Miracle Morningstar Paladin, the ten year old daughter of princess Celestia and prince Shine Paladin... was bored. Her parents were off at some 'important royal meeting', and the young Alicorn filly had found herself with nothing to do.
It was a problem that seemed to recur often. Ever since the royal dignitaries' visit three years ago, where her aunt Mist met her now coltfriend Blue Blazes, nothing seemed to happen at Canterlot Castle anymore. There were a few good days, of course, but they were so few in-between.
Nowadays, she found her days to become 'routine'. She got up, had breakfast, attended her lessons on royal etiquette (provided by her mother), had lunch, played with her friends, had dinner, then read in the library until bed. Today was even more boring: Luna, Gothic and Constell were visiting the Crystal Empire, Mist was out on a date with Blue Blazes, and Blueblood and Dusty were visiting Dusty's family in Bitaly, so she had nopony to hang out with.
Unwilling to just sit in her room until her parents returned (or at least until something exciting happened), she decided to explore the castle.
As she came near the library, she heard a small commotion.
"You're sure you can do it?"
"Sure I'm sure!"
"So do it already!"
"I would if you let me concentrate!"
Miracle peeked into the library.
In there, she saw Pureblood and Vito Crest, the twin sons of Blueblood and Dusty, both a year younger than her. Miracle got along well with the easy-going Pureblood, but she was often annoyed by Vito's egocentric boasting. The latter was trying to use his magic to lift down a book.
"Trying" being the operative word; His inexperience led to his horn glowing on-and-off, and the book jerking out bit by bit.
"Need a little help?" Miracle offered.
"No thanks." Vito shook his head "Almost... got it..."
The book moved out of the case, then dropped as Vito's magic failed. Miracle used her wings to flutter up and catch it.
"Got it!" She smiled.
"Thanks, Mir." Pureblood sighed, "I keep telling Vito that he needs to learn how to use his magic properly."
"Whatever." Vito snorted. "I had the situation well in hoof."
"What is this, anyway?" Miracle checked the book's cover. "'A history of Cutie Marks'? What do you want to read this for?"
"Because we're tired of waiting for our special talents." Pureblood declared. "We were hoping this book could give us some pointers."
"Do you really want your Cutie Marks that badly?" Miracle asked.
"Don't you?" Vito pointed out her own blank flank. "You don't want to wind up like your dad, do you? Waiting twenty-five years to find out what your special talent is? Heck, if he hadn't met Auntie Celestia, it could had taken longer!"
"Well... I guess not." Miracle frowned, looking at her flank.
"Then let's get reading!" Pureblood declared.
The book was opened, and they started reading. An hour later, they finished the book.
"Well, that was no help at all!" Vito scowled. "It was just a lot a' guff about 'waiting for your talent to shine through'. How does that help us get our Cutie Marks?"
"Guess it's back to the drawing board." Pureblood sighed.
"Maybe we should go out into the gardens." Miracle suggested. "The fresh air might help us think."
As the trio walked through the corridors, they bumped into Caboose and Hurricane. From a young age, Hurricane had loved coming with her father to the castle, and joined Miracle, Pureblood and Vito as they played together. They had become the best of friends. She was arguably closest to Miracle, admiring her for her "smarts", while Miracle admired her honesty. Hurricane and Pureblood shared the same pleasant demeanor, and she could always make him laugh. Although Vito was often annoyed by her wacky antics, he enjoyed having her around (though he would never admit it), and Hurricane found his bemused reactions to said wacky antics very amusing, thinking he was "being silly".
"Good morning, royal kiddos!" Caboose smiled.
"Hi, guys!" Hurricane beamed.
"Hey, Hurri." Pureblood smiled.
"Where ya goin'?" Hurricane asked.
"The gardens." Vito answered.
"Why?" Hurricane queried.
"To get some fresh air." Vito frowned.
"Why?" Hurricane repeated.
"To help us think." Vito growled.
"Why?" Hurricane smiled.
