Finally Marked!
(A/N: I don’t own MLP, just my idea of how the CMC get their cutie marks. Enjoy!)
Apple Bloom’s eyes slowly opened one morning in the summer. The sun began pouring into her room, and she had to shield her eyes from it. Her mind was foggy, but Apple Bloom knew that there was something happening today. What was it…? Oh yeah! With her new found excitement, Apple Bloom sprang out of bed, brushed her teeth, and was on her way outside when she ran into Applejack. Surprised, Applejack looked down at her younger sister with confusion.
“Whoa nellie, where ya running off too, Apple Bloom?” she asked.
“I have to go meet Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom explained, trying to wiggle past the older mare. “It’s important!”
Applejack wrapped her foreleg around Apple Bloom’s torso, pulling her back.
“Your Cutie Mark Crusaders meeting can wait until after you eat breakfast, Apple Bloom.”
“But, it’s not a Cutie Mark Crusaders meeting!” complained the yellow filly.
“Well, whatever it is, you’ll have to wait after breakfast,” Applejack said firmly. She picked up a still-complaining Apple Bloom in her mouth and brought her to the dining table to eat.
Apple Bloom crossed her arms and pouted while Applejack brought her a breakfast of pancakes, apple juice, and scrambled eggs. At first, the little Crusader was going to scarf down her meal as fast as she could, but, as if reading her mind, Applejack gave her a disapproving shake of the head. So, Apple Bloom had no choice but to eat slowly as the rest of her family joined the breakfast.
“So what where you getting ready to run off to, Apple Bloom?” asked Applejack.
“Scootaloo’s tournament is today, remember?” replied Apple Bloom. “Rainbow Dash has to take us to Canterlot.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember. But you have to be patient, little sis. The tournament’s not starting immediately after you wake up.”
“Eeyup,” agreed Big Mac.
“I know…” muttered the filly. “But I’m so excited! Scootaloo’s been practicing her routine for weeks, and I just want her to win. She’s really good at it.”
“I know, sugar cube,” Applejack said, looking sympathetically at her sister. “How’s about I take you to meet your friends after breakfast.”
“Ok!” exclaimed Apple Bloom, now excited. She returned to her breakfast, not too quickly, but at a fast pace.
After a few minutes, Apple Bloom went back to the bathroom to brush her hair and put on her bow, while Applejack washed the dishes. Soon, the little Crusader was ready to go, and Applejack was ready to take Apple Bloom to her friends. They came across Scootaloo doing a few tricks on her scooter under Rainbow Dash’s house, while Sweetie Belle watched, impressed.
“Mornin’, you two,” Applejack greeted with a smile.
“Hey, girls,” added Apple Bloom.
“Hi, Applejack!” replied the other two fillies. “Hi, Apple Bloom!”
“Rainbow ready to take us to Canterlot yet?” asked Apple Bloom hopefully.
“In a few minutes,” squealed Sweetie Belle. “I can’t wait!”
“Me neither!” Scootaloo chirped. Her eyes grew wide and they shimmered happily. “Just imagine: Rainbow Dash, seeing me and my awesome moves!”
The three fillies hugged and giggled. Applejack chuckled in amusement.
“Well, I’d better get to the farm. I have a lot of apple bucking to do. I see you later today, Apple Bloom.”
“Bye, big sis!” Apple Bloom called after the orange mare.
---
“Whoa…” gasped Scootaloo in awe.
Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo stood upon a hill, looking down upon the tournament below. It hadn’t started yet, but ponies were starting to fill the bleachers with snacks and posters to lift the spirits of ponies they wished to win.
“Come on, little fillies!” said Rainbow Dash as she flew down the hill. “We’ve got to get Scootaloo signed in.”
Scootaloo scooted excitedly after her “big sister”, while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom raced after them. Rainbow Dash led the fillies to another entrance to the tournament, where the contestants entered. Before the entrance was a lime-colored stallion with a list.
