Cutie Mark Trials

The three fillies passed through town, ignoring evil stares from civilians. "Y'know, now that I think of it, I think we should pack some food and drink, because we might be in there for a while." Apple Bloom thought of preporation. The other two nodded and seperated. Scootaloo got energy bars that Rainbow Dash had given her, Sweetie Belle got some type of elegant food leftovers from the night before, and Apple Bloom managed to buck an apple tree and took some of last seasons apple cider without her family catching her. They met in the clubhouse and looked at the supplies.

"Applejack let you have apple cider?" Sweetie Belle licked her lips. Apple Bloom smiled nervously and turned her attention to Scootaloo.

"You willin' to part with your 'special' bars? Rainbow Dash would say you're pretty loyal to your non-chicken friends." Apple Bloom teased.

Scootaloo gave her a feirce look and said, "I think you're getting out of hoof with the chicken jokes. And I'm willing to share them if you gals wear long socks there, y'know, to make up for all the times you called me a chicken." She grinned afterwards. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle protested the idea. "You don't want me to pose you, right?" The fillies silenced all at once and stared at Scootaloo as if she had mysteriously grown a horn on the top of her head.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked back into the house with socks that went up to their body. The socks themselves were, easily put, comfortable, except the stares the fillies would attrack would be unimaginable because of the number of citizens out to shop. Scootaloo's wings immediatly sprung up without an apparent reason and she grinned evily. "Let's go, Crusaders." The other fillies groaned and picked their food pouches with wool-covered hooves. Once they reached town, they tried to avoid odd stares to no avail. "Don't hide, you look sexy in those!" Scootaloo pulled the socks down slightly. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other. How badly they hated Scootaloo for this public embarassment. The chicken jokes were terrible, but they were nothing compared to this humilliation.

"We're getting back at her." Sweetie Belle gritted through her teeth and pulled up her white and green striped socks. Apple Bloom nodded and looked at the map. A few miles north and more to the east would get them to the cave. Away from the glances of crudeness.

"T... Than- how do you say it? Thanatos Cave? I wonder what that means. I bet if Twilight were with us she'd be able to tell us what that means." She thought out loud and almost tripped over a large rock. The filly regained as much stature as she could, with all the mares and stallions giving them odd glares as they passed them by. She handed it over to Scootaloo. "You get map duty for making us wear these." Scootaloo rolled her eyes and snatched the map from her. Scootaloo unrolled it and read it upside down.

"We should go right here." She had her face buried in the paper and, without looking up, pulled down Sweetie Belle's socks. Sweetie Belle immediately pulled them up and looked at Apple Bloom. Her socks were sagging, but the "sock mistress" made no attempt to raise them.

They mainly stayed quiet until they reached the cave, then Sweetie Belle asked, "Why socks, Scootaloo? You coud have done something more embarrassing than some long socks."

Scootaloo closed her eyes and tried to think of something to say. "Well... You can use the wool to make stuff. And it might be cold, then you won't be whining then. I'll take them now if you don't want them." She pulled them off and put them in her pack. They didn't care. It's not like they'd be in there long enough to where they'd have to smother themselves with socks.

"So what should we call ourselves when we get our cutie marks?" Scootaloo asked, purely to change the topic.

Sweetie Belle didn't mind the topic change at all and chipped in, "We should call ourselves the Cutie Mark Warriors!"

"Doesn't really make sense, right? I mean, we aren't fightin' for Celestia, or fighting at all. I think we should be known as the Cutie Mark Treasure Hunters." Apple Bloom reasoned. As creative as they could be, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle couldn't really come up with any decent names for their group.

Scootaloo scoffed. "We'll figure it out later. For now, let's just get the treasure and get out." They trotted inside the dark cave. The cave filled in with darkness and no light was visible at all. "Grab hooves so we don't lose each other."

Lights flashed on and they could see what now looked like a room. "What is this place? It looks like a room." Sweetie Belle raised her right hoof up to the wall where there was a red, sticky liquid running from a rusty vent in the ceiling. The room extended atleast another 50 feet and the ceiling raised the longer the room developed. At the tip of the room, there was a large clear pane that looked like glass. Sweetie Belle wiped the liquid off on the wall, repulsed after she cautiously licked some off her hoof and noticed it tasted metallic.

The pane lit up and the image of a hooded pony came up. The Crusaders trotted closer to it and investigated. The pony on screen looked just like the one that told them about the treasure here! "Hello Crusaders. I notice you wonder where you are. Thanatos Cave if you'd like. What you will do here, I believe, will rid you of selfish acts as seen in the attempts to gain cutie marks. Yes, if you didn't know, Thanatos means death. I'm being polite and letting you stay in a group through these trials. However, that doesn't mean you are invincible, you will die if you aren't careful. I'll help you on the way, but I will not warn you of any traps or ponies lurking, only guide you to the next chamber. If you are ignorant and untrusting of me, I have something to show you that might just gain your assurance." She lowered the hood slowly and revealed her true identity.

The Crusaders gasped, "Twilight?"