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

by SunshineSprite

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Adventure, Queen Chrysalis, Discord
Length: 14169

The Cutie Mark Crusaders fight to save Equestria from Aria and Discord!

The Cutie Mark Crusaders are after a special item: the Cutie Crystal. But Aria and Discord are willing to use it to take over Equestria. Can they stop them before it's too late?

Published 2012-12-03 06:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-03 06:50:01 UTC

Chapter 1

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

It was wonderful day in Ponyville. Birds were singing, ponies were prancing, and it was just so fantabulous. At least, for almost everypony. Sweetie Belle, one of the 3 Crusaders, was on her way to their clubhouse in Sweet Apples Acres, home to the Apple family. This family consisted of Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, Applejack, and last but not least, sweet little Apple Bloom, the leader of the Crusaders. Granny was her grandmother, Big Mac and AJ were her older brother and sister, and she was the youngest. “Shoot! If I don’t hurry, I’m going to miss the Cutie Mark Crusaders meeting!” Sweetie Belle ran as fast as she could, for this meeting wasn’t like any other. Usually, it was about plans on how the Crusaders could get their cutie marks, special symbols that represent who they are. But for some reason, they don’t get it. They can’t figure out their true identities and earn their cutie marks. Usually, a filly or colt gets their mark by discovering their special talent. But the Crusaders are too impatient. What they don’t realize is that their talents are shown quite a bit, except they don’t realize it. Apple Bloom can build stuff with ease, Sweetie Belle can sing so well that she can form a gospel, and Scootaloo can perform amazing stunts. Unfortunately, there was one thing: she can’t fly well yet, nor can Sweetie use her horn to use magic, for Scoot is a Pegasus and Sweetie is a Unicorn (and yet Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake can do those things even though they are babies). Apple Bloom is an Earth pony, so she can’t do either of those things. Because the three of them all have the same objective, they became a group, and thus the Cutie Mark Crusaders were born.

The little white Unicorn hurried through the apple trees and up the stairs into the treehouse. This treehouse was very special, since Applejack used to own it and gave it to Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom fixed it up so that it was brand new again and could be used to the Crusaders’ liking.

Just as Sweetie entered, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom hurried over to her. They immediately started throwing questions out. “Where have you been, Sweetie!? Apple and I’ve been waiting for, like, ever, waiting for you to show up.” The little orange Pegasus filly had her purple eyes all in the white Unicorn filly’s green eyes. “Hey now, Scoot. Don’t go an’ be a rainin’ on her parade. Don’tcha have any manners?” The yellow Earth pony blinked her pretty light amber eyes at the orange Pegasus. “Sorry everypony, I’m not trying to be late on purpose, but I had to help Rarity. You know how my sister is when it comes to fashion. Oooueeh.” Unfortunately, poor Sweetie was stuck in another one of Rarity’s “fashion shows”, where she picks a “victim” to show off her newly made clothes to see if she likes them. Rarity knew fashion like nopony’s business. Sweetie shivered as she reminisced about seeing herself in ridiculously large hats and clothes. “Alright then, Crusaders. Let’sa gits down ta business.” Apple Bloom stood in the middle of the room and stood on her two back hooves, as if standing as a leader. Within a few minutes, the Crusaders were talking about the event that brought them here: the Cutie Crystal Festival. This festival wasn’t like any festival ever held in Ponyville. It was about a very rare item called the Cutie Crystal. It was said to be able to tell you when and how you could get your cutie mark. It also could be used to send darkness seeking for mercy. But this item has not yet been proven real, so therefore it is considered a myth. But the Crusaders have been researching it for a quite a while now, beings that it can help them do one thing: get their cutie marks.

The three silly fillies started brainstorming ideas. Some were plans about skydiving, skating, and kite flying. But none of which they wanted to do. Then Apple Bloom got an idea. “Cutie Mark Crusader Painters!” Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at Apple Bloom with confused looks. “What?” the two fillies said at the same time. Apple Bloom turned to her fellow Crusaders. “Why, we can go an’ start a paintin’ business. We could, uh, um… Oh! Paint ponies and flowers and stuff! But, we’ll need some help. That’s where the Cutie Crystal comes in. If we find it, then we can use it to git our cutie marks.” Apple Bloom was pleased with herself. Sweetie Belle then pointed out, “But how are we going to get paint, Apple Bloom? And also, what if the Crystal doesn’t exist? And what if we do find it, it can’t help us? And what if our sisters find out? What if we get into trouble, like any other time? And also, that plan doesn’t make much sense. Especially with so many what ifs.” That was when her heart sank. Apple Bloom didn’t know where to get paint. And also, what if the Cutie Crystal was just a myth? Scootaloo started tapping her hoof on her chin. “Hmm, what can we do about getting paint?” She sat and thought, but to no avail. She was stumped. Sweetie looked puzzled. “Don’t worry, Crusaders! I’m sure that we’ll thank of somethin’. Come on, let’sa go and get some fresh air.” Apple Bloom got up and bounced out the front door. Scoot and Sweetie followed close behind.

Later that day…

Apple Bloom and her friends had left their treehouse to go and find some ways to get their cutie marks. That was when they heard about what they were looking for. “Step right up, everypony!” It was the mayor of Ponyville. “Well, I wonder what kind of emergency it is this time, for I have much work to do.” It was Sweetie’s older sister Rarity, the proud fashionista and owner of Carousel Boutique. “Hey, sis!” Sweetie ran up to the formal white Unicorn. Her wavy dark lavender curly mane whipped around her head as she spotted her younger Unicorn filly sister. “Why hello there, Sweetie Belle! Have you not heard of the great news from the mayor today? There have been confirmed evidences of the Cutie Crystal.” Sweetie’s eyes grew wide and her mouth formed a grin from ear to ear. She bounced up and down happily, her light purple and pink curly mane swinging about. “Well, judging from your overactive excitement, I’m guessing that you have?” Rarity was nodding her head up and down, trying to keep up with her sister’s bouncing. “Yeah! Yay! I’m so excited!” Rarity then tensed up.
“Sweetie! Stop that bouncing, for you’re giving me a headache faster than Pinkie Pie when she’s rambling on about whatever.”

“Sorry Rarity.” Sweetie stopped her bouncing.

“Well I’ll be, if it ain’t Rarity and Sweetie Belle.” Apple Bloom’s older sister Applejack trotted up to the two Unicorn sisters. “Oh hello, Applejack. How are you on this fine morning? You know, our sisters and their friend,” Rarity turned to Sweetie Belle, “have been researching that Cutie Crystal for a while now.” Sweetie jumped up in response. “Yeah, we’ve wanted to find it so that we can get our cutie marks.” Applejack looked at the little filly with a worried expression. “Now Sweetie, ye know that y’all can’t just go off a findin’ the Crystal by yerselves. It’s way too dangerous for little fillies like you to try somethin’ like that, ya know.” Sweetie then nodded and looked down at her hooves. Tears started up in her eyes. Applejack then gave a comforting pat on the little Unicorn’s head. Sweetie looked up and smiled, AJ smiling back in response. “Don’t worry, I’m sure that ye can find it. But ye might wanna wait a little longer.” Apple Bloom then trotted up to her sister.

“Hey, Applejack! Guess what? I found out about more research about the Cutie Crystal. Wanna hear about it?”

“Hang on now, ye silly filly. The mayor’s gonna announce what the entire hubbub’s all about.”

