"We are in so much trouble!"

The CMC stood side by side, staring out at the havoc thier latest scheme had caused. They had decided to go for Scientific Experimentation Cutie Marks(which Sweetie Belle had adamantly said were not a thing, but went along anyway). The end result of thier attempt? A twenty foot tall, pony eating monster made of cake batter, goo, and a host of other things they weren't even sure of. Well...not pony eating. At least, not so far. But it was loose and rampaging, destroying buildings, trees, scaring animals and ponies alike.

"Oh man!" Scootaloo groaned. "Twilight is so gonna kill us!!"

"Ya got that right!" Apple Bloom said, shuddering. "Especially considerin' that we went in her experiment room after she specifically told us not to. Plus add to that we used some of her experiment stuff..." She broke off.

"Oh, we are doomed!" Sweetie Belle groaned. "I'm gonna get grounded forever!!!"

"Tell me about it!" Scootaloo muttered.

A flash of magic from nearby caused them to turn thier heads, and all three of them immediately tensed. Twilight and her friends were charging after the monster, intent on taking it down.

"Oh, I hope it doesn't hurt them!!!" Sweetie Belle whimpered fearfully.

It was at that moment that somepony dropped behind them. They screamed and spun to face it. It was Fluttershy.

"Girls." She said, urgently. "You aren't safe here. Twilight and your sisters wanted me to take you to the castle. Twilight put up a protection spell around it so nopony, or monster, can damage it. Come on!"

The three fillies followed her at once. Fluttershy left them at the castle, under the watchful eye of Spike, and rushed back out to check on her friends.

"Some day, huh?" Spike said cheerfully, chomping on gemstones.

"Spike, how can you be so...so calm at a time like this?!" Scootaloo demanded. "There's a monster, and it can eat ponies, and...and...how are you not scared?!"

"Don't worry, Scootaloo." Spike said. "Twilight and the others have got this. They always do."

The fillies exchanged looks, then started pacing. It was nerve wracking, not knowing what was going on outside. But they didn't dare go look.

After what felt like forever, six weary ponies entered the castle library.

"Well, that was somethin' Ah don't wanna do again." Applejack groaned, collapsing on the floor. The others followed her lead.

"Taking it down was awesome," Dash said. "But man! I'm gonna be so sore tomorrow! I mean, that thing threw me through a building!"

"Yeah, that's gonna leave bruises." Applejack agreed.

"Dear me, my mane!" Rarity gasped, having got a glimpse of herself in a nearby mirror. She groaned.

Twilight levitated a mane brush off the desk over to her, and Rarity accepted it gratefully, brushing her frazzled mane until it was once more smooth and perfect.

"What I don't get," Dash said,"is where the hay did that thing come from? And how?"

"I'd like to know that myself." Twilight said, wincing as she rubbed a sore spot on her back leg.

At this, the CMC exchanged looks. Should they confess? Or just stay quiet? None of them wanted to admit to being the cause of the monster's creation, for two reasons. One, Twilight would kill them for disobeying her regarding her experiment room; and two, thier sisters would kill them for causing a potentially deadly situation. A look of unspoken communication passed between them. They would remain silent. For now.

"Did...did you get it?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Her squeaky question jolted the others into realising the fillies were there.

"Oh, girls!" Twilight said. "Are you ok? You weren't hurt or anything, were you? Let me look. Are you ok?"

The three of them squawked as her magic scanned them carefully.

"No, we're fine!" Scootaloo said. Twilight let go of them.

"Nothing shows on the scan." She said, relieved.

"So...that was a big monster, huh?" Scootaloo said slowly.

"Indeed." Rarity agreed. "But at least it didn't eat anypony."

"Oh no, it just destroyed a ton of stuff." Dash added.

"What I can't figure out is how it came to exist in the first place." Twilight mused, rubbing a hoof on the back of her neck. "I mean, it had to come from someplace. And there had to be a massive amount of chemicals and magic gone awry. Or not gone awry. Somepony could have unleashed that thing on purpose."

The Crusaders looked at each other in horror at that statement. No way would they have deliberately unleashed a monster on Ponyville!

Misinterpreting thier horror, Twilight said quickly,"Don't worry, girls. We'll find out who did this. And we'll see they are severely punished."

There were three barely audible gulps. That promise had not helped soothe them at all! Now they knew for a fact they were entirely doomed!

"Yeah!" Pinkie offered up helpfully. "We'll catch them, and then we'll be all like 'why did you unleash a monster in Ponyville?', and they'll be all like 'agh! We're caught!', and then Dashie will be all like 'ok, time for a beat down!', and Applejack will be like,'eeyup, a good ol fashioned buckin!', and Fluttershy, well, she'll probably be like 'you scared my animals with that thing!', and I'll throw cake and frosting and ice cream on em and blast them with my cannon, and then Twilight will be all like,'ok. You're done', and KABLAM! Right to the moon!!!" Pinkie sucked in a huge breath of air, then held out a platter she'd pulled from somplace. "Cupcake?"

"Oookaaaayyyy..." Dash drawled out slowly, shaking her head to clear it.

The others laughed at Pinkie's longwinded nonsense. The Crusaders exchanged looks.

"You...you'd banish them...to the moon?" Scootaloo finally managed.

"Without hesitation!" Pinkie piped up.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "At best, Scootaloo, they'll wind up facing Princess Celestia and getting sentenced to time in the dungeons."

"A...and at worst?" Sweetie Belle asked, not really wanting to know.

"At worst..." Twilight pondered for a moment. "Well, at worst...probably a short term on the moon."

Sweetie Belle very nearly fainted. Scootaloo blinked, and Apple Bloom tried desperately not to bolt like a terrified rabbit.

"Would you...excuse us?" Scootaloo finally asked, before dragging her friends out into the hall.

She hauled them out of the castle and deposited them outside on the walkway.

"To the moon??!" Sweetie Belle shrieked. "The moon??!! No! No way!" She started to hyperventilate.

"Sweetie, calm down." Scootaloo said, concerned.

"Calm down? Calm down??!" Sweetie Belle yelled. "We are facing the dungeons or banishment to the moon, and you're telling me to calm down?! Gah!!!"

"Ah agree with her." Apple Bloom said, gulping. "This is bad, Scoots. Real bad. Ah can't handle the thought of dungeons and banishment! Ah can't! What do we do??"

Scootaloo shuddered. Then she looked at the castle, back at her friends, and took a breath.

"We do the only thing we can." She said.

"What?" Apple Bloom demanded, as she and Sweetie Belle looked at her.

"We run."

Author's Note

This was the product of a massive sugar and caffeine high. I'm not responsible for whatever makes no sense in here.

(And just to let you know, there's a second chapter in the making...)