Cutie Mark Emergency: The Tyrant of Froggybottom Swamp

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle was in the cutie mark crusader clubhouse, dusting and generally cleaning up with little swishes of her tail.  While she often stopped by to clean up, it wasn't her real intent today.  She was instead looking for ... INSPIRATION!  They'd just recently gotten their cutie marks by helping out that bully of a pony, Diamond Tiara, become less bully-ish and more ... nice!  To truly understand how she could make friends and use her cutie mark's meaning to make Equestria a better place!

And now they had a really, really awesome set of cutie marks.  And a purpose!  To help others to get ... or better understand ... their cutie marks!  But ... what did that mean, exactly?  To go find cutie mark problems?  Like her big sister Rarity's friendship problems!  Except the Cutie Mark Crusaders didn't have a nice castle-tree like Rarity did!  Well.  They did have a treehouse-tree.  And they didn't have fancy thrones, or a magic map, that ... that ...

Her horn sparked as an excited idea struck.  Yeah!  YEAH!  Oh, she knew what the Cutie Mark Emergency was!  All it needed was ... a little preparation!

-----

Scootaloo was bouncing a hoofball off of a wall, practicing her sweet moves.  Sweetie giggled eagerly and hid in the bushes, propping up the hooded firefly lantern she was holding.  As soon as she had it up and aimed, she started flipping the cover open and closed, open and closed.  Inside the lantern's opening was a bit of plastic with a badly drawn picture of Scootaloo's cutie mark.  The lantern flashed its beam of light across the schoolyard to light up Scootaloo's flank, imposing the larger cutie mark over hers, over and over and over again.  *flash*  *flash*  *flash*

Sweetie Belle waited until Scootaloo had noticed the light on her flank before finally stopping, tucking away the lantern and scurrying away with an eager little giggle.

-----

Apple Bloom was helping out around Sweet Apple Acres, carrying boxes of who-knew what from the kitchen into the storage area.  Sweetie swapped out the badly-drawn Scootaloo cutie mark for a badly-drawn Apple Bloom cutie mark, flashed it once ... quick flipped it right-side up, and then started flashing it again, until Apple Bloom noticed that.   Then, with an eager little gallop, Sweetie Belle went rushing off to the clubhouse.

-----

When Scootaloo and Apple Bloom reached the clubhouse, they'd have noticed some ... changes.  Big cardboard 'towers' had been added to the four corners of the clubhouse, painted a bunch of different purples, and the cmc's base shield, the one all their cutie marks shared, was badly painted over the front door.  Inside, they would find that their table was covered with a crayon-drawn map of Ponyville, over which their cutie marks, drawn on bits of paper, were held up over the map on little popsicle sticks.  And around the table were three of the Apple's dining room chairs, with paper taped to the backs of the chairs with the three cutie marks drawn on them, indicating which of the new 'thrones' belonged to which of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.  There was no 'center' - they were all arranged equally around the table.  And there, in one of the chairs, eagerly awaiting her friends, was Sweetie Belle, and the glowbug lantern hung behind the chair made it look like her cutie mark was glowing.  "Hello, girls!" she said brightly, "We have a Cutie Mark Emergency to solve!"
 

​

[Lux]

 

Scootaloo stood before a wall that made up part of the new playground structure. While it was meant for support it was perfect for her to practice hoofball tricks when there was nopony around. 

 

"Here she is, Ponyville's captain of the Hoofball team, the one the only Scootaloo! She just passed the opposing team's strikers (as she juggled the ball around the imaginary players) she almost got caught by the defenders, but oh what a save! Now she's poised to score, the goalie ready to deflect the shot. (as she readies to attack the wall) She moves to the left... wait... fake out. And she scores! And the Ponyville team wins the Equestrian Cup! And the crowd goes wild! Scootaloo and her teammates have done it again." 

 

Scootaloo caught the ball as it bounced back to her while celebrating her "win." She almost didn't see the faint light on her cutie mark until she noticed i in the shadow cast by the playground structure. 

 

"Huh? Where's that light coming from?" Scootaloo said as she looked around until she spotted her cutie mark... and it was glowing? 

 

​"That's weird. Better go to the clubhouse to see if Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's marks are glowing too." 

 

She took her scooter and hoof ball and rode away but something was a miss... did she hear somepony giggle? 

