"Hey, Sweetie Belle! Hol' up!"
Apple Bloom's breathless exclamation went unanswered as she ran along beneath the sprawling rows of apple trees in the orchard.
Scootaloo was right beside her, flapping her wings as hard as she could as she rolled along on her scooter.
"Ugh..." She panted. "It's no use. She's… She's too far ahead."
Apple Bloom shook her head, amazed that Sweetie Belle had not only tired her out, but Scootaloo as well.
"What the hay has gotten into her, anyways?" She asked. "Since the moment we set our hooves in school this mornin', she's been climbin' up the walls like it's Hearth's Warmin' eve!"
"I know." Scootaloo puffed. "It wasn't until lunch that she finally told us that she wanted to show us something, but she kept on telling us that it was a surprise."
Apple Bloom gasped for air, and nodded. "As excited as she is, this had better be a mighty big surprise."
The two fillies continued to rush along, ducking beneath the unkempt apple trees and dodging the undergrowth on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres.
All over Equestria, summer had come to a close a few weeks prior, and fall had begun to settle in. The trees above were ablaze with a brilliant spectrum of yellow, orange, and red; and fallen leaves littered the ground beneath their hooves. The days had also been growing shorter as well, and the sun was lowering in the sky, lowering just over the rolling hills to the west of Ponyville.
As they got closer to their clubhouse, the two crusaders saw Sweetie Belle in the distance, waving excitedly. An apple was hovering next to her, underneath the influence of her magic.
"Come on!" Sweetie Belle squeaked. "Hurry!"
Scootaloo groaned, and both she and Apple Bloom picked up the pace, eventually catching up with their excited compatriot.
"Can ya please tell us what's goin' on?" Asked Apple Bloom, looking and sounding a little peeved.
"You'll see!" Sweetie Belle chimed, smiling and pulling ahead of the two once more. "I can't wait to show both of you!"
Too out of breath to give a response, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom followed behind Sweetie Belle.
Much to their relief, they weren't very far from the clubhouse now. Less than a minute later, they finally reached their destination, and took a moment to catch their breath.
Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle rushed up the wooden ramp, gesturing for the others to follow.
"I can't stand it any more!" She declared, a massive, excited smile on her face. "Get in here!"
Scootaloo, however, was lying with her back on the ground, panting and waving in Sweetie Belle's direction, mumbling something incoherent. Apple Bloom had remained upright, electing to lean against a tree as she breathed uncontrollably.
"Give… Us… A… Few… Moments... Please..." She begged, her sides heaving between each word.
Sweetie Belle finally realized just how tired her friends were, and her expression became less excited and more concerned. She placed the apple that she had been taking along down on the deck and walked back down the ramp.
"Oh..." She sighed apologetically. "I'm sorry! I didn't think that I was going to tire you both out like that…"
"It's… Okay." Scootaloo said weakly, reassuring her close friend that no hard feelings were present. "But please… Pease tell me that this surprise was worth… Worth keeping a secret all day…"
Sweetie Belle nodded enthusiastically as her eyes lit up. "It is!" She squeaked, her energy making a swift return. "I think you will agree!"
"That's all fine," Apple Bloom remarked, pushing herself to stand on her hooves again, albeit a bit unsteadily. "but can we make this quick? My big sis will come hunt me down if Ah'm late for supper."
Sweetie Belle looked up to the sky, and noticed the sun was well on its way to disappearing below the horizon.
"I'll try, but for something this amazing, you'll want more than a few minutes, trust me."
This piqued the other two crusaders' interests. Surely the surprise was truly worth seeing. After a few more seconds, Scootaloo picked herself up, and the three walked up the ramp to the deck. Sweetie Belle picked the apple back up with her magic, and the crusaders all entered their headquarters. Sweetie Belle immediately rushed up to the podium at the far end of the clubhouse, not making any effort to mask the immense excitement bubbling up from within. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sat down in the center of the room, looking inquisitively at her.
At first, Sweetie Belle pulled out the correspondence from the last Cutie Mark Crusader meeting, seeming as if she wished to stick to their regular procedure.
Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo suppressed the urge to groan out loud. Sure, it was the proper thing to do, but they were now just as excited as Sweetie Belle to see what she had in store.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders;" She began, doing her best to sound official, "I have summoned you all here today to…"
Her voice trailed off as she saw the pained expressions on her friends' faces. Instantly, she realized that they wished to cut it to the chase.
"You know what? Forget our procedure!" She exclaimed excitedly, throwing the papers haphazardly behind her. She then proceeded to pick up the apple with her magic, and placed it on the floor in front of her friends. "Watch this!"
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at the apple, and back at Sweetie Belle. Her smile had given way to a contorted scowl, her gaze fixed on the apple.
A magical, green aura surrounded her horn, and small sparks began to swirl around it. Then, the apple became surrounded by an aura as well, and it was clear to the fillies that Sweetie Belle was in the process of casting some sort of spell on it. Sweetie Belle began to groan a little, closing her eyes as if she were exerting herself. Her horn's glow began to intensify, and both of the other crusaders began to seriously wonder what exactly she was doing.
