Cutie Mark Crusaders: Treasure Huntersby iloveyouderpyChaptersThe DiggingThe Story of Black Mane Disaster and a TreasureThe Tale of Black Mane the PirateThe DiggingThe next morning the Cutie Mark Crusaders all met in the club house, which stood in a small opening somewhere deep in the apple orchard. Scootaloo looked exhausted. Under her eyes were dark like shadows and her eyelids were half shut. They all put on their logo'd capes on and then began their meeting. "Scootaloo, did you you bring the map?" Applebloom said. "Yeah I brought the map." Scootaloo said angrily and then yawned. "I was up almost all night last night making it." She tossed over to Applebloom a large rolled up sheet of poster paper. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that." Applebloom said. Applebloom unrolled the map and hung it up on the wall with a couple of push pins. The map displayed the entire town in brief detail. It showed Sugarcube Corner, the library, some of the homes of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres, the Carousel Boutique, and the park. "Alright Crusaders, now that we've got our map, shovels, and our capes, we can go out and look for that treasure." "Yeah, only one problem." Scootaloo spoke. "We don't know where she buried the treasure. Ms. Cheerilee said Black Mane randomly buried it in the area and that only she knew where it was buried it." "Well," Sweetie Belle began. "Ms. Cheerilee said Black Mane came in from the Everfree Forest so why don't we start near there and just move our way up the town." "Sounds good to me." Scootaloo said and then yawned. "Well it's settled," Applebloom spoke with much enthusiasm. "operation Cutie Mark Crusaders Treasure Hunters is ago." Applebloom and Sweetie Belle cheered. Scootaloo was asleep. A bit of drool fell from her mouth as she snored quietly. "Umm, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle said. The orange pony continued to sleep standing up. Applebloom was becoming a tad impatient with Scootaloo so she grabbed the young pegasus on the shoulders and shook her until she woke up. Scootaloo woke quickly and for a moment she was freaking out. She calmed and apologized On the other side of town, just outside the Everfree Forest and right behind Fluttershy's cottage, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were digging a large hole. Sweat ran down their faces as they dug. By the time the hole was nearly four feet deep Scootaloo stopped working and took a moment to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "Man, who'd knew digging holes would be so much work." Scootaloo said. Her throat hurt a bit for she had't had water in a while and her throat was becoming very dry. "Come on Scootaloo," Applebloom spoke with heavy breaths in between syllables. "we need to keep digging." "The treasure is obviously not here." the orange pony said. "Maybe we should try digging in another spot." Applebloom took a moment to think and then nodded in agreement. Scootaloo and Applebloom jumped out of the ditch, holding the shovel handles in their mouths. They dropped the shovels onto the grass and then Applebloom spoke. "Now, where do ya reckon we should dig?" "Umm, Applebloom. Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle called from in the ditch. Applebloom and Scootaloo turned around and looked down at her. She made an attempt to jump and pull herself out, but she was unsuccessful. "A little help, please." Applebloom and Scootaloo giggled and then each held out a hoof to Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle picked up the shovel with her mouth. She grabbed both of her friend's hooves and they hoisted her up out of the ditch. "Why don't we try digging separately?" Scootaloo suggested. "That way we can cover more ground faster." "Great idea Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle said. "Okay," Applebloom said. "I'll dig over by the chicken coop." "And I'll dig over by the pond." The young pegasus announced. "And I'll...umm, I'll did over there." the white unicorn said, pointing her right forehoof at a clear patch of grass. Half an hour past. Sweetie Belle was singing a sweet tune to herself which helped past the time for both her and her friends. "Find anything?" Scootaloo shouted out to the rest of the gang. "Nope." Sweetie Belle responded. "Nothin' here but rocks and earthworms." Applebloom shouted. The gang hopped out of their holes, moved a few feet away from it, and began digging three new holes. The digging lasted for a good thirty minutes before they moved on to start another hole. This process went on for many hours and it wasn't till around three in the afternoon when the Cutie Mark Crusaders agreed that the treasure wasn't buried here and moved on to another location in Ponyville. It was dinner time for all of Fluttershy's little creatures. Fluttershy gave Angel, her white pet rabbit, a big salad bowl. Angel was being picky about his salad, but Fluttershy eventually 'convinced' him to eat his dinner. After feeding Angel, the yellow pegasus filled up the large bird feeder, which hung on the ceiling, with organic bird feed. "Eat up everyone, you don't want all this food go to waste, do you?" Once all the animals in the cottage were fed she went over to the kitchen and lifted up a large bag of chicken feed onto her back and carefully made her way out into the backyard. "Alright my little chicken, time to-" Fluttershy there in shock as she gazed upon hundreds of deep holes, including one by the chicken coop where the chickens were escaping from. "What...what happened." She said. Chickens ran wild all over the backyard. One fell into one of the holes and began jumping frantically, trying to escape. Fluttershy ran over to help the chicken out of the hole. After helping the chicken out of the hole she began chasing the chickens back into the pin. "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness." Fluttershy repeated to herself. She chased them down for a good fifteen minutes before all the chickens were back in the coop. She quickly filled in the hole before any of the chickens could re-escape. "I don't understand, where did all these holes come from?" The Story of Black Mane The Story of Black Mane Twilight Sparkle was lying down in the library reading a book on Star Swirl the Bearded. It was quiet and that was just the way she liked it. But the quiet didn't last long for the poor lavender pony. Spike came walking down the stairs from the bedroom and began to speak to Twilight. "Hey Twilight, what's going on outside?" "What are you talking about Spike?" Twilight said looking up from her book. "Outside the library there are three fillies digging a ditch. I think it's Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo but I could be mistaken." "Those fillies," the unicorn said with a slight smile on her face. "always getting into some kind of mischief." Twilight got up off the floor and made her way to the front door. Pinkie Pie was in the park, rolling around in the grass, enjoying the nice cloudless day. But then out of nowhere her tail began twitching. Pinkie began to worry. What was she going to do? Her tail was twitching and she left her umbrella hat in her room, back at Sugar Cube Corner. This wasn't good, not good at all. She took cover in a bush and waited, her tail twitching like crazy. Twilight opened the front door and took a step outside, but there wasn't any ground for her to step on so she fell forward down into a deep pit. She landed on top of three young fillies who she was quite familiar with. They all groaned in pain, especially the crusaders who were being squashed by Twilight's body. Pinkie Pie's tail stopped twitching. "Twilight?" Scootaloo said in a grunt. Twilight