Four fillies made their slow way out of the quiet town, exhaustion and failure weighing their steps. While the trio of Crusaders were dejected at not being able to sneak like Pinkie Pie, the other filly was also in a shocked stupor at the older mare's abilities.
Eripio believed even more that this small town in the middle of Equestria was the epicenter of great importance; making the green unicorn more determined to help her friends in anyway possible.
While the girls would have kept trying to learn from the master of sneaking and surprises, Pinkie Pie received a sense that Twilight was looking for her and left early (something that Eripio had trouble believing but was quickly hushed and assured that it was perfectly normal).
The four friends tried to be sneaky as they left the town but could tell it wasn't as successful as they would have liked. The closer they came to the clubhouse, the more their energy returned at the planned activities; the trio were soon pulling the bespectacled filly along as they raced up the ramp to make Eripio sit in the center with the various games on display before her.
As the trio showcased how they were going to have the best sleepover ever, the green filly watched with amused smirk; noticing the smirk, the trio looked back inquisitively as they paused in their actions.
“What's so funny, Eripio?” Apple Bloom tilted her head as she paused in the midst of pulling over more cushions.
The unicorn shook her head as she waved a hoof to the supplies cast about.
“Nothing really, I just think it's interesting how much effort you guys put into everything.” While Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle wore bashful grins, Scootaloo threw out her chest with a confident smirk.
“Of course! If we want to find our Cutie Marks and stop those Red Dragons, we can't do anything halfway.” With a chuckle at the bold words, the bespectacled unicorn nodded her agreement and watched as the activity resumed once more.
“You have been at sleepovers before right?” Sweetie Belle looked at the other unicorn curiously while Eripio watched in amusement at the piles of games and snacks that were being placed closer to hoof for easy reach.
“Hmmm? Oh, no no, I've been sleepover before; but it was many years ago...” At the soft tones the three others paused to look at Eripio inquisitively.
“What do you mean?” Eripio sighed, having guessed that this topic would come up if she stayed for a sleepover.
“Do you remember when I told you about my friend who died in a fire?” After checking for the three nods of recognition, the purple maned filly continued.
“Well, she was my best friend; we had lots of sleepovers but that all stopped after the fire...” The trio shared concerned glances before nodding with renewed determination.
“And that's one of the reason we are going to have the best sleepover ever!” Eripio broke out of the melancholy with a laugh at the response.
With that positive note, the girls got down to business of having fun. Even though they already played for several hours, having an extra player made it soon completely different; and since there were now four players, they could play on teams changing how games were played.
They played all the classics: 'oops', 'Snakes and ladders', 'tornado', 'battle clouds' and even 'pin the pail on the pony'. Afterwards they had an epic pillow war, with causality on all sides and alliances that broke with little notice. They spent hours playing and having a blast, enough to forget their failure earlier in the day and all the troubles they planned to shoulder in the near future.
After becoming exhausted from the very physical fight (with lots of martial art moves on all sides), they all sat in the center of the room panting, unsure of what to do next. While it was very late at night, they didn't want to go to bed just yet and tried to think of what to do next.
“Do ya want tah play more board games?”
“Nah!” the others shrugged indifferent while Scootaloo rolled her eyes while exclaiming.
“How about we build some more forts?”
“... Isn't this clubhouse pretty much the ultimate fort?” Eripio looked at the pegasus curiously; at the green unicorn’s question, the other fillies froze in shock before looking at the hidden compartments with a gleam to their eyes.
“We should check it out to be sure we can work the machines!” Sweetie Belle lead the way to where she could activate the opening of the stations and opened the compartments with the other Crusaders close behind. Eripio couldn't hold back another smirk at their excitement and remembered another use of computers in terms of entertainment.
“You know... There's another thing you could do with computers.” Eripio smirked at the inquisitive glances from the others and stepped forward to the main console in the center of the room; within moments the green unicorn soon had a new different browsers with various online multiplayer games.
