Alex was walking through the town with Maddie, Applejack, and Apple Bloom the next morning. Many ponies were constructing the hostels where the guest ponies would be staying and the scooters for the riding duels. “Boy, howdy,” said Applejack, “I sure can’t wait to get this competition started. And to think it’s starting tomorrow.” “Sure is,” said Alex. However, the day was unusually hot and the ponies were becoming exhausted from the heat, causing them to work slower. “Come on,” yelled the warden. “We need to have this finished by day’s end, and you haven’t even made a dent yet.” Apple Bloom, who was a gifted carpenter, walked up to them. “Hey guys,” she said meekly, “I know a thing or two about building. Do you think I could help you?” “Not a chance,” said the warden. “You’re too young and we have all the help we need.” One of the ponies then collapsed from the heat. The warden, growing impatient from the lack of progress, relented. “Fine. Grab a hard hat; you’re in.” Apple Bloom happily ran over to help them work. “Y’all be careful, ya hear?” shouted Applejack. “I can think of another way to speed up their progress,” said Maddie. “Come on out, Bruford!” she yelled as she tossed a pokéball into the air. Out of it came a big white bear with an icy beard. The other workers plus Apple Bloom had never seen this before, so they initially got frightened. Maddie then told her beartic to do a light blizzard attack. He did so and he blew a cool breeze from his mouth. The other workers felt revived and began working faster to make up for lost time. Even though Apple Bloom was 3 times younger than most of the workers and was much smaller too, she was keeping her own and keeping up nicely. With her assistance, they were able to get to making the scooters earlier than expected. Apple Bloom’s friend Scootaloo had a scooter, so she was more apt at making the scooters than anybody. By the mid-afternoon, they were all finished. The warden went over to Apple Bloom who was filthy from her labor. “You did good kid,” he said. He then started wiping off some of the soot and dirt off of her. When he wiped the dirt off her flank though, there was an image of an apple encased by a frame with a hammer driving in a nail which held the string the frame was attached to. Apple Bloom got wide eyed at the sight of her new cutie mark. “YEEEEESSS!” she screamed. And she darted off to find her friends. “Yeehaw,” exclaimed Applejack. “I knew my little sis would get her cutie mark eventually.”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were in the theater being watched by Scott and Lucas and getting them prepared for the competition. Apple Bloom ran inside glowing, showing her flank to everyone. “Woah, Apple Bloom,” said Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo simultaneously, “you got your cutie mark.” “So that’s what those things are,” said Scott. “I thought those marks on your rumps were some special tattoo or something.” Lucas could tell immediately that getting one of these was some rite of passage here, so he said, “Congratulations.” The others then looked a little disappointed. “What’s wrong,” asked Scott. Sweetie Belle replied. “I mean I’m happy that you got your cutie mark, but I just feel a little jealous that Scootaloo and I still don’t have ours.” “I see,” said Scott. “How do you get one of these… cutie marks?” “Scootaloo responded, “A cutie mark is something that appears when a pony discovers his or her special talent.” “Well, let’s examine that,” said Scott. “Scootaloo, I heard you defeated Maddie in your very first duel, and you were fighting well against Lucas before Apple Bloom got here, so maybe you can look into dueling as your special talent.” Scootaloo perked up. “Okay,” she said. Scott then focused on Sweetie Belle. “And Sweetie Belle, when I was practicing the other day, you were singing along quite well. Maybe singing is your special talent.” Sweetie Belle was a little unsure of herself, “I dunno,” she said. “I don’t like singing in front of a crowd.” “Well, that’s not exactly going to inspire confidence, is it?” chided Scott playfully. “Well how do you not get scared from being on stage in front of all of those people?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Well, it’s actually a long story,” replied Scott. “You see, when I was a wee little child, my parents owned one of the most successful real estate agents in Hoenn. I would usually travel along with them because it eased the costs of babysitters or nannies. One of the homes that they had to renovate and sell was an abandoned chateau near a city called Eterna. The last owner abandoned the house years prior after he claimed it was haunted. As my parents began working, I went around the house and explored it. Up in the attic, there was that had nothing but a record player and a beautiful large piano. I went up on the bench and began banging the keys. After I stopped to take a breather, the piano played the exact same thing I did on its own. I got frightened and ran off. I mean, I never wanted to go into that room again. Then-” “That’s great and all,” said Sweetie Belle, “but what does that have to do with my cutie mark?” Scott jumped to the important bits. “Then one day, I wanted to test my fear of the piano. So I went upstairs and looked at it some more with caution this time. Then, it played a single C note. I repeated it then it played a C and D, which I repeated again. Soon the piano was teaching me harder and harder things to the point where I could learn to do this.” Scott then followed his story with a rolling piano solo. The three fillies looked on with admiration. “My father, who saw me getting interested in the piano, got me tutoring lessons where I learned to read music. Once I was through with the basics, I was able to play music far beyond the level of my age. Because of my rapid progress, I was accepted to attend arguably the best music school in the entire world in Hearthome City, where I spent most of the remainder of my life until I met Alex, Sammy, and Maddie. But the point of the story is that you need to overcome your fears if you want to accomplish something. I had to face the haunted piano, and as a reward I was given a free ride to a prestigious school.” “One more thing,” asked Sweetie Belle. “Are there any tips on how to perform better in front of a crowd?” “Sure,” Scott responded. “Just pretend the crowd doesn’t exist, and picture yourself in a place where you’re most comfortable playing. For me, it’s the attic in that chateau. But just have fun doing what you’re doing. The more you let the crowd get to you, the more you focus on your mistakes, and the more you focus on your mistakes, the more you’ll make.” “Wow,” said Sweetie Bell. “That really helped.” “I’m glad I could,” responded Scott. “I heard you were performing tomorrow for the opening ceremonies. Do you think maybe I could sing a couple of songs?” Scott looked at Lucas for an answer as he was the singer and in charge of those things. “I don’t see why not,” said Lucas. “What did you have in mind?” he asked. Sweetie Bell responded, “I was really liking some of those tunes by that Wonderful Steve or-” “You mean Stevie Wonder?” interrupted Scott. “Yeah, him,” confirmed Sweetie Belle. “I’ll see what we can fit in,” said Scott, “but if you want to perform to the best of your abilities, we’re going to need to practice.” “Okay, then,” said Sweetie Belle happily. The two then practiced and collaborated until nightfall.