“I didn’t realize how fast I moved,” Scootaloo ranted on, “I was just focused on making sure you didn’t fall.”

“Whatever, Scoot. Right now we gotta figure a way tuh talk tuh the dragons without being made into their meal.” I replied. “What about ya, Twi’, is there anything on proper dragon etiquette?” I shouted over. She shook her head. “What about ya, Spike?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t really know, the only dragons I’ve met weren’t adults.” Spike answered, “And they were mean to say the least.”

“I do know of some stories from my fellow changelings about the dragons.” Cocoon said, “The only thing more important to them then their wealth is their honor and respect.” Huh, that was interesting. So maybe we to respect them alot?

“Well wait, can’t ya just morph into a dragon?” Applejack asked.

“Changelings can only morph into beings that are around their size.” Cocoon replied, sounding a bit amused at the thought. This place felt warm, but almost a bit cold. There weren’t any structures, much less plants, it all was just stone that dipped and eventually slowly rose up again. Where were the dragons?

“This is a bit creepy, there’s nopony here, do you think Rabil killed them?” Sweetie Belle wondered aloud, but I replied.

“Probably would’ve seen it like when he invaded the griffins.” I said. A small tremor nudged my hoof, it felt like something heavy had dropped, but far away. “Anypony else feel that?” I asked.

“Eeyup.” My brother replied, and I withheld a rolling of the eyes. Another tremor occurred, this time a little stronger. We all were looking around, waiting for whatever was heading for us. Still nothing except for us.

“It would most likely be best right now that I morph into a pony, the dragons are very, mistrustful, of us.” Cocoon said, as he transformed into a pegasus stallion. “Remember, I am Blue Angel.” I took note of it, but I still was looking for anything, any motion. Nothing, butt the tremors got slowly stronger.

“Where the hay is it coming from?” One of the guards asked, looking like they were taking up a defensive position. Shining Armor opened his mouth to respond, but something huge came out of the ground. It landed in front of us, and spoke.

“What is the business of ponies here, we offer no refuge from the accursed Enemy.” It spoke, and Twilight started to talk, but the dragon noticed us. Specifically Scoot, Sweetie Belle, and I. The dragon bowed, and then said with a reverence, “The Noble Three have come. Please, climb on, we must get you to the Wise One.” Everypony looked at each other as he lowered himself to let us on his back, a dragon was doing this? We gingerly walked on and gripped the scales so we wouldn’t fall off. As soon as Rarity gripped a scale, the dragon flew off, turning to the ground.

“What the hay!” A guard exclaimed as we braced ourselves for a crash, but instead, we were in a large hollow, miles wide.

“An Illusion spell...” Twilight breathed, “That’s how nopony finds them.”

The dragon flew down, and down, and down, I thought we must have been nearing the center of the world for how far he went. Ledges flashed by, some of them with dragons, others with mounds of treasure. A voice that sounded old, emanated from the walls, but it wasn’t, evil, like Rabil. “What brings you to my chambers, Brother Aegis?” It asked. We landed on the ground and the dragon took a bow. We got off before it would accidentally buck us off.

“The Ancient Tale continues its unfolding, Wise One, for it has brought us The Noble Three that the Tale foretold.” The dragon, Aegis, responded. Then, a pair of huge lights, lights the size of houses were lit, with their center being mysteriously black. I realized they weren’t lights.

“It appears your judgement was correct, Brother Aegis, The Noble Three appear to be here.” The Wise One spoke, “And we must continue our role in the Ancient Tale.”

I spoke up, completely nervous, “W-What’s the A-Ancient Tale?”

The gargantuan dragon’s eyes shifted to look where my voice had come from, and they seemed to warm up a bit, like a grandpony seein’ her grandfilly. “The Ancient Tale, Noble Apple Bloom, is a tale that was given to us eons ago, after the sealing away of the accursed Enemy.” The dragon spoke, “The Ancient Sages of old foretold the return of the accursed Enemy, on the half-year’s day after the invasion of the changelings to the land of Equestria. They also foretold the rising of the Noble Three, who would be the age of eleven years after their birth, and mysteriously twelve years after their birth near their arrival.” It sounded like the same prophecy I had, was it possible that the book was written by a dragon? “The Ancient Sages also tasked us with the construction of the Great Chamber of Their Trials.”

“What Great Chamber of what now?” Scootaloo asked.

“The Great Chamber of Their Trials, Noble Scootaloo. They are eons old, waiting for the Noble Three to enter, and only they. The Ancient Tale tells that a weapon lies within its core, the only weapon that may vanquish the accursed Enemy.” The Wise One told. I frowned a little, there was a chamber that contained a weapon that could defeat Rabil?

“Can ya help the rest of Equestria, Ah mean can ya help us?” I asked.