“What is all this stuff?” Sweetie Belle leaned forward with her best friends close behind while staring at the screen, eyes wide at the colors and images before them.
“These, my friends, are online games; other ponies can play together and do stuff together so long as you have an internet and computer. There's different kinds, like pretend worlds, real-life strategy games, action and adventure games...” The glasses wearing filly trailed off with a smile at the awe and wonder in the Crusaders' faces at the different possible games.
Even if it was late at night, this didn't stop them from spending the next four hours playing games like Oakstory, Hero's Duty, and War of Lands. They took turns playing since there was only three computers at the clubhouse but it worked out well for the four friends, spending more time learning how to play before getting into their usual patterns and teamwork. When they worked together against other ponies, they were practically unstoppable once they knew how to play; with unusually good balancing out, the trio were able to work their way through most of the obstacles to Eripio's amazement.
While she knew that the Crusaders had great potential and worked well together, she hadn't expected them to be so good at games they never played or even knew about. The green filly couldn't wait to get her computer and see just how well they could take on some of the greater players.
By the time they managed to go to bed, it was well past 2am and they were all exhausted. It had been a long time since any of them had such an extreme sleepover, and it had been the one to top them all. They would have slept in the next morning except that they were soon woken up by a sharp poke and soft laugh; it was to Applejack's great surprise, the four girls stood rapidly and tackled her to the ground, pinning her hind-legs and fore-hooves while facing her with serious and suspicious faces.
“What in tarnation? What are y'all doin'?” At the accent and question, the girls paused in their efforts and looked to the orange mare in surprise.
“Oh, uh, hey Sis'... What are ya doin' here?” After giving a deadpan to the girls who were still holding her limbs, the fillies jumped up and lined up before the older sibling who shook her head at the actions.
While the girls woke up further, Applejack looked at the mess of the tree house with amusement; the girls had remembered to put the stations away but didn't do much for the rest of the supplies, leaving it in the same state when they finally went to bed: a total war zone and disaster area.
“Ah see ya had fun, hope yer ready for ah big discussion first thing in the mornin'.” The older farmer smirked at the girls who were confused and tried to understand through their sleep haze.
“What, what do we have to talk about?” Scootaloo stared worriedly at the older mare who smiled back reassuringly at the pegasus before waving for them to follow along.
“Come on girls, we wannah talk with ya in the house.” With barely a glance towards the girls who followed closely behind with strictly blank looks so not to incriminate themselves.
In moments, they arrived at the farmhouse where they found their older sisters waiting in the middle of the living room; the group sat in silence for a moment or two before the girls couldn't hold back their questions.
“What did we do?”
“What's goin' on?”
“Why is Rarity here too?”
Eripio barely held back her face-hoof and watched how the older mares also seemed amused at the reactions of the Crusaders. After sharing an amused glance, Rarity took the lead in the conversation.
“We have discussed the finer points of our agreement concerning your ungrounding.” The orange farmer nodded agreement before stating her own part after she noticed the slightly blank look on the Crusaders.
“Remember? Ya said that you'd ask us when goin' someplace; well, since ya want tah go visitin' other places so much, we figured out a way for y'all to be able to while showin' if you'll behave.” Seeing four heads tilt in question, Rarity returned to explain what the orange earth pony meant.
“What Applejack means is that we have come to an agreement for how you can visit other towns. Since you seem determined to go traveling, we will give you the chance to do so; but you will be accompanied with two older ponies to be sure you are behaving and can actually do what you're told.” The gray-white unicorn gave the Crusaders a firm gaze which earned sheepish smiles in return.
Eripio wanted very much to ask a few defining questions but knew that it wasn't her place to do so; she hadn't been the one grounded nor the one who 'agreed' to the 'deal'. Luckily, the other girls were slowly waking up and thinking of what was being said.
“Hang on, you mean we can go traveling again?” The older mares frowned thoughtfully at the straight forward question while they wondered if they were indeed still rather asleep.
