It was almost night in Ponyville, all the ponies were finishing their business. The mail ponies were delivering the last of the mail, the bakers were closing up their stores of sweet delights, filling the air with the last scent of brownies for the day.
The mane 6 were out on a mission, the map had called them to a faraway location. Rarity, Rainbow dash, and Applejack had already said their goodbyes to the Cutiemark Crusaders, telling them to be careful and not to talk to strangers.
Rarity was especially persistent in telling her younger sister to watch out for strangers, reminding her constantly to lock all the doors and keep the windows closed during the night.
"Ta ta, sis! Make sure to be safe!" The white unicorn yelled to Sweetiebelle, waving her hoof once and turning back around to the train doors ahead of her, trotting inside quickly.
"Take care, Applebloom!" Applejack shouted from the trains window, waving her hat in the air.
"WE'LL MISS YOU!" Pinkie shouted, her head peaking from the window.
"See ya later, kiddo!" Rainbow winked, laying back into her seat as she took a nap, kicking her legs up.
"Bai, sis!"
"Bye, Rainbow Dash!"
"Bye, girls!"
After the train had taken off and the three had gone to their respective homes, Sweetiebelle spent her time going through a few magazines about fashion, it was all in her big sisters drawers, and she didn't have much to do anyways.
She rolled back onto her bed, tossing the magazine to the floor with her magic. Twilight had been helping her a lot with new spells, and she was progressively getting more advanced with her levitation magic, so much that she could lift up a filly her size for about a minute and a half.
She started to think about her cutiemark. She didn't have a cutiemark yet, neither did Applejack and Scootaloo. They were still crusading for their marks, and were constantly trying out new and dangerous stunts to claim their hidden talents.
She remembered some of the crazy things they had done with her friends...
~~~
"CUTIEMARK CRUSADERS PARKOUR RUNNERS!"
"SCOOTALOO, WAIT UP!" Applebloom and Sweetiebelle shouted loudly behind her in unison, trying to keep up.
Scootaloo had already rushed into the park, riding on her scooter past the other ponies, knocking over a mare who had been going her jogging exercises and bumping into various colts who were holding heavy boxes, which knocked the items to the floor.
"Sorry! 'Scuse me!" Scootaloo yelled as she passed them all, not really paying any mind to their constant shouts and demands for her to watch where she was going.
Applebloom and Sweetiebelle soon tagged along, having finally caught up as they both slowed down, huffing and taking deep breaths,
"Slow down, Scoots!" Applebloom sighed.
"Get the camera, Sweetiebelle, i'm gonna fly over this fountain!"
"WHAT?!" They, again, both yelled at the same time.
"Trust me, I've got this!"
"SCOOTLAOO, NO!" Sweetiebelle warned while Applebloom made an attempt to bite onto her tail to stop her.
But it was too late, the orange filly was already racing down a hill in the park that would soon allow her to get the momentum she needed to hop over the large fountain... Or so she thought.
As soon as she was halfway down the hill, two young colts playing tag had run into her way, When Scootaloo yelled for them to move, they did nothing but stare at her with a look of panic on their faces as they noticed how fast she was going. In a last ditch effort to avoid knocking the colts into next year, Scootlaoo turned her scooter around with a had screech of her tires. Soon, she breathed a sigh of relief. She had succeeded in dodging the boys, but once she opened her eyes again, her relief turned to fear and horror.
She was speeding right into the fountain!
She had no time at all to even *try** and stop herself as her scooter crashed right into it. The force sent her up in the air and she landed on the other side in the water with a loud thump and crack.*
"SCOOTALOO! SWEET CELESTIA, ARE YOU OKAY?!" Applebloom called from atop the hill.
"We'll get a doctor! Don't worry!" She heard Sweetiebelle yell, guessing she had seen the whole thing, Scootaloo just moaned in agony as she waited for the ambulance to arrive.
Turns out Scootaloo cracked a rib and dislocated a foreleg, the surgeons spent almost three hours operating on her, and Scootaloo wasn't allowed to walk for a week and a half, and was stuck in the hospital. Everyone was sending her cards and balloons with 'Get Better Soon!' Written on them. Rainbow spent a lot more time with her while she was in the hospital, more than the rest did. Then again, she WAS her hero and idol.
