My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Extra Character Edition) [Season 6]
Episode 4: On Your Marks
At the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse, all of the Crusaders in there, discussing what they were going to do today. Well, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were too busy, admiring their Cutie Marks.
Apple Bloom banged a gavel saying, " Hear ye, hear ye! The first post-cutie mark meetin' of the Cutie Mark Crusaders is now in session!" Nyx, Joshua and Dinky were listening, but Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo weren't listening. Not until Apple Bloom cleared her throat, getting the attention of the other two.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle apologized. "I was distracted by the radiance of my cutie mark... Did you say something?"
"I mean... it's pretty amazing how the colors just pop off your flank," Scootaloo walking towards Apple Bloom. "It's kinda hard to look aw—" She then bumped her head on the lectern. She looked up at Apple Bloom with a nervous smile, with her glaring back at Scootaloo.
"Look, Ah know our cutie marks are amazing, but is that all we're gonna do now?" said Apple Bloom. "Just spend our days starin' down at our own flanks? Ah mean, Nyx or Twist didn't do that all the time since they got their marks."
"She's right about that," said Nyx.
"I was human, and we didn't get Cutie Marks," said Joshua. "If we did, I'm sure we wouldn't have been looking at them all our lives."
"I guess that makes sense," said Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah, that would be so boring," said Scootaloo.
"This is ridiculous! We need to go out and do somethin'!" said Apple Bloom.
"Wow, you're right!" said Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah, we need to go try new stuff like we used to!" said Scootaloo.
"Exactly," said Apple Bloom.
"Like square dancing!" said Sweetie Belle. The rest of the Crusaders looked over at Sweetie Belle, and she was dressed in a sparkly cowgirl outfit.
"Or mountain climbing!" said Scootaloo. She was wearing lederhosen. Then she yodeled.
"Or square dancin' on the mountain we just climbed!" said Apple Bloom. She was wearing a combination of both outfits that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were wearing.
Nyx, Joshua and Dinky shook their heads and laughed a bit.
"And the more things we try, the more chances we'll have to finally get our cutie marks!" Apple Bloom said, heading towards the door. "Come on!"
"Hang on!" said Dinky, getting the attention of the others. "We already have our Cutie Marks, remember?"
Then she, Nyx and Joshua revealed their flanks with their Cutie Marks. Then Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo moved the clothing away from their flanks, showing their Cutie Marks. Then the three of them blushed embarrassed.
All six crusaders were looking at the list of stuff the Crusaders tried and failed at trying to get their Cutie Marks. They tried everything, and failed at it all.
"Wow... Did we really only ever do things just to get our cutie marks?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I don't know. Maybe?" said Sweetie Belle, confusedly.
"Aw, come on! We did lots of stuff that didn't have anything to do with getting a cutie mark," said Scootaloo.
"Even things before I came into existence," said Nyx. "Twilight told me about the things you all did. I even remember the things we did together."
Then they did a flashback of memories of the Crusaders doing things that didn't have to do with Cutie Marks. Like when the Crusaders tried to fix the table that they broke at Fluttershy's, Apple Bloom hang gliding, the Crusaders doing some scuba diving, the Crusaders sneaking into "Nightmare Moon's" castle, the Crusaders winning the flag carrying competition when Joshua was still human, having Dinky join the group at the sleepover, and ending with when they got Josh and Dinky under the mistletoe.
"Huh," said Sweetie Belle. "So now that we don't have to do stuff to get our cutie marks, what is it that the Cutie Mark Crusaders actually do?"
"We do exactly what we got our cutie marks in!" said Apple Bloom.
"Helping other ponies!" said all six of the young ponies.
"Ponies without cutie marks!" said Dinky.
"Or ponies who've forgotten their special purpose!" said Joshua.
"Exactly!" said Apple Bloom. Then she pulled in all of her friends in for a group hug. "We just have to find ponies who need our help! Come on!" Then they headed out of their clubhouse, trying to find somepony that has yet to get his or her mark, or trying to understand their marks.
Later at Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac was loading some apples into a cart. Then Sweetie Belle popped her head out of the apples.
"But are you sure you feel content?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Eeyup," said Big Mac. He then put the bucket he had down, but then Scootaloo got on his head.
"Not even a tinge of dissatisfaction?" asked Scootaloo.