“Yes, but with proper supervision.” The girls took on shrewd expressions as they focused on the main point of the new aspect of this 'deal'.
“So we can go tah any place we want tah?” Applejack smirked at her sister's question at the repeating questions but answered anyways.
“Yes, but only with two older ponies with y'all an' if we have the time.” Four frowns came at this statement with Sweetie Belle asking what was now on their minds.
“Wait, so we have to wait until somepony can come with us?” The fashionista's face soured at the annoyed tone and took on a haughty one in return.
“We can't just suddenly drop everything and go with you when you want to go someplace, Sweetie Belle.” Applejack shot a reassuring glance to the girls before looking to gray-white unicorn sternly at her tone.
“We're gonnah make sure ya get the chance tah go places, but ya got school tah worry about an' we have work tah do too.” The girls nodded as they thought about it before getting to the next point.
“So, where can we go?” Scootaloo tried to find the limits again and the older siblings actually answered this time.
“We have been invited to preform the Hearth's Warming Eve play in Canterlot; and since we would all be going, this would be a good time to see if you could behave in a different town. We shall see what can be done afterwards based on how well it goes.” The four fillies glanced at one another before huddling together in a circle to discuss the 'deal'.
“What do y'all think?”
“This may be our chance to go traveling again without getting into trouble.”
“But with somepony watching us at all times! We wouldn't be able to do anything about the Dragons either.” The other Crusaders paused in thought at this point, while Eripio gave her own suggestion.
“Well, this would be a way to check out the large cities, kind of like recon. We know the Dragons are going for control of the land, and they would need to take the cities first; knowing the area and setting up bases would help us keep ahead of them.” The girls looked to green filly as they digested this new ideas.
“So.... We would go to these places and somehow figure out ways to know the area in case we need it later?” Eripio nodded to the pegasus' question before giving the clincher.
“Yeah, and you could do enough to either prove yourselves to be able to go on your own or act like you are good and somehow get away later; you just have to wait patiently before trying anything.” The Crusaders sighed as one before nodding their consent and breaking free of the huddle to face the older mares who hadn't really heard the conversation, out of respect and the fact that the girls were whispering in hushed tones.
“So, do ya think we could do this? Yer'll behave an' we'll see if y'all can travel on yer own eventually.... Eventually.” Applejack repeated the time frame at the hopeful looks on the fillies' faces and the shocked face of the fashionista. At the rapid nodding, the older mares smiled and relaxed their stances before they brought the girls' 'ultimate' sleepover to an end.
“Now Sweetie Belle, while I'm sure you would rather stay and have fun with your friends, we must go back home.” The young unicorn groaned which earned a disapproving frown from the prim mare.
“Now now, we simply have to go home! You must go and make sure everything is put away properly, you have school tomorrow.” Sweetie Belle hung her head in dejection with the others following close behind, only to have the older farmer also burst their bubble.
“Yep, an' Scootaloo an' Eripio are goin' have to go on home too. Ah saw the mess y'all left in the Clubhouse, so y'all have tah do a lot of cleanin'.” The other fillies found it was their turn to groan and walk out dejected with the older mares following close behind.
The fillies were careful to not reveal their computers while cleaning up the mess left from the night before, much to the sisters' amusement of how much they apparently did. Once the task was done, Applejack escorted the others to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres; after a brief goodbye, they went on their ways while the girls promised to talk later.
For the next month the girls did their utmost to lay low and not get in trouble; they didn't want to risk getting into trouble and losing their chance of traveling. They stayed in town and spent only a few hours a day crusading for their talents; and while they felt like it wasn't as useful, it gave them practice at various skills and something to do while keeping an ear out for more trouble from the Red Dragons.
The only downside was same as before they decided to fight bad guys, running out of things to try around town. They finished another two lists of possible talents when Scootaloo came across something that she had forgotten about.
She was picking up newspapers that were to be delivered when she saw the current headlines; 'DJ Pon-3 Rox Out In Canterlot, starting new craze of music that will spread across the nation!'.