Then, with a strained exclamation, Sweetie Belle's horn flashed brightly, and the apple disappeared in a small explosion of color and sparks, causing the dim interior of the clubhouse to be bathed in a bright, green flash. Both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were dazzled a bit by the flash, and they had to wait a few seconds before they could see clearly again.
"Hey! Where's the apple?" Scootaloo asked, noticing that the apple was no longer sitting in front of her.
Apple Bloom noticed as well, and looked at Sweetie Belle, who looked a little dizzy, but also incredibly pleased.
"Look behind you." Sweetie Belle instructed her friends, gesturing for them to look there.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo turned around, and to their amazement, there was the apple, sitting in the doorway!
"What?!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, looking quite confused. "How the hay did- Huh?!"
Scootaloo also looked confused momentarily, but soon a shocked smile took over her face. "Sweetie Belle! How did you do that?! I didn't see you move it there!"
"I didn't!" Sweetie Belle squeaked, prancing excitedly. "I teleported it!"
"What?!" Apple Bloom shouted again, this time louder than before. "Ya learned how to teleport things?!"
"Yeah! Princess Twilight taught me how to do it yesterday!" Sweetie Belle happily declared. "She said that I was the youngest pony she knew who had the ability to do so! Well, besides herself, of course."
Scootaloo ran up to Sweetie Belle, grabbing her and shaking her around in excitement.
"That's amazing! Coming from Princess Twilight, that must mean that you really do have a knack for magic!"
Apple Bloom joined the other two, and all three went into a shared embrace, all happy at Sweetie Belle's accomplishment. After a few seconds, they separated, and Apple Bloom looked a bit disappointed.
"But… Ya still don't have your cutie mark?"
Sweetie Belle sighed, calming down for the first time all day.
"Yeah… I really thought that I would have gotten one for teleportation, especially after what Princess Twilight said about my talent."
All three crusaders sat down, each feeling quite disappointed that Sweetie Belle had not yet earned her mark.
"Well," Apple Bloom remarked, "I guess we've got to keep tryin'…"
Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah! And even though you haven't gotten your cutie mark yet, you still have learned a cool new thing that we can't do!"
Sweetie Belle nodded and smiled, happy that her friends still appreciated her new skill.
"Ah know that Ah said that we needed to make this quick," Apple Bloom mused, her eyes shining in excitement; "but could ya do that again, Sweetie Belle?"
Sweetie Belle grinned and nodded, excited once more. She motioned for her friends to stand back, and once they did, she moved the apple from the doorway back to its initial location on the floor. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both stood to each side of the apple, each looking intently at their friend at the podium.
Once again, Sweetie Belle's horn began to glow, and she began to stare at the apple intensely. Sparks began to fly from her horn, and the apple began to glow as well.
But then she inhaled sharply, her snout scrunching towards her face.
"Ah…"
With each breath, she began to recoil backwards, and her eyes became shut as she put a hoof to her mouth.
"Ah… Ahh!"
It then struck Apple Bloom and Scootaloo that Sweetie Belle looked like she was about to sneeze. Despite this, her horn was still glowing, and the apple was still glowing a bit as well. Not knowing what to expect, and knowing that the imminent flash would probably blind them, the other two crusaders closed their eyes, ready for the teleportation.
"Chu!"
Right as Sweetie Belle gave her adorably anticlimactic sneeze, a bright flash enveloped the room, as well as the fillies within, before fading away just as swiftly.
After a second or two of silence, Sweetie Belle groaned.
"Ugh… That didn't feel quite right…"
Scootaloo opened her eyes, and saw Sweetie Belle wobbling around dizzily as green sparks floated to the floor. She instantly ran up to Sweetie Belle, looking very concerned.
"Woah! Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Sweetie Belle replied, shaking her head in an effort to stave off her lightheadedness. "That felt kinda weird."
After verifying that her friend was alright, Scootaloo looked to the floor, and noticed that the apple was still where it was before.
"Well, you missed the apple." She remarked disappointedly.
"I did?" Sweetie Belle asked, sounding confused and a bit disappointed herself. "Then what did I teleport? It definitely felt like I teleported something."
"I don't know." Scootaloo answered, shrugging. "Did you see what was teleported, Apple Bloom?"
No reply.
"Apple Bloom?"
Still no response.
"Where'd she go?" Scootaloo asked, taking a moment to look around the clubhouse, not seeing Apple Bloom at all.
Sweetie Belle shrugged as well. "I don't know. You were the one sitting next to her."
Then both fillies felt their hearts freeze as a terrifying possibility occurred to them.
"D-did I…?" Sweetie Belle stammered, her eyes growing wide.
Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle with an identical expression, and immediately they both knew what had happened.
"Nonono!" Sweetie Belle cried, running to a window. "Apple Bloom?! Where are you?!"
Scootaloo ran outside, desperately scanning the surroundings. Between the trees and the dying light, she could not make out much.
Apple Bloom was nowhere in sight.
"Apple Bloom?!?"