//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two 
// Story: Shifted Crusaders 
// by Poisonberry 
//------------------------------//

“Get Scoots and tell ‘er ‘bout this, if any other creature asks just tell them Ah got tired and left.” Apple Bloom made up a lie, her sister wouldn’t be proud. 
Sweetie Belle nodded before running off, she came back a moment later to find Apple Bloom in the bushes. “We decided that Scootaloo is going to stay and I’m coming with you. I have a reputation for getting quite scared unlike you who’s got one for coming here all the time just to see Zecora. Our story will seem more likely if they believe you are with me to make sure I stay safe.” 
“So Scoots is gonna say to all the others that Ah left to help you ‘cause I’ve been in the Everfree alone before,” Apple Bloom followed. “Let’s get a move on then.” 
Scootaloo glanced back over her shoulder as two dark shapes moved further into the bushes, a glint of silver shone brightly from the moonlight as the second crept in. ‘I don’t know how Sweetie was able to hide just as well as me and Apple Bloom, surely her alabaster coat would’ve given her away when it wasn’t winter. Bah, listen to me, I sound like a dictionary. Seriously? Alabaster? How long have I been around Twilight and Starlight?’ 
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were making their way to Sweet Apple Acres, as it was adjacent to the Everfree Forest, and housed their clubhouse. Sweetie decided the first thing she would do in the morning after brushing her mane was go to the library and find books relating to what the Cutie Mark Crusaders had become, and tell Starlight, Twilight, and Spike she was borrowing them for Nightmare Night. Then, she would probably meet up with her fellow crusaders before heading to school, hopefully this year’s Nightmare Night lesson would be of some use to her. Every Nightmare Night that fell on a school day Cheerilee would teach the class about all sorts of monsters and set up activities for them, if it didn’t fall on a school day Cheerilee would prepare activities and lesson for them a few days before. Most monsters that she talked about were make believe or didn’t live anymore, and Cheerilee told all the students the week before what they would be learning about, just in case they were scared. 
Last year had been Timberwolves, Manticores, and Chimeras, the only year she remembered that had monsters that actually existed. The year before that it had been Vamponies, not to be confused with Bat Ponies, which were basically a slightly different type of pony that was rarer because, while their genes tended to be dominant there weren’t that many of them. Sweetie recalled Fluttershy turning into a Vampire Pony once, though Rarity told her that it had been twice, but that didn’t count, she only had the desire to drink the juice out of fruit, mainly apples. The year before that was about magical stories that would suck creatures into their pages, trapping them until they finished the story, like that was real. Another year had been about some ancient guardian of some temple in the jungle, apparently this creature was also the main villain in the Daring Do series, as Scootaloo had told her, so it was probably not real. 
This year would be zom-ponies, but they were known to only be legends, unlike the dangerous creatures in the Everfree. Sweetie Belle glanced around nervously, anything could be watching them from those dark and shadowy trees. The forest was scary enough during the daytime. 
Sweetie Belle continued to glance around anxiously, she had a sneaking suspicion that they were being watched. She shivered as she felt invisible eyes follow her, she wanted this creature to go away. The wind suddenly kicked up, and ash swirled into the air before the breeze faded. Sweetie could smell a faint trace of smoke, and something else that was terrible. The feeling of being watched didn’t diminish, nor did it increase. 
“Hey Apple Bloom? Are we going to tell anycreature about this?” 
Apple Bloom glanced over her shoulder at Sweetie Belle, her reddish eyes glowing eerily, “Ah think Ah’ll tell Applejack and Big Macintosh, and probably Granny.” 
“I bet Scootaloo won’t tell anyone for a while, unless she’d be trying to defend you by claiming Nightmare’s magic affected her too. She’ll want to impress Rainbow Dash first, and I don’t think I’ll tell Rarity anything right now, I still don’t know what might’ve happened to me,” Sweetie Belle finished. She looked at Apple Bloom’s eyes, “Your eyes are kinda creepy.” 
“Well how come Scoots freaked out and you didn’t?” Apple Bloom countered. 
“I guess I saw that Scootaloo was a changeling and assumed something must have happened.” 
“Hmmm.” 