"Nnnope," said Big Mac, before moving away, having Scootaloo in the air, trying to flap her little wings, keeping her air for a little bit, but still fell anyway. She got back up, then she and Sweetie Belle ran up in front of Big Mac, standing by Apple Bloom.
"Not even the slightest naggin' sensation that you don't really know what your purpose is in life or why you have a big apple as a cutie mark?" asked Apple Bloom, as she, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were backing up. Then Apple Bloom tripped on something. Big Mac was surprised, and tried to stop himself from stepping on his youngest sibling. He succeeded, but the cart flipped all of the apples onto him, burying him.
He then came out of the pile of apples with a granny smith apple in his mouth, spat it out, and angrily said to the Crusaders, "Nnnope."
Then Nyx, Joshua and Dinky came over to them, and pulling them away from Big Mac before they get into more trouble. Nyx pulled Apple Bloom, Joshua pulled Sweetie Belle, and Dinky pulled Scootaloo.
Then it went to Sugarcube Corner. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were leaning in over something talking to somepony.
"The important thing to remember is that there is no rush," said Apple Bloom.
"Three of us tried for the longest time, but it just comes when it comes!" said Scootaloo.
"And it's totally normal to feel confused and maybe even a little lost," said Sweetie Belle. "But being a blank flank is nothing to be ashamed of."
"So if you're having even the slightest problem..." Scootaloo said.
"...or concerns or questions..." Sweetie Belle said.
"...we want you to know that we are here to help," Apple Bloom finished.
Then their attention got taken to Mrs. Cake, who said, "I... don't think they're too worried about it yet." They turned to who they were talking to, which were the Cake Twins. They were babbling like foals did. Then Joshua came up to the edge of the crib and played peek-a-boo with the babies, making them laugh.
Nyx and Dinky were smiling at Joshua for making the babies laugh.
The Crusaders were going all over town, looking for any ponies who hadn't had their cutie marks, or having trouble with them. So far, they found no problem. They eventually went to a hilltop, where Twilight, Spike, M.C. and Mutt were having a small picnic.
"Such a beautiful day for a picnic," said Twilight.
"Yeah," said M.C. "Nothing like getting some fresh air once in a while." Then the Crusaders came up to them. Some with upset faces. M.C. looked over at the kids, saying, "Hey kids. Why the long face?"
"Was that seriously a dad joke, M.C.?" Joshua asked.
"Wasn't trying to be," said M.C. "Look at my face. It's long, too."
"So, what's wrong, kids?" asked Twilight. "Is something up with you?"
"We were tryin' to find ponies who don't have their Cutie Marks or ponies who were having a hard time understandin' theirs," said Apple Bloom.
"Who knew there were so few ponies worried about their cutie marks?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Kinda makes you wonder why we made such a big deal out of it for so long," said Scootaloo. Everyone around her gave off a confused expression. "What?"
"The point is, helpin' ponies with cutie mark problems is what makes us special," said Apple Bloom.
"But if we can't find anypony with a problem..." Sweetie Belle said.
"...Maybe we're not special," said Scootaloo.
"Hey," said M.C. "Never say that about yourself. Doubt might come to you, but always know this. You're special in your own way."
"Sounds like something that should be in a friendship report back before Twilight became a princess," said Spike, chuckling to himself.
"That would be a good friendship report," said Twilight. "Too bad we're all past that. If only you two were here before the Smarty Pants incident." She pointed at M.C. and Mutt with her forehooves.
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me," said Mutt. He then took off his hat and reached into it. "When Rarity, Pinkie and I went to Manehattan, we went through a Swap Meet, and look what I found in one booth." He then pulled out a Smarty Pants doll.
Twilight took it in her hooves and said, "A Smarty Pants doll?! How did you find one of these?!"
"Pinkie Pie and Maud do an annual present swapping day at a random location," said Mutt. "Pinkie found the perfect gift, the store wasn't open, Pinkie and Rarity tried finding a gift as good as that one gift, Pinkie saw that gift she was looking for, Pinkie was upset to trade her party cannon for it, Maud found out, Maud traded it back for Pinkie's cannon, and that's pretty much it."
"Wow," said Twilight. "And I'm guessing trying to find a gift was at that swap meet that you found the Smarty Pants Doll?"
"Actually, it was Rarity who found it," said Mutt. "Along with an ancient spell that said Inspiration Manifestation."
"Wait what?!" Spike shouted. "That was the spell that made Rarity go on a fabulous making spree."
