Cutie Mark Cru-Saviours

"Sweetie, weren't y'all scared o' th' dark yesterday?" Apple Bloom giggled.

"Yes, I was," Sweetie replied, leading the way through the thick hedges of entangled, enchanted trees, "but I know that with Luna's moon watching over us, we can be safe, and I realised that yesterday. Not only that, but we make for quite a team."

"Quite?!" I added, "We're practically as AWESOME as Rainbow Dash," I jumped into the air and hoof-bumped an imaginary Rainbow Dash.

Quite some time ago, we had gotten separated from the path of the forest and were now lost between thick trees.

"What was that?" Sweetie asked, as we heard a small rustle from a nearby bush. Babs was first to investigate, followed by Apple Bloom, me and then Sweetie.

"Ah don't know, ah don't see nuthin'," Babs mumbled, her voice muffled from inside the hedge, "Wait, what's thi-- aaaaaahh!" She screamed, as she was pulled further into the hedge.

"Babs? Babs?" Sweetie asked frantically,

"WHATDOWEDOAPPLEBLOOMSHECOULDBEGONEFOREVERORDEADOROROROROR-"

"What we do," interrupted Apple Bloom, "is remain calm, so that we can think of somethin' t'do. Right now, ah think our best option is to join her, and save her from inside the bush, so are y'all ready?"

We nodded. I went into the hedge first, then Sweetie and Apple Bloom last. In the hedge was a small tunnel that lead to a bunch of caves. I went down the middle route of the fork. It was the largest so nopony was gonna feel claustrophobic. The tunnel was dark, and obviously not well built because, along with the clip-clop of our hooves, you could hear the drip drop of water leaking through. The air was damp and musky, and had a terrible smell to it.

"Did you hear that?" Sweetie whispered.

"What?" Apple Bloom replied.

"THAT?!"

Suddenly I heard a muffled laughing sound, coming from several creatures. We looked at each other before making our move, I was the first to run, they might be hurting Babs, she needed our help. I ran round the caves, following the laughter, so it might lead me to Babs. The laughter was much clearer now, high-pitched, much more like cackles than what it first seemed. I took a peek through the archway that I was hiding behind, and saw who we were facing.

Several of the creatures were gathered round a fire, and one was on the top of a set of stairs, holding a tied-up Babs. He was speaking in a language I didn't know, and every time he paused there would be a chorus of cheers from the creatures gathered round the fire. These creatures were the diamond dogs. I crept at the back of the circle, making sure not to be spotted. It was like an obstacle course but with dog-tails. I swiftly manoeuvred myself halfway through the room without any issues, the next half would be a breeze. A couple more tails later and I had two more to go. I crawled past the first, but the last was a problem. It could most likely sense that I was there. It turned, and I froze. Then I heard it. A deep rumbling noise that spread all the way down to the part of its body that my head was next to. I knew what was coming next, and that I couldn't move quickly enough or I would be spotted. pfffffffffffft It smelt disgusting, worse than anything I had ever smelt. It was more rancid than rotten eggs (or the scrambled egg we crusaders tried to cook) and made my eyes water just because of the stench. I felt like I was gonna vomit, so just in case, put one hoof over my mouth. I crawled the last part, happy to get away from the smelly diamond dog.

The leader was about to drop Babs into the pit of fire, but I knew that I couldn't save her yet, timing was everything here. To early or late and she would still meet her fiery doom in the "oven". It was almost time, NOW. I jumped high, catching Babs just as the dog let go. Babs was heavier than I thought and instantly I began falling too.

"Flap!" She yelled at me.

I tried but it didn't seem to help. C'mon Scoots, your life depends on this I thought to myself. I flapped harder and harder, till I could barely feel my wings, that's when I noticed that we were hovering.

"I'm doing it, I'm flying!" I shouted to Babs, who didn't seem as ecstatic as me. That was when I realised that I actually wasn't flying. A dog had grabbed me and now I was gonna meet the same fate as Babs was. I had done nothing but put myself in the same situation as her. He began tying me up in a thick, coarse rope that seemed to cut into my flank. Both Babs and I were lying on the top of the stone steps, whilst he continued his speech. That was when I saw what was happening, all of the dogs were falling over, passing out. They were muttering complaints about a stench, before passing out on the floor. The leader suddenly got a whiff of the scent.

"What stupid dog did this terrible stench?" He cried, holding his nose. He lasted a couple more seconds before calling the guards and passing out. The unconscious body rolled down the steps and into the fire. Suddenly ten guard dogs ran in, to see that all but one dog was on the floor. The dog who committed the crime, the one who had passed wind. It backed away against the wall whilst the guards circled it. The culprit, we found out, was called Ruffles.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were suddenly behind us, and I wondered how they got there, but at the time it wasn't relevant. They untied the ropes and my limbs were finally free.

"It was them!" Shouted the agitated Ruffles, happy to get his name cleared. The guards turned to face as. We looked at Apple Bloom, waiting for instuctions.

"RUUUUUUN!" She shouted. We galloped as fast as we could through the hundreds of tunnels. Though it was like a maze, it was easy to find your way out. The less of smelly dog fart and sweat it smelt like, the closer you were to fresh air. We found our way out quite quickly and ran into a bush just outside the one for the dog-den. The dogs didn't seem to follow us, so we jumped out of our hiding place. We carried on walking, Apple Bloom in front, who wasn't looking where she was going, instead she had her head turned as she was talking to us.

"That was a close one, Ahm so glad we got to ya in tahme. Y'kno-- oof!" She said as she crashed into a Stallion-Pegasus, wearing silver armour.

"Are you the Cutie Mark Crusaders?" He asked, looking down at us. We nodded cautiously, wondering why a member of the royal guard would want us. "Princess Luna has requested to see you, something about the fate of Equestria lying in your hands--" He continued as if he could read our minds.

"What're hands?" Babs interrupted.

"I DON'T KNOW?!" Shouted the guard in confusion. "cough Erm, I mean, the fate of Equestrian lying in your hooves... So I would advise you leave now, the Princess of The Night doesn't enjoy waiting... I should know," He shuddered.

We followed him into a carriage that we thanked him for, no more walking! The carriage took off into the night sky, and we began wondering why the Princess would need us.