got off the three fillies and just shook her head, breaking her own confusion of what just happened. She got up out of the hole, stood for a second or two by the open door of the library, and turned back around to the three young fillies. "Girls," Twilight exclaimed. "what in Equestria are you three doing?" "We're looking for Black Mane's buried treasure." Sweetie Belle spoke. "Black Mane's buried treasure?" Twilight repeated out of confusion. "Yeah," Scootaloo spoke up. "Ms. Cheerilee told us all about her and how she buried treasure somewhere here in Ponyville." "Listen girls," Twilight said as if breaking slight bad news. "you can't just go around digging holes all around Ponyville. You could really do some damage to somepony's property. Also, I don't mean to burst your all's bubble, but the treasure of Black Mane is just a mare's tale. It doesn't exist." "But Ms. Cheerilee said that 'legend says Black Mare discovered this land and buried her treasure because she knew she was going to be captured and she didn't want anypony stealing her riches.'" Applebloom said with disappointment in her voice. "Exactly," Twilight said. "it's a legend, not a true story. Black Mane did exist and was put away for life after years of robbing and sinking hundreds of ships, but the concept of burying treasure into the ground in a big red chest is just plain fantasy." "Oh" The three fillies said quietly. The crusader's lowered their heads. "Now, cheer up you three." the lavender pony said, trying to lighten their spirits a bit. "If you want to learn more about pirates and Black Mane you should come in the library. I'm sure there are numerous of books on the subject." This did cheer them up, well at least it cheered up Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. "You want me to read?" Scootaloo asked with surprise. "No thank you." "Come on Scootaloo." the librarian said. " No way. Reading is for eggheads, and I'm not an egghead." Wow! Twilight thought to herself. It's Rainbow Dash in the hospital all over again. "That's not true." The lavender unicorn said. "Reading can be enjoyed by anybody. There's books about pirates, ninjas, assassins, adventurers, and even monsters." "I still think reading's lame. Rainbow Dash doesn't read books and she's the very definition of cool." "Actually Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash reads all the time." Twilight said. "What?" Scootaloo said in shock. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle just sat in silence, watching the two other ponies talk. "Yeah, she comes in like twice a week to check out new books. In fact, it's getting quite hard keeping track of which books are checked out and which aren't." "Well," Scootaloo said not feeling to comfortable about any of this. "Maybe I'll just come in and read only for a little bit." "That's the spirit." Twilight said. She helped the three fillies out of the hole and led them into the library. The purple unicorn began searching the bookshelves, pulling out every book with the words Pirate and Equestria History in the title. She laid them in a large stack over on a small wooden table. "Now I'll leave you too it then. Just let me know if you need any anything." "Thank you Twilight." Sweetie Belle said as the librarian walked up the stairs to her bedroom, carrying her Star Swirl the Bearded book with her unicorn magic. Applebloom grabbed the book from the very top of the stack, it was titled Pirate Tales of the Early Century. She placed the book on the table and began flipping through the book, looking for any sign of Black Mane the Pirate. It didn't take her long to come across an entire section dedicated to Black Mane. Applebloom began to read it aloud. Black Mane The Devil of the Sea The moon was full, fog blinded the crew of a cargo ship sailing about a hundred miles off the coast of Canterlot. It was cold and the wind played a tune so terrifying the sailors nearly trembled before it. Up in the crow's nest a stallion was looking out into the foggy sea, with a long silver telescope, searching for any signs of land or passing ships. The stallion spotted a silhouette of a large ship with in the fog. This was nothing out of the ordinary, but something about this ship sent chills down the stallion's spine. He kept looking through his telescope and watched as the ship was drawing closer and closer. The closer it got the more the stallion was able to make out its features. It had black sails and the whole shipped looked like it was coming back from war. "Captain" the stallion called out. The captain, who was on deck, looked up towards the crow's nest. "There's a ship, about a hundred yards from our position, heading this way at dangerous speed. I think it might be a pirates." "Alright everypony," The captain shouted to the crew on the ship's deck. "release the sails, we need to get the hay out of here, quick." A giant shadow cast itself over the entire ship. The captain turned around and saw the large, black massed ship, passing, along side the ship, only a few feet from the edge of the ship. And with in a blink of an eye twenty ponies, wearing all black, came swinging from ropes onto the cargo ship. The unicorn pirates began firing a deadly spell, which killed anything in it's path. The earth and pegasi pirates wielded swords and all together began killing off the entire crew. It was chaos. The captain galloped down into the ship to hide with cargo, but it wasn't long after till the pirates got to him and the cargo. The stallion in the crow's nest fought hard against the oncoming horde of pegasi. He looked down at the pirate ship and saw a mare wearing an orange pirate's hat and leathery green coat. This distracted the stallion and he was bucked off the crow's nest, by a pegasi pirate, and he landed in the water. As fast as the whole thing started, the ship burst into flames and began falling apart. It was hard for the stallion to keep afloat, but soon enough a plank of wood dropped from the cargo ship and he used it to stay afloat. As the black massed pirate ship sped away, in the direction from which it came from, a song was echoed into the air. "On cold foggy nights, we fill your small hearts with fright. sailing the deep blue, Black Mare is coming for you" The stallion was picked up by a passing ship, the next morning, and was brought to shore. He later shared his story of Black Mane to the princess. About a week later, the hunt for Black Mare began and she was finally caught, a year later, by a group of bounty hunters. After she died, her cell mate said to a royal guard that Black Mane's last words were "It's on the other side, by the three rocks. That is where you'll find it." She died right after. "Hmm, what'd yall think she meant by 'it's on the other side, by the three rocks'?" Applebloom asked her friends. "Maybe she meant on the other side of Ponyville." Sweetie Belle suggested. "Wow," Scootaloo said. "That was awesome. Her crew just swooped over on ropes and destroyed that ship. That was amazing." "Maybe the treasure is buried in Sweet Apple Acres," Applebloom said. "I mean that's on the other side of Ponyville from the Everfree Forest." "Worth a shot." Sweetie Belle said smiling. Scootaloo was reading another story in the book and had to be dragged out of the library by her friends. Disaster and a TreasureThe sun was low in the sky and within an hour or two the day Luna will raise the moon to begin the night. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were spread out through out Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo was over by the barn, digging as fast she possibly could. Sweat ran down her face and her mane was becoming more messy than usual. The orange pegasus had already dug three other, four to five feet deep, holes and was nearly three feet into her fourth. She brought her shovel down, with all her strength, and there was a loud clank. Scootaloo's eyes widened, her heart raced with excitement. She brought down the shovel one more time with great force All of a sudden, the thing in the ground broke and water shot up at Scootaloo's face.The hole quickly filled with muddy water. Scootaloo quickly got out of the flooding ditch and just stared at it for a good thirty seconds, watching the water overflow onto the grass. "Applebloom is going to kill me." Scootaloo said to herself. She grabbed her shovel and went around to the over side of the barn and began digging another hole. Sweetie Belle was in the orchard, digging her forth hole since arriving at Sweet Apple Acres. She brought down the shovel and instantly hit something rock solid. A small amount of sparks shot out of the ground and Sweetie Belle's shovel sent great vibration throughout her entire body. She fell backwards and hit the side of the hole with her back. The pile of dirt, just outside the hole, fell over and refilled the hole with her still in it and all but her head was covered. "Great." the white unicorn said and then started to try and wiggle her way out of the dirt, but she was unsuccessful. She grew worried and began to scream for help. On the other side of Sweet Apple Acres, Applebloom was digging her seventh hole, just outside of her farmhouse. "Applebloom?" said a familiar voice from behind her. She turned around and saw, standing just by the edge of the hole, her sister, Applejack. "What in the hay are ya doin'?" "Me, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are tryin' to find buried treasure." Applebloom informed. "Wait a tick, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are here?" "Yeah." "Well, where are they?" But before Applebloom could answer, a scream echoed throughout Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack quickly ran towards the barn. Applebloom jumped out of the hole and followed close behind her sister. By the time they got a hundred feet from the barn, the grassy grown became all flooded and only got deeper as they got closer. They arrived at the barn and saw about five holes, all of which, were shooting water upward. Scootaloo was at one of those holes trying to push the spraying water back down into the hole. "What in Equestria is going on?" Applejack said with confusion and frustration. "I don't know what happen," Scootaloo yelled. She coughed a little after some of the water sprayed into her throat. "I was digging and I hit something metal my shovel and then this happened. Pleeeease, help me." The water sprayed harder and launched the pegasus high up into the air. She came plummeting back down to Equestria and landed right at Applejack's feet. "Where's Sweetie Belle?" Applejack asked Scootaloo, but her question was soon answered after an ear piercing scream stabbed their eardrums. As it faded they were able to make out where it was coming from. From the orchard. "Sweetie Belle." Applebloom and Scootaloo shouted together in worry. "Y'all go find Sweetie Belle, I'm gonna go turn off the water." Applejack ordered the fillies and then took off towards the house. For a moment Scootaloo and Applebloom just stood there, for second or two, not sure what to do. But after those few seconds they regained their train of thought and started galloping into the orchard in search of Sweetie Belle. It didn't take the two fillies too long to find her. They found her, well her head at least, just above the dirt. She was screaming and hollering for help. "Sweetie Belle." Applebloom shouted. "Applebloom?" She turned her head, only able to see Applebloom and Scootaloo through the corner of her eye. "What happened?" Scootaloo asked the trapped unicorn. "I don't know, I hit something hard in the ground and I fell back and all the dirt I dug out fell on top of me. I can't move, can you please help me. I'm getting scared." Applejack came galloping up to the scene. "I'm here, what's going on?" She noticed Sweetie Belle's head sticking out of the dirt. Sweetie Belle told Applejack how all this happened to her. "Okay, Applebloom, Scootaloo go get the shovels back by the barn then come back." The two fillies did as they were told and quickly ran back to the barn, grabbed their shovels, and returned back to the incident. Applejack was already started digging with her hooves at the dirt around Sweetie Belle's head. She stopped and then looked over at the two fillies. "Come on you two, we got to dig her out." Applebloom and Scootaloo took their shovels and began to dig at the dirt. About ten minutes later, Sweetie Belle was free from the dirt pile. "Thank you." Sweetie Belle said, feeling quite relieved. "Alright Cutie Mark Crusaders," Applebloom said in an announcing tone. "back to finding that treasure." "Now ya-" Applejack tried to say, but the crusaders took off in a flash with their shovels in their mouths. She just sighed and began walking back to the house. Once back there, she saw the three fillies digging in the hole she found Applebloom digging about half an hour ago. "Girls, what in the hay are y'all doin'. Sweet Apple Acres is trashed because of y'all's digging." "But Applejack," Applebloom whined. "No buts, now you and your friends come out of that hole and help me clean up around here." "Fine." Applebloom said in aggravation and tried to shove the head of the shovel into the dirt, but it hit something hard. This caught her and everypony else's attention. The four ponies looked down and saw something red buried under the dirt. The thee picked up their shovels and began digging around the object. Once they were able to get a hoof on the object, they used all their strength to toss it up out of the ditch. It almost hit Applejack, but she was able to move out of the way before it did. The crusaders looked at the object. It was a red and gold treasure chest. Smiles painted themselves onto the fillies' faces as their bodies and minds filled with excitement and joy. They quickly jumped out of the hole and opened the chest. The lock, that was on the chest, was broken, so they just took that off before opening it. Inside the chest were hundreds of scrolls. The four ponies were confused by this. Applebloom took one of the scrolls and read it aloud. The wind sings in my ears so beautifully, I'm shedding tears. I spend my life at sea listening to the song the wind sings for me "What in the world is all this?" Applebloom said in confusion and disappointment. "It's just a bunch of poems." She began digging through the chest filled with scrolls and found nothing else, but more scrolls. "Where's all the treasure? Where's all the gold and diamonds and sapphires." "Not all treasure is diamonds and gold, Applebloom." Applejack said, putting a hoof around her sister. "A treasure is something that is most important to us. Just like how you're my treasure. Black Mane obviously treasured her poems and writings more than anything else, so she buried them, so they would be safe." "You're not going to bury me in a chest, are ya?" Applebloom asked with a smile on her face. Applejack laughed and then rapidly rubbed her hoof on Applebloom's head. "Naw." Applejack said. "But you and your friends still need to help me clean this place up." "Alright." Applebloom said, feeling much better about the treasure being nothing more than a bunch of papers. They filled up all the holes in Sweet Apple Acres, fixed the pipes, and the next day they took the chest filled with Black Mane's literature to the library to show Twilight. Twilight was very impressed and sent all the papers to a publisher in Canterlot. The Cutie Mark Crusaders may not have gotten any treasure, or their cutie marks, but they did learn one thing. They learned that not all treasure is gold and that even though what you're looking for isn't what you hoped for, doesn't make it any less special. The Tale of Black Mane the PirateIt was just another Friday morning for the fillies and colts in the Schoolhouse. Everypony sat close to their best friends and just talked, waiting for the teacher to enter through that front door and begin class. Most of the foals were discussing about what they were going to do over the weekend. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo sat close to each other at the front row of desks. Applebloom was hit in the back of the head by a paper airplane. She turned around to see Diamond Tiara looking at her with a sinister look on her face. Applebloom felt angry and annoyed at Diamond Tiara, but she wasn't worth fighting with, so she just turned back around and continued chatting to her friends. The front door opened and Ms. Cheerilee walked in. "Alright my little ponies, quiet down please." she said in a gentle voice as she closed the door behind her. The classroom silenced and everypony's attention was now on Ms. Cheerilee. "Thank you. Today we are going to talk about the history of Ponyville." The class grunted in annoyance, for history was their least favorite subject. "History of Ponyville?" Scootaloo complained. "Nothing exciting ever happens here in Ponyville and Granny Smith already told us how Ponyville was founded." "Ah, but that's where you're wrong Scootaloo." the teacher said. She made her way to the back of her desk to get a better view of her young pupils. "Yes, Ponyville was discovered by settlers many decades ago but they weren't the first to be on this land." Cheerilee gave a slight dramatic pause to let the young ponies think to themselves. "Many battles during the Great Pony War have taken place right here at, what is now, Ponyville. Indian tribes had lived in these parts hundreds of years ago, but due to a strong blizzard, the Indian tribes had to travel south so they wouldn't freeze and starve to death." All the fillies and colts looked much more interested now, so Cheerilee decided she would draw them in even further. "And not to mention the pirates." "Pirates?!" most of the class spoke up. For a moment everypony began whispering to the pony sitting next to them, but it soon ended once their teacher began to speak again. "That's right, over three hundred years ago hundreds of pirate gangs sailed the oceans surrounding Equestria, robbing and sinking any ship they came across. But the most well known pirate at the time was Captain Black Mane. Has anypony here ever heard the story of Black Mane?" There was a long pause. The foals all shook their heads side to side. "Well, she was-" "Wait a minute." Sweetie Belle interrupted. Cheerilee and the rest of the class all looked at her. "Are you telling me there were mare pirates?" "Why of course Sweetie Belle." Ms. Cheerilee answered. "There were pirates of all genders and races throughout Equestria. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, Black Mane was the first ever mare to be captain of a pirate ship." The class all looked very interested at this moment. Even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who usually never paid attention during class, were fascinated by this talk of pirates in Equestria. "Over three hundred years ago the oceans were ruled by many ruthless and savage pirates. But even the most brave of pirates feared the legendary Black Mane and her crew. They say she wore a green coat made from the skin of the Krakan and a hat made from fresh plucked phoenix feathers. She sailed on a battered up ship with pitch black sails, robbing riches from passing ships. She was also known for even attacking other pirate ships, emptying their boats of all treasure and food, and then leaving the ship behind in flames." The class was the edge of their seats. Their mouths wide open in amazement and fascination. "After years of robbing and pillaging Black Mane's bounty became so high that nearly every sailor in Equestria began setting out to find and bring Captain Black Mane into custody. With knowledge of this threat, Black Mane took a different route though a large river that ran through the Everfree Forest. Even at that time the Everfree Forest was feared and forbidden place. But Black Mane and her crew feared nothing and knew that this was safest route.She dropped anchor, gathered up all her treasures into one large chest, and carried it all around the forest, in search of a place to bury her valuables. Soon she came across a gigantic field and then buried the chest in a spot only she knew. About a month later Canterlot forces traveled down the river into the Everfree forest and captured Black Mane. She was brought back to Canterlot and was trialed by Princess Celestia herself. Black Mane hardly defended herself and honestly admitted to the crimes she had committed. She was given life in prison and died years later in her cell. Legend say that her treasure is still buried somewhere in Ponyville." "Wow." the whole class said in a chorus. The bell then rung and Ms. Cheerilee took all the foals outside to the playground. A group of colts were playing pirates over by the slide and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were by the swings talking badly about everypony in the class. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo stayed close to the entrance of the school and just talked. "That was amazing!" Scootaloo spoke in excitement. "Pirates. Here. In Ponyville." "I can't believe one pony could force an entire country go out and hunt her down." Sweetie Belle said. "That would be the life." Scootaloo said as she began go deep into her imagination. "The life of a pirate. Sailing the world, finding adventure around every corner, an entire crew to do you bidding, and also the treasure." "Oh my gosh, that's it!" Applebloom shouted out. "What's it?" The white unicorn asked. "We all should go and look for that treasure." The yellow earth pony suggested to her friends. "That's an awesome idea Applebloom." Scootaloo said looking more excited than ever before. "Imagine, the adventure." "The riches." Sweetie Belle added. "And maybe we'll even our cutie marks." Applebloom also added. "Yeah!" The crusaders shouted together. "We'll be Cutie Mark Crusaders Treasure Hunters." Applebloom said. The Cutie Mark Crusaders did their group jump and high hoof. The school bell rang again. "Alright my little ponies," Ms. Cheerilee said making her way for the door. "playtime is over." The crusaders were the first in the building, even before Cheerilee. After a few hours class ended and all the foals and Ms. Cheerilee cleared out of the building. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo stayed on the property to discuss their plans. "Alright Crusaders," Applebloom spoke. "we're 'bout to perform, probably, the most difficult attempt to get our cutie marks ever. So I want us all to be prepared. Scootaloo we're gonna need a map of Ponyville." "What happened to that map I made for us last year?" Scootaloo asked. "Yeah, I might have accidentally threw that away." Applebloom said. "What?" Scootaloo exclaimed in rage. "But it's okay, because you're gonna draw another one." There was a long pause. Scootaloo gave Applebloom an angry look and then the silence broke. "Fine." Scootaloo said sounding annoyed. "Great." Applebloom said with a smile. "Sweetie Belle you're gonna need to bring out Cutie Mark Crusaders capes. And I'll supply us with shovels. We'll meet at the club house tomorrow morning." The group said their goodbyes and then headed home. Well, except Scootaloo who went into town to begin creating the second map of Ponyville.
