take off...until River grabbed her by the wing halting her mid flight. “Sorry Draks we can’t go just yet.” She pointed to the closed coffin “Sor here refuses to get up as always.” She continued and Drakoloo grinned mischievously “Oh I know just how to wake him up.” She flew over to the coffin and opened it as the sleeping vampire groaned his disapproval. Soran groaned and turned his back to his little sister hoping she’d let him be. He could feel her flying above him as his eyes shot open in realization. Damnit! Not again! Once Drakoloo had position herself just a few feet above Soran she ceased her flapping and fell right on top of his back. He screamed then growled as he laid in there with Drakoloo sitting happily on his back and River laughing in the background. “Ugh...Alright Drakoloo I’m up I’m up.” He groaned and Drakoloo got off as Soran groggily got up and out of his coffin. River walked over to the fridge and pulled out a small rat and handed it over to her sleepy boyfriend. “Here Sor, we’re heading over to Maiden’s for breakfast anyway but this should wake you up.” He thanked her and began drinking the rat’s blood. The two entered Maiden’s cafe and Soran perked up as soon as he saw his friends Vonnor and Ryzan sitting at a table waving him over. But before said vampire could take a step forward something large tackled him to the floor. “Damnit Lucas! Not again!” The large figure was indeed his best pal Lucas sitting on top his chest shaking his tail fiercely. “Howdy Sor! Good to see yer awake!” “Good to see you too Lucas now can you please get off me.” Soran asked casually tapping his finger on the floor as he waited for the young werewolf to move. “Woops! Sorry Pal!” Lucas jumped off, scratching himself a little before standing on his hind legs. “Come on bud! Let’s eat!” and pulled Soran to the table with a slight yelp. The next group to step in were Gazar, Lazael, and Bloom “Hey guys.” “Hello everyone.” “Howdy Y’all!” They all greeted “Hey Gazar! Hey Lazael! Hey Bloom!” The others greeted back. Bloom went up and hugged Drakoloo but as she did her arm got caught in the child demon’s wing and very easily popped off. “Woops! Sorry Bloom.” Drakoloo apologized “Ain’t yer fault Drak. Ma arm’s been popping off a lot lately.” Bloom replied picking up said arm. “Doc’s gonna fix it up for me in a little bit.” “Well he better hurry because you know what day it is right?” Drakoloo asked excitedly. “Sure do! Halloween!” “That’s right children the one night of the year where we can cross over to the human realm without frightening the mortal.” Said the elder witch who had just stepped inside. “Lizzie!” The girls exclaimed running up to the witch. “Where’s Belle?” Drakoloo asked. Lizzie motioned behind her where the young witch stepped out from behind her.   “Greetings friends.” Belle went to stand next to her friends. Stan, Lizzie’s husband stood in front of his wife. “Bloom, Sweetie, Doc is ready for you.” “Alrighty!” Bloom exclaimed heading out the cafe to Doc’s lab. “Hurry up Bloom cause we’re leaving right after breakfast!” Drakoloo shouted “You sure are excited little demon.” Another werewolf had just stepped inside and a scream came from Lucas when he saw who it was. “FELIX!!!” “WOAH!! Ehehe it’s good to see you too little cousin!” Felix laid on his back as his little cousin licked his face. “Alright alright Lucas that’s enough! Get off me.” “Sorry cus’ I just missed ya so much! Are ya coming to the human realm with us.” Lucas asked excitedly. “Why else do ya think I’m here cus’? Of course I’m going with ya’ll!” Felix answered finally pushing his cousin off him. “Hey Felix why don’t you sit with us and have a bite to eat before we head out?” Soran asked tossing the new wolf a rabbit as he and Lucas made their way back over to the table. During the rest of the morning everyone else came in and ate. … Once everyone had finished breakfast and Doc had finished fixing Bloom’s arm they all headed over to the portal, Soran and River put on their special sunglasses before stepping through. Most people believe that vampires need to stay out of the sun completely, but it is only their eyes they need to protect, since the eyes are windows into the soul. It is also daytime in the human realm while it’s night time in the nightmare realm, same goes for the other way around. Daytime in the nightmare realm is night time in the human realm. They entered the human realm and right away the girls, mainly Bloom and Drakoloo, began pulling their guardians out into town to do some Trick-or-Treating while the others went to walk around and meangle. “Oof! Hey!” Drakoloo had just bumped into someone “Oh! Sorry are you ok?” A hand reach out and pulled her to her feet. Drakoloo looked up to see a girl with long purple hair and dressed in a werewolf costume, a must better one then she had seen from most humans. Next to her were two other girls one dress as a mummy with a red ribbon holding her bright red hair in a ponytail, the other one had white and light purple hair and she had a large white pit bull with her both dressed in panda costumes. Behind Drakoloo she heard Zero let out a small squeal. Ok. Maybe they are kinda cute. Drakoloo thought to herself. She snapped out of her thoughts realizing that she had yet to answer the girl’s question. “Oh...um right! Yeah I’m fine. Sorry about that.” Drakoloo apologized “It’s ok. Hey do you girls wanna join us?” The girl asked, Belle looked to her brother “Brother? May we?” “Sure you can.” he answered “Awesome! We’ll get twice as more candy in a bigger group!” Drakoloo cheered “That’s what I’m talking about!” the girl high fived her. “Hey what are your names anyway? I almost forgot.” Drakoloo asked the trio the girls “Oh yeah! My name’s Scootaloo.” the werewolf girl answered “I’m Applebloom! Nice to meet ya’ll.” the mummy greeted “And I’m Sweetie Belle! And this is my dog Bulk!” the panda greeted and her dog barked a “Hello” in return. “I’m Drakoloo and these are my friends Bloom and Belle and this is her pet Zarro.” “Nice to meet you all and now that the introductions are over let’s get some candy!” Scootaloo announced. “YAY!” everyone cheered They spent most of the day playing games at the carnival while others met friends of their own. Lucas, Seff and Felix met a father and son at the carnival named Mater and Sheriff they talked for a long time finding that they all had so much in common Mater even mentioned to Lucus that he has a cousin just like Felix and that his name was Calvin. It was the same thing with everyone else, the Monster Springs group meeting the Radiator Springs group. When it came night time and all the girls began their Treat-or-Treating they talked between each stop sharing every detail about their interest though all girls careful not to reveal anything about where they are really from. “Your costume is amazing Drakoloo! How did you make your wings?” Scootaloo asked “Talent.” Drakoloo simple replied “And your werewolf costume is so much better all the others I’ve seen. How’d you make it?” “Simple I just used a bunch of old clothes I had and ordered the ears, tail, and claws off of Amazon. I took a black shirt cut up three claw marks then took a red shirt and stitched it on the inside of the black one so it would look like there are three red claw marks. I also added a little red at the bottom since the shirt seems to be a little too short for my taste. Then I cut it up a bit so it would seem ripped. Then I added a pair of ripped jeans, black combat boots, and Sweetie Belle’s brother Ramone helped me with my makeup. And Ta-Da!” Scootaloo explained twirling a bit to show off her full costume. “Wow! You are real creative Scootaloo!” Drakoloo exclaimed “What about the rest of you girls?” Bloom asked “Well me? I just went with a plain white outfit then covered myself in toilet paper.” Applebloom explained. “I had my big brother make these for us. I’m not as creative as my friends.” Sweetie Belle giggled. “So did you all make your costumes yourself as well?” Applebloom asked “Yeah!” All responded “Cool!” The girls exclaimed And it went on like that for hours, the girls collecting candy and talking about their costumes. Afterward the girls invited Drakoloo and her friends to Radiator Springs for their traditional ghost stories and movie marathon. The ghost stories were all horrifying and the movies very scary. Everyone had so much fun together that they were sad the night was over and everyone had to say goodbye. The girls went home to the Nightmare Realm and ate up at least half of their candy before falling asleep, excited for next year so that they can see their new friends once again. “I’m glad we listen to that other demon who told us to go to that town for Halloween.” Drakoloo spoke “Ya! He was right! The candy they had was awesome better than the other places we go to. And I can’t wait to see the girls again!” Bloom exclaimed “Agreed.” Belle calmly spoke “Well girls we should get some sleep. Night ya’ll.” Bloom yawned and layed in bed “Night!” the others followed and as Drakoloo drifted off to sleep she whispered softly “See you next year Scootaloo.” > Happy Very-Late Easter > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “What’s Easter?” Sweetie Belle asked as Ramone finished up the last touches on her new sundress. “Um...Well it’s...?” Ramone was hesitant to tell them that Easter is a holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, especially with how horrified they were about the nails in hands and feet part. Probably would have helped if Fillmore or Doc explained it instead of Lizzie. She didn’t exactly know how to be discrete. “Um...it’s about the magical Easter Bunny leaving all kinds of treats and goodies hidden for little kids to find.” “Really Ramone.” Applebloom deadpanned “Well it was worth a try.” “Let me guess ‘we don’t wanna know the real story’.” Scootaloo crossed her arms. “Yep.” “And let me guess it involves that guy on the ‘T’ thing doesn’t it?” Applebloom shuddered. “Yep.” “No offence Ramone, but humans are a lot more...violent than we expected.” Scootaloo added, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement. “Yeah...well I’m sorry to say girls but not everyplace can be like Equestria.” Ramone added “Oh we know that! But this world has a lot more um...deaths than Equestria.” Applebloom added “...Sigh, you’re right and I’m sorry you kids had to end up in a place like this.” “Wait a minute Ramone! We didn’t mean it like that!” Sweetie Belle stopped him “Yes it was an accident us coming here in the first place.” Applebloom added “And yes it’s been...scary at times.” Scootaloo added, then Sweetie Belle hugged Ramone “But we wouldn’t trade this experience for anything in the world.” “Yeah being with you guys is awesome! I even learned to fly with you guys when back at home I could barely get off the ground!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Heh, thanks girls that’s really sweet of you to say...and done! Alright girls what do you think of your new Spring dresses?” “They look amazing and I love this flower headband.” Sweetie Belle squealed “And I like the flowery bandanna you made for Bulk he looks so cute!” She added as she bent down giving Bulk a scratch. “I don’t like dresses much but these overalls look so %20 cooler.” Scootaloo commented. “And I love the colors and ribbon on mine.” Applebloom added “That’s great to hear girls, now let’s head over to Flo’s for the party.” Ramone finished and lead the girls to the cafe. … “Aww you girls look so adorable!” Flo squealed at the girl’s cute dresses. “Thank you everyone! Ramone is always awesome!” Ramone blushed “Alright girls let’s stopped talking about me and have some fun.” “YAY!” Everyone cheered … “Alright Bulk! Fetch!” Mater shouted throwing the colorful frisbee. Bulk ran for it barking loudly and catching it mid-flight. “Wahoo! Good boy Bulk!” Bulk jumped on Mater slobbering on his face. “Hehe! Hey cut it out that tickles!” “Bulk here boy!” Mac called holding a bunny shaped dog biscuit. Red was sitting with his flowers next to Fillmore and Sarge, both wearing flower crowns and enjoying the beautiful soft music from Fillmore’s Ocarina. Flo was serving guest with help from Lightning. Lizzie was sitting at an outside table ready Spring stories to the younger guest with strict orders from Doc not to go off the book. Guido and Luigi are having a Spring Sale, which from the look of all the customers seems to be working. Other young children who aren’t listening to Lizzie’s stories are with Doc and Sally decorating eggs. “Scootaloo! Stop it! Ahaha!” Sweetie Belle shouted pushing Scootaloo as she tried to paint her face. “Come on Sweetie Belle you’ll make a cute flower!” “Alright girls I don’t mind you having fun but try not to mess up your clothes.” Doc said not taking his eyes off the eggs. “Sorry Doc! Ahahaha!” Doc had also ordered a bunny petting zoo for the younger kids who don’t want to paint eggs or hear stories. That’s where Applebloom is playing with the bunnies. “Hehe these little fellas remind me of Angle Bunny.” she giggled snuggling a snow white bunny. … “Alright is everyone ready!” Doc shouted through the megaphone to the group of kids waiting to start the hunt. “YAY!!!” the children shouted “Ok the egg hunt will now begin in 3..2..1 GO!” shooting off a confetti gun everyone went out in search. Each crusaders went with seperate groups to different places, Applebloom’s to the cow field, Scootaloo’s to Willy’s Butte, and Sweetie Belle’s stayed in town. … “I collected more than you!” Scootaloo beamed “No I collected more!” Applebloom countered “Na uh I did!” Sweetie Belle stuck out her tough. “How long have they been going at it?” Lightning asked watching the girls continue to argue “I say about half an hour now.” Doc answered sipping his coffee not taking his eyes of his newspaper. Everyone laughed. > Entering Witness Protection > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A week later… “Hey girls, how y'all feel’in.” Mater asked as the girls entered the cafe, they went to sit at their table Bulk underneath in front of Sweetie Belle his head on her lap.  “We’re fine.” Applebloom replied not really looking at anyone, Sweetie and Scootaloo kept quiet. Scoots twiddling with her fork and Sweetie petting Bulk waiting as Flo brought them their breakfast and setting down Bulk’s food and water bowl under the table. Doc watched Lightning with a worried look “Lightning…” when Doc called him ‘Lightning’ instead of ‘Kid’ or ‘Rookie’ he knew he was serious. “What’s wrong?” “...” Sigh “Alright let’s go outside.” They stepped out of the cafe and over towards the back stopping not too far from the front door. “Ok Lightning what’s wrong?” he said nothing and Doc put a hand on his shoulder  “Come on Son you know you can tell me anything.” the boy shook and leaned into a hug  “I-I’m scared Doc. Applebloom said the guy took a kid...w-what if he comes after the girls.”  