 

A few minutes later she was at the clubhouse, but it was different. The house looked more like a castle. Inside the Pegasus found more of the same, complete with a map that was similar to the one in Princess Twilight's castle? 

 

"Um.... looks like you've been busy Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo said as she tried to take it all in. 

 

"Hello, girls!" she said brightly, "We have a Cutie Mark Emergency to solve!"

 

"Cutie Mark Emergency?" Scootaloo said as a smile formed on her face while she plunked herself down on her designated chair, "Count me in!" 

[SteelEagle]

 

 

It had been another busy day for Apple Bloom at Sweet Apple Acres. Just like the day before and just the like day after, life seemed to be ever the same at home even with her cutie mark! Of course Applejack talked about giving her extra responsibility now that she was a little mare now, but that wasn't for today. Today was just for usual chore stuff. No harvest, nothing special, just cleaning out the kitchen's storeroom and getting it into the barn's storage cellar. The Apples actually kept a lot of food in the storeroom on account of never knowing how big a meal you might and up cooking, along with keeping supplies close at hand because you never knew when winter weather could blow in from the Everfree and trap you inside for a bit. Best be prepared!

So there she was, just taking marked boxes from one place to the next, minding her own business. It allowed her mind to wander. She was so excited about having her cutie mark now! And what a mark it was- and what a mark she shared! Her destiny was to help other ponies understand what was special about them, to help them understand their cutie marks. She got to share this destiny with her best friends. It made her think about Diamond Tiara's cute-ceañera. What if she had went and helped Pinkie Pie with the cupcakes just ten minutes earlier? Then she wouldn't have been at the cute-ceañera. Heck, the only reason she had attended was because she had forgotten the time! Then she wouldn't have met Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, or at least not that day. And who knows what would have happened then?

 

So lost in thought was she that it took a few seconds for her to realize there was some sort of light, and almost as long to notice that it was coming from her flank! Too long to try and find the real source of it, or even be suspicious. “What in tha name of Equestria is- OH GOSH, THIS IS JUST LIKE APPLEJACK SAVIN' EQUESTRIA!” Apple Bloom bellowed off of the walls of the barn before dropping her chore-laden boxes and gallloping away at high speed. “AH'LL BE BACK, ANSWERING MAH MARK!” she yelled, probably to the confusion of all save one. A few minutes later she appeared at the Clubhouse.

It didn't catch her by surprise of course, at least not the outside. After all, from certain angles and certain hills you could see everything! But she had been curious as to how well it was done, and as she approached she realized it looked...okay. After she was done answering her cutie mark's call she'd make sure to talk to the others and get a real plan going for their Cutie Mark Crusader Castle, because the idea had lots of appeal! But when the door flew open upon her arrival, she noticed that somepony sure had been busy on the interior! Why, she'd been to Twilight's castle often enough to see this, and it didn't take long to realize who was responsible. That hoofponyship sure wasn't Scootaloo's!
 

“Good work, Sweetie Belle. Ah can't wait 'till we have days off tah go ahead an make this a real-” she began before Sweetie revealed what was happening and why they were all here!

"We have a Cutie Mark Emergency to solve!"

A real Cutie Mark Emergency! Well that was great news. She had always wondered how she was to know when she was in cutie mark crusader emergency mode, and she guessed their flanks were gonna be lighting up like their big sisters! Strange how they all got here before her, though. The only thing she could think of was her Cutie Mark was busted.
She frowned for a second before shaking her head and smiling broadly.
“That sounds pretty cool! Ah wonder way Ah was summoned last, though. Maybe mah cutie mark's just a bit slower than yers,” she said, patting her mark twice like you would a busted water converter. She turned back to Sweetie Belle as she took her seat.
“So, what's the scoop?”
 

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle grinned eagerly as first Scootaloo, then Apple Bloom came in.  Thank goodness she had gotten here in time!  She was tired from all the galloping around Ponyville to make sure she was here when they arrived!  And they both had exactly the expression she'd been hoping for - delight and excitement!  Oh, she'd done such a good job!