“Of course, Noble Apple Bloom, but first you must retrieve the weapon from the Great Chamber of Their Trials, for only with that you will earn our allegiance.” The Wise One said.

“Alright y’all, ya heard the dragon, let’s help the Crusaders with the chamber.” Applejack said.

“I am afraid that cannot be done, Element of Honesty, for only The Noble Three may enter.” The Wise One said.

“Don’ bother arguin’ sis’, we gotta do this ourselves.” I said, “Can we be shown these Chambers?” I asked.

“Brother Aegis, show The Noble Three to the Great Chamber of Their Trials.” The Wise One ordered.

“Good luck, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity said. Everypony else seemed to share the sentiment of hoping we’d come back.

“Come on, we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Scootaloo said, and looked at Sweetie Belle and I, and we silently knew what we were about to say. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER CHAMBER EXPLORERS! YAY!” We all said, giving eachother a high hoof. With the exception of the dragons, who seemed to ignore it, everypony looked at us like we had gone mad. But we knew that only we, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, were the ones who could do this.

The Dragon Aegis led us to what seemed to be a small door for a dragon, but a regular sized one for ponies. “This is the entrance to The Great Chamber of Their Trials.” He gestured as he bowed. Why were we so respected?

“Alright, Crusaders, let’s go!” Scootaloo said, and we all went through the entrance, only to have it slam shut behind us.

“What!” Sweetie Belle shouted, “How are we supposed to get out!”

“Those dragons must want to get rid of us!” Scootaloo said.

“Calm down, Crusaders, it was probably designed to seal us in until we found the weapon, in case Rabil was on our tail.” I said, and they seemed to see my logic. I looked around, the place was lit by torches that seemed to have a bluish flame, and in the center of the room I noticed a pedestal jutting out from the ground. I walked up to it, and it was, surprising, to say the least. Instead of being in some ancient language, it was modern day language. It read:

“Three ways lie ahead, three ways for The Noble Three. But take heed, The Noble Three, one leads to misery, and another to ridicule.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Scootaloo asked.

“Probably two of the ways are trapped or somethin’.” I said, looking around for the actual ways, as there were solid walls. Almost to respond to it, three entranceways opened up, the part of the walls that had covered them retreating into the ground.

“Anyone else feel like we’re in the middle of a Daring Do book?” Sweetie Belle asked, and we all laughed. Not at the fact Sweetie Belle was thinking positively, but that she was right. This seemed like a scene taken from a Daring Do novel.

“Anythin’ different ‘bout one of ‘em?” I asked, and we looked at the entrance ways.

“Doesn’t look like it, they all look identical.” Scootaloo said.

“Maybe we should split up, to see if we can find the weapon.” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“No, we’ve gotta stick together.” I said, and I decided to go through the one directly ahead of the pedestal. “Let’s go this way.” As we entered, the door once again sealed.

“Is this place designed to make us feel trapped?” Scootaloo asked. She did ask a good question. A violin started playing, much to our surprise.

“Who’s here, I thought this place was supposed to be empty!” Sweetie Belle said. Scootaloo and I shrugged, “Let’s see who it is.” We followed the noise to a chamber, where somepony appeared to be crying. In her hooves was a violin.

“Umm, excuse me, what’s yer name miss?” I asked. The pony seemed to ignore us.

“Didn’t you hear her? What’s your name?” Sweetie Belle asked, and the pony turned to Sweetie Belle.

“Well, well. lf it isn’t Sweetie Belle, the wannabe of her sister.” The pony said, “Tell me, how long do you honestly think it will take for any of your group to get their Cutie Marks, I mean, you’ve been trying for two years!”

“Hey, our marks are important you meanie!” Scootaloo said, but the pony ignored her. Sweetie Belle didn’t seem to respond, and the pony smirked.

“What, you realize that you aren’t worth a thing to your sister? What do you think will happen after any of your friends gets their Cutie Marks? It’s a bit obvious, they’re just going to abandon you.” The pony said, malice clear in her voice. “What about that time you tried a concert, they didn’t let you do what you wanted to do, sing, and then you ended up without your Cutie Mark. Not that it would matter to them.”

I tried opening my mouth to respond, but my mouth seemed binded together. I tried looking at Sweetie Belle who looked half on the verge of tears. “But they’re my friends! They wouldn’t do that!” Sweetie Belle protested.

“Oh really, what about Babs Seed? When you had the right idea, they completely ignored you, because they were too caught up on their own matters.” The pony said, “They didn’t believe you, somepony whose sister was a fashion freak.”

Sweetie Belle started to cry, “You guys wouldn’t...” She said, looking at Scootaloo and I, she seemed to not be able to open her mouth either. This seemed to give Sweetie Belle the answer yes, and she started to look over at the pony. I looked and saw dark shapes forming, covered in dark, tattered cloth.