Crap! Doc mentally cursed I hadn’t even thought of that! “Then he’d have to go through all of us to get to them.”  Lightning sniffed “H-he had a gun.”  “You forget Sheriff is a trained police officer and Sarge is retired military. Both can easily handle one guy with a gun.”  “Do you really think it’s just going to be one guy! Come on Doc no one’s that’s stupid!”  “Calm down Son, I know you’re scared but you of all people should know that no one here is ever going to let anything bad happen to these girls. After all we promised that we’d all protect them. And I don’t intend on breaking that promise anytime soon. Besides how do you know for certain they’ll come after the girls?”  “Doc! They saw him! Of course they’re going to come after them!”  Doc sighed and pulled him close “Ok...you have a point there.” “And that’s why I’m here Mr. Hudson.” both jumped at the voice and turned to see Detective Burns watching them. Lightning immediately wiped away his tears blushing furiously, Doc giving him an unamused look.  “And exactly how long have you been standing there Detective?”  Burns smirked “Long enough to hear your concern.”  Lightning turned towards the wall face flushed red. “And you decide to just eavesdrop on our personal moment, very professional Detective.”  Burns just continued to grin adjusting the tie around his neck “So do you wanna talk in the cafe or somewhere a little more private.” It wasn’t a question. Doc exhaled “Let’s talk in my office.” and pointed over to his clinic. “Lightning go back inside, but don’t tell anyone he’s here until we’re done.”  “Yeah...sure.” and he walked back inside but not before glancing back at the two older men as they made their way and the fear he had earlier grew increasingly at moment.  They took a seat in his office, Doc making coffee for both and took a seat across him taking a sip before getting straight to the point. “So I take it what Lightning said is true right, whoever killed that man will attempt a kidnapping with Applebloom Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”  Burns’ expression grew serious “No point in taking things slow with you, Yes we do believe they are formulating a plan.” “So what is our plan?” Doc took a sip of coffee “I’m sorry ‘our plan’ no. You will stay here and do nothing while ‘my’ team investigates, the three girls will be put in a witness protection program.” “And how does this program work?” Doc’s expresion hadn’t changed  “The girls will be taken to a secret location-” “No.” “Excuse me?” “I said ‘no’. The girls stay here and you will not be taking them anywhere.”  “Mr. Hudson this will go by a lot easier if you would just cooperate.” “I am but you’re not taking the girls.” “Sigh That’s the complete opposite of cooperating.” “Detective think about it...these girls, these children just witnessed a murder do you really think they would willingly go with some stranger who they’ve never met before and follow them to ‘who knows where’. No they wouldn’t, these girls would most likely scream ‘Stranger Danger’ than go anywhere with you.” Burns let out a breath “So what do you propose we do?” Doc took another sip “Simple, undercover officers.” “Really?” Burns asked wondering if he was serious, he was “Yes. You do that sort of thing don’t you.” He didn’t phase it as a question “Yes we do, but only in a more serious situation.” “Heh really more serious than the safety of three children.” This time Doc grinned finishing off his coffee “I’m sure the media would love to hear that you don’t considered child safety a top priority.” “That is not what I said Mr. Hudson.” “I don’t know that’s sure what it sounded like to me.” Doc continued to grin “Please don’t play with my words.” “I’m not, you said and I quote ‘but only in a more serious situation’. And we are talking about the safety of three defenseless young girls.” Burns growled “For a world famous racer you’re very deceiving...I don’t see any other way in changing your mind?” “No.” Burn took a deep breath and exhaled “Fine.” he got up, straighten his tie “I’ll see what I can do and get back to you.” And left. Doc got up and put the two cup in the sink Sorry to be so devious Detective, but I can’t take the chance of anyone finding out the girls’ secret. > Plan B > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Wow for a world famous racer that was a real dirty move.” Harper Ross commented “But he does have a point.” Jamie Harris added “Put yourself in their shoes. You’re a child who just witnessed a murder and now a bunch of strangers are trying to take you away from the only family you’ve ever known. How would you react?” A moment of silence before Bettie answered “I’d be terrified out of my mind.” “Exactly.” Jamie added “So what are we supposed to do now?” Noah Fletcher asked “We can’t just leave those kids there without any protection.” “Well Mr. Hudson did suggest an alternative.” Morgan reminded his team “Right.” Tyler O’neil remembered “An undercover cop.” “It could work.” Eddie Gray spoke Morgan sighed “Ok. But who should it be?” “I know someone who will help.” Tyler offered “Who?” Morgan asked “Her name is Eli Hunter, of the FBI.” … A young woman stepped into the precinct, she had short red hair, a red button T-shirt, blue jeans and black boots. “Hello. My name is Eli Hunter, I’m here to see Tyler O’Neil.” Eli spoke “Eli!” Tyler shouted and ran up to hug her friend “Tyler! It’s been a while! I’ve missed you!” Eli hugged her friend back “But seriously, we need to hangout more when it doesn’t involve work.” She let go and Tyler led to the debriefing room “So what is it you need me for?” “Undercover witness protection.” Tyler replied “Alright so what’s the reason for not putting them in the usual witness protection program?” Eli asked as they stepped into the room “Because the children’s guardians refuse to let us take them.” Morgan replied “All right so who are the ones needing protection?” Eli sat down “Jamie is getting the files right now.” Morgan walked around to the other side of the table as Jamie walked in with a rather confused look on his face “Jamie? What’s wrong?” “We have a problem.” and he brought them to his computer “I cannot find even a mention of either of these three girls anywhere in any system.” “What do you mean?” Morgan asked confused “Neither Lightning McQueen’s nor Ramone’s records shows any mention or birth records of a younger sister, and there are no adoption records for an ‘Applebloom.” Jamie turned to his chief “Sir. These girls do not exist.” ... “Bastard!” Morgan cursed “Morgan, you want me to protect them during this case right?” Eli asked “Correct.” “Well, perhaps I can also look into these girls mysterious appearance.” “Our main goal is protecting these girls while finding the murder/kidnapper.” Morgan thought for a moment “Something weird is going on in that town...Alright Eli, along with protecting those girls see what you can find out about where they came from and who they are.” “You got it.” … Back in Radiator Springs Sweetie Belle is sitting in Fillmore’s garden playing with Bulk, Applebloom is helping Sarge clean up his shop, Scootaloo is with both Lightning and Doc in Willy’s Butte. Lightning is sitting in his race car with Scootaloo sitting on his lap, he was showing her all the different parts of a race car and how it differs compared to a normal car. “Now normal car engines are tuned for more relaxed and comfortable rides, while a race engine has to be durable enough to last the entire duration of the race. Basic race car engines are not that much different from those of street cars. However they are much larger with custom-made engine blocks. They use V8 engines that regularly generate a horsepower rating of 800 or more. 37% of passenger cars today run on a 4-cylinder engine, they are the most of any engine type. While there are several factors that play a role in generating horsepower, an average 4-cylinder vehicle produces around 200 hp and accounts for 54.2% of all new vehicles sold. Meaning a race engine is about four times more powerful than the one in a street car.” Lightning explained Doc was sitting on a small blanket on the ground reading a book while glancing up a few times, there was a cough from behind and he turned around to see detective Morgan standing behind him with Eli next to him. Doc closed his book and stood up “Hello detective, and how are things going for you.” he shook Morgan’s hand with a sly grin on his face. Morgan gave him an unamused part angry look. “Congratulation Mr. Hudson you got your wish. This is Eli Hunter of the FBI, but you will call her Lela Wade an intern living here during the course of her internship. She is here to learn all the ins and outs of racing. You are her teacher/caregiver while staying here.” Morgan explained “Ok, now what will she really be doing?” Doc asked. “Since most of these towns folk are a part of your pit crew I can casually walk around, talk with people including the girls without looking suspicious. Everyone will assume I’m talking with them about their jobs on the team.” Eli(now Lela) explained “I will be keeping a close eye on the girls and report any suspicious people who approach them.” she slightly shook the glasses she was wearing “My glasses have a small camera built in, to where I tap the top and it snaps a picture. Each day I’ll send the pictures of every suspicious man or woman that approaches one or all three girls.” … While inside Doc’s home, Doc, Morgan and Lela were sitting with the girls, Bulk, Lightning, Ramone, and Sarge. The girls were sitting on the floor with Bulk sitting in front of Sweetie Belle his full attention on Lela. “I get the feeling he doesn’t trust me.” Lela spoke with a smile “I’m sorry,” Sweetie Belle apologized holding Rarity as she patted Bulk’s head to where he laid across her lap, licking her chin before resting his head on the floor. “He’s gotten really protective lately.” she began petting his head with one hand the other that held the doll rested across his back. “Good. That means he takes his job seriously.” Lela winked at her and Sweetie Belle smiled hugging Bulk before going back to her previous position, with her pup’s tail wagging. “Now everyone understands how this works?” Morgan asked standing up as he was ready to leave, he had just finished explaining Lela’s position in town minus searching for evidence as to where the girls came from. Everyone answered ‘yes’ Morgan talked with Doc a bit more before leaving. > Vicious > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweetie Belle was at her favorite park when it happened… Ramone had taken her and Bulk into the city with him to do some shopping. They had left Bulk in the car while Ramone and Sweetie were in the stores. Now before you say anything Ramone’s car is a purple 1959 Chevrolet impala lowrider with the convertible hood. Bulk’s leash is tied to the pole and Sweetie even put up a sign that says  ‘Feel Free To Pet! But If You Go For His Leash Or Anything In The Car He Will Growl!’ A few people tried it out at first by petting Bulk and scratching him behind the ear, which is his favorite spot and always makes his leg thump like Thumper from Bambi then they’d playfully reach for the leash and Bulk really did growl. Most laughed and commented how smart it was to teach him that, while others who still believed the stereotypical ‘vicious dangerous dog breed’ made really nasty comments. “Why do people even have those things for pets?” “Those beasts belong in a cage.” “They’ll be sorry when that thing rips their faces off.” Fortunately Sweetie Belle wasn’t around to hear any of it, but that all changed when they got to the park and Sweetie Belle experienced first hand the pit bull stereotype… It wasn’t her first time bringing Bulk to that park, so she was confused as to why some people were acting so strange around him. Bulk was very well trained and very clingy to Sweetie Belle so it was safe to take him off leash and let him run around. They trusted that he would stay close and never run off, mostly because of his past in dog fights he was scared of most people mostly men and would avoid other dogs his size or larger. Those are the main reasons why they’ve been taking him with them on trips into the city in hopes of ridding him of these fears. It was working very well but there were still certain men Bulk would avoid and be pretty much terrified of if they came near him. That being men with messy dark hair, big scruffy beards and a very large built, that fact had led them to believe that that was what the man who abused him looked like, or at least something similar. Anyway onto the real story… Sweetie Belle and Bulk were running around in the grass chasing and rolling around. Sweetie Belle rolled onto her stomach when Bulk hopped onto her back and started playfully nibbling at her hair.  “Hahaha Bulk stop it! That’s tickles!” she giggled as her little pup continued playing with her hair...until. Yelp!  Bulk cried out loudly and jumped off her, Sweetie sat up and was about to walk over to see if he was ok when a pair of hands grabbed her from behind and lifted her up high in the air.  “Get off her you stupid mutt!” It was a guy’s voice then there was a ‘thud’ and another ‘yelp’ from Bulk followed by him whimpering. All of this happened within the matter of a minute and it took Sweetie another minute to process what just happened before realizing that she’s currently being held up in the air by a complete stranger...and she’s wearing a dress. Her face burned bright red as embarrassment and fear took over… “KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!” she screamed and started kicking the man, he held her at arms’ length. “Woah kid! Calm down it’s ok I’m just trying to save you!” The man calmly said, but before he knew it she was immediately ripped out of his arms as a fist hit him square in the nose braking it and sending him crashing to the ground “Ouch! Hey! What the hell was that for?!” He shouted and looked up to see a very pissed off Ramone glaring down at him. Sweetie Belle sitting in one arm, her own arms wrapped firmly around his neck with her head buried in his shoulder. “You keep your filthy Goddamn hands off my sister before you find yourself needing a new face!” Ramone shouted at the man looking very menacingly.  “Look man I was just trying to help her ok! Some idiot decided to let their big ass pitbull run amuk in a children’s playground!” He said holding his bleeding nose and pointing to a quivering Bulk who’s now hiding behind a tree, staring wide eyed at the man. At that point pretty much everyone in the park was now watching, one kid was even recording them. “That’s her dog Cabron.” Ramone growled, never taking his eyes off the man.  