Cutie Mark Crusaders, Assassins Extraordinaire

Chapters

The True First Chapter
A Disastrous Trip
Initiation
The Meeting
Exam Time
Of Mentors, New Friends and Cider

The True First Chapter

"This is completely pointless!!" Scootaloo yelled at the top of her lungs. "We'll never get our Cutie Marks like this! In fact I don't think we'll ever get our stupid Cutie Marks in anything!! I think that the universe is out to get us!!"

"Scootaloo, calm down. Ah don't really think we'll get out Cutie Marks in this either." Apple Bloom responded. "And don't yell so loud. Ah think ya broke Rarity's ears."

"Quite right dear. I don't think you really have... the gift necessary to be a model." Rarity answered. "Please hold still, Sweetie."

"If Scootaloo doesn't have what it takes, I don't think I have it either." Sweetie Belle said. "Thanks Rarity, but I think it's about time we got back to the clubhouse."

"Be home in time for dinner, alright? Have fun!" Rarity called as the three left.

"Okay, so now what?" Sweetie Belle asked. "What should we do next? Clearly modelling isn't how we'll get our cutie marks."

"What's next on the list?" Scootaloo asked. "Apple Bloom?"

"Alright, let's see, um... we already did sculpting, marksmanship, boating, boat building, boat repairing, skyship piloting, skyship building, skyship repairing, modelling..." Apple Bloom trailed off, looking in disbelief at the list.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Scootaloo concernedly asked.

"Ah can't believe this. We ran out of things ta do!"

"What?!? How?!?" Sweetie Belle yelled. "We spent an entire month making that list!!! How can we be done?!?!?"

"Yeah, we put about 5,000 things to try on that list!!" Scootaloo agreed.

"Ah can't believe it either, but we are done the list."

There was a moment of blessed silence in Ponyville. Then the silence was violently broken (along with a fair amount of windows) when three voices simultaneously screamed "But we don't have our Cutie Marks!!"

"Sweetie Belle, I know that you're upset, but did you have to break every window in the Boutique? Some of them are extremely expensive, you know." Rarity said as she prepared a bowl of soup for Sweetie Belle. Sweetie was lying on the couch feeling miserable.

"I won't ever get my Cutie Mark, will I?" She asked miserably.

"I'm sure you will, one day." Rarity soothed her, putting down the soup and patting Sweetie's head.

"And I'm sure that the other Crusaders have already earned their Cutie Marks without me."

"Sweetie, I know that you will get your mark, just not today is all. I'm sure that you'll get it when the time is right."

"But when will the time be right?" Sweetie asked, looking hopefully at Rarity.

"I don't know, Sweetie. I just don't know."

"I hate my life." Scootaloo mumbled into her pillow.

"Is it really that bad?" A small lavender unicorn sitting at the end of her bed asked.

"It's worse, Dinky. I've tried everything, but nothing seems to work. It's like the universe doesn't want me to get my Cutie Mark. What do you think?"

"I think you need to try harder." Dinky replied.

"I've tried as hard as I can, and I still don't have it! You'll probably have yours before I have mine!" Scootaloo lamented.

"Relax, nopony ever doesn't get their Cutie Mark. Besides, isn't Sweetie Belle the drama queen?" Dinky smiled.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm probably overreacting. But still, isn't it odd that I haven't gotten my Cutie Mark yet?" Scootaloo rolled over and looked at Dinky quizzically.

"Maybe your Cutie Mark is so special that you need to work really really hard for a really really long time to get it!" Dinky suggested.

"Yeah, that's probably it! I just wish that I could have worked hard enough for long enough already."

Apple Bloom sighed. After Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had gone home she had locked herself in her room and had refused to come out, preferring to attempt to distract herself by reading. Unfortunately, it hadn't worked, and now she was even more depressed. She ran over the list one more time, hoping that there was something she had missed. Card playing, game designing, lumberjacking, bowling, alchemy... There was nothing they could do that they hadn't tried. Wait...

Apple Bloom sat up. She had a plan.

Apple Bloom ran downstairs as fast as she could. She paused for a second to ask permission from Applejack.

"HeyApplejackcantheCrusadersandahgoforatriptoAppleoosapleaseokaythanksbyeseeyalater!!" Apple Bloom yelled in the general direction of Applejack. She shot out the door as fast as she ran down the stairs, which was pretty fast, leaving Applejack blinking in confusion at the spot her sister had occupied for all of one second.

"... Okay?"

Scootaloo walked over to the door, intending to go to the playground with Dinky for a while. However, the door was thrown off its hinges as Apple Bloom ran in, grabbed Scootaloo, and yelled a barely coherent apology as she ran in the direction of Carousel Boutique with an extremely disconcerted Scootaloo in tow. Apple Bloom sprinted at maximum speed towards Sweetie's house.

"Appplleee Blloooooomm!!!!! Whaaaat Aarreee yyyoooouu dooooiing?!?!?" Scootaloo yelled.

"What?" Apple Bloom asked, stopping just in front of the Boutique.

"WHAT IN EQUESTRIA ARE YOU DOING??? I SHOULD BE THE ONE DRAGGING YOU AT A MILLION KILOMETRES AN HOUR, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND!!!!!!!" Scootaloo yelled. In a much lower voice, she continued. "Why were you running anyways?"

"You'll see." Apple Bloom said cryptically.

"You know how we can get our Cutie Marks?!?" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"How?" Scootaloo asked. "We've tried everything."

"Not everything. We've only tried things that we can do in Ponyville!!" Apple Bloom declared. "We haven't been able to try a lot of things that we might get our Cutie Marks in because we can't do them in Ponyville. So I thought that we could wander around Equestria for a while, try to get our Cutie Marks while we're away. What do you think?"

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sat in silence for a while, then nodded in unison.

"Sounds like a good idea!" Scootaloo declared.

"Count me in!" Sweetie Belle said.

"So it's decided?" Apple Bloom asked. The other Crusaders nodded. "Excellent! We leave whenever you're ready."

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS WORLD TRAVELLERS YAY!!!!!!" The three yelled in harmony.

Somewhere else in the world, Discord looked up from his newspaper. "Why do I feel like there's going to be a lot of chaos in the near future? Oh, right! It's Thursday!" He went back to his paper.

To be continued...

Author's Note

As you might have guessed from the title, this is the real first chapter of this story. As I said before, the previous chapter (which I'm going to post only after the story is complete) is a huge information dump/backstory. If enough people ask, I'll move the not-really-a-chapter to the back, so that you can understand why things are... different from the show. This has an AU tag for a reason, you know. So, this is the real first chapter. It's kinda rushed, because I promised a new story by the end of September 2015, and I remembered my promise three days before the end of the month. So, yeah. I'll try and remember to expand this at some point. As always, tell me what you think and thanks for reading!

A Disastrous Trip

Apple Bloom paced back and forth in front of Sweet Apple Acres. She was getting impatient, and somewhat annoyed. She could understand why Sweetie Belle would be late, but Scootaloo? She was never late. Apple Bloom looked at Sweet Apple Acres' clock and sighed in annoyance. Where were they? She checked her saddlebags out of boredom. Apples, books, apple pie, apple cake, apple sandwiches, trading cards, more books, plushies, and a couple of hair bows. Just the essentials. A high-pitched yell violently yanked her out of her saddlebags and into the real world.

"AAAAAAAPPLEEEEEE BLOOOOOOOOM!!" Sweetie Belle yelled as she sprinted towards Apple Bloom.

Skidding to a halt just in front of Apple Bloom, Sweetie tried to catch her breath. This task rapidly proved to be impossible while she remained standing, and Sweetie Belle lay down for a moment. Neither of the two spoke for a moment. Apple Bloom broke the silence (not really) by producing an apple from her bag and offering it to Sweetie, who graciously accepted.