The DiggingThe next morning the Cutie Mark Crusaders all met in the club house, which stood in a small opening somewhere deep in the apple orchard. Scootaloo looked exhausted. Under her eyes were dark like shadows and her eyelids were half shut. They all put on their logo'd capes on and then began their meeting. "Scootaloo, did you you bring the map?" Applebloom said. "Yeah I brought the map." Scootaloo said angrily and then yawned. "I was up almost all night last night making it." She tossed over to Applebloom a large rolled up sheet of poster paper. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that." Applebloom said. Applebloom unrolled the map and hung it up on the wall with a couple of push pins. The map displayed the entire town in brief detail. It showed Sugarcube Corner, the library, some of the homes of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres, the Carousel Boutique, and the park. "Alright Crusaders, now that we've got our map, shovels, and our capes, we can go out and look for that treasure." "Yeah, only one problem." Scootaloo spoke. "We don't know where she buried the treasure. Ms. Cheerilee said Black Mane randomly buried it in the area and that only she knew where it was buried it." "Well," Sweetie Belle began. "Ms. Cheerilee said Black Mane came in from the Everfree Forest so why don't we start near there and just move our way up the town." "Sounds good to me." Scootaloo said and then yawned. "Well it's settled," Applebloom spoke with much enthusiasm. "operation Cutie Mark Crusaders Treasure Hunters is ago." Applebloom and Sweetie Belle cheered. Scootaloo was asleep. A bit of drool fell from her mouth as she snored quietly. "Umm, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle said. The orange pony continued to sleep standing up. Applebloom was becoming a tad impatient with Scootaloo so she grabbed the young pegasus on the shoulders and shook her until she woke up. Scootaloo woke quickly and for a moment she was freaking out. She calmed and apologized On the other side of town, just outside the Everfree Forest and right behind Fluttershy's cottage, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were digging a large hole. Sweat ran down their faces as they dug. By the time the hole was nearly four feet deep Scootaloo stopped working and took a moment to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "Man, who'd knew digging holes would be so much work." Scootaloo said. Her throat hurt a bit for she had't had water in a while and her throat was becoming very dry. "Come on Scootaloo," Applebloom spoke with heavy breaths in between syllables. "we need to keep digging." "The treasure is obviously not here." the orange pony said. "Maybe we should try digging in another spot." Applebloom took a moment to think and then nodded in agreement. Scootaloo and Applebloom jumped out of the ditch, holding the shovel handles in their mouths. They dropped the shovels onto the grass and then Applebloom spoke. "Now, where do ya reckon we should dig?" "Umm, Applebloom. Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle called from in the ditch. Applebloom and Scootaloo turned around and looked down at her. She made an attempt to jump and pull herself out, but she was unsuccessful. "A little help, please." Applebloom and Scootaloo giggled and then each held out a hoof to Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle picked up the shovel with her mouth. She grabbed both of her friend's hooves and they hoisted her up out of the ditch. "Why don't we try digging separately?" Scootaloo suggested. "That way we can cover more ground faster." "Great idea Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle said. "Okay," Applebloom said. "I'll dig over by the chicken coop." "And I'll dig over by the pond." The young pegasus announced. "And I'll...umm, I'll did over there." the white unicorn said, pointing her right forehoof at a clear patch of grass. Half an hour past. Sweetie Belle was singing a sweet tune to herself which helped past the time for both her and her friends. "Find anything?" Scootaloo shouted out to the rest of the gang. "Nope." Sweetie Belle responded. "Nothin' here but rocks and earthworms." Applebloom shouted. The gang hopped out of their holes, moved a few feet away from it, and began digging three new holes. The digging lasted for a good thirty minutes before they moved on to start another hole. This process went on for many hours and it wasn't till around three in the afternoon when the Cutie Mark Crusaders agreed that the treasure wasn't buried here and moved on to another location in Ponyville. It was dinner time for all of Fluttershy's little creatures. Fluttershy gave Angel, her white pet rabbit, a big salad bowl. Angel was being picky about his salad, but Fluttershy eventually 'convinced' him to eat his dinner. After feeding Angel, the yellow pegasus filled up the large bird feeder, which hung on the ceiling, with organic bird feed. "Eat up everyone, you don't want all this food go to waste, do you?" Once all the animals in the cottage were fed she went over to the kitchen and lifted up a large bag of chicken feed onto her back and carefully made her way out into the backyard. "Alright my little chicken, time to-" Fluttershy there in shock as she gazed upon hundreds of deep holes, including one by the chicken coop where the chickens were escaping from. "What...what happened." She said. Chickens ran wild all over the backyard. One fell into one of the holes and began jumping frantically, trying to escape. Fluttershy ran over to help the chicken out of the hole. After helping the chicken out of the hole she began chasing the chickens back into the pin. "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness." Fluttershy repeated to herself. She chased them down for a good fifteen minutes before all the chickens were back in the coop. She quickly filled in the hole before any of the chickens could re-escape. "I don't understand, where did all these holes come from?"
The Story of Black Mane The Story of Black Mane Twilight Sparkle was lying down in the library reading a book on Star Swirl the Bearded. It was quiet and that was just the way she liked it. But the quiet didn't last long for the poor lavender pony. Spike came walking down the stairs from the bedroom and began to speak to Twilight. "Hey Twilight, what's going on outside?" "What are you talking about Spike?" Twilight said looking up from her book. "Outside the library there are three fillies digging a ditch. I think it's Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo but I could be mistaken." "Those fillies," the unicorn said with a slight smile on her face. "always getting into some kind of mischief." Twilight got up off the floor and made her way to the front door. Pinkie Pie was in the park, rolling around in the grass, enjoying the nice cloudless day. But then out of nowhere her tail began twitching. Pinkie began to worry. What was she going to do? Her tail was twitching and she left her umbrella hat in her room, back at Sugar Cube Corner. This wasn't good, not good at all. She took cover in a bush and waited, her tail twitching like crazy. Twilight opened the front door and took a step outside, but there wasn't any ground for her to step on so she fell forward down into a deep pit. She landed on top of three young fillies who she was quite familiar with. They all groaned in pain, especially the crusaders who were being squashed by Twilight's body. Pinkie Pie's tail stopped twitching. "Twilight?" Scootaloo said in a grunt. Twilight got off the three fillies and just shook her head, breaking her own confusion