"Whew," said Mutt. "Glad I didn't get that."
"Yeah," said Nyx. "Everywhere we looked, the sun reflecting the golden paths kept blinding me."
"Anyway, we don't know what ta do," said Apple Bloom.
"Tell you what," said M.C., "why don't you go make flyers about what you do, and then I'll post them all over Ponyville. Pretty soon, you'll have ponies in need of finding or understanding their Cutie Marks as soon as they can get to you."
"That's... actually not a bad idea," said Twilight.
"How do we know that there aren't any ponies who have a Cutie Mark problem?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah! I know exactly what you mean," came a voice. They all looked over, and saw Bulk Biceps walking by. "You can't find a cutie mark problem. I have a cutie mark problem. It's so confusing, and I feel like the solution is staring me right in the muzzle."
The whole group looked at each other, then the crusaders smiled in glee, and looked back at Bulk Biceps. M.C. then said, "You've gotta be kidding me."
Bulk Biceps got confused and then asked, "What?"
It then sequenced to the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. Bulk Biceps was taking in about all the space.
"I see why you guys hang out here!" said Bulk Biceps. "It's cozy!" He was pinning the Crusaders to both sides of the clubhouse. To Bulk Biceps left, he pinned Apple Bloom, Nyx and Joshua. To his right, Sweetie Belle, Dinky and Scootaloo.
Scootaloo was trying to get enough room to get some air and said straining, "The Crusader Clubhouse is a safe place, Mr... um... Bulk."
"A place where we faced all kinds of cutie mark problems!" said Sweetie Belle.
"A place where we'll go on to solve even more! Startin' with yours!" said Apple Bloom.
"No matter how long it takes!" said Nyx.
"No matter how long it takes!" said Dinky.
"We'll solve it because that's what we do!" said Joshua.
As the six of them were talking to Bulk, they were trying to get closer to each other, but it was hard due to Bulk's body pinning them to the wall.
"Yeah!" said the six crusaders, trying to do a six way hoof bump, but they couldn't reach.
"Yeah!" shouted Bulk Biceps, how he usually says it.
"So... what's your Cutie Mark problem?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Oh, right," said Bulk in realization. He then turned to his right, and the Crusaders were getting out of the way. "Uh, well, my cutie mark is a dumbbell, but I've lifted every dumbbell in Ponyville!"
"Have you tried lifting other things?" Scootaloo asked, nervously. She was afraid that Bulk would fart on her since his rear was aimed at her face.
"Yeah!" said Sweetie Belle, followed by Apple Bloom.
"Yeah!" shouted Bulk Biceps, stepping on the floor, bringing the six crusaders to come into the air for a little bit, and then the floor under Bulk breaking, and him falling through. He then stuck his head through the hole in the floor and said, "I mean... no. I hadn't thought of that. You guys are awesome!" Then he fell again. Then he made another hole in the clubhouse floor, closer to the lectern. "But... what happens when I run out of other stuff?"
" ...I guess you could teach other ponies to lift things?" Sweetie Belle suggested.
"Yeah!" said Apple Bloom, followed by Scootaloo.
"Yeah!" said Bulk Biceps. "Wow, you all really have a knack for this!" He then got his head out of the floor.
"I think this conversation would've been better if we did this meeting outside," said Joshua.
"I agree," said Nyx. "He made two holes in the floor."
"Weight and room limit here?" asked Dinky.
"Deal," said all six Crusaders.
"Anyway, that was actually easy," said Sweetie Belle.
"Maybe too easy," said Apple Bloom.
"What do you mean?" Scootaloo asked, unsure what Apple Bloom was getting at.
"Well, it's lookin' like cutie mark problems are few and far between," said Apple Bloom.
"And..." Sweetie Belle asked.
"And what if we never find another one?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Well..." said Scootaloo.
"And even if we do, we could solve it so quick, it'll be like it never happened in the first place!" said Apple Bloom.
"So...?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"So... then the Cutie Mark Crusaders don't have any reason to exist!" said Apple Bloom. Then Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo started worrying together.
"Girls," said Joshua. "Not everything will go as you want it. My old mommy and daddy told me that sometimes, patience always pays off. All we have to do is to wait patiently.
Later, M.C. was replacing the broken floorboards of the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse, with Big Mac giving him a lift up.
"What do ya think happened here?" Big Mac asked.