"Thanks," Sweetie said as she crunched the apple happily.

"Why in Equestria were ya running so fast? We don't have to leave at any particular time," Apple Bloom asked.

"Didn't want to arrive too far behind Scootaloo. Speaking of Scootaloo, where is she?" Sweetie explained.

"Ah have no idea. I thought that she woulda arrived before you, but she seems ta be late." Apple Bloom stared at the obviously empty road. Almost as if her glare had galvanized the universe into action, a fast moving speck appeared on the road.

As Scootaloo pulled up, Apple Bloom muttered under her breath. "Well speak of the devil."

"Huh?" Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom questioningly.

"Nothing," Apple Bloom hurriedly said. "Are ya ready to go?"

"Yep. I've got everything I need. How did Sweetie arrive before me?" Scootaloo asked.

"I have no idea," Sweetie admitted.

"Okay! Let's go!" Apple Bloom cheered.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS WORLD TRAVELLERS YAY!"

In a nearby field, Applejack stopped mid-applebuck and looked worriedly towards the Everfree Forest.

"Why do ah get the feeling that something is very wrong?" she asked a nearby apple tree.

The tree wisely remained silent. The ancient laws forbade it from communicating with mortals, but it could help the young ones. It sent a message to the Everfree, telling the forest's soul to protect Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. It dropped a few apples and did the closest thing that a tree could to a contented sigh: let a few leaves fall.

The Everfree Forest wasn't used to ponies travelling through it, but recently there had been a lot of ponies and similar beings coming through. The most annoying thing was that none of them were scared. It had gradually built up a reputation to prevent ponies from coming in it, and to make sure that the ones who were brave or foolish enough to would be too scared to ever come back in.

After the Nightmare Moon thing, for some reason, a small group of ponies had been venturing in more and more. It was always the same six, and now three more had joined them in regularly visiting. Today the three were back, and seemed more obnoxious than ever. Unfortunately, it had been asked by Old Apple to keep them safe. So, unfortunately, it was honour bound by the old pacts to help them. That didn't mean that it had to like it. And it certainly didn't like it.

"So, what path should we take?" Scootaloo asked. The three fillies were standing at a fork in the road. The right path (in all senses of the word) looked like a timberwolf pack had walked through. It had been broken and clawed, like an extremely angry chainsaw ghost had gone on a rampage. The left path looked perfectly fine. An experienced forest dweller would know that the lack of any claw marks meant that the left path lead to the lair of a particularly dangerous Spectre, but the Crusaders weren't experienced forest dwellers.

"I vote left." Apple Bloom said.

"Me too." Scootaloo agreed.

"Me three!" Sweetie chimed in. However, before they could start walking down the wrong path, the Everfree decided to act. A tree collapsed in the middle of the path. Just to drive the point home, it sent a few more trees collapsing.

"I don't think the forest wants us to go down that path, Apple Bloom." Scootaloo quietly said.

"Normally, if somepony had said that to me, I'd have called them crazy, but ah think you're right. Let's go down the other path." As the Crusaders began walking down the right path, the Everfree forest breathed a sigh of relief (in a manner of speaking). It decided to get rid of that Spectre as soon as possible. While it was planning the attack, it failed to notice a group of bandits walking along the same path.

"Ah think this was the right path after all, girls! We'll be in Appleoosa in no time!" Apple Bloom happily exclaimed. The Crusaders had been travelling down the right path for an hour and hadn't run into any monsters. They had seen a lot of abnormal forest critters, but nothing that had tried to kill them.

"Excellent! How much longer?" Scootaloo asked.

"Uh... does anypony have a watch?" Apple Bloom asked.

"No." Scootaloo responded.

"No, should I have brought one?" Sweetie Belle worriedly asked.

"Okay, all we need to do is find the sun. Shouldn't be too hard, right?" Apple Bloom said nervously.

"You're right, shouldn't be too hard... for us." A new voice came from behind the Crusaders. It was harsh and sounded cruel. The fillies spun around to see a quintet of mean looking beings. The one who'd spoken was a massive earth pony who was missing an eye. His coat was dark green and lined with cuts. Standing beside him was a pegasus mare with a dark pink coat. Her eyes were like chips of ice, a muted shade of light blue. Hovering above them was a grey griffin with dark orange feathers and eyes. His beak was jagged but sharp, and was the same shade of orange. Standing behind them were a pair of unicorns, one male, one female. The male was dark blue with a curved horn and a black mane and tail. His cruel eyes burned green and black, almost drowning out his natural purple irises. Finally, the female unicorn had a purple coat that was so dark it was almost black, a disconcertingly bright green mane and tail and pure black eyes with no visible white. Together, the five were very intimidating.

"Uh, ah think we can manage without your help, no offence, but ah think that we'd better be going now." Apple Bloom said quickly.

"You're not going anywhere." The pegasus mare said, smiling evilly.

"Except with us." The unicorn stallion added.

"HELP!!!!" Sweetie Belle screamed at the top of her lungs.

The Everfree heard the scream and immediately remembered the laws. It looked through the eyes of a nearby bat and saw the bandits grabbing the Crusaders and tying them up. It knew that it wouldn't be able to reach them in time, so it searched for someone who could. It smiled as it found the perfect band of candidates. It explained everything to them. As its chosen saviours ran off, the Everfree Forest resumed the task of trying to remove the Spectre.

"Now what do we do?" Apple Bloom whimpered. The Crusaders had been tied to a tree just outside of the Everfree Forest while their captors argued over what to do with them. The unicorns wanted to use them for magical experiments, the earth pony wanted to sell them as slaves... it seemed like all of them wanted to use them for something different. Except for the griffin. He didn't seem to want to have anything to do with the others or them. He kept looking at the forest like he was expecting something to come out.

Finally, the bandits seemed to get sick of arguing and decided to determine their fates tomorrow. They began cooking their dinner. Except for the griffin. He just kept watching the forest. Soon, all the bandits went to sleep. Except for the griffin. He remained awake, just watching the forest.

"Apple Bloom?" Sweetie Belle whispered. It was the first time she had spoken since they had been tied up.

"What?" Apple Bloom whispered back.

"I'm scared. What are they gonna do to us?"

"I don't know."

The next morning, Apple Bloom woke up to find the bandits arguing once more over what to do with them.

"I say that we should just sell them and get it over with." The earth pony said. "It's easy and we won't have to worry about them any longer."

"But I need subjects for my experiments!" The unicorn mare protested.

"Me too. I vote that we should get them." The unicorn stallion agreed.

"I think we should try to get a ransom, and if that doesn't work, we sell them." The pegasus said.

"Why don't we try to get a ransom for two of them, and use the third for experiments?" The earth pony asked. "That way everyone's happy."

The unicorn stallion began to protest, but a flying knife interrupted him. A long curved dagger impaled itself in his back, silencing him immediately. The bandits looked at the dagger in shock for a moment before turning towards the forest. A black robed pony stood there. Its swamping cloak concealed its body and head, but its face, or rather the mask that concealed it, showed. The mask was composed of angular black metal, and resembled a skull.

The pony threw another gleaming dagger with its booted hoof with deadly precision, hitting the remaining unicorn in the chest. As she keeled over, the pegasus lunged, trying to catch the pony off guard. Dodging the attack, the pony threw another dagger at the charging earth pony, hitting him in the eye. The pegasus tried another attack, attempting to cut the pony with a short dagger she had drawn. As she lunged, the pony stabbed her in the chest. The pegasus slumped to the ground as the pony walked over the the Crusaders.

"Get away from us!" Scootaloo yelled at the pony. Ignoring her, the pony cut the ropes binding them to the tree. Sweetie Belle immediately ran over to hug Scootaloo, who reluctantly returned the hug. Apple Bloom pointed an accusing hoof at the pony.

