The Cutie Mark Crusaders In: The Quest for the Cutie Crystal

It was dark and cold, damp and dirty. The Mane Six were bound to each other at least. They were cold and shivering, yet warm from each other’s body heat. For once, Pinkie Pie was really quiet, and Fluttershy could really be heard. “Uh, Twilight?” It was Applejack. Twilight Sparkle was the only one who was still out. “Uhn… Huh? What? Where am I?” Twilight shook her head and looked around. “My dear Twilight,” Rarity said formally, “you are sitting here tied up with the five of us together.” Twilight’s ears sank, and her eyes grew worried. “Now don’tcha worry none, Twilight. We’ll done git outta this here mess. It’s jist that we’re in a bit of a fix here,” Applejack said. Twilight started to cry. “But I don’t wanna stay here! I have a brother, you have a brother and sister, and everypony else in here has family too!” she whined. Then with a small squeaked voice she said quietly, “I wanna go home.” Applejack turned to look at her face. She nudged her nose on Twilight’s shoulder. “There there, Twilight. It’s gonna be okay. We’ll git outta this somehow,” she said comfortingly. Twilight leaned her head on Applejack’s shoulder. Applejack laid her head on Twilight’s head. “Don’t worry, sweetie. Just rest now honey. I’m sure we’ll git outta this… sometime,” she said quietly, but soothingly. Fluttershy leaned in on Rainbow Dash, who was next to Twilight. Rarity was next to Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie next to Rarity and Applejack. “I hope that Angel’s okay,” Fluttershy said in a bit of a raspy voice. Pinkie Pie just looked down sadly. Her mane was no longer curly. It just drooped like a dead vine on her face. She was like a second version of Fluttershy, hiding her face behind her mane. “Pinkie,” Rainbow asked, “are you still there?” She strained to look over at the no longer party pony. “Yeah,” she said quietly. Rainbow Dash just looked down, knowing that Pinkie Pie was lying. Fluttershy then started singing a lullaby that soon all of them were singing and rocking to. “Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleeping head. Hush now quiet now, it’s time to go to bed.” It was very soothing, and it calmed everypony down. Rainbow and Fluttershy paired up then as a duet, Rainbow singing a lower part, Fluttershy higher. Pinkie Pie then started in, singing the highest part, just a bit above Fluttershy. “See Twilight? It’s okay because we have friends with us. And after all… friendship is magic,” Applejack said. Twilight nodded and started singing with Applejack. Soon after repeating the song many times, the voices were killed off by slumber, and Twilight and Applejack were the only ones left singing. Twilight was now singing a high part and Applejack the lower part. After finishing the song yet again, they sang it one more time, but more slowly. When they got close to the end, their voices faded away as they fell prey to sleep. The last thing that they sang was, “It’s time to go to… bed.” …

The next morning…

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were huddled and comfortable when all of a sudden, there was a bolt of lightning shooting across the sky. Sweetie Belle bolted upright. “Yikes!” she shrieked. The other two Crusaders shook up as well. “Wuz a matta, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked tiredly. Apple Bloom looked out of the cave and saw the lightning bolt. She gasped and said, “Ah! It must be Discord! Or even worse, Aria! Quick! C’mon y’all! We ain’t got no time ta lose. We gotta git outta here as fast as possible, so as that the baddies don’t catch us.” Sweetie and Scoot nodded. The three fillies got up and walked out of the cave, looking over across the sky to see where the bolt might have landed. Scootaloo pointed toward a small pointy tip just above the trees ahead.

“Look, that could be the next landmark on the map.”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said. “That could it.”

“From the looks of the map,” Sweetie Belle said, observing the map, “the next landmark should be the Castle of the Unisus.”

“The Castle of the Unisus,” Scootaloo repeated, intrigued. Apple Bloom smiled. The name was very majestic, almost dreamlike. “Come on, y’all. We better git goin’.” Apple Bloom laughed at Sweetie Belle’s impression of Apple Bloom. “Ha! Who’s gettin’ made fun of now?” Scootaloo teased. All of them laughed. Then they took off into the last few trees that most likely led to their next destination. Along the way, thankfully, they came a across a tree full of fruits, like apples and oranges. Apple Bloom bucked the tree hard and apples and oranges rained from the tree. They each ate six apples and six oranges, replenishing their strengths. “Okay, girls,” Apple Bloom concluded, “let’s go!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said in unison, “Yeah!” and all three ran ahead.

