High School Musical

by Locomotion

Chapter 1: Cutie Mark Conundrum!

It was mid-June in the kingdom of Equestria, and yet another school year was slowly drawing to a close. In the peaceful, tranquil town of Ponyville, most of the students at the local school had already finished their exams, and many were already making plans for the summer holidays.

Lickety-Split was still dozing peacefully as the early morning sun cast its rays upon the rural mountain community, gently seeping through the windows in an attempt to lift him from his slumber. His parents had been visiting friends over the weekend, and since he had had little else to do, he and his fillyfriend Sweetie-Belle had organised a sleepover at her house. The two of them had spent an enjoyable two days hanging out together, mostly talking about school and exams and how glad they would be to see the end of it all; but the highlight, as far as the brown Earth colt was concerned, was when he and Sweetie-Belle had held an impromptu karaoke contest the previous evening. By far and away, the white-furred unicorn filly had the sweetest, most beautiful set of pipes he had ever heard, and it was always a joy to hear her putting them to use...

But those thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a horrified scream from the next room. Lickety-Split sat up, startled, but barely even had time to think what was going on before a white ball of fur charged through the door, tackled him onto his back and began sobbing into his chest, clinging tightly onto his barrel.

“Oof...Sweetie-Belle?!” he exclaimed, confused. “What's wrong?”

The white-furred unicorn slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze, her face awash with panic. “Oh, Lickety-Split,” she wailed, “I've just had the most awful shock! Oh, what am I gonna do?”

“Uh...do about what?” inquired Lickety-Split. “Has this place been burgled or something?”

“No!” squeaked Sweetie-Belle in a frantic tone. “I don't know how I didn't notice it last night, but when I woke up, I...well...this is what I found!!”

Lickety-Split raised an eyebrow as his fillyfriend stood up and swung herself round so that he could see her right flank. It came as even more of a confusion when he saw what she was trying to show him – “A...Cutie Mark? What's so bad about that?” he objected, curiously scrutinising the pink bell surrounded by musical notes. “I thought that's what you were trying to get all this time.”

“Lickety, this is a musical Cutie Mark! It means I've gotta go out and perform in front of great big audiences!”

“So?”

“Well, I can't!” protested Sweetie-Belle pathetically. “You know I get stage nerves when I'm asked to sing in front of entire crowds!”

“Um...I don't see that that should necessarily be a problem,” replied Lickety-Split reasonably. “You've sung to me and some of our other friends without hesitation in the past – and besides, why would anypony fault a singing voice like yours? I've only known Fluttershy to rival your pipes...”

“Apart from that one time when I sang '99 Buckets of Oats on the Wall' during that Winsome Falls camping trip,” interrupted Sweetie-Belle. “I don't think it could have been any worse if it had been sung by a pirate!”

Lickety-Split stifled a chuckle. “Sweetie-Belle, from what you and your parents told me, the only reason you sounded so off-key was because you were coming down with a cold back then and didn't realise it until about halfway back,” he retorted. “Other than that, you've been a brilliant singer.”

“Well...in front of smaller audiences, yes, I've been fine – but taking it up as a career?! That's way too much too soon! I mean, suppose I mess it all up...”

“What, you mess up a song you've written and are gonna perform?” Lickety-Split shook his head in dismay. “Sweetie, we've always known this would be your special talent – me and the Crusaders, Twilight Sparkle, your sister – even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon think highly of your vocals. Now you've got the Cutie Mark to prove it, you can do a lot worse than embrace it.”

Sweetie-Belle paused, looking down at her front hooves. Deep down, she knew Lickety-Split was right, but that still didn't make her feel any less frightened about the prospect of a future music career. “Well...maybe when I'm ready,” she stated at last, “but until then, nopony is gonna find out about this.”

“They're gonna have to sooner or later,” advised Lickety-Split.

“No they're not – because until I do decide to start performing live, on stage, with unfamiliar eyes watching me from every angle, that thing will never be seen by anypony.”

The brown Earth pony's face took on an expression of surprised consternation. “What? But Sweetie-Belle...”

“Lickety,” Sweetie-Belle cut in, resting her front hooves on his shoulders, “you've got to keep this a secret! Nopony outside of this room must know about my Cutie Mark, or I'm gonna be in way over my head, so please, promise me you won't breathe a word to anypony!”

Lickety-Split hesitated. “Um...are you sure about that, Sweetie-Belle? You won't be able to hide it forever.”

“Do you promise?!”

At last, Lickety-Split let out a heavy sigh of resignation. “Yeah, I suppose so – but only if you promise to tell Scootaloo and Apple Bloom at the very least.”

Sweetie-Belle nodded in reply; “But not until I feel ready for it, okay?”

“That's fine by me,” said Lickety-Split, satisfied. “Now what say we go get some breakfast? I'm famished.”

“Be with you as soon as I can.” But secretly, Sweetie-Belle had no intention of keeping her promise to Lickety-Split. There was no way in Equestria that anypony would ever know about her Cutie Mark if she could help it, and not even her coltfriend could dissuade her. Running swiftly back to her own room, she began rifling through her wardrobe for something that might cover up her Cutie Mark, finally fixing upon a simple green dress with a low hemline. “Perfect!” she thought aloud, quickly slipping it on. “Nopony's gonna be any the wiser now.”

But she said it to herself...

---

At Ponyville School, the school yard was abuzz with eager chatter as the students began to convene for their morning classes. The end of term was the main topic of conversation, but many of them, including the Cutie Mark Crusaders, were excited about the talent show that always took place towards the end of the school year, in which the whole group was planning to enter. By now, most of them had already gained their Cutie Marks, and only Apple Bloom remained a blank-flank; but they still maintained the close comradeship that had always held the group together.