"Who are you, and why did you save us from those mean ponies?" Apple Bloom demanded.

"I am Starburst, and I saved you because I was asked." The pony said, pulling back her hood and taking off her mask. Her coat was bright orange and her mane was bronze, while her eyes shone like emeralds. She had a kind smile and looked like she did so a lot. Her eyes showed wisdom beyond her years, but there was steel in her gaze.

"How did you do that? How did you throw those knives? Who taught you?" Scootaloo eagerly asked.

"It doesn't matter right now. There are more bandits coming, we need to get out of here before they arrive." Starburst looked worriedly at the path leading away from the Everfree.

"Starburst! Behind you!!" Sweetie Belle yelled. The griffin had snuck up behind them.

"I know." Starburst turned to look at the griffin. "Steel Talon, could you perhaps clear those bodies away? I don't want to leave any signs that we were here."

"Sure thing." The griffin, apparently named Steel Talon said. He began dismantling the camp and moving the bandits' bodies.

"He's with you?!? We thought he was a bandit!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"For a while, he was a bandit. We've been trying to take down this group for a while now. We were going to wait for a few more days to strike, but circumstances changed." Starburst explained. "We have to go."

"Where are we going?" Apple Bloom asked.

"To our camp. I think you'll find it more comfortable than this one."

To be continued...

Author's Note

And chapter two is done! This is possibly the fastest I have ever written the second chapter of a story. No, seriously. I hope the third chapter comes out as fast and that this one is as good as the first. 4 upvotes and no downvotes? That's the best ratio on any of my stories ever!! Thank you all so much!! As always, thanks for reading, and please tell me what you think.

Initiation

"Well, we're here." Starburst lead the Crusaders and Steel Talon into a large clearing. It contained a number of tents and a couple of ponies milling around within. Both of the ponies walked up to Starburst. One was an orange pegasus with a silver mane and crystalline green eyes. The second pony was a dark blue unicorn with a blue and green mane and tail and a light blue eye. His left eye was concealed behind his mane.

"Starburst! You're back early. Who are these three?" The pegasus asked.

"The bandits forced my hoof, Starbeam." Starburst explained. "They captured these three and the forest asked me to help."

"The Everspirit told you to rescue these fillies? He never asks for help unless it's really important." The unicorn said, brushing his mane away from his left eye with a tendril of magic, revealing that its iris was bright green.

"I know, which means that these ponies are special. I'd like you to examine them, Moonstruck." Starburst said.

"Wait, do we have any say in this?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Not right now." Moonstruck said. He grinned maniacally at the Crusaders, causing Sweetie Belle to hug Scootaloo in fright.

"Don't scare them to death or there won't be any pie for you tonight." Starbeam chided.

"There's never any pie by the time I get there." Steel Talon muttered just loud enough for the Crusaders to hear. They looked at each other and giggled under their breath. Perhaps this place wasn't too bad after all.

"Chores?!?" Scootaloo yelled. "We have to do chores??"

"Why wouldn't you have to do chores?" Starbeam looked at her like she was crazy. "We all have to do our fair share around here, and we now includes you."

"Couldn't we wait to include me in we for a little while??" Scootaloo whined. "Like, until tomorrow?"

"No, unless you feel like sleeping out in the open and cooking your own meal and missing out on the pie and not getting to read any books and not getting-"

"OKAY!!! I'll do some chores." Scootaloo yelled.

"Good." Starbeam smiled. "First you can fold these freshly washed sheets. Don't put them on the ground or on the beds or that table there." She pointed at a perfectly ordinary table.

"Why not that table?" Scootaloo asked.

"That's where Steel Talon prepares his meals. He's an omnivore."

"And that should matter why?" Scootaloo asked. "And what's an omnivore?"

"Never mind. Just don't put these sheets on that table."

"Okay." Scootaloo began folding the sheets on another table.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to go find some wood." Starbeam said. "Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone."

"Yes, mother." Scootaloo responded, rolling her eyes.

Starbeam paused at the entrance of the camp, and glanced back at Scootaloo. She almost turned back, but continued out.

"I see that you warned her to not put the sheets on the meat table." Starbeam jumped at the sound of Steel Talon's voice. The bulky griffin was perched in a tree on the outskirt of the camp. He was looking at her, but Starbeam knew that he was perfectly aware of everything that was going on in the forest.

"Yeah, for some reason she didn't know what an omnivore was." Starbeam smiled.

"But there's something else, isn't there?" Steel Talon leaned forward. "When she called you mother... did you notice anything?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Starbeam said stiffly before running into the forest.

"You might have no idea, but it's clear as day for me." Steel Talon said quietly. He looked at Scootaloo, who was having trouble folding a particularly large sheet. "Clearer, as a matter of fact."

"What's that??"

"That's a thaumometer. It-"

"What's that??"

"That's a crystal with a demonic spirit bound to it. I use-"

"What's that??"

"That's a copy of the Necronomicon. It-"

"What's that??"

"That's a spoon."

"Cool!!" Sweetie Belle excitedly said.

"It is indeed cool, as you put it, but could you possibly stop bouncing around and let me scan you?" Moonstruck said exasperatedly. "It's awfully hard to determine why you're special if you don't let me check to see if you're different in any way."

"Okay, but Rarity said to not let anypony touch me without somepony I know with me."

"Don't worry, I won't touch you. I'm going to scan you with this machine here." Moonstruck tapped a giant cage like machine. It resembled a giant spider hunched in a corner.

"Okay, I guess." Sweetie Belle hopped into the machine. Moonstruck turned on the contraption, which was bathed in green light as the 'legs' of the spider moved around its centre. A hologram of Sweetie Belle appeared by the side of the machine. It was primarily green, except for a few purple and blue patches. There were two particularly large purple patches where Sweetie's Cutie Mark should have been, had it been there. The blue patches were primarily located around Sweetie's head, with one covering her horn and two concentrated in her eyes. However, there was also a small red patch, occupying the location where her heart was. As Moonstruck watched, the red patch expanded slightly, then turned bronze briefly before changing back to red.

"What does it say? Why is my flank purple? Is my Cutie Mark going to be a purple blob?" Sweetie Belle excitedly asked.

"I..." Moonstruck began. "I need to show this to Starburst now." He ran out of the tent.

"How do I get out of this thing?!?" Sweetie Belle yelled after him. "Ah well. At least there's this book here." She grabbed a leather bound tome with a pentagram inscribed on the cover and began to read.

"So, you're assassins?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yep. We help to keep the world in balance by killing off the bad guys and protecting the good guys." Starburst explained as she stirred something in a pot over the campfire.

"And you're all assassins here?"

"No, our organization is divided into three classes. My class is the actual assassin class. We're trained in martial arts, acrobatics, armed and unarmed combat, and espionage to a small degree. Steel Talon belongs to the second class, the agents. They're a combination of the assassin class and the third class. They can hold their own in a fight and are excellent information gatherers. They often work as field support for assassins and members of the third class, the infiltrators. Infiltrators are masters of disguise and excellent liars. They are usually used to scout out a location before agents or assassins are sent in. They are only lightly trained in combat, making disguises, lies and the element of surprise their primary weapons. Starbeam is an infiltrator, but you wouldn't know it from looking at her. Everyone thinks she's an agent. Pegasi usually become agents, earth ponies often join the infiltrators and unicorns often become assassins. Of course, there are many exceptions, like me. Was that too much?"

"No, it wasn't. Your organization seems really complicated. Who runs it all?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Nopony knows his true name, but the pony we all answer to calls himself the Mastermind. We don't know anything about him besides that. Nopony has seen his face, and nopony even knows what kind of pony he is. Most think that he's an earth pony, but nopony is sure."

