Prologue: CMC Opportunists
The filly stood motionless, her legs firmly rooted into the stage. Bright lights shone straight into her wide eyes. She couldn’t see past the spotlights, but knew that behind them stood an audience whose numbers may as well be limitless. Their collective gaze was focused on her and her alone.
Her natural instinct told her to run and get away from all the prying eyes, but she couldn’t. She had to come through with her promise to her friends.
And yet how could they do this to her? If they were such good friends, how could they just leave her when she needed them the most?
She shook these thoughts out of her mind. They couldn’t help her now. She had to do this all by herself, whether she wanted to or not.
Taking a deep breath, the filly crept up to the microphone, thinking of anything but all the other ponies looking right at her. She reached up and gave the mic a quick tap, hearing it come out loud and clear in the speakers. She swallowed, trying to force down more scary thoughts.
Despite the noise of the gulp, she could still hear the last sound that sealed her fate: The faint noise of a record needle lowering onto a spinning vinyl track just behind the curtains, the sound being picked up through the speakers. Soon enough, the sound was followed by the beginnings of a soft piano introduction.
There was only one thing that the filly could do now. Letting her eyes fall shut, she waited for her cue, and began to sing.
**********************************
“Well, that was a bust.”
Scootaloo’s remark was something that her two accompanying friends knew already, but nonetheless rang true. It was the first thing any of them had said since the incident, but it fulfilled its purpose of breaking the silence between them.
“Now that I think of it, I’m not so sure I wanted a Pet Gymnastics Training cutie mark, anyway,” continued Scootaloo as she led the way for her friends, a lone feather sticking out of her ruffled mane.
“I guess not,” said Apple Bloom, dragging her hooves behind her friend. A pair of saddlebags were wrapped around her barrel. “I’m just glad Mr. Pawtail didn’t ban us from the pet store after all the trouble we caused. Not really somethin’ I wanna have to explain to my big sis.”
“I thought for sure he would have liked how happy his pets were to be out of their cages for a little bit,” said Sweetie Belle, carrying bits of sawdust in her tail. “The birds were really happy, too. They were flying all over the place!” She smiled a bit.
“He didn’t like it so much when they flew out the door,” said Scootaloo. She stopped to brush the feather out of her mane.
“Oh. Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Sweetie’s smile faltered as the result of their actions dawned on her.
The fillies’ downtrodden faces contrasted with the happiness all around them. The midday sun cast its bright glow over the streets of Ponyville, filling the air with a gentle warmth. It was the perfect weather for everypony to be out and about, taking care of chores, shopping for supplies, enjoying a nice meal at a restaurant, or simply having fun in the company of friends and family. Everyone was happy. Everyone except for the Crusaders
“Maybe we should’ve asked Fluttershy if we could’ve trained her animals instead,” Sweetie spoke up again.
“Maybe,” said Apple Bloom, “but between us bein’ pet gymnastics trainers, petsitters, and veterinarians, I get the feelin’ our cutie marks ain’t gonna have anythin’ to do with animals.”
“If we keep striking out like this, our cutie marks won’t have anything to do with anything,” said Scootaloo, turning her head to look at her flank. Sure enough, it was still as blank as the day she had met her friends and became part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Seriously, I lost count of all the crusades we’ve been on about a couple of weeks ago.”
“Striking out...” Sweetie became lost in thought for a second. An uplifting idea soon lit up her face. “Hey, maybe we could try being Cutie Mark Crusader Kickball Players!”
“We already tried that, remember? We spent a whole month workin’ up the money to pay for that window we broke,” said Apple Bloom.
“Oh, yeah.” Once more, Sweetie’s face lost its luster. “But we have to keep trying. I mean, there are only so many talents out there. We gotta find it sometime if we keep looking. I’m sure Apple Bloom still has lots of plans for us to get our cutie marks, right?” She turned to her yellow-coated friend with a hopeful smile.
