Chapter 1: The Pawn

Deep in the darkness of space a forgotten princess waited for her time to strike revenge against those who has banished her. Hysteria, the youngest sister of Celestia and Luna, is that princess. Back in the times of Discord's reign she sided with the mad Draconequus, and when he was defeated by her sisters she was sentenced to wander the galaxy for all time to atone for her crimes. Her only companion was her ever growing hatred for her sisters, and everything they stood for, and it has helped her keep her sanity. Now she has a plan to exact revenge on not only her sisters, but all of Equestria, all she needs is a pawn to do her bidding...

*Too weak.." Hysteria muttered as an image of a young boy appeared in front of her. She needed someone who would be willing to give in to her completely, but also be able to perform what was asked of them. An image of three young girls appeared, replacing the image of the boy. What are these three attempting to do?, Hysteria thought as she saw the three girls put on backpacks filled to bursting with survival gear...

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"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SURVIVALISTS!" Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, yelled in unison. The Crusader's latest attempt was to travel deep into the Everfree and stay there for one week, with no help from their friends and family. Of course, their friends and family had no idea they were planning to head out to the woods in the first place. After a few minutes of struggling to get through the door of their clubhouse the trio was off to the Everfree.

"Applebloom, you know where we're going, right?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking terrified as the group passed another ominous looking tree.

"I'm know we're going the right way!" Applebloom said defiantly, turning to face Sweeite Belle, "Or are you just trying to chicken out?"

"Do I look like Scootaloo to you?!" Sweetie Belle yelled back angrily, causing a few birds to fly from the branches they were perched on.

"Hey, I'm not a chicken!" Scootaloo shouted as she shoved Sweetie Belle just hard enough to push her over. Sweetie Belle stumbled a bit before falling into a bush, cutting her arm on a twig as she fell. When she got up her arm was bleeding, causing Scootaloo to cough.

"What's wrong Scoots, afraid of a little blood?" Sweetie Belle asked, a devious grin spreading across her face. Scootaloo didn't answer as she had her hands covering her mouth so she wouldn't vomit, so she chose to shake her head violently instead.

"You sure about that Scoots, you seem pretty pale" Sweetie Belles said, lifting her arm up towards Scootaloo's face, causing her to shuffle back. Her foot caught a tree root that was on the edge of the path and she fell down, cutting herself on a rock. She got up before it had started to bleed, and as soon as it did she fainted, falling into Sweetie Belle, causing her to lose her balance.

"Nice job Sweetie" Applebloom said sarcastically as Sweetie Belle tried to get out from under Scootaloo.

"Yeah, yeah" Sweetie Belle said as she patted herself off as she got to her feet, "What should we do with her?"

"Since it's your fault that she's like this..." Applebloom said, tapping her chin with one finger as she thought, "You should take her back to Ponyville"

"What about you?" Sweetie Belle asked as she tried to wake Scootaloo up so they could head back.

"I packed too much to not go all the way through with this" Applebloom said, turning around to continue along the path, "See you in a week!". Applebloom suddenly took off running, leaving Sweetie Belle with a half conscious Scootaloo.

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"How interesting..." Hysteria said as she rubbed her chin, "Now that this young girl is all alone I can try to trick her, but what is it she desires most?". Hysteria quickly looked through Applebloom's memories, trying to find her one true desire, learning much about her in the process. She knows the Elements of Harmony personally?!, Hysteria was amazed that such a young girl would know such influential people. After a few minutes of hunting she found out what would let her trick Applebloom.

"A cutie mark, is it?" Hysteria said with an evil laugh, "Be careful what you wish for..."

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"Stupid Sweetie Belle, making Scootaloo faint like that..." Applebloom muttered as she struggled to set up the tent she had brought alone. After a few minutes and plenty of shouts the tent was set up, in all it's glory. Despite it being a rather old tent from the attic at Sweet Apple Acres it looked fairly new, almost as if it was never used.

"Now then, time to start a fire!" Applebloom said as she looked around for some stones to make a fire pit with. She looked around and only found three stones, and so she had to go out in her nearby area to find more. As she left her campground the temperature dropped sharply, causing her to shiver.

"I wish I had my jacket..." Applebloom said as she rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm herself up.

"Hello there young one" a dark voice said from no where in particular.

"Who, who's there?" Applebloom said as she looked around in fear, trying to find the source of the voice.

"I know how much you want a cutie mark" the voice said as a dark cloud appeared in front of Applebloom, "How far are you willing to go to get one?"

"Who are you?!" Applebloom shouted, her voice cracking due to her fear.

"I can give you a cutie mark if you truly desire one" the voice said again, the dark cloud getting closer to Applebloom, causing her to stumble backwards.

"What do you want with me?!" Applebloom cried, tripping on her own foot, causing her to fall to the ground.

"It's simple..." the voice whispered, getting close to Applebloom's face, "You kill the Princess"

"What?!" Applebloom shouted as she tried to crawl away from the cloud, only to be pull back.

"You seem against it now, but just you wait, you'll soon be begging me to let you help with my plans..." the voice said in a dark tone, letting out a loud laugh as Applebloom was pulled into the cloud. She tried to scream but she couldn't, she was paralyzed by her fear. The last sound she managed to make was nothing but a faint squeal before she was pulled into the cloud entirely. Next Chapter: Chapter 2: The Past and Present Estimated time remaining: 27 Minutes