"Hello, Scootaloo!" she fair sang, "Hello, Apple Bloom!"  She stuck her lil' pink tongue out the side of her mouth as she concentrated, and her horn glowed that pale lemon-lime color.  One of her spare glowbug lanterns lifted off the table and floated over behind Scootaloo's seat, settling onto its latch behind the chair so Scootaloo's cutie mark 'throne' would glow.  And as Apple Bloom sat down, she did the same with a third lantern, making sure that all of them had glowing thrones as they settled over the map.  *whew*

"Sorry, Apple Bloom," she apologized.  "I couldn't make both your cutie marks glow at once, and since you were closest to the Cutie Castle, I did yours last so we'd all arrive at once!"  She took in a deep breath, let it out with a sigh of relief.  Everything was going according to plan.  That was a good omen for this emergency!

"Girls!  We've already matched our first Cutie Mark Emergency by helping Diamond Tiara to realize that her cutie mark didn't mean she had to be so *mean* all the time!  We listened to her problems, and came to  understand her, and through that, helped her to understand her cutie mark better!  We helped a bully become a friend!"

She pulled out a doodle of a black colt with red-tipped mane and tail, and a drawing of his shield of a cutie mark.  "This is Dark Core!  He's a meanie almost as mean as Diamond Tiara used to be, and he's our next cutie mark emergency.  Now, the other day, he actually came to find me and apologize to me - I think that means he's ready for a Cutie Mark transformation!  I don't know where he lives, so we'll have to set up watching posts at three places in Ponyville."  She concentrated again, lifting up the little popsicle sticks stand-ups with their cutie marks and putting them down again in a triangle around the town.  "When one of us sees him, we'll have to figure out a way to let the others know, then we'll follow him around and watch what he does, and where he lives, and from there, we can figure out how to help him to discover the magic of friendship and the power of his cutie mark!"
 

​

[Lux]

Sweetie Belle left no stone unturned or throne unlit! In an instant the three fillies were transported into a place reminiscent of Twilight's Map Room.

 

"Girls!  We've already matched our first Cutie Mark Emergency by helping Diamond Tiara to realize that her cutie mark didn't mean she had to be so *mean* all the time!  We listened to her problems, and came to  understand her, and through that, helped her to understand her cutie mark better!  We helped a bully become a friend!"

 

"I still can't believe that happened," Scootaloo said, "I mean we all thought she was a bully just because, but it was her mom that bullied her! I don't know what I'd do if I had a mom like that! Still, I'm glad Diamond's nicer now and doesn't call us blank flanks. Then again that would be silly if she called us that now since we got our cutie marks."

 

The discussion turned from the past to the future as Sweetie Belle showed them their next task, a pony named Dark Core.

 

"This is Dark Core!  He's a meanie almost as mean as Diamond Tiara used to be, and he's our next cutie mark emergency.  Now, the other day, he actually came to find me and apologize to me - I think that means he's ready for a Cutie Mark transformation!  I don't know where he lives, so we'll have to set up watching posts at three places in Ponyville. When one of us sees him, we'll have to figure out a way to let the others know, then we'll follow him around and watch what he does, and where he lives, and from there, we can figure out how to help him to discover the magic of friendship and the power of his cutie mark!"

 

Well, this was an interesting quest, as while this pony was willing to change he couldn't be found.

 

"I guess each of us should go to places we visit, like the school or Sugarcube Corner, or the park. You know, someplace we can see a large area of Ponyville. But we should act like we're not watching while trying to watch. As for how to signal, should we whistle a tune to catch the others' attention?"

[SteelEagle]

 

Apple Bloom wanted to facehoof so bad that it was only because of how funny it all was that she didn't. So they had been summoned by Sweetie Belle due to a little trick she had played on them in order to get their cutie marks to flash like their big sisters? Pretty ingenious, even if it was hard to hide her disappointment that she wasn't being summoned by something as exciting and cool as the magic of a cutie mark. Oh well. There were worse things to cry about and she was just too excited by what Sweetie Belle had brought them together for to care all that much. Even if there wasn't really some sort of magical cutie mark shenanigans going on, Sweetie wouldn't have gone to all of this trouble to set something up if she didn't have one heck of a fun idea running 'round her head.

And soon it was revealed. Lately they had done a great job of figuring themselves out, and this culminated in getting their cutie marks in...well...being themselves! It always felt good to help somepony, and realizing that it played a serious role in how she was made up inside abd what she was meant to do brought a smile to her face every time she thought of it. Turning an enemy into a friend, especially if that enemy was Diamond Tiara, was something she had never dreamed possible. And now she had a path in life and that path was one she shared with her friends. And now it all seemed to once again coalesce around helping a bully improve.

