CMC: The Next Generation

by DisneyFanatic23


Weekend at Uncle Discord's: Day Three

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Gemstone asked Prism as they and the Tri-Pies trotted through the halls of Discord's castle.

"No," Prism said bluntly. "But we're sure to get our cutie marks here. Uncle Discord put everything in this place. We'll just open a bunch of doors and do whatever's behind them. Who knows? We might even get our cutie marks in exploring."

"Ooh!" Blueberry piped. "I love exploring!"

"So which door do we go through first?" Raspberry wondered.

"I have an idea!" Cherry chimed, pulling out five straws. "We'll draw straws! The shortest straw picks the first door, the second-shortest picks the next door and so on and so on." She paused. "And so on."

"Where did you even get…?" Prism started to ask. "Never mind. I don't wanna know."

The five of them each took a straw. Gemstone had the shortest straw, followed by Raspberry, Prism, Blueberry and Cherry.

"Oh," the unicorn said. "Okay." She glanced around. "Which one do I pick?"

"Just pick one randomly," Prism replied.

"Random is always fun!" Cherry exclaimed.

Gemstone looked at the doors surrounding her again, trying to single one out. Her eyes fell upon a blue door with a crystal knob. She thought it was pretty so she tried that one. She stepped inside and screamed when her hoof touched water and jumped back. Before her was a pool, with pink dorsal fins swimming in circles. The others gasped when they saw this.

"Awesome!" Cherry chimed. "There are so many things we can do with a pool of sharks! We can jump over it, swim on their backs, get in a shark cage and see them up close…"

"Oh, I think there was a shark cage in the broom closet," Blueberry said.

"Where?"

"Five doors down."

"Thanks!"

Cherry zoomed off and Blueberry stiffened when she realized what her sister was trying to do.

"Wait, Cherry! Are you sure that's a good…?"

The red filly returned with a cage big enough for an adult pony.

"Excellent!" She opened the cage and stepped inside. "You guys coming?"

"Cherry, isn't this a bit dangerous?" Raspberry asked nervously.

"Even I have to agree!" Prism exclaimed. "You can't just go in there with a bunch of pony eating sharks!"

"Besides," Blueberry stated, "you don't even have scuba gear on."

"Oh!" Cherry gasped. "There was some in the broom closet!"

"Cherry, please!"

The red triplet shortly returned dressed in a bright red scuba suit, complete with tank, goggles and fins.

"Now to venture into the deep! Cherry Bomb!"

"Cherry, no!" every pony shouted.

But they were not fast enough to stop her from leaping into the room, slipping into the cage, locking it up and allowing herself and the cage to fall into the water.

"Some pony's gotta go after her!" Raspberry yelped.

"You kidding?" Prism shrieked. "I'm not going in there!"

"I can't even swim!" Gemstone declared.

"Well, do something!" Raspberry commanded. "She could get hurt down there!"

"We should go get Screwball or Uncle Discord!" Blueberry concluded.

But before anyone could run for help, Cherry's wetsuit floated up to the surface of the water. The four fillies gasped and Raspberry had tears in her eyes.

Suddenly, Cherry came up from the water, riding on a pink dolphin like a cowboy.

"Yee-haw!" she exclaimed. Then she noticed her friends and sisters staring at her with open mouths. "Hey, guys! Check it out! Pink dolphins! Even better than pink sharks!" She frowned when they all started glaring at her. "What?"

After a while, Raspberry turned to the others and cried, "Come on, guys! Pink dolphins! How many ponies have the opportunity to get a cutie mark for this?"

The magenta filly leapt into the air, tucked her legs in and screamed, "Cannonball!"

As she splashed into the water, Prism and Blueberry looked at each other and shrugged.

"Cutie Mark Crusader Dolphin Riders!" they shouted as they dove in after Raspberry.

"But I can't swim!" Gemstone reminded them.

Prism came up from the water with a smirk. "Well, it's time you learned!"

The unicorn yelped as the pegasus grabbed her leg and pulled her in.


"That was fun!" Raspberry exclaimed an hour later.

The five of them were in the bathroom, drying themselves off.

"But that wasn't very nice, pulling me into the water like that," Gemstone said, darting her eyes at Prism.

"Hey," the pegasus shrugged. "You learned to swim, didn't you?"

"And we rode on pink dolphins!" Cherry chimed. "Pink dolphins!"

"Do you think we got our cutie marks?" Blueberry wondered.