"Cool." Apple Bloom looked curiously at the bowl of soup that had been set down in front of her. It looked like liquified caterpillar, but she wasn't sure.

"Don't worry, it's potato and carrot." Starburst reassured her.

"Where's the potato?"

"Must've dissolved."

"Where's the carrot?"

"Must've dissolved."

Apple Bloom decided to stop questioning the soup and just eat it. Halfway through, Moonstruck ran up and pulled Starburst aside. After a minute of urgent whispering, Starburst told her to go into Moonstruck's tent.

Sweetie Belle hummed to herself as she turned a page of the Necronomicon. It was a fun book to read. She decided to try out the 'Wrath of Cthulhu' spell she'd found on page 32 at some point. The image looked kinda weird, but being able to summon a clutch of writhing tentacles at will seemed pretty useful. The summoning spells seemed complicated, but she hoped that she could pull off one of them one day. Getting an 'Occultist Priest' Cutie Mark would be pretty cool! What would it look like though? She was yanked out of her imagining by Apple Bloom running into the tent. She quickly put the book back onto its stand.

"Hey Apple Bloom!" Sweetie chirped.

"Sweetie Belle, what are you doing in there?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I couldn't figure out how to get out." Sweetie Belle admitted sheepishly.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You're still here??" Moonstruck asked incredulously as he and Starburst walked into the tent.

"I didn't know how to get out." Sweetie Belle explained.

"It's easy. All you have to do is lift the latch here and walk out." Moonstruck demonstrated.

"Oh." Sweetie said, embarrassed.

"Don't leave yet, though. I have to show Starburst something."

"Okay."

"So what do you need to show me, Moon?" Starburst asked.

"This." Moonstruck said, turning on the machine. The spider moved its 'legs' once more, showering Sweetie Belle with green light again. The hologram appeared again, almost unchanged. Almost. The red patch was slightly bigger now, although not by much.

"What am I supposed to be looking at here?" Starburst queried.

"This red patch here. It turned bronze while I was looking at it the first time. I think that it might be the energy signature of a clairvoyant enchantment."

"What does that mean?" Apple Bloom asked.

"It means that Sweetie Belle is the subject of a prophecy, and a powerful one at that. If it is one, it's the strongest one I've ever seen. More powerful than Princess Twilight Sparkle perhaps."

"Wait, Twilight? She's the subject of a prophecy?" Sweetie Belle asked incredulously.

"You know Twilight Sparkle?" Starburst asked.

"Yeah, our sisters are her friends."

"Which ones?"

"Is this relevant right now?" Moonstruck asked. "Because I don't think it is right now. What is relevant is the fact that Twilight Sparkle was the subject of several prophecies, many of which have now been fulfilled. Yours, Sweetie Belle, is unfulfilled and therefore still active. This prophecy is an extraordinarily powerful one, which means that it is very important. It might concern the entire world for all we know."

After that immense proclamation, there was a moment of silence. Then Scootaloo burst into the tent.

"Why are we all standing around looking at that weird cage thing that Sweetie's standing in?" Scootaloo asked. Everyone looked at her, then burst out laughing.

"What?" She said.

"I think that Mastermind needs to see these three as soon as possible." Starburst said, chuckling.

"I agree." Moonstruck agreed.

"We'll leave in the morning. For now, get some sleep." Starburst ordered. "We have a big day tomorrow."

To be continued...

Author's Note

I can't believe how fast I've been writing recently. It took only two days to write this entire 2K+ words chapter, which is probably the fastest I've written anything. Thank you all for liking this so much, and I hope that I can complete this story before the school year is over. Thanks for reading and please tell me what you think, as always.

The Meeting

Scootaloo ran through a maze of ice and fire, a labyrinth of glass and sand that constantly changed around her. One moment the walls were stainless steel with mechanical claws that attempted to block her path with whirring saw blades, the next the gleaming walls had changed to colossal monoliths of stone that watched her with unblinking red eyes. She spun to avoid a wall of swords that battled an invisible foe and turned down a path paved with tombstones that clawed at her with spectral hooves.

She saw a giant structure ahead and ran towards it, knowing that it was the centre of this impossible maze. A swarm of small metal circles moved to intercept her, but she dodged it and slid under a barrier of pure energy that threatened to tear her mind apart with its intensity. She was close to the building now, she could see it just ahead.

The huge temple remained unchanged from the last time she'd seen it. It resembled a giant spear stabbing at the heavens, forged of black volcanic rock. A vast torch burned at the tip of the huge spire. Suddenly, a roar behind her caused her to glance back. A horrifyingly grotesque monster loped through the maze, smashing through all kinds of obstacles in its relentless pursuit of her. No part of the monster aside from its eyes, which blazed with fury and promised death and suffering, were clear.

She ran faster, trying to evade the fiend as it pursued her through the maze. She ducked under a wall of pure gold that tried to crush her, dodged a storm of arrows that swarmed around her with unnatural intelligence, and jumped over a series of logs covered with rusty nails. She reached the temple and ran in the open door, which closed behind her. She looked around the interior of the temple. Leering faces were carved into the walls, and a fire burned in every corner, and there were a lot of corners.

In the centre of the room, a massive statue stood. It resembled Princess Celestia, but something was wrong. Her face was contorted in a scowl and she wore jagged armour that had agonized faces carved in every plate. She wielded a long spear that was wreathed with two serpents who had burning manes like a lion's. In most images of her from before Nightmare Moon, she had a similar spear, but it usually didn't have the serpents and she never wore armour aside form her regular regalia. There was something wrong with this statue and this place, and Scootaloo knew it.

She looked back towards the entrance and saw that the monster had stopped just outside the now open door, and was glaring at her with an expression of absolute hate. If she left, it would kill her. She heard a noise behind her and turned to see an awful sight. The Celestia statue had turned to face her, now grinning evilly. The statue spun its spear and advanced, still grinning. Scootaloo looked behind her and saw that she couldn't back up, if she did she'd walk into the talons and tentacles of the monster. There was no way out.

Suddenly, a massive noise from behind caught the attention of the evil Celestia statue, who spun to confront whatever had made it. It was a statue of Princess Luna. The younger princess held a pair of swords in her magic and wore armour similar to the suit that she'd worn as Nightmare Moon. However, this armour was silver and glowed with light magic, and Luna's expression was kinder. Raising her swords, the Luna statue attacked the Celestia statue, who retaliated in kind. As Scootaloo watched the battle, the monster took a step forward, seeking to attack her while she was distracted. She spun just in time to dodge the demon as it lunged. It turned to her and spoke two words:

"Wake up."

"Wake up, for Celestia's sake!! We have to go!" Starbeam yelled.

"What time is it?" Scootaloo mumbled.

"About six o'clock. Get up, it's time to go."

"Go back to sleep, Dinky. It's not time for school yet."

"Why are we yelling?" Sweetie Belle asked, pulling her head out from under a pillow.

"Scootaloo won't wake up." Starbeam said, waving her hooves exasperatedly.

"I know how to get her up." Sweetie took a deep breath. "Hey Scootaloo! Rainbow Dash is doing stunts outside!!"

"WHATREALLYWHERE?!?!?!?!?" Scootaloo yelled, springing out of her sleeping bag and running outside.

"Works every time." Sweetie Belle said with a satisfied smile.

"Now that you're up, you can help us pack up camp." Starbeam said. Steel Talon was already up and was busy dismantling his tent while Moonstruck was frantically stuffing random things into a giant bag that didn't seem anywhere near big enough to hold everything he had. Starburst was meditating in the spot where her tent used to be.

"Well, it looks like you're done, so can we have breakfast and go?" Scootaloo asked.

"We're almost done, but you haven't even started yet." Starbeam gestured towards the Crusader's tent, which was still very much standing. Scootaloo groaned and resigned herself to a morning of work. Over the course of the morning, she almost forgot about the strange dream she'd had. Almost.

