So soon for me to be updating, but this is why I had a short chapter last time. I had debated on whether to combine these two chapters or separate. You can see which one I chose. It would have been a monster of a chapter if I left it as it was. I hope you all understand, though this chapter isn't exactly short. So… Sorry about that. My thanks go out to Bluecatcinema for a lovely review. I would also like to say thank you to all those that have taken their time to read my story. Please enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Twenty

The Suspense

Laughter and high pitched screams filled the air as the Crusaders ran about the open field. It was fast paced game of tag. Sweetie Belle was it and every pony was avoiding her like she had Cutie Pox. She came up on Scootaloo. But before she could tag her, Scootaloo ducked to the left and just out of reach. Sweetie Belle turned her attention to Apple Bloom and Trinny that were on a few yards away. With a smirk on her face, she galloped towards them. Apple Bloom let out a happy little shriek as she started to run away. Trinny feinted being afraid as Sweetie Belle ran towards her. She was about to tag her, but Trinny disappeared with a pop of her red magic.

"Hey!" Sweetie Belle looked around, "That's not fair."

"Sorry," a voice came to her ear, "I just so use to doing that when playing tag."

Sweetie Belle turned around and hugged Trinny's foreleg, "it's okay… and…," she lightly pressed her hoof to Trinny's leg, "TAG! You're it!" she ran off with a laugh and a smile.

"Oh you little tricky filly!" Trinny ran after her.

"NO TAG BACKS!" Sweetie Belle reminded her of the rules.

Trinny snorted as she stopped her pursuit, "Aww… hmm…," she thought for a moment, "I've got it," she lit up her horn.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

Four little fillies appeared with reach.

Trinny scooped them up, "TAG! We're all it!" she gave them a big hug.

They all started to laugh and giggle. Their game had ended in a five way tie. The best possible outcome for a friendly game. All that matter was that they had fun and enjoy themselves. Which they did immensely.

It made them forget about the morning that left heavy questions in their mind. It was all about the present. And not being It. But still, there lingered the thoughts and wonder of what had happened. It wasn't theirs to ask, but they couldn't stop their minds from pondering the possibilities. Such thoughts would have to wait though.

"Ha ha… that wasn't fair," Babs Seed looked up to Trinny.

"So it wasnt," she smiled, "I just wanted to get you all in one shot," she gave them an extra squeeze before she set them down.

They all laughed for a bit longer and then were able to settle down.

Looking up the Sun, Trinny gave a contented sigh, "Looks like it's about two o'clock. Twilight will be heading the schoolyard to finish that wonderful story. We don't want to be late."

The Crusaders had to agree. They wanted to hear the end of the story so much. They wanted to know what the young fillies were going to do next and if they would find the Mare of Destiny and if they would ask her to change their destinies.

Mare of Destiny…, Apple Bloom thought, is that the same mare from the Thieving Unicorn Story?

"Hey Trinny…?" Apple Bloom came up next to her, "How much do you know about the Mare of Destiny?"

Trinny's ears perked up, "Well… I know enough to know that she supposedly has three heads. She can see into the past, present and future. And she knows the Cutie Mark of every pony that has, does and will exist. Also," she added, "she supposedly seals the Cutie Marks of baby foals so they make discovery when they are ready to find them…"

"So this Mare knows a lot about Cutie Marks?" Apple Bloom winked to the others.

They winked back, understanding what she was trying to do.

So did Trinny, "I see what you're doing," she smirked, "It would be best if you didn't delve too deep into that line of thought. Even the Mare of Destiny cannot undo my past. It is my chosen path and she probably knew it was going to happen."

"But couldn't she see…?" Apple Bloom started, but Trinny hushed her.

"I now you all want to help me, but this is my fate," she smiled, "I've done what I've done to do what I needed to do. Don't concentrate on the past," she patted Apple Bloom on the head, "Look towards the future. Live in the present. Give reverence to the past," she let out a little sigh, "Come on girls, we don't want to be late," she started to head towards the school.

They looked to one another. They would have to drop the subject for the moment, but they wouldn't give it up. They were the Cutie Mark Crusaders and they made a promise to help any pony find their Cutie Mark. Trinny was one of those ponies. They would do whatever they could to help their friend find her Cutie Mark once again.

They noticed that Trinny had gotten quite a bit ahead of them. Picking up their hooves as fast as they could, they caught up to her. They pranced along until they came to the schoolyard. There weren't as many ponies as there was the day before, but plenty had come out to hear the story. Most were their schoolmates and their family members.

They greeted their friends and talked for a bit while they waited for Twilight.

"Hmm…," Apple Bloom looked up at the clock, "Two o' one… Twilight should be here. She's never late."

"Didn't Spike say that she was researching this morning?" Sweetie Belle recalled.

"Yeah," Scootaloo remember, "Something about a nightmare and the Moon in Sun…"

"Maybe she lost track of time," Apple Bloom offer a plausible explanation.

Trinny wasn't really paying attention to the speculations, but was staring off into the distance, "Here comes Miss Cheerilee."