The Crusaders gasped and stared in awe at the majesty that was the Castle of the Unisus. The whole castle was made with glossy stone. The windows were on both the bottom and top floors of the Castle. The towers were parallel to each other, two in front, two in back. The roofs of the towers were smooth as glass, a very pretty light blue tint to them. The walls were silver, shiny and sparkling. The doors were pure crystal, purple. Even the doorknobs were beautiful. They looked as though they were crafted by one of the finest designers out there. They were a beautiful gold, with smooth swirl designs covering each, each swirl intertwining with the other swirls. “Wow, it looks as though this castle was designed by the Gods of Equestria,” Sweetie admired. Apple Bloom responded with a barely focused “Yeah.” Scootaloo just stared on into space, clearly mesmerized by the Castle’s beauty. “Let’s go inside,” Apple Bloom said. The other two nodded. They slowly pushed the doors open and walked inside. The inside was like the outside, silver and glossy. The floor was white, and it was so shiny clean that you could see your reflection through it. There were no curtains or rugs, just a tall silver chair at the end of the room and a few doors on each side of it. The girls weren’t sure what to do next until a Unisus came in through the left door by the chair. The Unisus had a mane that was light blue, with dark blue streaks. Her horn was about the same length as Twilight or Rarity’s horn, which was a light pale blue as well as the rest of her body. She was about the same size as Luna, so her wings were about the same compared to Luna. They were a slightly darker blue compared to her body color. Her hooves were hidden behind light silver flats, her tail a light blue with silver streaks. Her mane and tail were smooth like Fluttershy’s, her eyes a very pretty green. Her cutie mark was that of a silver crystal with what looked like a magic force field with sparkles around it. “What brings you three here?” she asked with quiet uneasiness. Apple Bloom calmly explained everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours. “Oh dear, oh me, oh my, you poor dears. It must be hard to lose loved ones that you truly care about.” She turned her head and looked over at the farthest doorway to the right of the throne room. “Please follow me,” she asked smoothly. The Crusaders felt somewhat hypnotized, or entranced, by her beautiful voice. She led them up a flight of swirling stairs. It took them only five minutes to walk all the way up. They came to a boarded up door that looked like nopony had touched it in ages. “In here,” she said, guiding the Crusaders. She slowly took off each wooden plank that kept the door locked up. After removing six planks, she opened the door. The room was completely empty, lifeless. The walls were gray and dark compared to the throne room, which looked more promising. The floor was deeply cracked, so if one of the Crusaders fell in, they would be in two feet deep. “So what is this place?” Apple Bloom asked. The Unisus walked over to the only window in the room, which was reflecting on the wall opposite the door. “My name is Aliceria. And I have brought you three to the Room of Sorrow. Each doorway at the entrance leads to different rooms. Each one has their own emotional power to them. And whenever I feel that emotion, I go to that room. But right now, I’m feeling sad.” Sweetie Belle looked worried. “Why are you sad?” She looked down at the little Unicorn. “Because you three showed up.” The Crusaders were horrified.

“No no,” she panicked. “What I mean is, the rumors are true. I heard about Ponyville and Celestia’s message to send three little fillies on an adventure just to get the Cutie Crystal.”

“That’s right!” Apple Bloom said happily.

“Yep,” Scootaloo put in.

“Uh-huh, that’s true!” Sweetie Belle replied.

“Isn’t it great? Three little fillies like us, going on an adventure to find the Cutie Crystal. And guess what else? We could get our cutie marks!” Apple Bloom was bouncing with joy.