Scootaloo believed that the whole situation brought her and Rainbow a lot closer, and from then on they hung out a lot more.
~~~
"Never again.." Sweetiebelle giggled as the memory ended.
Would she ever get her cutiemark? She started to wonder..
'Are there even ponies who live to adulthood as blank flanks? Of course. You don't automatically just get your mark when you become an adult. If we did, I wouldn't have to worry about trying to get it... We wouldn't even have made the Cutiemark Crusaders..'
She rolled off of the bed, sitting on the floor and grabbing her phone from the desk, she had decided it was a good time to hit up her friends, maybe they would have some good ideas for getting their marks. She scrolled through her contacts and made a group chat with only her, Scootaloo, and Applebloom.
'Girls?'
'SL: Hey SB :D how r u?'
'AB: Sweetiebelle what's up?'
'Want to meet up tomorrow? I was thinking we could go on another cutiemark hunting adventure. Got any ideas?'
'AB: What about bungie jumpers'
'SL: no remember last time we did parkour and I got hurt and the doc said I can't do dramatic things for a while'
'I think Scootaloo is just too chicken for this. What else?'
'SL: IM NOT CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!'
'AB: chill out scoots. Nurses?'
'What would we even do as nurses?'
'AB: Help the sick ponies duh!'
'I'll think about it... Scoots, what do you think?'
'SL: Yea yea ok I'm gonna sleep now -.-'
'AB: Aw goodnight Scootaloo'
'Yea, I think I'll hit the hay, too. Night, girls.'
Sweetiebelle tossed her phone onto the bed, she realized that the CMC were losing ideas on what to do.
'We're probably going to run out of ideas, and then we'll have to disband.. What kind of idea is nurses, anyway? It doesn't make sense. When I think of nurses, I usually picture surgery..'
The thought of operating on another pony never seemed to gross Belle out, she had seen dead animals before. One time, at school, Scootaloo had accidentally run over a squirrel with her scooter, splitting the poor thing in half and splattering its brain matter on the grass and leaving her wheels painted in its blood.
In the end, Miss Cheerilee had to wipe off the blood and console Scootaloo, trying to convince her she wasn't a murderer and that she wasn't going to jail. It had really freaked her out, and from then on, Scoots was slightly more careful with where she was riding her scooter.
Then again, dead animals were very different from ponies. She knew there was so much more to a pony than a furry creature, the first thing being their ability to gain cutiemarks and their knowledge.
There it was again, the thought of a cutiemark. 'Probably something I'll never get..' The young mare thought as she sighed deeply, burying her face into the bed material.
Just the thought of her being a blank flank for the rest of her life was taunting to her pride. What if her friends got their cutiemarks and left her alone? Diamond Tiara would still bully her, and Scoots and AppleBloom would probably join her, too! What if she became the laughing stock of her town?
"Cutiemark Crusaders... Nurses." She said quietly, "Cutiemark Crusaders Doctors." She said a little louder, "Cutiemark Crusaders... Surgeons!" She bolted up from her bed, her eyes lit up with joy and hope as she clapped her hooves.
That's it! Being a surgeon was very important job, not to mention hard and helpful. It was definitely worthy of a cutiemark!
But just as she was complimenting herself on her new idea, reality hit her like a brick in the face; her age. Nopony would let a child operate, let alone go near a sharp object. There was the risk of killing the pony, or the child hurting themselves.
She frowned as this new fact came upon her, how was she to reach her new goal? Would she just give up?
'I can't give this up, it's too important. Besides, who says I need some pony to teach me this? I can do it myself! I'm- I'm- what was that word Rarity taught me again? Oh right! I'm independent! I've got this.'
Now all she had to think of was who she was going to try this new experiment on. Animals? No... Fluttershy has always gone on and on about now hurting animals was bullying, and that anypony who would do such a horrific thing was a monster in her book and would never get her support or friendship.
Well.. There was always the option of a pony. But again, what kind of logical pony would allow an unexperienced filly to cut them open? None that she knew.
Suddenly, her mind slipped into something different. It was only a quick thought, but it caught her attention fast.