The mayor perched herself on the top of a platform, staring down at everypony. “Alright everypony. Now I have some very exciting news. The Pegasi of Cloudsdale have confirmed that the Cutie Crystal does indeed exist!” You bet that everypony in Ponyville cheered and bounced up and down, or well, almost everypony. Derpy was bouncing down and up, and whooped and cheered all the same, except backwards. She was quite the wall-eyed pony. But everypony still loved her. “Apple Bloom, don’t stare.” Applejack had scolded her sister for staring at Derpy. “Ya know that’s rude. Derpy’s just… special.” Derpy was special. Now her original name was Ditzy Doo, but one day, somepony said that she had derped up eyes. And so, she then went by with Derpy. Her last name is Hooves just because she has hooves, like everypony else. Apple Bloom apologized and paid her attention to the mayor. Her teacher, Miss Cheerilee, then showed up. Derpy had given her a nasty glare. Cheerilee gave a confused look in response. (To understand why, read Crimson Bubbles, a story that me and my friend are creating, or may have done by the time this story is finished. You should be able to find it on Fanfiction.net). Sweetie Belle was finally calm when the Crusaders’ worst enemies, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, showed up. Sweetie took cover behind Rarity. The two snobs walked on by, completely ignoring Sweetie, for they hadn’t seen her. Sweetie gave a sigh of relief. The mayor turned around to see the Wonderbolts, the most experienced fliers in all of Equestria. Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo’s hero, was there too. The Pegasi then came over to the mayor and explained their findings. “We, the Wonderbolts, and Rainbow Dash, another one of the fastest fliers in all of Equestria, have searched far and wide for this wonderful majesty, known only as the Cutie Crystal,” the leader of the Wonderbolts said. Everypony quietly waited for the Pegasus to continue. “Me and the Wonderbolts found this by the farthest part of Equestria, right on the border.” The rainbow-maned, rose-eyed, blue Pegasus put up one hoof, and perched upon it was a small piece of a rainbow-colored crystal. It must have been a piece of the Crystal itself! Everypony cheered loud and proud. “My little ponies! Let us give them good luck in finding more of the Crystal!” the mayor shouted. Cheers could be heard all over Equestria. The Crusaders smiled and yelled and cheered more than anypony. “Wow! I can’t wait for Rainbow Dash to find more of the Crystal,” Scootaloo said excitedly. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded and ran up to the mayor. “Are they really going to find more of the Crystal? Huh?” Sweetie was bouncing and prancing with excitement. “Yes, my dear, yes. The Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash are doing all they can to find more of the Crystal.” The Crusaders were excited and ran off into town to find Twilight Sparkle, for she was one of the smartest when it came to history.

A shadowy figure watched intently as the three fillies rushed off to wherever they needed to. “So, those three plan on using the Crystal? Ha! Don’t make me laugh! Everypony knows that I am the only one who should use it. And I know just how. Now I can finally get my revenge, and get the respect that I deserve. Mwahahahahahaha!!!!!!” As she looked on, Aria knew exactly how to get revenge. Aria was going to have a party later. And Princess Cadence was going to be the guest of honor, and possibly Princess Celestia and Princess Luna… Aria smiled evilly and gruesomely as she disappeared into the darkness…

Part 2

Twilight’s treehouse home came into view as the Cutie Mark Crusaders ran as fast as their little legs and hooves would carry them. “Man, I can’t wait for more of the Cutie Crystal to show up,” Scootaloo said. Sweetie Belle turned and said, “Yeah, neither can I.” Apple Bloom nodded. The three proceeded to knock on Twilight’s door when Spike opened it. “Oh! Hi girls! What brings you here?” The purple dragon smiled pleasantly. “Hi Spike!” the Crusaders chanted. Apple Bloom then spoke up. “We were jist wonderin’ if we coulda talk ta Twilight.” Spike nodded and said, “Sure. That is, if you can get her attention. Come on in.” Spike led the three fillies into the house and down to the library area.

“So, whatcha lookin’ for?” Spike asked.

“Well, you see Spike, the girls and I are lookin’ ta see how ta find the Cutie Crystal,” Apple Bloom explained.

“No way! Are you serious!? And just how do you think that you’re going to do that?”

“Why, by findin’ it, of course! Now, of course we’ll need to barah a couple books in order ta find it.”

“Yeah,” Sweetie put in. “If we can learn more about it, then we might be able to find its location and use it to get our cutie marks.”

“So,” Scootaloo said, “that’s why we need to ask Twilight if she knows anything about it, as well as borrowing some books.”

“Well okay then, if you say so. Just be careful, because I spent five hours rearranging those books.”

The four of them entered the library and found the purple unicorn at her studies, as usual. She seemed to be much focused. Her eyes were moving back and forth at a modest pace. “Um, Twilight? The Cutie Mark Crusaders wanted to see you. They have something important to ask you about the Cutie Crystal,” Spike asked. Twilight looked up from her studies then. “Huh?” She turned to see the Crusaders and Spike. “Oh, hello everypony. How are you?” The Crusaders all said in unison, “Great!” Then Apple Bloom explained what she and her friends had told Spike. “Oh, I see. So you want to find out more about the Cutie Crystal, huh? Well, I don’t really see how you could, beings that Scootaloo can’t fly, Sweetie Belle can’t use her magic, and Apple Bloom can’t fly or use magic. So, just how in all of Equestria are you going to find it?” She then turned back to her studies. “But Twilight, if we can’t get more research on it, then we won’t be able ta get our cutie marks,” Apple Bloom protested. The other two joined in. “Yeah, and if we don’t get our cutie marks, then we’ll be the laughing stable of the whole town!” Sweetie Belle cried. Scootaloo put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Twilight looked guilty and thought it over. “Well, when you put it that way, let me see what I’ve got.” She trotted over to a shelf on the far left side of the library. She looked and moved a couple of books out of the way. “Ah, here it is.” She pulled out a rainbow-colored book with a colorful bookmark ribbon in the middle of it. On the front of the book, there was a picture of a rainbow-colored crystal. The book looked a little worn and the corners curved a bit. Twilight blew some dust off of it. Or well, actually, a lot of dust.

“Okay girls,” Twilight said. “Here is the book on the Cutie Crystal.”

“AAAACHOOO!!” Within seconds, everyone sneezed.

“Oooh, goodness of all of Equestria. I guess I might’ve left this book alone a little too long.”

Twilight Sparkle gave the book to the three fillies. Their faces were painted with happiness. “Thanks, Twilight Sparkle!” the three fillies exclaimed.

“You’re welcome, girls. Just be careful, though. That book is ancient.”

The three fillies then hurried out the door and headed back to Sweet Apple Acres to the secluded private area of the farm, for their headquarters were waiting for them.

