//------------------------------//
// Sweetie Belle 
// Story: Cutie Mark Crusaders: Legend Hunters 
// by Unicorncob 
//------------------------------//

Sweetie Belle was close to tears as she raced away from the creature in the hallway, and could only hope her friends were following behind her as she sprinted down the hallway that lit up in front of her. Normally she would be wandering slowly and admiring the fancy decorations, but that wasn’t her priority.
Though one thing she did notice was a door to her left, slightly ajar. The inside was completely black, but she didn’t care. She was happy to see darkness now--at least she could hide in it from that monster.

She ducked inside and shut the door, trying to keep herself from panting too hard or sobbing too loudly in fear. She let out a sigh of relief when she heard no other noise outside.
She slowly felt at her forehead, but could only feel her horn. A quiet groan escaped her at the thought of her dropping her headlamp out in the hall. She had bought it so she could get a proper light ahead of her, but now it was gone.

“D-do you girls have your lamps?” she asked, and she felt cold when she got no response. “A-Apple Bloom? Scootaloo…?”

A soft whimper escaped her. She had been separated.

With a sigh, she lit up her horn, which gave the surrounding area a soft, lime-green glow around her. She couldn’t see ahead of her, but any light was better than nothing. She gingerly felt ahead with one hoof as she stumbled forward. If she was on her own, she figured she may as well make the best of it and find some way to track her friends down.
She jumped softly when she felt something cold and ceramic, and she saw her slightly distorted reflection on something when she looked ahead. She backed away, and yelped as the room suddenly lit up.

She was in some kind of bedroom, with a four-poster double-bed in the corner, a desk in another corner, and other things a bedroom needed.
Though, she was sure a bedroom didn’t need a large black cauldron. It reminded her of Zecora’s, and thought in the back of her head hoped that the zebra herself was here. A familiar face would be great right now.

When she turned around, she saw a cloaked pony at the closed door. A familiar looking pony in a black cloak. She yelped and leaned back against the cauldron as the mare approached.
“Looks like you found my study, now what do you suppose I should do with you~?” she giggled in a familiar voice. So familiar that it made Sweetie Belle remember being told to visit the castle during the night. She shivered as she put it together.

It was the mare from the train.