“No, not great.” Aliceria confirmed steely. The Crusaders looked confused. They all said in unison, “Huh? Why?” Aliceria sighed and gave them a response that they’ve heard way too many times already. “You’re all just kids. And you don’t even have your cutie marks. And you,” she said pointing at Sweetie, “can you use magic?” Sweetie slowly and guiltily lowered her head, indicating a “no”. “And you,” she said, turning to Scoot, “can you even fly yet?” Scootaloo said in response, “Somewhat.” She demonstrated her poor ability to fly. Aliceria shook her head. “See? That’s why grown ponies need to take on tasks like this. It’s way too hard when you can’t fly, can’t use magic, and you have an earth pony, who can’t do anything. No offense sweetie,” she said, referring to Apple Bloom just now. Sweetie Belle wasn’t about to go down without trying to reason with the stubborn Unisus. “Yeah, we know. Sure we can’t fly, or use our magic, or our friend can’t do either of those things, but we have our own unique abilities. Scootaloo can perform stunts like nopony’s business. Apple Bloom can build stuff out of nothing. And I can sing. Oh, and actually, correction there. Scootaloo can now fly about five feet to five and a half feet off the ground, while I can use sparks of magic. We’re not sure why everypony keeps saying that we can’t, when we can. I guess I just forgot. Watch!” Aliceria watched in amazement as Scootaloo performed flips and tricks perfectly, always landing perfectly on one hoof, as well as demonstrating her flying capabilities. Apple Bloom took the six planks and built two chairs in a minute and a half. Aliceria was in complete and utter shock. Sweetie demonstrated how she can use magic, but very tiringly. Then she listened in awe as Sweetie Belle sang a lovely tune. “Oh sweet, my sweet, how fair you are to me. Won’t you stay and listen to my sweet melody? My dear pony who I love, my sweet little dove. Oh sweet, my sweet, how nice you are to me. Please don’t go and leave me here, please don’t make me plea.” Sweetie Belle blushed deeply as Aliceria clopped for her beautiful performance.

“Wonderful! Simply wonderful! Haha!” Aliceria started laughing with joy and heart and danced around pleasantly.

“Aww, it was nothing. Really,” Sweetie Belle said bashfully.

“I simply must know what that song was,” Aliceria said excitedly.

“I guess I could call it Oh Sweet, My Sweet,” Sweetie Belle said.

“My dear ponies, you all have amazing talents. Thank you… for giving me… hope.” She smiled and happy tears poured down her face. “Oh! I never did ask of your names!” The Crusaders looked at one another and said:

“I’m Apple Bloom!”

“I’m Scootaloo!”

“And I’m Sweetie Belle!”

And in unison: “And we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!!” They shouted their introduction with happiness. Aliceria bounced on over to the door. “Come my fellow Crusaders! I have something to give you.” They all bounced on down the stairs, laughing and giggling all the way. They came back to the entrance and Aliceria moved her throne chair with her magic. There was a secret door behind it! She opened the door and proceeded down a long dark hallway. The Crusaders trotted closely behind. At the end of the hallway, there was what appeared to be a door, because there was light outlining a rectangle. Aliceria opened the door, and through it was the outside. It was a clearing. There was a small silver podium, and on that podium was a stone tablet. It had a strange spell written on it. “Take this with you,” Aliceria said. She went over and got the tablet. She gave it to Sweetie Belle. “Huh?” she asked. Aliceria smiled. “It’s a song, a song that my mother used to sing to me.” Sweetie Belle had tears well up in her eyes. “If you sing this Sweetie Belle, then you can activate the Cutie Crystal’s power. And it can only be sung by a pony with a true voice of song. And that pony is you.” Sweetie gave the Unisus a bear hug. “Thank you,” she whispered shakily. “I won’t let you down.” Aliceria smiled and said, “I know you won’t.” Within a few minutes, the Crusaders were on their way. Aliceria waved them a peaceful goodbye and proceeded back through the door. The Crusaders waved their goodbyes as the Unisus turned to take one last glance. Then they ran off into the distance, following the lightning bolt that had been somehow leading the way.

As Aliceria looked on, she watched the Cutie Mark Crusaders run happily, their manes waving with the slight wind. She smiled and turned to look at her surroundings. The walls were of every color of the rainbow, reflecting from the light and silver shining on them. There was a huge decorative rug covering the entire floor. It had gold lining on the edges, the rug white. There was a huge design of Celestia’s cutie mark on it, with Luna’s and Cadence’s as well, one on each side of Celestia’s. There were windows on each of the four walls, the fifth with the door on it. Each wall was lined with drawings of pictures that Aliceria had drawn as a filly. They were pictures of flowers, butterflies, and many other happy drawings. She smiled and laughed joyfully as she danced in the Room of Happiness…