“They’re using their matching cutie marks to open the Livewood,” she hissed.
“Not if we can help it,” Scootaloo murmured with determination. She looked at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. They nodded. It was time.
“Watch our backs, Starlight. We’ll tell you if we need help,” Scootaloo said. She could see that Starlight was struggling not to give them advice, but finally, the purple Unicorn nodded, too.
“Got it. Whenever you’re ready,” she said. Scootaloo began their special count of three.
“Cutie…”
“Mark…” Sweetie Belle chimed in.
“Crusaders!” Apple Bloom finished. Then the trio of fillies burst into the clearing with Starlight at their heels.
Lumi Nation snapped her head around to see what was going on. Without her guidance, Lilymoon froze on her way to the pillar. Scootaloo could see that the filly’s eyes were vacant and staring. She was still under some kind of zombie spell.
“Stop them!” Auntie Eclipse snarled. “Nothing can interfere with my spell!”
Wanna bet? Scootaloo thought. And with that, the Cutie Mark Crusaders turned from the pillars and charged straight at Auntie Eclipse.
Scootaloo could feel the change in the air as the three of them left Starlight’s bubble of safety. The curse didn’t waste any time getting to work. Apple Bloom stepped on a banana peel that Scootaloo could swear hadn’t been there a moment ago. The Earth pony lost her footing and slid sideways into Sweetie Belle, who bounced into Scootaloo. The ponies’ momentum sent them sprawling forward to land in a heap.
Right at Auntie Eclipse’s hooves.
Auntie leered down at the Crusaders.
Behind them, Starlight had her hooves full, fending off Lumi Nation’s magical attacks. Ambermoon and Lilymoon stared into space, faint smiles on their empty-eyed faces. Blue Moon grinned maniacally atop his pillar. Nopony would come to their aid now. The Crusaders were on their own. Scootaloo gulped. If this was the end, at least she had her friends by her side.
“Enough of these filly games,” Auntie Eclipse said mockingly. “It’s time I finished you three troublemakers once and for all.” Her eyes gleamed as she lowered her horn toward the Crusaders. It spit red sparks, wreathed in dark magic. Scootaloo winced.
And an overripe melon fell from the vines above to splat down on Auntie’s head.
Auntie staggered. Yellow juice ran down her mane and into her eyes. If she hadn’t been so scared, Scootaloo would’ve burst out laughing. The sticky melon clung to Auntie’s head like a mushy helmet. Furious, the evil Unicorn tossed her head, splattering the Crusaders with flying melon pulp.
She aimed her horn at the Crusaders again. And with a cry of rage, she let loose a powerful red blast of magic.
But the rind of the melon around her horn interfered with the spell. Instead of hitting Scootaloo and her friends, Auntie’s bolt of power ricocheted at an angle…
And struck Blue Moon! With a groan, the Unicorn fell to his knees atop the pillar.
Auntie gaped. Then her eyes narrowed as she looked at the Crusaders.
“Very clever. You discovered your curse affects ponies near you. But all I have to do is walk away.…” Auntie smirked. She tried to raise a hoof to take a step… and couldn’t. Instead, with a squelching sound, she began to slowly sink into the ground.
Scootaloo had never been happier to be stuck in quicksand. When the ground around the trio had turned marshy, she knew their bad luck had kicked in again. Fortunately, Auntie was just as vulnerable as they were.
With a furious scream, Auntie charged up her horn again. A blast of power rippled from it, knocking over the Crusaders like a chilly wind. The ground suddenly firmed up beneath them, and the melon dropped free of Auntie’s horn.
The curse was gone! Scootaloo’s plan had worked!
Except that meant that Auntie was no longer cursed, either.
“Starlight! Help!” Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo shrieked in unison.
Ducking past Lumi Nation’s attack, Starlight turned her horn toward the Crusaders, hurling up a shield spell to protect them. The Crusaders shrank back as Auntie leveled a blast of red magic at them. It bounced off the shield, nearly hitting Auntie. She ground her teeth in frustration.
“Run!” Starlight called as Auntie turned her attack toward the purple Unicorn.
The trio charged for the safety of the trees… but suddenly magic froze them in place. Scootaloo looked out of the corner of her eye to see that Lumi Nation held them with her horn.
“You’re not going anywhere,” she snarled. A blur of blue crashed into Lumi, sending her tumbling and breaking her spell.
Scootaloo blinked to see Blue Moon standing over them. His eyes were clear, and his strange smile was gone. He looked like the Unicorn Scootaloo had seen in her vision from the mementorial, but older and more careworn.
“Everypony, down!” Starlight bellowed. The Crusaders and Blue Moon dropped and flattened themselves to the ground as a huge burst of Auntie’s power rolled through the clearing. The heat of the spell sizzled over Scootaloo’s head. It singed the leaves and left scorch marks on the pillars. Auntie wasn’t messing around anymore. That was Princess Celestia–level magic.
Starlight poofed into place beside the Crusaders.
“Time to go!” she said urgently.
“Take Blue Moon, too!” Scootaloo blurted.
Starlight looked ready to argue, but she seemed to remember her conversation with Discord. Shrugging, she put one hoof on his shoulder and one on Scootaloo’s. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom grabbed Scootaloo’s wings, and with a powerful bampf they all teleported out of the Everfree Forest.
“It’s weird to see him look so serious,” Scootaloo whispered, eyeing Blue Moon as Twilight led him to the front of the throne room.
“But way less creepy,” Sweetie Belle murmured back.
“That curse finally did somethin’ right,” Apple Bloom said softly. “When Auntie’s magic hit him, it musta broken the zombie spell she put on him.”
“Guess it turned out to be some good luck after all.” Sweetie Belle smiled.
“Tell that to Matilda,” Apple Bloom said.
Applejack cleared her throat and looked