"Because!" Vito snarled.
"Why?" Hurricane repeated.
Seeing his brother about to blow a fuse, Pureblood covered Vito's mouth.
"Wanna come with us?" He asked.
"Can I, dad?" Hurricane asked. "Can I? Huh?"
"Sure thing, sweetie." Caboose ruffled her mane. "Just be back by dinner, kay? And don't talk to strange ponies... other than Vito."
"Thanks, dad!" Hurricane beamed.
The quartet moved on, muffled rantings coming out of Vito.
Out in the garden, they explained things to Hurricane.
"Wanna get your Cutie Marks, huh?" She mused. "I know the feelin'. I'm sick of seeing this blank flank staring me in the face every time I look in the mirror."
"You look at- Never mind." Miracle sighed. "I really don't want to know."
"So, what now?" Pureblood asked. "How can we get our Cutie Marks?"
"I know!" Hurricane raised her hoof. "We put on hula skirts, and dance around, chanting 'Ooga chaka, ooga chaka!"
"What?" Vito gaped, flabbergasted. "How's that going to help us get our Cutie Marks?"
"Cutie Marks, you say?"
The four look to see Dusk Glow, visiting for the day, walked over to them.
"Oh, hi, Dusk." Miracle waved. "We were just talking about how to get our Cutie Marks."
"We want 'em sooo bad!" Hurricane groaned.
"I just want to know what my special talent is." Pureblood added.
"Me, too." Vito agreed. "I'm great at everything, but it'd be nice to know what I'm really great at!"
"Y'know, this reminds of a story my mom once told me." Dusk reminisced. "A while before I was born, there were these three fillies who wanted their Cutie Marks more than anything. One day, they decided to form a club, one dedicated to helping each other find their special talents, and have fun along the way. They called themselves 'the Cutie Mark Crusaders'. They eventually did find their talents, but inbetween, they inspired other 'blank flanks' to band together. First, there was a chapter formed in Manehatten, then, as word spread, all over Equestria, all of them filled with fillies and colts banding together as friends, and helping each other find their talents."
"Whoa." Vito gaped.
"That's amazing!" Pureblood grinned.
"Encore! Encore!" Hurricane cheered.
"Incredible." Miracle beamed.
"Sure is." Dusk nodded. "I gotta go. Things to do, ponies to see. You kids have fun."
As Dusk left, the four young ponies turned to each other.
"Are you all thinking what I'm thinking?" Miracle asked.
"Oh, yeah." Pureblood smiled.
"Definitely." Vito agreed.
"I think so." Hurricane nodded. "But if our hoofs were made out of jello, how could we walk?"
"She means we should form our own Cutie Mark Crusaders chapter." Vito said irritably.
"Oh." Hurricane smiled. "That makes way more sense."
"Working together, we should be able to find our special talents much faster." Pureblood declared.
"For sure." Vito agreed. "I'll probably find mine first, though."
Rolling her eyes, Miracle held out her hoof.
"So we're agreed, then." She declared. "From this point on, we are a team. We will help each other to find our special talents, and get our Cutie Marks. We are... the Cutie Mark Crusaders Royale!"
"Nice name." Pureblood placed his hoof against Miracle's.
"Well, we are all royalty." Vito joined in. "Except for Hurricane... unless you count her being a royal pain in the neck."
"Real funny." Hurricane huffed, as she joined her hoof. "Keep that up, and I'll give you a royal pain somewhere else."
"Meaning?" Vito growled.
"Let's just say your flank will have a mark. A horseshoe shaped one..." Hurricane glared at him.
"Try and play nice, bro." Pureblood sighed. "We're supposed to be a team now."
"Yeah, yeah..." Vito grunted.
"All together now." Miracle grinned.
As one, the quartet raised their hooves to the air and cried out "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ROYALE!"
Elsewhere, Caboose, while doing his royal guard duties, gave a shudder.
"Why do I get a feeling that I'm about to get dragged into a couple of misadventures?" Caboose mused.