An orange hoof thrust itself in Rarity's face.
Rarity blinked. "Oh, is it...is it my turn already? Really?"
"Eeeyup," Applejack said, grinning. "Time ta put yer bits where yer mouth is, missy."
Rarity swooned. "Oh, woe is me! HowEVER can I top Applejack's BRILLIANT performance?" Her fainting couch appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh, knock it off, drama queen," Rainbow Dash snorted, blowing upwards on her mane. "Just go be evil."
Rarity stood, fixing a penetrating stare on Rainbow Dash. "Oh, I'll be evil. I'll be evil like you've never SEEN! Why, I'll be so evil, you'll simply—"
"Die of boredom?" Dash retorted.
Rarity tossed her mane huffily. "Well! Fine, then. I'm off...to be EVIL!"
"This'll be over mighty fast," Applejack said.
Rarity trotted prissily out the door. A moment later, she reappeared. "Oh, and Twilight, darling, might I borrow Spike for a bit?"
Twilight shrugged. "Suit yourself."
* * * * *
Three days passed with no sign of Rarity or Spike, nor hint of an evil scheme. The rest of the group was meeting up to discuss whether or not to declare Rarity's turn forfeit when they caught sight of something strange.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders galloped by, each hauling a small cart laden with gems.
More strangely still, each filly now had a cutie mark!
"What'n th'..." Applejack began, raising a hoof and frowning.
Twilight's brow furrowed. "Something's not right here..."
The mares followed the fillies for a bit, trying to get their attention, but to no avail. Eventually, Rainbow Dash sped far enough ahead to get a good look at the Crusaders' flanks. Her jaw dropped. "Holy hayseed! They've all got Rarity's cutie mark! Well, kinda."
Indeed, the flanks of the Crusaders bore a black, shadowy copy of Rarity's triple-gem cutie mark.
Twilight's jaw dropped. "How...?!"
Applejack's ears flattened against the sides of her head. "Whoa, nelly. Ah reckon we'd best foller 'em."
"They're probably going over to Rarity's right now," Fluttershy said.
Nodding to one another, the five mares followed the three fillies to Carousel Boutique. The Crusaders towed their wagons right into the door, but once they were inside, it slammed shut...and Spike was guarding it.
"Out of the way, Spike!" Twilight ordered.
"No can do, Twilight," the dragon replied. "Mistress Rarity says you're not on the invite list."
Twilight growled. "Spiiiiike...I hope you remember that when this is over, you have to come back to the library. And that I have ways of making your life very, very unpleasant."
Spike gulped.
"Are we on the invite list now?" Twilight asked sweetly.
"Uhhh...let me check. Uh, yeah, sure, you're good. Come on in."
"Thank you," Twilight said, tossing her mane primly as the five mares trotted through the door.
Inside, they found Rarity luxuriating atop a hoard of gemstones that would make a dragon envious. The Crusaders trotted up to Rarity's pile and added their wagonloads to it, then trotted right back out the doors, ignoring the five mares.
Applejack stomped a hoof. "Alright, Rarity, what'd y'all do ta them fillies?"
"Why do they have your cutie mark?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"HOW do they have your cutie mark?" Twilight added. "That shouldn't even be possible! Magic can't make a pony's cutie mark appear before its time!"
"And I didn't make their cutie marks appear before their time, dah-ling," Rarity said with a sultry glance at Twilight. "I just generously shared my cutie mark with those three dear little fillies!"
Rainbow Dash's jaw scraped the ground. "You can DO that?" she asked.
"I've never heard of anything like that before," Fluttershy said quietly.
"I haven't either," Twilight admitted. "But it looks to me like it's some pretty dark magic. Rarity, you...you enslaved the Crusaders!"
Rarity laughed daintly into the back of her hoof. "Ohohohoho...well, what can I say, dah-lings? I'm simply feeling...rather evil at the moment."
"Ooo-okay, Rarity, you win," Applejack said. "Go on an' change them fillies back now."
"Now whyEVER should I do THAT, dear Applejack?" Rarity said haughtily. "Why, just look at how many beautiful jewels my precious little servants have brought me!" She scooped a hoofful of sapphires and emeralds and tossed them up into the air, catching them with her magic and making them dance around the room. "With those three under my thrall, I needn't lift a hoof to harvest gems!" She threw back her head and unleashed an evil laugh that made Fluttershy shrink back against the door, shivering and hiding her face under her mane.
Twilight growled. "Come on, everypony, we're going to have to do this the hard way."
"By kicking Rarity's butt?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight shook her head. "No, Rainbow Dash. Butt-kicking isn't the answer this time. We have to remind those fillies who they really are to break Rarity's control over them."