“Oh! That's right, DJ Pon-3 lives here in Ponyville!” The newspaper ponies looked inquisitively to the young pegasus who smiled shyly back at her at her outburst before grabbing the pile set aside for her and rushing through the morning.
The orange pegasus sped on her way through town, throwing the latest issue rapidly before grabbing one for herself to show the others. With very little pause in her wing beats, Scootaloo drove her scooter with incredible speed and skill out to Sweet Apple Acres where the other Crusaders waited to start another weekend of adventures around town.
With a sharp bang, Scootaloo burst through the door with brandishing the newspaper to her friends who smiled back as they turned from the camera monitor.
“Guys! I know what we can do today! We totally forgot about trying to be DJ!” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom brightened at these words, pleased at an excuse not to try for extreme scuba-divers in the local lake (they remembered the giant octopus that lived there rather vividly).
“Where would we learn tah be DJs anyways?” The young farmer looked at her friend who rolled purple eyes in return before spreading out the newspaper once more and pointing to the front page with a hoof.
“Remember? DJ Pon-3 lives right here in town! She's the best DJ ever, we can ask her to teach us all the tricks of the trade!” The remaining Crusaders smiled once more before nodding consent and following Scootaloo back down the ramp to the scooter and cart and speeding back to town.
It was just as the town was coming into view that Sweetie Belle noticed the flaw in the plan and asked about it over the buzz of orange wings.
“Scootaloo, do you know where DJ Pon-3 lives?” Scootaloo pulled over the scooter in a dramatic skid, creating a large dust cloud that slowly settled while she looked back to the two fillies in the cart.
“... Oh.” Two hooves met their corresponding faces while Scootaloo sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, scuffing her mane even further as she gazed to her friends in hopes of an answer.
“... Any ideas for how we can find her? We could try to drive around town and see if we find her place that way...” The two girls sitting in the cart rolled their eyes before looking to the sky in thought.
“Maybe Pinkie Pie could tell us? She was the one tah tell us that DJ Pon-3 lives here in town.” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shared a shrug before shaking their heads in agreement to the suggestion; Pinkie Pie has done a lot for the girls already and hasn't let them down yet, she'd be able to help this time too.
With renewed determination, the young pegasus started up her wings and pulling the others to the bakery where the pink party mare worked.
They entered the shop, hoping that it was one of the days that Pinkie was working and looked to the main counter expectantly; it was their lucky day, for the pink earth pony was working and seemed to be waiting for the trio.
“Hey girls! What's the plan for today?” The trio shared smiles at their fortune and looked to the older mare as they stepped closer to the counter.
“Hello Pinkie Pie, we were wondering if you knew where DJ Pon-3 lives? You said she lives in town right?” Sweetie Belle stepped further than the others as she posed the questions, earning a smile and nod from the hyper mare.
“Yeppers! Of course I know where she lives! I know where everyone lives here in town, because I know everyone who lives here! Come on, I'll show you!” The hyper baker leaped over the counter and pranced towards the door while shouting to the kitchens an explanation for the Cakes as to where she was going.
“I'll be back later Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I'm going to drop the girls off at Vinyl's and be back before the lunch rush, I promise!” The older bakers stuck their heads out of the kitchen door curiously before smiling at one another at Pinkie's usual antics and nodding their consent.
“Alright deary, be back soon though!” Pinkie smiled even more at Mrs. Cake's words and waved while walking backwards through the door, to the amusement of all the ponies watching.
After walking through the center of town with an in depth explanation of the DJ's latest work, the four ponies arrived before a two storied house that wasn't too far from the center of town; it had a small garden in the window sills that had small bunches of herbs and a few flowers and a large front window.
The pink baker bounced up to the front door and gave it a few rapid taps; within moments it opened to show a white unicorn wearing large purple sunglasses that covered her tired eyes as she leaned on the door frame with a smirk.
“Hey Pinkie... I just got back from a sick show, but was there something you needed?” The trio stood amazed at the sight of the famous unicorn, allowing the older earth pony to explain what was going on.