Aria made her to the center of the underground caverns she found on her way to her destination. She had flown to Canterlot, a more sophisticated town compared to Ponyville. Mostly Unicorns lived here. The Princesses also resided here. She could feel the tingling sensation of excitement raging through her body. The moment of revenge was almost here. The time was almost right. As she walked, she noticed a small light. “Aha! I found it!” She ran up to the small light, revealing to be a small hole. She climbed up the small hole and found just what she was looking for. There, sitting before her, was the most precious collection of items that ever existed: the Elements of Harmony…

Fluttershy was having a picnic with her animal friends and her pet white rabbit Angel. Just then she heard the sound of Pinkie Pie cheering and laughing. “HEEEEY, FLUTTERSHY!! GOT ROOM FOR ONE MORE!?” Pinkie Pie shouted. Fluttershy gave a shy, but hearable, “Yes.” The all over pink party animal hopped over and sat down next to the beautiful yellow Pegasus. Of course, her light pink mane covered part of her face. The pink curly mane of Pinkie bounced along as she talked Fluttershy’s ear off. “So, how are you? Huh? Whatcha been doing? Angel? What? Whoa! Cool! Muffins! Oh, they’re Derpy’s favorite treat! Why, Fluttershy—Say, what’s that?” Just then, Pinkie was cut off as the sky turned a dark color. Clouds started piling up. “Uh, maybe the c-c-clouds are forming like that be-b-b-b-because the other Pegasus ponies forgot to get rid of them?” Fluttershy grew uneasy. Pinkie Pie huddled into a ball with Angel and the other animals. Just then, a dark figure appeared before them. It was Discord! All Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy could do now was scream…

Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow ran as fast as they could from the terrors of Discord’s minions as they overtook Ponyville. Cheerilee was rushing fillies and colts here and there to safety. Derpy was running in useless circles. Dr. Whooves was tending to Mares and Stallions who had been trampled on by other fearful Mares and Stallions. The minions terrorized everypony. They had sharp yellow teeth, were dark, deformed creatures, and had wings. Their eyes were blood red, bloodshot from excitement. Wind and lightning blew through the town and buildings were torn. Windows were shattered; roads were cracked and ripped open from numerous earthquakes. The three ponies ran as fast as they could, but they were no match for the minions. Rarity was knocked out first. “Rarity!!” Twilight screamed. “Twilight, come on! We have to—AAAAAHH!!” Rainbow was whisked away into an oncoming tornado. Twilight screamed as she too was thrown into the tornado.

Part 3

The Crusaders were relaxing in their treehouse when Applejack and Big Macintosh rushed in. “Girls! Y’all have ta git outta here! Ponyville is fallin’ apart!” Apple Bloom turned to see the wind, lightning, and terror that remained of Ponyville. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hugged each other, shaking rapidly and desperately trying to grip onto insanity. “Big Mac, is that true?” Apple Bloom really hoped that this was a sick joke, but she got the one short response from her big brother that she didn’t want to hear. “Eeyup,” he said. Just then, minions filled the treehouse. Everypony shrieked. Big Mac quickly grabbed the fillies and threw them out of the treehouse. Suddenly, a carriage appeared. Princess Celestia poked her head out. “Quick girls! Get in!” Apple Bloom turned to her siblings. They were being overwhelmed by the minions. “Quick, go,” they both said. “Only you can help us now! Just go! The princess will help you!!” Apple Bloom watched in horror as the minions overtook them. The last thing that they said was, “We love you, Apple Bloom!” Apple Bloom cried as her siblings disappeared among the pile of distorted figures. The three fillies piled into the carriage and into the sky. As they watched, Ponyville fell to pieces. “Well, I hope that-that P-P-Ponyville is… is… Waaaah! Rarity!” Sweetie Belle cried and cried for her sister, for she feared that she may never get to see her again. Scootaloo stroked her mane and told her that everything was going to be okay. Apple Bloom curled up into a ball, forgetting about her friends, about Ponyville, about everything. All except for her siblings, that is. She reminisced how terrified they were for her, how the minions had ponynapped them. Then she remembered Granny Smith. But she was out of town. She had gone to an apple bucking convention held in Fillydelphia. At least Granny is safe, she thought comfortably to herself. She felt a comforting hoof on her shoulder. It was the princess. “When we get back to my castle, I have to talk to the three of you about something important.” Apple Bloom nodded and laid her head in her hooves. All she did then was cry for her siblings. It looked like Sweetie Belle wasn’t the only one who wouldn’t get to see her sister again…

Aria was pleased with herself as everypony in Ponyville her and her minions could find were rounded up. Just then, Discord appeared by her side.

“The Mane Six are all tied up,” he replied, snickering.

“Good, very good Discord. Now then, to surprise Princess Cadenza.”

She clopped both hooves together and said proudly, “Bring me the guest of honor! Bring the prisoner forward.” There were muffled screams as two minions brought a struggling sack to the evil Changeling’s feet. They undid the tie and out came Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence, with an uncomfortable thud, as well as an uncomfortable grunt in response. She was bound and had tape over her mouth. Aria looked down at the terrified Unisus. She gave muffled moans and whines as Aria brushed her matted mane from her eyes. She then told her, “Why Cadenza, you look rather dashing today. Too bad that Shining Armor isn’t here, for he had an important meeting in Manehattan. Oh well, I guess you and I get to have some fun. What do you say?” She ripped the tape from her mouth, Cadence screaming in pain. She gasped for air and said, “I, I’ll never join you! If that’s what you want.” Aria slapped her across the face. “Take this puny excuse for a princess away.” The two minions struggled as Cadence tried to get free, but to no avail. They dragged her off. Aria listened with glee to the sounds of Cadence’s cries for help. Aria then gave an evil, villainous laugh…

As the Crusaders and Celestia arrived at the castle, they rushed out of the carriage, only to be greeted by Twilight’s big brother, Shining Armor. “Dear Equestria! I just heard the news! Is my love and dear sister alright!? Where are they!?” He looked baffled and exhausted from searching for Cadence. Celestia told him to stay calm and told a couple of guards to escort him to safety, despite his protests. “Come,” she said to the fillies. She led them down to the far left corridor. She opened the giant doors. The Crusaders’ faces were then covered in shock. The walls were completely destroyed. The curtains, wallpapers, and rugs were torn to shreds. The floor was cracked, and there was a small hole near where the Elements of Harmony usually were. “Aria has stolen the Elements of Harmony.” Celestia had a hint of fear in her voice. The Crusaders looked up at her with worry. The princess then walked over to where the stolen Elements’ placements were. “I hear that you’re out looking for the Cutie Crystal,” she said calmly. “Twilight Sparkle had told me everything. And that’s why I have called you here.” The Crusaders looked at one another. Sweetie Belle then spoke up. “But, we don’t have a clue as to where it is.” Celestia turned to look down at the little white unicorn. “That’s why I’m going to give you this.” She walked over to a special tablet and opened it. In the tablet was a map, but it was a very special map. She picked it up with her mouth and brought it to the Crusaders. She let it flow to the floor. “This map has a pathway drawn on it. It shows how to get to the Cutie Crystal. This map shows many parts of Equestria that nopony has ever gone to before.” She nudged the map with her nose, towards the girls. “Take this. Find the Crystal and save Equestria before it’s too late. With Aria and Discord teamed up like this, the fate of Equestria is in question. And I think that I know the answer to it, unless you three can do something. I have to stay here and fight anything that tries to take over. I also have to try to save Ponyville. I’ll head there now with Shining Armor, while you three try to find the Crystal. Go now, Cutie Mark Crusaders! I’m counting on you!” And with that, the Crusaders knew what they had to do. Apple Bloom grabbed a hold of the map and took off out the doors with her companions. “Girls, we’ve got ourselves Equestria ta save! So let’s do it!” The Crusaders then gave high hooves as they said in unison, “Cutie Mark Crusader Adventurers!!” They then ran out and into the carriage. “Quick! Get us to the farthest part of Equestria as ya can!” She said to the carriage Pegasi. The carriage then raged off into the sky.

Part 4

Cadence looked around desperately for a way out of the prison she was being held in. She turned and walked up to the door. Then she observed her surroundings again, as she did five times ago. The walls were rocky and dark. There was no light except for what came from the window of the door. Even then, it was still dark. There were bars on the window. Cadence just sighed sadly and looked down. Whatever could Princess Mi Amore Cadenza do? Oh Aunt Celestia! Where are you!? I need your help!!

