> Cutie Mark Cruseekers > by DADERPSTER > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Seekers Decide- Prolougue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was dark in the forest that met ice, that night. The Iqniq travelled silently overhead, and a solitary, shape-shifting brown bear sat by the border of the two lands. After a few moments of what seemed like stargazing, he stood and let out a roar, calling three other bears in words that were only understood to the bears. Before long, the brown bear saw a white bear padding across the ice towards him, and he heard a rustle behind him that told him that they were all there. "What is it, Ujurak?" the gruff voice of his friend made his heart warm up, and he remembered their time together as cubs. The white bear touched noses with Ujurak, the black bear and the other brown bear. "I've missed you, Kallik," Ujurak heard the black bear whisper as she touched her nose to the black one of her friend's. "You too, Lusa," murmured Kallik. "Friends," Ujurak started, turning to the other three. "The wild is beginning to die once more." It was as if the starry earth under the four bears paws trembled as he said these words. Lusa shivered and leaned closer to Kallik. The brown bear beside her stepped forward. "We can't do anything about it now," he growled. "We're dead." "You're wrong, Toklo!" Ujurak rounded on him with such feirceness that the older bear took a step back in surprise. "We aren't fully dead. We still have a chance to save the wild. Ursa chose us when we were cubs to save the wild. We are now adults, and we hold the responsibility of choosing our succsessors." Ujurak began to pace for a moment before sitting down. "Tulugaq hasn't sent me any signs either," The shape-shifter whispered, his eyes full of greif. "There has been a shortage of cubs on the ice and in the forests as well," Kallik said. "There couldn't possibly be a way to find any that could be strong enough to take on such a task." Lusa remained silent at the white bear's side, deep in thought. An idea snapped suddenly to her head. "They don't have to be bears!" The female bear jumped to her paws as she said this, feeling confident about her idea. Kallik looked doubtful and Toklo gave a huff of dissapprovement, but Ujurak's eyes shone. Oh, Lusa! you're so smart! "That is a very good idea," he said instead, trying to act maturely as he had done in his final minutes when he was on the ice. Lusa smiled, but the smile faltered soon. "What animals could we use instead?" This put Ujurak deep in thought. Foxes? No, not strong enough... Wolves? No, they couldn't travel across ice as we had done if it was needed... The idea suddenly sprung to his head. "Ponies!" he said. The three bears looked at him as if he had grown another head. "I just had a vision... I think Ursa put it there. Three ponies... a yellow, an orange, and a white." Toklo tossed his head. "You have bees in your brain!" But Ujurak persisted. "We can bring them into this world! as bears[i/]!" Now the females looked more convinced, although Toklo still looked doubtful, he realized he was outvoted. "oh, alright," he growled. "But we still need a shape-shifter." Ujurak smiled again. "I've already found one. We shall bring the trio here tomorrow." The three other bears grunted in agreement, then said their goodbyes and all retreated to their natural homes. Ujurak felt confident that nothing would go wrong. > Change - Chpt1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hurry up, girls!" Scootaloo stood waiting at the top of a hill just outside of Ponyville, under a willow tree. She had already set up her tent, and the other CMCs were still at the bottom of the hill."Well, you had a ride from Rainbow Dash, and ah've got no patience to deal with you boastin' bout' her speed or coolness, so you can jus' wait till' we're up there!" Applebloom called up. SweetieBelle was hopping up the hill, almost like Pinkie Pie, looking as excited as ever. "I can't beleive it! They finally let us go camping on our own! We're bound to be Cutie Mark Crusaders Expert Campers!" she panted as she reached the top. "Totally!" Scootaloo said as she began to make a ring of stones in the middle of their tents for the fire. Applebloom had reached the top soon after SweetieBelle and had already set up her tent. "Hey, Applebloom!" Scootaloo nudged her head at the tree quickkly, and Applebloom nodded. "Sure thing, Scoots!" she cantered up to the tree and began bucking the dead branches out of it. SweetieBelle quickly caught them as they fell and tossed them to Scootaloo, who tossed about five into the firepit before leaving the rest for extra. They all came together once Applebloom had bucked out what they could and gave a high-hoof before lighting the fire. It was an hour later; the fire had been doused, all the food eaten, and now the three fillies laid on their backs together, gazing up at the stars. "Y'see that one there?" Applebloom staid, pointing her hoof at a constallation above them. "Its the Ursa Major!" "So Luna banished it and it's cub back to the sky after all?" SweetieBelle asked, glancing at Applebloom. "Yup!" Applebloom nodded. "Theres th' Ursa Minor." she pointed to the smaller constallation behind