“Who are you?” he asked the mare and fillies.
Scootaloo stepped forward.
“I’m in the tournament,” she said.
“Name?”
“Scootaloo.”
The stallion checked his list, and smiled when he spotted the filly’s name.
“Go in, Scootaloo,” he said.
“Can we go in?” asked Apple Bloom. “We want to see Scootaloo practice before the tournament starts.”
“Well…” the stallion rubbed his chin. “I don’t know…”
“I’ll be watching them,” promised Rainbow Dash. “And we’ll leave as soon as the tournament starts.”
“…Ok…” the stallion decided. “The tournament starts in 5 minutes. Be out by then.”
Rainbow and the fillies raced inside, seeing all the ramps, and courses. Scootaloo felt her heart skip a beat. She had been practicing so hard, but seeing all the equipment before her, some of which she had never practiced before, made her worry that she couldn’t possibly compete with the other contestants. She watched as other ponies of all races and genders practiced a bit of their awesome acts. Rainbow looked down at Scootaloo, and, with a slight smile, she patted her head.
“Don’t you worry, kid,” she said in reassurance. “You’ll be awesome.”
Sweetie Belle smiled, and nodded in agreement. Apple Bloom, however, was distracted by one of the ramps. A few ponies were already practicing their moves, but from Apple Bloom’s point of view, she could see that the ramp looked quite rickety. Apple Bloom figured that it was just due to the massive amounts of movement on the ramp causing it to shake, so, she decided that it wasn’t a big deal.
---
“And last up, is…Scootaloo!” the tournament announcer shouted from his booth above the action.
The throng of ponies in the audience watched as the orange filly prepared herself on the ramp, tightening her grip on her scooter’s handles. Princess Celestia, who was also at the tournament, watched with a gentle smile. Then, as the audience fell silent, Scootaloo allowed gravity to drag her down, and she rode her scooter along the ramp. The friction between the wheels of Scootaloo’s scooter and the ramp sped Scootaloo faster, and the rapid flapping of her wings helped as well. The ramp started to tilt back upward, and Scootaloo’s heart went faster and faster as she got ready to do the greatest stunt she had ever done in her life.
She was propelled into the air, and she leaned back, letting her body rotate in midair. She heard ponies gasp in awe at how good her skills were for a pony so young. She smiled slightly, and pulled off her next trick, where she let most of her body hang off the scooter, and with her remaining hoof, she spun her scooter underneath her in an impressive display. Gravity began pulling her down once again, and she got ready for the second part of her performance. But as her scooter hit the ramp, she felt it shake rapidly, and rather dangerously. But Scootaloo didn’t have time to think about that. She sped back up to the other side of the ramp, and was once again launched into the air. But, underneath her, the ramp started to shake. Suddenly, the wooden frame holding the ramp up snapped. Scootaloo looked down and screamed, releasing her grip from the scooter, and falling to the ground.
“NO!” Rainbow Dash cried, terrified at the thought of her “little sister” falling to her death. Zooming from her seat, she sped to the falling filly, and caught her just in the nick of time.
After safely landing on the ground, Rainbow Dash looked at Scootaloo with a face mixed between anger and horror.
“You nearly scared me to death, Scoots!” she exclaimed.
Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow Dash with tearful eyes, and suddenly buried into her chest sobbing from her failure. Rainbow was surprised at first, but then slowly put her wing around her to comfort her.
“It…It’s ok…” the cyan mare muttered. “You tried…”
Scootaloo continued to cry. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom quickly rushed onto the course to see if their friend was ok.”
“Scootaloo!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle. “Are you ok?”
“No…” whimpered the young Pegasus. “I…I failed. I messed up. There’s no way I can win now…”
“It doesn’t matter if you win or not, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said gently. “What matters is that you’re safe.”
Princess Celestia landed beside the four ponies.
“Is everypony ok?” she asked with concern.
