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// Sweetie's Blunder 
// Story: Cutie Mark Crusaders: Legend Hunters 
// by Unicorncob 
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Sweetie Belle volunteered to collect a book for her group, which consisted of Scootaloo and Apple Bloom of course. She and Diamond Tiara exchanged friendly grins as they passed, the pink Earth Pony bringing a book under her front leg to her group, which was made up of Silver Spoon, naturally, and to many ponies’ surprise, Pipsqueak. The Crusaders were happy to see just how much nicer the two ex-bullies had become, considering the small colt was one of Diamond’s favourite targets.

Sweetie Belle’s tongue stuck out the side of her mouth as her horn glowed a light green, and the same colour enveloped one of the books in a translucent hue matching her horn’s colour. Her Unicorn magic had been growing stronger since Princess Twilight had helped her practice with it, and she was happy to take any and all opportunities to show it off.
The book lifted up off the table and followed after Sweetie Belle as she trotted back to her friends, who had pushed their desks closer together. She set it down on her own desk and sat, the Crusaders getting together to look at the book. The cover was a dark navy blue, with Scariest Legends of Equestria written on it in bright yellow.

“So we just gotta choose which legend to write up about?” asked Scootaloo, earning a nod from her teammates. She flipped the book open with her magic and the three of them looked at the index, Sweetie Belle running her hoof down the list of titles. “Let’s see, there’s the Headless Horse, the Pony of Shadows, Nightmare Moon…”
“Nightmare Moon’s too obvious,” Scootaloo commented. “And besides, Princess Luna’s nice now. Wouldn’t really feel right, y’know?” The Crusaders nodded in agreement, and kept going through the index.
“How about we each find one we like and pool ‘em together?” suggested Apple Bloom.
“Hey, yeah!” Scootaloo chirped, her small wings fluttering excitedly. “Putting three together will totally make us stand out! Dibs on the Headless Horse!”
Apple Bloom smirked at the Pegasus. “Even after the whole ‘ stayin’ awake all night on the campin’ trip’ thing?”
Scootaloo raised her chin, frowning. “H-hey, I’m facing my fears here! What better way to show I’m not scared anymore by talking about it?” She asked, her voice shaking ever so slightly.
“Well Ah’m gonna do the Pony of Shadows,” Apple Bloom decided, then looked at Sweetie Belle, who had gone quiet. “What about you, Sweetie Belle?”
The Unicorn filly’s eyes were narrowed in concentration as she glared at the index intently. “I dunno yet, I can’t decide…”
“Well, while yer doin’ that,” the Earth Pony went on, “y’all mind if we get a look at that book? We should take down some notes.”
“Oh, sure,” Sweetie Belle smiled and pushed the book toward Apple Bloom. “I still need to think of which one mine should be.”

Apple Bloom grinned and flipped the book to the page containing the Pony of Shadows. She flipped open a notebook and took out a pencil to start taking down notes from the pages.
“Wow, this is all we have to do?” asked Scootaloo, who was leaning over to watch the Earth Pony. “This’ll be fun and easy!”
“Well we shtill gotta write up on ‘em,” Apple Bloom reminded her, still having the pencil between her teeth. “We jush’ gotta pretty ‘em up a bit.”
“Oh, well I can do that,” the Pegasus declared. “If we work on our own parts and put them together, we’ll have more than enough! And it’ll take less time so we can enjoy more of the Horror Shades Horrorfest!”
“Eckshactly!” Apple Bloom agreed with a nod, and went back to her notes.

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle had sat back in her seat, crossing her hooves and furrowing her brow in concentration. She had memorised the names of the scary folk legends, but she couldn’t think of one that had caught her attention enough to put her full effort into it.
Then again, Miss Cheerilee did basically say that the book was just to help pick a legend. She could always pick a different one… if she knew any. The story of Mistmane came to mind, after her sister had told her about it on their annual camping trip. She shuddered a little at the memory of the fly-ders.
She shook her head. Mistmane was a great legend, but not a scary one. She could maybe put a scary twist to it, like really play up the horror of Sable Spirit taking all the beauty from her empire, or make Mistmane sound like she got hideous after sacrificing her beauty.
But on the other hoof, that might be cheating. Mistmane isn’t considered a scary legend.
So she kept on thinking over which legend to write about. She borrowed the book from her friends to write down some notes, if anything to make herself look busy. Her heart just wasn’t into the Windigos, and she already knew that cockatrices exist, and how to defeat them so they weren’t that scary.

“Okay, ponies,” Cheerilee called over the murmurs, putting the brakes on Sweetie Belle’s train of thought. “Time to start clearing away and preparing for your autumn break! If you’re still having trouble, you can keep the books with you until you return after Nightmare Night.”
Sweetie Belle sighed and used her magic to slip the book into her saddlebag. She was definitely going to need it, figuring--or more accurately, hoping--that the Hollow Shades Horrorfest would give her some much needed inspiration.

As she put her things away, she overheard chatter amongst her classmates, but wasn’t really listening closely.
“So which legend are you doing?” asked Diamond Tiara. It was strange to Sweetie Belle how genuine the question sounded; she was so used to the rich filly being so snooty.
“We’re gonna do the Headless Horse,” said Rumble, who was teamed up with Kettle Corn and Skedaddle.
Sweetie Belle heard Diamond Tiara breathe in to respond, but was cut off by Pipsqueak once again. “Cor! We’re gonna be doing the Pony of Shadows!” No doubt he was earning another glare for that one.
Once she’d realised what the two classmates had said, she heard groans from her fellow Crusaders and looked up at them.
“Aww horseapples,” sighed Apple Bloom, “Ah was gonna do the Pony of Shadows!”
“And the Headless Horse was my thing!” Scootaloo added in a whisper. “We can’t make ours stand out if it’s gonna be the same as everypony else’s!”

Before Sweetie Belle could console her teammates, Diamond Tiara and Rumble’s teams were looking expectantly at the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“What about yours?” Silver Spoon asked with a genuine smile.
The trio looked at each other, one silently pleading to the other to give a good answer. They couldn’t go with their own choices after hearing they were already taken, and Sweetie Belle hadn’t even chosen her own yet.
The Unicorn filly hastily went through the list of legends she had memorised, and plucked out the last two names from the bottom.
“The Hollow Shades Vampony!” She declared, with a punctuating thump of her hoof on the table. “And the White Tail Witch!” She added without thinking.
“Ooooh,” both teams murmured, looking at each other with intrigue.
“Good luck with that one,” Kettle Corn spoke up. “We checked the book front to back. Nothing on those two.”

And while Skedaddle praised his friend’s improvised haiku, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo glared at Sweetie Belle, whose heart skipped a beat once she realised what she’d said. All she could do was give her teammates an awkward, apologetic smile.
“Oops…”