They all glanced at their flanks and frowned.

"Well, at least it wasn't a waste of time," Prism said. "Now, on to the next adventure!"

The fillies put down the fluffy towels and followed the pegasus outside.

"Whose turn is it to pick the door?"

"Me!" Raspberry piped as she bounced down the hallway. "What to choose, what to choose? Ooh! This one matches my coat!"

She opened the magenta door and revealed a small room with blank walls. All the room contained were five peculiar metal helmets sitting in a circle. The Crusaders picked them up and studied them curiously.

"What do you suppose these are for?" Gemstone inquired.

"I guess the only way we'll find out," Blueberry concluded, "is if we put them on."

Prism and Cherry shrugged and lifted the helmets above their heads.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Raspberry said as she hesitantly followed their example.

"They're just helmets, Rasp," Prism assured her. "Besides, you picked this room. We have to work with whatever's in here."

"What are these black things hanging over our eyes for?" Gemstone asked, pointing to the tinted screens covering their eyes as they put the headgear on.

The fillies gasped as the scene shifted and they were no longer in the white room. Instead, they were in a dark forest with tall trees. They glanced down and realized that each of them was holding a flashlight.

"What in the world?" Gemstone uttered.

"Look!" Cherry exclaimed, pointing in the middle of their circle.

A series of words written in white block letters appeared before them, floating in mid-air.

"What do they say?" Gemstone asked Prism.

"Collect all 8 pages," the pegasus replied.

"Ooh!" Blueberry piped. "This must be a game of some sort!"

"I love games!" Cherry chimed.

"Me too!" Raspberry declared.

"Me three!" Blueberry agreed. "Let's split up and find those pages!"

"Cute Mark Crusader Page Finders!" the triplets said together.

"Wait!" Gemstone insisted as the Tri-Pies bounced off in opposite directions. "Do you really think we should split up in these…?"

"Don't worry, Gem," Prism said, putting a hoof around her. "I'll stay with ya."

"Hey, you guys!" Raspberry's voice called from afar. "I think I found one! It's stuck right on this tree!"

"What's it say? What's it say?" Blueberry's and Cherry's voices shouted simultaneously.

"It says: Don't look, or it…takes you." There was silence. "I don't like the sound of that, girls!"

More text appeared before Prism's and Gemstone's eyes. Prism read it aloud for her friend:

"Pages 1/8."

The unicorn yelped as she heard a loud booming sound in the distance.

"Does any pony else hear that scary drum?" she shivered.

"Uh…" Prism uttered. "It's probably just one of the Tri-Pies' hoof steps or something. Come on. The sooner we get those pages, the sooner we can get out of here."


Raspberry's fear returned to her the minute she started hearing the thumps. They were slow, but they seemed to be getting closer. She glanced back at the note in her hoof. The writing made her uncomfortable. What did it mean? Don't look at what? What would take you?

She stopped when the light from her torch flickered across a large rock. Taped to that rock was another piece of paper. Smiling, Raspberry trotted up to it and squinted so she could make out the message in the dim light: Can't run.

She shivered. "I'm really not liking this game."

She took the note and the first one and put them both in her mane with her flashlight. The words Pages 2/8 appeared before her eyes. She gasped as the thumping became faster, and she had the strange feeling that someone was behind her. She turned her head and saw that her instinct was correct.

Raspberry's pupils shrunk to the size of peas as they beheld the creature before her. She then followed her next instinct: to run.

It had only been a glimpse, but she had seen enough of that creature to know he was bad news. She had seen a tall, thin pony in a black suit and tie, but he had no face. It was all white, with no mouth, no eyes, no nose, just a blank face!

She slowed down a moment as another thought occurred to her. "Maybe he's friendly!"

She turned around and saw that despite the distance she had made between them, the pony had gotten closer and she could've sworn she heard a chord of frightening music.

"Not friendly!" she screamed as she made another break for it.

She kept glancing over her shoulder, but the thing kept getting closer and closer. He wasn't even running. He would just appear, standing still, waiting to just appear again.

Raspberry remembered the messages, and would've gulped had she not been panting from running. Why was she panting? She didn't usually get this tired from running.

"It said 'Don't look.' Maybe if I close my eyes, it'll go away!"

Raspberry stopped and shut her eyes tight. "Go away, go away, go away, go away…"

She didn't know whether or not it had worked. She could still hear the drum. Curious, she opened one eye and then the other.

The last thing she heard was an ear-piercing scream. And the last thing that she saw was a blank, white face.