"Hello every pony," she finally made her way up to the gather group, "I'm afraid that Twilight isn't able to read to us today."

There was a collective sight of disappointment, "Awww…"

"But," she smiled, "Spike did give me the book so I could read the story."

"YAY!" every pony cheered.

"Alright. Alright. Settle down," she opened the book, "Now where were we?" she looked through the pages.

"Oh! Oh! Cherry Blossom, Pumpkin Seed and Opal Fire had just met a pair of Pegasi," one of the colts yelled.

"Oh," Miss Cheerilee found the right page, "Here we go…"

Cherry Blossom looked to either side. Her eyes met with two pairs of eyes. Following them down, she found that they belonged two fillies. One was silver like the lining of the clouds with a mane of white. The other was a light blue like a drop of water with mane of black. Each one had an eye that was purple and the other being blue. On their sides they seemed to have some feathers tied to them, but they looked more like bird wings.

"Well hello there!" Opal Fire welcomed them loudly.

"Wow," the two fillies looked to one another, "She knows how to greet. Bet the clouds could hear her."

"She's a sociable one," Pumpkin Seed agreed, "Didn't even introduce ourselves. I'm Pumpkin Seed. That's Opal Fire," she pointed to the excited blue filly, "and this is Cherry Blossom. We're trying to find the…," she noticed something different about the two fillies before her, "You two have wings…"

"And she has a horn," the silver coated one pointed out.

"I'm a Unicorn! My horn helps me do magic," Opal could barely contain herself.

"And you two don't have wings," the light blue one gently poked Cherry Blossom in the side.

The tickle inside her belly could barely stand it. It just had to come out. The happy noise came forth and lasted for some time. Cherry Blossom was expecting for the two fillies to run off. But why would they? Every pony that she's met has enjoyed the sound coming from her belly. Maybe it wasn't so bad?

"We've never heard that noise before!" the two looked to each other with up curled lips, "It is truly a good noise."

"We think so too!" Opal Fire and Pumpkin Seed agreed.

"We wish every Pegasi could make that noise," they sighed, "Maybe the clouds would be a little less grey."

"Pegasi?" Cherry Blossom had never heard that word before.

"Oh… sorry about that," they flapped their wings, "We are Pegasi. We live in the clouds."

"I'm Cloud Dancer," the silver one introduced, "and this is my sister Raindrop Shimmer."

"We're twins," they landed, "And we've never seen Pegasi like you before."

It took some explanation, but eventually every pony understood what each was.

"I didn't know there were other kinds of ponies," Raindrop Shimmer was amazed, "We are told to stay to our clouds and never come to the earth."

"Too dangerous," Cloud Dancer explained, "But we…," she looked to her sister, "were told to leave…"

"Why? You two seem perfectly nice," Cherry Blossom didn't understand.

They looked to one another, "Well…"

"That's the problem," Raindrop sighed, "Pegasi tend to look out for themselves and don't really care about others…"

"We kind of don't do that," Cloud Dancer admitted.

"You see… my sister and I have always given things to those that need it more than us. I've always had this fuzzy feeling in my hooves," Raindrop looked to her hooves.

"And I've always had this warmth in my heart," Cloud Dancer sighed.

"Together, we both agreed that it feels good when we give," they said together, "but we want to go home. An old grey Pegasus told us that there's a cave in these mountains that a Mare of Destiny. She can change our fate and then we can go home."

There was a unanimous gasp.

"We're looking for the Mare of Destiny too!" they shouted together.

There was much excitement as they all realized that they were all traveling to meet the Mare of Destiny. They didn't even have to say that they could all travel together. They just went their merry way up the mountain to find the cave where the Mare of Destiny live. Up and up they climbed. Up and up, they pushed and pulled themselves along. Up and up, they continued until the ground below was so far away. They started to think that they may climb up beyond the clouds. They couldn't even see the peak because of the thick clouds that had surrounded them. Those without wings had to stop and catch their breath.

"Do you… do you think we're getting closer?" Opal Fire asked in between breaths.

Cherry Blossom looked up the endless mountain, "I don't know… We've been climbing for a long time."

"Well… that's okay," Pumpkin Seed's lips curled up, "All that matters is that we're doing it together. Sure we keep on climbing and don't seem to be getting anywhere, but we're together. That's all that matters," she took in a deep breath, "You know why?" she didn't wait for an answer, "Because we're doing something that no other pony has done before. I've certainly never heard of any pony going off to see the Mare of Destiny. Oh course…," she thought for a moment, "not many ponies talk a lot… not as much as I do anyway…"

The other fillies had just sat done to listen to Pumpkin Seed. They didn't mind though. It was nice just to sit there and think a little themselves. Think about what they had done. Travelled so far. Seen so much of a land that had never been seen. Met some pretty amazing ponies. Ponies that were a lot, yet so different from each other… they probably wouldn't have met if they would have just listened to their families…

Was it really that bad that they were so different from every other pony?

Cherry Blossom was starting to wonder.

"Hey…," she started say.

"I found the cave!" Cloud Dancer and Raindrop Shimmer flew down to them, "NO I FOUND IT FIRST!" they yelled at each other.