"Oh, so it's like Discord again?" Applejack asked.
"Pretty much." With that, the five mares rushed out the door, bowling over Spike.
"We can't just kick her butt a LITTLE?" Dash whined as they left.
* * * * *
It took a while for them to find the Crusaders, who were on the verge of entering the dangerous Everfree Forest. Twilight impeded their movements with a forcefield. "Ooo...nngh...kay, girls. The rest is...up to you!"
Applejack stepped in front of her sister. "Apple Bloom! This ain't your destiny! Collectin' fancy rocks for Rarity? Is that really what you wanna do with your life? Yer a farmpony! An Apple! This...this jes' ain't you! Come back to me, little sis. Come back."
Rainbow Dash dropped in front of Scootaloo. "Hey, squirt. My number one fan wouldn't give in to this stupid plan of Rarity's so easily! Having Rarity's cutie mark isn't awesome! You want a really cool, awesome stuntpony cutie mark, like me! Following Rarity isn't your destiny! Be the radical little Scootaloo I know again!"
Pinkie Pie squatted down in front of Sweetie Belle and started barking like a dog.
The shadow cutie marks faded from the three Crusaders' flanks, leaving three very confused little fillies.
Twilight dropped her forcefield and stared at Pinkie. "Okay, HOW exactly did THAT even WORK?"
Pinkie shrugged. "I thought a really loud sudden noise might snap them out of it, so I tried it."
Everypony facefaulted.
"Wh-whut just happened?" Applebloom asked.
"Why do my hooves hurt?" Sweetie wondered.
"Come with us, we'll explain," Twilight said.
* * * * *
Rarity surveyed her former followers and let out a sigh of dismay. "Oh, very well. I suppose I lost." She smiled slyly at her friends. "But with all these wonderful jewels those three collected for me, it still feels like I won!"
Pinkie shrugged. "She's got us there. She could BUY Sugar Cube Corner with all of THIS!" She blinked, then frowned at Rarity. "Don't buy Sugar Cube Corner," she said.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," Rarity said, waving a hoof airily. "I'm a dressmaker, not a pastry chef!"
"Will SOMEPONY PLEASE tell us what happened?" Apple Bloom demanded.
"Well..." Applejack said, darting her eyes around. "Y'see, we're all playin' kind of a game."
"We're taking turns coming up with evil schemes that the others have to stop," Twilight added.
"And it was Rarity's turn, so she turned you girls into her slaves and had you collecting jewels for her!" Pinkie added.
Sweetie turned to glare at Rarity. "You did that to your OWN SISTER?!" she demanded hotly.
Rarity laughed. "Ah, yes, well. I'll um, make it up to the three of you, I promise. Um...ice cream? Triple scoops? Lots of sprinkles?"
The Crusaders looked at each other and shrugged.
"Sure, that works," Scootaloo said.
"So that whole Quick-Step mess the other day, was that one of y'all?" Apple Bloom asked.
Applejack raised a hoof sheepishly. "That'd be me," she said.
"What kind of game is taking turns being evil, anyway?" Sweetie asked. "You six are the greatest, non-evilest ponies in Equestria! Why would you even DO something like this?"
"It's complicated," Twilight said.
"No it isn't," Pinkie said. "I triple diamond dog dared them to do it."
"Oooooooooo," the Crusaders ooooed.
"Well, technically she only triple diamond dog dared Rarity," Rainbow Dash said, "but the rest of us decided to go along with it."
"We're not actually going to HURT anypony," Fluttershy said. "It's really more..." She trailed off.
"Elaborate pranks," Twilight finished.
"Pranks are fun!" Scootaloo said.
"Yeah, but these pranks, I dunno," Sweetie Belle added.
"In any case, girls, I am dreadfully sorry to have caused you any distress, and I promise I will make it up to you," Rarity said.
"Aww, it's okay," Apple Bloom said. "At least now we know we can scratch 'jewel hunting' off our list!"
"We'll be back later to collect on that ice cream promise," Sweetie informed her sister. "Come on, girls, we've got Crusading to do!"
Once the three fillies left, Rarity coughed delicately. "Ahem. Alright, now that that's over with, I suppose I need to decide who's going next, hmm?"
* * * * *
"What a bunch of weirdos," Scootaloo said.
"Yeah, Ah never woulda guessed my own sister would do somethin' so...crazy."
"Well, grown-ups are ALL crazy if you ask me," Sweetie said.
A moment of silence lapsed.
"Y'all reckon we could get cutie marks in evil?" Apple Bloom asked after a while.
The others looked at each other...