Now Ramone hardly ever used that kind of language, but when he did he only ever said those things in Spanish knowing Sweetie Belle would not understand. To explain what he said, ‘Cabron’ is the literal translation for a male goat. But it’s slang meaning is a lot ruder and generally translates to three very offensive words, one being a 7 letter word that starts with ‘a’ and ends in ‘e’. Ramone then whistled and Bulk came running from the tree, past the man and hid behind him. “What, you’ve never seen a kid playing with their dog before?” “Why the hell would you get your sister that beast?! Do you know how dangerous that breed is?” Ramone just growled and held up a fist, indicating that he won't hesitate to throw another. “Sigh Look, I didn’t know that was her dog ok and why would you get her a pitbull in the first place?” The man finally stood up still holding his bleeding nose.  “Why not get her a poodle or some other ‘non dangerous breed’. And honestly from what I saw with that little girl lying on the ground like that and it on top of her biting her hair I really thought that dog was attacking her.” “And you thought that made it ok to not just abuse an innocent animal, but to also put your hands on someone else’s kid?” Ranome’s eyes narrowed at the man fist still clenched. The man now looked scared and added to the people that were watching him now starting to whisper, decided to just give up but not before trying to get the last word. “You know what, fine! But don’t come crying to me when that thing rips her face off.” “BULK WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!!” Sweetie Belle shrieked now glaring at the man “Bulk is the sweetest, kindest, most loving dog you’ll ever meet!” The man took a step away, a bit taken aback by her sudden raised voice. But still seem to think that this kid needed some ‘educating about the pit bull breed’. “Kid, you do know that pit bulls are naturally vicious right?” As Bulk is very protective of Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Belle is just as protective of Bulk. Ramone kept quiet with a smug look on his face, knowing that this grown man is about to get an ear full of it from a little kid. “No they are not! Pitbulls are just like all dog breeds out there, it’s all about how you raise them! I hear so many stories about pitbulls being labeled dangerous! And it’s all because of those monsters who force them to fight in those horrible fights! Those sick people train them to be that way just so they can get there sick kicks out of watching poor innocent animals kill each other!  And even when those fights are broken up there are always dogs that are just too far gone to be saved. And those poor dogs end up being killed because no matter what people do they just can’t reverse what those monsters did to them! Then there are some dogs that are just so desperate for love they will walk up to just about anyone! Just so they can feel the love that they’ve been denied their whole life!” She was now steaming at this point and the people watching either had huge smiles or sh!t eating grins directed at the man. “Do you wanna know what real pitbulls are like Mister? Fun fact pitbulls were named the original nanny dog. Yep! She did her research. “Pitbulls are very sociable dogs, they get along with people and children ‘If’ well socialized. And as all breeds their temperament can change depending on their education from when they are a puppy. And occurring to studies from the American Temper Test Society the pitbull has a more stable temperament than the average dog. The aggression is due to improper training from the owner. Pitbulls are very protective and a great companion if you can take the time to give them the love and attention they need. They are extremely friendly with strangers and a very intelligent breed. Pitbulls were once known as being nanny dogs so they were trusted enough to be around small infants and children.” “Ok ok kid, I get it calm down will ya.” The man tried to slowly walk away but Sweetie Belle wasn’t done with him yet. “Oh no! I’m not done with you!” She jumped out of Ramone’s arm and stood in front of the man “Did you know that there are far more videos on the internet that show pitbulls as being caring, lovable, playful and overall just big babies! Then there are that very very small percentage that show them as vicious and dangerous.” She called Bulk to her to emphasize her final statement. “And finally Mister! My boy Bulk had been a victim of those horrible dog fights! He was abused and left to die chained up in some trash dump ally! And despite all the pain and torture he went through he was still so happy to see us that he crawled right into my lap! Not once did he growl or try to bite me! All he wanted was for me to hold him! To save him from all the pain he’s gone through in his life.” And to finish it off she asked the man “Tell me Mister, have you ever seen a dog cry?” An eruption of cheers sounded throughout the park, people were clapping and cheering for Sweetie Belle. For she had told this man off good and hard. The man was finally able to escape and people booed at him as he passed by. Once they got back home Ramone told everyone how Sweetie Belle bravely told off that man and everyone cheered and congratulated her. Scootaloo and Lighting told her that she was a massive savage especially with that last line. Sweetie Belle and Bulk were both rewarded with a huge banana split! Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream right in the middle of a lengthwise sliced banana. Topped with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles and three cherries on top. Of course the chocolate on Bulk’s was replaced with carob ice cream and caramel syrup. All and all the day ended ok and Sweetie Belle was labeled a hero for the day. > Who's Santa Claus > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Who’s Santa Claus?” the girls asked. They were in Sally’s office with her as she did work on her computer, Scootaloo had a Santa hat in replacement of her beanie, Applebloom an elf hat, and Sweetie Belle reindeer antlers, even Bulk had a jingle bell collar on. Sally was confused at first then realized. Just because our Christmas has similarities to their Hearts Warming doesn’t mean everything is the same. So most likely they don’t have a Santa Claus. “Well Santa Claus is…” thinking about how exactly she should describe him. “He’s a gift giver in a way…” The girls stared at her even more confused, Sally chuckled. “Just work with me here...You see Santa is this big ‘chubby’ guy with a long curly white beard, big red suit and a hat just like the one Scootaloo’s wearing.” The girls nodded now knowing what the guy looks like. “He lives in the North Pole in this big workshop.” “And he’s not freezing at all?” Scootaloo asked wondering if she was serious “No. Not at all. He lives with his wife Mrs. Clause and like a hundred elves.” “A hundred?! Ya gotta be pull’in our legs here?!” Applebloom exclaimed “Just let me finish girls.” They nodded keeping quiet the rest of the story. “The elves work constantly all year making toys for good little girls and boys all over the world. While Santa watches over all the kids and decides who goes on the naughty list and who goes on the nice list. Those who are on Santa’s nice list get the presents they asked for while all the naughty kids get a big lump of coal. Santa flies around in his big red sleigh pulled by 8 flying reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. They fly around the world climbing down chimneys delivering presents and of course eating the cookies and milk that are left out. And I say that’s pretty much it, then the whole cycle starts all over again for the next Christmas. And that Santa girls!” “Oh...wow that sounds...really cool Sally...thanks for telling us...um we’re going to play in the snow now.” Sweetie Belle spoke nervously as the three girls made their way outside and Sally giggled as they left. Maybe I should tell them that Santa Claus is just a fairy tale. Before turning back to her computer. … “Al’ight Crusaders! This meeting has now come to order!” All four were now sitting in Applebloom’s room, she had called an emergency meeting after hearing the story. “Now I think we all know why we’re ‘ere!” “Yeah like what the Hay! This guy is a total creep!” Scootaloo shouted “And a thief!” Sweetie Belle added “This old fat fart is spy’in on kids! Break’in in their houses! Stealing their food and leav’in random stuff around!” Applebloom was steaming. “But not our homes he ain’t! Crusaders commence operation ‘Stop the Claus’!” “Cutie Mark Crusaders Santa Catchers! YAY!” …Night Time... Scootaloo was first when she heard the sound of hooves on the roof she sneakily climbed down from the bunk bed she and Lightning shared. Still couldn’t understand though why he felt so uncomfortable with them sharing his previous bed eventually she just choked it off as another stupid adult thing she wouldn’t understand. Adults are so weird! But since they didn’t have a chimney there was a small gust of wind through the open window green and glittery filled the room blocking Scootaloo’s view of the tree and plate of milk and cookies. When it cleared there were presents under the tree and the milk and cookies were gone, Scootaloo was steaming. That sneaky old fart! And she pulled out her walkie. “Mission failed. That creep did some cheap old magic and stole the cookies! You’re up Sweetie!” “10-4 Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle jumped out her bed and she and Bulk snuck downstairs. There was rustling as they peaked around the corner to see the big red stalker pulling presents out of a big red sack. “Alight Bulk sick him boy!” Sweetie whispered a shout before ducking back as Bulk ran out and waited for the theft to run out screaming… What’s taking so long? She thought as there had yet to be any screaming or barking. She waited another moment before peaking out her jaw dropped in shock, Bulk was on his back having his belly scratched by the intruder before he pulled out a large bone with a red ribbon on and handed it to Bulk. He took it gratefully as he allowed another pet before cheerfully walking back to Sweetie Belle. “Traitor.” and glared the man as he smiled at her before going back up the chimney  “Creep.” pulling out her walkie “I failed too girls. Bulk went to the dark side and let him escape. You’re our last hope Applebloom don’t let him get away.” “Copy that Sweetie Belle. This creepo ain’t gett’in away from me.”  Applebloom radioed back as she was standing around the corner a bat in her hands, waiting until she heard the faint rustle of someone coming down the chimney. Gotcha Ya dirt vermont! Peaking out she watched the chubby intruder gobble down the cookies and milk. Pst. Don’t y’all think ya had enough cookies already? Applebloom scoffed as she slowly crept up behind him raising the bat over her head and swung… “What in tarnation?! How did you-?!” He had caught the bat easily without even looking “Now now young Applebloom.” He waggled a finger at her still holding the bat in one hand “I know you and your friends are still new earth, but this is still no way to treat anyone young filly.” “How in Celestia’s name do you know that?!” She nearly shouted fortunately not loud enough to wake Sarge. He just chuckled and winked at her before a gust of wind blinded her, by the time it vanished Santa Claus was gone and a ton of presents were left around the tree. Applebloom growled clenching the bat. DANG NABBIT! Shaking her fist in the air We’ll get Y’all next year Christ Criggle! ...Christmas Day… “Hey did any of you guys notice any extra presents under your trees.”  Ranome leaned over the table whispering to Lightning, Sarge and Doc. “Yeah I’ve noticed too.” Sarge added “I only put a few under the tree yesterday, but when I woke up this morning there were way more presents than before.” “I only had two under mine, the one I got for Scootaloo and the one Doc gave me.” Lightning then wrapped Doc in a hug “Thanks for the new jacket by the way.”  “You’re welcome.” Doc chuckled patting his shoulder “Okay that’s weird?...Did someone decide to play Santa this year?...” Ramone thought  “The only person I can think who would come up with an idea like that is…” Sarge thought before facepalming with a chuckle “...Mater…” “Sorry Sarge it wasn’t him.” Doc chuckled before continuing  “Mater ain’t exactly good at being sneaky. Sheriff had to threaten to hide the presents cause Mater kept sneaking out to open one. Safe to say he stayed in bed the rest of the night.” They all laughed before Sarge asked “But then where did the extra presents come from?” “Hey guys you don’t think…” Lightning let the sentence trail. “Now come on, Lightning grow up, everyone knows Santa Claus is just a myth.” Doc stated then Lightning grinned “That’s what we used to say about Unicorns and Pegasi.” > Day of the Dead Day1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Will you turn that disrespectful junk off!”  “Respect the classics man! It’s Hendrix!” Sweetie Belle woke up to her usual morning alarm  “Mhm Yawn” She sat up in bed and was welcomed by a sloppy lick from her soft and cute pillow. Bulk had taken a habit to sleeping at the top of her bed and using his body as a pillow. Sweetie Belle had asked Doc about it and he said that Bulk is just being protective. “Ehehe good morning Bulk.” she giggled scratching his head as she climbed out of bed and walked to her closet.  “Huh? That’s weird?” she tilted her head as she noticed that a few of her clothes were missing, she shrugged and decided that Ramone must be washing them. She showered, got dressed and went into Ramone's room to wake him but he wasn’t there, even weirder she noticed some suitcases on his bed. Curious she grabbed Rarity and headed over to Flo’s for breakfast and to  see if her big brother was already there, but he wasn’t. “Morn’in Sweetie Belle!” Applebloom greeted, as Sweetie sat in her usual spot after giving Bulk his breakfast. “Good Morning girls, um..has anyone seen Ramone this morning?” she asked “He left early to do some business in the city Dear.” Flo answered as she set down the girl’s breakfast “Why didn’t he wake me up?” “He didn’t want to wake you up so early just to sit in a car. He’s just running a couple errands, he’ll be back soon...plus he has a surprise for you when he gets back.” That perked her back up, now she was excited for Ramone to get back. ...later… Sweetie Belle was sitting with Bulk in the yard when Ramone pulled up “Ramone!” She jumped into his arms “Where were you? What have you been doing? Flo said you had a surprise for m-”  “Sweetie Belle calm down.” Ramone laughed as he brought her inside and sat her on his bed “And what are these suitcases for? Are you going on a trip?” “Actually ‘we’re’ going on a trip.” and he reached into his pocket and pulled out two plane tickets “Where are we going?” “I’m taking you to meet mi familia in Mexico.” “Familia? Mexico? And I thought you lived here?” “I do and ‘Familia’ means family in spanish. Let me explain. You see I was actually born in Mexico but moved to the US with mi mama because I wanted to follow in her footsteps in becoming a designer. I have both a family here and in Mexico. You see I’ve told them so much about you that now they want to meet you in person. So I told them that I’d bring you on my next visit for Dia De Los Muertos.” “D-o-dels-what?” “Dia De Los Muertos. It means Day of the Dead. It is a special holiday where we celebrate and honor our loved ones.” “Wow that sounds nice. So I get to meet your family!” Sweetie Belle was jumping on the bed. Bark! “Ehehe and you’re coming to Bulk.” Ramone patted his head. “So when are we going?” “Later in the afternoon, The flight will only be an hour and a half and mi papa will meet us at the airport. I already have your bags packed and clothes ready for the trip.” “So what are they like?” “Mi familia is quite big and a bit wild, but very caring…” Hours later… “Alright Sweetie Belle time to go.” Ramone said as he put the last of their bags in the trunk. “That’s not fair, how come Sweetie Belle gets to go and not us?” Scootaloo pouted as she leaned against her scooter “Ehehe I’ll bring you girls next year, I promise.” he set the last suitcase in and shut the trunk “Send us lots of pictures Sweetie.” Applebloom said “And say hi to your Abuela for me.” Flo added “And bring back some of her tamales.” Lightning’s eyes twinkled, he loved Mrs Santiago’s tamales. “Don’t I always.” Ramone got in his car and the two waved goodbye as he drove off. ...On the plane... “Do you think Bulk is doing ok back there?” Sweetie Belle asked wiggling in her seat as she was worried about her pet  “Sweetie Belle I’ve already told you Bulk is just fine and he’s not going to be in there for much longer, just an hour left and we’ll be landing.” Ramone patted her head reassuring the young girl. “Ok.” as she went to lay down on his lap and nap the rest of the way. ...in the airport… “Bulk!” Sweetie ran up to the kennel as the man opened it letting the excited pup finally roam free and he ran straight to his girl.  “I’ll tell you this kid your dog was a lot more well behaved then most pets I’ve seen on a plane, he was fast asleep when I picked him up.” the employee complemented “Aw good boy Bulk.” Sweetie Belle reached inside her little white and lime green bag and pulled out a dog treat and Bulk’s leash, clipping it on as she gave him the treat. “Alright Sweetie let’s go, mi papa is waiting for us.” Ramone put a hand on her shoulder as she held both her suitcase and Bulk’s leash. They walked to the pick up area and Ramone scanned the group of people until he spotted an older man with looks similar to Ramone added a beard and mustache and he was holding up a sign with ‘Santiago’ on it.  “Papa!” Ramone called and waved as they made their way over to the man. “¡Mi hijo! ¡Te he extrañado!” (My son! I’ve missed you!) “Yo tambien te extrane papa!” (I’ve missed you too dad!) Ramone hugged his father, the father then noticed Sweetie Belle “Oh! Es esta la joven de la que nos hablaste?” (Oh! Is this the young lady you told us about?) “Porque si papa, esta es la pequena Sweetie Belle.” (Why yes dad, this is little Sweetie Belle.) Ramone pulled her over to his side. “Ella es un hijo adorable, y ¿cómo se llama el perro?” (She is adorable son, and what is the dog's name?) “Su nombre es Bulk.” (His name is Bulk.) his father than bent down to meet her at eye level “Hola Sweetie Belle y Bulk, es un placer conocerte.” (Hello Sweetie Belle and Bulk it is very nice to meet you.)  Realizing that she’s finally being talked to but also not understanding looked at him confused “Um...h-hi?” she shyly waved to him as Ramone chuckled “Papa ella no entiende español.” (Dad she doesn’t understand Spanish.) “Oh my! I am so sorry! You must have been so confused nina. I apologize.” “It’s ok.” “My name is Eduardo Santiago, Ramone’s papa, it is a pleasure to meet you nina.” “Um...my name is Sweetie Belle actually.” “Oh I know, nina means ‘child’.” “Oh! Ok.” “Shouldn’t we get going Papa?” Ramone reminded his father “Oh right your Tio is waiting out front in the car.” Eduardo stood up  “And allow me to take these.” he said as he took Sweetie Belle’s suitcase and led the two to the car where they met a man identical to Eduardo except he only had a mustache but no beard and his hair was much curler. “Tio Pedro!” (Uncle Pedro!) Ramone went to hug him “Mi sobrinito como has estado.” (My little nephew how have you been) Not again! Sweetie Belle mentaly screamed “You’ll have to speak english brother, the young one does not understand spanish.” Eduardo told his brother “Oh my apologies, shall we get going?” Pedro said as he helped his brother get the suitcases in the trunk. ...At the house... “Hola Everyone! Guess who’s here!” Pedro shouted as the group stepped into the house “RAMONE!!!” practically everyone screamed and came crowding the three which scared both Sweetie Belle and Bulk, he was whimpering and tried to crawl under Sweetie while she tried her best to hide behind Ramone. “Muy Bien, todos retrocedan un poco, están asustando a los pobres queridos!” (Alright everyone step back a little you’re scaring the poor dears!) Came the voice of an elderly woman as she clapped her hands and the group of family members pulled away. “Abuela!” Ramone hugged his grandma and she pinched his cheek “Oh my sweet little nieto, have you been eating you look skinny come I will cook you both a nice meal.” She said as she pulled them both towards the kitchen.  “Abuela! At least say hello first this is Sweetie Belle’s first time meeting you.” “Oh of course where are my manners. Sweetie Belle is it? My name is Maria.” she took Sweetie’s hands in her own “But you can call me Abuela.” “It’s very nice to meet you...Abuela.” she spoke shyly “Aww what a sweet dear you are.” and she pinched her cheek just as she did to Ramone which resulted in a giggle from Sweetie, Bulk finally decided that these people were ok and came out from his hiding spot. “Aww why aren’t you beautiful, and what is your name?” “His name is Bulk, Abuela.” she was hoping she said that right.  “Bulk what a very strong name.” Bulk thank her by giving her a lick to the cheek.  “Abuela why not introduce him to Nacho, Diablo, and Delgado.” “Great idea nieto!” Abuela clapped her hands, stood up and whistled. Immediately three dogs came running in a Chihuahua, a Chamuco and a Xoloitzcuintli. She picked up the chihuahua, the xoloitzcuintli ran up to Ramone and the Chamuco went to sniff Bulk. “Sweetie Belle, Bulk, meet Nacho...” she motioned to the one she was holding “Delgado...” pointing to the one by Ramone. “...and Diablo is already introducing himself.” referring to the one by Bulk who was clearly asking to be let off his leash to play, she looked to Ramone for an ok, he gave it and she unclipped his leash to where the four dogs ran off to play, Nacho jumping right out of Abuela’s arms.  “Well they seem to be getting along well.” Abuela said as they watched the four dogs run off. “PRIMO!!!” (Cousin) Oh no! Ramone went pale as he recognized the voice and immediately pushed Sweetie towards his Abuela. Before Sweetie Belle could ask what’s wrong Ramone was tackled to the ground by a very large and muscular man with looks similar to Pedro. He was laughing as he had Ramone in some kind arm hold. “Gah! Rafael! Get off me! Gah! Why do you always have to do this every time I visit!” Ramone shouted as he struggled to get out of the man's grip. “Haha! Tradition Primo! And what do you expect from a luchador! Agh!” Rafael suddenly got up from Ramone as Abuela grabbed him by his ear pulling him away from his cousin. “Gah! ¡Abuela! ¡Eso duele!” (That hurts!)  “Now Rafael, what did I say about wrestling in the house.” “To not to. Lo siento Abuela.” (Sorry) “Good now apologized to your cousin.” Rafael apologized as he helped his cousin off the floor. “So is this her Primo?” “Yes Rafael meet Sweetie Belle.” Ramone had pulled her back to his side, she had gone behind Eduardo when Abuela went to separate the two.  “Nice to meet you kid. Sorry if I scared you a little.” Rafael apologized as he patted her head  “It’s ok but why did you do that?” Sweetie Belle asked “You see I’m a luchador, a wrestler, that's kinda what we do. But I can be a little competitive at times.” Rafael chuckled “¡Hola abuela!” came a new voice “Carlos!” Ramone and Rafael exclaimed  Another man stepped in but he was wearing a weird costume, it was a green mask and cape, with a red, green, white, and yellow outfit, there was also a number 5 on his cape. She peeked behind him and also noticed what humans called a ‘plane’ painted with the same color scheme. He pulled off the mask to reveal curly brown hair, brown eyes and a very very small beard.   He went to hug Ramone and practically lifted him off the ground. “Carlos meet Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Belle this is Carlos.” Ramone introduced “It’s nice to meet you Carlos...you look familiar, have I’ve seen you somewhere before?” Sweetie Belle asked “You’ve seen those air races Scootaloo watches?” Ramone asked, she nodded “He’s a racer.” “Oh! Now I remember! You’re the one who named himself after that creature um...what was it called again?” “El Chupacabra, nina.” Carlos replied She was getting a little annoyed at being called ‘nina’ over and over.  “It’s Sweetie Belle, please.” she replied “Mi apologizes Sweetie Belle.” He held his hands up in mock defense … After that more family started showing up and Ramone was not joking when he said that his family was huge. I swear the Santiagos might even be as large as the Apple family. Sweetie Belle thought as family members after family members stepped through the door.  There were many different cousins with many different jobs, artist, firefighter, lawyer, vet, groomer, cook, traveler, pilot, zoologist, caterer, actor, and much more, one of them is even a horseback racer. But that one made Sweetie Belle a little uncomfortable. Makes since, since well she’s a horse and would not be too happy if someone hopped on her back and tried to ride her, but she put that aside having to remember again that this is not their world and their are a lot of things that are very very different in this world compared to Equestria. And it turns out that Ramone actually told them! It was supposed to be a secret about Equestria, but Ramone said that his family is very trustworthy and knows how to keep a secret. As a way to reassure her Carlos revealed that no one other than his family, girlfriend and four best friends in the WATG (Wings Around the Globe) knows that El Chupacabra is Carlos Santiago, and no one has ever told anyone the truth no matter who asks or what they offer. And the same goes for Rafael, he’s a masked luchador and only the family knows who he is under the mask and will never tell anyone. “I’ll admit this is a little awkward, I mean ever since we’ve got here I’ve had to keep my Equestrian origin a secret. So…” “So it’s a little weird being able to finally talk about it with someone outside the town.”  Sweetie Belle was talking with the horseback rider, a beautiful young lady named Abigail with curly brown hair that reached all the way down her back.  “Yeah exactly.” she replied “I’ll admit this was hard for all of us to believe and we all thought Ramone was going crazy when he first told us. But then he showed us a video of you practicing your magic then showed us one of Scootaloo flying.” Well now I know why he had that camera that one day. “Sweetie Belle!” a group of kids came up to her all excited “Oh hi.” “Sweetie Belle wanna help us decorate?!” One of the young girls(Veronica) asked “Yay! That sounds like fun!” She hopped off the couch and excused herself from the conversation before running off with the other kids.  “So how exactly do you decorate for Dia de los muertos?” “Don’t worry Sweetie we’ll teach you everything about Dia de los muertos.” one of the boys(Henry) said, taking Sweetie Belle by the hand. “And in return you teach us a few Equestrian holidays.” another girl(Mari) added “Deal.” Sweetie responded with a giggle … “And then there's Hearts and Hooves day, but here you call it Valentine’s Day. They’re basically the same holiday, just different names.”  Sweetie Belle sat with her new familia making paper Marigolds, a real bright orange marigold sitting beautifully in her hair. “Wow! Your home sounds just beautiful!” Rosa explained finishing up her 7th marigold “It is...I really miss it…I miss them...my home and my family.” Sweetie Belle sniffled and sighed, clenching Rarity. Juan and Marco who were sitting next to her wrapped her in a hug. “Familia significa que nadie se queda atrás o se olvida.” Juan resited  “What does that mean?” She asked “‘Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.’ It’s one of the many lessons Abuela has taught us like, La familia ayudarse el uno al otro, meaning 'Family always help one another’.” Marco replied “Familia: donde la vida comienza y el amor nunca termina, Family: where life begins and love never ends.” Rosa joined in on the hug. “Mi familia son con quien he reido y llorado, My family are those I laugh and cry with.” Veronica added. “Uno no elige a su familia. Son uno regalo de Dios para ti, como tu eres para ellos. You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.” Henry jumped in. “Mi familia es mi ancla, mi consuelo, mi suporte, mi ayuda, mi inspiración. My family is my anchor, my consolation, my support, my help, my inspiration.” Mari spoke softly. “T-thank you.” Sweetie Belle sniffled as a choked sob escaped her lips. “Ella es una niña muy dulce, nieto.” (She is a very sweet girl, grandson.) “Sí abuela.” (Yes grandma.) “Y especial.” (And special.) “Si.” (Yes.) Abuela and Ramone whispered softly as they watched the children cheer up Sweetie Belle “Siento algo muy poderoso dentro de ese niño.” (I feel something very powerful inside that child.) “Eh, ¿qué quieres decir con esa abuela?” (Huh, what do you mean by that grandma?) “Llámalo una corazonada.” (Call it a hunch) she giggled and Ramone laughed “Oh abuela, tu y tu adivinación.” (Oh grandma you and your fortune telling.) He kissed her cheek before walking off, but he only got two steps away when his papa approached them “Hijo, tu madre acaba de llegar.” (Son, your mother just arrived.) “Gracias Papa.” (Thanks Dad) And walked over to the group of kids and bent down in front of Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle, Mama’s here are you ready to meet her?” he asked her, but before she could answer the kids jumped up screaming. “AUNTIE SILVIA!!!” and ran to the main family room.  Ramone just chuckled and took Sweetie Belle’s hand, called for Bulk a couple times before he came running with his new group of friends and led them all to the main family room. Silvia Santiago is a very beautiful woman with curvy hourglass figure and long brown hair styled in a shiny beach wave. She was dressed in a white off shoulder top with trumpet sleeves, black boot cut jeans with a red contour hip hugger belt. She wore a lovely pair of red ankle strap heels, gold hoop earrings and a floppy wool hat, she held her polarized sunglasses in the same hand that carried a large beige tote bag. “Mama!”  