M.C. sniffed around and said, "By the smell of things, I say Bulk Biceps came into the Clubhouse, fell through a hole he made by the door. Then later, made another one by the back, and thanked the Crusaders for solving his problem." Big Mac snorted, and rolled his eyes while smiling. "Well, that oughta do it." He then got off of Big Mac, and as he was loading the tools into the toolbox, he said, "Thanks for lending me these tools and giving me a leg up."
"Eeyup," said Big Mac. Big Mac then took the tool box, and headed back to the barn, and M.C. left.
Meanwhile, inside, the Crusaders had a Venn Diagram of three different things. The one on top represents the ponies with a Cutie Mark Problem. The one on the bottom left represents the Crusaders. And the last one represented time in the form of a pocket watch.
Sweetie Belle was using a conductor's baton to point at the diagram, saying, "The problem boils down to this – we don't need to go out and do things anymore to get our cutie marks."
"Right! And—" Apple Bloom said, until Scootaloo jumped onto her back.
"Ponies with cutie mark problems are hard to find," Scootaloo said, pointing at the circle of ponies with Cutie Mark problems. She then jumped off of Apple Bloom.
"Exactly," said Apple Bloom. "But even when we find problems, we're so good at solvin' them that most of the time there's nothin' for the Cutie Mark Crusaders to do. So..." She said walking and then pointing at the diagram. She then rolled down a map of Equestria, clearly drawn by one of them. "I thought we should start figurin' out ways to search all of Equestria for cutie mark problems!"
"That kinda seems like a lot," said Scootaloo.
"I don't think Rarity would let me travel to the far reaches of Equestria looking for cutie mark problems," said Sweetie Belle.
"Mom would agree," said Nyx. "She would worry if me and Josh didn't come home without her knowledge."
"My mom would freak if I headed off somewhere without her permission," said Dinky.
"Yeah, I'm sure we'll come across them in Ponyville," said Scootaloo. "And when we do, we'll totally solve them because we are so awesome at it!"
Then Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo high hoofed.
"But... what do we do until then?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Maybe whatever we want?" Sweetie Belle suggested.
"What do you mean?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Well, we used to only do stuff to get our cutie marks or fulfill our destiny, but now we don't have to," said Sweetie Belle.
"She has a point," said Dinky.
"So... we can do things just for fun?" Apple Bloom asked. She then smiled, got down from the lectern and said, "Are you girls thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?!"
"Sure am!" said Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
"I got a feeling they don't," said Joshua.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo all said three different things at the same time. "Makin' Potions!" "Scootering!" "Singing!" Then they all realized what they said, but none of them really compromised at the moment.
"You were right, Joshie," said Dinky.
"This is gonna be a long day," said Nyx.
An obstacle course was setup on Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo was preparing to use it on her scooter with the other five Crusaders watching.
Scootaloo looked back at her friends and said, "Just remember – stomp, kick, and roll! After this, you all are gonna love scootering as much as me!"
"If you say so," said Apple Bloom while putting on her helmet.
Scootaloo then turned her head around to look at the obstacle course and said, "Ready?" Then she did a stomp on the ground, kicked off, and rolled down the course, saying, "Stomp, kick, and roll!" She was going down the course without skipping a trick. On the circle track of the course, she jumped off her scooter as it continued on the track, and landed back on it, and then went on a ramp that lead to an opening on the barn. She landed perfectly, saying, "Ta-da!"
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were watching at the beginning of the track with scooters of their own, but then Apple Bloom rolled back, fell over came back up with her face covered with leaves and grass. She nervously laughed and said, "Ah don't think Ah did it right."
Scootaloo crossed her forelegs, seeing her friends not wanting to try the course. Joshua then called out, "This track is a little too extreme. I used to have a scooter back on my world, but I don't think I'll be that good."
"Makes sense," said Nyx. "Scootaloo seemed to have years of practice on that scooter. It might take us years to be as good as her."
Scootaloo thought about it, then nodded and said, "Okay, I guess that makes sense. Let's try something else."
It then went to Carousel Boutique. In Rarity's Inspiration Room, Sweetie Belle set up some music stands for holding lists of musical notes. She had six of them set up for the others to sing along.
Sweetie Belle brought out a pitch pipe, blew on it, and sang, "Do... Mi... So..." Then she said, "It's just a simple harmony."
The rest of the group looked at all the notes on the paper. There were a lot of them.