“Yes, Your Highness,” replied Rainbow Dash, still holding Scootaloo close. “Scootaloo’s not hurt. The ramp broke for some reason.”
“Hmm…” Celestia murmured as she checked the broken ramp. “Some of the wood looks old. The weight of ponies must’ve added the final blow, and caused it to break. I’m sorry, Scootaloo.”
“What happened?” asked the head of the tournament as she trotted to the scene.
“The wood was worn out, and broke from the weight that was put on it,” explained the Princess. Other than that, everypony is fine.”
“Oh, good…” sighed the other mare.
“But…” added Celestia. “I do see a mark on dear Scootaloo’s flank.”
Scootaloo looked at her flank, and saw a small image of a scooter.
“My…my cutie mark…!” she gasped, as well as her fellow Crusaders.
Celestia smiled gently.
“Scootaloo, you may not have won the tournament, but you have discovered your special talent,” she explained. “Using your skills at acrobatics and using your scooter to perform such acrobatic skills is your special talent.”
Scootaloo slowly began to smile.
“Of course!” she chirped. “I should’ve known. I mean, Scootaloo, scooter, duh! How could I have been so silly to realize it?”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hugged their friend.
“We’re so happy for you, Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
The Princess looked back at the wreckage, and formed an idea. She turned to the head of the tournament.
“Since Scootaloo is the last contestant, do you think she can still preform for us?” she asked.
“Of course, as long as she doesn’t need that ramp anymore.”
Celestia looked at Scootaloo.
“How’s about you finish what you started, dear?”
“Oh, yes,” said Scootaloo happily. She reached for her scooter, but realized that it had broken when it fell to the ground. “Oh…I guess…I can’t…”
Apple Bloom looked at the broken scooter, and, in realization, she decided to help her friend to be happy again.
“I’ll fix it for you, Scootaloo!” she said triumphantly.
With determination, she went to Scootaloo’s scooter, and screwed the dislodged wheels back on, and she used glue (conjured up by Celestia, of course) to put broken pieces back together. All the while, she didn’t realize that her flank was glowing.
“All done!” she cheered triumphantly.
“Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo gasped. “Your cutie mark!”
Apple Bloom looked at her flank, and saw an image of a hammer and some nails. Her eyes widened. Construction! That was her talent! She squealed in excitement.
“Whoa!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “Two ponies getting their cutie marks in just 5 minutes!? That is awesome!”
Sweetie Belle clapped her hooves, although, she was a little saddened that she hadn’t gotten her cutie mark yet…
After the glue on Scootaloo’s scooter had dried, Scootaloo did a few more tricks on her scooter, much to the enjoyment of the audience.
---
Rainbow Dash flew back to the train station with Scootaloo on her shoulders. The orange filly sat proudly, with her chest stuck out. Along with getting her cutie mark, she also got an award for having the best moves for a young filly. Apple Bloom bounced around happily, unable to wait to get home. Her family would be proud. Sweetie Belle was a silent, her hooves dragging in the ground. It wasn’t that she was sad, (which she was, but it wasn’t the main source of her behavior) she was just a little shy. She suddenly cleared her throat, catching the others’ attention.
“I, uh, I made a little song some time ago for when we had gotten our cutie marks…” she began. “But, since 2/3 of us have our cutie marks…I guess I could sing it now…”
“Oh, Sweetie Belle, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” said Apple Bloom.
“No…I want to,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile. She cleared her throat again.
We are the CMC
And now all can see
We’ve finally been marked
Yes, we’ve been marked
We are the CMC
And we have our Cutie Marks
Sweetie Belle continued to sing the verse, as her flank also began to glow. The image of a pink heart surrounded by musical notes was on her flank now.
“Look, Sweetie Belle!” cheered Scootaloo.
Sweetie Belle did look, and, while still singing, her singing began to grow more and more passionate. Apple Bloom joined her, and Scootaloo did a little jig to the melody. Rainbow Dash beamed happily for them. Yes, they had finally been marked.