A/N: 1) Using the wrong word on purpose is usually a bad sign.

2-101) Coming soon in the second edition!

Scootaloo, ever the impatient one, leapt at the opportunity to be first. “Ooh, me! I’ll try it on!” The little pegasus filly practically leapt at the necklace and quickly fastened it around her neck.

“It fits perfectly!” she cheered happily.

“Oooh, it’s shiny,” Sweetie Belle commented.

“It’s so awesome!”

One member of the trio, however, was not complementing Scootaloo’s newly acquired accessory. The black and red amulet glistened in the sunlight as the other two fillies happily admired it. Apple Bloom, however, was staring wide-eyed at the trinket, her hoof raised a bit as if she had tried to stop Scootaloo from putting it on. Her jaw hung slightly, an expression of disbelief and fear plastered on her face.

“Scoots! What are ya doin’? Take it off!”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stared at Apple Bloom, confusion clearly written on the fillies’ faces. “What? Why would I do that? What’s your problem, Bloom?” Scootaloo asked.

"Girls, ah really think we should give this back to Zecora," Apple Bloom said worryingly.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Sweetie Belle inquired innocently.

"Sweetie Belle, don’cha remember? This is th’ amulet that Trixie was wearin’ when she came back ta Ponyville! Y’all saw what it did to her, she was downright evil!"  

Somewhere in the background, a faint cry of 'EVIL!' was heard, along with a fat pony in a colorful suit running frantically around.

"Oh yeah..." Sweetie Belle started, turning a concerned gaze to Scootaloo. However, her expression soon turned thoughtful. "But wait a second, Apple Bloom. Trixie was a jerk before she came to Ponyville. The amulet only made her super powerful. Besides, I don’t see Scootaloo here going crazy or acting evil.” ‘EVIL!’ the strange voice chorused again.

Apple Bloom allowed Sweetie Belle’s words to sink in. In actuality, Trixie was rude and boastful during her first visit to Ponyville, and most likely only came back to seek revenge on those who embarassed her after the Ursa incident. Maybe it didn’t make her evil after all... “Well, Scoots? How do ya feel?”

The orange filly briefly examined herself as if checking for injuries. She shrugged. “I don’t feel anything.”

Sweetie Belle smiled. “See, there was nothing wrong with the Amulet! Trixie was just mean to begin with.”

Apple Bloom still looked thoughtful, stroking her chin with a hoof as she narrowed her eyes. “Ah dunno girls...how long did she have it on?”

The two fillies shrugged in response.  “A few hours maybe?”  Sweetie Belle answered, unsure.

“Hmmm...” Apple Bloom hummed to herself. “Should we...test it?”

“What do you mean, Bloom?” Scootaloo inquired, eyeing the necklace around her neck unsurely, almost as if it was a snake preparing to bite her.

“Well, let’s leave it on fer a while. See what happens. If y’all turn evil, Ah’m sure Twilight can handle it. Y’all ain’t even a unicorn. And who knows? Maybe we’ll get our Cutie Marks fer somethin’ or other involvin’ it.”

“Alright, then. Sounds like a plan,” Scootaloo agreed. Suddenly, her face creased in a mischievous grin. “So, you girls know where we can get a cannon at this hour?”

(\/);,;(\/)

A dull boom rang out across the peaceful Equestrian countryside.

“AAAAAAAAAAHH!!” *Whoomph!*

“Nice landing, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo called from a reclining chair, a glass of lemonade in her hoof. “Awesome form! Nine out of ten!” Somehow, the orange pegasus filly was suddenly holding a sign with a ‘9’ printed on it as well.

Sweetie Belle shakily got to her hooves, her eyes rolling about in her head. She slowly reached up and removed her helmet before stepping off of the conveniently placed mattress and stumbling over to the chair. “See...anything?” she asked before collapsing on the ground. “Uhhh...I think I’m going to be sick...”

Scootaloo looked the little unicorn over before shaking her head. “Nah. Nothing. Still, wasn’t that fun?”