Maybe someday they'd help a nice pony learn about themselves, but this'd have to do. “Well, Ah think that sounds nice. AH'd rather be helping somepony who ain't a meanie discover themselves, but Ah reckon that'll come with time. That idea sounds real good Scootaloo, Ah've always wanted ta try my hoof at being a spy. Maybe we can use hoof signals!” Apple Bloom said excitedly, giving off a complicated but very official looking series of signals that she didn't understand all that well. Applejack was teaching her some for fun, but heck, she was just too dang good at it. “Do a bit of thatso we stay on tha same page and we're gonna set him on tha right path for sure!”

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle let out a soft sigh of relief.  Everything had gone perfectly ... and this was where she ran out of ideas.  She honestly had no idea how to go about doing this... but thankfully, that's where Apple Bloom and Scootaloo came in!  They had a lot of good ideas!  Go teamwork!

"Well, we could use hoof signals... but if we are far enough away, we won't be able to see each other.  I think the whistling sounds good ... but are we too far away for that, too?  Would fireworks be too obvious?"  She picked up a long pole and started pushing the popsicle sticks with their cutie marks on them around the map.  "So Scootaloo can go to the park, where she can practice her hoofball skills ... and Apple Bloom can go to the schoolhouse where she can use the playground equipment ... and I'll watch from Sugarcube corner, where I'll eat carrot cupcakes with sprinkles while I watch!"
 

​

[Lux]

The plan was coming together nicely as the group formulated how to spy on Dark Core and how to alert others. Apple Bloom recommended using hoof signs which looked to Scootaloo like she was either dancing or imitating a bird in distress! She tried following along by waving her arms, but it was too complex and something she couldn't possible learn from Apple Bloom in a short time!

 

"What are we trying to sign anyway? It looks like I'm trying to swat flies away!"

 

"Would fireworks be too obvious?"

 

"Fireworks would awesome, but where would we get them?" Scootaloo said not seeing any stores in town that sold them, "Hey, how about flags? We each get a flag with a long pole and wave it when we see Dark Core."

 

"So Scootaloo can go to the park, where she can practice her hoofball skills ... and Apple Bloom can go to the schoolhouse where she can use the playground equipment ... and I'll watch from Sugarcube corner, where I'll eat carrot cupcakes with sprinkles while I watch!"

 

It sounded a little in Sweetie Belle's favor with her going to Sweet Apple Acres and eating a cupcake while waiting, but Scootaloo thought it wouldn't be that bad as she could get some more practicing in.

 

"Alright, the park it is for me!"

[SteelEagle]

 

 

Shoot. Their reaction to her idea didn't lean the way she hadn't it, but she supposed there was nothing she could do. Too bad, because those signals were totally cool. She had learned them from all sorts of ponies after the events of Nightmare Night when the Changelings had invaded, and was always looking for ways to sneak it in. Oh well. At least they didn't say yes and then have to go back on it, which she was always worried about since nothing was worse than agreeing to do something and then realizing you didn't like it. Also, whistling wouldn't work, same reason she figured flags and her idea wouldn't fly either the more she gave thought to it: distance. They'd be way too far away to communicate with one another no matter what strategy they came up with.

But the idea of doing her watch at the playground was certainly super awesome! “Ah like that idea! Why, Ah can play so good at tha playground that Dark Core'll never suspect Ah'm keepin' an eagle eye'd vigil on him! Sounds like a plan thar. But Ah think no matter what we'll all just hafta keep vigilant 'cause Ah don't think we're gonna have a way to keep in touch. We're just gonna be too far away. So Ah reckon if an' when we spot him, we track'm. Learn his patterns and what problems he might have. Then, if we can alert the others on tha way silently, we'll be all tha better fer it. At least that's mah two bits worth,” Apple Bloom said, tail wagging in anticipation.  

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle was absolutely thrilled.  Thank goodness the other two were so clever, they were coming up with all sorts of neat ideas!  "All right, that sounds like a plan... whoever spots Dark Core, we'll follow him secretly and find out what his story is and where he goes.  Then we'll meet up back here, and make plans for how to proceed after this!  And to help!"