Ramone called out through the crowd of family and everyone immediately opened a pathway for the three, Nacho, Diablo, Delgado staying behind. “Mi Hijo!” Silvia pocketed her sunglasses and wrapped her son in a big hug. “Oh my little baby boy how have you been carino!” Her voice was soft and elegant.  “It’s been very...eventful Mama.” “Oh I can only imagine, so is this the little one?” Silvia bent down in front of her “Hola Sweetie Belle, Bulk it’s very nice to meet you two.” “It’s nice to meet you too.” Sweetie Belle shyly spoke as Bulk went to sniff Silvia’s hand. “Aww! Well aren’t you two just precious.” Silvia cooed as she patted Bulk’s head and Sweetie Belle blushed slightly. … After some time Silvia got settled in and after talking with Sweetie Belle for a bit the young one was once again pulled away from her conversation by the other excited kids who wanted to spend time with her. Now half of the kids are finishing up decorations while the other half are helping Abuela and some other adults make sugar skulls cookies. Hers wasn’t looking so good mostly because of the complicated design. “Don’t worry Sweetie you’ll get the hang of it soon enough.” Abuela encouraged her as Sweetie Belle was making a complete mess with her cookies. “Sweetie Belle look!” one of the kids came running into the kitchen, Sweetie Belle yelped when she held up a colorful skull in front of her. Abuela giggled and patted her shoulder “It’s ok Sweetie Belle it’s just a decoration, it’s fake.” “Why a skull?” Sweetie asked while wiping off her hands before stepping off the step stool and taking the little skull. “It’s called a sugar skull. They are a tradition in decoration for Day of the Dead.” Abuela explained. “How?” “They are a symbol of remembrance. It is common to write the name of a deceased loved one on the paper part of the forehead, then placed on top of the Ofrenda.” “Ofrenda?” “An alter, mi hija.” She giggled and washed her hands before the two stepped out of the kitchen.  “Follow me.” And she led her to a large outside dinning room, sitting in a much smaller room where a lot of flower petals led to a very colorful and very beautiful alter. It was decorated with marigolds, candles, sugar skulls and many others items that to Sweetie Belle seems kind of random. But what really caught her attention was all of the pictures of family relatives.  “Wow! This is beautiful!” Sweetie exclaimed eyes sparkling “Gracias Sweetie.” “Ramone told me that this is a day where the dead can come back to visit…” She thought for a moment  “But I thought magic doesn’t exist in this world and aren’t zombies supposed to be dangerous?” Abuela couldn’t help but laugh at this. “Oh sweet mi hija. I’m afraid you have it all wrong.” Sweetie Belle blushed slightly embarrassed “You see on this day we think about our loved ones and that keeps their memories alive, we honor our loved ones by putting out all the things they love and we use incense, candles and marigolds to help guide their spirits back.” “Is that why there are marigold petals everywhere?” “Why yes, we create a path of marigolds from our home to the land of the dead to help guide spirits back home.” “Land of the Dead?” “A cemetery sweetie.” “Oh?...” Sweetie thought for a moment then started swaying in her spot, still holding the skull. “Um...Abuela is Day of the Dead for families who are still alive too?” Abuela smiled as she knew what the girl meant and kissed her forehead. “Oh of course Sweetie.” Sweetie Belle smiled and handed Abuela the skull “Excuse me I’ll be right back.” and she ran off with a smile She came back a few minutes later with as expected Rarity and placed her gently on the Ofrenda then took the skull back and placed it next to the doll. “What do you think?” She asked facing Abuela “Perfecto mi hija.” … “Aduela?” Ramone peeked into the kitchen “Si nieto.” She was at the stove stirring something in a  pot “¿Recuerdas no poner carne en el derecho?” (You remember not to put any meat in the food right?) “Calmate nieto por supuesto que lo recuerdo.” (Calm down grandson of course I remember.) “Disculpas Abuela, este es el primer, Dia de Muertos de Sweetie Belle, solo quiero que sea especial.” (Apologies Grandma, this is Sweetie Belle’s first Day of the Dead, I just want it to be special.) “No se preocupe, nieto, además todos ya están enamorados de la pequeña Sweetie Belle. Es una niña dulce y se divierte mucho aprendiendo sobre las vacaciones y sobre su nueva familia.” (It will grandson don’t worry, besides everyone is already in love with little Sweetie Belle. She is a sweet child and having so much fun learning about the holiday as well as her new family.) “Gracias abuela.” (Thank you Grandma.) “¿Te dije, esa linda muñequita que le hiciste?” (Did I tell you, that cute little doll you made her.) “Si?” “Ella lo puso en la ofrenda.” (She put it on the ofrenda.) “Entonces parece que no tengo nada de qué preocuparme.” (Then it looks as though I have nothing to worry about.) Ramone kissed her cheek before catching a whiff of her cooking “Mhm, entonces, ¿qué hiciste abuela? Huele increíble.” (Mhm, so what did you make abuela? It smells amazing.) “Tamales de calabaza, Chiles poblanos rellenos de frijoles y maíz, Tacos ejote con tofuevos con tortillas de maíz caseras, Pozole Rojo vegano con champiñones y frijoles rojos, Pan de Muerto y Champurrado, solo por nombrar algunos.” (Pumpkin tamales, Bean and corn stuffed poblano peppers, Green bean tacos with tofu evos with homemade tortillas, Vegan red pozole with mushrooms and red beans, Dead bread and champurrado, just to name a few.) She smiled sweetly pointing to the over “Y por supuesto tu favorita.” (And of course your favorite.) “¡Tres Leches! ¡Gracias Abuela!” He wrapped her in a hug before giving her another kiss on the cheek then walking off. ... “Then there are Alebrijes…”  Sweetie Belle was back to decorating with the other kids as Silvia explains more Day of the Dead traditions as well as other facts she needs to know. “They are large mystical colorful looking creature the size of dinosaurs-” “Wait! What are de-na-saws?” Sweetie asked and Silvia chuckled “Dai-nuh-sorz. Dinosaurs are animals that used to live on earth millions of years ago. They lived long long before humans began to dominate the planet.” “What do they look like?” Silvia pulled out her phone to show pictures  “Think of overgrown lizards, some have leathery wings, others have multiple horns on their heads, long necks, tiny arms and or spines on their backs.” She then showed Sweetie a picture of a T-Rex. “This guy the Tyrannosaurus Rex, T-Rex for short is the most popular of all the dinosaurs so much that he earned the name of the ‘King of Dinosaurs’. But their story will take too long to explain, so I’ll just finish by saying that we are very lucky these guys are extinct now.” “Can you explain it to me later? They look really cool, especially the T-Rex.” “Of course Sweetie! Now getting back on topic. The Alebrijes are the size of dinosaurs; they are a mixture of features from many different animals. To give a few examples, a mouse with very large ears, a jaguar with horns, wings, lion claws, and feathers, and a winged dog.” She showed more pictures on her phone. “Wow! They look beautiful.” “You know some people even make plushies and figurines of alebrijes.”  “Aww! I wish I had one.” “I was hoping you’d say that.” Silvia giggled as she reached into her bag Sweetie squealed when she pulled out a handmade alebrijes winged dog plushie “Thank you so much!” she took the doll hugging it close. “Alebrijes are considered creatures of our dreams and of the realm of the dead. They are also spirit animals that guide the spirits of ancestors on their journey.” Maybe Earth does have magic afterall. … “Who is that?” Sweetie Belle asked pointing to a picture of a tall female skeleton wearing a fancy hat with feathers. “That is La Caterina, she is one of the strongest figures of Day of the Dead.” “What’s her story?” “It is believed the Aztecs worshipped her as the Goddess of the Dead, protector of departed loved ones and helping them move on to the next stage. She is a strong symbol for Day of the Dead, we paint our faces in colorful paint and dress in elegant dresses to express the symbolic skeleton. La Caterina is a strong depiction of how we see death and the afterlife. La Caterina is about living your true self and not pretending to be someone you’re not. No matter what you look like or where you come from you will end up a skeleton in the end just like everyone else.” “Wow.” Sweetie’s eyes sparkled … After that the kids wanted to show Sweetie Belle their two favorite Day of the Dead movies. The first one was ‘The Book of Life’. “I know about the wager, Xibalba cheated!” “He did what?!” “Yeah! With a two headed snake!” “Ya might wanna cover your ears right now.” “XXXXXXIIIIIIIBALLLLBAAAAAAAA!!!” “That guy looks and acts just like Discord!” Sweetie laughed as they were on the scene where La Muerte was shouting at Xibalba for cheating yet again. “YOU MISBEGOTTEN SON OF A LEPROUS DONKEY! YOU CHEATED! AGAIN!” The next one was Coco which the dogs had decided to join for. “Now we just have to find De la cruz!” “Yes.” “Ahh!” “Don’t I know you?” Shoe slap! “Ahh!” “THAT IS MURDERING THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!” “W-who the?!” “She’s talking about me!...I’m the love of your life.” “I don’t know I’m still angry at you!” “Hector! How did you-Ah!” Second shoe slap “AND THAT IS FOR TRYING TO MURDER MY GRANDSON!” “Grandson?” “She's talking about me!” “Are shoes like a traditional Mexican weapon or something?! Why do they keep hitting everyone with them?!” Sweetie laughed at the scene where the family chased after De la cruz to get the photo back. “Why do I get the feeling that they use the tomato splash as a representation of blood from the life he stole?” They spent the rest of the day finishing up the rest of the preparations and just having fun until night came. Though Sweetie Belle was confused when Ramone came to put her to bed and Ramone had to explain again that Day of the Dead is a three day festival. And that the first is for praying and honoring recently deceased as well as planning for the two big events. And that tomorrow is to celebrate the deceased young and the third day celebrates the elder deceased.  “Ok, yawn goodnight.” “Goodnight Sweetie Belle, Bulk.” He kissed her forehead before tucking her in  “That is so adorable.” Silvia cooed as Ramone left the room taking one last glance at the sense before leaving them to sleep. Said cute scene was of course Bulk pushing the pillow away and using his body as one for Sweetie Belle, Diablo at the foot of her bed with Delgado on one side of her bed his back to her’s, as Sweetie cuddled Nacho in her arms. All five sleeping soundly together. > Witness Protection: Lela Wade > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sun rose as some weird music sounded into Lela’s room. “Will you turn that disrespectful junk off!” What the hell?! “Respect the classics man! It’s Hendrix!” Lela groaned and sat up in bed “Who could be shouting like that so early in the morning?” she grogley got out of bed and headed to the shower. She stepped outside at the same time as Lightning and Scootaloo, she walked up to them and asked. “Ugh! What was all that shouting I just heard?” He gave me a smug grin “That was Fillmore and Sarge’s usual morning. Better get used to that because you’ll be hearing it every morning.” “Wonderful.” she sighed and followed the two to Flo’s They stepped into Flo’s cafe and Lightning and Scootaloo went to their usual seat, Lightning with Doc and Scootaloo with Sweetie Belle who is currently feeding Bulk outside and...wait. Lela scanned the entire cafe but could not catch a glimpse of the young farmgirl. “Um...hey where’s Applebloom?” she asked Lightning “Huh? Oh She’s still with Sarge, said something about training.” “Training?” Lela thought as she ate her breakfast Guess I’ll start with her. Lela had finished her breakfast and was now leaning against Sarge’s fence watching the two. Well now I know what he meant by ‘training’. Apparently this whole incident was the last straw for Applebloom and she had asked Sarge if he could teach her how to fight. Of course he agreed and started her up in beginner military training as well as mma.  I’ve seen how soldiers are when it comes to training and some of them don’t even stop to talk until they’ve finished their set. And judging by this guy he’s gonna be one of those who will wait until their set is over to talk. Guess I’ll just have to try one of the other two first. With that she headed back to the cafe when she noticed Sweetie Belle and Bulk sitting alone in their front lawn. Perfect! She walked into the lawn and sat down next to her. “Hey there Sweetie, needs some company?” “Sure!” And in an instance Bulk appeared in front of her “Well hello Mr. Bodyguard.” Bulk just stared at her and Lela began to wonder. No way?! Does this dog actually suspect what I'm really doing?! No way! Come on Eli, dogs may be smart but they’re not that smart...right? She gulped while trying to keep calm with a very suspicious and very over protective dog glaring at her.  Ehe...I might have a problem with Puppy Bodyguard here. ...And she was right… Grr! Ok puppers now you’re really starting to annoy me! Everytime Lela tried to ask a question that hinted to where Sweetie Belle actually came from, Bulk would always distract her by ‘asking to play’ keeping up the act until Sweetie Belle forgot what the question was. And each time he would send Lela a cheeky grin with little doggy giggles. I know this damn dog is not laughing at me! Lela gridded her teeth as she glared at him Arf! Arf!  “Tee-he aww Bulk you are just so cute!” Sweetie squealed as she scratched his belly Oh yeah you think you’re funny aren’t you!  Lela took a deep breath and stood up “Huh? Where are you going El-I mean Lela?” “Oh I’m just going to talk with the others, I’ll see you later Sweetie.”  “Oh ok! See you later!” Sweetie waved as she went back to playing with Bulk And I need to get out of here before I have a cat fight with a dog! ...Next up was Scootaloo… “Oh hey Scootaloo I just about to-” She waved as the little girl came scootering up with Mater both looking very frantic. “Sorry can’t talk right now!” Scootaloo shouted as she zipped pasted her “But hey if anybody asked ya tell ‘em we was out smashing mailboxes!” Mater spoke quickly before disappearing with Scootaloo. “Wait what?” Lela watched them in confused Moooo moooo… “Huh?” Lela turned back to the town entrance and noticed something in the distance. “What is that?” She squinted to try and get a better look Mooo mooooo. “Wait a second...are those…” Yep it is...a stampede of cows coming straight at her! “JESUS CHRIST!!!” She quickly jumped out the way and ran for the closest person to hind behind, which just happened to be Sheriff. “MATER!!! SCOOTALOO!!!” He shouted “WE WEREN’T COW HONKIN’!!!” “WE WEREN’T COW HONKING!!!” The two screamed in reply as each were running from their own cows. “THEN WHERE DID ALL THESE GOLD DARN COWS COME FROM?!?!” “WOAH! OH BOY! WOAH!” “Will you quit running Fillmore!”  “Yeah! Ya’ll only make em wanna chase ya more!” “Ahh! Run Bulk! Inside quick!” “Nonono! Get out of the store!” “Nono! Sputalo subito! I pneumatici non sono cibo per vacche! Lascialo cadere in questo instante! Cattiva mucca cattiva!” (Nono! Spit that out right now! Tires are not cow food! Drop it this instant! Bad cow bad!) “Nono girl no cows allowed in the cafe!”  “Keep pushing Ramone! Don’t let her in!” “Oh just have Red use his horn to scare them all back.” “Stickers! Get your butt over here and help me!” “Hang on Sals I’m coming!” “God Damnit Mater!” …This whole town is crazy… … Finally after ‘several’ hours Mater and Scootaloo finally managed to get all the cows back in the field with some help from Red, Sheriff, Sarge, and Doc. “Owowowowow! Come on Papa ya pullin’ too hard!” “Yeah come on Sheriff that hurts!” “You two are so grounded.” Mater and Scootaloo whined as Sheriff dragged both of them away by the ears. “Stai Bene Signorina Lela?” (Are you ok Miss Lela?) “Si, you don’t look well?” Guido and Luigi walked up to the table where a very ‘very’ tired Lela sat her head face first on the table. Groan...I didn’t sign up for this… > Father's Day Special: A Season 2 Sneak Peak > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hendrix sounding in the distances “Will you turn that disrespectful junk off!” “Respect the classic man! It’s Hendrix!” Yawn! I swear those two are better than any alarm clock.  Lightning got up out of bed and turned to notice Scootaloo's hand hanging from the top bunk indicating that she was still asleep. He looked around, found a piece of paper, crumpled it and threw it at her. She woke up to the impact and poked her head down to give her brother a glare. He just smiled up at her. “Rise and shine sleeping beauty. Time to get up.” Lightning headed into the bathroom while Scootaloo still remained in bed. Once the two of them were dressed and ready they left the room and made their way over to Flo’s Cafe. “What’s up guys!” “Hi Scootaloo! Hi Lightning!” They took their usual spots, Lightning with Doc and Scootaloo with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, Sweetie Belle right now was outside feeding Bulk. Once she finished she headed back inside and greeted Scootaloo, both sat down and ate breakfast with everyone. Once finished they all went off to work, the day had only just started and Mater had already gotten a call from Sheriff about someone stuck on the highway. While everyone else went to work Lightning stayed inside with Doc waiting for Mater to get back they had a whole day planned of cow honking and goofing off to do, Doc took one look at his face and knew that’s exactly what they were planning and he smiled. However that all changed when Lightning saw the man that had just walked through the door and his joy instantly turned into fear. The man was tall about 6ft well built with bright red hair, he was wearing jeans, a plain white T-shirt covered with a black jean jacket. He looked around and his eyes locked onto Lightning’s and smiled, but it wasn’t a kind smile. Lightning just stared at him frozen with fear Doc noticed the look each men were giving each other and immediately became suspicious. Lightning gulped, walked over and nervously wrapped his arms around the man. “D-dad What are you doing here?” “What I can’t see my boy?!” He smacked Lightning on the back, rather hard at that, Lightning tried his best hold on a convincing smile and hide the sudden wince but Doc notice it almost instantly and got up to introduce himself. He held out his hand and gave the man a plastered on smile hiding his suspension. “Hey there my name’s Doc Hudson and you are?” The man had a strong grip and as soon as Doc got closer Lightning started taking careful steps closer to him. “My name’s Jarod. Jarod McHall. You know it was hard for me to believe it when I found out that my son was training with the Hudson Hornet. And well, I just had to see it for myself.” > LGBTQ Special > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trans Mater AU “Will you turn that disrespectful junk off!” “Respect the classic man! It’s Hendrix!” The sun rose inside the room of a young tow girl, little Mattie awoke to her usual alarm. I swear those two should just date already! Tee-hee I mean they’re already acting like a married couple. Mattie showered and dressed in her usual blue T-shirt and brown overall shorts with brown cowboy boots. And of course her Sylveon styled hair ribbon in her long brown hair (Because Sylveon’s colors are the same as the transgender flag), her freckles and slight buck teeth makes her look extremely cute. “Good morning Baby Girl.” “Morning Papa!” Mattie wrapped her arms around her Papa in a big hug and kissed his cheek as he was just finishing up breakfast. “I made your favorite Sweetheart.” “Strawberry Funfetti Pancakes! Yay! Thank you Papa!”  Mattie sat at the table and chowed down on the sweet breakfast. Who knew Sheriff was such a good cook? A stack of funfetti pancakes, topped with whipped cream, nuts and strawberries and of course the cherry on top. Flo would constantly beg Sheriff for the recipe to sell them at the cafe, but Sheriff would always laugh and say that the breakfast is only for his ‘Baby Girl’. But that never stopped her from asking continuously… “I’m off ta work Papa! I’ll see ya later!” “Be careful sweetheart.” “I will!” … “Hi Mattie! Bye Mattie!” “Hi girls!” Mattie waved as the crusaders sped past her Scootaloo zipping ahead on her scooter. “Hi Mattie!” Sally waved to her from her office “Hi Sals!” Bark! Bark! “Tee-hee! Hi Bulk!” She giggled as the pup jumped up to lick her cheek. “The girls went that way.” She pointed to where the girls disappeared to and Bulk gave her one last lick before taking off. “Hey there Mattie.” Doc walked up to her with an older man next to him “Howdy Doc! What can I do for ya?” She said with a bright smile. The man smiled back… Aw what a sweet kid, you don’t see much of that anymore nowadays. “This nice man and his family broke down just outside of town, would you mind giving him a tow?” “Of course Doc! It’s ma job afta’ all.” “Thanks kiddo, I’ll let you take over from here.” “Alright.” She waved before turning to the man “Sir, please follow me to my truck and y'all can guide me to where your car is.” “Thanks kid, it’s a shame this generation isn't as polite as you are.” He complimented as he walked with her. “Tee-hee, thank ya sir, my Papa taught me well.” “Can I get some advice from him?” He said this with an exasperated sigh  Mattie couldn’t help but giggle. … “Um...can you give me a moment to explain to my wife and kids first before you start?” “Sure. I need to back up and turn my truck around so I can hook ya up.” “Thank you.” The man got out, Mattie hadn’t even noticed the nervous look on the guy’s face. “Oh honey, it’s about time now. You better have gotten a good tow man.” She gave him a look that says This guy better be good or I’m getting his manager. The husband just glared at her, “Yeah dad this better not take too long we wanna get out of this dump as soon as possible.” one of his three sons complained. “Wow Jack! Way to treat your own dad.” His only daughter spoke with a roll of her eyes  “Mind your own business Tomboy!”  “Yeah it’s no wonder you don’t have a boyfriend.”  “Maybe if you try wearing a dress like normal girls you might actually get a man.” The three brothers laughed “Jerks.” The husband glanced over to his wife as if saying Are you going to do something about this? “Your brothers are right, Hailey, you need to start acting like a proper young lady and no more of this ‘wanting to be a racer’ nonsense.” The husband facepalmed. “Ok, Honey, Boys I am just about done with this so I am giving you one warning, all four of you behave yourselves or I am canceling this whole trip. Understand.” “Excuse me! How can you talk like that to your own family?!” “Oh and like the way you talk to other people is any better?” “Now listen here dear-” “No! You listen here, this young lady is here to help us and I do not want to hear a single insult from any of you.” “Lady?! You’re telling me you brought a woman to help with our car? Auto mechanic is a man’s-” “No!” He hissed quietly hoping Mattie would not hear. “That is exactly what I don’t want to hear! I’m the one paying for this trip, and if any of you make a scene I will cancel the whole thing don’t think I won’t.” “Augh! Fine but you know we’re going to be here for hours right?” He gave her a scowl and she shut up “Great another tomboy.” Jack whispered “I heard that young man.” The husband stood straight and finally signaled over for Mattie get started. Hailey peaked out the window to watched  “Oh wow she’s pretty.” “Really?” Nate pushed her out of the way “Then move over Tomboy let us check her out!” Blake and all three pushed Hailey aside to see Mattie and immediately scowled. “Eww gross! He’s one of those crossdresser weirdos!” There was a bang on the car door and the three boys glanced up to see their father glaring at them and they immediately sank. … “Oh my God! I can’t believe I didn’t even recognize this place before! We’re in Radiator Springs! This is where Lightning McQueen lives!” Hailey squealed happily and ran off to explore before her mother could stop her ignoring the woman as she screamed for her daughter to come back but gave her dad an ‘ok’ when he told her not to go too far. “And answer your phone when I call you!” “You got it Pops!” ...ignoring the rest of the husband’s jerky family, let's skip to the best part… Mattie had just finished with the car and headed out to find the husband and tell him his car was ready, unaware of the three brothers standing nearby glaring at her. “Seriously, freaks like him shouldn’t even be allowed in public.” Jake scoffed “Everyone knows they only do that to creep on women in the bathroom.” Nate growled “Hey guys, watch this.” Blake chuckled before picking up a rather large rock tossing it in his hand smirking at his brothers. “Oh yeah go for it bro!”  “Yeah that’ll teach that f*g a lesson!” Jake and Nate laughed as Blake raised his hand ready to throw… Only to have someone grab him by the arm… “Hey!”  He turned and was about to yell only to be shocked to see none other than Lightning McQueen holding his arm. This would be an exciting moment if it wasn’t for the pissed off look on his face. “Now kid I’m sure you ‘weren’t’ planning on hitting my friend with that rock.” He gave the kid a sweetly sick smile with his voice in a low and threatening tone. “Friend?” Blake scoffed with a rotten laugh “You’re telling me that F*g is your friend?!”  Lightning’s eye twitched but kept the smile and glared at the little punk. “Why yes she is…” his voice got even lower and more pissed “And that...f*g as you so nicely put it is also the sheriff’s daughter.” That made all three boys go pale in the face...and Blake immediately dropped the rock. “Yeah that’s what I thought, now…” His grip tightened on the boys wrist  “Unless you transphobic little brats want to be arrested for attempted battery and hate crime then I highly suggest you keep the hell away from her.” He dropped the kid’s arm only to grab him by the collar of his shirt and lift him up to meet at eye level. “Do I make myself clear?” “Gulp, Y-yes sir.” He dropped the boy. “Good, now scram.” … Mattie waved back to the husband as he drove off. “Hey Mat! How’s it going?!” Lightning wrapped an arm around her and gave her hair a ruffle “Lightning!” she squealed and wrapped her arms around him, before going off on one of her usual excited rants. ...Small clip from Cars 2… Lightning was walking Mattie off the stage after they finally got that bomb off her when he heard.  “I can’t believe I was busted by some ugly little f*g.” He stopped mid step before taking Mattie by the shoulders. “Hey Mat go to Sheriff, ok, there’s something I gotta do real quick.” “Huh? Oh ok!” And skipped over to her Papa, luckily she was too excited to be ‘bomb free’ that she hadn’t noticed Axelrod’s comment. ...Unluckily for him Lightning did... “Hey Fin, wait can I have a second with him?” Fin and Henry(Trans Holly) smirked, stopping with a still handcuffed Axelrod in between them. “Why of course Lightning.” Axelrod opened his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off when Lightning sucker punched him right in the nose! Breaking it almost instantly. “First you strap a bomb to Mattie and then you insult her.” Lightning gave him a death glare that made Axelrod want to shrivel up into a corner. “Consider yourself lucky I don’t beat your f*cking @ss right now.” Moral of the story...Don’t mess with Mattie! Or Big Brother Lightning will beat your @ss! Cabby (CalxBobby) Eheh, I knew it! you two are so busted!  Lightning grinned mischievously as he and Scootaloo spied on his two racing buddies, Bobby and Cal...making out in a small corner! “...so when are you going to tell them you know about their secret relationship…” Scootaloo silently chuckled Lightning in reply smirked “Why wait…” And the boy straight up walked out from behind the corner. “Busted!” “LIGHTNING!” Cal shrieked and pushed Bobby behind a tree. “Oh hey Lightning! W-What are you doing here!” Cal stuttered and chuckled nervously “Bobby get out here, we're gonna talk.”  Now with the secret couple sitting on bench with Lightning standing in front of arms crossed the smirk still on his face. “How long?” “...2 months!” “...5 weeks!” “Let’s try again...with a little less lying this time. Or do you need time to get your stories straight?” They’re faces turned redder than a tomato. FillmorexSarge ...Christmas Party… “Hey Sweetie Belle what do y’all say we play a little matchmaker?” Applebloom leaned over to whisper in her ear “Um...Applebloom, remember what happened with Cheerilee and Big Mac?” Sweetie gave her a look “This one’s gonna be a little simp’ler.” Applebloom grinned holding up a...oh God! ... “Here Sarge I brought you some eggnog.” Fillmore handed the glass to Sarge as the two stood near the doorway. Snickering in the distant “What are you kids laughing about?” Sarge raised an eyebrow at Lightning, Mater, and Scootaloo. They just continued to laugh and pointed up to the ceiling, the two looked up and their faces went bright red. Sitting on a beam were Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, the latter holding a stick with a string tied to it...at the end of it hung a damn mistletoe!  You are so grounded young lady! Sarge internally screamed “Ya gotta do it Sarge!” Lightning announced purposefully loud enough for everyone to hear. Now the whole room were shouting  “KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS!...” He turned back to Fillmore only to be shocked when the hippie grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and smashed their lips together.  