"Harmony, huh?" Scootaloo asked.
"Is this a simple piece, or one of Beethoven's symphonies?" asked Joshua.
"Who's Beethoven?" asked Dinky.
"I think it's the name of a St. Bernard on one of the movies that Mutt showed us," said Scootaloo.
"Actually, Beethoven is the name of a famous classical music writer, who was deaf, and his music is remembered all over my world," said Joshua.
"Alright," said Sweetie Belle, tapping her music stand with a conductor's baton. "And a-one, and a-two, and a-one two three!"
Then Sweetie Belle sang on-key, "Do..." while Apple Bloom sang off-key, "So..." and Scootaloo sang really off key, "Mi!"
Then Scootaloo said, "Wow, that was simple."
Sweetie Belle got angry, and used her magic to snap the conductor's baton in half.
"Can we try something else?" asked Dinky.
Then it went to Zecora's hut. There, Apple Bloom was putting in some potion ingredients into a bowl of dirt with Zecora keeping an eye on the process. Then a small vine with an apple sprouted from the dirt.
"It's just a dash, and a drop, and a drip!" said Apple Bloom.
Nyx did hers perfectly, but the others got poofed, like they were affected by a small explosion. Scootaloo got mad, and dropped the vile she had in her mouth. Apple Bloom got sad, and Zecora was a little irritated.
"What else should we do?" asked Joshua.
"We didn't get a pick," said Dinky.
"Good idea," said Apple Bloom. "What do you three wanna try ta do?"
"Book reading," said Nyx.
"Bowling," said Joshua.
"Drawing," said Dinky.
The Crusaders went back to their clubhouse to cross off all the things they did for fun. All of the the things they did together didn't go so well, and Apple Bloom used a marker and crossed off every one of the things.
"...and even though Scootaloo thinks bungee jumping is the bee's knees..." Apple Bloom said before crossing off bungee jumping. "...Sweetie Belle would rather keep bees." She then cross off beekeeping. She then spat out the marker and said, "Of course, Ah'm allergic. Who'd've thought it'd be so hard to find somethin' for us all to do together?"
"Well, I know this might sound crazy, but what if we didn't?" asked Scootaloo.
"Didn't what?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Do things together," said Scootaloo. "Well, do everything together."
"But we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" said Apple Bloom.
"Apple Bloom," said Nyx. "I know that the Crusaders are the best of friends. But there are things we wanna try. Things that the rest of us probably aren't interested in."
"Even my old friends from Earth did things I wasn't interested in," said Joshua. "Art, karate, music... You know."
"We'll always be best friends," said Dinky. "How about we do the things we wanna do, and then come back here and talk about what we've done?"
"Great! Then we can meet back here and talk all about what we've done!" said Scootaloo.
"But Ah don't know what Ah'll do all by mahself," said Apple Bloom.
"You'll find something!" said Sweetie Belle, going out the door.
"Something awesome!" said Scootaloo, going out the door. Then Nyx, Joshua and Dinky left as well.
Apple Bloom then sighed, and said, "Well... I guess now I have to."
Apple Bloom walked over Ponyville, trying new things she didn't want to do alone. She then heard the muffled voice of somepony and turned her head towards the muffled voice.
"And one, two, three, four, two, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, two, two, three, four—"
Apple Bloom walked towards the building where the voice was coming from. She smiled, and walked into a dancing studio. A bunch of young ponies were there, listening to the lessons of the mare running the place. Until they were interrupted by Apple Bloom.
"Whatever kind of dancin' y'all are doin', you're doin' it together, and Ah want in!" Apple Bloom said. All of the other ponies in the room were shocked to see somepony knew joining the dance class. The mare running the class walked up to her, and Apple Bloom said, "Ah-Ah mean, uh..." she then cleared her throat. "Would it be okay if Ah enrolled in this dance class?"
"Well, let's see what you can do," said the mare. "We have a recital at town hall tonight, and a spot just opened up!" She then leaned in and whispered to Apple Bloom, "Tender Taps is a little too shy to perform." Then Apple Bloom looked over at the colt sitting in the corner of the room. Then the mare said, "But if you're ready to step into a partnered routine..."
"That sounds an awful lot like friendship!" said Apple Bloom, excitedly. "And Ah'm ready for anything Ah don't have to do by myself!"
"Well then! Dancing with partner will be perfect," said the mare. She then clapped her hooves, and then a green colt in the middle of the class was spinning around, and slow tango music was playing in the background.