The carriage stopped by the end of the Everfree Forest. “Okay, this is as far as we can go,” one of the Pegasus Stallions said.

“That’s mighty fine, sir. Thank you,” Apple Bloom said.

The Crusaders hopped out of the carriage and watched as the carriage and Pegasi flew off into the sky. The clouds were piled up and dark grey and black. The wind had calmed down quite a bit. “Well, now what?” Scootaloo asked. Apple Bloom put a hoof under her chin. Then she got an idea.

“Well duh! We need ta git out there and find that crystal before the bad ponies do!”

“And just how do we do that when we don’t have any form of transportation?” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Wait girls! Do you see that?” Sweetie Belle said, pointing to the light shining far off into the distance.

“What is it Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah, what’s gotcha all in a curious bunch there, Sweetie?”

“It’s a light,” Sweetie said. “And I think that it’s calling us to it.”

Sweetie Belle trotted off into the darkness. “Sweetie Belle!!” the other two Crusaders yelled. They followed after her. Within minutes, they were engulfed in light. The sound of a waterfall could be heard. “Why, where are we now?” Apple Bloom asked. They were surrounded by a forest and light. The light was coming from the waterfall. It was glowing bright neon blue. Water was flowing down at a steady pace. It looked like ribbons waving in the wind. “Come on, girls! Let’sa go an’ find out what’s up with the waterfall there!” Apple Bloom and the Crusaders jumped into the water and swam out to the waterfall. They found a rock to sit on. They were then soaked with sparkling water. Sweetie’s mane covered her eyes, Scootaloo’s light purple spiked mane drooping just above her forehead. Apple Bloom’s giant pink bow looked like it was flattened along with her red mane. The three of them huddled together, shivering from the cold. “S-s-so,” Sweetie tried to say. Apple Bloom looked over at the rock wall that was hidden from view of the waterfall. “Hey, I think I see something in here.” She had spotted a crack in the wall. In the crack was a small light. “Let’s see if I can buck it.” She got up, hunched her legs close, and then threw them back at the wall. The wall crumbled right before their eyes. Apple Bloom peeked inside. It looked like a small shrine of some kind. There were huge crystals along the walls. In the middle of the shrine was a small stone table. On the table was an amulet. It was in the shape of a heart. Scootaloo trotted over to the table and looked at the amulet. “Apple Bloom, let me see the map.” Apple Bloom hoofed her the map. Scootaloo looked at the map. There was a small picture of a heart that resembled the amulet.

“Girls, this is the first landmark on the map! It’s says that this place is called the Heart of the Falls.”

“Heart of the Falls? What does that mean?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Why, I thank that it means that the amulet is the heart, for its shape. And that it’s in the middle of the Falls,” Apple Bloom said.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo observed. “That does make sense. That has to be it.”

“Oh, I get it. So the amulet is like a living piece of the Falls,” Sweetie concluded. “And if its power is stolen, then it can’t power the Falls.”

The Crusaders figured that Aria and Discord would come looking for this precious item. So, Apple Bloom decided to take it with her. “It darn don’t feel right, but it’s the only thang that we can do for now.” After they retreated out of the shrine, they piled a bunch of rocks in front of the opening, just in case that Aria and Discord come around. “Ahright, girls,” Apple Bloom said. “Let’s git goin’.” They trotted a little ways back the way they came. The Crusaders eventually came back to the middle of the forest. Only this time, they observed their surroundings and figured out where their exit was. After figuring all of that out, they got out of the forest. Sweetie Belle then started to complain. “Girls, I’m tired. My hooves are killing me, I’m hungry, and I think I’m getting a headache.” Apple Bloom thought this over. “Yeah, you’re right. I thank we should rest here tonight.” Scootaloo first started to protest, then decided against that, using her better judgment. “Yeah, I think that I’m tired too.” Her wings were so crumbled and shriveled up from exhaustion, her eyes were drooping way down past her pupils, and she was wobbling terribly. The Crusaders were going to lie under a tree, but thought better of it. They instead found a cave about a mile ahead of the forest. They hurried in and huddled together, for it then started to rain. The water dripping from the clouds sounded like the pitter-patter of money dropping on a counter top. For a few minutes they shook and rattled, but after a bit, they were toasty warm. Sweetie Belle nuzzled in close to Scootaloo, and Scootaloo nuzzled in close to Apple Bloom, while she nuzzled in close to Sweetie Belle. All three of them were close, comfortable, and felt safe. Pretty soon, they were all fast asleep…

Part 5

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…

Part 6

Celestia was roaming around the estranged town that used to be known as the ever so thriving Ponyville. Dear Equestria! What happened here!? Celestia just stared in horror and thought sadly about how much trouble Twilight and her friends might be in. And what about Cadence, or even Luna? Have they been caught too? Celestia paced around the town many times as she wondered what became of her loved ones. Shining Armor came running up, saying that he didn’t find any sign of his little sister or even her friends, not even his fiancé. “Don’t worry,” she said, “we’ll find them.” She tried to sound reassuring, but knew that she was lying to him, and she knew that he knew it too. She also knew another thing: she was lying to herself. What if they didn’t find them? She turned away from him, for she didn’t want him to see her, Princess Celestia, the ruler of all of Equestria, cry. “Princess? Are you alright?” Shining Armor had put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. She jumped and shrieked, startled from the gesture. He immediately pulled away, for fear that he had done something wrong. “It’s-I’m okay,” she whispered. All of a sudden, a shadowy figure dropped on the both of them, the two shrieking at the same time. “It most certainly isn’t alright, my dear Princess Celestia,” Discord said evilly as he shrouded both Unicorn and Unisus in darkness and captured them both. Feeling helpless, all they could do now was huddle next to each other…

Cadence heard the familiar sounds of two voices that she thought she would never hear again. Her door opened suddenly. Then two figures were thrown in and slammed down on each side of her. She looked and saw… Shining Armor! And by dear Equestria, Princess Celestia! Or well, Aunt Celestia, as she called her. “Darling! Aunt Celestia!” She leaned over each of them to see if they were okay. Celestia managed to stand up. Shining didn’t move. All he did was gasp for air desperately.

“Cadence, my sweet,” he managed to say in a rasped whisper.

“Shhhh, hush my dear hero. I’m here,” she said in a comforting whisper.

“Cadence, have you seen Twilight? Or anypony else besides Aria or Discord or their minions?” Celestia asked quickly. Cadence shook her head, explaining that she had been here for what felt like a day. “I never thought that I was going to see you again.” She started to cry when Shining sat up and put his arm around her, comforting her. Celestia then remembered something: the Cutie Mark Crusaders! Oh, I hope that they’re doing alright. They’re our only hope now, she thought worriedly. She quickly explained everything that transpired around her to Cadence. Hearing about the Crusaders made Cadence worry, then relieved because at least they could get away. They also might have a chance. She knew what they were capable of. She knew of their abilities. All they could do now was hope…

Twilight and Applejack had woken up after what felt like days when it was only hours. Everyone else was asleep.

“Applejack?”

“Yeah, Twilight?”

“Do you hear those voices? On the other side?”

“The other side of what, sugar cube?”

“The right wall.”

“Who do you thank that ye hear?”

And then she said just barely loud enough: “Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadence.”