Apple Bloom stopped in her tracks for a moment, her eyes moving away to avoid Sweetie’s gaze, “Um, actually, I’m kinda runnin’ out of ideas for crusades.”
Both Sweetie and Scootaloo came to a sudden stop and turned to look at Apple Bloom with confused looks.
“Huh?” replied Sweetie, “but you always have an idea.”
“I know.” Apple Bloom lowered her head to the ground. “But we’ve been crusadin’ for so long, it’s just hard to keep coming up with stuff we haven’t tried yet. At least, stuff that doesn’t take a lot of money to get off the ground.” She nodded her head over to Scootaloo and added, “The pet gymnastics thing was actually her idea.”
“Yeah, I heard Rainbow Dash did something like that to figure out which pet she wanted to have,” said Scootaloo. Her voice and head rose a little upon mention of the daring mare before dropping back down. “I guess it doesn’t work so well for finding cutie marks, though.”
“We have been on a lot of crusades,” said Sweetie. Now that she started to think of it, she too couldn’t quite think of all the attempts they had made together in order to find themselves and finally earn their cutie marks. Had it really been so long since they met and began their quest? It seemed like only yesterday that they were the Cutie Mark Crusader Pony War Re-enacters, or the Cutie Mark Crusader Glue Makers, or the Cutie Mark Crusader Mud-Ballers.
“You know, I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” said Apple Bloom, bringing Sweetie out of her thoughts, “But we might have to put the crusades on hold for a little bit.”
“What?” Sweetie gasped.
“Are you crazy?” said Scootaloo, also in shock. “We only have a couple months until Winter Set-Up, and you know what that means, right?”
“I know, it’ll get colder,” replied Apple Bloom.
“And the days will get shorter, and our homework pile will get bigger and harder,” continued Scootaloo. She stared right into her friend’s red eyes. “If we don’t cram in as many crusades as we can now, it might be months before we can try to get our cutie marks again!”
“I know, I know.” Apple Bloom took a step back. “I’m only sayin’ it might be a good idea to take a break so we can come up with better ideas for Crusades. An’ not only that, but we have another problem.” She lifted up a hoof and opened one of her saddlebags. A lone moth flew out of the opening. “We’re flat broke.”
“So? We could just come up with an idea that doesn’t need us to spend any money,” said Scootaloo.
“I dunno, my imagination’s been runnin’ on empty for a while now.”
“Don’t sweat it, me and Sweetie could easily think of something,” said Scootaloo, adopting her look of determination.
“Yeah!” said Sweetie. “There must be all kinds of crusades we could still do, like, um…”
The trio stood in silence for a few moments. Sweetie and Scootaloo both moved their heads about, Scootaloo’s eyes drifting upward and hoof resting on her muzzle while Sweetie pawed at the ground.
“I got nothing,” Scootaloo finally said.
“Me neither.” Sweetie sighed. “But couldn’t we just borrow some money from our families to pay for the expensive crusades?”
“I can’t,” replied Apple Bloom, “I get all my allowance from doin’ chores, and Applejack never gives me any more bits than that.”
“Me neither,” said Scootaloo, “I already begged my parents to let me have my allowance for the next two weeks early so I could get the wagon and scooter fixed.”
“I kept tellin’ ya that front wheel was really wobbly,” said Apple Bloom. Her backside twitched as she recalled the sore bottoms she often got from the wagon rides just days before the wheel broke.
“I know, I thought the wagon could take it,” came Scootaloo’s usual retort. "How was I supposed to know that pothole was going to snap the wheel clean off?"
“And I know Rarity’s not gonna let me borrow any money, either,” said Sweetie glumly, ignoring the latest argument between her friends. She had to admit, having to stay with her sister while her parents were away on vacation had its downsides. “So that’s it, huh? No more crusades for a while?” She asked, looking straight down at the ground.
“I hate to say it, but it looks that way,” replied Scootaloo with the same tone, “I mean, it’s not like the answer’s just gonna hit us—ow!”
