• Published 17th Nov 2016
  • 3,598 Views, 230 Comments

Little Stars - Shadowmane PX-41



The CMCs are now the Dazzlings. Oh joy...

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Homecoming

The Cutie Mark Crusaders ducked and dived behind newspaper stands, lightposts, and fire hydrants, almost falling over onto their chests a few times in doing so. Now that they were fully dressed for the Fall Formal, they were also fully exposed to the world around them. If anyone took notice of them and called out that they were cosplaying as the Dazzlings, everything would be in ruins for the three of them.

The sun began to set and scrape the top of the buildings as it sank into the distance. It didn't help much that the girls were staying close to the walls as they were now being illuminated by the golden ball's radiant rays. The shadows that they cast in the light were now elongating, almost to the point where they could touch the roofs of the buildings with them.

"How far is it to your house, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked as she wiped the sweat off of her forehead. "I don't think that I can keep hiding like this all afternoon."

"Yeah. Sooner or later, someone's gonna see us looking like the Dazzlings." Applebloom crossed her arms and followed Scootaloo down the pathways. "Whether it's them or our sisters, we're gonna be in a whole mess of trouble."

"Relax, you two." Scootaloo smiled and pointed to a house at the end of the road. "My house is all the way down there. You sure you don't wanna say goodbye now? I'm sure that you could get back home easily without me dragging you down."

"No, no. If we're gonna get caught, then we're all gonna get caught together." Applebloom held Scootaloo's hand and looked her in the eyes. "We all agreed on this idea. It'd be no fair if only one of us got punished by our sisters."

"Applebloom's right. If we get caught, it just wouldn't be right if one of us made it out scot-free." Sweetie Belle grabbed Scootaloo's hand as well. "If Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash find out, we should all take the blame—not just one of us."

"Yeah, but what about the rest of the Rainbooms?" Scootaloo raised a brow. "I don't think the others'd be so kind. Well... Maybe Pinkie Pie would, but that's beside the point!"

"It doesn't matter who finds us, Scootaloo. Just that if we get busted, we've all gotta live up to our actions." Applebloom shook her head and almost threw her hairband out in doing so. "Now, come on. We're gonna bring you home together."

"Alright then, but I still don't see what the point is, really." Scootaloo shrugged and walked down the street with her hands in her pockets. "I'm sure that Mom and Dad wouldn't even notice we were the Dazzlings."

The rest of the trip to Scootaloo's house was taken in silence as the girls exchanged glances with each other. They were so close to their homes, but now they were also at the greatest of risk. Even if they did get inside, they now had to conceal themselves away from their sisters and make sure that they didn't arouse suspicion from their family members.

"Well, looks like we're here." Scootaloo walked up to the door and pulled out a key from her pocket. She inserted it into the lock and quickly twisted it before shoving the door open. "Now, before I go, are you two absolutely sure that you can make it home and hide yourselves from Applejack and Rarity?"

"Well, Applejack? No. Rarity, maybe..." Applebloom pondered about how she was going to be able to hide her hair from her family. "Hey, we just need to hide our hairstyles, right?"

"Yeah. As long as they don't catch onto us, we can just hide our clothes and cover up our hair with something." Sweetie Belle smiled momentarily, but then looked at how expansive Applebloom's Adagio haircut looked. "Oh. You might need a little more than a hat, Applebloom."

"I'm sure that I could work something out..." Applebloom brushed her hair with her hands, feeling how bouncy it was as she pushed her fingers in and out. "Applejack's gotta have something to hide this bush. She's got a solution for everything."

"Well, whatever you work out, I just hope you have a good night." Scootaloo waved the girls off as they walked back up the road they had come from. She closed the door and locked it up before climbing the stairs to her room.


As Sweetie Belle and Applebloom walked up to Rarity's house, their stomachs began to churn with how slim their chances of being hidden were. They were right on Rarity's doorstep and didn't have much time to hide their hairs from her. They were already thinking about what she would do to Sweetie if they were caught.

