"I still expect you three to be on your best behavior." Rarity spoke up expectantly, cutting off an earlier conversation with Applejack. The  crusaders looked up at the unicorn that had on a stern look; they then gave her an exaggerated, pleading expression. But it was when she uttered the word, "school" where their puppy-faces really picked up.

The mention of the schoolhouse was enough to cause a collective groan of protest. "You still need to go to class, even if you can't lift up a quill." Applejack chuckled softly, imagining all three crusaders attempting to stabilize a quill twice their size.

"But the ponies at school will laugh at us!" Sweetie Belle protested, flashing a persuasive glance.

"Doesn't matter," combated Rarity, "they probably won't even notice you."

"Cheerilee's still mad at us." Scootaloo added, hoping that excuse would get her out of school.

"Cheerilee's a nice pony," the southern mare said, "an' ah'm sure you girls got what you was coming to ya." Applejack playfully tipped Apple Bloom off balance, and the tiny pony wobbled on on her left side. Apple Bloom's fellow crusaders simply laughed as she tried to fight her sister's teasing.

"Nonetheless, we're both busy and can't properly watch you," said Rarity informatively. She lifted her sister and her friends up with her magic; the pleading sounds of discontent mixed with the yelps of surprise that came from the three. They landed on her back with a few complaints on the lack of grace that their placement had.

"So just deal with it like anypony else would." Applejack instructed.

~~

The walk to the school was embarrassing to say the least. Countless eyes of ponies followed them as if they were on display to the entire city. Rarity's back provided little to no cover from the citizens of Ponyville, reluctantly greeting the ponies that were lucky enough to be in hearing distance. Of course, there were some ponies that were much less courteous and simply laughed at the fillies' plight.

Inside the school, things were much worse. Cheerilee kept her cool and attempted to avoid exploiting the shrunken children. The students, on the other hand, kept their eyes transfixed towards the three. Nopony paid any attention to their teacher and instead chose to stare at the three self conscious fillies, much to the school teacher's annoyance.

"Apple Bloom, what was the name of the unicorn princess that helped found Equestria?" Cheerilee asked, nudging the desk that the three crusaders shared. Apple Bloom stalled slightly and racked her brain for the answer but drew a blank. She answered that she didn't know the answer, choosing to ignore the chorus of laughter that taunted her.

"Looks like her brain shrunk even more than she did,"  Diamond Tiara, one of the two fillies that tormented the crusaders, remarked snidely. Her friend and co-bully, Silver Spoon, chuckled haughtily at her friend's simple yet demeaning joke. Cheerilee caught the insults that came from the two and responded by showing an annoyed glance in their direction.

With the two snobbish fillies' quieting down, Cheerilee swiftly transitioned back to her lesson, this time moving the crusaders out of sight and farther away from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

Other than the usual hiccups from the slacker students, The class continued without any more unneeded disruptions. A loud, droning school bell signaled the dismissal of the students; the fillies and colts quickly left the school house without a proper dismissal from Cheerilee. They quickly emptied the room, leaving Cheerilee, the crusaders, and their bullies.

"Where are your sisters?" Cheerilee asked casually, her voice somewhat rushed.

"Probably pickin' apples."

"She doesn't exist."

"Making a dress, I guess."

"Oh, the thing is, I have to go to a conference, and I don't think I can take you girls with me." Cheerilee answered sheepishly, her ears hanging low.

"Well you can jus--"

"No, I'm not just leaving you here," she answered sternly.

It was at this moment when Diamond Tiara nearly smiled mischievously. "Miss Cheerilee, we could take them with us." Cheerilee looked over to the two fillies with an uncomfortable look.

"I don't know, you two both laughed at their expense earlier."

"Aw come on, Miss Cheerilee, we were just teasing," Silver Spoon defended. While Cheerilee was distracted by Silver's statement, Diamond Tiara sent a threatening glare towards the shrunken crusaders. Intimidated, the crusaders decided to cave in to their demands before facing the inevitable wrath of the two, finding it a lot more bearable if they were in a good mood.

"If it's okay with them." Cheerilee agreed bluntly.

"Of course it is. We're friends, right?" Diamond Tiara butted in, looking at the shrunken ponies with a wide, intimidating smile.

