Fun With Cutie Marks

by Dizzy Daze

Winging It

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo all sat in their normal spots on the floor of the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse. Scootaloo had called an urgent meeting, and the other two were curious as to her motives. The pegasus, however, seemed to be in no hurry to share her thoughts, and so the three friends sat there, quietly brainstorming cutie mark ideas. Finally, Apple Bloom couldn’t take it anymore.

“All right, Scoots, what’d you call us over here fer?” She demanded, bow wobbling belligerently. “Ah know it’s sumthin’ important, otherwise you wouldn’t’a made it sound so urgent. So spill. Ah know Ah can hardly take this much waitin’ and Sweetie’s gotta be feelin’ the same way. So what’s yer news?”

Scootaloo grinned mischievously. “I was wondering how long it would take you girls to finally ask. Okay, get ready to hear the best news of your life. As you know, the Best Young Fliers Competition is in Cloudsdale every year, and this year, my parents got us tickets! We get to go to Cloudsdale next weekend! Isn’t that great?”

The other two stared at each other for a few seconds, their silently communicating. What is this filly thinking?

Then Sweetie Belle spoke up. “Um, Scootaloo, I don’t know if you’ve noticed recently, but, um, well…” She looked at her hooves before looking back at her friend. “We’re not pegasi. We won’t be able to go to Cloudsdale.”

Apple Bloom wiggled her back end in the air. “Yeah, no wings, remember?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “No, you see, girls, this is where it gets great. Rainbow Dash told me about the time she was in the Competition, and she said that Twilight Sparkle has a spell that can give you wings, so all we have to do is go over to the library before we leave and ask her to put that spell on you two. They should last for both days that we’re staying, and maybe even for a few days after, once we’re back in Ponyville.”

Now Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were excited, too. The three fillies beamed at each other. “When are we leaving?” Sweetie Belle squeaked happily.

Scootaloo jumped up in excitement. “We’re leaving Friday after school gets out. We can go to Twilight’s really quick and then go to my house so my parents can take us.”

Apple Bloom stuck her hoof in the air. “This is just gonna be so much fun! Ah can’t wait!”

“ALRIGHT! CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TRIP TO CLOUDSDALE! YAY!” All three fillies slapped hooves before scampering out the clubhouse door, eager to talk to their parents and make the trip happen.

--------
“Girls, are you sure you want to do this?” Twilight asked, concerned. “Didn’t your sisters tell you what happened last time I used this spell?”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded. “AJ wouldn’t tell me much about that trip on account’a Rarity gettin’ in that accident, but she told me that Ah’m allowed to go as long as Ah promise to be careful.”

“And Rarity told me that the only reason her wings burnt up was because she was being a show-off,” the little unicorn piped up. “But she said they were really pretty. And I wouldn't want everypony looking at me anyway, so I promise I won't show them off and put myself in danger. Please, Twilight, will you do it?”

The two fillies gave Twilight pitiful, pleading looks, and the alicorn sighed.

“All right, just be careful. I’m counting on Scootaloo’s parents to keep an eye on you, but you need to be careful of these wings, as well. They’re extremely delicate.”

“Yes Twilight, we promise,” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle chorused, excitement clear in their voices.

Without another word, Twilight walked over to a bookshelf and scanned through the titles. Selecting a book in her magic, she brought it in front of the fillies and began to cast a complicated-looking spell. Swirls of light detached themselves from her horn and wrapped themselves around two small bodies.

There was a flash of light, and suddenly all three ponies were on the ground. Twilight groaned and sat up. “Sorry, girls,” she muttered. “Maybe I should do it one at a time.” She opened her eyes and gasped.

Sprawled across the floor were Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, each fitted with a pair of fragile butterfly wings. They squealed as they twisted around to look at their own wings, then each other’s. Apple Bloom’s were a light reddish pink, with streaks of yellow and orange, complementing her eyes and mane. Sweetie’s were lavender, like her sister’s, with white and green markings. Each filly thought they were the prettiest things they’d ever seen.

Suddenly, the door to the library opened, and in walked the filly to complete their trio. Scootaloo gasped as she looked at her best friends, now flitting around the ceiling to test their wings. “Hey, girls. Are you ready to go?” She called up at them.

