Trial and Error
It was a bright Saturday morning and the new Cutie Mark Crusaders were in their clubhouse, holding their first official meeting since the initiation of their newest member. The pegasus Prism stood at the podium, the earth pony triplets and the unicorn Gemstone gathered on the floor in front of her.
"Okay, Crusaders!" Prism announced. "As your leader, I get to list the first order of business..."
"Hold on a moment!" Gemstone exclaimed, raising her hoof. "Who elected you leader?"
The pegasus blinked. "No pony. I just thought since this whole thing was my idea..."
"Why can't I be leader?"
"Actually," Blueberry said, "neither of you can be leader." She held up the rule book. "Rule 5 states that a single pony cannot run the club. Power must be divided equally among all members."
"Oh," Prism uttered, her shoulders sagging. "Okay, so I won't be leader. How about I be...Spokespony instead?"
Cherry tilted her head. "What does a spokespony do?"
"You know. Speaks. Makes speeches, runs meetings..."
"Why does it have to be you?" Gemstone argued.
The pegasus smacked herself in the forehead. "Don't tell me you want to be Spokespony too!"
"Not particularly, but why do you get a fancy position?"
"Tell you what. We'll all get positions. That'll be our first order of business. Blueberry, does the rulebook say anything about positions?"
Blueberry did not even glance at the book to answer. "Rule 6 says that it's okay for each member to have particular responsibilities, such as Secretary and Treasurer. However, since there are five of us, we're going to need to come up with some new responsibilities."
"What's a secretary?" Raspberry asked.
"The secretary basically records everything that happens at meetings."
"Ooh! Can I do that? I can write really fast!"
"It's true," Cherry nodded. "She can."
"Okay," Prism said. "Raspberry will be Secretary."
"Awesome!" the magenta pony cried.
She brought out a notepad and pencil and started scribbling.
"Did you have that all along?" Gemstone inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep!" Raspberry chimed, her scribbling hoof not missing a beat. "I always carry a notebook and pencil with me! Don't you?"
Prism stared at the magenta filly for a long time and then shook her head. "So who wants to be treasurer?"
"What does she do?" Cherry asked.
"The treasurer manages money," Blueberry replied, "and comes up with ways to get money."
Gemstone gasped. "Can I do that? My father has plenty of money we could use!"
"Why would we need money?" Prism inquired.
"Well," said Blueberry, "we'll need snacks and equipment for earning our cutie marks."
"Good point. Alright, Gem, you're treasurer."
While Gemstone squealed with delight, Prism glanced between the rule book and Blueberry.
"Hey, Blue," she said. "Did you memorize that entire book?"
"Uh-huh!" Blueberry nodded.
"Incredible. Hey! That could be your job! Remembering all the rules and making sure we follow them! What do they call ponies who do that?"
The five fillies tapped their chins in thought.
"I think they're called lawyers," Cherry said.
"Right!" said Prism. "Blueberry can be our, err, lawyer."
"I've got a better idea!" Blueberry declared. "How about I be Chief Law Memorizer and Enforcer?"
"Yeah!" her sisters cheered.
The other two fillies blinked at her.
"Um..." Prism uttered. "Okay. That just leaves Cherry. Let's see... What can she do?"
"Ooh!" Cherry squealed. "I can touch my nose with my tongue!"
As she demonstrated, Prism just shook her head.
"I mean what can you do to help the club?"
Cherry thought for a moment. "Ooh! I really like standing at that judging table and shouting 'Order in the court!'"
"There is a set of rules on the judiciary process in the book," Blueberry explained. "If any pony is accused of breaking the code, they have a right to a trial and we'll need a judge for that."
"That settles it then!" Prism exclaimed. "Cherry can be our judge!"
"Yes!" Cherry cheered.
"You got all that, Raspberry?"
"One second!" Raspberry cried. "How do you spell 'judiciary?'"
After Blueberry had spelt the word out for her sister, Prism announced the second order of business:
"So today, we were supposed to bring ideas on how we can earn our cutie marks. I'll go first. Obviously, because I come from an awesome family, my cutie mark should be just as awesome! Flying is not an option at the moment, since my wings aren't fully grown yet and you guys don't have wings. So I thought we could all try something awesome, like...rollerblading!"
"Cool!" the triplets chimed.
"Rollerblading?" Gemstone repeated. "But I've never been rollerblading in my life!"
"Hey," Prism said, "we all agreed we were going to try out each other's ideas, no matter what. What? You got a better idea?"