Not one moment after she had said that, a lone piece of paper smacked clean onto Scootaloo’s face, causing her to snap back and flail a hoof at her head.
“What the hay, what is this thing!?” she said, the voice slightly muffled from the paper. “Get it off!”
“Hold on, I’ll get it for ya!” Apple Bloom sprung into action, fumbling her hooves over Scootaloo’s face in an attempt to remove the dastardly piece.
“Let me help!” said Sweetie as she joined Apple Bloom’s side and threw her hooves into the mix.
A mess of limbs flew about every which way in an effort to either pry the paper off or, in Scootaloo’s case, keep them away to avoid an accidental jab in the face. Shouts of “Hold still!” and “Watch it!” broke out as the trio moved closer to each other to get an easier shot.
“Whoa!”
“Oof!”
Before any of them knew it, Scootaloo lost her balance in the barrage of hooves, falling to her side. Apple Bloom’s hooves kept going without anything to stop them, bringing the rest of her with them. Sweetie came tumbling right after, leaving the crusaders lying in a pile in the middle of the road, groaning from the sudden shock. The paper, finally dislodged, gently swayed in the air before coming to a rest on the ground next to them.
“Oh, hi there, girls!”
A feminine, somewhat motherly voice awoke the crusaders from their daze. The fillies shook their heads and looked up to find a fuchsia-colored mare with curly pink hair and a smile of everlasting patience.
“Miss Cheerilee?” asked Sweetie.
“Good afternoon, girls,” replied Cheerilee, “I trust you’ve been making the most of this wonderful afternoon.”
“Uh… you could say that,” said Apple Bloom.
“Well, I hope you all remember to work on your math homework before school tomorrow. It’s not a good idea to rush through it all right before class.”
Cheerilee’s sentence was met with silence from the school-fillies, their eyes darting about. Cheerilee giggled a little to herself. She supposed she should be a little disappointed in them, but it was still a little fun to catch them red-hoofed.
“Oh, and what’s this?” she said when her vision drifted downwards for a split second. “Looks like you’ve found one of my runaway fliers.”
“Fliers? For what?” asked Sweetie as she finally got back up on her hooves. Her friends followed suit.
“See for yourself.” Cheerilee nodded at the paper at their feet.
All as one, the Crusaders looked down at the flier. Now that the colored side of the paper no longer clung to Scootaloo’s head, they could see what it advertised.
The flier showed a drawing of a silhouetted pony standing behind a microphone on a stage. A musical staff, complete with notes and a clef, came out of the pony’s mouth in a wavey motion. Above and below the picture was the text describing the announcement, which Apple Bloom read aloud for the convenience of her friends:
“Ponyville First Annual ’Sing Your Heart Out’ Singing Contest. Come sing in front of an audience for fun and prizes! Saturday night at the town plaza. Ponies of all ages accepted. Solo and Group acts allowed. Money prize for first place, five bit entry fee per participating pony. See Cheerilee or the town mayor for more information."
“A contest?” asked Scootaloo, “What’s it for?”
“It’s just a little fundraiser the Mayor and I came up with at the last town meeting. All the proceeds go to repaving some of the more worn-out roads around Ponyville.”
“They could really use it,” said Scootaloo, earning an unseen eyeroll from Apple Bloom.
“But what’s the money prize?” asked Sweetie.
“Oh, it’s not too much,” said Cheerilee, “Just fifty bits for whoever comes in first place.”
“Fifty bits!?” shouted Apple Bloom loud enough for the entire block to hear. “Um...” she looked around, her cheeks turning a light shade of red, “I mean, that sure is a lot of money.”
Cheerilee giggled a little in her throat again. “I guess it could get you a few extra things at the market.” She reminded herself that younger ponies have a different appreciation for money than grown-ups.