“Yeah...” Sweetie Belle moaned, making sure to add as much sarcasm as possible while still trying to stay conscious. “Fun...”

Suddenly, another boom rang out and yet another scream was audible on the wind. “LOOK OUT BELOOOOOW!!” *Wham!*

Apple Bloom finally made her impeccably timed arrival by managing to firmly lodge herself in a nearby tree. “Ohhhh...heavens ta Betsy, Scoots... Ah don’t think this was such a great idea...”

“Maybe that Amulet did turn you evil...” Sweetie Belle mused with a groan. “I’d say you tried pretty hard to kill us with that thing.”

Scootaloo slapped on an obviously fake innocent grin. “What? Why would I ever try to kill you girls? It’s not my fault you don’t have a pair of totally awesome wings to slow ya down. What do you think the mattresses were for?” she casually asked, taking a confident sip from her lemonade.

“Scoots...” Apple Bloom said slowly, dropping suddenly out of the tree with a yelp and a thud. A yellow head quickly poked up from the bushes, fixing the pegasus with a level gaze. “Y’all are scarin’ me.” A sudden squelching sound from a nearby shrubbery affirmed this statement. “Ya alright, Sweetie Belle?”

“I’ll be...*URP*...just fine...” the shrubbery responded.

“Hehe. Maybe Sweetie will get her Cutie Mark in blowing chunks! Hahaha!” Scootaloo laughed uproariously at her own joke.

Apple Bloom shook her head good-naturedly and walked over to where the pegasus filly was currently reclining. “Alright Scoots, maybe it’s ‘bout time ya took that off,”  she suggested.

“Chillax, Bloom,” Scootaloo replied, waving her off with a hoof. “I’m totally myself. Nothing strange affecting me at all.”

Apple Bloom raised a brow questioningly. “Then what’s with the camera?” she inquired, pointing to a small square device next to her recliner.

“Ummm...nothing...”

“Were you going to record this and use it as a blackmailin’ tool in case we do somethin’ that ya don’t like?”

“Totally!” she enthused. “Totally NOT...that is...it’s not even on!”

“Uh huh,” Apple Bloom deadpanned.  “Then why is the red light on?”

“Do you expect me to know how technology works?! Does it look like I have a camera Cutie Mark?” The stare continued unabated. “You know what? Here.” Scootaloo grabbed the recording device off of its stand, pushed a few buttons, and showed it to her earth pony friend.  “There, I just deleted the video. I was just joking around. I mean, come on!  This was hilarious! But I’ll be a good friend and get rid of it cause you asked so nicely. Happy?” she harrumphed, crossing her forelegs in frustration and pouting slightly.

“Very,” Apple Bloom replied smugly. At that moment, Sweetie Belle chose the opportune time to rejoin the group.

“Phew...alright, I feel a lot better now. Sorry about that, girls. What did I miss?”

“Nothing!” Scootaloo quickly interjected, tossing the camera violently over her shoulder. There was a distant explosion, followed by a muffled voice that let loose a string of curses. From what could be heard, the unfortunate denizen of Ponyville was quite upset at the unfortunate time and location he had been occupying at the exact moment that resulted in him being in the immediate vicinity of a sudden inexplicable explosion while he had been happily on his way back from Sugarcube Corner with muffins for a ‘certain somepony’ which were now totally ruined.

However, due to the natural maturity filters that every young citizen of Equestria are equipped with, the only thing the fillies heard was a muffled ‘my leg!’ All three of them scratched the ground nervously with a hoof, and Scootaloo began to whistle innocently.

“Ah swear, one of us is gonna get a Cutie Mark in blowin’ stuff up eventually...”

Scootaloo took on a thoughtful look. “Is that a challenge?”

“NO!!” the other two fillies screamed immediately.

“Awww...” Scootaloo moaned sadly.

“Anyways, Ah think we should get back to this here necklace thingy. It didn’t seem to affect Scootaloo. Much.”

“Can’t I have my fun?!” Scootaloo blurted, looking a little miffed.

Ignoring her comment, Apple Bloom continued.  “So maybe it doesn’t turn ponies evil after all.  And it certainly didn’t give Scoots here any freaky powers. She can’t even fly! Ah guess it only works on unicorns.”

“So then...” Scootaloo trailed off, looking worriedly at Sweetie Belle, who was sporting a maniacal grin. After an audible gulp from the two other fillies, she burst out giggling.

“Oh, come on Scoots! I can’t even use magic yet! How can it make me more powerful if I don’t have any power to begin with?”

“Hmm..” Apple Bloom looked thoughtful. “Ah s’pose that makes sense. But just in case, Ah think we should test it some more. Fork it over, Scoots,” she said, motioning for the necklace with her hoof.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and huffed but complied nonetheless. “Oh, fine. I don’t want it anyways. It was starting to chafe,” she replied coolly, unbuckling the necklace and tossing it at her little yellow friend. Apple Bloom caught it deftly and strapped it on. She admired it for a moment or two in the sunlight.

“Huh. It sure is pretty, ain’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool I guess,” Scootaloo replied, obviously still a little upset her turn had to end but trying to play it cool.

“So what are we going to do now?” Sweetie Belle asked. “We should probably test it out some more.”

Scootaloo clopped her front hooves together and opened her mouth to speak, but was swiftly cut off by the unicorn filly. “If it involves ANY amount of physical harm, do not say it.”

Scootaloo looked chagrined. “Not even the teensiest little-”

“Nope,” Sweetie Belle intoned, making an admirable impression of Big Macintosh as she did.

“Awww...” Scootaloo moaned sadly again.

“Chin up, girls! Ah’ve got the perfect idea...”

(\/);,;(\/)

“Well that was certainly something...” Scootaloo groaned, her face flushed red with exertion as she panted heavily. The three fillies were all currently lying about the clubhouse, trying to catch their breath.

“I-it wasn’t so bad...” Sweetie Belle said, not making eye contact with her fellow Crusaders.

“I just wish that I had been on top,” Scootaloo grumbled.

“It wasn't as great as you think it was,” Sweetie Belle retorted. “It took a lot of balance. At least you didn't even have to use your mouth.”

“Well yeah, but you were kind of hurting me. My legs felt like butter by the time we were done.”

“Oh, quit yer belly achin’ you two. If anypony had it th’ worst, it was me. That was exhaustin’.”

“Well I guess we know the Amulet doesn't make you any stronger, Bloom. You said you could ‘keep it up’ all day, remember?”

“Ah know what Ah said, but Ah got tired. Sorry, but Ah haven’t had to do that with two ponies at the same time before. It’s usually just me an’ Applejack.”

“And Applejack’s way stronger and tougher...” Sweetie Belle said thoughtfully.

“Blech. I hope we don’t have to do that again anytime soon, we made such a mess! What if Applejack or Granny Smith had caught us?!” Scootaloo asked worriedly, casting her eyes about as if expecting an adult to leap out at any second.

“Come on now Scoots,” Apple Bloom replied exasperatedly. “Ah always have chores to do around the farm. Ah’m glad Ah had y’all to help out with paintin’ the barn, though. Too bad Mac took all the ladders out into the fields for prunin’ today,” she absentmindedly tried to stretch out a crick in her back from having two filly-shaped objects standing on top of her to reach the top of the barn. “Besides, we cleaned all th’ paint and whatnot up.”

“Yeah, I guess we did,” Scootaloo said thoughtfully, looking relieved.

“Don’t forget all those tools I had to retrieve from that really, really high shelf too,” Sweetie Belle added. “Some of those were heavy! I’m glad I didn’t drop them on you guys. Sure would be nice if I could’ve just picked them up with magic...” she trailed off sadly.

“Cheer up, Sweetie Belle! Ah’m sure you’ll get it some day,” Apple Bloom said encouragingly to her friend.

