“OCTAVIA, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!?” Asked Vinyl Scratch in disgust.
“Vinyl! It’s not what it looks like!” Octavia pleaded as Fluffle Puff stood over her.
“Oh… okay then…” Said Vinyl casually, then, Octavia pulled a script from under the covers and tapped it with her hoof.
“Did you forget your lines again?” The annoyed Octi rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, I spilled coffee on my copy a couple days ago.” The white pony said as she scratched her blue mane and she searched her brain. “Oh yeah… WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE!” Vinyl bellowed.
The rainbow painted Octavia got up from the bed and walked toward Vinyl. “Please… we were just rehearsing a musical number!”
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOUR DEFENDING YOURSELF!”
“Oh… by the way, it’s ‘you’re’, not ‘your’.” Octavia corrected.
“What are you talking about?” Vinyl replied.
“Your line had a typo there.” Octi said as she flipped through the pages of the script. Vinyl looked at where Octavia was pointing and nodded in agreement.
“WHATEVER! AS SOON AS I FIND MY TICKET, I AM OUT OF HERE!” Vinyl said in frustration as she resumed her character.
“Are we still on for Thursday?” Asked Octavia as she leaned over to Fluffle Puff as she nibbled a lampshade. Fluffle replied with an enthusiastic gasp and pranced out the bedroom. “I really need to find a better job.” She sighed as she cringed while looking at her paint smeared body and sulked to the bathroom.
Meanwhile, the final bell rang at the school, and dozens of colts and fillies exited the elementary school.
“So Crusaders, how are we going to get our cutie marks this weekend?” Asked Scootaloo excitedly as she cruised next to her friends.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to do any Crusading this weekend, Rarity will never let me hear the end of it when she finds out I got a D+ in math.” Sweetie Belle grunted.
“Well, it’s not yer fault numbers can’t add themselves!” Apple Bloom comforted Sweetie.
“It’s also not my fault my saddlebag got knocked into the river while we were fishing.” Sweetie Belle looked at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo accusingly, who both blushed as they looked at each other.
“How about we come over and help you make up the homework?” Asked Scootaloo.
“I don’t think you want to be around Rarity when she is monologuing.” Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and tousled her mane with her hoof to mirror Rarity’s. “OH, WOE IS ME… I CHIPPED A HOOF… I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SHOW MY FACE IN PUBLIC AGAIN! OH, THE SHAME OF IT ALL!” She mocked.
“That was a pretty good impression, Sweetie Belle.” Praised Apple Bloom.
“Anyway, I better get this over with…” Sweetie Belle sighed.
“I think I’ll go see what Rainbow Dash is up to!” Added Scootaloo.
“Alright then, have fun, y’all!” Said Apple Bloom as she waved farewell to her friends, then turned and trotted to Sweet Apple Acres. She hummed happily as she made her way down the dirt path, only to be interrupted by a hissing noise. Apple Bloom looked around and saw nothing and continued trotting, but heard the hissing noise again.
“Diamond Tiara!” She said as the snobby pink pony jumped out from behind a bush. “What do you want?”
“Oh, I never miss an opportunity to talk to a friend of mine.” She taunted, walking up to Apple Bloom.
“Well, Silver Spoon is back at the school, I’m sure she’s waiting on you.” Apple Bloom snarled.
“Oh, you country bumpkin are so funny!” Diamond Tiara giggled blandly as she walked around Apple Bloom like a shark surrounding a boat.
“What do you want?” She asked again.
“Oh alright, you forced it out of me. I want your clubhouse.” Diamond Tiara’s blue eyes looked evilly at Apple Bloom.
“My clubhouse? Why do you want my clubhouse?” Apple Bloom was taken aback.
“You see, my daddy won’t let me have one of my own, he says I have to learn to ‘play nice with others.’” She explained.
“So, why don’t you do what he says?”
“Because it’s too much work,” she scoffed, “when there is a perfectly good one right on the Apple Farm.” Diamond Tiara grinned.
“Well, you can’t have it!” Apple Bloom assured.
“Oh yes I will, when I tell everypony you have your cutie mark!”
“Everypony knows that I don’t have my cutie mark, there’s no way they’ll believe you!” Apple Bloom ridiculed.
“Oh they will when they see these.” Diamond Tiara reached into her saddle bad and pulled out a poster of Apple Bloom what an image of a haystack on her flank. “I have to say, I’m pretty good at arts and crafts.”
“Who do you think is going to believe that?” Apple Bloom said, waving a hoof at the picture.
“Everypony, and if you don’t give me your clubhouse, everypony, including your precious Cutie Mark Crusaders, will think you’ve been lying to them. Can you imagine how betrayed they’d feel?” Replied Diamond Tiara as she made puppy eyes.
“You can’t convince anypony that I have my cutie mark, and you certainly cannot have my clubhouse!” Apple Bloom said defiantly.
“Have it your way.” Diamond Tiara replied as she walked away.
The next morning, Apple Bloom approached the school and was greeted by several of her filly classmates.
“You got your cutie mark?” Asked Snips, “That’s so cool!”
“Yeah, I want to see!” Added Twist.
“I don’t have my Cutie Mark!” Retorted Apple Bloom as she approached the same poster she saw the previous day.
“Apple Bloom!” Called Scootaloo, “When did you get your cutie mark?”
“I didn’t, Scootaloo; Diamond Tiara is just trying to embarrass me.” Apple Bloom explained as Sweetie Belle approached.
“Oh, I would never do such a thing!” Replied Diamond Tiara from behind them, carrying with her a bucket. “Why don’t you show everypony your cutie mark?” She taunted.
“You know I don’t have one!” Apple Bloom said aggressively.
“We’ll see about that.” Diamond Tiara sniggered as she thrust the bucket full of water onto Apple Bloom.
“Why did you do that?” Asked Sweetie Belle as she backed up her friend, but an audible gasp was heard from everyone in the schoolyard. Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo who looked shocked; she turned to where Scootaloo was looking and gasped herself. As Apple Bloom stood shivering from the cold water, part of her flank began to dissolve, revealing a haystack cutie mark! Apple Bloom looked at it and gasped in shock, a red background appeared behind her.
Back in Ponyville however, Pinkie Pie was bouncing along the street, headed back to Sugarcube Corner. She passed Davenport’s Quills and Sofas when she crashed into somepony, spilling a bushel of apples. Pinkie propped herself up off the ground and shook her head and saw who she ran into.
“Gilda!” She said surprised. “How have you been?” Pinkie asked casually.
“Oh… pretty good, got a job with this ‘Harry Potter’ guy.” Replied the Griffin, shrugging, and then snapping back into character. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY WAY?” Barked Gilda. Pinkie and Gilda entered a staring contest that lasted for several minutes until Gilda finally broke and blinked.
“Ha-ha! You blinked!” Pinkie said triumphantly.
DUN… DUN… DUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNN!