The woods proved to be very frightening for the poor princess. She stumbled through the bushes and trees, surrounded by strange eyes watching her from the darkness. Eventually, she fell to the ground, sobbing in terror. A lone rabbit hopped out from the shrubbery and tapped her on the head.
“Ahh!” cried Fluttershy. The rabbit turned around and ran away.
“Wait, don’t go!” the princess called. The rabbit poked his head out again.
“How silly of me,” Fluttershy laughed. “It’s just my forest friends. I was afraid it was the Queen or some sort of monster.”
A large bear grunted, confused.
“You see, my stepmother is after my heart,” explained Fluttershy. “And not in the romantic way,” she added.
The animals gasped.
“If I could only find a place to stay and hide,” Fluttershy continued, “then maybe I could escape her. But there’s nowhere I know that--”
The little rabbit raised his paw.
“What’s that? You know a place?”
The rabbit nodded. Fluttershy immediately scooped him up and gave him a hug. “Oh,” she cried, “you’re such a little angel! In fact, I’ll call you Angel from now on, alright?”
Angel thought about this for a moment, then nodded.
“Wonderful!” cried Fluttershy. “Now will you show me where I can stay?”
Angel glared at her.
“Oh, right, you probably want me to put you down first,” Fluttershy blushed. She set Angel on the ground, and the rabbit took off towards a clearing, with Fluttershy and the other animals following him.
In a nearby diamond mine, there worked four little fillies: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Babs Seed. None of them had their cutie marks yet, and they were always trying to find them one way or another. As they worked today, they sang their usual work song.
(To the tune of “Dig Dig Dig” from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
FILLIES: We work, work, work, work, work, work, work
In the mine down in the dark
We dig in spite of day or night
To get our cutie marks
APPLE BLOOM: When we found this ol’ diamond mine
SCOOTALOO: We knew it was a major find
SWEETIE BELLE: And so now we work all the time
BABS: To get our cutie marks
“Are you sure this’ll work?” asked Apple Bloom to Sweetie Belle as they continued working. “I mean, we’ve been working for days down here in the mine. I’m starting to think we weren’t so lucky in finding it.”
“My sister Rarity says that diamonds are super important,” insisted Sweetie Belle. “I know there must be something we can do with them.”
“Yeah, well,” Babs muttered, “minin’ them again and again ain’t workin’ out too well so far.”
“Wanna call it a night?” asked Scootaloo. “My flank’s still blank and my legs are getting sleepy.”
Apple Bloom yawned and nodded. The four ponies put their tools away and trudged back to their clubhouse…only to find a little surprise waiting for them.
“Look!” cried Scootaloo, pointing to the clubhouse. “There’s a light in there! Somepony brought a lantern in or something!”
“Are you sure it’s somepony?” trembled Sweetie Belle. “What if it’s a monster or something from the woods?”
“No monster’s takin’ our clubhouse!” growled Babs. “I say we take this thing by surprise, kick it out, and get our monster-butt-kicking cutie mark!”
“YEAH!” cried the others. They ran into the clubhouse, only to find Fluttershy and a few animal friends cleaning up. Fluttershy squealed in surprise at first, then calmed down a second later when she saw that it was only a few children.
“Oh my goodness!” smiled Fluttershy. “You startled me! My friend Angel didn’t tell me that this adorable little treehouse was occupied. By the looks of things, I’d think it had been abandoned, so I was just cleaning…”
“Wait, who’s Angel?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Who’s Angel?” scoffed Babs. “First things first! Who’s she?”
“Oh, how silly of me,” laughed Fluttershy. “My name is Fluttershy and Angel is this rabbit.”
“Wow!” gasped the fillies. “Princess Fluttershy!”
“I never saw you outside the castle before!” marveled Apple Bloom. “And you can talk to bunnies?”
“I can talk to all kinds of animals,” explained Fluttershy. “It’s my special talent.”