Applejack just stared at Twilight. Then she heard them too. It really was the Princesses and Twilight’s big brother. Applejack felt relieved, and so did Twilight. Unfortunately, their voices were very hard of hearing, so trying to call them wasn’t really going to work. But at least they’re safe, Twilight thought to herself. Then their door opened. Aria stepped in. The voices on the other side had stopped. Two minions came in and undid the Mane Six. Twilight tried to run, but was snatched up by Aria. She started screaming and kicking. “TWILIGHT!!!!!!” Applejack cried. Twilight turned and screamed out loud. “APPLEJACK!!!!!!!” Just as she was being dragged, she caught sight of somepony in the small window of the door of the cell to the right of the Mane Six’s cell. It was Shining Armor, with tears in his eyes, and Twilight’s in hers. She cried and cried as Aria dragged her away, Applejack still yelling out her name as well as the rest freaking out because they didn’t know what was going on…

The Crusaders looked down at the map. As far as they could see, they had passed through two landmarks on the map. There were a total of six. They crossed off the Heart of the Falls landmark picture and the Castle of the Unisus landmark picture.

“Okay y’all, where to next?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I think it’s this.” Sweetie Belle pointed to the third landmark. It had a picture of a pond with a rainbow over it. “It says here that the next place is called Rainbow Lake.”

“Rainbow Lake? What the buck does that mean? It shows a rainbow and a puddle. Not such a cool name like the others.”

“I really don’t thank that it matters, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said annoyingly.

“Whatever.” Scootaloo trotted on ahead. The Crusaders headed on without a word for what seemed like hours. “Too bad we don’t have a watch,” Apple Bloom said sadly. The other two nodded and dropped their heads. They continued on, hoping to meet their next destination. As they walked, all of a sudden there was a loud boom, and some strange looking minions appeared. They wore dark blue jester outfits, the hats with bells, yet no jingles to them. They bore masks on their faces, kind of like theatre masks. There were a total of three of them. The one in front wore a happy theatre mask, the one to the left of it a sad theatre mask, and the one to the right a mad theatre mask. They wore shoes that were like elf shoes, with the curved tips. They also had bells, yet didn’t jingle. The bells were so old and rusted, and a very disgusting brown. Their hands were a depressing grey, very wrinkly and had deeply yellowed nails that were about two and a half inches long. “Eew!” the girls squealed. They got on their back legs and started running backwards. Sweetie Belle tripped on a rock and went down on top of Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. “Ow! Ouch! Hey! Yikes!” was all that the girls said as they went down. They landed in a huddle with a painful thud. “Ehehehehehe,” the leader giggled. The other two started giggling strangely as well. The Crusaders were very confused. The three weirdos started bouncing up and down and ran circles around the Crusaders. Sweetie whispered to Scoot, “I think these guys have totally lost their marbles. They’re completely bonkers.” Scoot turned to Sweetie and nodded. “Yeah, I know.” Then the minions started to sing way off key, saying weird things like “Oonga” and “yile a mod” and “dsjfjdsifjiejrfioefewfdjf!” Suddenly, a whiff of dark purple dust appeared. And then, a dark shadow. It was Aria! “Thank you, my oh so wonderful loyal subjects. You can go now.” She shooed them away, and they disappeared into the dust. “Now then,” she scowled, turning to the Crusaders. “What to do with you little brats…” She tapped her chin with her hoof and started pacing slow circles around the Crusaders. Sweetie Belle tried to hide her face in her mane, ears way down as low as they would allow. Aria smiled viciously and grabbed Sweetie Belle by the mane. She squealed uncontrollably. “Leave her alone!” Scootaloo jumped at Aria and bit her right on the butt. Aria shouted out in pain. She dropped Sweetie, who landed on her bottom, and Aria went jumping and dancing from the pain. Apple Bloom fell over laughing and Scoot grabbed Sweetie and pulled her ahead. “Quick Crusaders! Let’s make a run for it!” Scoot shouted. Apple Bloom stopped laughing and started ahead of Sweetie and Scoot. “I’ll get you crazy kids!” Aria shouted out loud.

“I wonder how many times that I’ve heard that before,” Scootaloo joked. They ran off, creating as much distance from Aria as possible. They gasped and panicked as they barely escaped. They saw a forest up ahead.

“Oh great, another forest ta git trapped in,” Apple Bloom complained.

“Hey, would you rather be with that crazy witch or in a forest where she can’t find us?” Sweetie Belle pointed out. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. They raced off into the forest. As soon as they felt that it was safe, it skidded to a rocky stop, and started to catch their breaths. They were gasping for air and nodded their heads up and down from the force of gasping. Scootaloo looked around their surroundings. “Uh girls, I don’t think that this is Rainbow Lake.” Apple Bloom looked at the map. “Hey hold on, girls. It says here that there is a forest on here. It says below the picture, ‘JUST A SMALL FOREST. DON’T WORRY.’ Humph, guess that means that the forest isn’t dangerous.” And Apple Bloom was right. The forest was only five minutes long. After getting through, the Crusaders were looking upon Rainbow Lake. “Wow, look at the way that the Lake is sparkling,” Sweetie Belle pointed out. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded. They walked over to the Lake. Scootaloo looked down at the water, watching her reflection waver. Apple Bloom looked up at the sky. “Hey, where’s the Rainbow?” She had no idea what had become of it. “I don’t know,” Sweetie said. “It says here that there is indeed a rainbow.” Scoot then got an idea. “What if the Rainbow disappeared? Maybe Aria was being called by her minions from this spot. She could have been standing here. She can use magic, and she can fly, for she is a dark Unisus.” The other fillies agreed. Then Sweetie caught sight of a sparkle in the grass. “Hey, look!” She ran over to the spot. It looked like a piece of rainbow. It was like broken glass. Sweetie gently picked it up. “I think that she broke it.” Scootaloo called over from afar. She had wandered off and found another piece of the Rainbow. Apple Bloom found several. Sweetie then said, “Why don’t we put all of the pieces that we find in a pile.” The other girls agreed to the idea and started working to build the pile. Pretty soon, they thought that they had found all of the pieces. In total, there was around forty-five pieces. “Okay, y’all. Let’s git started on this thang.” They went to put the pieces together, but they weren’t sure how. Then Sweetie put two pieces side by side, and they magically formed together. The three gasped and figured it out. One by one, each piece started to fit together, finally finishing within possibly thirty minutes. Once it was all together, they had to figure out what to do next. “Hang on, Crusaders. Cutie Mark Crusader Sweetie Belle to the rescue!” Sweetie used all of her strength to move the Rainbow back up into the sky. She jerked and gasped, clenching her teeth as the green light from her horn lifted the multi-colored curved plate into the sky. She finally was able to rest as the Rainbow began to glow, once again lighting up the sky. She collapsed, gasping for air as her friends came to her side. Just then, the Lake glowed bright white, and a large spark of light shot out from the Lake. A small shard appeared in mid air, then it turned into a bubble, and then into a large staff. It slowly landed in front of the Crusaders, mainly in front of Scootaloo. “I wonder what this staff is supposed to be used for,” Scoot asked. Apple Bloom got an idea. “Why Scootaloo, I thank that it’s for ye ta use.” Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom. “Huh?” Sweetie Belle finally spoke up. “Heh, try it.” So she did. And it glowed in her hoof. She realized something then.

“Girls?”

“Yeah, Scoot?” Sweetie and Apple Bloom asked.

“Did you ever notice something? Apple Bloom, you got an amulet. Sweetie Belle, you got a tablet with a song on it. And me, I got a staff. Don’t you get what it means? We each have a special item to help us get the Cutie Crystal to save Equestria.”

