//------------------------------// // Chapter three: another great idea // Story: The Cutie Family // by Elkia Deerling //------------------------------// Together they walked back over the paths along the edge of Ponyville. Once again, they had little eye for the scenery, and were discussing their unexpected experience with the musician ponies. “It’s so nice that Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, and Bon Bon are a family together, isn’t it?” Apple Bloom said. Sweetie Belle nodded. “It sure is. But remember: don’t say a word to anypony.” “Of course we won’t,” Scootaloo said. “We have to swear it.” “Alright.” They stopped, and Applebloom stuck out her hoof. When Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo put their hooves on top of Apple Bloom’s they called, “Cutie Mark Crusaders super-duper secret!” Yes, Scootaloo was quite determined to keep it a secret. She could totally understand the fear of Octavia and Vinyl Scratch if somepony would find out about their foal play. Despite Octavia’s story, Scootaloo still tried her best to forget about what she had seen. Perhaps she would go and sneak into a club tonight to see Vinyl play. In her mind, she was already summing up all the clubs she knew. “And now it’s our turn, isn’t it, Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom said. Those words pulled Scootaloo right out of her thoughts and into the here and now. “Wait, what do you mean?” “Well, we still have a whole afternoon to go crusading, and music is not going to work today,” Apple Bloom said. “So why not try to do some foal play ourselves?” “What?!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo said at the same time, casting their most unbelieving glare to Apple Bloom. “Don’t give me such strange stares,” Apple Bloom said. “You look just like when we saw Octavia and Vinyl foal playing. Octavia said it herself, it’s actually quite normal. I say we just try it ourselves. I mean, it looked like Octavia and Vinyl had good fun. Why don’t we try to have some fun foal playing too?” For a minute, Sweetie Belle didn’t know what to say. “Eh… I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Apple Bloom. Besides, why would we do that?” “First, it looks like fun,” Apple Bloom repeated. “And secondly, we might just get our cutie marks that way.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. “Like how?” Scootaloo said. “I’ve never seen a cutie mark for foal playing yet. And I don’t think I really want one.” “It’s not just about foal playing,” Apple Bloom said. “Think about what Octavia said, it’s about being a family. I don’t think there is a more beautiful cutie mark than one of a family. I mean, look at my family. We all have cutie marks which have something to do with apples, not only because we all like them and like working with them, but also because we’re a family together. Maybe we can get a symbol of a family as a cutie mark as well, if we try to be a one.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle weighed up Apple Bloom’s words. Suddenly, Scootaloo felt that strange, cold feeling again. She felt as if she breathed in very cold air, even though the weather was hot, and the breeze was mild. She found her step slowing down, and soon fell behind the others. They didn’t notice, for Apple Bloom took the word once more. “That actually sounds very noble, doesn’t it?” Apple Bloom said with a smile. “I think it’s worth a try. You know, now that I think of it, there are even more cutie marks we could gain from doing foal play. What about Cutie Mark Crusaders nurses, or Cutie Mark Crusaders caretakers, or Cutie Mark Crusaders foalsitters?” She jumped up in the air. “We can be a Cutie Mark Crusaders family! The cutie family!” But Sweetie Belle found that her own spirit was still quite reluctant with Apple Bloom’s plan. Nevertheless, she smiled and agreed, for she didn’t want to ruin the fun. If she herself wanted to do something else, she had to come up with a plan. Therefore, her mind started racing with ideas and options. Scootaloo only heard the words ‘cutie family,’ but she was too deeply buried in thoughts to take in the words or to think about them. The word ‘family’ conjured that strange feeling, Scootaloo realized. It was best if she would be walking behind until they reached the clubhouse. No matter how hard she tried, Sweetie Belle couldn’t come up with something else to do for the day instead of foal playing. She decided to give Apple Bloom a barrage of questions instead. “But how are we going to do that? You saw all the things Octavia and Vinyl had: baby accessories, a changing table, a cradle, clothes, diapers, pacifiers, bottles of milk; how are we going to get our hooves on all of those things?” Apple Bloom thought for a moment about that. She could ask her sister to construct a changing table and a cradle, or she could make them herself. But that would cost her a lot of time, and the afternoon was already quite ripe. Apple Bloom felt that a day without crusading was a wasted day; surely her friends would think the same. No, there had to be another way. And the baby things? Of course they could buy everything… “Hey Sweetie Belle, how many bits do we have in the Cutie Mark Crusaders money-box?” “Eh… Apple Bloom, we don’t have a Cutie Mark Crusaders money-box,” Sweetie Belle answered. “Right… hmm…” Apple Bloom cleared her throat. “I knew that.” She didn’t, of course, but plunged back into her thoughts again to find the answers to the problem. Who had loads of baby stuff which they could borrow? Suddenly, Apple Bloom stopped and slapped her forehead. “Of course!” “Of course what?