“Come on, Sweetie Belle, do you really think I would take you in, you are just after all a pitiful, disgraceful, excuse for a mare.” The pony said, and I tried wildly gesturing towards the shapes slowly closing in. “However, I can open the doors, and you will be able to leave, while these two suffer for their cruelty towards you.” Sweetie Belle seemed to be appreciating the idea, but she realized the shapes were there.

“No, they’re my friends.” Sweetie Belle said, “And even if they’ve been horrible towards me sometimes, they haven’t nearly done what you have done within the past two minutes!” She started to look angry. “All I think you are is just a big, mean, bully!” The shapes started to close in around us.

“What are you going to do about it, Sweetie Belle? You are already doomed with your supposed friends.” The pony said, doubting Sweetie Belle.

“STOP YOU.” Sweetie Belle said almost melodically, and something emanated from her horn. The dark shapes were pushed back and she walked directly up to the pony, “YOU DO NOT MESS WITH ME OR MY FRIENDS!” Her horn emanated once again and the pony seemed to disintegrate into shadow. With that, my mouth seemed to be able to open again, and I looked at Sweetie Belle.

“You don’t believe what she said, do you?” I asked her.

“Of course not, you guys have been there for me when I needed it, like at the Sisterhooves Social, and I’ve been there for you.” She said, smiling. “And I realized that, and just wanted to show to her what she supposedly pointed out you repressed.”

Scootaloo seemed to be looking at her in shock, at her flank. “What’s yer problem Scootaloo?” I asked.

“She has her Cutie Mark!” She said, and Sweetie Belle and I looked. It was a musical note, though it seemed to have magic emanate from it. I started to have an inkling of what this place was designed to do. Sweetie Belle smiled even more, and looked at us.

“I’m glad I decided to stick with you, come on, we’ve a weapon to find.” Sweetie Belle said, and I noticed the door had been opened once again. When we came back through the doorway, another door was open, but the door behind us once again sealed.

“Well, I guess let’s find out what’s there.” Scootaloo said, and we went through, not flinching when the door shut.

“So if this place is full of trials for us, what do you think is the ‘misery’ one, because the last one was obviously ridicule.” Sweetie Belle said. I was looking around, this hallway hadn’t ended yet, what was going on?

“I don’t know, but I am sure I won’t like it.” Scootaloo responded. We turned a corner, and awaiting us was... Princess Celestia?

“WHY?” The thing begged.

“Princess Celestia! You’re dead!” Scootaloo said skeptically. Another figure appeared, this time Zecora.

“WHY?” The imitation of Zecora begged.

“Alright, that’s it, we’re going, Crusaders!” Scootaloo said, but Sweetie Belle and didn’t move. Why were they here?

“WHY?” Princess Luna pleaded.

“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, come on!” Scootaloo shouted.

“WHY?” Cheerilee stated.

“WHY?” Lyra demanded. More and more dead ponies came out and kept asking the question, until Scootaloo had enough.

“Alright, I’m sorry to do this, but here goes.” Scootaloo said, and then flew directly into us, with her hooves shoving us off. “COME ON LET’S GO!” Scootaloo shouted. We started running, and we ran past a fake Pinkie Pie, somewhere dissecting Rainbow Dash alive. Another scene, one of Fluttershy treating Rainbow Dash as a baby. More and more of the scenes appeared, but Scootaloo kept us focused, keeping us running. The entrance was nearing our sight, and it was closing. Before I could shout, Scootaloo kicked us, hard, forward, propelling us into the chamber with the pedestal.

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle shouted as Scootaloo herself neared the door, and Sweetie Belle hummed something, and the door started closing much slower. Scootaloo noticed this and went through, and as soon as she was in the same chamber as us the door accelerated once again, closing within two seconds. I was looking in awe at Scootaloo, who noticed me, her face bearing a weary look and panting.

“Scootaloo, ya saved our lives.” I breathed, and Scootaloo grinned weakly.

“Well, I knew I had to get you out, no matter what. Right now we need to survive, Equestria needs us.” Scootaloo said, “If one of us had to die instead of all three, so be it. I had to make sure you were alright.” With that, a Cutie Mark appeared, this one depicting a hoof. What was that supposed to mean?

“Well, come on, there’s gotta be that weapon in the other chamber.” Sweetie Belle said, and I led into the last chamber which in the center had something, another pedestal, but it had nothing on it.

“Where’s the weapon?” Scootaloo asked.

“Look around, it may have fallen somewhere.” Sweetie Belle said, and we looked around on the ground, but nothing was there. For a moment, I thought that somepony had stolen it, but then I realized what the weapon truly was. It was the two Cutie Marks on Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

“Come on, Crusaders, we already have it.” I said, gesturing towards the exit, which could now be clearly seen. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked confused for a moment, but realized what was right on them.