“We can’t find our talents yet,” sighed Sweetie Belle. “We call ourselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, ‘cause we’re always looking for our cutie marks.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” said Babs. “Not to sound grumpy or nothin’, but what’s the princess doin’ in our little clubhouse?”
“That’s a good question,” said Apple Bloom. “Not to be rude, but I feel pretty bashful sitting here in front of the princess, not knowin’ what’s goin’ on.”
“Not mention dopey,” added Sweetie Belle.
“Oh, how silly of me,” said Fluttershy. “Well, here’s what’s going on…”
The Crusaders listened as Fluttershy explained all about Queen Trixie’s plot and how she had run away to avoid being killed.
“Wow,” whispered the Crusaders when Fluttershy was finished.
“So we’ve got a wanted princess staying with us!” cried Scootaloo. “Neat!”
“I understand if you want me to go…” Fluttershy began, before the others cut her off.
“No!” they yelped.
“We don’t get a ton of guests,” admitted Scootaloo. “It’s nice to have royalty here. Besides, you’re in danger, and we wanna help!”
“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said, a little nervously. “Maybe we could get some kind of princess protector cutie marks that way.”
“Ooh,” the other Crusaders chorused.
“What about your parents?” asked Fluttershy.
Babs shrugged. “Ahh, we spend the night here all the time. They won’t worry.”
“Wonderful,” said Fluttershy, clapping her hooves together. “Now, then, my friends and I have gathered some food from the woods, so I can make us some dinner.”
The Crusaders cheered.
“Just be sure to wash up first,” added Fluttershy.
The Crusaders’ faces fell.
Back at the castle, Trixie proudly strolled up to her Magic Mirror, holding the box supposedly containing Fluttershy’s heart.
“Magic Mirror on the wall, now who’s the fairest one of all?” she smugly asked.
“Still Fluttershy,” smiled Twilight.
Trixie dropped the box in surprise. “What?! But look in here! Her heart!”
Frantically, Trixie opened the box and displayed it to Twilight. Twilight looked at it for a second, then looked up at Trixie.
“Your majesty, that’s a jawbreaker.”
“It is? The hunter said it was the princess’s heart.”
“And you believed him?”
“Yes!” stammered Trixie. “The Beautiful and Royal Trixie has never seen a real pony heart--”
“Probably because you don’t have one…” Twilight whispered to herself.
“—so when he presented this to me, I just assumed…I…it…look! It’s covered in blood! See?”
Twilight took another look, then turned up to Trixie. “That’s from a melted popsicle.”
Trixie angrily threw the box against the wall. “That dragon really is a failure as a hunter! Ooh, when I deal with him, he’ll regret ever crossing the Beautiful and Royal Trixie! But first, I must take care of Fluttershy! I can’t stand somepony being more fair than I!” She turned back to the mirror. “Where is she?”
Twilight sighed. It really stank having to be honest with Trixie, but it was part of the job. “She’s in the clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Cruaders outside the woods.”
With a flourish, Trixie exited the room. Down the stairs Trixie stomped, eventually reaching her secret laboratory.
“My slave in the mirror thinks she’s the only smart one around here,” Trixie fumed to herself. “Well, just because I don’t know everything like she does, doesn’t mean I know nothing! I’ll disguise myself as a peddler woman…yes…and then I’ll feed Fluttershy a poisoned apple, delicious and red…she’ll fall asleep forever, unless awakened by a kind-hearted pony’s kiss on the lips! And who would kiss her when she’s six feet under? A worm, perhaps!”
Trixie cackled loudly, then stopped and mused, “The Beautiful and Royal Trixie does wish for company. That way my monologue wouldn’t seem so forced and expository. Didn’t I have a raven or something a while back? What happened to him?”
She turned around to see a raven skeleton sitting in a cage.
“Hmm,” said Trixie, “I really need to come down here more often.”
Fluttershy had never had so much fun in all of her life! She happily danced the night away with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. As they danced, the Crusaders sang to Fluttershy all about their many attempts at finding a cutie mark.
