//------------------------------// // The Cutie Mark Crusaders // Story: ...And Then Everypony was an Alicorn. // by Wanderling //------------------------------// There was a small booming noise coming from Twilight's kitchen. The six friends looked around, confused. "What was that?" Twilight narrowed her eyes, and Spike set down the letter. "Um, Twilight? Should I go check?" He received a nod in response and cautiously approached the kitchen door. Spike opened it slowly, releasing a swirl of smoke. He gulped and walked through the door. Peewee made a disgusted sound and flew back over to Owlowiscious. Despite being a bird of fire, he did not appreciate the burning smells that were floating out of the hazy room. Spike cast a nervous glance over his shoulder, gulping again. Then he entered the room. Something was bubbling ominously on the stove, it seemed to be the source of the smoke. Another small boom erupted from a cupboard, and something small jumped down, covered in...spices? "Oh, hey Spike! Gee, these bottles are really difficult to open huh?" The filly was brandishing a jar of cinnamon. It looked as if a small explosion had blasted the lid off. Spike stared. Well, the young alicorn didn't seem to mind the smoke at least. Spike sighed. He grabbed the filly, despite not being much bigger than her, and dragged her out to where the others were "Sweetie Belle! How many times have I told you, we do not cook unsupervised! Especially in someone else's kitchen!" Rarity fumed at her little sister. Sweetie Belle gave an apologetic grin. Rarity huffed and turned to Twilight, flicking her mane back and adopting an anguished expression. "Oh Twilight darling, how can you ever forgive me! I'm so sorry, I can pay for the damage! Oh curses, why did I let her get out of my sight?" Rarity began to wail, and flung herself to the ground. "Hey Rarity, it's fine. I get worse damage when I'm working with my chemicals sometimes." "Really?" The white mare looked up through her mane, eyes brimming with the tears of catastrophe. "Actually no, I've never caused a room to fill with smoke before, but I managed to melt a chair once...Rarity? Rarity?" Rarity had gone back to weeping, alternately begging Twilight for forgiveness and reprimanding herself. Twilight couldn't quite bring herself to push Rarity's hooves away and stood there awkwardly, hoping the fashionista would calm down soon. The others looked on, perplexed. Sweetie Belle inched back towards the kitchen. "Oh no y'don't sugarcube." Applejack caught her. "Why don't Ah run you down to Sweet Apple Acres while yer sis, er, recovers? Ah'm sure Apple Bloom'd be happy to see ya." Applejack caught Rainbow's attention and gestured to the filly. Rainbow nodded and turned back to the spectacle. Rarity was beginning to calm. "Um, okay Applejack. Will there be food?" "Sure as ya have hooves Sweetie Belle." ~*-*-*~ "Whu-huh? Granny Smith? Is that you?" "Eeyup." Apple Bloom peered through the gloom at the vague shape of her grandmother. She groaned and flopped back into bed, she felt all tingly and achey, like the beginnings of a fever. "Ah don't feel too good." "Heh, that's nonsense. Yer just feelin' the effect of tha magic 'r whatever it is that happened. Now git up young'un, Ah'm makin' breakfast." Apple Bloom was confused. Magic? What was Granny talking about? "What're you talkin' about Granny?" "Apple pancakes that's what. Now c'mon young'un, or yer big brother will've finished tha dawn harvest already." "No, Ah mean the magic. What magic?" "Why don'tcha git up 'n' look?" With that, Granny Smith turned to leave. Apple Bloom struggled to sit up and get a better look at her grandmother, she was wearing something strange on her back. She leaned over the edge of the bed, craning her neck and squinting through the dark. She lost her balance, falling with a squawk and a flush of feathers. Apple Bloom gasped, turning to look at her back. She hopped up and down, eyes widening into enormous orbs of awe. Even in the dark, she could make out the new limbs. She wiggled her shoulders and grinned. Wait 'til Ah show the girls! she thought. Then the smell of pancakes and fried apples hit her nose. Mmm, that sure smells good. Apple Bloom bounded down to the kitchen, trying to get into the air as she went. The tiny wings buzzed, but didn't really provide enough lift. The yellow filly hummed to herself as she sat up at the table. "Good timin' young'un! The batch's ready!" Granny Smith beamed and levitated a stack of pancakes, drizzled with syrup and crispy bits of apple out to Apple Bloom. "What're ya lookin' at me like that fer?" "G-granny? You gotta horn!" "What, ya ain't noticed that yet? Heh." "And you're young? Why are ya young?" "Well that's part o' the magic Ah guess. Y'don't see Princess Celestia look old do ya?" Apple Bloom ate her pancakes slowly as she digested this. "So...is everypony like this? Or just us? Applejack and Big Mac?" "Ah don't know Apple Bloom. Yer brother 'n' sister're changed. Applejack went to see that unicorn friend of hers, Twilight somethin' or other. Thought she might know somethin'." "Oh, okay. Oh hey Winona-HOLY HORSEFEATHERS!" "Apple Bloom!" "But look at the dog! She has