'I could use AppleBloom and Scoots for my new idea. I mean, they are my friends, it's their duty to help a friend in need, right? And it's not like I'd let them die, that's not what a surgeon does, they help ponies.... And who says they have to survive it, anywho? They have to help me, otherwise they aren't good friends!'
Deep down, she knew this logic was very flawed, but her emotions over ridded this and told her otherwise. She continued to think of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, how they and her entire class would constantly make terrible remarks about her and her friends not having their cutiemarks yet. What would Rarity think? Sure, she was kid now, and that made her being a blank flank okay, but what about when she became an adult? She would be seen as nothing more than a disappointment. She had to live up to high standards, she was the sister of the Element of Generosity, the protege of one of the most well known fashion designers in Equestria- if she wasn't important, she would surely be a failure.
She didn't want that, it was her worst nightmare; failure. And after this, that wouldn't ever be a possibility. She threw her blanket over her, closing her eyes to finally sleep, her body needed to be ready for tomorrow.
She absolutely could not let this opportunity slip away from her, she refused to be bullied for any longer. One way or another, her friends would play a part in this new plan of hers...
Like it or not.
A bright sunlight shone through the window of Sweetiebelle's room as she sat upwards tiredly and yawned, stretching her back and hearing a few pops as she did so. She got up off her bed, cracking her neck hard and stretching out her back. She fixed her bed hastily, making sure everything was neat- just the way Rarity taught her. Today was going to be a big day, the day, and, boy, was she excited. She hurried downstairs, grabbing a purse full of bits and a small bottle that looked like a salt shaker, dumping it into the purse and running out of the house, going out to buy some breakfast since she wasn't the best chef. She slammed the door closed, not bothering to lock it as Ponyville was a rather safe neighborhood, not much crime happened- not until today.
"Time to go get breakfast..." She mumbled to herself, still tired. Of course, by breakfast, she really meant pastries at Sugar Cube Corner, which she quickly dashed off to. She opened the door to see the Cakes running around crazily. 'Huh, baby duties as usual, I suppose.' The white unicorn thought to herself, rolling her eyes.
"HONEY, WHERE DID POUND CAKE GO!?" Mrs. Cake nearly screamed, twisting her head to look at her husband, who was turning the place upside down to find their other child.
"I DONT KNOW, HAVE YOU SEEN PUMPKIN CAKE?" He shouted back, his voice cracking as he scrambled across the floor.
"Oh, should I come back later?" Sweetiebelle asked quietly, slowly backing out from the bakery, but not before swiping three cupcakes from behind the counter.
'Geez, things sure are a mess without Pinkie Pie here to run things normally.. But that doesn't matter now, there's work to do!'
Now she had to find Scootaloo and AppleBloom, using her magic to pull out her phone and text the two.
'Either of you girls awake?'
'AB: Yeah, Granny Smith made me wake up early to buck apples and do field work since Big Mac out is visiting family'
'SB: Oh good, can I come over? I have something for you.'
'AB: oooo, what is it? I wanna knoooow!'
'SB: You'll see when I get over.'
'AB: aw. Fine. And yes, you can come'
'SL: if u both could not spam my phone that would b nice'
'SB: Scootaloo, meet me at Sweet Apple Acres!'
'SL: y?'
'SB: It's a surprise!'
'SL: k b there'
Turning off her phone and dropping it into her purse, she trotted hard over to Sweet Apple Acres, making sure to get there before Scootaloo. She soon headed through the gates, AppleBloom standing in the front of the large barn smiling wide, her eyes seemed to be very tired though. "Sweetiebelle!" She shouted, walking over and hugging her friend.
"Is anypony else here today?" The unicorn asked.
"Nopony else besides you, me, and Granny Smith!" The young earthpony explained cheerfully, still a bit of drag in her voice as she was exhausted from knocking down apples all day.
"Scootloo isn't here yet, right?"
"Nope, ya got here fast."
"Good. I don't want her to see our... surprise!"
"Surprise? We didn't plan a-" The yellowish farm girl yelped as she was suddenly pulled into the barn, Sweetiebelle closing the doors.
"What're ya doing?" Applebloom asked, cocking her head to the side.