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Pinkie Pie!” “Pinkie Pie is not a foal,” Sweetie Belle said, but then she frowned. “Or does she do foal play as well?” “No, no,” Apple Bloom said. “But Mr. and Mrs. Cake have twin babies. Surely they’ve got loads of baby stuff which we can borrow.” But Sweetie Belle wasn’t convinced yet. “Are you sure that they would just lend us all of those things? Wouldn’t they need those for themselves?” Apple Bloom started moving again. She could always think better when she was walking around. However much she thought, she couldn’t find a suitable argument to dispel Sweetie’s objection. “Yeah…” she said with a sigh. “Maybe you’re right. But… but I would still like to try, just as we tried to go to Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, even though we knew they would probably be fighting. I mean, this day has already been full of surprises, right? Maybe we’re just having a lucky day.” “Or an unlucky day,” Sweetie Belle said. Apple Bloom snorted. “No, lucky. We were at the right place at the right time, otherwise we would never have known about foal play, and I would never have prompted the idea of trying it for ourselves.” Sweetie Belle’s eyes grew in surprise at these words from Apple Bloom. Upon seeing how determined and enthusiastic she was, Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but give in. They could at least try. “Alright, let’s go to Sugarcube Corner,” Sweetie Belle said. “Even if we don’t get our hooves on those baby accessories, we can still have a good sorbet or a milkshake.” Apple Bloom smiled. “That’s the spirit! Off we go!” And they turned right at the next crossroads. All the way towards Sugarcube Corner, the three fillies were thinking their own thoughts. Apple Bloom was beaming with enthusiasm, Sweetie Belle was unsure what to think, and Scootaloo kept to herself, trotting still a few paces behind her friends. They passed Town Square with its beautiful fountain. It was market day, and there were still a few stalls which were open and selling many different things, mostly food. Of course there was not a single stall which sold baby clothing, but Apple Bloom hadn’t expected that anyway. Some vendors were already wrapping up their stalls and clearing the tables. Apple Bloom bit her lip. She knew that it was late, and that the shops of Ponyville would be closing. Silently she hoped Sugar Cube Corner would still be open; she quickened her pace. Like a candy house out of your sweetest dreams did Sugarcube Corner rise up before the CMC’s eyes. While the walls were made of normal wood and stone, colored a creamy white and a chocolate brown, the roof of the sweets store looked to be made out of chocolate, rimmed with a layer of whipped cream. A cupcake-shaped tower crowned Sugarcube Corner, on which three candles cheerfully burned, making sure that everypony knew where to get their tasty treats. The store was still open. Apple Bloom rushed inside, followed a second later by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “Hello there, brave Crusaders,” Pinkie’s squeaky voice greeted them, immediately followed by, “Care for a cupcake? Then you gotta be quick, because it’s almost closing time.” The store was completely empty; not even Mr. or Mrs. Cake were to be found. Rows and rows of sweets in every size and color were neatly stacked on shelves, ready to be bought, eaten, or wrapped up nicely as a gift. Pinkie Pie stood behind a glass counter with three huge cakes in it, but made a funny jump to land exactly in front of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Well, actually we would love to have some ice—“ Sweetie Belle began, but Apple Bloom cut her off. “We’re on a mission, Pinkie Pie. We were wondering if we could borrow some of your baby stuff for a day or two.” Pinkie frowned. “Baby stuff? I don’t have any baby stuff, silly filly. I’m much too old for that. Alright, I may have worn a diaper just once, but that was a silly accident.” She shook her head with a smile. “But anyway, why would you want that? Do you have a baby as well?” “We’re gonna foal play,” Apple Bloom said, before Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo could stop her. Pinkie Pie let out an, “Oh!” Then she said, “That sounds exciting. But what is foal play? Is it a game? It sounds like a game. Probably because it has the word ‘play’ in it. I love playing games. What are the rules?” “Yeah… It’s… kind of a game,” Apple Bloom said, whereupon she explained exactly what it was they intended to do in the tiniest, most awkward details. Of course, she left out both Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, and Bon Bon, remembering the promise she and the Crusaders had made. When Apple Bloom ended her explanation, Pinkie Pie gasped and bounced in the air. Oh, no! Sweetie Belle thought, we just made a fool of ourselves. But Sweetie Belle forgot whom it was they were speaking to; there was no need to worry. “Wow! That sounds super-duper fun!