Sweetie swooped down and hovered above Scootaloo. "Come on up and join us! It's so much fun!"

Scootaloo scrunched her eyes shut and vigorously flapped her wings. She felt her hooves leave the ground and gasped excitedly, opening her eyes to see how far up she was; upon seeing her hooves a mere inch from the floor, she sighed and dropped her wings to her sides. "Sorry girls," she called up at them, trying to mask the disappointment in her voice. "I can't get up that high."

Twilight, who had recovered by that point, tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Scootaloo, how would you like to have wings like that?" She asked kindly. Scootaloo gaped at her excitedly.

"What do you mean? I'd be able to fly higher than I ever could?" The little pegasus was beside herself with excitement.

Twilight nodded, an infectious grin on her muzzle. "Of course, during the time of the spell, they would replace your feathered wings, but they would work as well those of a grown pegasus."

Scootaloo skipped around the room, gushing eagerly. "Yes please, Twilight. Oh, yes, yes yes yes!"

Twilight once again assumed a crouching position and concentrated, light gathering at the tip of her horn. Scootaloo instantly stopped skipping and sat in front of the princess, patiently waiting for the spell to be ready. Twilight opened one eye to ensure that Scootaloo had calmed down, then shut it again as the light began to swirl around Scootaloo. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle watched in awe from above as their friend was lifted up in a cocoon of light. It became brighter and brighter before exploding in a flash, leaving Scootaloo on the floor with a pair of fuschia butterfly wings in place of her normal orange feathered ones.

Scootaloo opened her eyes slowly, her wings fluttering slightly every time she blinked. She flapped them experimentally before shooting up into the air, contacting with the ceiling before plummeting back toward the ground. Twilight flew up to catch Scootaloo before she hit the unforgiving wooden floor of the library.

"Sorry about that," Twilight chuckled. "I forgot to tell you; you won't have to work as hard as you're used to in order to get off the ground."

Scootaloo grinned sheepishly before trying her wings again, this time rising slowly into the air. She flew cautiously up to Apple Bloom, before tapping her on the foreleg and darting away, shouting, "You're it!"

The three fillies giggled as they tested out their new wings, flying around the library in wide circles in an attempt to avoid each other. Twilight smiled fondly at them before settling down with a book about the history of Maretania. Just as she got comfortable, a sharp knock sounded at the library door.

"Oh!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "That's probably my mom. Do you girls have your stuff?" Apple Bloom and Sweetie nodded, and Scootaloo flew over to open the door.

A tall yellow pegasus with a burgundy mane walked in and smiled faintly at Scootaloo as she walked in. "Hi, sweetie," she said, ruffling Scootaloo's mane. "Are you ready?"

Scootaloo flew up to her mother's eye level. "Yup!" She chattered. "And me and the girls-"

"'The girls and I,'" Her mother corrected sternly.

Scootaloo sighed. "The girls and I got our wings, so we can go now, right?"

Her mother chuckled. She called the fillies down to the ground and ushered them out the door, all four thanking Twilight profusely.
Outside, waiting for them, was a small chariot, in which sat five overnight bags and one large, red pegasus.

"Hey, squirt," he called, upon sighting his daughter. "Let's hoof it! We got a long trip ahead of us." He moved out of the chariot, strapping himself and his wife into the harnesses at the front end. The Crusaders piled into the open end of the chariot, and the ponies took off. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gazed down at Ponyville, in awe of how small it was becoming as they rose into the air.

"So, girls," Scootaloo's mother said conversationally. "Anything new going on at school lately? Hearts and Hooves Day is coming up soon. Do you all have a special somepony?"

Scootaloo looked at her mother with a mixture of embarrassment and horror on her face, while her two friends flushed red and looked at their hooves. Her dad was right, this was going to be a long trip.

Comments

[Emerald Harp]

Awesome plot, well written, excellent grammar. Can't ask for much more. Please continue.

[nukestar]

Intriguing.

[SeventhBrony]

the possibilities

[ShadowLDrago]

3889825

Indeed.