"Uh, yeah, we're the bestest of friends!" Scootaloo answered with the same campy smile, hoping that her unrealistic attitude will set off something; however, it didn't work as the statement simply flew over the teacher's head.

"Well, okay then, but just make sure they get to Rarity and Applejack quickly."

Both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon nodded in agreement, sporting a fake smile to further sell their innocence. Still not convinced, Cheerilee kept a straight face, finding it hard to trust young children with the crusaders. However Cheerilee didn't have the liberty to call someone else or take the crusaders with her. Cheerilee quickly bid the girls farewell and left the room in a sporadic rush.

After Cheerilee left, there was a brief moment of silence before Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon turned and faced the fillies, both changing their innocent smile to a sly, devious grin. Feeling uncomfortable, the tiny crusaders began to back away.

"We're doomed," the three crusaders said together.

Keeping her wide smile, Diamond Tiara approached the desk, "what are you backing up for? I'm not going to hurt you." A low chuckle rumbled in the air, taunting and mocking them effectively.

"We just want to play, just like good friends do." Silver Spoon said, adding a laugh of her own as well.

"We are your friends, right?" Diamond Tiara brought up, staring at the three girls. She stomped her hoof on the ground to explain her point. The pink "I already have a game in mind."

~~

"Are ya sure this is safe?" Apple Bloom asked, looking down at the large gap, completely unaware of what was below. Diamond Tiara only scoffed in response, believing it was a suitable answer.

"Of course it's safe. I would never do anything to harm you." Silver Spoon answered with a false sweetness.

As if she wanted to contradict her previous statement, Diamond Tiara shoved the three fillies down said hole. Their free fall didn't last long, but they still screamed through its entirety, landing, once again, roughly on a hard surface. Struggling to stand, the crusaders began to look at their surroundings.

The area was dark, and none of the crusaders were able to see what was ahead of them. Small dunes of and were scattered  around. What was most unsettling was the fact that there was nothing in the area with them.

"Oh, Sapphire, time to wake up." Silver Spoon's voice was distant and harsh but at the same time, somewhat remorseful. Seconds later the darkness disappeared, and bright light seeped in quickly, blinding the girls temporarily.

"Sapphire?" Scootaloo asked aloud, knowing that somepony was going to ask the question anyway. Apple Bloom simply shrugged without giving a proper answer.

"Maybe it's her pet hamster or something," guessed Sweetie Belle, rubbing her eyes with vigor.

"You wish," Diamond Tiara chimed in, her voice near sadistic. Both Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara brought their faces up to the glass of what the CMC deciphered as a display case, giving off a distorted fish-eye look. As if cued to do so, Silver tapped on the glass, hoping to wake up whatever was the resident of the case. Once the floor began to shake slightly, Silver stopped knocking on the glass.

Apple Bloom quickly ran out of the way, followed by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They stuck together and ran as far as they could, eventually bumping into the glass wall on the other side. Not wanting to turn back to whatever was behind them, they all decided to take their chances with climbing the slick glass; however, their attempts to escape were obviously in vain.

Scootaloo, electing herself the bravest and most qualified to handle this situation (seeing how she kept away from Opal for so long) turned towards the monster behind her. Not believing what she was seeing, she rubbed her eyes to get a better look at the beast.

It was taller than the crusaders combined, had fur surrounding its body, multiple eyes, and the most defining feature was its eight legs. It was obvious that it was a spider, but it Scootaloo a few seconds to identify it because of its massive side. Paralyzed in fear, the three crusaders just stood there, watching the giant spider known as "Sapphire" approach them quickly.

Finally, Sapphire was up against the girls. The uncaring eyes of the arachnid stared into their own, leaving them with a strange sense of near hopelessness

~~

Rarity found herself in the midst of inspiration, too enthralled in her work to go pick up her sister and her friends. Anyway, Rarity thought, Applejack will surely pick them up. Unfortunately, Applejack had the same thought in her mind as she was busy bucking apples.

Rarity carefully fabricated the pieces of cloth together, carefully stitching patterns and colors together. It took a few hours, but Rarity was finally satisfied with another article of clothing; however, her small victory to herself was shattered by a loud thud coming from her wall.

Knowing exactly who it was, Rarity simply opened the window with a simple levitation spell. And sure enough, her friend and part time annoyance, Rainbow Dash, flew into the room with neither grace nor theatrics, landing shakily and unsteady.