of what just happened. She got up out of the hole, stood for a second or two by the open door of the library, and turned back around to the three young fillies. "Girls," Twilight exclaimed. "what in Equestria are you three doing?" "We're looking for Black Mane's buried treasure." Sweetie Belle spoke. "Black Mane's buried treasure?" Twilight repeated out of confusion. "Yeah," Scootaloo spoke up. "Ms. Cheerilee told us all about her and how she buried treasure somewhere here in Ponyville." "Listen girls," Twilight said as if breaking slight bad news. "you can't just go around digging holes all around Ponyville. You could really do some damage to somepony's property. Also, I don't mean to burst your all's bubble, but the treasure of Black Mane is just a mare's tale. It doesn't exist." "But Ms. Cheerilee said that 'legend says Black Mare discovered this land and buried her treasure because she knew she was going to be captured and she didn't want anypony stealing her riches.'" Applebloom said with disappointment in her voice. "Exactly," Twilight said. "it's a legend, not a true story. Black Mane did exist and was put away for life after years of robbing and sinking hundreds of ships, but the concept of burying treasure into the ground in a big red chest is just plain fantasy." "Oh" The three fillies said quietly. The crusader's lowered their heads. "Now, cheer up you three." the lavender pony said, trying to lighten their spirits a bit. "If you want to learn more about pirates and Black Mane you should come in the library. I'm sure there are numerous of books on the subject." This did cheer them up, well at least it cheered up Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. "You want me to read?" Scootaloo asked with surprise. "No thank you." "Come on Scootaloo." the librarian said. " No way. Reading is for eggheads, and I'm not an egghead." Wow! Twilight thought to herself. It's Rainbow Dash in the hospital all over again. "That's not true." The lavender unicorn said. "Reading can be enjoyed by anybody. There's books about pirates, ninjas, assassins, adventurers, and even monsters." "I still think reading's lame. Rainbow Dash doesn't read books and she's the very definition of cool." "Actually Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash reads all the time." Twilight said. "What?" Scootaloo said in shock. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle just sat in silence, watching the two other ponies talk. "Yeah, she comes in like twice a week to check out new books. In fact, it's getting quite hard keeping track of which books are checked out and which aren't." "Well," Scootaloo said not feeling to comfortable about any of this. "Maybe I'll just come in and read only for a little bit." "That's the spirit." Twilight said. She helped the three fillies out of the hole and led them into the library. The purple unicorn began searching the bookshelves, pulling out every book with the words Pirate and Equestria History in the title. She laid them in a large stack over on a small wooden table. "Now I'll leave you too it then. Just let me know if you need any anything." "Thank you Twilight." Sweetie Belle said as the librarian walked up the stairs to her bedroom, carrying her Star Swirl the Bearded book with her unicorn magic. Applebloom grabbed the book from the very top of the stack, it was titled Pirate Tales of the Early Century. She placed the book on the table and began flipping through the book, looking for any sign of Black Mane the Pirate. It didn't take her long to come across an entire section dedicated to Black Mane. Applebloom began to read it aloud. Black Mane The Devil of the Sea The moon was full, fog blinded the crew of a cargo ship sailing about a hundred miles off the coast of Canterlot. It was cold and the wind played a tune so terrifying the sailors nearly trembled before it. Up in the crow's nest a stallion was looking out into the foggy sea, with a long silver telescope, searching for any signs of land or passing ships. The stallion spotted a silhouette of a large ship with in the fog. This was nothing out of the ordinary, but something about this ship sent chills down the stallion's spine. He kept looking through his telescope and watched as the ship was drawing closer and closer. The closer it got the more the stallion was able to make out its features. It had black sails and the whole shipped looked like it was coming back from war. "Captain" the stallion called out. The captain, who was on deck, looked up towards the crow's nest. "There's a ship, about a hundred yards from our position, heading this way at dangerous speed. I think it might be a pirates." "Alright everypony," The captain shouted to the crew on the ship's deck. "release the sails, we need to get the hay out of here, quick." A giant shadow cast itself over the entire ship. The captain turned around and saw the large, black massed ship, passing, along side the ship, only a few feet from the edge of the ship. And with in a blink of an eye twenty ponies, wearing all black, came swinging from ropes onto the cargo ship. The unicorn pirates began firing a deadly spell, which killed anything in it's path. The earth and pegasi pirates wielded swords and all together began killing off the entire crew. It was chaos. The captain galloped down into the ship to hide with cargo, but it wasn't long after till the pirates got to him and the cargo. The stallion in the crow's nest fought hard against the oncoming horde of pegasi. He looked down at the pirate ship and saw a mare wearing an orange pirate's hat and leathery green coat. This distracted the stallion and he was bucked off the crow's nest, by a pegasi pirate, and he landed in the water. As fast as the whole thing started, the ship burst into flames and began falling apart. It was hard for the stallion to keep afloat, but soon enough a plank of wood dropped from the cargo ship and he used it to stay afloat. As the black massed pirate ship sped away, in the direction from which it came from, a song was echoed into the air. "On cold foggy nights, we fill your small hearts with fright. sailing the deep blue, Black Mare is coming for you" The stallion was picked up by a passing ship, the next morning, and was brought to shore. He later shared his story of Black Mane to the princess. About a week later, the hunt for Black Mare began and she was finally caught, a year later, by a group of bounty hunters. After she died, her cell mate said to a royal guard that Black Mane's last words were "It's on the other side, by the three rocks. That is where you'll find it." She died right after. "Hmm, what'd yall think she meant by 'it's on the other side, by the three rocks'?" Applebloom asked her friends. "Maybe she meant on the other side of Ponyville." Sweetie Belle suggested. "Wow," Scootaloo said. "That was awesome. Her crew just swooped over on ropes and destroyed that ship. That was amazing." "Maybe the treasure is buried in Sweet Apple Acres," Applebloom said. "I mean that's on the other side of Ponyville from the Everfree Forest." "Worth a shot." Sweetie Belle said smiling. Scootaloo was reading another story in the book and had to be dragged out of the library by her friends.
