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.
Twilight and Spike were casually approaching her castle which wasn't too far from where they were. They were carrying shopping bags filled with food and other necessities.
Twilight took in a deep breath and exhaled it calmly. "Today is a good day, Spike," she told her companion with a soft smile.
"I have to agree with you on that." Spike agreed with an earnest nod. "Not too hot, and not too cold."
The two walked up the stairs and Twilight extended her hoof to open the door. When the door opened, she and Spike were suddenly bumped by an invisible force, which surprised them and they fell on the ground.
"What in Equestria was that?" Spike gasped in surprise as he got up and picked up the fallen bags. He looked to Twilight for an answer.
But she didn't reply. Instead, she quickly searched around. She only spotted a teal-colored horn glowing in the distance before it disappeared behind the hill.
"I have no idea, Spike." Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, unsure of what had just occurred. "Maybe Starlight can tell us about—"
"Twilight!"
Twilight and Spike turned their heads inside the castle to see Starlight running to them. Speaking of Starlight... Twilight mused in her head. However, she was taken aback by the anger and confusion in her expression as soon as she caught up to them. Perhaps she does know?
"Where are they?" Starlight demanded as soon as she caught her breath.
"Who?" Spike tilted his head.
"Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo," Starlight answered firmly.
"What did they do?" Twilight asked Starlight gently by placing a hoof on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. What did the three fillies do that could cause Starlight to be in this state?
Twilight could see that Starlight was struggling to calm down as she spoke. "I don't know how, but those three managed to switch my cutie mark with Sweetie Belle's." She then turned her body to show Sweetie Belle's badge-shaped cutie mark attached to her.
Twilight and Spike gasped at the display.
"When did this happen?" Twilight asked. Her voice was tight in concern.
"Just now," Starlight affirmed her.
"How and why did this happen?" Spike asked next. His claws practically covered his mouth.
Starlight sighed deeply. "I have no idea. Before it happened, Sweetie Belle asked if she could switch cutie marks with me. Obviously, I declined her request. But apparently, she's more ambitious than I thought." She ended with an eye roll.
"You didn't even notice that your cutie mark was being switched?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.
Starlight shrugged helplessly. "I had no idea. If I'd known it was happening, I would've stopped it right away. However, I did notice my magic being a different color and I started to wobble a little bit. When I saw my cutie mark switched, I knew it was too late."
"Though now that I think about it." Spike looked outside and scratched his chin. "We did bump into an invisible force that had a glowing, teal-colored horn. A color similar to yours."
Twilight now connected the dots. "Maybe that was what bumped into us. Three invisible escaping fillies."
"Are you kidding me? Are they on the loose?" Starlight couldn't believe her ears. "With my magic?"
"It's not like you're an earth pony now, Starlight." Spike tried to lighten the mood. "You have Sweetie Belle's magic, you know."
Starlight gave him an unamused expression. "Thanks for reminding me, Spike."
Spike chuckled sheepishly.
"This is bad. Very, very bad." Twilight was now pacing in a circle. "Your magic should not rest in the hands of an inexperienced foal!"
"Precisely why I denied their request in the first place!" Starlight exclaimed. "Stop telling me things that I know, Twilight!" She suddenly snapped.
Then she sighed and rubbed her head. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. I'm just heavily concerned for their safety." She apologized as she pawed one of her hooves.
"As you should. Knowing your magic, it will lead to nothing but disaster if used in the wrong hooves." Twilight told her grimly.
Starlight shot her an exasperated look but didn't say anything this time.
"Should we tell Rarity?" Spike spoke to Twilight, twiddling his claws.
"Absolutely not!" Twilight and Starlight exclaimed at the same time.
"Rarity would kill me if she found out about this. She'll think that I agreed to this stupid switch." Starlight explained with a tight note of fear in her voice.
"And the last thing she needs to worry about is her sister possessing dangerous magic beyond her control," Twilight added. "In fact, no one should know about this except us. Applejack and Rainbow Dash can't know about this either."
Starlight nodded firmly, agreeing with what she said.
"Won't they get angry at us anyway for not telling them in the first place?" Spike argued.
Starlight got between the two and jumped down at the end of the stairs in one leap. "We can worry about them later," she told the two firmly. "What I care about is finding those three and keeping a close eye on them as much as possible."
"Why do you want to watch them? Don't you want your cutie mark to be switched now?" Twilight followed Starlight down the stairs.
"If my theory is correct, and they used a similar spell I used on Princesses Celestia and Luna, the spell lasts for twenty-four hours," Starlight told her. "Hopefully by then, they won't do anything stupid."
"The real question is how are we going to find them?" Starlight finished with a hopeful look at the two.
Spike and Twilight joined by her side and began to walk beside her.
"Knowing them, I know one place where they go every time a crisis happens," Twilight told her firmly.
She, Spike, and Starlight looked in the east direction with grim looks on their faces.
Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle panted inside their clubhouse. They were exhausted from the running and were relieved to finally take a breather.
"That was way too close!" Applebloom exclaimed to her friends. "We almost got caught by Starlight."
"And Twilight and Spike," Scootaloo added. She looked at Sweetie Belle with an exasperated expression. "I knew this was a bad idea. Why didn't we just obey Starlight's wishes? I don't want to be on the run like a criminal."
"I shouldn't have brought up the idea in the first place," Applebloom said regretfully. "Now Starlight hates us. I know it."
"It's only for a day! Then once the day passes things will go back to normal." Sweetie Belle reassured them.
"Your cutie marks will return to normal, but our relationship with Starlight surely won't." Scootaloo pointed out.
"Come on, girls. Starlight will understand. Meanwhile, we got all the cool magic spells now!" Sweetie Belle boasted before lighting her horn and teleporting them to the middle of the Everfree Forest.
Scootaloo jumped when she saw her new surroundings. "Uh..."
"Can we please go back?" Applebloom's legs were shivering. "I don't like it here."
Rolling her eyes, Sweetie Belle teleported herself and her friends back to their clubhouse. "Come on, girls. You're no fun."
"Let's just stick to the basic spells for now, thank you very much," Applebloom said hesitantly. "I'm not ready for any big banger spells yet, you know."
The clubhouse grew silent.
"So, how are we going to do this? Everyone is going to be asking why you have a different cutie mark all of a sudden." Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle.
"Simple. I'll just borrow a gown from my sister's place, and it'll hide my flank." Sweetie Belle answered. "We can teleport there if you two want, but since you don't want any banger spells..." she trailed off when she saw Scootaloo look out the window, and look back at them with a horrified expression.
"I think this time might be an exception." Scootaloo worriedly told the two. "They're coming!"
"Who?" Applebloom tilted her head.
"Starlight. Along with Twilight and Spike." Scootaloo said hurriedly. "We need to go. Now!"
Sweetie Belle looked away awkwardly and beads of sweat started to come down her forehead. "Well, teleporting the three of us took most of my energy. I don't know if I can do it a second time—"
Loud knocking banged on the door, and the three looked on in horror.