Apple Bloom got excited, and walked up to the colt. The two of them started dancing together, then the colt started spinning Apple Bloom around, her crying out, "Whooooooa!" Apple Bloom stopped spinning, and recovered from her dizziness quickly. She was having fun. Then she got a strong grip on the colt's left foreleg, and he got nervous. The tango music got faster, and then they both started spinning. But they collided with the other students in the class, having them all piled up. "Whew! Ah feel like that went pretty good, but let's give it one more whirl, because it's important that Ah do a good job partnering with my new group of friends."
All of the ponies that were in the pile walked away from her, upset. They came behind the dance instructor, and then the instructor said, "Eh... Now I'm think of it, you might be better as soloist."
"What do ya mean?" asked Apple Bloom.
"How do I put this?" asked the instructor. "Uh, partnering is a little advanced for you. But there's still lots you can do on your own."
"Ah'm sorry," Apple Bloom apologized. "but doin' stuff on my own is exactly what Ah don't want." She then headed out the door, getting the attention of Tender Taps, who felt sorry for her.
Apple Bloom walked out of the dance studio, upset. Unknown to her, Tender Taps, out of his outfit, came out and walked up to her.
"Sorry it didn't work out," he said to Apple Bloom.
"Tryin' different things with my friends is always fun, even when we were terrible," said Apple Bloom. "Now it's justterrible."
"You weren't that bad," said Tender Taps. "You just need to learn a few things on your own. Being a soloist can be fun!" He then started a simple dance, which then turned into rapid tap dancing. He then jumped onto a lamppost, swung off of it, skidded on his knees. He then said, "Ha. Haha! You just have to do it with feeling!" Then he ran onto a wooden door, jumped off it and did the splits. Apple Bloom was surprised on how well he could dance.
Apple Bloom then sighed and said, "Thanks, but... without my friends, I don't think I'll ever feel again. Good luck at the recital."
"Oh, I'm not gonna do that," said Tender Taps, starting to get scared. "I mean, I want to. It's kind of all I think about. I bet some day my cutie mark will even be about performing! But I could never dance in front of an audience the way I do in class. That's t-t-t-t-terrifying!"
Apple Bloom was already walking away, still upset. And in a deadpanned voice, she said, "Yeah, okay. Nice meetin' ya."
"You, too," said Tender Taps.
Tender Taps then danced away. But, unbeknownst to both of them, M.C. was standing on a rooftop, looking at the both of them. He then said, "Wow. That's a weird coincidence. A pony who is too scared to dance in front of a lot of ponies on stage. That was just an example. I didn't even know that was gonna happen." He then rolled his eyes and said, "And now I'm talkin' to myself." He then vanished in a flash.
At the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse, five of the Crusaders were heading back towards it. Sweetie Belle was wearing a poorly made scarf, Scootaloo had some bungee jumping equipment on, Dinky had on some paper glued to her body in certain places, and Nyx was carrying Joshua on her back as he was exhausted.
"What happened to you, Josh?" Scootaloo asked.
"You know how much Josh liked racing?" Nyx asked. "Well, he was doing a lot of running through White Tail Woods with Rainbow Dash. His hooves have been sore since then."
"That makes sense," said Scootaloo. "So, what have you been doing?"
"Practicing some magic," said Nyx. "There were some spells I didn't know existed."
"Maybe you did know them when you were... you know who," said Scootaloo. Nyx nodded in agreement.
"What about you, Dinky?" asked Nyx. "What did you do?"
"I did a little arts and crafts," said Dinky. "It was really fun to do."
"Well, you guys aren't going to believe this," said Scootaloo, "but I think I like bungee jumping even more than scootering!"
"Seriously?! That's amazing!" said Sweetie Belle, coming up. "Look what I did!" She showed the others the scarf she made.
The others were trying to hold in some mean things so they wouldn't break Sweetie Belle's feelings. Scootaloo then said, "Wow, uh, that's, um..."
"Horrible! But it was so much fun!" said Sweetie Belle, "Rarity showed me how, even though she says," she then imitated Rarity, ""Crochet is knitting's poorer cousin"," she then used her normal voice, "but I loved it!"
Then the five of them entered the clubhouse. Inside the clubhouse, the blinds were down, and there by the back wall, Apple Bloom was sitting in the dark.
