Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle sat in their treehouse, thinking of ideas of how to get their cutie marks.
"Cutie Mark Crusader librarians?" said Sweetie Belle, her belly plopped on the floor like a pancake.
"Nah;" said Scootaloo, scratching the back of her ear. "You know what happened last time we tried that! Twilight wouldn't let us in the library for a whole week! I've got a real idea: Cutie Mark Crusader snowboarders! I saw Rainbow Dash snowboard once!"
"Nope," replied Sweetie Belle. "It's summer, Scootaloo,"
"Yeah, I knew that,"
Applebloom sighed and sat up. She was so bored! Was there anything that they could do?
"Cutie Mark Crusader skateboarders!"
"Cutie Mark Crusader sewers!"
"Skateboarders!"
"Sewers!"
"I'm telling you, skateboar-"
"Girls!" said Applebloom. "Can you stop arguing? You sound like Fluttershy's birds during snack time!"
"Only Scootaloo!" complained Sweetie Belle.
"Hey, quit it!" Scootaloo said.
"Ugh! Fine, I've got an idea!" Yelped Applebloom, urging to stop the ruckus. "Um.... uh... how about... I got it! Cutie Mark Crusader lyre players! And... um.... we could go and ask Lyra!"
"Cool, that sounds totally awesome! How about you, Sweetie Belle?" chirped Scootaloo excitedly.
"Yeah. Let's go!" she eagerly said. The three then left the treehouse, skipping the whole way.
Lyra Hearstrings sat at the table next to Bon Bon in their house, eating her hay sandwich. Bon Bon eyed her suspiciously as she shifted her position into what she liked to call "Human-like Posture".
"Lyra, why do you always sit like that? It creeps me out!" said Bon Bon. Her eye twitched at the sight.
"Bonnie, I told you, the humans! They sit like this, and-"
"Seriously! It's just... so weird! Nopony else sits like that, except for Dr. Whooves, and he's a few candies short of a sweet tooth,"
"Because he used to be a human! You see, they are real!"
Bon Bon rolled her eyes and muched on her daisy salad.
"Bonnie, c'mon...."
Bon Bon's eyes darted back at Lyra, then back to her salad. However, they then darted back.
"Oh, alright.... fine, they do exist. But only in filly's tales,"
Lyra grinned and munched on her sandwich some more. Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door.
"I'll get it," said Lyra. She hopped out of her chair and opened the door.
"Hi Lyra!" said Applebloom, looking up at Lyra. "Scoots, Sweetie and I had an idea! We're gonna be Cutie Mark Crusader lyre players!"
"Um.. well, I dunno girls. Uh, I gotta eat lunch with Bon Bon," she said.
"But... but..." whimpered Sweetie Belle, giving Lyra puppy eyes. Those worked on everypony, no matter what.
"Oh, fine," sighed Lyra. "I was done with my sandwich anyway,"
"Follow me, girls," Lyra said, trotting with the three at her tail in Ponyville park. "I'll show you how to play, but you have to promise to handle my Lyre gentile, okay?"
"Yup!" they all chirped at once.
Lyra levitated her saddlebag, pulling out the thing inside. Let's see.... Three pieces of Bon Bon's homemade candy... a pocket watch... junk... crap... crappy junk... but not her Lyre.
"Aw, horseapples..." she whispered under her breath. "Girls, I forgot my Lyre. Um, wait here, okay?" Lyra gestured to a bench and began to gallop ahead.
"Hey, lets follow her," whispered Scootaloo. "We'll get bored here anyway,"
"But she said to wait here!" replied Sweetie Belle.
"Scootaloo's right, we'll get bored. But, we'll also get in trouble if she finds us," said Applebloom. "So, we should be... like spies!"
"Yeah! That sounds cool. We could be Cutie Mark Crusader spies and lyre players!" said Scootaloo.
The three ran off.
Lyra trotted past Fluttershy's house, into the Everfree Forest.
I must've left it in the cave... She thought, noticing Angel Bunny looking out the window from the cottage. Better grab it quick and get back to the girls.
What she didn't notice was Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle hot on her trail.
Lyra was deep in the forest now. She heard the hoot of an owl as she stopped at the base of a huge tree. She walked to the side of the tree, to a pile of rocks.
Lyra levitated the rocks out of the way. There was then a big hole, big enough for barely a petite mare to fit through. She squeezed down the hole and fell to the floor with an earsplitting thud.
She looked around the desk with the computer with it. She had found this area when she was a little filly. It was here that she learned all about the humans, through the internet.
She spotted her lyre on the side of the computer. She levitated it into her saddlebag, then climbed out of the cave and covered the entrance with the rocks. She then galloped back to the crusaders.
"Did you see that?" said Applebloom.
"Yeah, let's go in!" squealed Scootaloo.
"Well, I guess so.," said Sweetie Belle.
Applebloom stepped up to the side of the entrance to the cave, gesturing the crusaders to follow her. They dug up the rocks, revealing the entrance. They then slid down, one by one.
"Ouch!" yelped Sweetie Belle. Applebloom landed on her on the way down. "Watch it!"
"Sorry, Sweetie Belle," apologized Applebloom. She hopped off.
"Woah, check this out!" said Scootaloo.
In front of them, known to us but not to them, was a computer on a desk. There were wires coming out of the back and into the side of the cave to who knows where. The screen shined a bright blue.
"It's... so shiny!" said Sweetie Belle, mesmerized by the appearance.
"Oh... so... shiny..." joined Scootaloo.
"Hey, let's check it out! I wonder what it does," said Applebloom. She sat on the stool in front of the desk.
"Um, how do you use it?" said Sweetie Belle.
"Lemme try!" said Scootaloo. She reached up for the mouse. "Hey, what's this?"
"Hey, get your hooves off!" said Applebloom.
"But can't I try?" said Scootaloo.
"Fine," said Applebloom. "Let's play 'Tom, Paper, Scissors!' for it!"
"Alright. Tom, paper, scissors, sat shoot!" said Scootaloo.
"Tom!" said Applebloom.
"Scissors!" said Scootaloo.
"Alright, I win! I go first!" said Applebloom.
"But what about me?" asked Sweetie Belle.
Ignoring Sweetie Belle, Applebloom noticed a scrap of paper next to the computer screen. How to use the computer, it said in neat handwriting.
"Hey, it's called a computer!" said Applebloom.
"How are you supposed to know?" pouted Scootaloo.
"It says here," said Applebloom, pointing to the paper.
She read the instructions carefully, then started the computer.
They were about to witness the amazing power... of the internet.