"As a matter of fact, I do! I talked with my mother and she said she could give us all some sewing tips. I thought we could all make our own dresses!"
"Wow!" the triplets said in awe.
Prism scrunched her nose in disgust. "Dressmaking? Blech! No way! There is no way I'm getting a cutie mark in something girly!"
"Hey!" Gemstone cried. "If I'm going to be running around in filthy roller skates, you can stand to make a few dresses!"
"But I hate dresses! They're so uncomfortable!"
"Well, fine. You don't have to necessarily make a dress, but I want to learn how to sew."
Prism turned to the triplets. "Tell me you guys have a better idea than hers."
"Well," Blueberry said, "we thought that since our Mom is such a great baker..."
"And we help her all the time..." Raspberry continued.
"She could teach us all how to make cupcakes!" Cherry finished, clapping her hooves.
The pegasus licked her lips. "Mmm. I like that idea!"
"Me too!" Gemstone declared. Prism raised an eyebrow at her. "What? I like cupcakes too."
"Okay then. We've got some ideas, so let's go out and get our cutie marks!"
Pinkie spat out the cupcakes Gemstone had made.
"Geez!" the pink pony cried, trying to rub the taste off her tongue. "Gem, I think you put in too much salt!"
"But I followed the recipe!" the unicorn insisted. "I forgot the song you sang, so I looked in a book. It said to put in a punch of salt."
"A pinch of salt, Gem!" Prism exclaimed, holding up the cookbook. "A pinch! How in the world do you measure a punch of salt?"
Gemstone glanced at the ground. "Well...I kind of...dipped my hoof in the salt and, err...punched the batter."
The pegasus put her hoof to her forehead. "What else did you put in?"
"Well, it said put in flowers...and to add sweat and sores...I put in jaw breakers, because they make my teeth sore and..."
"Good grief!"
"Oh, as if your cupcakes are any better!"
Prism cringed as she glanced over at her tin of ash. "Yeah. I don't think baking's my talent."
"It burns!" Pinkie screamed as she poured water on her tongue.
"Okay, I get it!" Gemstone groaned.
"Here, Mom!" Cherry said. "Try one of our cupcakes!"
Blueberry stopped her mother's screaming by shoving a cupcake into her mouth. Pinkie chewed curiously on the baked good and then grinned widely.
She swallowed and exclaimed, "Great job, girls! These cupcakes are delicious! I guess too many cooks doesn't spoil the broth!"
"But we weren't making broth," Raspberry pointed out.
"It's an expression, Raspberry," Blueberry explained.
Cherry gasped. "If our cupcakes were great, does that mean...?"
They all glanced at their flanks. They waited for several moments, their faces smiling eagerly. Those smiles faded when nothing appeared.
"Oh, well," Gemstone said with a shrug. "Looks like it's off to Carousel Boutique!"
Rarity cringed as she gazed at the Tri-Pies' creation.
"Well, girls, it's very...original."
"We couldn't decide which of our designs to go for," Blueberry explained.
"They were all so awesome!" Cherry chimed.
"So we thought it would be even more awesome if we combined them all!" Raspberry finished.
"I can see that," the fashionista muttered.
The dress was like an entire circus merged into one outfit. One sleeve was hot pink and puffy, with far too many ribbons. The other sleeve was made of red sequins. The bodice was made of blue leather, decorated with lollipops, and in the back was a grass hula skirt.
The triplets looked back at their rumps, but hung their heads when they saw they were still blank. Rarity went to look at her daughter's project. Gemstone looked apologetically at her mother as she held up her three-legged outfit.
"That's alright, darling," Rarity said, tenderly placing her hoof on her daughter's head. "The fashion business isn't for every pony. Prism, how's it going over...?"
She gasped at the sight. Prism grunted as she struggled to pull one of her feathers (still attached to her wing) out of the sewing machine. After several tugs, she looked pleadingly toward Rarity.
"Help."
"I'm not putting those on!" Gemstone declared, shrinking away from the skates. "They were on some pony else's icky hooves!"
Prism sighed and skated over to her. "Don't be a baby, Gem! It's not like they had athlete's hoof or something."
"Ew!"
Scootaloo, who had come along to teach Gemstone how to skate, put an assuring hoof on the unicorn's shoulder.
"Chill, Gem. They disinfect the skates the minute they're returned. You won't get any hoof germs."
"You promise?" Gemstone asked with trusting eyes.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
"Well, alright."
While Scootaloo helped Gemstone put on her roller blades, the Tri-Pies whirled past Prism, nearly knocking her over.
"How in the hay do they go so fast?!" Prism exclaimed.
