“the soul of he has come to thee

to bring you to his home

what shall transpire

the rain of fire

shall be the end of all

for he the one

it shall be done

the world shall he burn it all”

It was a sunny spring day, and the streets were populated with normal pony folk going about their business. Buying apples, going to work, etc. However, the life of three young fillies will change forever... These three rambunctious young foals were in their so-called “secret” clubhouse, and they were plotting another adventure to find their cutie mark.

“No Apple Bloom, that won’t work,” Sweetie Belle said, in response to the former’s earlier idea.
“What’s wrong with become circus ponies, Sweetie Belle? Ah would sure love to be launched outta a cannon, with everypony cheering for ‘The Acrobatic Apple Bloom’!” Apple Bloom responded, slowly going in to the imagination as she talked.
“Hey guys, a few weeks ago this shady pony talked to me and said something about getting cutie marks,” Scootaloo said to the other two, grabbing their attention. “He said something like this...”

I was walking home from our meeting, when I heard someone talk to me.
“Hey kid.”
“Who was that?” asked Scootaloo, looking around.
A shady pony walked from the dark alley in front of Scootaloo, wearing all black.
“I heard you and yer friends’re looking fer a cutie mark, eh?” He said, now directly in front of the filly. “Well, my friend told meh once, there’s a clearin’ deep inside the Everfree Forest. He said that there’s some kinda stone formation, used in rituals by cultists long ago. It’s said that if a blank-flank such as yerself goes into the middle of the stones in the middle of the night, you magically get a cutie mark. But beware, it is said that once, a group of blank-flank foals went there, and that a dark force comes upon them, bringin’ them into the cult that placed the runes, and dragged ‘em to the depths of Hell.”
“Really??? Reallyreallyreallyreallyreally!?!?!?” The filly said, bouncing up and down in excitement, completely ignoring the warning.
“Yup,” said the mysterious stallion, now walking back to the alley from whence he came.

What Scootaloo didn’t notice, was that after he walked to the end of the alley, behind a dumpster, the stallion was engulfed in a blue flame for a short second, like a magician, then disappeared.

“So you’re sure that man didn’t say anything about cults, right?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Of course not. All he said was that there’s a clearing in the Everfree where you can get a cutie mark,” replied Scootaloo.
“I’m still not sure, Scoot,” whined Sweetie Belle.
“Stop worrying, you big chicken,” teased Scootaloo.
“Look who’s talking,” Sweetie Belle whispered to Apple Bloom, which lead to obvious giggling.
Scootaloo let out a noticeable groan as she sat down, trying to imagine herself as a chicken. She gagged as the thought somewhat disgusted her. “Okay, guys, let’s go to that clearing tonight and get out cutie marks!” She shouted out, trying to spark some enthusiasm in the other two.
“Alright, fine, Scootaloo, but Ah get to get my cutie mark first,” said Apple Bloom.
“No, I get to get my mark first!” said Sweetie Belle, creating an argument.
“GIRLS!!” Scootaloo shouted, once again grabbing their attention. “I told you about it, so I get it first. Okay?”
“Okay,” the other two said in unison.

It was nighttime. 11:35 PM. The CMC had their hoofmade “capes” on, leaving their clubhouse to venture into the dreadful and spooky Everfree. Crows were cawing, some little worms and flies were going into some shrubs that marked the border between Ponyville and the Everfree. Sweetie Belle whined for a little, but Apple Bloom and Scootaloo convinced her to carry on with the mission. The three fillies were scared, but prepared for anything that came their way. Some rats that poked out of the dark bushes had startled this at first intrepid group of youngsters. Snakes had slithered in and out of the shrubbery silently, spiders had made webs in between tree branches, scuttling back to their nests to sleep. Simply put, they were scared. Very scared. A few times Sweetie Belle got scared from crows that had suddenly squawked at the three.
Soon the fillies had reached the clearing. Exactly as the shady man had told Scootaloo. A circular formation of small stones with red markings inside, forming a grid ending at the stones. Scootaloo remembered what the Shady Man said to her. “...goes into the middle of the stones in the middle of the night...”
“All right,” said Scootaloo, shaking in fear of the forest. “I guess I’ll go...”

Slowly walking to the stones, Scootaloo was ready. She was going to do this. However, tons of thoughts were racing in her young mind.

What if he lied?
I think he said something else, too...
Come on, you can do this!
Youcandothisyoucandothisyoucandothisyoucandothis...
I don’t want to!
I have to!

“Wait!” Yelled out Apple Bloom. “Ah wanna take a picture of this so Ah can keep it and show it to Applejack.”
“Yeah, me too! I want to take pictures!” Responded Sweetie Belle, both bringing out cameras and giving Scootaloo a “go on” motion.

She had walked into the stones. Even more nervous as the last hoof had stepped onto the middle of the “grid”. She let out a huge sigh as nothing had happened. All her worry was gone. But suddenly, a group of demonic hands had reached out of the ground and gripped Scootaloo by the hind hooves. She tried desperately to pull away but to no avail. A large hole in the ground had opened. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were too scared to run away or even yell. A reddish spiral-like formation of color had formed, which was the “vacuum” that had sucked her in. As she was being sucked in, she yelled out, “HELP! APPLE BLOOM, SWEETIE BELLE, PLEASE HELP ME!!” The other horrified two had regained control of their bodies and had screamed and ran as fast as they could. The last thing they heard from Scootaloo was a loud scream of terror.

Both of them had horrible nightmares that night. Sweetie Belle had dreamed that the ghost of Scootaloo had come to get her. Apple bloom had dreamed that Scootaloo was being dragged into the hole by cultists that made her evil (which was what the shady stallion warned her about), and she had “reenacted” Cupcakes with her. Both woke up in the middle of the night and heard the faint voice of Scootaloo whisper in their ears, “Why did you leave me? Why?” at the exact same time.
To be Continued...

Some of you readers out there might not think that Scootaloo would have ignored the shady man’s warning. FYI, I see her as a filly that would do ANYTHING to get her cutie mark.
Currently working on a side story for this, which starts the morning after they go to the clearing.

The Clearing

by Chrysalis

Clearing in the Forest