Vinyl Scratch was sitting in a dark-purple loveseat with the Cutie Mark Crusaders sitting across from her on the floor of the two musicians' house; the fillies had hoped to try and be DJs (or classical ponies after Octavia got home) but had been sidetracked when Octavia teased the white unicorn with offering the girls lessons on how to sing; bringing into question how a DJ would know about or even sing A Cappella, leading her to tell them how she had met her marefriend and others in college.
Octavia was standing behind the chair where the white mare sat as they were all gathered in the living room of their two storied house in Ponyville. Before Vinyl was able to comment on how cute the gray mare's face was as she shook her head in exasperation at how much detail the white unicorn was willing to go into, they were distracted by a higher ranged voice from the floor.
“Wait, that's it? Were you two together for the rest of the time? What about when Ms. Octavia graduated? How did you come to live in Ponyville?” Sweetie Belle asked as she sat up from where she was on the ground between her two best friends.
“We stayed together ever since that first year of college; we have had a few fights but we got over them.” Vinyl looked towards the fillies who continued to sit on the floor as they thought about the story they were told.
“I always wondered how you managed to graduate a year early...” Octavia raised a brow at the young yet already famous DJ who sheepishly grinned back when she heard the comment.
“Well, you know... I couldn't stand the thought of being without you for a year; so I worked twice as hard and pulled ahead faster than the others.” Vinyl smiled up to her mare who gave a soft 'awww' at the emotion behind the sentence and shared a quick kiss; though they kept it less intimate considering the ages of the fillies in front of them.
As two of the three fillies 'aww'ed at the sight of love-struck ponies, the last one couldn't help but cross her hooves as she fake-gagged at the sight.
“Ewww; I'd thought Hannigan beat the sappy out of her orphans.” At this simple sentence, the atmosphere went from a happy to serious one; Octavia looking concernedly at her marefriend who shrugged back at how true it was while the two fillies looked to their other friend in concern for what she may not have told them about her past.
“That may be kid, but meeting Octavia here taught me to feel and trust again. I hope that you meet someone like that as well, for your sake.” Vinyl gazed at the small pegasus in all seriousness as the two felt a connection due to their mutual up-bringing and pain.
Scootaloo couldn't hold the caring gaze for long and looked out the nearby window instead as the room remained silent.
To break the awkward silence that had grown since the re-opening of old wounds, Apple Bloom perked up as she realized something about the story hadn't told them.
“Ms. Vinyl, ya didn't tell us how y'all got tah Ponyville. Did ya move right away or check out other places or...?” Apple Bloom trailed off at the return of the smirk on the DJ's face as the white mare faced the other two fillies.
“Well, if you really want to know...” Vinyl started to get back into the mood when she was cut off by an annoyed voice as the orange pegasus jumped up from her spot on the ground.
“Come on you guys! We've already heard one really sappy story; do we really need to hear about them moving out of college? Can't we go crusading or something?” Scootaloo looked at her friends who were torn between hearing more of the story and trying to do more things to get their Cutie Marks.
Scootaloo watched as her two friends looked between the white unicorn and the orange pegasus rapidly before Sweetie Belle came to the decision that they may not get another chance to hear the story and tried to make a deal.
“Please Scootaloo? Just one more story? What if we do whatever you want afterwards, would that be ok?” Sweetie Belle held her hooves pleadingly to the pegasus who sighed dramatically and sat back down with a 'thump'.
“Fiiinnnee; but we are doing whatever I want to afterwards, right?” Scootaloo crossed her hooves as the two other fillies smiled back in triumph.
"Right!” Vinyl and Octavia watched curiously as the whole discussion went on and when it was decided to continue the story both mares gave small shrugs. As Octavia showed no signs of taking over the story telling (aside from making sure it was kept to a 'G' rating), Vinyl settled into her tale once more.
After Vinyl explained how the couple came to Ponyville and their reception the trio couldn't help but smile at Pinkie's actions. After a moment, Scootaloo realized she was supposed to not like sappy stories and stood up as she looked to the others.