Blueberry was examining an old abandoned vehicle.

"What kind of carriage is this?" she asked herself. "Aha!"

She grinned when she saw a piece of paper taped to the side of it. Immediately after she touched it, Pages 3/8 appeared before her. She held her flashlight to the note and tilted her head at what it read. On it was a rough sketch of a tall pony in a suit, standing beside a tree. Written diagonally along the side was one word: Follows.

"Strange."

She jumped in her skin as the mysterious drum in the distance played faster. It seemed to be doing that every time a new page was found. She had seen the message indicating that one of the others had found the second. She wondered what that one had said.

The white text appeared again, telling her that the fourth had been found.

"I wish I knew what they said. 'Don't look or it takes you' and 'Follows.' It must be talking about this strange pony in the drawing. Hmm. If this is indeed some game Uncle Discord created, it must have an obstacle of some sort. Finding a bunch of notes with nothing stopping you seems too easy a task. And what would we do after we find all eight pages? Do they unlock some secret code or something? Or will we meet this strange…?"

Blueberry lost her train of thought as her vision went blurry. She felt something tap her shoulder and turned around to see the pony in the drawing.

"Oh."


Cherry was bouncing through the wood, thrilled that she had made a new friend. She had met him after finding that weird drawing. He never seemed to move, only when she wasn't looking, so she decided to make a game out of it.

She turned around and shouted, "Green light!"

The faceless pony stood still. She turned back.

"Red light! Green light! Red light! Green light!"

On the last green light, he moved from his spot and teleported right in front of her. Cherry growled as her vision blurred.

"Hey, that's cheating!"


Prism and Gemstone walked slowly through the rows of oil tanks, both of them shivering in fright.

"I'm really not enjoying this, Prism," the unicorn gulped. "I mean…those last three notes we found: 'Help me,' 'Leave me alone,' 'Always watches; no eyes?' And that drum keeps beating louder and faster! And where are the Tri-Pies? Oh, shoot! Now my flashlight's dimming! I wanna go home!"

"Everything will be fine, Gem," Prism said unsurely. "I mean…it's not like we're in the Everfree Forest or anything. They're just regular old woods. Nothing can hurt us out here."

Gemstone glanced behind her shoulder and her face turned paler than usual. "Um…Prism?"

"What?"

"Who…who's that?"

Prism followed her gaze and screamed at the sight of a faceless pony standing a few feet behind them. In a split second, he was a foot closer. The fillies shrieked again and took off.

"What do we do?!" Gemstone cried.

"Quick! Into that building over there!"

As they approached it, the unicorn glanced behind them. "He's getting closer!"

"We'll lose him in there!"

They ran into a narrow hallway with tiled floors.

"What is this?" Gemstone inquired. "Some kind of bathroom?"

The faceless pony appeared in front of them. The fillies screamed as they stopped in their tracks.

"This way!" Prism shouted, pulling her friend around a corner.

But they reached a dead end, and the monster was right behind them.

"I'll distract him!" Prism insisted. "You find a way out!"

"But…"

"Just go!"

The pegasus jumped back into the hallway. "Hey, No Face! Think it might be possible for some pony to give you a black eye?"

The stranger responded by teleporting closer. Prism ran out the way she and Gemstone came and the faceless pony disappeared to go after her. Seeing that the hallway was empty, the unicorn rushed out and looked around. She flinched when she heard a scream and felt like crying. She turned another corner and gasped when she saw the last note taped to the wall.

She picked it up and white text appeared. She couldn't exactly read it, but she assumed it said all pages were collected. She then squinted at the last note. The pony that had been chasing them was drawn on there and surrounding him was a two-letter word, written over and over again. Gemstone frowned as she tried to make it out.

"M-mo? Mo? Oh! No! That must be it!"

Her excitement was short-lived. Now that all the pages were found, what did she do now? Had the last white text contained new instructions? She cursed her dyslexia for the hundredth time.

"Well, I hope Prism knows…"

She stopped as she turned around and saw the faceless pony right in front of her. This time, four black tentacles were wiggling on his back. Before she could scream, his blank face was only an inch away and everything went black.


Every filly gasped when the words "Game Over" appeared before their eyes. The screens turned off and they found themselves back in the white room.

"That was a video game?" Prism said, removing her helmet.

"But…" Gemstone uttered, doing the same. "It seemed so…real."

"Remind me to commend Uncle Discord on his digital graphics," Blueberry said.