“Oh,” the other two said.

“So, by golly we’ll do it! Am I right Crusaders?”
“Yeah!” Sweetie and Apple Bloom cheered together. They each high hoofed each other. Then they set out to find the next location: The Hills of the Lost. They crossed off Rainbow Lake on the map, and then took off to find the Hills…

Part 7

Twilight screamed and struggled out of the chains’ grasps, but it was no use. They held tight. She had been chained to a wall that had a strange design on it: some picture of a heart that was tattered and torn. There were cracks in the wall, making it appear very grotesque. “Unhge,” she struggled. Straining as she might, there was no escape. She then heard a very distinct high pitched scream. It sounded like Pinkie Pie. She was thrown in front of Twilight Sparkle. Somepony walked into Twilight’s view. It was Discord. Shivering at his mercy was Pinkie, who used to be a real brave heart, but now a real scared soul. “Do something to her,” he growled. “Make her stand up. NOW!!” Pinkie squeaked and stood up herself. “Good,” he snickered. Pinkie was all dirty from the dire conditions that she was being held in. Her mane was no longer curly, but straight, with static and frizz sticking all around. Her eyes were shaking and she looked like a wild pony, shaking uncontrollably and whimpering. Twilight just cried. Pinkie turned and looked up at Discord. “W-w-why,” she whispered shakily, “why are you doing this?” Discord looked down at the pitiful pink pony and said, “Because, it’s what I like to do.” And then he brought a clawed hand down to her neck, almost snapping it. She gasped as she went down. “PINKIE!!” Twilight screamed. Discord then walked up to Twilight. “No. No! Stay away from me! No, no! Aaaa—gah!” she gasped as the evil dragon’s clawed hand smacked and collided with Twilight’s neck. Applejack then shot through the door and saw her two friends. “Gah!” was all that she got out as Discord turned and did the same to Applejack lightning fast. She dropped without a word as Discord thought, Stupid pony! Must have escaped. He scooped her up and proceeded back to her cell, AJ just lightly and lifelessly dangling her arms in his. Her ponytail was all messed up, some of it escaping from the restraining band that held it together. He tossed her in the cell, like she was a worthless piece of junk. He turned to see Rainbow Dash comforting a shivering and crying Fluttershy. She had her arms around the terrified Pegasus. Her eyes paid no attention to him whatsoever. They only focused on Fluttershy. He then turned to Rarity, who was sound asleep. She was curled up into a small, very tight ball. “Worthless pieces of trash,” he grumbled as he slammed their cell door shut. Just as he walked away, he smiled nastily as he heard the terrified shrieks of Fluttershy…

It was another beautiful sunset, and the Crusaders were ready to take another rest. Sweetie had managed to use her magic to find some trees that had berries in them. Scootaloo had flown up high and climbed trees to get them. Apple Bloom made little bags to carry them, that way they could eat without playing “Search and Find” just to get food. They found another cave that had a bonus: a wonderful view of the sunset and a huge view of the land. The Crusaders were perfectly happy. The sun was shining a brilliant red, with it traveling the farthest out of all of the colors. The golds, yellows, oranges, and reds were just nestled together beautifully, mixed in like water colors. They were just gorgeously painted in the sky. “Wow, look at that view. It’s like an ocean of colors,” Sweetie Belle said, mesmerized. Scootaloo smiled. “Yeah.” After a while, when it got dark, they got a fire started. The stars were shining bright, like little rhinestones in the sky. The moon was like a perfectly cleaned, glowing plate.

“Hey Sweetie,” Apple Bloom said.

“Yeah?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Why don’tcha sing a song.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo put in.

“Well… alright,” Sweetie Belle said quietly. Then she came up with a beautiful lullaby. “I call this one Lovely Moonlight Star. She took a deep breath and began to sing the song. “Sweet charity, my love so bright. Shining ever so, might I ask for the light, my dear… Lovely moonlight star, I’m calling for you tonight, my sweet, divine… Oh how ever did my dreams come true, as they came and go, here and fro, for you. Please don’t leave… my sweet lovely moonlight star, shining ever bright, you are.” When she finished, she sat and closed her eyes, listening to the whispering wind rush through her mane. It felt nice. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom thanked her for the sweet tune. Then within minutes, they were fast asleep. Sweetie figured that she may as well get some rest too. So they snuggled together like before and dreamed sweetly…

“NOOO!!” Stop! Don’t touch me!” Twilight was screaming and kicking, for she awoke on the floor, pinned down by four minions, one holding down each hoof. “Do you know how Discord came to be here?” Aria was leaning over Twilight and laughing right in her face. “When I get the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight started to say, but Aria cut her off, laughing. She flipped her head back with a villainous laugh. “HA! How do you think that Discord got out, huh?” Twilight stopped struggling. It all became clear then. She used the Elements of Harmony to free Discord! Discord then came into the room. He was carrying a lifeless Rarity and a colorless Rainbow Dash. Twilight stared in shock. He threw them down and went back out the door that he came in. “Where are we!?” Twilight demanded. Aria looked down at the helpless purple Unicorn. “Why, we’re in the dungeons that I created underground. I made them myself. Aren’t you proud of me?” she said with a giggle. Discord returned with Fluttershy on his back, Applejack in his left arm, and Pinkie Pie in his right arm. He threw them down next to Rarity and Rainbow Dash. “Girls?” she asked. Discord left again and came back a few minutes later with a huge cage. He opened the door to the cage. Twilight tried to see what inside but there was a cover on it. Soon though, she wished that she hadn’t, for out came a very injured Shining Armor and Big Macintosh. “Guys!” Twilight strained her neck to see the Unicorn Stallion and Earth Stallion. Another minion rushed over and forced her head still on the ground. She clenched her teeth, making struggling sounds and grunts. “Sis…” Shining Armor was beaten senseless a while ago for trying to defend his love for Cadence from Discord. Big Mac was just brought there. But he had many bite marks on his legs, calves, ears, and face. Both of their tails and manes were matted and sweaty. Big Mac took in many deep breaths. Shining Armor struggled to get up, but Discord brought down a chop to the back, sending Shining Armor to the ground and yelling in pain. “Brother!” Twilight shouted. Aria brought a small knife to her neck. She stopped struggling abruptly. Aria then smiled and threw the knife at a wall. “What to do with you…” She was puzzling when suddenly, Big Mac and somepony else screamed like barbarians and knocked Aria down. It was Celestia! They had her pinned to the floor, Discord standing in complete and utter shock. Twilight mustered up some magic and sent the five minions flying into Discord. He fell with an “oof!” sound in response. Big Mac then let Celestia take over with her magic to hold a struggling Aria down. Big Mac quickly threw each of the Mane Six except for Twilight on his back. “I’ll git the girls here and everypony else out of here with Cadence!” He then rushed out the door. Twilight was ready to collapse when Shining Armor gently lifted her onto his back with magic. Celestia turned to find Discord, but he was gone, and when she turned back to Aria, she was gone. “They must’ve escaped. Quick! Let’s get out of here.” She rushed out the door, with Shining Armor carrying his LSBFF (Little Sister Best Friend Forever) with him…

Part 8

Luna waited outside for her sister until everypony and Celestia had come out. They figured out that Aria had made a tunnel under the Everfree Forest. “Is everypony okay?” There was a shaky voice. And it came from the mayor of Ponyville. Celestia nodded her head. Shining Armor and Big Mac had gently set each of the Mane Six down on the ground. Shining Armor nudged his little sister. Spike, her assistant, came to her and Rarity’s sides. “Twilight? Rarity, my sweet?” That earned him a confused look from Shining Armor. Twilight just slept peacefully. “Let them sleep,” Shining Armor said. He and Spike began a round to check on everypony, making sure that they were okay. Celestia and Luna looked at each other.