"Are we there yet?" Sweetie Belle mumbled from her position on top of Moonstruck's head.

"The answer is the same as the last three hundred times you asked that, no." Starburst said, exasperated.

"I hoped that it had possibly changed in the last five minutes." Sweetie said.

"Well, it hasn't."

"When will it?"

"When it does."

"When will that be?"

"I don't know. Now could you please let me concentrate?" Starburst crouched down and looked at a patch of ground.

"Isn't there something we could do while we travel?" Scootaloo asked. She was walking beside Steel Talon, who had been lecturing her on how griffin flight and pegasus flight were different for the last hour. She'd lost interest when he'd started teaching her how to fly like a griffin and she'd almost sprained her wing.

"You told me that you didn't want to play any games while we travelled because they weren't interesting enough." Apple Bloom accused. "You didn't want to play Eye Spy because it was too easy, you didn't want to play Eye Spy advanced version because it was too difficult, you didn't want to play Hide and Seek because it took too long, you didn't want to play Tag because it didn't take long enough. In short, you didn't want to play anything." She ranted.

"Well, maybe I was nitpicking a bit." Scootaloo admitted.

Suddenly, Starbeam landed in front of the group. "We're almost there. Just a kilometre or so."

"Just a kilometre? I don't think the little ones can take that much walking." Steel Talon said jokingly.

"I could teleport us all there." Moonstruck suggested.

"The children are going to walk." Starburst said firmly.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Scootaloo yelled.

In the nearby concealed fortress, a pair of guards looked at each other worriedly. "Why do I get the feeling that something is going to go really wrong in the near future?" One of them asked.

"I don't know, but I have that same feeling." The other one said.

"We're finally here!" Starbeam said.

"Praise Celestia." Scootaloo and Starburst muttered in unison.

"Where is it then?" Sweetie Belle asked. There wasn't anything in the clearing to suggest that there was a super-secret assassin fortress here. In fact, it looked like a perfectly typical clearing. Almost too typical. Starburst walked up to a small tree in the centre of the grassy meadow. The tree was covered in graffiti, with inscriptions like 'RD wuz here' and 'O x V' and 'Existence is futile!'. Things like that. In short, the most typical tree that's not owned by a farmer in the world. At least, until Starburst pushed it over. The hole revealed a periscope that extended out and looked at all seven of them in turn. Finally, a mechanical voice emitted from the hole. "Password?"

"Liquorice." Starburst said.

After a short pause, the voice replied. "Four operatives and three guests?"

"Yes."

"Enter." The ground peeled itself apart and revealed a stairway leading down.

"Thank you, Viattermecnattech."

"Viattermecnattech?" Apple Bloom asked as the seven descended the staircase.

"He's our tactical AI. Been here for as long as I can remember. Quite intelligent but very literal. If you ask him to damn someone, he'll do his best and then some to literally damn that pony."

"Really?"

"It's happened."

"Can we go inside already? My hooves are killing me." Scootaloo whined.

"Okay, pickypants." Starbeam said. "We're about to enter the most secret place in the world that we know about, so be courteous. Most of the ponies in here can easily kill you, so don't annoy them. The pony you're about to meet is even more lethal than anypony in the order, so especially don't annoy him. Got that?"

"Yep!" The Crusaders said in unison.

"Excellent."

The fortress may have been spectacular, but it's ceilings weren't. As the Crusaders followed Starburst through the stronghold, they tried to see everything but couldn't. There was a lot going on around them. Sweetie Belle saw a trio of young ponies either practising some kind of martial arts or dancing, she wasn't sure which. Apple Bloom spotted a minotaur holding a battle axe fighting a three headed dragon without wings wearing heavy plate armour covered in spikes. Scootaloo caught a glimpse of a couple of ponies in lab coats building a six-legged robot with blades for legs. A few seconds later, the robot ran out of the room it was in and joined the fight between the wingless dragon and the minotaur. The ponies in lab coats and the martial artists/dancers ran after it.

"Why are the ceilings so low?" Scootaloo asked Starburst. "Can't they be higher?"

"They need to be low, otherwise we wouldn't be able to fit five stories in between bedrock and the surface."

"Why can't you just dig into the bedrock?"

"Because it's virtually impossible."

"Why?"

"Because bedrock is very tough and when this fortress was built, there was no way to cut through it." Starburst explained.

"Okay, if you say so." Scootaloo clearly wasn't satisfied with that answer, but decided not to press the matter further.

"We're here, anyways." Starburst gestured to a large door, or at least large for the stronghold. The door was large enough for the dragon they'd seen earlier to fit through with room to spare. It was undecorated and made of plain wood held together with rusted bronze plates. In short, it was the most ordinary door they'd ever seen.

"We're supposed ta go inside?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yes. Unless you want to go home now I'd advise going in there. Don't worry, Mastermind doesn't bite as far as I know." Starburst said.

"Are you coming in with us?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I'm afraid not. Moonstruck, Steel Talon, Starbeam and I have to report to our immediate superiors first. Mastermind is expecting you, and I wouldn't keep him waiting. Once you three are done, I'll take you on a tour." Starburst said. As she left, the Crusaders exchanged worried glances.

"So, ah reckon that we should just get it over with, ah guess." Apple Bloom said after a long pause.

"I guess." Scootaloo replied. Apple Bloom knocked on the door tentatively.

"Enter." A male voice said. The three fillies walked in the suddenly unlocked door, which closed behind them on its own. The room they walked into was as undecorated as the door it had hid behind. It contained a single painting of a strange symbol shaped a bit like a plus sign, but slightly curved. Other than that, the room held only a desk and some chairs. A plain white teacup stood in the middle of the desk.

On the Crusader's side of the desk, three chairs were arranged in a half circle. On the other side, a single high-backed mahogany chair was turned away from them. The Crusaders sat in the chairs cautiously. As soon as they did, the fourth chair spun around to reveal a pony clad from head to hoof in black leather armour. His head was completely concealed behind a black mask that concealed every aspect of his face, including his eyes. A black hood completed the costume.

"Are you Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom?" He asked in a deep baritone voice.

"Yes, that's us." Apple Bloom said uncertainly.

"Good. Starburst says that you three have been bound to a prophecy. Is this correct?" He asked.

"Yeah, but we don't know how it happened." Apple Bloom said.

"Starburst said as much. She also says that you showed an interest in our organization. Is this accurate?"

"Yep, we were interested in how it works."

"I see. Would you three be interested in possibly joining?"

"Joining what? Your top secret assassin team?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yes."

"Well, ah don't know. Girls? What do you think?" Apple Bloom said. She looked at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and saw that they were both nodding madly.

"I think that your friends want to join." Mastermind said dryly.

"Ah think that you know what our answer is." Apple Bloom said.

"Excellent. Starburst should be back by now, so you can tell her. Your evaluation begins in two hours and once it's done, you'll be assigned a mentor, and your training will begin tomorrow. You can leave now." The door opened and the Crusaders began to leave. Just before Apple Bloom left, Mastermind called after her.

"Whatever your prophecy entails, just remember that everything until its completion was meant to happen."

"Do you believe in fate, Mastermind?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yes, but I also believe that we are masters of ours. Now hurry along, your evaluation is going to be soon and you don't want to miss it." Mastermind said.

To be continued...

Author's Note

This took a bit longer than I'd hoped. I blame it on laziness. Anyways, I hope that this chapter is as good as the others, but don't be afraid to tell me what you think. If it's terrible, it's terrible, although it probably isn't. As always, thanks for reading!

Exam Time

"Are you sure that this is ah good idea?" Apple Bloom asked.

