//-------------------------------------------------------// Gummied Bats out of Tartarus -by Normal- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 One newt, freshly caught from water clear as crystal... Two hairs of rat, be careful of the plague... Three eyelashes of a bitch whose bark is worse than their bite. “You had better apologize to Winona after this, Scoots. She ain’t happy one lick about what you done.” And lastly, one heart of a vampire fruit bat was to find itself joining the seemingly hodge podge collection of misfit ingredients. “Sweetie Belle! Put that down!” The complaint was once again property of Apple Bloom. Unfortunately, some ingredients found themselves twisted into a saccharine reflection at the hooves of the three youths. “But it’s so sweet-“ Which could be taken quite literally. “Down, now.“ “Hey, Apple Bloom, you sure that gummy Nightmare Night candy heart will even work? I mean the book says…” Princess Twilight Sparkle’s library could be, in the words of one purple hued, spiked up mane filly here, so totally awesome. Of course this would be followed by a flip of her mane and her specifying she meant only sometimes and it’s not like she’s an egghead or something. Her vehement protest, despite its job to contract what was already said, was met by giggles muffled behind hooves. The lady doth protest too much, methinks. But it was not something Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom could truthfully argue. Anything could be found there, from transcriptions of famous musicals, to books detailing all the intricacies of getting your very own  apple tree to grow into something worthwhile. Each book shifted slightly under hoof, it’s desire to be picked obvious as a scream. And then there was this book. This book whispered. This book whispered sweet nothings into your ear. It told you it knew all those things and and more. And it wanted to share with its very best friend. You. “Ah don’t care what the book says! There ain’t no way we are harming a poor bat,” Her words turned incomprehensible mumbles, “Even if they did try to ruin our orchard.” Apple Bloom was not entirely sure that the three of them were supposed to find such a book lying around. Which could be the potential explanation for its rather inaccessible location. There weren’t many other books that Apple Bloom knew of that were hidden away behind a shelf full of out of date dictionaries and on the highest shelf in the library. All for some dusty old tome that Scootaloo claimed she read about elsewhere and oh my gosh, I had no idea Twilight would have it! Well, Scootaloo also claimed that it could be the gateway to summoning some cutie marks. Even if  her exact phrasing was, well,  weirdly phrased… “Cutie Mark Crusaders-“ Apple Bloom’s enthusiastic cheer was cut short as a more practical thought pounced on her, “Wait! Is this going to be another one of ya poorly thought out plans that will be potentially dangerous?” “Errr…” Scootaloo was in the process of using her upmost focus, “What was that? We really can’t back out now, I’m almost down mixing the-“ Bang! The explosion rocked the very foundation for the trio’s treehouse and crusading headquarters, sending plumes of dust raining down on three unexpecting heads. “-Ingredients.” "Timete Noctem." The words are squeaked out, no higher than a whisper but… Power courses through three sets of hooves, for a total of twelve, as yet more dust was shaken free. And then a match was struck, it was dropped, and lit it landed upon the rest of the ingredients.  The last thing that needed to be done. “This was it.” They wanted to say. But they couldn’t Three mouths opened and simulationsly sucked in a breathe. They held it. One second… Two…. Scootaloo’s  right eye threatened to blink. Three… Apple Bloom’s bow quivered. Four... All three faces started to resemble a lovely, ripe blueberry, so full of juice that it would pop any second. Five. And finally, finally, the breathe was expelled and out went the match. "Oh, hello." His, or maybe even her’s, voice was nasally with mucus. Which was known from the strand of what was better known as boogers trailing from the gaping nostril  cavern. "What the...?" Applebloom’s colored returned in full and then some. She was a steaming red apple, “I thought you said this would get us our cutie marks!” "Is everything ok? Master?" Wire spectacles slid down his, and need it be said again maybe her’s, face and he/she found him/herself continually pushed them up, “I mean, Mistress. Mistresses. Oh! There are three of you. Well that’s ah- ah- ah” Whatever he/she was about to say was lost in a fit of coughs. “That’s what the book said! It said that the spell would give us a way to fulfill whatever deed we needed!” Scootaloo scooted a few inches away from where a bit of phlegm just landed. “Ewwww.” “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted a book without a title!” “Well, erm,” Sweetie Belle tried to find something to placate, her word of the week, the two bickering crusaders, “Maybe he can?” “How do you even know its a he?!” And in a way, Sweetie Belle’s words worked. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both turned to her and not a moment after… “Jinx! You owe me a soda!” “Double jinx,” A rising temper gave way to giggles, “You owe me two sodas!” "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh-ahhchoo!” “It’s definitely a boy.” Scootaloo’s voice was deadpan. “Ewwww! Ew ew ew ew! How, what! Ew! Boogers!” Formerly white hooves danced across slippery floor boards, trying to find that one elusive clean spot. And then it, the only one not covered in some off green slime spoke up “Uhhh, do you have a cat in here? I'm” It scratched as scabbed over part of its skull, “Oh shoot, I can never remember that word! I can’t be around cats though." “Allergic?” The word was tossed out there. “No, no, I don’t- ah, ahhh,” Blackened, and rather chewed up hooves grasped at a bulbous nose, “Ahh… I don’t think thats the word.” "I think I -” Scootaloo caught sight of her reflection in her friends’ staring eyes,” We, uh, made a mistake..." The demon’s watery eye blink back, never losing sight of his reflection in the fillies’ eyes.