//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Cutie Marks have disappeared 
// by Vector_Monster 
//------------------------------//


Cutie Marks have disappeared

Chapter 1
Some pony is back.



It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Every pony did what they are usually doing every day.
Twilight Sparkle was at the library searching for some old books that she had not read in years. Spike was busy looking at his muscles on the mirror in the backroom. 
"Looking good Spike, and all this work in a one week. Now I am finally so strong that I can lift Rarity up with only one arm."
"Spike!!!" - Twilight Shouted.
“Well, maybe not”, said Spike as he went to see what Twilight wanted from him
"Spike! Can you come over here? I need to find..." 
“The book of Evil Curses?”- Interrupted Spike, while running to Twilight’s bookshelf.
“No, I need to find....”
“Celestia’s Old Fashion Guide?”
“No No No.... sigh* Wait… Did you say Old Fashion?”
“ Yeah, the book that tells all about how to dress like a fancy old lady. It was so boring that I read only the first few words from the first page.”
Twilight and Spike both laughed.
“ Heh Vauh! That book sure looks something…”
“Yeah... So what book did you need?”

“ Well... I was looking for the ‘Daring-Doo: The Lost Magic Words’ storybook. And I can't find it in this bookcase at all. It's supposed to be here.”
“Maybe Rainbow Dash borrowed the book for awhile?”
“No, it can't be possible.... She had read that book for a long time ago. And I know it for sure!”
“Or maybe she loved the book so much, that she decided to keep it for herself. 
“Spike, I don't really think Rainbow would steal a book from our library. And in addition, she is a very loyal friend.”
“Well what do you know...Maybe you don't know everything about Rainbow… ”
Suddenly a loud scream came outside the library. "What was that?" asked Twilight and ran to the window to check what was going on. Twilight saw a huge crowd of unicorns standing in line waiting to get inside a very big red tent which had been erected in the ground. One unicorn was coming out of the tent yelling and jumping in joy, carrying a book. Curious about what was going on, Twilight and Spike headed for the tent and noticed a familiar curly haired pony.

“What is going on here, Pinkie?" asked Twilight from Pinkie Pie who was standing in the line.
“Hi Twilight! You never guess who has come to Ponyville?”
“Uuhh... Who...?”
“It's so funny! Trixie is here.”
“Not ‘the great powerful’ Trixie?” - deadpanned Twilight.
“Silly you. She has totally changed. She is selling a book about powerful magic to the unicorns. Can you believe that?”
“Okay? Why are you so interested about magic so suddenly? I mean you don't know anything about magic and you are not even a unicorn.”
“Oh yeah, but I want to read it just for fun. And who knows, maybe I’ll learn something new besides magic.”
“What Pinkie?”
“New cupcake recipes of course!”- said Pinkie with a HUGE grin. 
“That's it! I'm going inside that tent and see what’s all this fuzz about. Please step aside every pony." Twilight began to run through the line with a determined expression on her face. Spike run after Twilight and shouted "Hey Twilight slow down, wait for me." When Twilight arrived to the tent entrance, she discovered that every pony leaving the tent had a book named “Powerful Trixie Magic” and everyone was happily talking about Trixie’s new look and change in attitude. Twilight walked in slowly and watched what it looked like inside. She saw the line of unicorns leading to a counter with Trixie signing and handing books. What surprised Twilight was Trixie's appearance and overall demeanor. 
Trixie had a black hat with one red feather and Trixie powers text signed logo in the front of the hat. She was sitting a front of an purple colored table with lots of books where her face was printed on the front cover of the book. She was smiling with a magic wand in her teeth. Trixie herself had a serene look in her eyes and was flashing a big smile. Not the smug kind she had the last time, but more sweet kind.
Behind Trixie was a poster of her standing in front of a black background printed with large font text "Trust my magic!" After giving away another book, Trixie noticed Twilight.
“Well looks who's here! Isn't it Twilight Sparkle and her purple assistant Spikey-Wikey?”- said Trixie.
“Yes and you are the selfish not so powerful Trixie. I can see that you haven't changed a bit of the last time I saw you. What are you planning now here in Ponyville?”
“Oh please! I have really changed. And look, I am selling books now. And every bits are going to charities for helping the sick poor little fillies in Canterlot.”
“Well I don’t believe you. Hard to believe that”
“Take a look at the book then, before you start to judge me.”
Using her magic, Twilight took one of the books in the counter. 
“Blackhoof Press Brothers?”
“Yes it is the book publisher that pressed all those fancy papers in that hardcover book.”
“I have never heard of that company before!” - said Spike curiously.
Twilight browsed the pages one by one slowly for herself and was surprised by all the mysterious magic that was printed in the pages. All magic she saw seemed useful.
“Where did you get all these magic spells?
“You think I am some kind of thief do you? I have done a lot of research for many exhausting months.
“Sure you did.” - Said Twilight irritably. 
“Oh so you think I’m lying now?”


“I know you are lying because you have lied before, remember?”
Twilight was very angry now and Spike tried to calm her down. Trixie stayed tranquil. They stared each other long and quiet, until Trixie broke the silence.
“You should leave now before I call the guards. And please take this book with you. Maybe you will learn something.”
“Come on Spike, We have to find more evidence and get to the bottom of this.”- said Twilight. She levitated the book for Spike to take and started to walk slowly toward the exit and grumped with an angry face impression.

---

After a little walk away from the tent, Spike decided to break up the silence.
“I don’t know about this Twilight. I mean… I was thinking that what if Trixie really has changed? I mean come on Twilight, she has been gone so long from here. Don’t you think you could have been more careful about what you said to her?”
“No, I don’t say anything before we know a little more about what Trixie is planning. She could have a revenge on us.”
“Hay Twilight! There you are… I have been looking for ya all over the place.”
Applejack ran over to Twilight and was really nervous about something.
“Hi Applejack, is something wrong?” - asked Twilight anxiously.
“There’s something happening at the Apple Acres. Ah need your help!”
“What is it?”
“Ah’ll show it to ya. Come on yall!”- shouted Applejack, who immediately galloped fast back to Apple Acres, with Twilight and Spike right behind her.
They finally arrived and Applejack showed the problem.
“There! Look at the apple trees!”
Applejack pointed to the trees with dead leaves and black apples. Most of trees were like this, with a few healthy ones, although couple of healthy trees appeared to be slowly turning into one of the “dead trees”
“......Interesting”- said Twilight, while observing the phenomenon. 
“Do you know what it is?”- asked Spike curiously
“I’m not sure.”
Twilight went to inspect one of the trees. She studied the leaves, which looked like they had been on fire. Looking at the apples, she grabbed one of them. The apple was pitch black with few brown little spots. She took a bite and immediately spit it out. 
“What did it taste like? – asked Spike.
Twilight answered with the bitter taste still in her mouth and serious look on her face
“Sour and lifeless. I think there might be something about this in books. Let’s head back to my library, Spike. Applejack, you stay here and collect the apples from the healthy trees as fast I can.”
“Have ya figured out something?” – asked nervous Applejack.
“Possibly, but I need to be sure.”
Twilight and Spike immediately left to find the answers, while Applejack started bucking the normal trees as fast she could to save apples.