The Dire Switch

Scootaloo didn't like this.

She didn't like it one bit.

She, along with Applebloom, was reluctantly helping Sweetie Belle to find a spell that switches cutie marks with another pony.

However, that said pony she wanted to switch with was a unicorn named Starlight Glimmer, who was very talented at magic. Which is what Sweetie Belle was aiming for. They asked her if she could switch talents, but Starlight denied their request. Scootaloo assumed that they would give up and call it a day and do something else, but Sweetie Belle was determined to know how it felt to be powerful like Starlight.

While Scootaloo was searching in the bookshelves, she was secretly praying that they wouldn't find the spell. Perhaps Sweetie Belle would get bored, and Sweetie Belle would lose motivation, or make her see sense the more hours went by.

But she felt a sharp prod on the shoulder. Scootaloo turned to see Applebloom holding a book with her hoof on a page. Scootaloo's eyes widened when she the first, big bold letters of the book: "The Cutie Mark Swap."

Applebloom gave her an unsure look, as if she were silently asking whether to show this to Sweetie Belle or not since she too did not agree with what her friend was doing.

Before Scootaloo could signal a reply, Sweetie Belle gasped once her gaze shifted onto the two. "Oh good, you found it?" Sweetie Belle gasped happily. She took the book from Applebloom and held it in her magical aura.

"It says here that 'both ponies have to be present in the same room for their cutie marks to switch.'" she explained to the two.

"Uh... I don't like the sound of that." Applebloom sounded completely terrified. Scootaloo could see why.

"Starlight will be furious if we do this to her." Scootaloo pointed out. She had never seen Starlight angry before during their interactions, but she didn't want this to be the first. "Are you sure this is a good idea? It's not too late to turn back now."

"Come on girls, Starlight will be fine." Sweetie Belle tried reassuring them, but it didn't work. Not in the slightest. Applebloom and Scootaloo were still afraid.

"Will she, though?" Applebloom retorted. "How would you feel if someone forcibly swapped cutie marks with you?"

"And Starlight has been kind to us the whole time. Do we really want to make her angry for no reason?" Scootaloo pointed out.

"Girls, girls, this is not going to be permanent. It's only going to be for 24 hours." Sweetie Belle tried reassuring them again.

Applebloom and Scootaloo sighed in defeat. It seemed like Sweetie Belle was not going to change her mind anytime soon.

"So how exactly do you want to play this out? Do we simply waltz into the room where Starlight's in and do the spell?" Scootaloo asked her. Despite being heavily concerned, she couldn't help but be curious as to how this would play out.

"We'll do it when she least expects it." Sweetie Belle winked.

"What about Twilight and Spike?" Applebloom asked.

"We'll do this before they get back from their errands." She answered simply.

"And is there a way to do this quietly as possible?" Applebloom asked another question, glancing down at the book.

Sweetie Belle looked at the book again. "According to this, there is a way to do this without the other noticing, but it takes a lot of energy to do than the normal one."

Scootaloo looked unconvinced. "Are you really that strong enough to do this, anyway?"

"I have to try." Sweetie Belle said with her voice filled with resolve.

Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at each other, then back at Sweetie Belle, nodding.

"I don't agree with this. Like, at all, Bbt I won't let you face through alone." Scootaloo said, puffing out her chest.

"And you are going to apologize to Starlight later though, right?" Applebloom raised an eyebrow at Sweetie Belle.

"Of course, I am. But for now, I'm simply borrowing her magic." Sweetie Belle smiled. "What can go wrong with a few tiny spells?"

Quietly as possible, Applebloom and the others walked down the hall. They spotted the room they found Starlight in earlier. The unicorn was still sorting out books, humming a tune to herself.

She looks happy. Applebloom thought regretfully, knowing what was about to come next.

Quiet as a mouse, Sweetie Belle slowly crept inside the room. Starlight didn't seem to notice her. Applebloom and Scootaloo were amazed by how quiet she was.

Hiding under the table, Sweetie Belle opened the book and found the spell needed for the job. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and lit up her horn. Applebloom noticed Scootaloo wince as she saw how hard she concentrated.

Applebloom and Scootaloo's mouths were agape when she saw Starlight's cutie mark start to fade and slowly transform into Sweetie Belle's cutie mark, and vice versa.

However, while the spell was doing the job, Starlight slowly stopped humming and she kind of staggered a little, dropping the book on the ground. She looked side to side, to which Applebloom and Scootaloo had to back away so Starlight wouldn't see them.

"Weird," Starlight muttered. She carried on levitating books, but then let out a startled welp when she noticed that her aura was no longer teal colored, but light green.

At that same moment, Applebloom and Scootaloo became invisible.

Then they could outline Sweetie Belle darting out of the room, her horn glowing a familiar, teal-colored aura.

Sweetie Belle nodded her head towards the entrance door, signaling that they had to get out of there before Starlight found out what was going on. Applebloom and Scootaloo dashed after her right away.

When they made their way to the exit, however, Twilight and Spike were already outside and ready to come in. Not having time to stop, Sweetie Belle and the others bumped through them at high speed, causing the two to fall over, and raced outside.

"What in Equestria was that?" Spike gasped behind them.

They didn't want to stop. They kept running and running until they were far away from the castle.

It was too late to turn back now.