With her entrance, Rainbow manged to tip over a few items including a box of gems and a fully clothed ponyquin. Rainbow Dash caught her mistake and quickly stood the objects right side up, leaving tattered cloth and spill gems everywhere while sporting a sheepish smile.

"Uh, hey what's up?" Rainbow Dash asked coolly. Rainbow Dash kept her smile, hoping it would at leas dissolve some of Rarity's frustration. "Okay before you get mad, I'll have you know that-"

"Whatever, Ranbow Dash, I need you to do me a favor." Rarity said, somewhat glad to have a familiar face.

"Okay, shoot." Rainbow Dash answered.

"Do you mind if you pick up Sweetie Belle? And her friends, of course." Rarity asked, turning towards her dress.

"Don't you think Sweetie Belle is getting too big to be walked home." Rarity inwardly giggling at Rainbow Dash's words; the irony clearly lost on Rainbow Dash.

"Just be a dear and bring them over." Rarity ordered, this time a bit more serious.

"Fine, I guess." Rainbow Dash agreed half-enthusiastically, finding it a bit insulting to be used as an unpaid babysitter. Rainbow gave a quick salute and flew out the window quickly, with the Ponyville schoolhouse in her mind.

Minutes later, thanks to her high speed flying, Rainbow Dash arrived at the school. She was quickly greeted by some ponies that stayed after school, including the ones still in her fan club. Rainbow walked into the classrooms, only to see a Cheerilee working on a stack of papers.

"Oh, hey, Miss Cheerilee," greeted Rainbow Dash, with a foreign sense of formality.

"Hello, Rainbow Dash. What brings you here?" Cheerilee asked.

"Uhh, I'm looking for Sweetie Belle. Is she here?" Ranbow Dash asked, "Rarity is sort of calling her."

Cheerilee looked up from her stack of papers, "I thought Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon took care of that already." Rainbow Dash cocked her head in near confusion.

"Right... If you don't mind, could you point me out to one of their homes?" Rainbow Dash asked, groaning somewhat and hoping it wasn't going to turn out to be a wild goose chase.

~~

"Cutie Mark Crusaders spider taming!" The three girls shouted in unison, each audibly enjoying what was happening and much to the annoyance of Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. The three excitable fillies managed to defeat and mount the spider that once threatened their lives, managing to ride it like any cowpony would ride a bull.

"How in the world did they manage to do that!?" Diamond Tiara asked angrily, sporting a large scowl.

"Beats me," replied  Silver Spoon, watching the crusaders ride her pet spider and secretly enjoying the sight; Silver Spoon would often make small talk with the crusaders without Diamond Tiara knowing, and whenever the pink filly was sick, Silver would meet with the crusaders with a mixed reception to her arrival.

Silver Spoon secretly hated abusing the crusaders, but some ponies tend to ignore their morals when they become the lackey of a bully. And now that the tiny ponies were safe from a death caused by her own pet, she felt she could be at ease.

"And what are you smiling about?" Diamond accused harshly, completely unhappy with the small, almost unnoticeable smirk on the silver filly's face.

"Just glad that they're not... dead, ya know?"

"Well of course they are. It only only eats bugs, stupid." Diamond said bitterly, "and do they look small enough to be eaten by a spider?"

"Well, no." Silver Spoon answered, her voice unsure and shaky.

"There you go, now help me come up with something new."

Twenty or so minutes later, Diamond Tiara finally finished her next ploy to play with the crusaders. She stood back, admiring her handiwork with a sly smile on her face. Her next game was simple yet disorienting to say the least. It was simple, but at the same time it would be a daunting obstacle for the crusaders.

"That's it?" Scootaloo asked, surprised by the lack of terms.

"No catch?" Apple Bloom added.

"Nope just get to the end, and that's it." Diamond said innocently, stifling a chuckle. "Although, we could be able to raise up the stakes, if you're interested."

"There it is," complained Sweetie Belle. "All right, Diamond, do your worst."

"Well, how about you girls have five minutes to reach the end."

"If we lose?" Scootaloo asked cynically, almost expecting a flat out loss.

"Public humiliation sounds fitting."