The triplets scooted to a halt when they came around the second time.
"You want a race, Prism?" Raspberry asked.
"It'll be fun!" Cherry chimed.
"You think I'm stupid?" Prism huffed. "I already know you three are gonna tie for first!"
Blueberry smirked. "Chicken."
The pegasus stiffened. "What did you call me?"
"Bawk, bawk, bawk!" the three taunted, flapping their elbows.
"Oh, it is so on!"
The four fillies lined up and crouched down in preparation.
"Okay!" Prism cried. "On the count of three!"
"One!" said Blueberry.
"Two!" said Raspberry.
"THREE!" Cherry squealed.
And they were off. Meanwhile, Scootaloo was guiding Gemstone into the rink. The unicorn wobbled as she set all four skates on the floor, but the pegasus mare held her steady. She told the filly to keep her knees slightly bent and to keep her legs parallel to each other. After a few more instructions, Scootaloo gently pushed Gemstone along the wall of the rink.
"You want to try it on your own?" Scootaloo asked.
The unicorn gulped and nodded. The mare then slowly released her and Gemstone shut her eyes tight. She thought she was going to crash, but she kept going. She curiously opened one eye and then the other.
"Hey!" Gemstone exclaimed, looking back at Scootaloo. "I think I'm getting the hang of this!"
She made the mistake of lifting her front hooves and waving them about excitedly.
"Gem, stop!" Scootaloo shouted.
The unicorn cried out as her hind legs wobbled. What was worse, Prism and the triplets were coming up behind her and were going so fast they did not have time to stop.
"Gem, get out of the way!" Prism called.
But neither of them could get control of their skates. Prism shut her eyes as they collided into each other, fell to the side and crashed into Blueberry, toppling Raspberry over in a domino effect. Cherry was only just far enough for Raspberry to miss her, but when she saw the other four fillies in a pile, she squealed with delight.
"Oh boy! Pony pile!"
Prism's eyes widened in panic. "Oh, no, Cherry! Don't!"
Cherry crouched down low and sprung into the air. The others gasped and waved their hooves frantically.
"Cherry, stop!" her sisters cried.
"No, no, no, no, no!" Prism and Gemstone repeatedly yelled.
"CHERRY BOMB!"
"You had to do the Cherry Bomb, didn't you?" Prism grunted as she pressed the icepack to her shoulder.
"Well, how was I supposed to know it was gonna dislocate your shoulder?" Cherry said, rolling her eyes.
"You're lucky nothing was broken," Gemstone said, gently massaging her bandaged leg, "or else my father would've sued! How come you three didn't get any injuries?"
"Easy!" Blueberry piped. "Our great-great grandfather was a contortionist! So we have a bit of elasticness in our genes!"
"But Blue," Raspberry said, "we don't wear jeans."
"No more rollerblading!" Gemstone insisted. "No more dumb ideas involving extreme sports of any kind!"
"Hey!" Prism exclaimed. "It wasn't a dumb idea! You're just a terrible skater!"
"It was my first time! Give me a break!"
"Sure! How about the one in my shoulder?!"
"You know, if you had slowed down..."
"If you had gotten out of the way when I told you..."
"Enough!" Scootaloo shouted, slamming her hoof on the table. "Don't go pointing hooves at each other! It was no pony's fault! These accidents happen!"
Pumpkin Cake had been standing there awkwardly the entire time. She had to cough for Scootaloo to finally notice her.
"Sorry," she said. "These kids have had a rough day."
"I know just the thing," Pumpkin Cake said, going into the kitchen.
"I guess it doesn't matter whose fault it was," Prism said with a sigh, "but we still don't have our cutie marks."
"I'm surprised the Tri-Pies haven't gotten theirs yet," Gemstone admitted. "I mean their cupcakes were spectacular and they were really fast on roller blades."
"I don't know why we don't have them either," Blueberry said, shaking her head.
"Here," Pumpkin Cake said, handing them all a milkshake (a big one with three straws for the triplets to share). "Nothing like a good ol' chocolate shake to brighten up your day."
The Tri-Pies squealed in happiness as they simultaneously sucked through their straws. Gemstone and Prism sucked through theirs half-heartedly.
"We're failures," the latter grumbled.
"To be fair," Scootaloo said, "you guys have only been at this for a day, and you can't expect to all get cutie marks in the same thing."
"Yeah, but we were hoping at least one of us could earn it today."
"Hey. It took a while for us too. Your cutie marks will appear when they appear. I mean there's nothing wrong with trying new things, but you should really think about what you're already good at."