"Oh, hello, everypony," said Apple Bloom, bitterly. "Have fun pursuing your own interests?"
"Apple Bloom? What are you doing sitting in the dark?" asked Scootaloo.
"Yeah, we thought you'd be out looking for things you like to do," said Sweetie Belle.
Apple Bloom laughed sarcastically, and said, "Ah did. Ah looked all over town. Ah looked... and Ah looked... and Ah looked... and you know what Ah found?" The others looked at each other nervously and then Apple Bloom snapped at them, "Nothin'!"
Then the blinds on the windows opened, blinding the rest of them. When they recovered, there were a lot more things on the wall that were crossed off. Even on the ceiling and floor.
"You tried every one of these?" asked Nyx.
"And each one just made me feel more alone than the next!" Apple Bloom snapped. "Ah don't see how Ah'm supposed to be happy that we're not hanging out anymore!"
"Technically, we didn't say that," said Joshua.
"Yeah," said Dinky. "We don't have to do everything together. That's what was said."
"Like when there's something one of us wants to do that the others don't," said Sweetie Belle.
Apple Bloom got surprised and said, "Oh." She then put a hoof to her chin and said, "Well, Ah guess that changes things."
"I can't believe you thought we didn't want to hang out anymore," said Scootaloo.
"I can't believe you tried all this stuff and didn't find one thing you liked!" said Sweetie Belle.
Well, I kind of liked dancin', mainly because it looked like somethin' you couldn't do alone," said Apple Bloom, "but... I wasn't very good at it."
"Well, you don't have to be good at something to have fun!" said Sweetie Belle.
"And being good doesn't always mean you will," said Scootaloo.
"Ah know..." said Apple Bloom. Then she got happy when talking about Tender Taps. "Ah met the best dancer in the world, but he was so shy, he couldn't bring himself to perform, even though he really, really wanted to."
"I saw him," came M.C.'s voice. The Crusaders looked towards the door and saw M.C. standing there.
"Hey, M.C.," said Nyx. "What's up?"
"I saw the dance skills of that colt," said M.C. "He's actually pretty good. And I believe that he said and I quote," he then started talking in the voice of Tender Taps "I bet some day my cutie mark will even be about performing!"
The Crusaders gasped. Then Apple Bloom said, "Oh, that's right! Ah totally forgot that he said that."
"And do you know what the weird thing is?" asked M.C. "That was the kind of example I gave you when all five of you got your marks."
Then all of the Crusaders thought about it, then they got on their backs and let out their laughter. Nyx then said, "He probably didn't know about Tender Taps when giving us that example."
"That's right, I didn't know," said M.C. "Now, you gonna go help him perform in the recital or not?"
Then the Crusaders got up, and then headed out the door to find Tender Taps.
At the Ponyville dance theater, there were two ponies performing the waltz. A bunch of ponies were watching, including Tender Taps in his practice outfit.
Then the main door opened, and Apple Bloom called out, "You're here!" Tender Taps turned around, seeing the Cutie Mark Crusaders and M.C. standing there. Then one pony shushed them, then Tender Taps got annoyed.
Later, Tender Taps, along with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo went backstage.
"What are you doing here?" Tender Taps asked.
"You told me that you wanted to perform more than anythin', but I was too caught up in myself to listen," said Apple Bloom. "You're the best dancer Ah've ever seen, and Ah'm here to convince you to get out on that stage!" There was piano music playing, and then Tender Taps looked at the dance students and the dance instructor.
He then looked back at the crusaders who had different expressions. He then asked, "Um, didn't I also tell you that dancing in front of other ponies is t-t-terrifying?!" He then went to the open curtain and said, "I don't know if you noticed, but that auditorium is full of other ponies!" He then came back and put his forelegs to his cheeks and said, "I can't go out there! What if I'm bad?!"
Apple Bloom walked up to him, put a foreleg on his shoulder and said, "We can go on together! No matter what, you'll look good dancin' next to me."
Tender Taps looked back at the crowd, and saw them applauding. He then looked back at the Crusaders, sighed and said, "All right, I'll do it." But then he told them things that he's not prepared for. "But I don't have my costume, and the backdrop is all wrong, and we don't have time to change it!"
"Leave everything to us," said Apple Bloom.
Sweetie Belle crocheted an outfit for both Apple Bloom and Tender Taps. Tender Tap's hat and sweater were blue while Apple Bloom's were purple.