"If you want to pass your entrance exam, you're gonna have to, regardless of whether it's a good idea or not." Starbeam said. "Now hurry up, we don't have all day."

"Aaaaaaaaaahh!!!!" Scootaloo yelled as she tried to dodge twelve swinging sandbags on a tightrope, two of which were secretly filled with nails. Or maybe they weren't. Apple Bloom wasn't sure. She looked at her own personalized challenge, which consisted of several large boulders and one iron ball that was easily the size of Fluttershy's cottage. Thankfully, the ball wasn't spiked, but that wouldn't really matter if it hit her. Her only goal was to get to the other side of the arena alive.

"Is there something less lethal I could do?" Apple Bloom asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not. If you were in this kind of situation in the field, there wouldn't be a chance to choose "Something less lethal". Better get used to facing death in a safe environment before you face it for real."

"You call this safe?"

"Well, you wouldn't exactly be facing death if you were completely safe."

"Come on, AB!!" Sweetie Belle yelled from the other side of the room. She'd already beaten her challenge, which had consisted of a glass maze filled with lasers. Sweetie had shattered it with a single high-pitched note and had happily bounced across the broken glass without getting a single cut. The judges were still trying to figure out how she'd broken the seemingly unbreakable security glass.

"Easy for you to say. Your challenge wasn't even lethal." Apple Bloom muttered. She jumped down into the arena and saw the boulders start rolling immediately. The metal orb didn't move yet but probably would soon. She dodged a giant rock and watched it smash into another giant rock. Splinters flew everywhere. Ignoring the rain of shards, Apple Bloom jumped over another boulder and ran in front of another one which missed her by a heartbeat. A loud groan announced the fact that the giant metal ball was rolling her way. The ball crushed a boulder underneath its bulk as it, with very un-rocklike intelligence, rumbled towards her.

"3 down, 5 to go, plus that steel behemoth." Apple Bloom thought. Sprinting over to another boulder, she used the monolithic stone as a springboard, using its rotation to launch herself over the iron orb. The gargantuan metal sphere couldn't change direction fast enough and flattened the already slightly flat rock. She ran up the side of the arena and flopped over the edge.

"Wohoo!!" Sweetie Belle cheered. "That was awesome!!"

"Was it? I didn't think to check." Apple Bloom said dryly.

"It sure was, at least the bits that I saw." Scootaloo said, panting.

"Well done, all of you." One of the judges, a copper earth pony by the name of Tea Kettle said. "I'm pretty sure all of you passed, but we'll know for certain tomorrow. Until then, rest up, recover your strength. This was only your entrance exam, after all. If you passed, training begins immediately. If you failed, you'll get some remedial tutelage, then try again in two weeks. You'll pass then, I guarantee it. Nobody in recent history has been accepted and failed the exam more than once. Don't worry, you'll get it soon."

"Thanks mister Kettle!" The three said in unison.

"Please, just call me Tea." Tea Kettle said.

"Come on, let's get you to your dorms. It's almost 20:00 hours and you should be eating dinner by now." Starbeam said. The orange pegasus had flown over the remnants of the challenges rather than walk on the rather hazardous arena floor. She landed next to the three and gestured towards a nearby door with a wing.

"This is it?" Sweetie Belle asked. The it in question was a plain room with three beds and table in the centre.

"Yep. This is your dormitory, where you'll be sleeping while you're here. Please try not to ruin it during your first night. I'll leave you to decide who gets which bed. The bathroom is behind that door over there." Starbeam gestured towards a plain wooden door across from the entrance. A label helpfully proclaimed "Bathroom".

"Wait, we'll be sleeping here?" Scootaloo asked, climbing onto a bed. "I thought that we'd be able to return home, at least to visit. I don't mind sleeping somewhere else, but when will we be able to go home?"

"I'm afraid that you'll be staying here for a while. You'll be able to return home eventually, just not now. For now, stay here and rest. You'll need your rest for tomorrow." Starbeam said. "Sweet dreams."

"I'm sure that Applejack and the girls haven't even noticed that we're gone yet." Sweetie Belle said sleepily.

"Where in Equestria are they!!!" Applejack frantically asked, running around the room in circles.

"I'm sure that they're somewhere that has indoor plumbing and electric lights and patterned wallpaper and orange scones and... AH!! what if they're somewhere that doesn't have air conditioning!! They could get all sweaty and not be able to cool off in time!! That would be the WORST POSSIBLE THING!!!!"

"Rarity, Ah'm pretty sure that they'll be fine if they go without air conditioning for a while. What Ah'm worried about is the fact that they've been gone for three days and they haven't arrived in Appleoosa yet!! Braeburn shoulda written back by now, and Dash shoulda seen them on the road at least!! They've just vanished!!"

"I have to agree with you, AJ. I can't find them anywhere, and I should have seen something that says they were there by now. Don't worry, I'll probably find something tomorrow." Rainbow Dash said, leaning against the wall of Applejack's living room as if she was unconcerned. However, those that knew her well would see that she was on the brink of panicking and trying her hardest to not show it.

"Applejack!! Rarity!! Rainbow Dash!! I found something!!" Twilight Sparkle announced, bursting into the room.

"Show us." Applejack ordered.

Two royal guards and six civilians crowded around the bodies of four ponies. The bodies were of a massive earth pony stallion, a pegasus mare, and two unicorns, one male and one female. All four had a single, lethal wound that had been made by a wide bladed knife.

"Poor ponies. What kind of pony would kill four ponies in cold blood like this?" Fluttershy said, crying into her mane.

"Ah don't know, but if I catch the varmints that done this ah'm gonna buck them into next January!" Applejack growled.

"I think that the 'poor ponies' are actually the varmints here, Applejack." Twilight pointed to one of the corpses. "You see his curved horn? That's a sure sign of dark magic corruption. From his cutie mark I'd say he was a psychological manipulation specialist. And this one here," She continued, "She's clearly been trained for battle. You see how strong her feathers are? That's a surefire sign of wingblade training. I'll bet that we'll find one on her if we look long enough. All these ponies know how to hurt and kill, and I'm glad that they can't use their talents anymore, even if I'm horrified and disgusted that somepony killed them."

"Twilight's right. Ponies like this are the reason I want to join the Wonderbolts, among other things." Rainbow Dash agreed.

"I'm going to need at least one of the bodies brought back to my lab. I want to ask a few questions I can't have answered here." Twilight said to one of the guards, a brown coated unicorn with eyes the same colour of her coat.

"Yes ma'am." The guard said, saluting.

As Twilight and her friends began to make their way back to Ponyville, Applejack turned to Twilight and asked "Twi, what are you talking about? You can't ask dead ponies questions after all."

"Ah can't believe it. Ya actually can ask dead ponies questions." Applejack said in disbelief.

"I'm honestly not surprised that you thought it was impossible. Princess Celestia severely restricts access to anything related to dark magic, and the particular spell I'm going to use is considered dark magic. I only learned of it after I became a princess myself, and Celestia was still reluctant to let me study it. This spell was originally a necromantic ritual designed to return spirits to the world of the living, but with some modification I can use it to temporarily reanimate a dead pony with their memories intact. Then all I need to do is use a truthtelling spell and suddenly you can interrogate murder victims." Twilight explained.

"I don't usually geek out over stuff like this, but I've gotta admit, that's pretty awesome, Twi. Say, after this, can I ask a favour? It's a personal thing." Rainbow Dash asked.

"Sure. Now, I need to concentrate." Twilight ignited her horn with the distinctive black, green and purple aura of dark magic. She shot a beam of corrupted power at the corpse lying on the table in the middle of her lab. The corpse's eyes snapped open, glowing with dark magic for a second before fading to their natural colour, purple.

"Where... am I?" The former corpse asked, blinking out of sequence.

"You are currently in my lab, where I am questioning you. Now, do you know who I am?"