Sweetie reached off-screen and pulled in a clothing rack that Rarity had provided for the occasion - from the rack hung three spiffy detective-style long-coats and broad-brimmed hats, sized just right for the three little fillies!  "These will help keep us innoc... inn... inoculated!  Indiculous?  Um... these will help keep us unnoticed!"

-----

Sweetie sat in Sugar Cube Corner, wearing her long-coat and broad-brimmed hat, at a window seat which gave her a good view of the street.

"The village withered darkly under the unending rain, falling all around, chasing ponies away with the unrelenting ... sunbeams." she muttered to herself.  "Rain of sun, drawing ponies out of their ... dark homes ... with ... darkness... and betrayal... and ... Awww, how do you do this when it's sunny out?"

Sure enough, the sky outside was perfectly sunny and bright, and ponies were out enjoying the beautiful day.  It was just impossible to get into gloomy detective mindset on a day like today.  Rarity would be so disappointed with her.  She took a tiny little bite of the cupcake.  She needed to pace herself - there was a lot of waiting ahead of her.  "I bit into my first cupcake of the day.  Captain said I needed to kick that cupcake habit or I'd get a sore stomach.  Me, I say cupcakes make me feel happy... everypony needs something to make them feel happy in these dark ... sunlit ... times.  With the dark sunbeams.  And with what I'd seen, I needed a good baker's dozen."

 

[Lux]

But Ah think no matter what we'll all just hafta keep vigilant 'cause Ah don't think we're gonna have a way to keep in touch. We're just gonna be too far away. So Ah reckon if an' when we spot him, we track'm. Learn his patterns and what problems he might have. Then, if we can alert the others on tha way silently, we'll be all tha better fer it. At least that's mah two bits worth,”

Well that certainly solved the problem of trying to get the word across to the other Crusaders! Plus where would Scootaloo get fireworks or flags at a moment's notice without being spotted with them?

"Alright, that sounds great! I like having the clubhouse as a meet up place. The park's a great place to spy since it's so open."

Before she could set forth to the park, Sweetie Belle gave everypony a rather large coat and a hat. Definitely not the type of uniform a spy masquerading as the soon-to-be Equestria's greatest Hoofball star would wear.

"These will help keep us innoc... inn... inoculated!  Indiculous?  Um... these will help keep us unnoticed!"

"Err...not sure how I can practice while dressed like this, but I guess it'll do."

>>>>

As she set forth towards town, Scootaloo couldn't help but picture an idea in her mind.

"So there I was, walking the beat again in my home town," Scootaloo said, "Despite living here my entire life, this place changed. Everything is seen through new eyes as the mask has been lifted from this town. Now all the skeletons are out of the closet and there's no way to put them back. In a world of secrets and lies, who can you trust? I guess yourself is the only answer, but even that logic is flawed. My only hope in that in this shifting world that I can maintain my double life, one being a rising hoofball star who is about to enter the crucible of scrutiny and fame and the other a hardened secret agent trying to unravel the sweater that is the corruption behind the scenes of his town and the game she loves."

Not watching where she was going, Scootaloo somehow made it to the park but forgot the trash can in front of her!

*Crash!!*

"My cover might be blown! I must leave the scene before I'm discovered!"

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom looked at the outfits and nodded excitedly. "Yep, we can be tha very best detectives this side of Sweet Apple Acres if we do it right. Boy, I betcha by the time this is done we'll have a Cutie Mark Crusader Private Investigator business up an' runnin' in no time!" Apple Bloom said excitedly, imagining all the cases they could crack. Or not crack really and rather just run around, having fun with pretend cases or solving the mystery of where Sugarcube Corner gets their dough for their food. That was a burning question on everypony's mind and only the CMC PI's could solve it. And then taste the evidence. "Alright everypony, let's get to work!"

**********

Playground, swinging on the swings.

"Keeping the body fit and the mind sharp was a life or death matter on the mean streets of Ponyville."

Eyes scanning for the mark, though it was hard to do between all the giggling.