“Well?” Luna asked.

“Let’s go and find out if everypony is alright,” Celestia said.

The next day…

It was a cloudy day, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were well on their way to the Hills of the Lost. They had a nice berry breakfast, a great rest, and were ready to take off. Shortly after they left their cave and cliff view, they encountered a serious fog. “Whoa, this is one thick fog,” Scootaloo pointed out. Sweetie Belle nodded. Apple Bloom looked horrified. But they knew that they had to go on. So they began their trek through the fog. At one point, Sweetie Belle shrieked when she stepped in mud, even though she thought that it was something like slime or acid. “It’s ahright y’all,” Apple Bloom assured. “We’ll be jist fine.” Then she touched a tree and got startled, screaming and running straight into Scootaloo. “Ow, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo yelled. Sweetie Belle turned and tripped into a lake. “Aah!” she screamed. The other two looked to see what was wrong. “Sweetie Belle!” they both screamed. They ran to her aid. Apple Bloom pulled her out of the lake, and Scootaloo looked at the map. “Uh, girls? I think that we’re in the wrong place. Unless… Wait! It’s no wonder that we’re lost. We must be in the middle of the Hills of the Lost! And we’re lost!” Sweetie and Apple Bloom both said, “Ooh,” and nodded. It made so much sense. That’s why Sweetie Belle tripped into the lake. She tripped and fell down a hill. At least they knew where they were and that they were one step closer to the Cutie Crystal. “Ahright, y’all. Why don’t we try an’ git outta here, huh?” Apple Bloom was eager to get to the next spot. Scoot and Sweetie nodded. They began again to escape the grasp of the fog. It was cold and damp, and the grass was getting dewier by the minute. Thankfully, it started to get mistier and lighter, so they knew that the way out was near. To help them out, Sweetie Belle used her magic to make a light so that they could see where they were going. They soon came to a strange platform with strange markings on it. There were circles with arrows and triangles with stars in them. There were squiggles and swirls and many other weird designs. “Hey,” Scootaloo said, “what’s that?” Apple Bloom looked carefully over it. “Ye know, I think that this is one of Aria’s doings, or maybe somepony else’s. Wait! You don’t think…” Sweetie Belle thought terribly of something that she thought was not possible. “There is no way that Aria could do this alone. Ponyville is really huge for a small town. I think that she has an accomplice.” Then they heard the one voice that they didn’t’ want to hear. “Why very good, my dear. You guessed our little secret. Surprise!!”Discord smacked Sweetie Belle to the ground. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom screamed. He smiled viciously and grabbed the three of them by the tails as they continued to scream. He walked out into the clear of the world. They had reached the end of the Hills of the Lost, but unfortunately they were stuck with Discord. “Alright ladies, where to next? Hmm?” He looked down at the terrified filly trio.

“Wh-what’d y’all plan ta do ta us?” Apple Bloom said shakily.

Discord said, “I have quite a thing in mind.” He walked over to a dark portal on the ground. He threw them in. “Have fun on the way down! Mwahahahahahaha!!!!!!!” Discord said laughing. The Crusaders screamed as they fell through a pit of pure darkness…

Applejack was lying next to Twilight and Fluttershy, making sure that they were okay. Shining Armor was talking to Cadence. Derpy was pacing forth and back, for she always did things in a very unique way. Cheerilee was shivering next to Dr. Whooves. Then they heard some cries of terror. It was coming from Rainbow Dash. There were dark clouds and lightning storming their way through. Everypony took cover. Then it started to rain severely and wind blew so hard that the mountains in the distance were close to being torn from the ground. Pinkie Pie looked up to see Aria. She was causing it, just for her amusement. Celestia formed a barrier around everypony so that the storm wouldn’t harm them. Pinkie just laid down, her drooping river of a mane with her. Her eyes were filled to the rim with tears. “Oh, I hope that the Cake family is okay,” she said sadly. She then curled up into a little ball and cried silently to herself…

“Oooh, my head,” Scootaloo moaned as she sat up. She looked around and spotted Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom lying unconscious. “Ah! Girls! Are you alright!?” she asked. She hurried over to them to make sure that they were okay. Sweetie Belle slowly opened her eyes. “Uh, what happened?” She sat up and looked down to see the map. She gasped and said, “Ah! Girls! Look at this! I think that this is the next location.” On the map was a dark swirl with mist around it. Just as Apple Bloom sat up, the map was shoved in her face, right in her mouth. “Gah! Yuck! Sweetie, watch it—oh boy.” She stopped in mid sentence as she saw what Sweetie Belle was talking about. They had reached landmark five of six. This one: The Despair of Darkness’ Will.

“Only one more to go after this,” Scootaloo said.

“Definitely not ready,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Eeyup,” Apple Bloom said. Sweetie and Scoot just cocked their heads and then Scoot said, “Guess it runs in the family,” followed by Sweetie stating, “Eeyup.” Scoot turned and said, “Oh no, not you too!” Scoot just continued to complain while Apple Bloom looked off into the distance. They were surrounded by a dark fog. The ground was a dark dull grey. There were craters in the ground, as well as it looked like the ground had aged about three thousand years. The ground was really dry and crusty, the air foul with the stench of skunks and bones. “Eew, it smells like something died in here.” Sweetie pinched her nose. “Come on, y’all. We got ourselves a Cutie Crystal ta cetch.” The Crusaders gave high hooves and yelled, “Yeah!” and then took off into the darkness. Then Sweetie got an idea and used her hoof to make light again. “Alright girls, let’s go.” They huddled close together and took off into the fog. But, they went really slowly, as to not get separated or something. “Hey, this kinda reminds me of the time when we were in the Everfree Forest, we were lookin’ fer Fluttershy’s chicken. Ye know, Elizabeak.” Scootaloo laughed. Sweetie Belle giggled. Apple Bloom smiled. Then her smile faded. She hoped that Fluttershy was okay. That poor Pegasus pony couldn’t even stand still without trembling on flat ground. But no matter what, they were determined to save Ponyville.

The mountains of the deserted lands stood chillingly still as awfully spooky whispers and moans echoed throughout the fog. The wind had gotten so cold that Sweetie could’ve sworn that her tail had become frozen solid. Apple Bloom’s big pink bow had lost volume and was just sitting on her head like a dead leaf. Scootaloo’s spiky do had also lost volume. It wasn’t as wavy and spunky as it used to be. “Ugh, are we there yet? I’m getting tired—and hungry,” Scootaloo complained. Her mane was drooping in front of her eyes. She blew them away with frustration. “Don’t worry, Scootaloo. We’ll be there soon… I hope.” Apple Bloom wasn’t so sure about this. But they didn’t come this far just to give up and go home. No way were the Cutie Mark Crusaders going to give up something so important, and that is saving Ponyville, their home, with all of their friends and family. Applejack, Big Macintosh, Rarity, Rainbow Dash… Oh how they loved them so. Even Derpy, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Celestia, Luna, and their new friend Aliceria. The girls just looked down at the ground and grimaced about the possible outcome of Ponyville being destroyed. They were just about to say what they felt when all of a sudden, a bright light shown in the fog. There was some sort of force field that appeared. A figure approached them intently. The Crusaders huddled in fear. A horn popped out along with a pair of wings. “Aliceria!” the Crusaders yelled with joy. Aliceria smiled and leaped toward them with embracing wings. “Oh my dear Crusaders! I’m so glad to see you!” She jumped up and down with joy, her wings whipping and swinging excitedly.