"Princess... Twilight Sparkle."

"Yes. Now what is the last thing you remember?"

"I... remember... arguing with my friends, then being hit in the back. I... fell down and saw a black coated pony standing in the clearing. I... think I blacked out after that. I... just remember waking up here. Why... am I here?"

"You are being questioned in regards to a police investigation."

"What... kind of investigation?"

"Murder." Twilight said simply.

"Murder? But... my friends didn't kill anypony recently. Were... my friends murdered?"

"Yes, they were. We're investigating their murder."

"It... can't just be murder if the Princess of Friendship is involved. This... is personal, isn't it?"

"Yes. The sisters of some of my friends have gone missing, and we believe that this case is connected in some way."

"Are... the missing ponies three blank flanks, one from each pony race? Does... one have a hair bow?"

"How do you know that?" Twilight asked very calmly.

"We... found them. Wandering... alone in the woods. We... were going to try to get a ransom, but then the black pony attacked. I... guess that your missing fillies are either with him or dead. Given... how good he is with those knives of his, I think it's the latt-" The corpse was abruptly cut off as Twilight cancelled the spell, then proceeded to twist his neck around 360 degrees.

"There was nothing more we could learn from him." Twilight said in a dangerously calm tone of voice before leaving the lab.

To be continued...

Author's Note

Wow. I'm not sure where the ending came from, I just recently got my inspiration back for this story and this was the result. Next chapter is already underway, with a couple hundred words done as I speak. And no, I'm not going to give the bandits names. The next chapter will finally see the Crusaders become assassins, which is basically the entire point of this story. Hope that you all enjoy this chapter and the rest of the story!

Of Mentors, New Friends and Cider

"Ah can't believe it! We passed!!"

As far as ways to wake up in the morning were, Sweetie Belle had to say that an exclamation of good news from one of your friends was one of the best. Being trampled by an overeager orange pegasus who's also just received good news was not. Rubbing the back of her head, Sweetie Belle got up and joined the group hug forming in the centre of her dormitory room. After several minutes of nonstop hugging (much to Scootaloo's embarrassment), Apple Bloom declared that they deserved a celebratory breakfast, which despite consisting mostly of oatmeal from the mess hall and some apples from Apple Bloom's pack was incredibly tasty.

"So how did we do?" Scootaloo asked eagerly, munching on an apple.

"Well, it says here that we all did very well. Sweetie Belle, you got 8 outa 10 because apparently some of the judges said that you cheated. You still passed though. Scootaloo, you got 9 outa 10 because you, and ah quote, 'made too much noise'." Apple Bloom said.

"Hey!"

"That's what it says. And ah got 9 outa 10 because the judges said that there was too much 'collateral damage', whatever that means."

"It means that you destroyed more stuff than you were supposed to." Sweetie Belle helpfully supplied.

"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle Junior." Scootaloo said sarcastically.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

"Ya actually are sometimes, Sweetie." Apple Bloom said.

"Oh come on!" Sweetie Belle yelled, throwing her hooves into the air.

"What are you three arguing about? Is is over your scores? You do know that those don't really matter, right?" An unfamiliar voice said. The Crusaders turned to see an earth pony colt with a brown coat and a short orange mane and tail. The colt extended a hoof towards the closest of the three, which happened to be Sweetie Belle.

"My name's Button Mash, what's yours?" He asked.

"I- I'm Sw- Swee-" Sweetie Belle stammered.

"She's Sweetie Belle, I'm Scootaloo and this is Apple Bloom." Scootaloo quickly explained.

"So do you know what branches you're each going to be in?" Button asked, sitting down in one of the table's free chairs.

"Hold on, let me check." Apple Bloom said, flipping through the stack of pages she'd been given. "Ah. Sweetie, you're gonna be trained by Starbeam as an infiltrator, Scootaloo is gonna train under somepony called Soul Bond as an agent, and ah'm gonna become an assassin under Mastermind himself!!" She exclaimed.

"Seriously?" Scootaloo and Button said simultaneously.

"He almost never takes on students! The last pony he personally trained was Starburst, and that was 20 years ago!" Button said in awe. "He must think you're really special."

"What branch are you in, Button?" Scootaloo asked.

"Agent. A pony named Storm Call is training me. Speaking of, it's almost time to start lessons for the day. I'll see you three at lunch, okay?"

"Sure thing. Bye!" Scootaloo called after him. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo began to leave the table, then realized that Sweetie Belle hadn't moved from her seat.

"Sweetie? Are ya okay?" Apple Bloom asked. She waved a hoof in front of Sweetie's face, then checked her pulse.

"Wha?" Sweetie snapped to attention, looking at Apple Bloom confusedly. "Of course I'm okay. Why would I not be okay? I can't not be okay, not being okay is a myth!! It's all a myth!!! I'm fine!!!!"

"I think she's got a crush on the new colt." Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom, who giggled.

"Come on, we need ta report ta our mentors before 10:00 or, and ah quote: 'there will be no pie'." Apple Bloom said, recovering from her giggle fit.

"Oh no! Not the pie!" Scootaloo gasped dramatically. The Crusaders shared a laugh before leaving the now almost empty mess hall.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders reporting for duty, sir!" The aforementioned trio said in unison, saluting the tan pegasus mare sitting behind a low desk in front of the dojo they'd been ordered to report to.

"Hmm?" The pegasus looked over the desk briefly before glancing through some papers. "Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am, that's us." Scootaloo said, saluting again.

"Your mentors are waiting for you in the next room, just behind this door." The pegasus gestured to a door beside her desk. As Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom approached it, the short wooden door opened on its own. Behind it lay a high-tech dojo filled with beings of all shapes, sizes and ages. There were several ponies, a half dozen griffins, a couple of minotaurs, a few dragons and even stranger beings. All of them were dressed in black robes and body armour, and they were all engaged in combat in some way, shape or form. Well, almost all. Starbeam and a unicorn stallion the Crusaders didn't recognize were patiently waiting for them in the centre of the room.

"I think that's Soul Bond." Apple Bloom whispered to Scootaloo, gesturing to the unicorn. He had a scarred dark blue coat and blue-grey eyes with a hard light in them. His salt-and-pepper mane and tail were cut short and neatly combed, without anything special to define him, aside from his cutie mark. It was of a curved knife that was eerily similar to the ones that Starburst had used against the bandits. Aside from that, he was a very typical pony.

"You think correctly." Bond said calmly as he and Starbeam approached the Crusaders. "I am Soul Bond, and I will be training you in the art of subterfuge, infiltration, and assassination, Scootaloo."

"You heard that!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Of course. I have been trained to be perfectly aware of my surroundings, a skill I am going to pass on to you, with any luck. Now, if you will come with me, you have much to learn." As Scootaloo happily bounced after Soul Bond, the remaining Crusaders shared a worried glance.

"Don't mind Bond, he's one of our best agents, although he's... different. Scootaloo will be fine learning under him." Starbeam reassured. "Sweetie, why don't you come with me? There's a lot to learn, as Bond said."

"But what about me? Where's Mastermind?" Apple Bloom asked worriedly.

"Mastermind does his own thing. Don't worry, he'll be along soon. In the meantime, why don't you wait over there?" Starbeam pointed to a line of benches at the edges of the dojo. Several operatives were resting on them, chatting amongst themselves. With a resigned sigh, Apple Bloom trotted over to a free bench and sat down. Several minutes later, a black armoured pony sat down beside her and looked out at the dojo.

"Tough, isn't it?" The pony asked. The voice was female and familiar to Apple Bloom. The pony took off her mask and looked at her. To her surprise, Apple Bloom recognized the pony.

"Bon Bon?" She asked.