The feeling of being watched grew even more, something heavy sounded far off, something was staring at them, Sweetie could feel it. “Do you think we’re being watched?” She squeaked, green eyes darting around. 
“Ah don’t know,” Apple Bloom whispered, slightly lowering her ears. 
They continued in silence, unsure if there was something watching them. The sound of dripping water and heavy footsteps immediately drew their attention. Sweetie whimpered as the bushes in front of them were flattened. Within seconds a cragadile was upon them. Its tail hit both of the fillies, sending them crashing to the ground. 
The cragadile lunged forwards, snapping its jaws at them. Apple Bloom ran to the left, away from both Sweetie Belle and the cragadile. Terror gripped her as she felt sharp teeth in her leg, she screamed. 
“Apple Bloom!” Sweetie yelled, and the cragadile shook her violently before lifting its head so she’d fall in its gaping mouth. Apple Bloom heard an explosion and the cragadile fell over suddenly, releasing her before it scurried away. A chunk of its stony hide was clearly missing, revealing much softer scales underneath. 
Apple Bloom didn’t feel any pain in her leg, strangely enough. She scrambled to her hooves, looking over to where the explosion had come from. Sweetie Belle stood there, ears down, staring wide eyed at where the cragadile had been a moment ago. Apple Bloom started running towards her, gash in her leg not slowing her down. 
“Don’t come near me! Stay away!” Sweetie Belle shouted, taking a step back, her eyes locked onto Apple Bloom. 
“Ya just saved mah life Sweetie, and now yer telling me to stay away? Ya sent that cragadile running.” Sweetie didn’t move, unblinking eyes staring at Apple Bloom, she decided to take a tentative step forward. 
“Stay back!” Sweetie squeaked. 
“Why?” Apple Bloom asked, taking another step towards Sweetie Belle, who was breathing heavily. 
“I might hurt you!” 
“Ah know you wouldn’t hurt me Sweetie,” Apple Bloom tried to reassure her. 
“STAY BACK!” Sweetie Belle screamed at her. Her left eye flickered a warm, yet freezing harsh, yellow for a split second, and her head jerked. She took another step back. 
“Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom took a hasty step back, seeing the flash of her, in Apple Bloom’s perspective right, eye and her abrupt twitching of her head. Sweetie continued to stare at her. 
Sweetie Belle had panicked, the cragadile had grabbed Apple Bloom’s leg, and she had no idea what to do. The cragadile was a THREAT to both of them, and she knew she had to do something. 
 She felt something else take over. She didn’t choose to hurt the cragadile.
She felt her head jerk as Apple Bloom was marked as a THREAT. She took another step backwards, trying to calm the fear of her accidentally harming her friend. 
“Breathe in, breathe out,” Sweetie mumbled, barely moving her mouth. Apple Bloom studied her hind leg, there was a deep gash on it, though now blood leaked out, and she wondered when it would heal. “Okay,” Sweetie Belle breathed, walking back over to Apple Bloom, ears still folded down. 
“Are ya good now?” Bloom asked. 
“Better,” Sweetie sighed. “Your leg looks pretty bad.” 
“Whadda ya think I should do ‘bout it?” Apple Bloom deadpanned. 
“I don’t know,” Sweetie mumbled, still trying to comprehend what she was. Apple Bloom focused on her leg, willing it to heal itself. The gash suddenly faded, and the only signs of the attack would be the cragadile, the imprint it left, and the little bit of its blood that smeared the ground. “What. How?” Sweetie questioned. 
“So why did yer eye flash yellow, Ah thought glowing eyes were my thing,” Apple Bloom teased. 
“I, I don’t really know. I just got scared, and I thought I was going to hurt you,” Sweetie explained. 
“So have ya figured out what ya are?” 
“Maybe.” Sweetie lowered her gaze. 