"That was fun!" Cherry chimed. "Though that Slendy's a dirty cheater!"

They all stared at her and said, "Slendy?"

"That's what I call him! You know, because he's so tall and slender?"

"That was scary!" Raspberry exclaimed.

"Absolutely frightful!" Gemstone shouted. "Let's never do a thing like that again!"

"Yeah," Prism agreed, tossing her helmet away as if it were on fire. "Well, it's my turn. Hopefully whatever's behind the next door won't be as…terrifying. You know, for you guys."

Gemstone and Raspberry nodded as they followed the pegasus out.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about," said Cherry. "I think that Slendy is just misunderstood!"

"It certainly was an intriguing game," Blueberry declared. "I really would've liked to know more about that Slendy or whatever you call it. How'd his face get to be like that anyway?"

"Yeah! And why doesn't he understand the rules of Red Light, Green Light?"

"I don't care who he is!" Raspberry insisted. "He's scary! And I don't like him!"

"I'm with you there," Gemstone mumbled. "Prism, please pick a nice door?"

"Sure," Prism grumbled. "Like I have any idea what's behind which door!"

She opened a random door without even looking at it. She jumped back when a manticore roared in her face. Blueberry gasped, Raspberry nearly had a heart attack and Gemstone fainted into Blueberry's hooves.

Cherry shoved Prism aside, holding out a stool and whip.

"Back, back, back!" she cried, cracking the whip.

The manticore growled, but recoiled back into the room. Cherry shut the door when he was all the way inside. She turned and grinned to the others who were all staring at her in awe.

"How…?" Prism started to say.

"Cutie Mark Crusader Manticore Tamers!" Cherry said with a bow. "Thank you very much, fillies and fillies! You've been a wonderful audience!"

She glanced at her flank and pouted. "Oh, man! That would've been a great cutie mark!"

"So much for a nice door," Gemstone sighed as she fanned herself with her hoof.

"Looks like it's my turn!" Blueberry said cheerfully.

"Hey, no fair!" Prism insisted. "My turn only lasted like five seconds!"

"Sorry, but we agreed, one door per pony! And, since I think we've had enough thrills for one day, I'll find one that's safe and not frightening."

"How are you going to do that?" Gemstone inquired.

Blueberry went to one door and pressed her ear against it. "Hmm. Vampire fruit bats. Nope." She went to the next door and did the same. "Orthros, commonly known as a two-headed dog. Nope." She continued along the row of doors. "Laser eye surgery room for cockatrices. Nope. Milking room for vipers. Nope. Gee, Aunt Fluttershy certainly has a lot of pets. Ooh! Talking bananas!"

"That counts as scary," Prism cringed.

"Okay. Ah! Do you guys like roller coasters?"

Prism and the other two triplets cheered in agreement.

"Actually," Gemstone replied, staring at her hooves, "I've never been on a roller coaster."

Cherry looked at her wearily. "You really need to get out more, Gem."

"It's not scary, is it?"

Blueberry pressed her ear to the door again. "Hmm. Can't tell. Wanna risk it?"

Before Gemstone could reply, Blueberry opened the door. Sitting there was a black coaster car with three benches, each long enough to hold three ponies. Beyond the car was nothing but darkness, and this made Gemstone gulp.

"You sure?"

"Positive," Blueberry replied, knocking on the metal car. "From what I can tell, it's perfectly safe. It's got seatbelts, plus safety bars for extra precaution, and it's secured tightly to the rail. Oh, and look!" Near the doorway was a sign with an arrow that said: You must be this tall to ride. "We're just the right height! We'll be fine. I call shotgun!"

"Me too!" Raspberry piped, jumping into the front with Blueberry.

"Me three!" Cherry chimed, joining her sisters.

"Me not," Gemstone murmured.

"Chillax," Prism said, taking her friend's hoof and leading her to the bench behind the triplets. "I'll be right by your side the entire ride."

Gemstone was still nervous as the pegasus fastened her seatbelt for her. When they were all fastened in, the door slammed behind them, leaving them in darkness.

"Welcome, foolish mortals," said a deep voice. "Please remain seated and keep your hooves and tails inside the car at all times."

The safety bars lowered onto their laps. Gemstone gripped hers in fright.

"I don't know about this…"

"Sit back and relax as we take you through a journey of time and space and gumdrops. We hope that you have a pleasant ride, for it may be your last!"

Gemstone shivered as the voice cackled evilly and the car slowly moved forward.