wings and a horn! Why does Winona have wings and a horn?" "I sure as sugar don't know young'un. Now don't let me catch ya usin' that kinda language agin 'til yer older." "Sorry Granny." Apple Bloom went back to her breakfast. She was just slurping up the last few dregs of syrup when the door opened to reveal Applejack and Sweetie Belle. "Apple Bloom! We're alicorns!" "Sweetie Belle! You too?" They squealed and danced around each other. "Let's find Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom cried, and the fillies rushed out of the door in a rush. Granny Smith raised an eyebrow at her elder granddaughter. "Y'think they're gonna cause trouble?" "Eeyup." Granny Smith sighed, and made a mental note to check on the young ponies later. "What did yer friend say?" "She has no idea what the hay is goin' on, but we're writin' to the Princesses. They might have an idea, seein' as they're real alicorns 'n' all that." The old green mare smiled and nodded. "Sounds as good a plan as any." ~*-*-*~ A small orange filly was sitting in the clubhouse. She'd been there for the better part of an hour. To entertain herself, she had practised her flying - she could now hover off the ground for a few seconds and her gliding was reasonable. Rainbow Dash had told her that wings developed at different speeds for different ponies - most pegasi could fly by her age, but some waited longer for their abilities to kick in. Take Fluttershy for example - she had been a terrible flier when she was a filly and she got about fairly well these days. She just lacked confidence. Scootaloo knew that she wasn't so much scared of flying and she was frustrated by it. She didn't understand why she had to work so hard for something that should have been easy. Nevertheless, even the small progress she was making was something at least. Scootaloo had grown bored with this activity. There was only so much fun to be had by jumping off of the clubhouse roof again and again. She was now in the thinking spot, deciding what to do when the others got there. She had a horn now, and no idea how to use it. The filly had woken up with a splitting headache, and pins and needles down her neck. She had been so surprised at the brand new extension on her forehead that she'd shot off a few purple sparks. The headache disappeared, so she assumed it was some sort of magical buildup from never having used it before. She dragged her hoof over the floor. She had tried to make the sparks appear again, but nothing had happened. She had then taken off on her scooter to the clubhouse. She didn't know if anypony else had woken up with new abilities, and she thought her friends would likely be the best ponies to talk to first. Scootaloo groaned, flopping to the floor. She rolled onto her back and paddled her hooves in the air because there was nothing else to do. She was so bored. Her ears flicked. What was that? Loud voices drifted through the door and she jumped up, grinning. Scootaloo trotted out and leaned over the balcony. A small dust cloud was approaching down the path. It paused at the base of the tree, and spat out two fillies. Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Hey guys! What took you so long?" "Hey...Scootaloo! We...were just...running...to find...you...Guess...what?" Sweetie Belle panted, taking in deep gasps of breath. "We're alicorns!" Apple Bloom didn't let Scootaloo answer. She was too eager to share the news. "You too? Awesome!" Scootaloo jumped off the balcony and glided down to her friends. She was a little wobbly, but she didn't crash, this time. "Is it just us?" "I think it's everypony. All of Rarity's friends were changed and so was Spike." "Spike?" Scootaloo scrunched up her nose in disbelief. "Yes. And Owlowiscious and Peewee-" "And Winona and some birds we saw on the way." "Woah." The three took a second to contemplate the possible implications of this. Only a second, mind you, before turning back to more pressing matters. "Ah was wonderin', well, we're like the Princesses, right?" There were dubious nods. "Well, if Princess Celestia's in charge of the Sun, Princess Luna's in charge of the Moon and Princess Cadence is in charge of love, then as everypony else now has super-strong magical alicorn powers, we all get somethin' to be in charge of, y'see?" Apple Bloom grinned at her friends, her eyes bright with enthusiasm. "I dunno, maybe? I don't really like all that girly, princessy stuff." "But Scoots, maybe our special talents are bein' the Princesses of somethin', an' the reason we ain't got our Cutie Marks yet is because we needed to be changed first?" Apple Bloom suddenly looked very serious. Scootaloo nodded slowly. "I guess if I was, like, the Princess of Coolness, or something like that..." "I'd love to be a Princess! I really like the way their manes do that flowy thing." Sweetie Belle squeaked. "Then it's decided!" Apple Bloom thrust her hoof out firmly, and the others joined in. They flung their hooves in the air, yelling at the top of their voices. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER PRINCESSES YAY!" Somewhere across the fields, Big Macintosh paused in his work and felt a shiver of dread run down his spine.