Sweetie Belle slipped into the shade behind the oak tree. She was cloaked in a black suit- a perfect disguise, other than the fact that it was high noon. Two fillies soon followed suit, each wearing a similar outfit.
"Sweetie Belle, are y'all sure this is what we should wear?" Applebloom asked, picking at her suit with a yellow hoof. "Ah dunno, it seems kinda... obvious."
Sweetie Belle nodded vigorously. "I'm sure. When Twilight and Spike and Pinkie went on that mysterious mission to the Star Swirl the Bearded archives in the middle of the night to retrieve top-secret information on how to stop the end of the world, this is what they wore. So, since we are on a mission to that weird lair with the old guy at twelve twenty four in the morning to become secret agents like that anthropomorphic platypus and foil a pharmacist's evil scientist's petty, poorly planned, and very unlikely to succeed plan and hopefully get our cutie marks in the process, we need to wear to same thing."
Her friends stared at her, dumbfounded.
Scootaloo was the first to speak. "Um, what?"
Sweetie stared at the tree for a moment. This would be a challenge... a very, very difficult challenge. She tapped he tree trunk. Pressed her ear up against the faded bark. Stuck out her tongue and caught a taste of the wind (seventy two degrees northeast).
She then proceeded to awkwardly conjure up a disco ball and start dancing.
Meanwhile, Applebloom and Scootaloo stared on in utter horror. They vigorously rubbed their eyes. Tried to erase the horrible scene before them.
But, surprisingly, Sweetie Belle getting her groove on was the key to opening a secret door in the tree trunk, and before their eyes, half of the tree fell away.
Sweetie stared at in, grinning smugly. She sauntered up to the tree, flicking her tail in Applebloom and Scootaloo's open jawed faces. If they had been capable of observations at that point, they would have noticed a strange collection of colors on her flank...
"Told you so!" was the last thing she said before disappearing into the hole.
Applebloom shook herself out of her stupor. "Um, what just happened here?"
Scootaloo shook her head. "I have no idea. I think... I think Sweetie Belle is a genius. And a really sore winner. And a really, really bad dancer. That's definitely not her special talent."
Her strawberry maned friend stared at her. "There's a hole in a tree in a random backyard in a world populated by stupid creatures that walk on two hooves an' its somehow activated bah Sweetie Belle's awful sixties dancin', and y'all are worried about cutie marks?"
"Yes. Yes I am." Scootaloo replied, before also disappearing through the hole.
Applebloom shrugged. "Well, if Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are stupid enough to jump down a hole in a tree without any idea what's down there..."
The yellow filly quickly proceeded to do the same as her friends before her.
"Then ah am too!" echoed up from the bottom of the hole.
After several minutes of free falling through a plastic tube, Sweetie Belle landed in a large space with a small monitor hanging above a desk.
"Ooh..." she said, gazing at it in wonder. "Technology-y."
She heard a loud thud behind her, turning around, a heap of chicken was collapsed behind her.
"Hey Scootaloo!" she exclaimed. "Glad to see you could make it."
The filly stared in awe at Sweetie Belle, her gaze located just near Sweetie's tail. The looks made Sweetie Belle feel very self-conscious, before she realized exactly where Scootaloo was staring.
"Spin! Spin!" she cried.
And Sweetie Belle did just that, gazing upon the wonders of all wonders: a cutie mark, displayed upon her alabaster flank.
"Cutie mark- cutie mark!" was all she could say.
Scootaloo stared. "What do you think it all means?"
It was a symbol of a white pony with a pink and purple mane done up in an afro wearing bell bottoms and a groovy tee shaking her groove thing under the light of a disco ball.
It was then that a third being came crashing down the chute, landing on Scootaloo. The chicken groaned under the toned weight of Applebloom, but the farmfilly was more occupied by staring at Sweetie's rear end.
'Y'all- y'all got you're cutie mark!" she exclaimed.
"Eeyup." said Sweetie, copying Applebloom's southern drawl.
Applebloom scratched her chin. "But what does it mean?" she wondered aloud.
Sweetie Belle took the opportunity to apply her hoof to her face in a gesture of pony contempt. It was... a facehoof. "That I'm an amazing dancer, that's what!" she cried.
Applebloom and Scootaloo shared their own facehoofs.
Suddenly the video monitor sprung to life, and Major Monogram appeared in the screen.
"Aah!" he screamed. "Carl! It's more of those... things! The tiny ones! With the... aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
He ran off the screen, and was soon replaced by a gawky teenager, who was stroking his chin in deep thoughts.
"Say... how would you three like to be... secret agents?"