Prism groaned. "But I'm not good at anything! I can't fly, I can't bake, I can't sew, I can't skate fast..."
"Just because you're not good at those things, doesn't mean you're not good at anything. You have a talent. You all do. You just haven't realized it yet. But hey, even if you didn't get your cutie marks, you got a few laughs today."
The five fillies glanced at each other.
"She's right," Blueberry snorted. "I mean did you see that awful dress we made!"
The other triplets giggled.
"And when I did that Cherry Bomb and crushed all of you?" Cherry chimed. "That was so stupid of me!"
They clutched their stomachs as their laughter increased. Even Gemstone and Prism could not resist their contagious laughter.
"You remember Pinkie Pie's face when she tried my cupcakes?!" Gemstone snickered. "And I thought it was a punch of salt! Really! Who's ever heard of a punch of salt?!"
"And when I got my wing caught in the sewing machine," Prism snorted, "and I was like 'Help me!' I was so pathetic!"
The fillies laughed and laughed as they relayed the embarrassing events of that day. Scootaloo chuckled along with them.
"You see?" she said. "Despite your failures, you girls had fun."
"Yeah," Prism nodded. "It was a fun day."
"Which is why you should stop obsessing about the future and enjoy the here and now."
"Right. Let's enjoy this moment, drink our milkshakes and be glad we're friends!"
They smiled in a long period of silence.
"So what crusading are we gonna do tomorrow?"
"Ooh!" Cherry squealed, raising her hoof. "Why don't we try cookies instead of cupcakes?"
"No more baking!" Gemstone insisted. "Maybe our talents are in beautifying! We could style each other's manes!"
"Boring!" Prism said, sticking out her tongue. "Skateboarding's gotta be it!"
"No! No extreme sports!"
As the five continued shooting ideas, Scootaloo shook her head with a chuckle. Some day, they would learn, but they were kids and they should have their fun together while it lasts.
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This chapter is really nice. The way you've written Gem stands out to me in particular, she has a unique personality. Some may expect her to be even more prissy from her sophisticated upbringing but you pleasantly surprised me.
3578821 Well, you'll be glad to know the next chapter centers on her.
Hurrah for friendshipping.
Love it all now imagine a game where they have to do everything today at the same time
Oh, this was a great chapter. The Tri-Pies are my favouites right now. I love them so~
That was so good
Mile
No more extreme sports... well there goes 99% of Prism's ideas.
I do like that even if the Tri-Pies personalities is very similar there is some small differences between them (just like real triplets would).
Blueberry seem a bit smarter and understand more complex ideas and logic. She is probably also the least likely of the three to be random in her behaviour (if only marginally). She also seem to be the least energetic of the three.
Raspberry is the more energetic and enthusiastic of the triplets. She seems to put all her energy Into the task at hand and focuses intently on it. Though when it comes to intelligence she drew the shorter straw.
Cherry seems to have struck the middle ground with energy and smarts, but she have the most eccentric of their behaviours. She is close to being a carbon copy of her mother.She also have inherited her mothers fixation to bounching, if not more so.
If you asked them a long and complicated question some years into the future their respective answer would probably be qute different.
Blueberry would give you a straight answer. Most likely correct.
Raspberry would probably just stand there baffeled before asking to do something else like running, pranking or feeding Gummy. Any physical activity really.
Cherry would give you a completely unrelated answer and then go on and ramble about random things as she bounce of in the horizon.
These are just my personal observation on the personalities of the Tri-Pies and they may be completely wrong.
PS: I think poor Gemstone is suffering from dyslexia.
Prism is really taking after Scootaloo, isn't she? Also, love the Tri-Pies!
Thumbs up
honestly gemstone comes across as a spoiled brat here, not sure if it is she's still trying to remove the act but last i checked the crusaders couldn't remove an entire catagory like extremem sports off the table just because one of them whined.
2:03am where i am and can't fall asleep, help, story to waesome
Prisms talent is drawing and gemstone's talent is jewellery I don't know about the tri-pie's though
6039408 Blue: journalism 4 t win
Cherry: acrobat
hmm... sounds familiar. Considering who is involved here, I think this is entirely appropriate
7395987
lol
Punch of salt, flowers, and sweat and sores
Wow she makes up for her lowness in intelligence with her attractivness doesnt she? And how do you add sores into cupcakes? Never mind I don't want to know
8963680
Actually, you'll find out next chapter there's a reason she misread those instructions...
8963680
She actually added Jaw breakers because they make her teeth sore not actually sores!