"He's joking, Gem," Prism assured her. "It's just a ride."

"Hey, Blue," Raspberry said, turning to her sister, "how fast do you suppose this thing's going to go?"

"Well," Blueberry said, tapping her chin. "If my theory is correct, we should be going…"

She was cut off as the car made a sudden drop and the five of them screamed on instinct. They fell so fast, they felt as if their faces were falling off.

"I'd say about a hundred and fifty miles per hour!" Blueberry shouted.

"Awesome!" Prism cried.

"Whee!" the triplets cheered, putting their hooves in the air.

"HELP!" Gemstone screeched as she shut her eyes tight.

They all screamed again as they looped around and zoomed up an incline before dropping again. Then the ride suddenly slowed down and Gemstone opened her eyes to see what had caused it to do so. Cheerful music filled the air and the fillies found themselves surrounded by dancing animatronic ponies, dressed in clothing from around the world.

"Wha…?" Prism started to say.

"Nice music!" Cherry chimed.

"Mmm-hmm!" her sisters nodded in agreement.

Gemstone smiled. "It is rather catchy."

Prism groaned. "It's getting on my nerves."

They screamed in surprise as they dropped again, though this fall wasn't as steep as the first. This was followed by several twists and turns. Various images popped out of thin air: a floating candelabrum, angry pirates, the planet Saturn, a yeti that would've made Gemstone jump out of her seat had she not been strapped in, a clock striking thirteen and a pair of glowing red eyes.

The ride made another drop, but this one ended with a splash.

"Cool!" Blueberry exclaimed. "I didn't know this was a water ride too!"

Prism and Gemstone stiffened when they heard music again, only this was slower and…romantic. The walls lit up with pink, red and white hearts floating everywhere.

"Awwwww!" the triplets said in unison.

The two fillies behind them glanced at each other.

"This is awkward," Prism muttered.

Fortunately, that awkwardness didn't last long when the car suddenly shot upwards and moved into another loop before going down again. The fillies were still screaming when it came to an immediate halt.

They went silent as the safety bars lifted from their laps and a door opened, letting light into the room.

"Thank you for riding with us today," said the voice. "Please exit on your left and slowly make your way towards the exit. Remember, the Castle of Chaos it not responsible for any lost or stolen items."

The fillies remained frozen in their seats.

"What…just happened?" Prism asked.

Gemstone chuckled hesitantly. "You know? That was sort of fun."

"Too bad the ride is over though," Cherry said as she unbuckled her seatbelt. "Well, at least it's my turn to pick the door now! Come on!"

The others followed her out the door and were surprised to find themselves in a completely different hallway.

"I think we're on the top floor now," Blueberry observed, "but I could've sworn we were going down most of the time."

Raspberry shook her head. "It's the Castle of Chaos. Don't question it."

"Guys, look!" Cherry chimed, pointing to a polka-dotted door. "This one looks fun!"

But her face fell as soon as she saw what was inside. The room was filled with nothing but pillows of all shapes, sizes and colors.

"Rats," she muttered. "I was hoping it would be something more exciting." Then she grinned. "Oh well! Only one thing to do now!"

She leapt into the air and spread out her legs, shouting, "Cherry Bomb!"

She landed in the pile of softness and laughed as she started tossing pillows around. The others did not object as they jumped in with her.

"Finally!" Gemstone cried. "Something that won't hurt us!"

The five friends then engaged in the ultimate pillow fight, building themselves forts and tossing pillows the size of beds. They played in that room for what felt like hours, until Fluttershy appeared in the doorway and said:

"Girls, your mommies are here to pick you up. Scootaloo's here too."

"Awwww!" the fillies sighed simultaneously.

"But we're having so much fun!" Raspberry complained.

"Sorry, girls," Fluttershy said sweetly, "but it's nearly dinnertime and you must get home."

The girls hung their heads as they walked out of the pillow room and followed Fluttershy downstairs.

"But there were so many rooms we hadn't even seen yet!" Cherry whined.

"Oh well," Prism sighed. "At least we'll have a lot more to explore next time we visit!"

"Yeah!" the triplets cheered in agreement.

"Though next time," Gemstone said, "let's not pick anything scary."

They all laughed as they recalled everything they did that day. Indeed, there was no place more fun than the Castle of Chaos.

Neither of them realized that for once, they did not check their flanks for cutie marks. It was probably a good thing, because that would've put a damper on their exciting day together.