Disaster and a TreasureThe sun was low in the sky and within an hour or two the day Luna will raise the moon to begin the night. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were spread out through out Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo was over by the barn, digging as fast she possibly could. Sweat ran down her face and her mane was becoming more messy than usual. The orange pegasus had already dug three other, four to five feet deep, holes and was nearly three feet into her fourth. She brought her shovel down, with all her strength, and there was a loud clank. Scootaloo's eyes widened, her heart raced with excitement. She brought down the shovel one more time with great force All of a sudden, the thing in the ground broke and water shot up at Scootaloo's face.The hole quickly filled with muddy water. Scootaloo quickly got out of the flooding ditch and just stared at it for a good thirty seconds, watching the water overflow onto the grass. "Applebloom is going to kill me." Scootaloo said to herself. She grabbed her shovel and went around to the over side of the barn and began digging another hole. Sweetie Belle was in the orchard, digging her forth hole since arriving at Sweet Apple Acres. She brought down the shovel and instantly hit something rock solid. A small amount of sparks shot out of the ground and Sweetie Belle's shovel sent great vibration throughout her entire body. She fell backwards and hit the side of the hole with her back. The pile of dirt, just outside the hole, fell over and refilled the hole with her still in it and all but her head was covered. "Great." the white unicorn said and then started to try and wiggle her way out of the dirt, but she was unsuccessful. She grew worried and began to scream for help. On the other side of Sweet Apple Acres, Applebloom was digging her seventh hole, just outside of her farmhouse. "Applebloom?" said a familiar voice from behind her. She turned around and saw, standing just by the edge of the hole, her sister, Applejack. "What in the hay are ya doin'?" "Me, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are tryin' to find buried treasure." Applebloom informed. "Wait a tick, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are here?" "Yeah." "Well, where are they?" But before Applebloom could answer, a scream echoed throughout Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack quickly ran towards the barn. Applebloom jumped out of the hole and followed close behind her sister. By the time they got a hundred feet from the barn, the grassy grown became all flooded and only got deeper as they got closer. They arrived at the barn and saw about five holes, all of which, were shooting water upward. Scootaloo was at one of those holes trying to push the spraying water back down into the hole. "What in Equestria is going on?" Applejack said with confusion and frustration. "I don't know what happen," Scootaloo yelled. She coughed a little after some of the water sprayed into her throat. "I was digging and I hit something metal my shovel and then this happened. Pleeeease, help me." The water sprayed harder and launched the pegasus high up into the air. She came plummeting back down to Equestria and landed right at Applejack's feet. "Where's Sweetie Belle?" Applejack asked Scootaloo, but her question was soon answered after an ear piercing scream stabbed their eardrums. As it faded they were able to make out where it was coming from. From the orchard. "Sweetie Belle." Applebloom and Scootaloo shouted together in worry. "Y'all go find Sweetie Belle, I'm gonna go turn off the water." Applejack ordered the fillies and then took off towards the house. For a moment Scootaloo and Applebloom just stood there, for second or two, not sure what to do. But after those few seconds they regained their train of thought and started galloping into the orchard in search of Sweetie Belle. It didn't take the two fillies too long to find her. They found her, well her head at least, just above the dirt. She was screaming and hollering for help. "Sweetie Belle." Applebloom shouted. "Applebloom?" She turned her head, only able to see Applebloom and Scootaloo through the corner of her eye. "What happened?" Scootaloo asked the trapped unicorn. "I don't know, I hit something hard in the ground and I fell back and all the dirt I dug out fell on top of me. I can't move, can you please help me. I'm getting scared." Applejack came galloping up to the scene. "I'm here, what's going on?" She noticed Sweetie Belle's head sticking out of the dirt. Sweetie Belle told Applejack how all this happened to her. "Okay, Applebloom, Scootaloo go get the shovels back by the barn then come back." The two fillies did as they were told and quickly ran back to the barn, grabbed their shovels, and returned back to the incident. Applejack was already started digging with her hooves at the dirt around Sweetie Belle's head. She stopped and then looked over at the two fillies. "Come on you two, we got to dig her out." Applebloom and Scootaloo took their shovels and began to dig at the dirt. About ten minutes later, Sweetie Belle was free from the dirt pile. "Thank you." Sweetie Belle said, feeling quite relieved. "Alright Cutie Mark Crusaders," Applebloom said in an announcing tone. "back to finding that treasure." "Now ya-" Applejack tried to say, but the crusaders took off in a flash with their shovels in their mouths. She just sighed and began walking back to the house. Once back there, she saw the three fillies digging in the hole she found Applebloom digging about half an hour ago. "Girls, what in the hay are y'all doin'. Sweet Apple Acres is trashed because of y'all's digging." "But Applejack," Applebloom whined. "No buts, now you and your friends come out of that hole and help me clean up around here." "Fine." Applebloom said in aggravation and tried to shove the head of the shovel into the dirt, but it hit something hard. This caught her and everypony else's attention. The four ponies looked down and saw something red buried under the dirt. The thee picked up their shovels and began digging around the object. Once they were able to get a hoof on the object, they used all their strength to toss it up out of the ditch. It almost hit Applejack, but she was able to move out of the way before it did. The crusaders looked at the object. It was a red and gold treasure chest. Smiles painted themselves onto the fillies' faces as their bodies and minds filled with excitement and joy. They quickly jumped out of the hole and opened the chest. The lock, that was on the chest, was broken, so they just took that off before opening it. Inside the chest were hundreds of scrolls. The four ponies were confused by this. Applebloom took one of the scrolls and read it aloud. The wind sings in my ears so beautifully, I'm shedding tears. I spend my life at sea listening to the song the wind sings for me "What in the world is all this?" Applebloom said in confusion and disappointment. "It's just a bunch of poems." She began digging through the chest filled with scrolls and found nothing else, but more scrolls. "Where's all the treasure? Where's all the gold and diamonds and sapphires." "Not all treasure is diamonds and gold, Applebloom." Applejack said, putting a hoof around her sister. "A treasure is something that is most important to us. Just like how you're my treasure. Black Mane obviously treasured her poems and writings more than anything else, so she buried them, so they would be safe." "You're not going to bury me in a chest, are ya?" Applebloom asked with a smile on her face. Applejack laughed and then rapidly rubbed her hoof on Applebloom's head. "Naw." Applejack said. "But you and your friends still need to help me clean this place up." "Alright." Applebloom said, feeling much better about the treasure being nothing more than a bunch of papers. They filled up all the holes in Sweet Apple Acres, fixed the pipes, and the next day they took the chest filled with Black Mane's literature to the library to show Twilight. Twilight was very impressed and sent all the papers to a publisher in Canterlot. The Cutie Mark Crusaders may not have gotten any treasure, or their cutie marks, but they did learn one thing. They learned that not all treasure is gold and that even though what you're looking for isn't what you hoped for, doesn't make it any less special.