The cream coated, stripe-maned earth pony smiled. "Not quite. My real name is Sweetie Drops, but my current disguise, the one you know, is named Bon Bon. I must say, I'm surprised to see you here. Ever since Twilight Sparkle moved to Ponyville, the agency has been really interested in it, but I never expected Mastermind to recruit you."

"Actually, I recruited all three, and at the same time, may I add. It was quite by accident, though." The deep baritone reverberations coming from behind Apple Bloom and ~~Bon Bon~~ Sweetie Drops was unmistakably Mastermind's. Sweetie Drops spun around and saluted rapidly while Apple Bloom jumped five feet into the air in fright.

"I'm glad you're here, Agent Drops. I was just about to begin Apple Bloom's training, and I'd like you to assist me." Mastermind continued.

"You would, sir?" Sweetie Drops said.

"Of course. You're my most capable trainer, after all."

"Thank you sir, I'd be happy to train Apple Bloom. Just a question, what are you training her to be?"

"An assassin. Now, without further ado, let us begin."

Five hours of training later, Apple Bloom collapsed onto her dorm room's bed, exhausted but happy. Mastermind had pushed her to her limits and Sweetie Drops had taught her to recognize where they were, so that she could safely push them and get better. Apple Bloom had thought she was in good shape before, but now she knew that her definition of 'good shape' was nowhere near Mastermind's. The loud poof emitting from Scootaloo's bed told much the same story. Sweetie Belle, surprisingly, happily bounced into their dorm and sat down on her bed for all of one second, before she jumped up and started rambling.

"Wasn't today exciting!! I was excited, because we got to train as assassins for the first time today well not really because I was training as an infiltrator and Scootaloo was training as an agent but still it was super exciting because Starbeam is the best teacher ever and I learned so much today and it was so much fun..." Sweetie babbled on while Scootaloo and Apple Bloom groaned. This was going to be a long few weeks.

Every day for the next six months progressed in much the same way for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They would wake up, have breakfast, then report for training in one of the fortress's many dojos. After about two hours of training interspaced with five minute breaks, they would have a half hour of lunch before training for a further three hours. Once their combat training was complete, they took another half hour break and then learned noncombat skills, including math, chemistry and other traditional school subjects. After three hours of that, they had two more hours of free time to do homework and relax, then after dinner they prepared for bed, then finally went to sleep in preparation for the next day.

At first, they went to sleep exhausted every night, but after the first month they found that they were getting better, more fit. After the second they were able to keep up with their trainers for the first half of the day, and after the third they lasted until training ended for the day before collapsing at night. After half a year of near constant training, Mastermind declared them to be trainees, rather than recruits. This meant that they could finally leave the stronghold and wear the traditional black armoured robes that all operatives wore.

To celebrate, the Crusaders and their friends in the brotherhood went outside, into a pleasant Manehattan restaurant that the brotherhood owned under one of their many companies. Unbeknownst to them, things weren't going to go as planned...

"To graduation!!" Apple Bloom declared as she opened a bottle of (non alcoholic, of course) Sweet Apple Acres cider. The dozen or so ponies and other assorted beings in the room chorused their agreement and happily filled their glasses with the sweet apple beverage. Apple Bloom took a sip of cider and winced. It had been a long time since she'd tasted something so familiar, and it was heartbreaking tasting it while knowing that she'd never have a taste like she used to: straight out of the press, lukewarm and with pulp and seeds everywhere. While most ponies thought of clear, ice cold cider mixed with sugar when they thought cider, Apple Bloom knew what real cider was.

"You okay, AB?" Button Mash asked worriedly.

"Yeah, ah'm fine. Cider's terrible though." Apple Bloom smiled halfheartedly.

"Oh, yeah. Probably aren't used to Manehattan cider, are you? I hear it's a lot different in Ponyville."

"Ah don't know what they do to cider in Manehattan, but it doesn't hold three maggoty biscuits consumed over as many days to good old Ponyville cider. Manehattan wouldn't know true cider if it turned into green crystals and started eatin' the planet."

Blinking at Apple Bloom's odd metaphors, Button continued "I know what you mean, I think. I was born in Vanhoover, and man do they have good french fries there. I remember my mom used to cover them in gravy and cheese curds. It was amazing!! But when we moved to Baltimare because my dad got a new job or something, nopony sold cheese curds or the right kind of gravy! Mom tried to make do with ketchup, but it wasn't the same. I miss poutine."

"Sounds amazing. Anyways, how are ya and Sweetie doing?"

Button blushed. "W-well... I, Uh..."

"That good, huh?"

"Erm... We, uh... We're... Fine! Yes, absolutely fine!" He yelped.

"Ya still haven't asked her out, have ya?"

"No."

"Ah figured as much. Why don't ya ask her now? This here restaurant seems like the perfect place for a first date ta me, and she's over there right now." Apple Bloom pointed over to a polyhedral table with a rotating snack tray and several ponies gathered around it, including Sweetie Belle.

"Um, okay." Button gulped before making his way over to the table. Apple Bloom watched as he and Sweetie talked for a little while, their cheeks growing redder and redder the whole time from embarrassment, before finally Button said something that seemed to surprise Sweetie. She just looked at Button for a few long, tense moments. Apple Bloom held her breath. Did he ask her? Was she going to say no? Why did Sweetie Belle look like a cat getting ready to pounce?

Before Apple Bloom had time to ask herself any more worrisome questions, Sweetie Belle glomped Button in the biggest, most enthusiastic hug Apple Bloom had ever seen. Sweetie's squeals of "Yes! Yes! Yes!" were clearly heard all the way across the room, making them all turn and look at the pair lying on the floor.

Scootaloo, who had been standing across the table from Sweetie, turned toward Apple Bloom and raised an eyebrow. Quickly walking over, Apple Bloom explained "Ah told Button to ask Sweetie out, and apparently he did. I'm thinking Sweetie said yes."

"You think?" Scootaloo deadpanned. Clearing her throat, Scootaloo yelled "HEY EVERYPONY, SWEETIE BELLE HAS A COLTFRIEND, AND IT'S BUTTON MASH!!" Everyone in the room cheered while a thoroughly embarrassed Sweetie Belle and Button Mash quickly got up and looked everywhere but each other. Apple Bloom glared at Scootaloo accusingly.

"What? Sometimes you have to be blunt." Scootaloo said defensively.

"That wasn't nice. Ya know how sensitive Sweetie Belle can be about these kinds of things. Ya have ta be gentle with her, ya know that, right? She ain't training in a rough-and-tumble school of combat like we are, and she's not as tough either." Apple Bloom said angrily.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'll try not to do it again."

"And ya wonder why Sweetie has a coltfriend and you don't."

"Hey!! I'll have you know that there are plenty of colts who like me!! If I wanted a coltfriend, I'd have one! As it is, a coltfriend would simply distract me from my tutelage right now."

"Bond told ya not to enter any permanent relationships, didn't he?"

"Yeah."

"Thought so."

Suddenly, an explosion shattered the windows of the restaurant, showering the ponies (and other beings) inside with broken glass. Apple Bloom and looked out the window to see several masked ponies, griffins and a minotaur storming into the building across the street.

Before the last one entered, he paused and drew a symbol across the exterior wall: three long crescent moons, connecting at the corners to frame a Penn Diagram like shape in the centre. A symbol Apple Bloom knew well from history lessons: The symbol of The Brotherhood of The New Moon.

To be continued...

Author's Note

So, yeah. I don't know where the ending came from, it just evolved in my head as I was writing and suddenly I had this. I'm really proud of this chapter, and of this story in general. It's the longest story that I've written in it's entirety, and it had the best upvote/downvote ratio of anything I've done. I'd like to thank everyone who's read this and commented, favorited or simply liked this story. As usual, don't be afraid to tell me what you think, and maybe check out some of my other stuff too? Thanks for reading!