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Of course you can borrow whatever you want. You know, you can even use the baby beds here, and stay here for the night. That way you don’t have to drag all of that stuff to your little clubhouse. I promise I won’t disrupt your little game, unless you want me to play along, of course.” “That’s great!” Apple Bloom said, her eyes twinkling in delight. But Sweetie Belle, who thought ahead, could see exactly what was going to happen. Pinkie Pie might not care about the strangeness of it all, but surely her godparents would. “Eh… Pinkie Pie, where are Mr. and Mrs. Cake? Are they at home?” “Nopie dopie,” Pinkie said. “They’re off to Canterlot for a baking contest for a few days, together with Pumpkin and Pound. ‘It will be good for them, to see something of Canterlot instead of only Ponyville,’ that’s what they said.” Pinkie frowned for a second. “Or… they don’t want me to foalsit them all by myself, which I can understand. I mean, they know what happened the last time…” Pinkie Pie closed her eyes for a minute, lost in thought. But as a happy memory floated by, she let out a giggle and opened her eyes again. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Now you have all the baby stuff you want for your little foal play game. You can go right up right now. I’ll close the shop and be with you in a few seconds, ok?” A large grandfather clock, striking six times, signaled closing time for Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie started closing display cases and cupboards. She moved around quicker than the eye could follow, sweeping the floor, clearing the counter, storing away the cakes someplace cool and dry. Meanwhile, the Cutie Mark Crusaders sat down and looked at each other. “Well, that was easy,” Apple Bloom said. “We sure are lucky today.” “Yes…” Sweetie Belle said, her voice sounding strained. “But there is just one thing we forgot.” “Like what?” “Well…” Sweetie Belle cleared her throat. “Who’s going to be the foal, and who the parents?” To that they all fell silent once again. They all knew what it would mean if one of them would be the foal; they had seen what Octavia and Vinyl were doing. For the foal, there would be the complete treatment: diapers, bottles of milk, napping times, playing silly games; in other words: awkwardness. Even though the Cutie Mark Crusaders were convinced by Octavia’s words, about how normal foal play was for them, they still knew that being treated like a foal would be awkward and uncomfortable. They could muster all the understanding for Vinyl and Octavia’s situation; it was necessary to help Vinyl Scratch. But for themselves? A hunt for a cutie mark, which was a goal no less noble for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But was it very necessary? Did their goal justify the means to reach it? Maybe. They looked each other in the eye, not daring to speak. A threatening atmosphere hung in the air, as if the first pony to speak would be the first one to get diapered. The CMC’s sat motionless like poker players. Finally, Pinkie Pie noticed them. “Hey, what’s up? Why the gloomy-doomy faces?” Apple Bloom opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it, thought for a second, and decided to say something else. “Pinkie Pie, can you give us three cupcakes?” “Oki doki loki,” Pinkie said, but before she could dash to the counter and back, Apple Bloom said, “Wait, Pinkie. Can you put something hard in one of the cupcakes? A drop maybe? Oh, and make sure that we don’t know which one has the candy in it.” To such a strange request, Pinkie only nodded. She had had stranger orders. Discord once wanted to order every pie Pinkie had in store, but decided to cancel the order at the last possible second. Anyway, Pinkie set to work. A minute later, three minty green cupcakes stood on the table before the CMC’s, all three identical to each other. “Bon appétit,” Pinkie said, and went back to work. The Cutie Mark Crusaders eyed their cupcakes with suspicion. Apple Bloom didn’t need to explain the rules of this ‘cupcake-roulette’ to her friends; all of them knew what would happen to the filly who would find the candy in her cupcake. None of them made any attempt to eat it, although they knew they had to. This cupcake was the most important one they had ever eaten. This cupcake they would remember forever. Tasty as they all looked, the Crusaders didn’t care about them; they cared about the filling. How would they start their little game of roulette? They had no idea. “Let’s… let’s eat them all at the same time,” Sweetie Belle said, with a slight quavering in her voice. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom nodded. The three fillies picked up their cupcakes all at the same time. They turned them around in their hooves without looking at them. Nopony took a bite yet. “Shall we count down?” Scootaloo said. Without answering, Apple Bloom began. “Three.” They all briefly considered eating the whole thing in one bite, swallowing the candy as well. “Two.” But they also knew that wouldn’t be fair play. “One.” They were the ones who agreed to do this. No words, but deeds. “Go!” The three little fillies took a bite off their cupcakes. Pinkie Pie had stopped doing what she was doing upon the sound of Apple Bloom’s countdown, and watched them all with great interest. The only sound filling Sugarcube Corner was the sound of chomping and eating. Carefully, the Cutie Mark Crusaders chewed their treats. One of them had the candy in her mouth. They looked at each other. Their gazes were serious and desperate. Chew. Chew. Chew. CRUNCH.   “Yay! You’re the winner!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, and lifted Scootaloo in the air. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle swallowed their cupcakes. A feeling of relief washed over them. But when they saw Scootaloo’s unhappy face, swaying through the air as Pinkie Pie did a funny dance with her, they felt a bit sorry for her too. “Don’t worry, Scootaloo, it’s not bad, right? It’s fun!” Apple Bloom said, and she meant it. Pinkie stopped dancing. “Bad? Winning is never bad, right?” To that, nopony said anything back.