Cutler

It was just another normal after-school day for the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they trotted back in the direction of home, talking excitedly as usual.

"So, fellow crusaders," Apple Bloom asked, "what should we do today to earn our cutie marks?"

The other two thought for a moment, and Scootaloo sighed.

"I don't know. I'm starting to run out of ideas."

"Oh, I have one!" Sweetie Belle said. "Let's go over to Zecora's or Twilight's place and see if we can learn science experiments!"

"We've done that before," Scootaloo reminded her. "It didn't work last time, so what makes you think it would work this time?"

"I don't know..." Sweetie Belle answered. "I just thought-"

"I've got it!" Apple Bloom suddenly gasped. "We can get our cutie marks out at the farm!"

"We've tried that, before, too," Scootaloo said dejectedly, kicking at the ground with her hoof.

"I know," Apple Bloom said, "but there's a ton of stuff to do at the farm that we haven't tried. One of them is bound to lead to our cutie marks!"

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other.

"I guess it's worth another try," Scootaloo finally said. "Let's give it a shot."

The three continued walking home, and after a few minutes, the road they were taking grew slightly covered in shadow due to a grove of trees they were heading through. It was at this moment when a strange pony stepped out from behind one of the trees, blocking the path ahead of the fillies.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were not scared of the new pony, merely curious as they looked at him. His coat was a very light gray color, but his mane was jet-black and smoothed down, except for the very top which was spiked up a bit. The pony also had startlingly bright yellow eyes, which seemed to almost glow in the shadows. The strange thing though was his cutie mark, which seemed to be nothing more than a black smudge on either side of his flank.

"Excuse me, little fillies," the pony said in a somewhat low, raspy voice, "but I was wondering if you could take a few minutes to help me find my pet rabbit. I was just walking along, and for no particular reason, he went running off into these trees. He's what I was looking for before you three came along."

The three fillies looked at each other, thinking.

"We should do it," Scootaloo said. "We could get our cutie marks in finding lost animals!"

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle agreed enthusiastically. "Let's do it!"

"Well- I don't know if-" Apple Bloom started.

Scootaloo turned, and spoke to the stallion.

"We'd be happy to help you!" she told him.

The stallion smiled kindly at her.

"Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I appreciate your kindness. Now, follow me, and we shall find that silly rabbit."

The stallion turned and walked off of the trail, and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed, leaving Apple Bloom alone on the trail.

"-trust this pony," she finished dully.

She decided to wait for her friends, sure that they would be back in a few minutes. She tried looking through the trees to see if she could spot them, but she saw no sign of her friends or the strange stallion. She was also suddenly aware of how quiet it was. If her friends or the stallion were talking to one another, they were being extremely quiet.

After five minutes of waiting, Apple Bloom could not take it anymore, and called into the trees.

"Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!"

There was no answer. Now Apple Bloom was definitely worried. The grove of trees that surrounded the trail was relatively small, and her friends should've been able to hear her yell.

Apple Bloom thought about being brave and running into the trees to go looking for her friends, but she realized that was a good way for her to disappear, too, just like her friends. She knew the best thing to do was to go get help. The little filly began running along the path through the grove of trees, and she saw the end of the grove, where the sunlight finally lit up the path once again with full force. She was almost there-

Something hard slammed into the back of Apple Bloom's head, and she cried out and fell to the ground, and the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was somepony stepping in front of her, blocking her view of the sunlight.