"You found the cave?" the other fillies asked.

The twins stopped arguing for a moment.

"Right," Cloud Dancer blushed, "Me and Raindrop were trying to see how high the mountain was…"

"And found a cave just above where we are now," Raindrop pointed to a ridge above their heads.

"And it looked like it was filled with crystal and onyx," they said together, "That's where the old grey Pegasus said she would be."

"And the old grey Unicorn said the same thing!" Opal Fire jumped up and down in excitement.

"The old grey mare said the same thing to us!" Cherry Blossom and Pumpkin Seed shouted at the top of their lungs.

The rocks above them started to shake and stir and soon fell. The fillies started to run whichever way they could, but there weren't many places to hide from the falling stones. Cloud Dancer and Raindrop Shimmer flew out of the way. Opal Fire used her magic to repel the boulders. Pumpkin Pie and Cherry Blossom dodge and ducked out of the way, but they soon ran out of ground. They looked on in horror as a huge boulder came hurtling down at them. They took hold of each other and waited for the boulder to squash them. Closing their eyes, they hoped that the great stone wouldn't fall onto them. It never came though. Cautiously opening their eyes, they found Opal Fire standing in front of them holding off the boulder with her magic.

"You two okay?" she asked through gritted teeth.

They nodded their heads.

"Good…," she was starting to lose her concentration.

Her magic surrounding the boulder started to fade.

"COME ON!" Cloud Dancer and Raindrop Shimmer lifted Cherry Blossom and Pumpkin Seed out of the way.

Once they were safe, the two Pegasi went back to rescue Opal Fire, but their wings just could flap hard enough. Opal's magical field disappeared and the boulder came crashing down at her. Ever pony watched at the boulder landed and bounced down the side of mountain. They didn't want to look, afraid of what they may see. Cherry Blossom was the first to look. To her surprise, she didn't see Opal Fire on the ground, but flying through the air like Cloud Dancer and Raindrop Shimmer. She was surrounded by a white light which was different from her magical glow. She sailed up to them with ease and landed next to Cherry Blossom and Pumpkin Seed.

"That was amazing!" Cloud Dancer applauded her.

"But I didn't," Opal Fire looked confused.

"You were all very brave…" a voice came from behind them.

Turning around, the fillies found themselves at the opening of a large. Great crystals intertwined with smoky black shards of onyx lined the cave. A light could be seen emanating deep from within. Cherry Blossom thought it was strange for light to be coming from a cave.

"Well…," Pumpkin Seed seemed to be at a loss for words, "… We're here…"

They looked to one another. They all had finally reached the cave where the Mare of Destiny was supposed to reside. The Mare that could change their destinies and make them more like their fellow ponies. So they wouldn't have a tickle in their belly or a buzzing in the mind or a tingling in their body or a fuzzy feeling in their hooves or a warmth in their heart. They would just be like ever pony else.

But was all that bad?

"Come in my little fillies…," the voice welcomed them in, "You have come a long way to see me… Come in…"

Just as Miss Cheerilee was getting to the good part, the voices of familiar ponies started to ring through the air. It was time to come home for dinner and the sun was already starting to set.

"Well, I guess we'll have to finish the story tomorrow," Miss Cheerilee sighed, "We'll meet here tomorrow at two again. Okay?"

There was still disappointment in the air, but there wasn't anything they could do. They would just have to wait another day to hear the end of the story. It was almost too much to bare. But bare it they must.

Every pony started to head off in their respective directions. Soon only the Crusaders, Trinny and Miss Cheerilee were left in the schoolyard. Trinny and Miss Cheerilee were conversing about grown up things. Things that really didn't interest Apple Bloom and the others.

The Crusaders stepped away from the two.

"I was thinkin'," Apple Bloom whispered, "Let's have a sleepover tonight. There's something we need to talk about," she looked over to Trinny.

They understood what she was thinking.

"APPLE BLOOM! BABS SEED!" Applejack called out, "Time to get home now!"

"Applejack," Apple Bloom ran up to her big sister, "Can we have a sleepover tonight?"

"Well…," Applejack thought for a moment, "I don't know… it is kind'a last minute…"

"Please?" they all gave her the biggest puppy dog eyes they could.

"Well… we'll have to see if it's alright with your folks first," Applejack couldn't resist.

"YAY! CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS' SLEEPOVER AT SWEET APPLE ACRES!" they yelled in delight.

"I guess you all have busy plans for the night," Trinny have them a wink.

"Oh, did you place to stay tonight too?" Applejack offered.

She smiled, "Twilight has offered me another night at her home."

"Oh. I'll walk you there," Miss Cheerilee offered, "I have to return the book."

"Thank you," Trinny smiled, "I'll see you girls tomorrow. Goodnight every pony," she headed down the dirt road with Miss Cheerilee by her side.

"Alright then," Applejack wanted to get going, "Let's go see 'bout your sleepover."

The Crusaders followed after her, but kept their distance so they could talk amongst themselves. There wouldn't be a lot of sleeping tonight.