“Heya Scratchy! I heard about your latest and greatest show! Good work, prove them who's the best DJ around!” Vinyl rolled her eyes at the loud tones of her old friend and debated whether or not to interrupt the tirade; it was to her great surprise when Pinkie seemed to actually finish her thought and got to the point.
“Anyways, we need your help! The Cutie Mark Crusaders want to learn about being DJs; who better to teach them than the best of the best?” The older unicorn raised a curious brow before looking to the trio of fillies who were slowly coming out of their awe of being in the presence of one of the greatest musicians ever.
“Oh, uh, yes! We'd like to learn how to be DJs from you! Can we, please?” Sweetie Belle was the first to wake from her stupor and tried to give the older mare a winning smile; she nudged her friends who closed their mouths and smiled as well.
Vinyl looked at the girls and tried not to long for her warm bed on the second floor as she looked at the hopeful trio.
“... You guys want to learn to be DJs? I'm guessing that you were hoping to learn this today?” At three rapid nodding heads, the musician sighed to herself before cursing her soft spot for foals.
“Alright, I'll teach you guys the basics of the turn tables. Not everyone has the ability or ears to make it work though, so don't be too sad if it doesn't work.” The hooves waved in reassurance of how they would take failure along with 'phhffs' of dismissal.
“You should have seen us as window washers or plumbers or acrobats or zip-liners or professional marble players or soccer players or basketball players or...” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom took turns explaining their previous attempts to the amused disc jockey who lead them inside with a smirk at their energy; Sweetie Belle glanced to the pink mare who stayed outside and waved goodbye which was returned before Pinkie turned and hopped back to work.
After another minute of listing previous Crusades, Vinyl had the feeling that the girls needed to be stopped much like Pinkie used to and got their attention with a few waves of her hoof. Once they fell silent, the white unicorn proudly showed her machine that gave her the ability to make the ultimate sounds ever heard by ponykind.
The girls hadn't realized that computers could be hooked up to other machines to mix and match tones and beats and watched the DJ explain each part of the turn table; while most of the terms went in one ear and out the other, they remembered about the speakers, vinyl players, treble and bass, as well as cords for power, sound and connecting to the computer that enhances it all.
Only after learning the terms and what each thing did were they allowed to try and play a few things; while Vinyl hadn't expected masterpieces on their first try, the girls proved that some just didn't have any ability to make music using turn tables.
Scootaloo had little to no focus on the beat and tried to make cool or interesting poses while doing anything. Apple Bloom was a little better with keeping the beat but it was too simple and she had trouble finding anything that would spruce it up. Sweetie Belle did the best and showed the most potential but she still had trouble with all the technology as well as focusing on just the instrumental portion of making music; song lyrics and tunes wouldn't stop popping into her mind but she felt self-conscious about singing in front of other ponies (aside from her friends), meaning that she often suddenly stopped in the middle as she controlled the lyrical urges.
Vinyl noticed this tendency of the young unicorn's and just as she was going to mention it to Sweetie Belle there came the only sound that would bring a smile to the famous DJ.
“Vinyl! I'm home! Have you gotten enough sleep yet?” The four ponies in the cozy living room paused as they heard the door open and shut, turning to face the pale-gray earth pony as she trotted inside.
Upon seeing the Crusaders and Vinyl decked out like 'proper' DJs with glasses and glow stick leg bands, Octavia paused mid step with a bag of donuts on her back. At the scent of the sugar coated food, Vinyl rushed over and greeted her marefriend with a swift hug and kiss before relieving her of her burden.
“Hey Tav'! Those look good! Thanks a bunch!” The trio watched in surprise at the display and sudden change of attitude of the 'cool and collected' DJ; within moments the young pegasus could barely stand the obvious emotion and gushy stuff and turned away with a barely heard 'ewww', drawing the attention of her two friends who looked her inquisitively.