“Well, I’d better get going so I can finish hanging up all these fliers,” continued Cheerilee, motioning to her saddlebags. She returned her head to the fillies and noticed them concentrating on the paper on the ground still, causing her to smile just a little more. She didn’t know what they were planning, but she knew that they would pursue it with the kind of enthusiasm that only a child could muster. “Tell you what: You can go ahead and keep that one for yourselves, and if you know anypony who might want to give it a try, tell them to come see me sometime before the show, okay?”
“Sure thing, Miss Cheerilee!” said Apple Bloom, giving her teacher an earnest smile.
“Okay, then. Take care, my little ponies!” With that, Cheerilee walked past the three of them as they waved goodbye to her, and began to hum a light tune to herself.
“Bye, Miss Cheerilee!” Sweetie Belle waved the hardest of the three.
“Fifty bits, huh?” muttered Apple Bloom. She concentrated on the flier as soon as Cheerilee was out of her vision. She could feel the beginnings of a smile working its way onto her face. “Maybe the answer really is right in front of us.”
“Yeah, how many crusades could we fund with that much money?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“I dunno, but I’d say at least a good three or four, maybe more if we squeezed every bit.”
“But what are we supposed to do about the entry fee?” said Scootaloo, pointing her hoof at the important line. “We’re flat broke, remember?”
“Yeah, I did say that,” said Apple Bloom, her smile faltering for a second. Just as it did, however, her eyes lit up just as another idea bloomed inside her head.
“Although…” she walked forward a little bit, then quickly turned around to face her friends. “Y’all remember the time we tried bein’ Cutie Mark Crusader Coin Collectors?”
“Yeah, I remember that. I didn’t think we could ever go on another crusade as boring as that one was,” said Scootaloo
“I know it wasn’t one of my best ideas, but I might still have some of the coins we found lyin’ around the clubhouse. There might just be enough t’ pay for the entry fee.”
“And then we all go on and win the show to make the money, right?” said Sweetie Belle.
“Exactly.” Apple Bloom nodded.
“All right, now we’re talking,” said Scootaloo with a grin, “I’m not much for singing, but I’m down if it means I’ll get my cutie mark sooner.”
“Me too,” said a smiling Sweetie.
Apple Bloom picked up the flier with her mouth and dropped it in her open saddlebag. “Then what’re we standin’ around here for? Let’s get to the clubhouse on the double!”
Neither Scootaloo nor Sweetie needed more explanation than that. Turning in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres, the Crusaders raced off at full gallop in the hopes of bringing them one step closer to their cutie marks.
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Note about this story: Chapter 1 is already finished, and will come within a week. I'll try and have Chapter 2 ready about two weeks after that, though it is largely in progress.
Hope you enjoy my story!
Have a clap. It's still in the making, but this chapter deserves a clap.
Clap.
About time!
Great story!
Uh oh Scootaloo and Applebloom are going to be pretty mad when Sweetie Belle actually starts to sing and gets her cutie mark.
I really can't wait to see this story progress! Consider this story favorites and watched!
swag
Oh yea, this is totally going to be like the show.
Have a moustache and keep up the great work.
Idea: When finished, send this to the script writers of MLP FiM. They should put this in as an episode near the end of Season 3.
Wut, Scootaloo has no parents! She's an orphan, remember?
816500
I don't subscribe to that bit of fanon. Until canon proves me otherwise, I assume that the major reason we haven't seen Scootaloo's parents is because there has been no reason for them to show up yet.
I have a thing with making sure my characters get nice things.
816547
Go Sweetie Belle!
Interesting. I'm curious to see where this is going.
816547 Of course, she could possibly be raised by relatives that aren't her parents and still be a happy kid. I don't have a problem with the Scootaloo-is-an-orphan theory, but I suspect that you're right and that the only reason her parents haven't shown up yet is that there's never been a reason for them to. I always thought that if there's a canon orphan, it's probably Apple Bloom.
This is quite good so far! There were a couple things I'd nitpick, but those were tiny; more suited for an editor. I look forward to reading more!
Great story! Wait... Cutie mark GLUE MAKERS!!?
The oh-so-cute cutie mark crusaders are not all that they seem...