the larger bear. Scootaloo yawned. "Hey, it's almost midnight. Lets get some sleep so we can go crusading tomorrow!" The fillies got to their hooves, saying goodnight to one another, and retreated to their tents for some rest. The first thing she noticed were the trees. There hadn't been trees at their campsite; only one, a willow. But here she was, surrounded by oaks and pines. Scootaloo then looked at herself. Alarm shot through her as she realized her pelt was a brownish orange, and that she had paws and claws instead of hooves. She could smell very well, however, and she detected the fragrance of apples and lavender, of which she smelled when she was close to the other two fillies. She turned to see a black bear with a yellowish muzzle, and a white bear with a streak of pink and purple down the back of her neck, like a berry stain. "So he told be the truth!" Scootaloo whipped around to see another black bear behind her; his muzzle was a deeper brown. What set her off about him was that a) she knew that he was a he and b) she understood him. Scoots tilted her head before walking over to SweetieBelle and Applebloom, who were asleep on the forest floor. "Applebloom!" Scootaloo whispered sharply. "Get up! You're - we're - bears!" This definitly woke Applebloom up, although not right away. She wondered vaguely if this was a prank made by Scootaloo, but when she saw the paws, the claws, the forest, and the others being bears, she went straight into beleif. "What in the hay are we doin' here?!" she cried. This woke SweetieBelle, who immidietly started to panic. The other black bear ran towards them. "HEY!" he roared, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders darted together, staring at the black bear with fear. "Its alright," he said, his voice calmer now. "My name is Cupun. I have been told about you, and I have been waiting for you." > The Way Of the Seeker - Chpt2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scootaloo looked at Cupun in astonishment. He had been waiting for them, and he knew about them? But they hadn't even met him! SweetieBelle, not wanting to be impolite, said, "My name is SweetieBelle." Applebloom stood up too, managing to keep her paws from shaking. "An' Ah'm Applebloom." Scootaloo, determined not to look put off, added in, "I'm Scootaloo. You can call me Scoots. We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders." Cupun looked at the three filly-cubs curiously. "Strange names for bears," he murmured, then snapped back to attention. "We have to get to Great Bear Lake! The Gathering!" the black cub sprang to his paws. Scootaloo shook her own brown-orange pelt and took a step toward the unfamiliar cub. "What in the name of Celestia and Luna are you talking about?" now it was Cupun's turn to look confused. "You don't know about the Gathering? And who are Celestia and Luna?" Scootaloo simply shook her head. This was getting confusing. She mentally knew she was a grizzly, although she also knew that she was supposed to be a pegasus filly. She wondered if her friends felt the same. "Well? Are you coming? We need to get to Great Bear Lake! There's something very special going on soon! And we need to be there to see it!" Cupun stood a few bear-lengths - bear-lengths? she wondered.- away from the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They all looked at each other before Applebloom stood up and went "Of course we're comin'! Ah, for one, ain't gonna get left behind in a forest Ah ain't familiar!" Scootaloo secretly felt the same, but at a risk of ruining her reputation she said nothing. SweetieBelle instantly nodded, looking scared of being left behind. Scootaloo almost rolled her eyes. She wouldn't be scared. She would protect them all! Just like Rainbow Dash would've done. "Come on, then!" Cupun said brightly, beginning to lead them into the forest. Applebloom led ahead right away, her black tail bobbing. Scootaloo nodded when the Polar-Belle hesitated, allowing SweetieBelle to go ahead of her. don't worry, girls and guy. I've got your backs. She wasn't going to let anything lay a paw on her friends. She made sure to keep an eye on the white pelt in front of her, as to not lose her friends in the foliage. "My name means coal," Cupun said, looking back at his new friends. "what do your names mean?" Scootaloo winced. They didn't know yet, because they hadn't found their Cutie Marks! Applebloom blinked. "Well..." she paused to think of what to say, before continuing. "Where we come from, we're hooved creatures called ponies. We get somethin' that we call Cutie Marks. We get 'em when we learn our special talents. The problem is, we haven't learned our special talents. Thats why we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" suddenly an idea formed in Scootaloo's head. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusader Bear Meeters!" the three smiled widely - well, the way a bear can - and looked at each other. "That would be a great Cutie Mark!" SweetieBelle said. Cupun looked at the three with his eyes sparkling happily. "Then lets hurry!" And the three cubs raced into the trees. Had they taken the time to look, they would've noticed the claw marks on the trees, marking a brown bear's territory.