“Yeah, great, more sappy stories; come on you guys! The day's almost over and the most we've done is listen to a few sappy stories and learn a little about music. Let's get out of here and do some real Crusading!” The girls knew that Scootaloo was trying to maintain a 'tough' image and gave in to her demands; they had promised to do whatever thing she wanted next after all.
“Ok, let's go ahead and do some more Crusading.” Sweetie Belle stood up along with Apple Bloom and followed the young pegasus towards the door after waving goodbye to the older mares.
“Thanks fer tellin' us how y'all learned tah sing A Cappella and how ya moved here; we'll be back fer singin' lessons later! Bye!” Apple Bloom called out to the older mares on her friends' behalf as they left the two storied house quickly.
The two mares could only shake their heads at the rapid exit before the light-gray mare turned to the white one in concern.
“Was the orphanage really all that bad? Is it still open?” Vinyl continued to sit in the loveseat as she kept her hooves crossed as she thought about a place she had long ago been willing to pretend never existed.
“Yeah, it was pretty bad and I don't know if it is still open.... It may just be time to find out though.” As Vinyl's face cleared with this plan of action forming in her mind Octavia decided on a different way to relieve the pain of the past; the gray earth pony snuggled close to the white unicorn on the loveseat and rested her head onto Vinyl's back.
“I agree and I can think of a few extra things to do concerning that... 'Orphanage'. However, let's just sit here for a moment so I can help remind you about all that good stuff you were saying earlier.” Octavia smirked at the bashful look on the unicorn's face at how sappy she had been; though Vinyl didn't mind the current plan at all and settled more firmly into the couch with the mare of her heart.
“Come on you guys, we've been sitting way too long!” Scootaloo led the way, desperate to get away from the happy home of musicians.
The other two noticed this desperation and shared concerned looks, unsure of the best method to help. In the end, they decided knowing what the new plan was their first priority and gazed questioningly to the pegasus in the lead.
“Scoot, where are we goin'?” At the earth pony's question, the orange filly skid to a stop and searched the nearby area for inspiration; they had gone further in town, and found they were in front of the Sporty Pony.
“Well, let's see if Ace has any new equipment for us to try!” The others rolled their eyes at the hopeful tone from the pegasus before following along.
It had been a few months since they last visited and found that it had indeed gained more equipment and displays; there was a large (and rather new) display of extreme winter sports. The Crusaders browsed through skis, hockey sticks and pucks, snowboards and even mountain climbing equipment for cooler climates.
It was as Scootaloo found the snowboard with a flame design that she knew what their next crusade would be. Within moments, the three fillies had a set of skis and snowboards and trekked out of the shop, escorted by a lazy wave from Ace who was running the register; as they stood proudly in front of the tent shop, they gazed out at peaceful town around them with excited smiles.
Smiles that slowly fell as the bright sunlight and an usually warm breeze for November reminded them of a certain requirement that the town currently lacked.
“Scootaloo! There ain't no snow! How are we gonnah go skiin' when there ain't the one thin' that we need?” The orange filly looked sheepishly to the others who signed in resignation of another failed attempt.
“Well, at least we won't be in danger of getting hurt, unless there was some other way to get us ride them without snow.” At the word 'ride', purple eyes lit up as an extreme and potentially very dangerous idea came to Scootaloo's mind.
“Sweetie Belle, you're a genius!” The other two fillies shared concern glances before looking to their pegasus friend who had taken off once more; after they caught up, the gray-white and olive-yellow fillies tried to ask what was going on in between their pants.
“What is it Scootaloo? Did you see somepony?”
“Yeah, did we have to fight 'em off for ya?” Scootaloo pulled to a sharp stop next to her scooter (which had been stashed away near Sugarcube Corner), and turned to her friends in confusion.
“Huh? No, I didn't see Pepper or anypony, it's just that there might be another way to earn our skiing Cutie Marks.”
“Oh?” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom tilted their heads curiously as Scootaloo displayed her scooter.
"Yeah, I'll pull you guys as you're skiing then we can switch, so everyone can get a chance.” Apple Bloom shifted in place while Sweetie Belle gazed at the scooter.
“Ah don't know...”
