//------------------------------// // The Competition // Story: Fun With Cutie Marks // by Dizzy Daze //------------------------------// Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle chattered excitedly as they flew around the Cloudiseum, waiting for the competition to start. Their unorthodox wings drew attention from almost everypony they passed, but they didn't notice; they were caught up in the excitement of the upcoming competition. Sweetie Belle withdrew a few bits from a saddlebag strapped over her back. "I'm going to go buy some cotton candy. Do you girls want anything?" Apple Bloom nodded eagerly. "Do they have any apple fritters? Ah can pay you back later if you'd be willin' to front me some bits." Scootaloo snorted. "Not likely. The pegasi are into different foods up here. They've got cotton candy, rainbow drops, popcorn, and some weird thing called 'elephant ears.' I wouldn't go for that last thing, if I were you. Nopony really knows what they're made of." Sweetie wrinkled her nose at the thought of a food called "elephant ears." She'd never seen a real elephant, but she had learned from Miss Cheerilee that elephants were huge, with folds upon folds of skin and large, leathery ears. Apple Bloom giggled. "Now that actually sounds mighty interestin'. Ah think Ah might wanna try some 'a them elephant ears. Sweetie, would ya mind lettin' me borrow some bits?" Sweetie hesitantly handed her friend a few bits, and Apple Bloom snatched them up and flew over to the nearest concession stand, a smirk on her face. Scootaloo watched warily as Apple Bloom rapped a hoof on the counter and stated, "'Scuse me, sir, but Ah'd like to buy one 'a your elephant ears." The vendor, a scrawny purple pegasus, smiled kindly at Apple Bloom. "That's a very good choice, miss. Would you like confectioner's sugar or cinnamon with that?" She pondered this for a moment, the choice made slightly harder because she still didn't know exactly what she was ordering. Finally, she slowly responded, "Confectioner's sugar, if ya please." The vendor nodded, reaching behind him and pulling out a paper basket. He held out his other hoof. "That'll be two bits, please." Apple Bloom gladly hoofed over the money and snatched the basket out of his outstretched hoof. Throwing a "Thank you!" over her shoulder, she rushed over to join her friends, delighting in the smell coming from her purchase. Her two friends looked at her curiously as she came to a stop in front of them, holding out the treat for their inspection. Inside, they found a fried mound of batter, covered in white powder. "Looks all right ta me!" Apple Bloom exclaimed happily, and stuck a piece into her mouth. Scootaloo winced and waited for her reaction. Apple Bloom's eyes widened and she moaned in delight. "Oh ma... You girls gotta try this! It's amazin'!" Sweetie glanced at Scootaloo, who shrugged. "Why not?" The pegasus asked. They reached in and broke off a piece, popping it into their mouths. "This is great!" Sweetie squeaked. She grabbed another piece and ate it, chewing slowly to savor the greasy sweetness. Scootaloo nodded in agreement, then waved at someone over Apple Bloom's shoulder. Sweetie and Apple Bloom turned to see Fluttershy soaring up to them. "Hi, girls," Fluttershy said, surprised to see them. "It's so good to see you. I didn't realize you were coming, as well. Where are you sitting? I came with my friend, and there are some seats next to us. If you'd like we can save them for you." The fillies nodded excitedly. They loved Fluttershy, whom they affectionately called "the Stare Master." Scootaloo scanned the throng of ponies before spotting the two she was looking for. "I need to go ask my parents, first. I'm sure they'll say yes, though." As Scootaloo zipped over to talk to her parents, Apple Bloom turned to Fluttershy. "So, where's your friend?" she inquired. Fluttershy blushed slightly. "Oh, he's saving my seat for me. I thought it would be best if he didn't wander around too much. He likes to cause trouble, and most ponies don't really like having him around." Apple Bloom looked curious, but before she could probe further, Scootaloo skidded to a halt in front of them. "They said it's fine," she said happily. "We just need to meet them here when we're done." Fluttershy gestured with her wing. "We should probably be going, girls," she suggested. "The competition is about to start soon." With that, the four ponies joined the crowd at the gates of the Cloudiseum and began to make their way to their seats. ------ The cloud seats inside the Cloudiseum had turned into cotton candy. Tufts of sticky pink confections attached themselves to ponies' hooves as they reeled back in surprise, suddenly noticing that they were no longer reclining on cloud. Fluttershy shook her head in mock annoyance. "He always does that," she murmured to the girls. Sweetie Belle was the first to understand. "Fluttershy...your friend, the one you brought with you, is Discord?" Fluttershy bit her lip and nodded. "Yes. Well, I thought it would be time to start introducing him into society as a normal member and letting other ponies get used to him and-- Oh my!" She broke off suddenly, startled as a tuft of cotton candy zoomed over from the opposite side of the arena, pushed itself under all four ponies, and rushed back to where it came from. One short, slightly nauseating ride later, a grinning face appeared before them. "Wonderful!" Discord exclaimed. "Fluttershy, I was wondering when you would be coming back. I hope you brought the popcorn?" Fluttershy looked down at her empty hooves and shrugged. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I went to go get some for you, but then I ran into the girls, and we had such a nice conversation that I forgot." She gave him an apologetic look, which quickly turned stern. "Although, maybe I should have thought better than to leave you alone for so long. Turn the clouds back, please. Other ponies don't like it." Discord pleaded with her. "But Fluttershy, aren't we out here to get other ponies more acquainted with the idea of me being out in public? They have to get used to it eventually. Besides, my cotton candy is the finest in all of Equestria. Here, try some!" He grabbed a clawful of cotton candy and waved it in Fluttershy's face. Fluttershy looked from the cotton candy to Discord's face, before sighing and turning to sit down. Discord threw the cotton candy into the air and snapped his fingers. The clouds returned to normal, and a large bucket of popcorn appeared between the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who had been wordlessly observing this exchange, too scared to talk. When Discord leaned over to collect his popcorn, he seemed to notice the fillies for the first time. "Why, hello there. I suppose you must be Fluttershy's friends. Good to meet you," Discord reached over and shook the fillies' front hooves at the same time, an extra paw sprouting from his arm to accommodate Scootaloo. "I must say, you little ponies look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?" He smiled at them; no doubt he was intending a sort of kind, fatherly look, but to the girls, he looked like a vampire about to bite. Sweetie Belle gulped nervously. "Well, Mr. Discord, we're from Ponyville, so maybe you know us from there? O-or, my big sister is Rarity, maybe you're thinking of her? It's really improbable that you would know us from anywhere else." Apple Bloom snorted. "Improbable? What are ya, a dictionary?" That phrase seemed to spark something within Discord, and he jumped up in glee. "That's it!" He cried. "You little ponies visited my statue and gave me a little spark of chaos, just enough to help me break out of that dreadful prison. So really, I must thank you." Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all looked at each other nervously. "You're...welcome?" Scootaloo said tentatively. Before any more could be said, a trumpet fanfare announced the arrival of Princess Celestia and the start of the competition. Discord waved a paw at the fillies, urging them to be silent. "This is going to be wonderful! I can't imagine what sort of things I could--" He broke off, wilting under Fluttershy's stern gaze. "See," he finished lamely. "All the wonderful things these pegasi will do, that I get to see." He smiled sheepishly at his friend, and all five occupants of that cloud turned their attention to the center. ------ After the competition, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were abuzz with what they had seen. They flitted around the concession area, waiting for Scootaloo's parents and discussing all of the performances. "I'm so glad that you brought us, Scootaloo! I loved watching all of the ponies with their graceful routines and their beautiful costumes," Sweetie squealed, pirouetting in the air. Apple Bloom nodded in agreement. "All 'a them daredevil routines weren't bad, neither. Who knows, Scoots, soon's you can get off'a the ground, you could be up there competin'! Ah sure wouldn't mind comin' back up here to watch ya." Scootaloo grinned. "It was pretty awesome, wasn't it? Come on, you guys, let's do something while we wait for my parents. Anypony up for tag?" Apple Bloom grinned. "Just tag? Ah challenge you two to a race!" Sweetie sighed as Scootaloo hoof-bumped Apple Bloom. "You're on! Last one to that cloud has to carry our bags to the chariot for the rest of the trip!" The three girls giggled as they shot off to a cloud, not too far in the distance, their amateur flying keeping them almost neck-and neck the whole time. As they neared the cloud, Apple Bloom put on one last burst of speed and passed her two friends, crashing into the cloud with a muffled fwump and a flash of light. Wait, a flash of light? Sweetie and Scootaloo reached the cloud, panting from exertion, and peered curiously at their friend, who was flying excitedly in a tight circle, shouting, "Girls! Girls! Didya see that light? Ah think Ah got ma cutie mark!" Sweetie flew up to her and put a hoof on her head. "Hold still, silly. We can't see anything when you're flying around like that." Apple Bloom slowed down and hovered uneasily in the air. Scootaloo caught sight of her flank and gasped, dropping several feet before remembering to flap her wings again, a dazed look in her eyes. Sweetie peered curiously at her friend's flank, and, glimpsing what was emblazoned there, burst out in high-pitched giggles. Apple Bloom twisted her head around, but was still unable to see her flank. "What?" She whined. "What's there? Ah wanna know what ma cutie mark is!" Scootaloo grumbled, "Of course she'd get that. It's just not fair." Sweetie stuffed a hoof into her mouth until her giggles died down, then rummaged in her saddlebags for a moment, emerging with a mirror clamped in her teeth. "Here you go, have a look," she giggle around the handle in her mouth, angling herself so that, from Apple Bloom's perspective, the newly-gained cutie mark was visible. Apple Bloom turned to look at the mirror, and her expectant grin fell into a frown. "You have got ta be kiddin' me," she gasped. Sitting on her flank, still sparkling in the sun, was a lightning bolt on top of a pair of wings. All three fillies recognized it as the insignia of the Wonderbolts, the greatest pegasus racing team in Equestria.