(To the tune of “The Silly Song” from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
SCOOTALOO: I tried to ride around the park
On my scooter, rolling
APPLE BLOOM: But she’s got no cutie mark
For that along with bowling
ALL FOUR: It’s true, we’re feeling blue
A mark is hard to find
All the other ponies say
We have a one-track mind
SWEETIE BELLE: I’ve tried to do so many things
But I just keep on falling
BABS: It just looks like the four of us
Will never find our calling
ALL FOUR: It’s true, we’re feeling blue
A mark is hard to find
All the other ponies say
We have a one-track mind
“Oh, girls,” said Fluttershy, “I just know you’ll find your cutie marks. Everypony does eventually. It takes patience, you know.”
“We’ve been nothing but patient!” insisted Scootaloo.
Fluttershy smiled, but narrowed her eyes a bit.
“Okay,” Scootaloo admitted, “I guess we haven’t been super patient, but it’s so tough being a blank flank all the time.”
“How’d you get your cutie mark?” Apple Bloom asked.
(To the tune of “Someday My Prince Will Come” from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
FLUTTERSHY: I was alone at first
Felt like I had been cursed
With an isolation spell of sorts
And let me tell you, I could get bored
But I had animals
From big to very small
And we all talked until
I had a certain skill
And I received my cutie mark
“So you just practiced and practiced?” asked Babs.
“That’s right,” said Fluttershy. “Good things come to those who wait, they say. But for now, I think we could all use some sleep.”
The Crusaders nodded. It had been a long day. Everypony got into a sleeping bag (Fluttershy’s was a little small on her, but she didn’t mind) and went to sleep, along with all the animals. Not a peep was heard throughout the forest.
Spike tiptoed through the castle, trying to avoid the guards as best as he could. If he could just find that secret stash of jewels he’d hidden, he would have enough food to last him until he escaped to the next kingdom where hopefully ponies wouldn’t ask for hearts in boxes or that kind of nonsense.
He ducked behind a curtain when he thought he heard somepony coming. It was probably just the wind, though, he decided. Suddenly, he heard a voice: “Psst!”
Spike jumped in surprise. Had he been caught! He looked around. Behind this curtain, there was nothing but an old mirror…with a face in it.
“Hi,” said the face, which belonged to Twilight.
Spike gasped. “What are you?”
“I’m a slave in the Queen’s secret Magic Mirror,” explained Twilight. “I was expecting you. With your help, I can be free.”
“Really?” said Spike. “I didn’t know the Queen had a secret Magic Mirror.”
“That’s why it’s a secret,” Twilight said patiently.
Spike cocked his head a bit. “And you knew I was coming?”
“I’m omnipotent,” replied Twilight. “It’s part of the magic. Look, the Queen will be leaving soon, and I need someone to go down into her secret lab to brew a spell that will free me.”
“I didn’t know the Queen had a secret lab.”
“That’s why it’s a secret,” Twilight repeated, a little less patiently.
“How do I know you’re a good spirit?” Spike asked suspiciously.
“Because I want to save the princess!” cried Twilight. “I’ll lose my omnipotence if I leave the mirror, but it beats being stuck here with that Queen of ours.”
“Good enough for me,” shrugged Spike. “So how do I find the secret—”
At that moment, they heard somepony approaching, for real this time. Spike hid behind a drape as Trixie entered, looking ugly and haggard.
“How do I look?” she asked Twilight, while flaunting her disgusting self around.
“Hideous,” Twilight replied.
“Excellent,” Trixie smiled, “I knew I could count on you for an honest answer. It’s one of the only things you’re good for. Now, then, the next time you see the Beautiful and Royal Trixie, I will be the fairest one of all! For good!”
“Did you come up here just to show off?” groaned Twilight.
“I had a raven for a while, but it didn’t work out.”
As soon as Trixie left, Spike came out of hiding and Twilight began instructing him on how to find the lab.