“Come on, it will be easy. Besides, we already have the equipment, might as well try and use them.” Since no one could argue with this logic, they set up a basic rig so they could ski across the dirt.
As Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle strapped their back hooves to the skis and grabbed onto a rope tied to the blue scooter that should pull them forward.
Once they gave the all clear, Scootaloo started her wings and found a different kind of resistance to her pulling; instead of questioning what caused it (she had a hunch about it anyways), the young pegasus merely put more power behind her wings and they surged forward with a shout.
They were able to travel half-way across town when Scootaloo came across a couple of carts that had been knocked over and swerved to avoid them; this shook the others precarious hold on the ropes (not to mention their balance) and they crashed into the mess.
Scootaloo shot forward as the extra weight disappeared and had to do some quick maneuvers and impressive jumps before regaining complete control and finding the others once more.
“Are you guys ok?” The two Crusaders were face first in the mess with their hind legs (and skis) waving in the air; with a gentle tug to their skis, the unicorn and earth pony were free of the crash and sat in place; once they were sure they weren't badly injured, the three fillies looked at one another in confusion.
“Ah don't think this is gonnah work...”
"Yeah, and besides, you can already do really cool tricks Scootaloo, why would you want to try and get a ski Cutie Mark?” The young pegasus rolled her eyes at the question while they picked up the equipment and got out of the older ponies' way.
“Yeah but it's no special if I can always do it; we're Crusading for our special talents.” Dual 'oooh's came from the others at the explanation and they prepared to try and find special things they could do; starting with skiing.
“Maybe you guys were holding it wrong; try placing your hooves into all the straps and hold on with your mouths. I'll try and get us out of town.” Two determined nods greeted the instructions and in moments they were set to try again.
This time the young pegasus drove to the edge of town, finding that with her two friends in better balance made the trip much smoother. To create more of an extreme feeling, Scootaloo started to try and do more tricks, some thing that caused the skiers to shriek in fear at first but soon enjoyed it and gave muffled shouts of excitement.
They decided to try and head towards Sweet Apple Acres, where there was less ponies to almost run over in their travels; but instead of ponies to dodge, they now had trees and critters to watch out for. Scootaloo enjoyed the new challenge but while her scooter was used to and upgraded for such off-road and harsh works, the rope was not.
With a resounding snap, the two fillies were free of being pulled along and could only watch in concern as the sudden loss of extra weight made the pegasus shoot forward once more straight into a fence that kept the cows safe from possible threats. She had attempted to avoid a rather large apple tree but ran into the fence instead, and after the first few crashes, Scootaloo just tried to brace for more impact.
Once the dust settled, the girls found the orange filly under various broken boards; Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom rushed over to uncover the pegasus with concern; Scootaloo held a hoof to her head, trying to stop her spinning eyes once the pieces of wood were picked off her.
“Scootaloo! Are you ok?”
“Golly, ya really broke the fence, are ya ok?” The pegasus shook her head and sat up, bits of wood and dust falling off as she did.
“Uhhh, yeah, I'll be ok.... Sorry about the fence Apple Bloom, your family won't be mad would they?” Orange-yellow eyes widened at the reminder and the earth pony took a quick look at the damages done.
“Oh no! They're gonnah be so mad at us, we gottah try and fix it!” Sweetie Belle helped the pegaus up before they reached for the least broken pieces and stood at attention before the young farmer.
“Ready for instructions!”
Apple Bloom kept a close eye on her friends as they rebuilt the fence, wanting to be sure that it was actually functional (their attempt with Fluttershy's table came to mind). Trying to be fast in order to not be found, the girls finished their task and ran off with their supplies, unwilling to be in trouble for damaging farm buildings.
Applejack would later find the much sturdier fence and would wonder for days as to who went and fixed the weak woodwork; it was better designed and while the materials were the same, it seemed like whole new wood with a clean shine and smooth. After shrugging at no sign of who did the work, the orange farm mare continued on her way to finish her afternoon chores.
“What happened with the rope anyways?” Scootaloo glanced to her friends as they ran with all their stuff on their backs to be stashed away.