Locomotion, the red-furred railway enthusiast who was due to graduate that year, was equally upbeat about the talent show, not least because he had entered an act of his own. “It's probably not much compared with your own acts,” he was saying to Rumble, Pipsqueak and Scootaloo as they hung around outside the school entrance, “but at least it's something I'm passionate about – that's the really important thing.”

“So yeah, just to recap – you were planning on singing 'Wreck of the City of Manehattan', am I right?” reaffirmed Pipsqueak.

“Yeah, that's the one,” replied Locomotion. “Matter of fact, I was thinking of providing visuals for that act, but at the moment, I'm not sure how.”

“Uh...maybe get Rarity to teach you that neat trick she does with holograms? The one she uses when showing off new clothing?” suggested Rumble helpfully.

Locomotion shook his head ruefully. “I tried – magic wasn't potent enough, I don't think,” he admitted, before turning his attention back to Pipsqueak; “So I was wondering if perhaps Dinky might be able to help me with that one?”

The mottled Earth colt pondered. “Well...I don't think she's secured herself an act yet – maybe you ought to go and ask if she's interested.”

“Yeah, maybe. So, Scootaloo, what kind of act did you have in mind?”

“What else?” chortled Scootaloo proudly.

The red-furred teenager let out a chuckle of his own. It was obvious to him what the orange Pegasus was planning. “Well, just make sure you don't overdo it, Scoot, or you...”

“Good afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Um...with all due respect, we know...” but as Locomotion turned round to face the pony who had just spoken to him, he noticed that their resident princess was nowhere to be seen. All he could see was Alula standing nearby with a cheeky smirk on her face. “That's funny,” he mused. “I could have sworn I'd heard Twilight just now. You seen her anywhere about, Alula?”

“Yeah, right here,” replied Alula – in Twilight's voice!

“WHA...?!?!?” Locomotion stumbled backwards and collapsed onto his rump, a comical expression of bewilderment stamped onto his face. Pipsqueak, similarly taken aback, could only goggle in amazement, and Scootaloo was so shocked that her jaw nearly fell out of its sockets.

“How the hay did you do that?!” spluttered Rumble.

Alula giggled. “As if you didn't know!” she teased playfully. “Remember what I once said about my genetics? How I almost have enough unicorn genes in me to make me an alicorn?”

“Uh...y – yeah?” stammered Locomotion, who was still getting over the shock.

“Well, according to Mom and my doctor, that means I've got a bit of unicorn magic in me even though I'm a Pegasus,” explained Alula. “I've been learning how to harness that magic for quite some time – and now,” she went on in another familiar voice, “is the time for me to make use of it.”

At last, Scootaloo found her voice. “Whoa!” she exclaimed. “That's just...wow! I don't think I've ever known anypony do Rainbow Dash's voice as well as you just did!”

“Yeah, Loco's good at voices, but with 'im, you can still tell it's just an impression!” added Pipsqueak.

“And you can't with me?” Alula seemed equally surprised now. “Gee, I must be getting really good at this. But yeah, what I'm basically doing is using my magic to play about with my vocal chords, so that I can match a pony's voice down to the finest details. Just listen to this!” and she spoke up again in a tone that Locomotion recognised all too well; “So, fillies and gentlecolts, here we are in Ponyville School. It's time for us to make some...wait for it......MOVIE MAGIC!!”

“Cor, blimey!!” remarked Locomotion, who by now was practically busting his guts trying not to laugh. “I never thought I'd hear that deep and manly a voice from a filly!”

“And that's not all I can do either,” Alula pointed out. “I can even do sound effects!” She then began moving her lips as if trying to say “Boing! NYYAAAOO – KABOOM!! CRASH!”, but what actually came out of her mouth sounded more like it was actually happening in real life! The four teenagers burst into helpless laughter, and even Alula herself couldn't help but chuckle quietly. “But yeah, that's what I'm aiming to do in the talent show,” she finished as soon as they managed to regain control of themselves. “I'm planning a...sort of stand-up type gig that's mainly made up of voice impressions.”

“Why am I not surprised?” chortled Locomotion, pulling himself together.

“Yeah, you'll probably ace it when it comes to Best Comedy Award,” agreed Scootaloo, trying to keep a straight face. “I'm surprised you didn't catch the...” but she suddenly broke off, the amused smirk quickly wearing off her face in favour of a more puzzled expression.

Locomotion raised an eyebrow. “Something up, Scoot?”

“Um...is it me, or is there something different about Sweetie-Belle?”

“Say what now?” Forgetting to be amused, Rumble looked in the same direction as Scootaloo, and was equally surprised by what he saw. “That's weird,” he commented. “I know Sweetie-Belle's got a keen sense of style, but I've never known her to wear a really smart dress to school.”

“Me neither,” added Locomotion, casting a thoughtful eye on the white-furred unicorn. “Yeah, that does indeed seem a bit out of character for her.”

“Perhaps she's just upset that she and Apple Bloom still don't have their Cutie Marks,” suggested Alula.

“What, Sweetie-Belle? Not likely,” retorted Pipsqueak. “She may 'ave been a Crusader herself, but she's never obsessed over 'er Cutie Mark like Apple Bloom does sometimes.”

“Exactly,” agreed Locomotion firmly. “So why the long skirt? Why the jittery look on her face?” His eyes narrowed, and he gazed suspiciously upon the teenaged white filly. “There's something very fishy going on here......”