The Tale of Black Mane the PirateIt was just another Friday morning for the fillies and colts in the Schoolhouse. Everypony sat close to their best friends and just talked, waiting for the teacher to enter through that front door and begin class. Most of the foals were discussing about what they were going to do over the weekend. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo sat close to each other at the front row of desks. Applebloom was hit in the back of the head by a paper airplane. She turned around to see Diamond Tiara looking at her with a sinister look on her face. Applebloom felt angry and annoyed at Diamond Tiara, but she wasn't worth fighting with, so she just turned back around and continued chatting to her friends. The front door opened and Ms. Cheerilee walked in. "Alright my little ponies, quiet down please." she said in a gentle voice as she closed the door behind her. The classroom silenced and everypony's attention was now on Ms. Cheerilee. "Thank you. Today we are going to talk about the history of Ponyville." The class grunted in annoyance, for history was their least favorite subject. "History of Ponyville?" Scootaloo complained. "Nothing exciting ever happens here in Ponyville and Granny Smith already told us how Ponyville was founded." "Ah, but that's where you're wrong Scootaloo." the teacher said. She made her way to the back of her desk to get a better view of her young pupils. "Yes, Ponyville was discovered by settlers many decades ago but they weren't the first to be on this land." Cheerilee gave a slight dramatic pause to let the young ponies think to themselves. "Many battles during the Great Pony War have taken place right here at, what is now, Ponyville. Indian tribes had lived in these parts hundreds of years ago, but due to a strong blizzard, the Indian tribes had to travel south so they wouldn't freeze and starve to death." All the fillies and colts looked much more interested now, so Cheerilee decided she would draw them in even further. "And not to mention the pirates." "Pirates?!" most of the class spoke up. For a moment everypony began whispering to the pony sitting next to them, but it soon ended once their teacher began to speak again. "That's right, over three hundred years ago hundreds of pirate gangs sailed the oceans surrounding Equestria, robbing and sinking any ship they came across. But the most well known pirate at the time was Captain Black Mane. Has anypony here ever heard the story of Black Mane?" There was a long pause. The foals all shook their heads side to side. "Well, she was-" "Wait a minute." Sweetie Belle interrupted. Cheerilee and the rest of the class all looked at her. "Are you telling me there were mare pirates?" "Why of course Sweetie Belle." Ms. Cheerilee answered. "There were pirates of all genders and races throughout Equestria. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, Black Mane was the first ever mare to be captain of a pirate ship." The class all looked very interested at this moment. Even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who usually never paid attention during class, were fascinated by this talk of pirates in Equestria. "Over three hundred years ago the oceans were ruled by many ruthless and savage pirates. But even the most brave of pirates feared the legendary Black Mane and her crew. They say she wore a green coat made from the skin of the Krakan and a hat made from fresh plucked phoenix feathers. She sailed on a battered up ship with pitch black sails, robbing riches from passing ships. She was also known for even attacking other pirate ships, emptying their boats of all treasure and food, and then leaving the ship behind in flames." The class was the edge of their seats. Their mouths wide open in amazement and fascination. "After years of robbing and pillaging Black Mane's bounty became so high that nearly every sailor in Equestria began setting out to find and bring Captain Black Mane into custody. With knowledge of this threat, Black Mane took a different route though a large river that ran through the Everfree Forest. Even at that time the Everfree Forest was feared and forbidden place. But Black Mane and her crew feared nothing and knew that this was safest route.She dropped anchor, gathered up all her treasures into one large chest, and carried it all around the forest, in search of a place to bury her valuables. Soon she came across a gigantic field and then buried the chest in a spot only she knew. About a month later Canterlot forces traveled down the river into the Everfree forest and captured Black Mane. She was brought back to Canterlot and was trialed by Princess Celestia herself. Black Mane hardly defended herself and honestly admitted to the crimes she had committed. She was given life in prison and died years later in her cell. Legend say that her treasure is still buried somewhere in Ponyville." "Wow." the whole class said in a chorus. The bell then rung and Ms. Cheerilee took all the foals outside to the playground. A group of colts were playing pirates over by the slide and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were by the swings talking badly about everypony in the class. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo stayed close to the entrance of the school and just talked. "That was amazing!" Scootaloo spoke in excitement. "Pirates. Here. In Ponyville." "I can't believe one pony could force an entire country go out and hunt her down." Sweetie Belle said. "That would be the life." Scootaloo said as she began go deep into her imagination. "The life of a pirate. Sailing the world, finding adventure around every corner, an entire crew to do you bidding, and also the treasure." "Oh my gosh, that's it!" Applebloom shouted out. "What's it?" The white unicorn asked. "We all should go and look for that treasure." The yellow earth pony suggested to her friends. "That's an awesome idea Applebloom." Scootaloo said looking more excited than ever before. "Imagine, the adventure." "The riches." Sweetie Belle added. "And maybe we'll even our cutie marks." Applebloom also added. "Yeah!" The crusaders shouted together. "We'll be Cutie Mark Crusaders Treasure Hunters." Applebloom said. The Cutie Mark Crusaders did their group jump and high hoof. The school bell rang again. "Alright my little ponies," Ms. Cheerilee said making her way for the door. "playtime is over." The crusaders were the first in the building, even before Cheerilee. After a few hours class ended and all the foals and Ms. Cheerilee cleared out of the building. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo stayed on the property to discuss their plans. "Alright Crusaders," Applebloom spoke. "we're 'bout to perform, probably, the most difficult attempt to get our cutie marks ever. So I want us all to be prepared. Scootaloo we're gonna need a map of Ponyville." "What happened to that map I made for us last year?" Scootaloo asked. "Yeah, I might have accidentally threw that away." Applebloom said. "What?" Scootaloo exclaimed in rage. "But it's okay, because you're gonna draw another one." There was a long pause. Scootaloo gave Applebloom an angry look and then the silence broke. "Fine." Scootaloo said sounding annoyed. "Great." Applebloom said with a smile. "Sweetie Belle you're gonna need to bring out Cutie Mark Crusaders capes. And I'll supply us with shovels. We'll meet at the club house tomorrow morning." The group said their goodbyes and then headed home. Well, except Scootaloo who went into town to begin creating the second map of Ponyville.