“What? They're way too mushy for me!” This sentence brought the two older mares' attention to their surrounding once more and they broke from the nuzzles to look over the trio.
“Sorry guys, heh heh, got a bit distracted for a moment there. Octavia actually knows some stuff about being a DJ AND is great at all other music stuff; being DJs might not be your thing... But there's other music stuff you could try.” Vinyl smiled at the renewed grins of the fillies who had been slowly growing dejected at their failures; Octavia smirked at how the white unicorn roughed up their manes before settling in the center of the room once more with the pale-gray mare at her side.
“Ok, Tavi, take it away!” The earth pony musician shook her head at the command but followed along anyways, having heard of the Crusaders before and their rather unique mission.
The pale-gray mare started with some the technical information about music in general and of the instruments they would be trying (something she could tell the fillies really wanted to do). Like previously, the technical information went in one ear and out the other, and heavily effected any chance they had at playing the double bass, saxophone and trumpet. Even Sweetie Belle, musically inclined as she was, had trouble using her hooves in such new ways and the different use of breathing.
As Octavia rubbed her temple with a hoof at the latest sounds that grated on the ears, Vinyl chuckled at the pained expression on her marefriend's face and gave her a nuzzle; due to her highly sensitive hearing, the unicorn heard the exasperated sigh from the pegasus at the showing of feelings and shook her head before facing the trio who stared back dejectedly.
“Wellll, uh, I guess being DJs or regular musicians aren’t your talents... That doesn't mean that you can't be musical!” Vinyl rushed on to say as three pairs of eyes teared up at the latest failure while Octavia picked up on that point.
“Well, have you guys tried being singers yet? You should have Vinyl teach you to sing, she has a lovely singing voice.” The pale-gray earth pony smirked at the shocked gazes of the fillies while the DJ blushed at the praise.
“What, how's ah DJ ah good singer?” Apple Bloom tilted her head curiously along with her friends while Vinyl chuckled lightly at the question.
“I learned how to sing by copying the radio that played in the orphanage; it was the only nice thing we had, until the care-taker decided that we were too happy.” Vinyl rubbed her head in bashfulness while receiving a comforting nuzzle from the other mare while the trio stared on in surprise.
“That sounds just like Scootaloo! Her orphanage was that kind of mean too!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shot Apple Bloom annoyed looks at the confession and tried to shush her before older mares questioned it.
“Huh... Really? Where did you go?” Vinyl and Octavia's poses turned serious at the sudden turn in the conversation, while Scootaloo glared at the now sheepish filly before grumbling to herself.
After sharing understanding glance, the older unicorn sat before the trio and tried to put out a reassuring air.
“Look, I promise-” at the three disbelieving brows, Vinyl amended her sentence, “-I Pinkie Promise not to turn you in; cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” At the severe oath, the two fillies looked to the pegasus to leave the decision in her hooves.
“.... Alright, fine. You tell me where you went to and I'll tell you where I went to.” Vinyl nodded to the deal and decided it required no sugar-coating.
“I went to Hudson Side Orphanage in Manehatten, under the watch of Hannigan.” Three pairs of eyes widened at the reveal, making the two older mares concerned as to where the young pegasus lived before.
“Huh, well, I went to Hudson Side too... Hannigan's still in change too...” Dark cerise eyes darkened with painful memories behind the large sunglasses, though Octavia could feel her marefriend stiffen next to her and could tell that it wasn't good news; from all accounts she had been told before, it wasn't a very pleasant place to live.
“... Oh....”
“How did you get away from it?” Sweetie Belle asked softly in hopes that there was some hope for Scootaloo yet, but was disappointed with Vinyl's next sentence.
“I didn't, I managed to just barely get through it and went as far as I could by going to college.” The other fillies tried to cover their disappointment while Scootaloo tilted her head in interest.
“So you went to college? What was that like?” Vinyl could tell the pegasus wanted to shift the focus from where they came from.
“Well, it all started when I found myself in this college so large it's like a town itself...”