"If we win?" Apple Bloom asked, her tone having the same cynicism as Scootaloo.

"Well if you do, which you won't, I guess I could take you back to your sisters. So, are you gonna play?" She batted an expecting eye and a threatening expression to get the answer she wanted.

"We don't have much of a choice..." Scootaloo answered, looking straight down at the ground.

"That's the spirit," chuckled Diamond Tiara, placing the fillies on the ground. It was the first time the crusaders got a correct perspective on the sheer size and the high stakes of their task.

Their challenge was simply navigate the large book maze presented ahead of them; however, none of the crusaders were able to memorize any piece of the maze, leaving them somewhat clueless. There was a large, seemingly immovable book placed in front of the entrance, blocking them from an early start.

"See this?" Diamond asked, waving around an hourglass. She then reiterated, "five minutes."

"Are you ready?" Silver Spoon asked, looking downwards at the crusaders.

"No." Sweetie Belle answered.

"Oh I'm counting on it." Diamond remarked cockily, "three... two... one!" Diamond quickly lifted the book and flipped the hourglass over to start the timer. The crusaders ran in headfirst and without any sort of plan. Upon the first intersection, Apple Bloom ran one direction, while Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell ran the other way.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo carefully coordinated their turns, and by coordinating, either Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo shouted a direction and both followed it. Their entire routine lasted less than half of a minute, with them running into many dead ends at almost every turn.

Once Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo neared an intersection that split in two directions, Diamond quickly slammed a book in between the girls, effectively cutting the girls away from each other. Screaming in both surprise and confusion, the two began slamming against the hardcover book.

"Hey, what gives!" Scootaloo yelped in surprise, glaring at the giant filly, who only chuckled in return.

"No fair, you're cheating!" Sweetie accused, running into the wall in hopes it would topple over.

"Who said this was cheating?" Defended Diamond, shifting books around, making the course substantially longer.

Apple Bloom, alone and nearly unnoticed, ran along and avoided being detected by either Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. The southern filly ducked under cover, hid behind corners, and eventually found her way to the exit. Diamond caught on, but it was too late as Apple Bloom left the maze and cheered loudly for her size.

"Ah did it!" Apple Bloom announced proudly, "we won, Diamond, now let us go."

"All three of you have to make it to the end," she replied, striking down Apple Bloom's joy with little effort.

"Now you're just making up rules!"

Meanwhile, Silver Spoon, feeling somewhat sympathetic, began opening up some barriers while Diamond Tiara was bickering with Apple Bloom.

"Time," the snobbish filly turned towards Silver, "well?" Silver checked the small hourglass, observing that it reached one minute. In response to that, she quickly shook it enough to add a small amount of time.

"Uhh, two minutes and counting." Silver Spoon answered back, masking her lie well.

Another minute burned off of Silver's mental clock, and Sweetie Belle was the next to reach the end, much to the disdain of Diamond Tiara. It was at this point when the pink filly sighed in frustration and ordered Silver Spoon to count aloud. More seconds passed at an interminable rate, and Scootaloo was nowhere near the exit. It was almost as if somepony didn't want her to reach the end-- well, it was exactly that case since Diamond blocked off all but one path.

"Forty-four, forty-three..."

"Faster!" Diamond ordered, slamming a large hoof next to the remaining crusaders. Silver Spoon reluctantly obliged and counted at a (slightly) faster rate.

Being both the supportive and worried friends of Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shouted phrases that they hoped would encourage their friend. Silver counted loudly and monotonously, reaching the thirty second mark faster than both she and the crusaders would have liked.

Diamond smiled to herself as she watched the tiny orange pegasus run in the opposite direction. The time reaching a dangerously low amount. Silver's counting began to echo in Scootaloo's head, adding a new layer of fear with each number called. Scootaloo turned right, left and nearly every direction she could until she find.

She came across another dead-end. And with the count being near the end, Scootaloo felt that all hope was lost. Giving up entirely, she sat herself down and stared at the large cover of a Daring Do novel.

Ironically, it was a copy of Daring Do and the Impossible Labyrinth.

"Ten, nine, eigh--" Silver Spoon was immediately cut off by a tomboyish and over-confident voice.

"Hold it!"

Feeling her hopes exponentially rise, Scootaloo looked up and shouted,

"Rainbow Dash!"