“Yeah, totally! I bet you’ll get a really awesome Cutie Mark in magic or something!” Scootaloo enthused, backing up her friend.

Sweetie Belle smiled genuinely at her friends. “Thanks girls. I really appreciate it.” The three fillies shared a good-natured hug before settling into a comfortable silence. Apple Bloom was the one to finally break it.

“Well now that we’re not havin’ our Crusadin’ interrupted by some sudden chores, what’s next?”

“”Hmmm...” Sweetie Belle murmured. “I guess I’ll take my turn with the necklace now,”  she stated, perhaps a little bit more loudly than necessary.

Apple Bloom chuckled. “All right, all right, hold yer horses. Ah’ll let ya have yer turn. Ah didn’t feel nothin’ the whole time, so it must be safe.” Apple Bloom reached up and unbuckled the necklace before handing it to Sweetie Belle. The little white unicorn filly happily put it on and smiled at her friends. Her smile slowly faded, though, as she began to feel...odd.

There was a strange tingling sensation in her hooves. Was it real, or was she imagining it? Why couldn’t she keep her tail from twitching? Suddenly, there was a rushing feeling. It worked its way up from her hooves, moved through her torso, and washed over her mind, nearly making her crumple from its strength. It was as though a tidal wave of power had swept her away.

She gasped in surprise as sweat began to bead on her forehead. Her two friends began to examine her, concern evident on their faces. “Sweetie Belle? Are ya alright?” Apple Bloom questioned worriedly. Sweetie Belle, however, was in fact not alright. Her body began to spasm uncontrollably as her breathing became more and more ragged.

“Sweetie Belle??” her two friends chorused fearfully.

Surges of unexplainable energy pulsated from all parts of her body.  Every wave of power sent a jarring, nauseating feeling jolting through her, and an inexplicable numbness began to build in the base of her horn. She didn’t know how much longer her body could take this torment... It was worse than any torture she could ever imagine.  

Suddenly, as if nothing had happened, the pulsating feelings of pain subsided. Sweetie Belle thanked Celestia that it was finally over. She opened her eyes and looked at her friends, who both gasped in shock. Her eyes were glowing a brilliant bright green. Without warning, her diminutive horn suddenly flared up and fired a massive green beam of pure energy, completely annihilating the unfortunate wall she had been facing. As this happened, it felt to Sweetie Belle as though all of the pain she had just felt suddenly was leaving her through that one spell. She felt so good, in fact, she could hardly even remember being in pain. The glowing of her eyes and horn faded back to normal.

“Yeah, I’m just fine!” Sweetie Belle chirped happily. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Her friends, however, were currently gaping at her. Their eyes were wide and their jaws hung so low Sweetie Belle was surprised they weren’t touching the floor. “S-Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom slowly managed to stutter out.

Sweetie Belle, for her part, was thoroughly confused by her friends’ reactions. “What? Did something happen?” Her two friends wordlessly pointed to the smoldering hole in the wall. The little unicorn’s eyes went wide.

“Did...did I do that?” she asked quietly.

“Ah...Ah think so,” Apple Bloom slowly replied. “Me an’ Scoots saw ya do it. Ain’t that right, Scoots?”

“Oh yeah we did!” Scootaloo shouted excitedly, quickly returning to her old self. “That was totally AWESOME! Do it again, do it again!”

Sweetie Belle grimaced in embarrassment. “Sorry Scoots, but I have no idea what just happened. And besides, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea...” she trailed off worriedly, her eyes flicking to the newest result of the fillies’ irrepressible destructive tendencies.

“Wait a second...” Sweetie Belle slowly continued. “I just used magic, didn’t I? I JUST USED MAGIC! I need to go tell Rarity right away!” she squeaked, her voice cracking adorably.

“Yeah, totally! She’ll be so proud! Let’s go!” Scootaloo enthused.

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom agreed.

“Wait, wait! Check your flank!” Scootaloo suddenly cut in. Sweetie Belle checked, but sure enough it was still bare.

“Awww...” the three fillies chorused, defeated yet again.