“How did ye know where ta find us?” Apple Bloom asked.

“By feeling, and listening my dear one,” she said cryptically.

“Wow! Thank goodness Aliceria came to our aid,” Scootaloo cheered.

“But that doesn’t help the fact that we’re still stuck here,” Sweetie Belle said sadly.

“Don’t you know what my special talent is?” Aliceria asked.

“No,” the Crusaders said in unison and confusion.

Aliceria smiled and said, “Well then, let me show you.” She took out a blue crystal and held it on her hoof. She used magic on it to make it glow. Then within seconds, the force field cleared the fog and darkness away. The Crusaders watched in amazement as the darkness disappeared. She was able to make darkness break and become nothing as well as clear paths for help. The Crusaders cheered as they saw the lightning bolt that had been leading them along their journey. Aliceria pointed to a bright light in the distance. “Look! The Cutie Crystal is just ahead!” Apple Bloom looked down at the map and gasped. There it was, the last landmark: the Cutie Crystal. “Quick Crusaders! We’ve gotta hurry or Discord and Aria are gonna destroy Ponyville!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Aliceria raced off to get to the Cutie Crystal before their enemies did. They had no time to waste.

Part 9

Celestia looked towards the mountains. “The Crusaders are close,” she whispered to herself. Then she spotted Aria and Discord teleporting. She gasped and then thought of the girls. Girls! You have to hurry! Discord and Aria are on their way. Please hurry! The lives of Ponyville and Ponyville itself lie in your hooves! Everypony must’ve read her mind for they too had seen Aria and Discord disappear. Twilight Sparkle then stated, “Let us pray for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Wish them luck against our worst enemies!” Everypony cheered, wishing their unlikely heroes good luck…

The Crusaders were only ten feet away from the Crystal now. But just as they were climbing the mountain that led to the Cutie Crystal, Aria suddenly appeared. “You little brats!!” she said vilely. She lunged at Scootaloo and grabbed her by the waist. Scootaloo screamed in protest as Aria threw her down the mountain, her bag of berries tumbling elsewhere. Discord appeared to catch Scootaloo. As she landed in his arms, he smiled evilly down at her. She gulped. Sweetie Belle then called, “Scootaloo!” just as Discord squeezed her in his arms, causing her to grunt in pain. Apple Bloom rushed down the mountain and jumped on Discord and started biting him. “Aaaaaaaaaaahh!!” she screamed, throwing her bag of berries at Discord. He yelped as berries poked him in the eyes and went up his nose. She bit down hard on his nose, causing him to drop Scootaloo and yelp in pain, as well as sneezing out berries. “Yowch!” he exclaimed. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo turned to see Sweetie Belle rushing up to the Crystal. “Quick Sweetie Belle! Sing the Song of Harmony!” Aliceria called. Sweetie Belle remembered the tablet with that very special song on it. “Apple Bloom! Quickly use your locket to silence Discord forever! Your heart has the courage to do it!” Aliceria yelled. Apple Bloom gasped and pulled out her heart locket. “Scootaloo, use your spear to shut Aria down for all of eternity!” Scootaloo pulled out her spear and had it at the ready. Then Sweetie prepared to sing. But Aria came up from behind her and threw her away from the Crystal, her bag flinging down the mountain and bunches of berries raining down like a waterfall. The light of the Crystal blinded Aria fortunately. Then Aliceria gave a barbaric cry and jumped on Aria. They tumbled down the mountain as Sweetie Belle clambered back up. Apple Bloom then called, “Now Sweetie Belle! NOW!!” Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and began to sing. As she sang beautiful oos and ahs, Apple Bloom raised her locket and shouted, “Be gone forever, you nasty scallion!” She plunged the locket deep into his chest, a blinding light shining and surrounding the both of them. “NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” Discord screamed. Then he yelled in pain as he slowly melted and disappeared. Aria shouted, “NO! DISCORD!!” Aliceria grabbed her by the mane and they both continued bouncing downward. Sweetie Belle then sang as she read the tablet:

Oh my dear, how thou has come to be? This chaos reigns within our hearts. But be not afraid. For I have come to thee. With my sorrowful tears, I will end this bane of terror, the life of light. No more shall those who wish for darkness, be breached with pow’r to end all strife of life… So now I come to thy aid, making sure that peace still reigns… Our hearts still shining ever bright.

The Crystal glowed ever so, blinding everything in sight. A white light engulfed the entire area, as if swallowing everything in its path. Then the lightning bolt appeared. Aria screamed in protest. Then Scootaloo dived down into Aria as she shouted, “No more terror from you, Aria!” She stabbed the evil queen of the dark with the spear. Aria screamed in pain and watched in horror as light shot through different parts of her body. “NOOOOOOOOO!!” She screamed and then went poof! And then she was no more. The Cutie Crystal shot bolts of different colors of the rainbow in different directions, many shooting towards the direction of Ponyville. Sweetie gently slid down the mountain, ready to rejoice with her friends. As she landed, she was bombarded with Apple Bloom and Scoot. They cheered and hugged, danced and praised. They had done it. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had just done what no filly had done before. They had just saved all of Equestria from the deep wraths of Aria and Discord! Just as they were settling down, Aliceria trotted over. “Girls,” she said happily. Each of the Crusaders smiled. “It’s time to head home,” she said giddily.

Ponyville was back to normal in minutes. The houses were good as new, the sky was blue, and the ground was smooth. Twilight and her friends were dancing and hugging each other. Celestia and Luna were laughing about how cheery it was when Pinkie Pie called out, “Look everypony!” Everypony turned to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their friend appear in the distance. “A-Apple Bloom?” Applejack said shakily. Apple Bloom stopped about ten feet away from her sister. Big Mac appeared next to Applejack. Then Apple Bloom spotted Granny Smith next to Big Mac. She had tears welling up in her eyes. “Granny! Applejack! Big Macintosh!” She ran as quickly as she could so that she could be reunited with her family again. They all hugged each other, crying joyfully for the return of their beloved Apple Bloom. Applejack choked up, “Ye silly filly! Y’all coulda been killed! But ye did it! I’m so proud!” As Apple Bloom rejoiced, so did Sweetie Belle. Rarity had scooped her up before she could even get a word in. “Oh my dear Sweetie Belle! I’m so happy to see that you’re all right!” They both cried happy tears as Scootaloo searched for Rainbow Dash. The blue Pegasus flew at high speed towards the little Pegasus filly.

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Scootaloo!”
The two hugged as they went soaring into the air, Rainbow swirling up and down and all around with Scootaloo in her arms. They laughed and hugged as Celestia and Luna appeared next to Aliceria, who was watching all of the enjoyment. Everypony was laughing and cheering for the Crusaders. The three were brought to the middle and thrown into the air as they cheered, “Hooray for the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Celestia and Luna stood on each side of Aliceria and said, “Welcome back, Crystal Princess.” She smiled and laughed. Then she said, “It’s good to be back.” They laughed heartily together as the Cutie Mark Crusaders were giving high hooves while in the air, shouting, “Cutie Mark Crusader Adventurers: mission complete! Yeah!”

The End