The two fillies continued their trek, Sweetie Belle was having an inner existential crisis.  Scootaloo, meanwhile, was busy playing Capture the Flag, and she could feel where everycreature was from their emotions. “No wonder Ocellus is a hide and seek champion, she can hide anywhere and feel where anycreature is hiding within a close enough range.” Scootaloo didn’t know who she was going to tell she was a changeling, obviously Rainbow Dash would be first, unless she told Starlight or Twilight. Within a few hours most of the creatures were ready to go home, or back to their dorms. Scootaloo walked with Ocellus as the group made their way through the Everfree Forest. 
“Hey, Ocellus,” she said. “Can I ask you a few things about changelings?” 
“Sure, what do you want to know?” Ocellus replied in her usual quiet voice. 
“This time, I was wondering if changelings can get cutie marks.” 
“No,” Ocellus answered. “Unless the changeling feels a connection to that cutie mark, like some will do with a specific form, they won’t earn a cutie mark.” 
“I must still have mine because it’s connected to me and the other two crusaders.” “So how large can you make your form?” 
“We can only keep a form that's a bit bigger than ourselves for a little while before it drains us. If the form isn’t much bigger than ourselves we can maintain it indefinitely, so long as we aren’t starving. That is, unless something disrupts too much of the form or of our focus,” Ocellus responded. 
“Okay, just curious,” Scootaloo confirmed, “I should be fine.” 
“You three are always curious.” 

They continued walking, making small talk until Silverstream screamed. “Guys, there’s bl- bl- over here,” she trembled, pointing her claw at a small streak of blood on the ground. Scootaloo’s heart leapt into her throat. 
“What if Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle had gotten hurt, or worse,” she thought. Scootaloo shook her head to clear the disturbing thought, Gallus must have noticed her because he spoke up. 
“Don’t worry, I’m sure they’re fine,” his eyes darted around nervously at the trees that seemed to be closing in. 
“Gallus is probably right, something much larger than them must have broken the trees, and the ground near it is missing its foliage,” Ocellus reassured them. 
“This looks like a cragadile footprint,” Sandbar called them over to it. 
“But what’s strong enough to throw a cragadile without disturbing hardly anything else, even a full grown dragon would have knocked over a few trees of its own,” Smolder questioned. 
“What if it’s Nightmare?” Scootaloo burst out. 
“Wasn’t she banished to the darkest shadows of Equestria?” Gallus asked, “You know, once she was separated from Luna.” 
“And Professor Rarity,” Ocellus added. Scootaloo was quite sure Nightmare wasn’t still stuck in the shadows anymore, after all she had been the one to lay this new curse on the Crusaders. Scootaloo really hoped it wasn’t Nightmare that had been over here. 
The group continued their journey, without anything disrupting them. They split up once they got back to Ponyville, each believing the victim was some unfortunate creature of the Everfree Forest. Scootaloo eventually found sleep, preparing to meet up with her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders before school. 