Howling and hooting erupted throughout the room, while Sarge’s mind was completely blank. Now the kiss had only lasted a couple seconds not even 30secs, but for Sarge it felt like forever, not that he was complaining. When they broke the kiss Fillmore quickly turned away covering his blushing face in hands as Sarge just stood in shock, face just as flushed. ...3 days after the party in Fillmore’s home... “I guess we kinda owe the girls for that little stunt they pulled at the christmas party.” “Yeah though that was a pretty dirty trick they pulled, but it did work in getting us together.” Sarge kissed Fillmore’s head while the hippie laid in his lap, Sarge’s arms wrapped sweetly around him. “But did you still have to ground her?” “Yep! Call it a little payback.” Sarge chuckled “More like childish.” Fillmore giggled before Sarge scooped him up into his arms bridal style and pressed their lips together in a strong kiss, a sly grin on his face. “Would you call this childish?”  Fillmore returned the grin “Maybe…” Caressing his hair as he stroked his chin “Depends on how you are in the bedroom.” Fillmore ripped the cap off and kissed him back as the two made their way to the bedroom. > Witness Protection: Misunderstandings > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- While most kids are excited for the summer time, for Scootaloo it gets a little annoying because it just makes it harder for her to hide her wings since it’s too hot for her to wear her jacket. And Doc is not about to let this girl suffer from heat stroke every single day. So every summer they have to come up with different ways to hide Scootaloo’s wings, especially when she’s wearing a tank top because the tips of her wings still poke out from the top and bottom of the shirt. At one point Lightning suggested dyeing her wings brown to blend in with her ‘no longer orange’ skin. But Scootaloo was completely against it saying she didn’t want that stuff staining her wings. Ramone asked if there was a way for her to adjust her wings so that they are completely hidden under her shirt...nope...she tried multiple times and ended up with cramps in her wings every time. It seems like the only way to successfully hide them is in a wetsuit when they go to the beach, but even that is still a risk because there’s still a lump in the back. This summer though Lela happened to overhear one of their suggestions and this resulted in a huge misunderstanding. ...Inside Lela’s cone as she eavesdrops on Lightning and Scootaloo’s conversation… What the hell are they talking about?! “What about duct tape?” Lightning suggested Duct tape?! “Duct tape?!” Scootaloo shouted “We never tried using duct tape before.”  “Heck no! You ain’t using duct tape on me!” What the hell is he doing to this kid?! Lela narrowed her eyebrows as she continued listening in. “Well, do you have any other ideas?” Lightning added with a bit of an attitude “...Well what about rope?” Scootaloo suggested Rope?! “Too bulky...and didn’t you complain about it chafing you last time. Not to mention the rope burns you got.” “As if I can forget, Doc gave us a whole lecture because of that.” Doc Hudson is in on this too? ...Lightning and Scootaloo’s POV… “Come on Scootaloo just give it a try, this is the only idea we’ve got so far.” Lightning tossed the roll of duct tape in his hand as the two argued over how to hide her wings this summer. “No! Forget it!”  Scootaloo crossed her arms and turned away, wings currently out and flapping away as she floated a bit in the bedroom, Blinds closed of course so no one passing by will see.  Lightning growled a bit in annoyance as they had been arguing for a while and he just wanted to get this over with and eat breakfast.  Grrr! Why does she have to be so stubborn?! Lightning tried to think of a way for Scootaloo to just agree to it for now and let him eat… ...stomach growl… And with a growl of his stomach an idea popped into his head and grinned as he crossed his arms. “Well it’s either the duct tape or wearing your swimsuit all day.” Scootaloo’s wing’s stiffened and she wiped her head around to glare at him as he just grinned back.  “I hate you.”  Out of all the ideas they came up with she hated that swimsuit the most, because it was always squeezing her wings and making what should be a relaxing day at the beach unbearable!  “So what’s it’s gonna be, Scoots? Duct tape or swimsuits?” “You suck!...Fine! Just don’t make it too tight ok.” Scootaloo pouted as she stomped over to bed and Lightning sat down next to her. “Will do Rookie, now drop ‘em.” Lightning chuckled as Scootaloo slapped him in the face with one wing before dropping them both as Lightning started pulling out the tape. “Arms up.”  Scootaloo begrudgingly lifted her arms up as Lightning began wrapping the tape around her waist and torso, effectively pinning her wings to her back. “Hey! Hey! I said ‘not so tight!” Scootaloo shouted as the tape was getting a little too tight. “Sorry Scoots, but we gotta make sure you can’t move 'em around too much.”  Lightning apologized as he finished by putting several small strips of tape on the tips where her wings stuck out. Then grabbing some paint and painting those pieces of tape thus making them blend in somewhat with Scootaloo’s skin, letting it dry completely before pulling her shirt down. “There! Done!” Lightning chimed as he stood up, dropping the tape in his drawer and heading for the door. “This is already annoying.” Scootaloo complained as she scratched her stomach. “Well you’re just gonna have to tough it out until we can find a better solution. Now let’s go, I'm starving.” Lightning grumbled impatiently as he grabbed Scootaloo by the arm and dragged the pouting child outside. He gave a wave to Lela as she excited her cone a moment later, though only getting a small nod and mumble in reply. He looked confused at first but then chalked it off as her doing her job keeping the girls safe. The reminder of the girls being possible targets of kidnapping made him tighten his grip on Scootaloo’s arm. “Hey bro, you’re cuttin’ off the blood flow to my hand.” Scootaloo piped up causing Lightning to look down, loosen his grip then quickly apologize.  As if sensing his concern Scootaloo gave his arm a quick hug and a reassuring smile, he smiled back as the two stepped into the cafe and took their seats.  ...With Ramone and Sweetie Belle… ...Lela’s POV… What the hell was with that argument about duct tape and rope?! What is he doing to that poor kid?! Lela thought as she stepped into Ramone’s front yard and up to his front door, the fashion designer/decal artist had left his front unlocked as he had suddenly become...preoccupied with something. ...Sounds of crashing in the distance… What the hell is that noise? Lela followed the sounds to Sweetie Belle’s room where she tried to open the door only to find it locked, as sounds of yelling and crashing can be heard inside. So what’s this guy’s secret? Lela asked herself as she pressed her ear against the door and listened in. ...Ramone and Sweetie Belle’s POV… Ramone should be at the shop right now working on some new designs or tricking out someone’s car...but nope...instead he’s trying to avoid getting knocked out by yet another out of control can.  Somehow I feel like this is my fault... As he was the one who had suggested that Sweetie Belle use small items to practice her magic on...He hadn’t expected a simple can to become something so deadly when it’s being rocketed around by an uncontrollable levitation spell! “DUCK!” Sweetie Belle shouted and Ramone dropped to the ground as the can once again nearly hit him in the head. Luckily he had asked Mater to borrow his old baseball bat just in case something like this happened again. He had also locked the door as soon as he saw what was going on so that if someone came to check on them they wouldn’t get clocked by a flying can. And so the thing can’t get outside and then they have to explain why there is a can flying around town. Ramone grabbed the bat and raised it high in the air then yelled for Sweetie Belle to get down, she yelped before ducking under the bed as Ramone swung and smashed the can to the ground. As soon as it hit the floor it stopped glowing, Ramone dropped the bat as the two slumped onto the bed in exhaustion. ...Lela’s POV… Lela was ready to bust down the door after what she just heard, but was stopped as Bulk appeared behind her and started growling. Because of what Lela thought was going on inside was tempted to just kick him till he ran away then proceed to break the door down. But the look in Bulk’s eyes told her… ‘Try it and I’ll rip your f’ing leg off!’ Damn you stupid dog! Lela growled herself as Bulk led her away from Sweetie Belle’s door and out the front.  If there is ‘one’ bruise on that kid...you’re dead Fashion Boy! ...Back in Sweetie Belle’s room… “Ok Sweetie…” Ramone took a deep breath calming himself as Sweetie took a seat on his lap, she too as exhausted, as Ramone patted her head. “Maybe you should start practicing on your dolls from now on…” “Deal.” Sweetie Belle whispered as she leaned in for a much needed nap. … The misunderstandings were resulting in more and more dangerous and completely out of context accusations. Lastly was Applebloom and Sarge… Not much happened there but Lela did notice as Applebloom was cleaning up the yard, the bandages around her arms, lots of Band-Aids and...a limp in her leg.  This was making Lela’s anger and suspicions grow even more… Seriously! He is working that kid too damn hard! What she doesn’t realize is that Applebloom’s injuries are a result of her own stubbornness and refusing to tone it down despite Sarge highly suggesting she’d do so. It didn’t help that she just recently found out that due to her Equestrian magic she is 10x stronger than most humans. They had found that out after she had offered to help Sarge move a really heavy table and ended up easily lifting both it and Sarge with just one hand.  ...And nearly giving the old man a heart attack in the process!... After that she started getting a little cocky with her training and would overdue it so often that he smacked her on the back of the head at times. In fact just yesterday she sprained her ankle because of it and was also grounded to chores, knocking her right back down to humbleness.  At the end of the day, unfortunately Lela is now convinced that the girls are being abused by their current guardians… ...Thus adding another problem to the list... > Day Of The Dead Day 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now time for everyone to get ready for the festival as Ramone showed Sweetie Belle the dress he made for her. It was an off shoulder dress with a beautiful red color, white ruffles layered at the top and bottom with a gold ribbon wrapped around the waist. The boots were a simple red with festive designs and gold ribbons around the ankles. “Well how do I look?” Sweetie spun around in her new dress as she stood in front of Ramone. Ramone himself was wearing a traditional black charro suit with a purple necktie. He bent down in front of her. “You look beautiful Sweetie Belle.” he booped her nose  “But you’re still missing one thing.” “Oh right the make up! But I don’t know how to do make up.” Ramone picked her and held her on his hip “No worries Sweetie, mama will help you with that.” He picked up a Marigold hair clip and placed it in her hair. “Besides, I’m not so good with the face paint either.” He chuckled before calling for Bulk who sported a festive styled bandana and headed out the room. … “Ok now first we apply a little moisturizer to prepare the skin.” Silvia explained while applying said moisturizer to Sweetie Belle’s face. They were sitting in the main family room with other family members getting their makeup done. “Then we apply the foundation.” She was using a foundation lighter than Sweetie’s natural skin tone in order to get that pale look avoiding the areas around her eyes. “Now for the eyes.” Using an eyeliner pencil to draw circles around her eyes a little upon the eyebrows to the top of the cheekbone making the guidelines for the deepened eye skull effect.  “Now to prime the eyes.” Picking up the eyeshadow she used different shades of light green, applying the lighter shade to the inner corner of the outer area of the eye then applying the medium shade blending it in from the outside of the lightest shade, lastly filling in the existing area with the darkest shade blending it in from the outside of the medium shade. “Next outline the circle with black gel eyeliner.” Taking the black gel eyeliner drew a ‘U’ on the bridge of the nose then a line down the bottom of the and colored it in. For the mouth she lightly drew a horizontal line from the corner of the lips out, then added some towards the inner lips. Drew retangular lines over the lips to look like stitches. “Normally we add eyelashes next but you don’t have to wear them if you don’t want to.” “No, they’re really uncomfortable and annoying.” Sweetie replied “Ok then I’ll just tweak them up a little with the tweezers.” Picking up said tweezers to fix up her eyelashes.  “Now I’m going to apply some glitter so keep your eyes closed on this part...nono not that tight just relax and keep them closed.” Silvia grabbed a small piece of tissue and placed it below her eyes before applying the glitter. “And now for the finishing touches.” Silvia spoke as she finished up with the traditional designs the flowers and all that. “And Ta Da! What do you think?” She held up a mirror as Sweetie Belle admired her new look.  “It looks beautiful! Thank You!” Sweetie wrapped her in a hug “Aww! You are such a sweet girl!” Silvia returned the hug Arf? They turned to Bulk who stared at Sweetie Belle with a confused look. Both giggled as Bulk examined the others curiously for a moment before realizing… If everyone else is wearing this gunk on their faces then it must be normal. He scratched his ear before going to sit right next to Sweetie Belle. Since everyone is going to be dressing and looking the same, better stay close to Sweetie so I don’t lose her. … Sweetie was beyond ecstatic when Ramone reminded her that Day of the Dead is a three day festival. I don’t think this girl will be going to bed anytime soon.  Ramone chuckled as the family made their way through the festive streets, Sweetie Belle in awe at everything and Ramone making certain to keep a tight grip on Sweetie’s hand. Bulk on the other hand decided that the crowds would be too much and stayed home with Nacho as she too did not like the big crowds. Though that excitement quickly turned to slight nervousness as they approached the cemetery. Ramone knew Sweetie Belle had a slight fear of cemeteries. All thanks to Scootaloo’s scary stories about zombies jumping out of their graves to eat your brains and the classic zombie movies as well as other monster movies she enjoys watching. Whenever Sweetie Belle saw Scootaloo watching something at night or in the dark she’d run out of there quick as lightning because she knew for certain Scootaloo loved watching scary movies in the dark. “Sweetie, remember what we talked about.” He reminded her and she nodded “Zombies aren’t real and they’re not going to jump out of the graves.” She whispered shyly hoping the others wouldn’t hear. “Atta girl.”  