"The art of the stakeout is like apple bucking. You've gotta be consistent, or else the apples won't fall which symbolizes...his fall from unfriendlessness to friendliness," a cute bunny jumps out of a nearby bush and Apple Bloom gasps in excitement before running over and petting it, "and so I kept vigilant, even as I pet the really cute bunny with the floppy ears and then kicked the ball around with it," she dives for the ball and hits her legs on a wooden bar, "even after I scraped my knee and went inside and used the bathroom- the bathroom rife with CONSPIRACY- to clean it up," somepony had written a mean thing about Diamond Tiara...but it was still funny, so she giggled through a tear before walking out and nearly running into the janitor, "conspiracy and DANGER in the mean halls of Ponyville elementary, so dangerous. And such conspiracy. And my vigilance is extreme, eagle-eye'd vision behind shades and a coat. I jumped on the jungle gym and down a slide, preparing myself mentally for what was to come."

"Hahaha! Weeeeeeeeeeeee!"

[Dubstep]

The town of Ponyville! It's a beautiful day, birds are singing, the sun's shining, and colts like Dark Core are outside...committing only the most evil of evils! Ponyville Elementary's own playground would be the first stalking ground of the ever evil entity this morning.

As stealthily as a pony could manage dyed black on a bright sunny day, Dark slinked and slunked from bush to bush. Peering out occasionally and glancing around with a shifty glare. "Empty...Perfect!" he mumbled as he lept forth from his hiding place, his cape billowing dramatically in a wind that wasn't really there. "...The dramatics of this are absolutely lost when there's nopony to witness my evil."

With a shake of his head and a blip of his horn, the little self contained breeze stopped and the scheming colt got to work. With a grin on his face, Dark slid up to the swing set and dug out a little screwdriver and a small oil can. "A few loose bolts on this ooooone...Grease up the seat of this ooooone." the unicorn couldn't help but to cackle to himself. This was clearly one of his better playground related pranks. It was just a shame that it seemed no one was around to fall victim to it!

Before everyone's favourite mastermind of mischief was able to move on to the next bit of equipment on the schoolyard, the sound of hoofsteps approaching put him on alert. "Blast and botheration I wasn't done! Bah, I'll have to come back later" swiftly Dark made his exit, but not swiftly enough to keep a certain apple-themed gumshoe from catching a glimpse of the tell tale cape and his hasty retreat towards...

~~~~~

Ponyville Park! Certainly a deal more lively than the schoolhouse to be sure. Having climbed his way up into a tree, the petulant prankmaster gazed down upon the populace perniciously. "Look at them all, Croaky..." Dark said to his pet frog, who finally had decided to pull himself from the cozy confines of the crazed colt's cape to rest on his head. "Ever unaware of the ever present evil that stalks each and every one of them! Something they'll regret sooner or later, mark my words!" he shook a hoof in the general direction of a picnic. "Are you marking them, Croaky? I didn't bring my list."

The frog let out a halfhearted croak in response. With yawn he held up a tiny checklist and quill before scribbling on it and hiding it back away.

"Perfect! This is why you're a Colonel. Now let's see here. Itching powder?...No that was last week...Sneezing powder?...No I can't do two powder related incidents two weeks in a row! That would just be silly. Now wheeeere are those honey balloons." the colt mumbled and grumbled to himself as he dug through the myriad space in his cap before withdrawing a trio of sloshing yellow balloons. "There we go! Alright. We're going to have to be quick and precise, Croaky. This is a delicate operation. It must be taken with the UTMOST seriousness!...Eenie meenie miney mo..."

Before the syrupy sweet projectiles could be flung however, a loud crash startled our villainous viceroy! Causing him to tumble from his perch with a thump! "Ugggh...there's always something isn't there?...Where did the balloons go?" Dark quickly glanced around, watching as two of the balloons landed and exploded harmlessly. Meanwhile, Croaky was beating a hasty retreat back into the colt's cape...just as the third landed atop his head with a splat. "...I hate everything.

The caped and coated colt grumped and fumed as he stomped his way past the second of his unknown stalkers. "Razzin frazzin...grrg...gonna need a shower...grrrghgggh...at least there's still Sugarcube Corner..."

~~~~~

The bright and cheery day didn't remotely seem to lift the now sticky colt's spirits as he sulked through the streets of Ponyville towards the sweets shop. "One'a these days I'm gonna rule it all and there'll be laws against this..." he muttered, never elaborating on what 'this' was.