"We have to get ready for the surprise!" The unicorn yelled.
"What surprise?"
"The uhm.. it's the CMC's anniversary! This is the exact date we formed our group!" The young pony lied, smiling.
"It is? Ah don't think so, ah should go n' check my calendar.." She began walking to the doors.
"NO." Sweetiebelle suddenly exclaimed, blocking the door, "It is, trust me!"
"Oooookay... your actin' kinda weird, Belle.." Applebloom mentioned, backing up as her face showed slight concern for the pony.
"Weird? Me? No! I just want to make sure Scootaloo has as much fun as we will for the party. Look, I even bought cupcakes from Sugar Cube Corner!" She mentioned in an attempt to change the topic as she held one out for her friend, who hesitantly took it.
Applebloom was starting to relax a bit as she sat in the hay and began discussing the plans. "So, we're gunna be having' the party here, in the barn? Is anypony else comin'?" She took a bite of the cupcake as she looked down at it, Sweetiebelle's heart skipped a beat, had she noticed? Applebloom smiled kindly, "Thanks fer bringing these, Sweetiebelle." Perfect. She hadn't noticed the Ketamine that was powdered all over her food. She never really knew what Ketamine was all about, all she knew was that it could knock a pony out in a couple of minutes if they hadn't eaten much in that time. She found the small bottle at Sugar Cube Corner a few weeks ago in Pinkie Pie's room. Funny, those rumors about Pinkie Pie being on drugs were true.
"No problem! And no, it'll only be us, its kind of like an inside thing, members only, y'know?" The unicorn looked outside the doors of the barn, hoping to see Scootaloo any moment now. Where was she? She had expected the pegasus to be here sooner. Well, it just gave her more time to be alone with Applebloom before she fell asleep. A few more minutes pasted by before she heard Applebloom call out to her from behind.
"Woah... S-Sweetiebelle? Ah don't.. feel so well.." Her voice was cracking, and her eyes flew around the room as she tried to get herself to stand. The filly was shivering hard as she tried to maintain her balance. "So many colors- I can't... see..." The poor earth pony was hallucinating more things than she could comprehend at the moment, seeing shadows and figures of unknown creatures in colors she couldn't even name. "Help... help me... Applejack..." She whimpered, leaning against a wall as she stared horrified at nothing before her eyes shut and she slumped down, becoming unconscious.
Eyes wide with curiosity, Sweetiebelle poked at the bright yellow filly, lifting her eyelids to see her droopy stare. She looked back, Scootaloo still hadn't arrived. She planned to do the same with Scootaloo when she showed up, for her cupcake was also drugged. In the meantime, Sweetiebelle plopped herself down beside Applebloom, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest peacefully as she started using her telekinetic magic to slowly pluck out her friends eyelashes one by one. She enjoyed having to gently tug at the hairs before they came out, piling them on the farm pony's fore hoof as she counted them. She was amazed at how many there were, they just seemed to keep on coming. She was at about 57 lashes when she heard Scootaloo's voice.
"Sorry I took so long, one of my scooter tires was busted and I had to go... Sweetiebelle, what're you... doing?" Folding her wings, she hopped off her scooter and circled behind Sweetiebelle, finally getting a good look at her friends limp body in the hay. She stood there in shook at what she was seeing, and hearing her fellow crusader humming as if she weren't doing anything wrong certainly wasn't helping. Sweetiebelle stopped humming, and the barn seemed to grow silent, save for the glimmering sound of her magic, which was no longer focused on Applebloom. The now shocked and confused filly tried to back up out of the barn, but when she heard the loud SLAM of the barn doors closing shut, she turned back and had no time to react as her tail was forcefully yanked with magic towards the wall, slamming her into it and causing her to cry out in pain as her head thumped against the hard surface, knocking her out cold.
"What a waste of a perfectly good cupcake.." Sweetiebelle sighed as she kicked the drugged edible across the floor. All she had to do now was drag the bodies to their proper places and tie them with the spare rope around the barn. With the farm being vacant today, not including Granny Smith who was probably taking a nap right now, there was nopony to stop her from preparing her experiments. Morbid curiosities began to fill the young pony's mind as she reached for the ropes..
Today was going to be an eventful day.
