A Big, Bad Decision

Sweetie Belle took a deep breath. The crusaders had had an exciting morning, making bits as street performers. Then they had headed to Sugar Cube Corner, and stuffed themselves silly. She and her friends were hopelessly lost inside Princess Twilight's castle. Apple bloom had insisted on telling the other two how she was a great directionist, she could probably get a cutie mark in map-making or being whatever that term was...GPS. It didn't exist, but ponies sure wish it did. "What does GPS stand for?" Apple Bloom asked again. Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "It was just letters that sounded nice together, and used to define being given directions by a voice and ever-changing map." Scootaloo had memorized it, Apple Bloom was so forgetful!

Sweetie Belle activated her horn. A rush of adrenaline passed through her, and her magic became stronger with the beat of her heart. The magnetic pull on her horn told her she was near where she was supposed to be. The pull got stronger as she ventured through the crystalline castle. Her friends followed her, Sweetie Belle more sure they were getting close than half an hour ago. Apple Bloom gasped as she saw a door. "I reckon whats'a ever in there is a mighty important!" She said, trying to imitate Applejack.  Scootaloo nodded, and the two of them, the strongest of the three, broke down the door. Sweetie took another big breath.

Scootaloo walked past the rows of counters, cabinets, drawers, and shelves all full of colorful liquids. There were containers of little white balls, with the letters CaCl on them. Other had snowy powders, marked "Sodium". In the middle of the room, the centerpiece, the hearth, was a mysterious, bubbling cauldron. Scootaloo was amazed, the cauldron was all sorts of colors, swirling around into a portal to the unknown. Sweetie Belle smacked her. "Scoots! We lost you for a second." Scootaloo laughed. "I'm sorry. This thing in the middle...What's it called?" Scootaloo asked. Applebloom walked over, racking her brain for the word. "I know the word, It's on the tip of my tongue." Apple Bloom complained. The blank flanks explored the room, finding what looked like pink lemonade. "Oh! Guys! Theres pink lemonade!!!" Sweetie yelled excitedly. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo ran over to the table wondering what had excited Sweetie.

"Sweetie. We're in some sort of potions room with a cauldron-" Applebloom stopped. "That's the word! Cauldron! I knew it! I knew it I knew it I knew it!" Applebloom jumped excitedly. Scootaloo's eye widened. "That was the word. Okay, but back to the pink lemonade. Like 'bloom said, It...we could." She stopped. Sweetie Belle glared at her. "Don't talk unless you can form your sentence! I had an idea, and I lost it!" Scootaloo looked at her friend. "I'm sorry, I just-" Applebloom then screamed "ENOUGH! If ya'll don't get along, we're gon' die out in this 'tupid castle!" Apple Bloom heaved, her point was across. "Alright. We are the cutie mark crusaders. We are going to figure out this room, what all these things do, and find a way out." Scootaloo declared. Her friends agreed. "Yeah, i do want to know what Princess Twilight's doing with this room. If it' s a room for drinks, i doubt there would be a cauldron." Sweetie Belle explained, hoping her answer was sufficient.

Scootaloo took a look at one of the bottles. It had a pinkie-pie pink, and it looked sweet. Scoots took a sniff, and found it smelled like...like those cookies she made with Rainbow Dash. How was that possible? Rainbow had put cloud in the cookies, along with Gryffonian chocolate chips. Scootaloo touched it, and it felt warm, like the cookies melting due to them being under cooked, in the air. Scootaloo found herself licking her lips. "Let me see it!" Sweetie pushed her out of the way, hooves everywhere. Sweetie got upright, and smelled it. "Pinkie-pie pink." They agreed. "Warm, like cookies." They agreed. Sweetie Belle took a sniff, and it smelled like the cake she made with Rarity after the Gala. Sweetie had helped clean up the boutique, knowing what had happened. Sweetie had the drink at her lips before Applebloom slapped her, and Sweetie came back to reality. "Whatever that is, I'm am going to try it. "A-greed." Scootaloo replied.

Pinkie Pie pink. Perfect replica of her coat, the liquid was like if she had been crushed by a hydraulic press and put into the bottle. The container was warm, like melting cookies like Scootaloo had said. Apple Bloom sniffed, and found herself in the memory of her first successful applebuck. The tree shook, and apples fell into the baskets. The bottle smelled like zap-apple pie. Apple Bloom was mere millimeters away from drinking it before Sweetie Belle's magic took it. "Hey!" Applebloom yelled. "It smelled amazing." The crusaders agreed. "It smells like apples-" "Cookie-" "Cake!" They argued. "Wait!!!" Scootaloo yelled. "Maybe it smells different to all of us." That seemed reasonable. "That does make sense. There is some sciency thing called the pluh-cebo 'fect." Applebloom explained."That doesn't make sense!" Sweetie argued. "Shut up!" "Guys!" Scootaloo yelled. "Focus." Scootaloo started. "Okay. Those cookies were my favorite food memory. Were the things you smelled yours too?" Scootaloo asked. "Yeah." They agreed. "Alright, theres no poison label on it. And it looks like it tastes good." The blank flanks looked at each other. "Maybe ah can get my cutie mark in potions." Applebloom said.

The CMC each took a bottle, there were plenty other bottles like it. "IF something bad happens, we should get to a big space. I don't want us to explode and splat on the wall." They laughed nervously, and Sweetie levitated the bottles up the stairs. They went though several different rooms, before finding a big pair of double doors. "The way out!" Apple Bloom cried. They left the doors, finding a big area outside. They were behind the castle, and if there were any explosions, Twilight could just mow the grass. "Crusaders! Potions cutie marks yaay!" they yelled. Sweetie held two bottles in front of them, both taking a different shaped container and downing it.