As he approached the Corner, Dark's eyes darted around. The streets where clear, and he hadn't noticed the triumvirate's third eye watching from the window of the store as he tiphoofed his way around back. The self proclaimed prime evil was suspicious enough as it was, but his skulking behind the shop was even more so!

Cautiously and quite as a cat, Dark stopped by a box that was folded only slightly closed and sniffed at the air. Given, all he could really smell at this point was that blasted honey! But he trusted his contact to not do him dirty.

With one last glance around the alley to make sure that nopony was watching, the colt pulled out a small bag from his cape and took a look inside. "Three...six...nine...Yep, all accounted for." with a grin on his face, Dark reached into the mysterious box and pulled out another bag before tossing the one of his own inside.

What dastardly doomsday device could he have procured?! What sort of perilous plot was he planning?! What..."Mmm, butter tarts." Dark quickly tossed a small pastry into his mouth as he wandered out from behind the store. Likely confusing any would be spies. "Hmm..." suddenly he stopped in his tracks...Had he spotted something? Arching a brow he slowly dabbed a tart against some of the honey that dripped down his cheek before biting into it. "Mm! Not bad. At least today wasn't a total bust."

~~~~~

With at least a little bit of his day salvaged, Dark began making his way out of Ponyville for the long trek back to Froggy Bottom Bog. There was this strangest lingering feeling though, as if he were being watched...but surely nopony would be so foalish as to stalk the greatest evil mastermind to ever live! Right? Right!

 

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle was on her third cupcake, and boy was it looking to be a nice day out!  She meant, a day caught between the shadows and the light, full of stomachaches in her near future, dark doings hidden in the light of day...

 

And then ... there he was.  Parading about in his cloak and talking to himself.  The colt she was looking for, dark as the day wasn't, about his no-good business of who knows what sort of dark darkness... She took the last little bite of her third cupcake and turned to order a fourth.

Wait!  There he was!  She didn't have time for cupcakes, she had to follow him!  She waited until he passed, and then she scrambled out the front door and followed him around the corner.  Oh, how exciting!  Just wait 'til the girls found out she'd found him and trailed him back to his secret lair all by herself!  She was in the zone today, best Crusader!  She was an amazing detective!  She was ... surprised to find herself running headlong into the other two Crusaders trying to sneak around the same corner, tripping them up so all three of them tumbled out into the alleyway right behind Dark Core.

 

She *eeped* softly, grabbed the other two girls, and quickly pulled them back behind the corner, pressing up against the wall and hyperventilating.

[Lux]

Scootaloo collected herself, hoping that her first foray into staking out possibly Ponyville's most dastardly villains since Tirek wasn't a loss. But then she saw him, Dark Core, with balloons? But these weren't normal balloon, but with enough syrup to turn any mane and tail into a knotted mess as seen when one exploded over the colt's head. Well, at least his attempt was foiled by Scootaloo Private Eye! But something bothered her even more. Dark Core was heading towards Sugarcube Corner!

"Sweetie Belle is there," Scootaloo said as she watched Dark Core leave the park and tailed him, "I have to tell her."

She arrived at the sweet shop just as Dark Core exited. She was about to go inside the store when Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom collided with her!

"Ow hey!" Scootaloo managed to get out before being pulled into the alleyway buy a scared Sweetie Belle!

"What happened Sweetie Belle? Did he try poisoning the sweets, or cover the tables in dirt, or poisoning the sweets while covering the tables in dirt?"

[SteelEagle]

Everypony was stuck on this spinning blue orb in the middle of the cosmos, and the only ponies standing between crime and the innocent folk of this small,
Everfree bordering farm town were the wits and wills of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. If they didn't stop evil conspiracies from conspiring to commit conspiracy
requiring acts of evil, then life in this quaint town would be in dutch. Luckily for the ponies of this town, the CMC were large and in charge, their stakeouts
startegically positioned to find their target and track him something fierce. There wasn't anything he could do but become friends and play with them, despite his
evil conspiracy acts of evil such as loosening a bolt. She caught a glimpse of him, not his act, and assumed everything was fine as she trailed him.

She tailed him, making sure to keep the shadows for maximum gumshoeness and stealth, which wasn't very hard because he was focused on some occassional