Tender Taps then nervously said, "I don't know about this..."
"Don't worry, you'll be just fine!" said Sweetie Belle. She then signaled to Scootaloo, who was on a walkway above the stage, along with a bungee jumping instructor. Then piano music in the background stopped, and some ponies from the dance class came back from the stage.
"Here goes nothin'," said Apple Bloom.
Then Scootaloo jumped from the walkway, attached to a bungee cord, grabbed the bottom of the background on the stage, which was a flowery hill in the sun, and pulled it up, revealing a background of Manehattan. She then high hoofed the bungee umping instructor.
Then Apple Bloom came onto the left side of the stage from the right, and Tender Taps, nervously, walked onto the stage after Apple Bloom motioned him to come. Tender Taps looked nervously on stage. All of the ponies were looking at him. The sound of someone coughing could be heard. On the bleachers on the right of the entry, M.C., Nyx, Joshua and Dinky were watching.
"H'oh boy," said M.C.
"He'll be okay," said Joshua. "He just needs to believe in himself, and he'll gain the confidence."
"Let's hope he does," said M.C. "'Cause I don't know what'll happen if he doesn't."
Tender Taps gulped nervously. Then jazz-like music started playing. Apple Bloom then did a simple tap, then signaled Tender Taps to do so, but he did an awkward tap. Apple Bloom then looked at the audience, worrying. Then she looked over at Sweetie Belle, who gave her a sign that she did not know what to do. Apple Bloom then started tap dancing energetically, moving around the stage, but didn't realize she was about to dance off of the stage, and fell off. She landed on her face. She then got up, and about all of the ponies in the room were laughing.
M.C. chuckled and said, "That's gotta hurt."
"Is she okay?" Nyx asked.
Apple Bloom peeked her head up to the stage and said, "Can't be any worse than I was!"
Tender Taps was still nervous. Then he looked down at his hooves. He then tapped his hoof. Then he started tapping some more. He was getting more excited, and then he started tap dancing his heart out. The audience was in shock and awe. Apple Bloom smirked, knowing that it was working. Tender Taps kept dancing, then headed for the background, ran up it, flipped, landed on his knees, and slid towards the end of the stage. The crowd was awestruck, and then they started cheering.
Tender Taps looked around at the ponies cheering for him. He smiled at Apple Bloom, who was smiling back. Then there was a flash coming from his flank, and his Cutie Mark appeared. It was of a top hat in a spotlight. He got excited and then started dancing in joy.
Outside, Tender Taps was looking at his Cutie Mark with the Crusaders around him. He was proud to have earned his Cutie Mark.
"I can't believe it!" said Tender Taps. "It's just what I always imagined it would be! And if it weren't for all of you, I wouldn't even have it."
"No problem!" said Scootaloo.
"It's what we do," said Sweetie Belle.
"Ah only wish Ah'd realized what you needed right away instead of mopin' around for no reason..." said Apple Bloom.
"Well, either way, I hope you keep dancing," said Tender Taps, lifting Apple Bloom's chin with a hoof. Then he started dancing and gave Apple Bloom a cue, who responded with two hoof taps.
"You know, Ah just might!" said Apple Bloom. "It sure is a lot of fun, and Ah'm pretty confident Ah can only get better." Tender Taps smiled in response. Then Apple Bloom turned to her friends and said, "Ah'm sorry Ah was so silly about us all doin' our own things. If we hadn't, Ah might never even have tried dancin'!"
"Or find out I needed help!" said Tender Taps.
"With each of us going out and trying things on our own, we'll be six times as likely to find ponies to help!" said Sweetie Belle. Nyx, Joshua and Dinky nodded in agreement.
"And trying new stuff might even make us better at helping them, like how I used my bungee jumping to change the sets!" said Scootaloo.
"Or my crochet to make the costumes!" said Sweetie Belle.
"Who knows?" asked Joshua. "Maybe we'll be able to learn new things that might help other ponies understand or gain their Cutie Marks."
"Well, one thing is for sure," said Apple Bloom while Tender Taps was showing off his Cutie Mark to two random ponies walking by. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders will never be the same." The other Crusaders got confused by that, until Apple Bloom pulled all of them in for a group hug and said, "We'll be better!"
Then all six of them high hoofed, saying, "Yeah!"
On a roof top, M.C. was watching them. He then said, "Kids these days." He then vanished.