Sylvia had a camera with her and was snapping pictures of everyone and everything, even a few cute ones of Ramone and Sweetie Belle “Hey Ramone, I thought you said Day of the Dead has nothing to do with Nightmare-I mean Halloween?” Sweetie Belle asked “It doesn’t.” “Then why is everyone dressed up like it is Halloween?” “That’s simple since Halloween is mostly celebrated by children, the art of dressing up in costumes traveled to Mexico, and with the costumes and atmosphere so many people have come by to see our traditions.” So that means I could have worn a costume. Jerk! Sweetie pouted Ramone noticed another shiver from her as they got closer to the cemetery, I don’t think Scootaloo realized how much she really scared Sweetie Belle with those stories. “Mamá, no creo que Sweetie Belle esté dispuesta a ir al cementerio hoy.” Mom, I don't think Sweetie Belle is up for going to the cemetery today. Ramone tapped his mother on the shoulder who looked back slightly confused “¿Eh? ¿Por qué tan hijo?” Huh? Why so son? “¿Recuerdas lo que te dije sobre las bromas constantes de Scootaloo y asustarla con historias sobre zombis y demás?” You remember what I told you about Scootaloo's constant pranks and scaring her with stories about zombies and so? “Sí, lo recuerdo y esa jovencita debería avergonzarse de sí misma por asustar a su amiga.” Yes I remember and that young lady should be ashamed of herself for scaring her friend like. Silvia scoffed and Ramone just chuckled “Así que la voy a llevar al festival con Carlos y los demás niños.” So I'm going to take her to the festival with Carlos and the other kids. “Está bien, cariñosos, ¡diviértete!” Okay sweeties, have fun! Silvia kissed his cheek as the two turned away from the cemetery entrance. Sweetie Belle looked  “Huh? Ramone, where are we going?” “I know you’re just trying to be brave Sweetie, you don’t have to go to the cemetery if you’re not ready.” Sweetie Belle felt a slight blush on her cheeks as well as relief. “Oh thank Celestia you noticed! I was too nervous to say anything.” Sweetie whispered quietly as she breathed a sigh of relief, Ramone just chuckled at her attempt of bravery. “And trust me Sweetie you’re going to enjoy the festival a lot more. Especially since this day is all about the children.”  ... Sweetie Belle starred in ‘ah’ eyes sparkles at the sight of such a beautiful and festive sight before her.  “It’s incredible!” Sweetie cheered  “EVERYTHING IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!” she jumped up waving her hands in the air Carlos bent down in front of her  “Sweetie Belle, since you’re our guest you get to choose where we go first.” he said with a smile “Really?!” She squealed, holding her alebrije that she had named ‘Dante’ since it looked just like the loveable dog from Coco, Rarity still safely sitting on the ofrenda back home. “Of course nina…” Carlos ruffled her hair not noticing the slight annoyance on her face. Can they please stop calling me that, it’s starting to get annoying now. Ramone noticed and chuckled a bit as Sweetie Belle glanced around the festivities before her eyes locked onto an area where people are gathered around several ofrendas. “Oh! What about there?” pointing to the ofrendas “Excellent choice Sweetie!” Carlos cheered before standing up  “¡Muy bien niños! ¡Marcha hacia adelante!” (Alright little children! March onward!) Maybe I should consider learning Spanish...since most of them seem to forget that I don’t understand spanish. Sweetie sighed as she walked with the group… … Sweetie was happy that she had chosen the judging of the ofrenda as their first stop because now she understands even more just how much thought and effort are put into making them. Suddenly Carlos got a phone call… “Hola Dusty!...Really?! ¡Eso es genial!” (That’s great!) We all stopped and turned around to see what all the excitement was. “Where are you? I will come pick you up...¡Perfecto! I’m on my way!” He hung up before turning to Ramone “Who was that?” he asked his cousin  “I had invited my fellow racers for Dia De Los Muertos and they had just arrived at the airport. So I’ll be leaving to pick them up. Will you be alright watching the ninos on your own.” Ramone nodded and gave him a thumbs up. “Por supuesto primo! I’ve got it, you have fun with your friends, we’ll meet you back at home.” (Of course Cousin!) “Gracias primo!” Carols thanked him as he turned and headed off. “Alright kids, so where should we go next?” …Many hours later... After going through the festival many activities, sweets, the parade, concert, and so on. Ramone got a text from his mom saying it was time to head back home for dinner, and that Carlos’ friends will be joining them at the table and tomorrow when they go back to the cemetery. “Alright kids, it's time to head back home now!” Ramone announced to the group of children. “Are Carlos’s friends coming to dinner?” Veronica asked, who had been standing next to Sweetie Belle along with Mari and Henry. “Yeah! Are they?! I wanna meet Dusty Crophopper and Ripslinger!” Henry started jumping up and down. “And I wanna see Rochelle again!” Mari squealed happily “I wanna meet Bulldog!”  “And I wanna meet Ishani!” “Ned and Zed are my favorite!” All at once the kids were listing off why they wanted Carlos’s friends to come, all except Sweetie Belle who has no idea who they're talking about. She only recognized the names from Scootaloo fangirling over their races, one thing she did get from that as well as a few comments Scootaloo read is that apparently Ripslinger, the green one was a really bad guy to begin with but with time and some help from Dusty Crophopper, the orange one. He’s a completely new guy now and the two have become best friends.  Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but smile wherever she thought about that, thinking how proud her sister and her would be hearing that story. “I’ve got something even better, Carlos’s friends will be spending the night and joining us for the day tomorrow.” Ramone announced with a smile igniting a chorus of cheering, laughing and squealing of excitement from the children. Sweetie Belle was about to ask why everyone is so excited to meet these people, but then she decided that she would just meet them herself. ...Back at home for dinner… “RIPSLINGAAA!!!” Henry roared running up his favorite racer, dark skin, wavy black hair, and no surprise green eyes. “Ehe, that's right kid.” he bent down and ruffled the boy’s hair. Standing next to him was who Sweetie guessed must be his twin since they looked exactly alike, though this one’s hair was much more neatly combed than his brother’s. Behind them were who she guess were the rest of Carlos’ friends/racing buddies. Carlos had his arm around a very beautiful brown haired, greened eyed, fair skinned woman.  ... (‘Brunette’ Sweetie Belle remembered what human’s call it, chuckled as everytime she remembered that humans have to dye their hair for it to be as colorful as ponies manes and tails. Thinking how dramatic Rarity would act if she lost her precious purple mane.) Then again we all kept our ma-hair color when we got here. Though we’re still learning about all the different human races, and I don’t want to be rude by mixing them up, so it’s probably best I try not to mention or ask questions about it until I really understand all of them. Even if it was by accident I said something wrong I’d still feel bad about it.  Sweetie was always the most cautious about meeting other humans of a different race, because there's still so much about earth and humans they don’t know about. And she didn’t want to risk saying something offensive as she doesn’t know what would offend that specific person. So she would alway be extremely careful around new people and think very very hard about her words.  So far so good it worked, though it did worry Ramone that she didn’t want to talk or even be near new people because of that. He is proud of her for not wanting to hurt anyone, but that doesn’t mean that she has to talk so less to people. That’s the main reason why he and the others want to get the lesson on different human races over with quickly so that the girls, mainly Sweetie Belle will be a little more comfortable talking with others outside the town. That and the fact that they’re obviously going to be here awhile, it won’t be long until they’ll have to be enrolled in school. And it’s best the town folks teach them as much about humans and earth as they can so the girls will have an easier time when that day comes. ...Any ho, now that that little explanation is over back to the story… “Mi Familia I like to introduce you to mi amigos! Dusty Crophopper, Ripslinger, his brother Richard, cousins Ned and Zed, Ben (Bulldog), Ishani...and of course mi amor Rochelle.” “It’s a pleasure to meet everyone!” Rochelle gave a small cortese, as the others gave their greetings. … While the table is being set, Sweetie Belle has decided to take a little break from everyone for a bit and give her little Bulk love and attention. Just like everyone else she had taken off her makeup, with a little help from Sylvia as she was kinda making a mess trying to scrub it off. Unfortunately once the makeup was off she started getting some...unwanted attention. Clears throat Sweetie Belle turned to see one of the twins standing behind her, looking slightly nervous and...blushing. “Oh hi! You’re um...Zed right?” “Ned.”  Right! Ned wears a green shirt and white jeans while his brother Zed wears a white shirt and green jeans, plus Ned also wears those orange wristbands while Zed doesn’t. “My bad Ned, is there something you need?” Sweetie giggled giving him a sweet smile causing the blush on his face to grow. “Um!...cough cough..A-um well you see I-I-uh...HERE! T-THIS IS FOR YOU!” He pulled out a rose and Sweetie Belle’s cheeks quickly turned pink. “Oh! Um...thank you. That’s very sweet of you.” She stood up taking the rose as the two just kinda stood there in awkward silence, feet shuffling as they tried and failed to really look each other in the eye. “Hey Sweetie Belle?” She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Zed standing there...blushing and clearly hiding something behind his back. “Oh hi Zed?” “Sooo...Sweetie Belle, someone told me that you really like stuffed animals, so I got you this.” Sweetie Belle’s eye sparkled and she couldn’t help but squeal when he pulled out a soft, fluffy, and very adorable little brown puppy plushie! “Aww! It’s so cute!”  She had accidentally dropped the rose when she happily took the gift, but was a little too distracted with her new adorable plushie to notice...nor did she notice the death glare Ned was giving his brother from over her shoulder or the smuggish of grins Zed gave back. “Um Sweetie Belle...I was um...well was wondering if-”  Zed took advantage of his brother’s stuttering and jumped in. “Hey Sweetie Belle dinner is about to start, would you like to sit with me?” “Sure!” She said happily as Zed took her by the hand and led her away. Leaving his poor brother standing alone and defeated...but wanting to pour salt on the wound Zed smirked as he brought a hand behind his back and Ned felt steam coming out of his ears as his own brother flipped him off! ...Dinner had been great, everyone talking, laughing and just being a family. Even with Sweetie Belle completely oblivious to Ned and Zed’s obvious competition... ...Though at times Sweetie Belle seemed to notice something a little strange...there seemed to be a lot more kids then from before, but no one else really seemed to notice them...Well except for the dogs as Sweetie Belle had walked in on a couple of girls playing with Bulk. “Oh hi there I don’t think I’ve met you before! My name is Sweetie Belle and that’s Bulk.” The two jumped and looked back at her almost confused, neither said a word leaving Sweetie Belle a little nervous as the two girls stared at each other for a moment then back at Sweetie Belle. “Ehehe...um did I say something wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?” She asked fearing that she might have said something wrong. Oh no! Did I meet these two and just forgot about them! Oh Celestia I’m horrible! The girls looked back at eachother one more time before smiling as they turned back to Sweetie Belle. She waited for them to say something...but instead they waved for her to follow them before turning to leave the room. Bulk wanting more pets followed with them and Sweetie Belle wanting to know why they weren’t talking to her followed as well. The girls had brought her to the room where the ofrenda stood just as beautiful as when she first laid eyes on it. There were a few other kids there as well, some eating the sweets set out and others playing with the toys. A little girl who looked to be 3 was playing with Rarity, it was fine she would just ask her for it back later. Though she was still a bit confused as to why they brought her here...and why are they still not talking to her. “Um...so why am I here and can I ask why you’re not talking to me?” One of the two simply pointed to a photo, Sweetie Belle walked over and leaned in to get a closer look. The photo was of the two girls! Sweetie was still confused...then she remembered the main reason for the ofrenda, and her skin went white...white as a ghost. … Most of the adults were still up celebrating and Sweetie Belle was the only child still awake, determined to stay awake a little longer...but the sleep was obviously winning as she walked through the house. Stopped at the door of the room she had previously been in before dinner, and her eyes locked onto something on the ground, as she walked closer she noticed what it was and perked up. “Oh! Ned’s rose! I must have dropped it, silly me!” She giggled before bending down to pick up the gift.  Another yawn escaped her mouth and she rubbed her eyes when she felt a tug on her dress. She turned to see Bulk tugging on her dress, his new pack behind him as they all seem to be thinking the same thing. “Looks like bedtime for a certain young lady?” Sweetie turned back around to see Sylvia kneeling over her with a soft smile on her face. Sweetie let out another yawn which made the older woman giggle slightly. “Guess I’m busted.” She laughed tiredly while rubbing her eyes once again. Sylvia bent down to pick up the tired child and Sweetie Belle sighed in content as she cuddled into her arms. Sylvia smiled brightly and kissed her on the forehead. “Benditos sueños mi hija.” Blessed dreams my daughter.