"What's this?" asked Scootaloo as she entered the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse. There was a book sitting in the middle of the room with several candles surrounding it.
"Ah dunno, Scoots; why don't you go check it out?" Applebloom nudged Scootaloo towards the book. "Look, it has yer name on it!"
Scootaloo got a little closer so she could read what was on the cover of the book. "Holy Celestia, it does! It looks like it's in blood... It says my name then has a trail of red after it. There's also a bloody hoofprint below it! I don't like this, Applebloom!" Scootaloo began to back away from the book, but Applebloom stopped her.
"That book was obviously meant fer ya, Scootaloo. You've gotta read what's inside! It could mean life or death fer all of pony kind!" Applebloom began to walk Scootaloo back to the book. "Now step over the candles; make sure none of them are damaged, because they probably cost somepony a few bits."
Scootaloo looked at the cover of the book again. "It says it's by Marzipan McMare..."
"Ah hate that author!" said Applebloom. "Now take a look inside of the book."
Scootaloo slowly began to open up the cover, but ended up closing it really fast before it was even halfway open. "I can't do this!"
"What wrong now!?!?" Applebloom demanded.
"There's more writing inside..."
Applebloom facehoofed. "It's a book! Of course it has writing inside! Just read what it says!"
"It says my name, and-"
"On the inside, Scootaloo!"
"Okay, okay!" Scootaloo began to open the book once again. When it was finally all the way open, she began to read it. " 'You're a big chicken.' " Scootaloo angrily slammed the book shut and threw it out the window.
"Hey! Ah payed fer that!" Applebloom ran towards the window, but was stopped short by Scootaloo, who had grabbed her tail.
"You're gonna have to pay for face surgery when I'm done with you!" yelled Scootaloo with a very threatening look on her face.
"Please no!" Applebloom desperately tried to get free from Scootaloo's clutches, but it was no use; Scootaloo had a firm grasp on her tail. "Somepony help me! Scootaloo's gonna kill me! Ah'm too young to die!"
Just then, the clubhouse door opened up and Sweetie Belle slowly walked through, holding her head.
"What happened to you?" asked Scootaloo, letting go of Applebloom's tail, which caused her to fall to the floor.
"I was about to walk up the ramp to the clubhouse when a book fell from the sky and hit me in the head."
"What did the book say?" asked Applebloom with a smile on her face.
"It said that Scootaloo was a chicken." Applebloom couldn't contain her laughter. She fell to the floor and started laughing really hard. Sweetie Belle looked over to Scootaloo. "Is there something wrong with her?"
"No, but there will be soon." Scootaloo began to walk over to Applebloom.
Applejack was making her way towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse when all of the sudden she heard Applebloom scream and come flying out of the window towards her. She let out a "What the!?" before the impact. "Applebloom, what'd ah tell ya 'bout jumpin' outta windows!?"
"Ah didn't jump, sis! Ah swear!" said Applebloom.
"Ah'll let ya of with a warnin' this time."
"Thank you! So, what're ya doin' around here anyway?"
"There's some pony in Ponyville askin' around fer ya and yer friends."
"Really? That's weird... Well, ah better get Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and head off to Ponyville, then." Applebloom turned around and began to walk to the clubhouse.
"What'd ah tell ya about talkin' to strangers?"
Applebloom stopped and turned around. "Ya never told me anythin' about talkin' to strangers..."
"Oh, well then... Have fun with whatever y'all get into."
"Thanks! Wait a minute... Yer not gonna tell me anythin' about talkin' to strangers?"
"Nope."
"Well, in that case, ah'll see ya later!"
"See ya, Applebloom."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders made their way into Ponyville.
"What exactly did this pony want?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"All ah know is that they wanted to see us," replied Applebloom.
"Hey! Are you three the Cutie Mark Crusaders!?" a voice called out.
"Huh?" The three fillies looked around, but all they saw were ponies going about their business and not looking at them.
"Who said that?" asked Scootaloo.
"Over here!"
Sweetie Belle caught sight of a pony hiding behind a bush. "Look!" She pointed a hoof towards the bush. The three friends walked over to the hiding pony.
"Why are ya hidin' behind a bush?" asked Applebloom.
"I'm hiding from... From..." The pony paused.
"What!? What are you hiding from!?" demanded Scootaloo.
"I'm hiding from... Ghosts!"
"Okay girls, let's go," said Applebloom as she turned around and began to walk away. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed suit.
"What? Where are you going?! I need your help!" the pony pleaded.
"Look, Mr. Pony, we only did that ghost huntin' to try to get our cutie marks. We didn't get them, so we stopped ghost huntin'."
"You don't understand! I wasn't hiding behind that bush just to evade ghosts. You see, I'm cursed."
"Curses shmurses!" said Scootaloo. She looked at her friends. "Let's go to Sugarcube Corner."
"You might be cursed now as well, since you were the only ones who have gotten this close to me."
The trio stopped. Applebloom turned around. "What was that?" she asked.
"I said that you're all probably cursed now, like me."
"Exactly what kind of a curse is it?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"The kind of curse that you don't want."
"I don't want this curse, girls!" cried Scootaloo.
"Exactly."
"What are we going to have to do to break this curse?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Well, there's this mansion deep in the Everfree Forest-"
"Let me guess; we're gonna have to get rid of the ghosts there?" asked Applebloom.
"Not exactly. You see, there's this crypt below the mansion that has something I need you to get for the ritual to break the curse."
"What is it?"
"It's a.. Um.. It's a mirror."
"You need us to get a mirror?" asked Scootaloo.
"Yep.
"That's in a crypt?"
"That's what I said, isn't it?"
"So all we have to do is get this mirror, bring it to you, and you'll be able to break the curse?"
"Exactly. What are you waiting for? You haven't got all day!"
"Oh, you want us to go now?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"When else?"
"Tomorrow? I mean, it's starting to get dark. Our families would start to get worried if we're not all home soon."
"They won't miss you," the pony said under his breath.
"Excuse me?" asked Applebloom.
"I said they won't be worried. Trust me."
"Well then... I guess we'd better get goin', girls." Applebloom began to lead her friends down the road to the Everfree Forest.
The pony that was hiding behind the bush watched them walk towards the Everfree Forest for a bit, then made his way into a nearby alleyway. He began to smile. "They're going now," he said to a figure in the darkness.
To Be Continued