monologuing with his pet frog. Frogs were fun! He'd make a good friend when all was said and done. She followed him to the large park where Scootaloo was
doing her stakeout, which allowed Apple Bloom to see the...umm, excitement?...of his failed prank-attack with honey balloons. Two popped harmlessly
somewhere not important, but sure to attract lots of bees later, while he managed to hit himself as well. Hehehhe- now this fella was just a hoot and a holler.
After they became good and fast friends, she'd make sure to bring him with her to some comedy shows.

She followed him, not knowing she was this close to Scootaloo. She was just so close! It wasn't long before they started passing by where Sweetie was
supposed to be stationed, and-

-OOMPH
-PULL
-ATTACK?
-NO!
-SWEETIE BELLE

Apple Bloom was pulled off to the side with her friends. Okay, well this was a way of meeting up!
"Hey thar Sweetie. Y'all got something on yer lip right thar," she said, motioning to her own lip as an example.

[Dubstep]

Stopping dead in his tracks, Dark spun around on his hooves and surveyed the surroundings. Eyes squinting at the shadows as he was SURE that there was somepony there now! "It feels like..." he took a few steps closer towards where the girls were hidden. "...soooomepony...." ever closer still. "IS TRYING TO SELL ME SOMETHING!" menacingly he turned and glared at an alleyway opposite of the meddling crusaders.

After a few brief moments of awkward silence and staring down into a clearly empty alley, a muffled croaking came from the colt's cape. "...Yeah you're probably right. Everypony knows I don't have any money anyway." with a dramatic flourish of his cape, the villainous colt reached into his bag of butter tarts and took a chomp out of one before continuing on down the road. "Mmm, mm, they really do make the best butter tarts."

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief.  He hadn't seen them, he thought they were ...

 

Salesponies?  What?!  She nearly let out a shout of disbelieving outrage, but managed to stifle it down to just a supremely grumpy face and a little pale green *spark* from her horn.  As Scootaloo and Apple Bloom tried to start asking her all sorts of questions, she quickly stuffed one fore hoof in each of their mouths, quieting them.  Didn't they know that being a secret detective meant being quiet so your mark didn't hear you?

 

Was it a mark?  No, marks were what the bad ponies called their victims.  What was it that a detective followed?  Suspects?  Was Dark Core a suspect?  They already knew he did bad things.  They just needed more information about him.  What was the right term?

 

"The colt getting away," maybe?  ACK!  No time to figure out the right term!

 

"OK, I think he's far enough away," she whispered carefully.  "I dunno what he was doing here, he never came inside the restaurant!  And ... ohmigosh, you two look so super-professional in those outfits!  Comon, don't let him get away!"

 

This was perfect!  All three of them, following the ... the target!  There was no way he could escape them!  And now they'd learn what they needed to know to turn him into a friend!  This was SO EXCITING!

 

...

 

This was sooooooo boring.

 

It'd been half an hour, and he was just walking out into the countryside, eating his butter tarts and feeding little broken-off pieces to his pet frog occasionally.  He hadn't run into his parents and had an argument demonstrating the source of his mean-ness, nor had he monologued about his inner motivations, or done anything important at all!  All the crusaders had gotten was practice at dodging from tree-trunk to bushes to large boulders and back!  He was supposed to do some expositioning!

[Lux]

Scootaloo was still recovering from Sweetie Belle's death grasp. She didn't know the reason why Sweetie reacted in such a way. 

 

"It feels like...soooomepony...." ever closer still. "IS TRYING TO SELL ME SOMETHING!"

 

Scootaloo went rigid. What if Dark Core caught them? Would he put them into his dungeon, or experiment on them in his lab? Weren't all evil ponies having nefarious lairs to do diabolical stuff? But then something happened... was that a croak? She watched as the colt disappeared from view. 

 

"Was he talking to something," the filly said after being let go, "I thought I heard a croak." 

 

"OK, I think he's far enough away," she whispered carefully.  "I dunno what he was doing here, he never came inside the restaurant!  And ... ohmigosh, you two look so super-professional in those outfits!  Comon, don't let him get away!"

 

Being a detective sure wasn't all that glamorous when you were just watching a villain eating butter cookies. Sure there were the moments when Dark Core would turn around causing the trio to hide, but besides that no signs of evil. 

 

"Ok, so you didn't see him do anything really bad," the Pegasus whispered over to Sweetie Belle, "Did you see him do anything Apple Bloom?"