“Looks like it snapped right off, it wasn't strong enough tah handle bein' extreme.” Apple Bloom looked at the ends of the ropes in frustration while the others groaned at the plausible reason.
“I guess we better get stronger equipment if we want to do more extreme things later...” The others nodded to Sweetie Belle's suggestion as they finally came upon their clubhouse.
Once their latest acquisition was put into the attic, they sat in the center of their clubhouse in thought; while the earth pony and unicorn knew what they wanted to try next, they weren't sure how to get the pegasus on board to learn how to sing.
Suddenly Sweetie Belle's eyes lit up and she gasped loud enough that it drew the others' attention, looking over to the gray-white filly with curiosity.
“I know what we can do!”
“Yeah?” Apple Bloom shot a confused look to the unicorn while Scootaloo remained unaware and inquisitive.
“We should try one last music type before giving up on musical cutie marks!” The pegasus tilted her head in confusion and tried to keep from rolling her eyes in aggravation at the thought of possibly going back to the musician couple to learn more stuff.
“What last music thingy?”
“We should try and be singers!”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, we should learn how to sing!”
“But Sweetie Belle, you already know how to sing! You sing really nicely anyways, why would you need to learn more about it?” While the young unicorn blushed at the praise, she took on a pouty face as she fluttered her eyes to the young pegasus.
“Yes, but I wanted to sing with you guys!” Scootaloo flinched at reminder of her singing ability while Apple Bloom joined in the pleading, causing Scootaloo to sigh dramatically and slumped in place.
“Fiiinnneee, I get it; I sing really badly and could use a few lessons.... Sigh, let's just get this over with...” The two other fillies cheered with waving hooves and gave the pegasus a hug of thanks, which earned a groan and blush while she pushed them away.
Even though Scootaloo wasn't looking forward to going back to the sappy house of musicians, she wanted to get it over with as soon as possible and sped across the land with the cart firmly attached. They were in front of the two storied house soon after and it was to Vinyl and Octavia's great surprise to find the trio back for their singing lessons.
Vinyl had a gig that night but was willing to try and see how much help they would need while Octavia would be the teacher for the most part since the DJ would have to leave in an hour to catch her train. Considering how well the Crusaders did while learning just instruments, they weren't expecting all that much in the way of results; what the girls did do blew all expectations to the far corners of the room.
Sweetie Belle was a natural singer, changing pitch easily and keep a proper rhythm; she even picked up new songs in moments and improvised the rest. The one drawback was that she was very nervous at the start and even during the song at times, not used to singing in front of others and over-conscious about how she was doing. The older mares tried to subtly (and in Vinyl's case, not so subtly) hint that it very well might be her special talent but was quickly dismissed by the unicorn since she didn't like to do it in front of others (as well as the fact that it wasn't 'special').
Apple Bloom wasn't too bad either, having a lower range and while her accent did come through, it was still rather pleasant. She was able to keep a steady beat as well as proper projection, though it wasn't an obvious special talent.
Scootaloo was the polar opposite, her voice piercing the two mares' ears with its too high of pitch and sharp tone. They flinched at the sound and rubbed their ears while the pegasus stopped soon after 'singing' a few bars, knowing that it did hurt others' ears (though she wondered why the other Crusaders didn't seem as bothered by it).
Vinyl glanced to the clock and found that she had to start leaving, giving a loving nuzzle to her marefriend before bending towards the young pegasus for some last minute advice.
“Look, I know it's hard to let go and allow yourself to feel again but believe me, it is worth the risk; especially if you find a special somepony of your very own. Keep safe and maybe I'll see ya around, ok kiddo?” The DJ scuffed up Scootaloo's mane and exited shortly afterwards, knowing that she wouldn't get a response to her words.
Octavia smiled at the retreating figure before turning to the girls and starting with the basics; projecting, range, rhythm and courage. After working with the girls for another hour, Scootaloo was able to sing a single note without shattering nearby glass while the others got bolder with their singing. Once they were done congratulating the young pegasus on her progress, the trio promised to stop by one day a week for more work and practice.
Soon after their practice, the trio called it a day and went their separate ways, promising to do more Crusading later in the week.