Scootaloo rushed over to Sweet Apple Acres early in the morning of Nightmare Night. When she got to the Clubhouse, she was slightly surprised to see both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle there. Sweetie was looking down at a book titled, Monsters and their Myths whilst Apple Bloom wasn’t transformed and was examining her leg. 
“Hey Scoots!” Sweetie squeaked. 
“Hey! There was a bit of blood that we saw in the Everfree Forest last night, and I got slightly worried it might have something to do with Nightmare,” Scootaloo explained. 
“Ah didn’t lose any blood, but tha’ cragadile did,” Apple Bloom replied, a smug look plastered on her face. 
“I know I broke through its stone scales! You don’t have to remind me every ten minutes,” Sweetie huffed. 
“You did what?” Scootaloo stared at her friend, disbelief filling her eyes, and Sweetie facehoofed. 
“Sweetie sent that cragadile runnin’,” Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo as a mischievous grin swept across her face. 
“Why’s she smiling like that?” Scootaloo whispered, asking Sweetie. She didn’t respond, instead only sighing. 
“Scoots, come help me lift, uh,” Apple Bloom’s eyes swept across the room, “Sweetie Belle.” 
“Why me?” Sweetie asked. 
“‘Cause Applejack’s gonna be mad at me if we need a new desk for the second time this week,” Apple Bloom whispered into her ear. 
“Okay?” Scootaloo replied, confused. She got into position to prop up Sweetie’s left front and hind hooves. Apple Bloom did the same, and they successfully carried an annoyed Sweetie Belle to the other side of the Clubhouse. 
“I don’t see what the point was,” Scootaloo stated. 
“We moved Sweetie tah the other side of the room,” Apple Bloom said as Sweetie Belle got up and moved back over to her book. Apple Bloom then lifted her hoof in the air for Scootaloo to bump it, Scootaloo did unenthusiastically. 
As soon as their hooves touched Apple Bloom’s gave a snap and bent backwards before falling off. Apple Bloom made a big show of screaming in pain, pretending like the fact that half of her leg had fallen off hurt. “Mah leg! It fell off!” She screamed. 
“What?” Scootaloo asked, mildly concerned. Sweetie Belle flicked Apple Bloom with her magic. 
“Ow,” Apple Bloom complained as Sweetie’s magic actually hurt, unlike her leg. 
“I told you, you can’t just do that. Somecreature might be watching,” Sweetie scolded. 
“Ah already told Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny! Big Mac will probably tell Sugar Belle, and Applejack’s bound to get Starlight to try an’ fix this. Oh, and Applejack said the Elements of Harmony had begun tracing some dark magic over to the Everfree, but they weren’t done.” 
“Hey girls, isn’t school starting soon?” Scootaloo interrupted. 
“We gotta hurry!” Sweetie squeaked, words for a song they once sang immediately popping into her mind. Apple Bloom reached her hoof and reverted to her normal form. They fled the Clubhouse and ran over to school. 

The CMC arrived at school less than a minute early, and filed into the classroom along with the other students. “By the way, me an’ Pipsqueak are gonna leave right after school to get to Zecora’s before sundown,” Apple Bloom told them. 
“Okay,” Scootaloo replied. 
“We both know how much the two of you want to see her, you two were both practically fighting until Mayor Mare allowed both of you to go with Twilight later today. You know how close Twilight and Zecora are too, I’m not surprised she decided to volunteer even with her royal duties,” Sweetie Belle added before reopening her book. The class bell rang as Cheerilee began to take attendance, Sweetie slid her book back into her saddle bags, which she had set on the ground. She had just gotten to reading a part in the “Legends of the Non-Living” which had something about a cursed town. She had barely started that entry, but was eager to finish it. 

“Good morning class!” Cheerilee greeted them. 
“Good morning Ms. Cheerilee,” the class replied. 
“Today we are going to learn about zomponies! The first thing to know about them is that they haven’t been seen for hundreds of years, so they most likely don’t exist anymore.” 
This caused several students to pay attention to the fact that zomponies had existed, and might still. Sweetie glanced at Apple Bloom, wondering. 
“Zomponies are also known to have glowing red eyes, sometimes mixed in with their original eye color. They can also disguise themselves as regular ponies with the sunlight,” Cheerilee told them. 
Apple Bloom felt both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s eyes on her. “Ms. Cheerilee, how do you tell if somepony is a disguised zompony?” Ruby Pinch asked. 
“That’s a great question Ruby! With certain spells, potions, magical artifacts, and certain plants, you could find out. Now this flower,” she held up a dark red flower, that seemed to be darker on the edges, with faint, almost blurry, black streaks running along its petals, “will reveal if anypony is any type of undead once they touch it for a short amount of time. It’s called a Breathing Veil, would anypony like to volunteer to touch it?” 
The students glanced around, Scootaloo caught Diamond Tiara giving Silver Spoon a secret look, and Silver Spoon returned it with a twitch of her ear and pushed up her glasses. “What’s that all about?” she thought. Rumble raised his hoof in the air. 
“Rumble, you’ll be the first to try, then we’ll see if any other pony wants to,” Cheerilee called him up. “Now, touch one of those petals.”