"Well, guess it's time to face the music, huh?" Sweetie Belle put her hand on the door and took one last look at Applebloom. She took in a deep breath and laid her other hand on her friend's shoulders. "Hey, if I get grounded tonight and don't get to go to the formal with you and Scootaloo, I just want to say that it's been fun, Applebloom."

"Yeah. Even though I thought this idea would be terrible, it was still fun to do it with the two of you." Applebloom gave a smile of resignation and pushed the door open for Sweetie Belle. "Good luck in there and have a good night."

"You too." Sweetie Belle walked inside and shut the door, locking it up for the night as she walked towards the stairs leading up to her and her sister's bedrooms. "I just hope Rarity doesn't punish me too bad..."

Eventually, Sweetie Belle made it to the top of the stairs and walked down the corridor, looking into Rarity's room as she did. Fortunately for her, Rarity was too engrossed in looking at at a fashion magazine while working on her latest design. She was humming a little tune to herself as she fed the dress through the sewing machine and applied extra decorations to it.

Alright, I've got a bit of time on my hands. I'm sure I can find some way to hide my hai—

"Oh! Sweetie Belle! You're back!" Rarity looked out of her room and over at her sister. "And from the looks of things, you've redone your hair. Ponytails are the in thing right now, so I'd say you're making a bold fashion statement there."

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle almost jumped out of her skin as Rarity came over to her. "Uh... Th-this isn't what it looks like. I-I-I can explain!"

"Why, there's nothing to explain, darling." Rarity gently rubbed Sweetie's back and brushed her ponytail haircut. "I know fashion when I see it, and I think you've got some real potential going out like that. The clothes and hair compliment each other wonderfully."

"I know, I know. It was a stupid idea for me to cospl— wait, what?!" Sweetie Belle stumbled back at Rarity's praise. She thought that it would be the end for her and her plan, considering that she was almost identical to Sonata Dusk. "You mean, you're not going to punish me?"

"Punish?" Rarity lifted her eyebrows. "Why in the world would I ever punish you for looking so fabulous?"

"Because I look exactly like Sonata Dusk of the Dazzlings! Y'know, the sirens that tried to take over Canterlot High and enslave us with their songs?" Sweetie Belle pointed out both her clothes and her hair. "I mean, c'mon, Rarity, you should've known this from the moment you made us those clothes. They're EXACTLY like what Adagio, Aria, and Sonata wore to the Battle of the Bands!"

"Oh, I know all about that, you silly girl. It doesn't take a master fashionista's keen eye to know that you were just dressing up like someone else." Rarity chuckled and patted Sweetie's hair down. "But I don't really get why you and the other Crusaders would want to dress up like those heathens. It just doesn't make any sense, considering your sweet and innocent natures."

"You know how the Fall Formal's having a cosplay section this year?" Sweetie Belle looked down at the floor and brushed the ground with her feet. "It's about that. See, we're gonna..."

"You're gonna what?" Rarity asked.

"We're... gonna..." Sweetie Belle began to choke on her own words as she tried to get the sentence out. No matter what she would be able to say, Rarity would be onto her. "Dress up as the Dazzlings to do the cosplay section of the Fall Formal."

"WHAT?!" Rarity threw her hands onto her head and reviled at Sweetie's answer.

"It would just be the one time, OK?! It was just a silly idea that we had when coming up with ideas!" Sweetie Belle threw her arms down and looked up at Rarity's face. "We wanted to keep it a secret from you and the rest of the Rainbooms."

"You all knew that this would get you into trouble, so why in the world would you go through with it?" Rarity stared into Sweetie's eyes and coiled her hands into fists. "Especially when you knew that we would criticise you about it and potentially ground you?"

"Because I just wanted to know what it's like to win the Fall Formal for once." Sweetie Belle sighed and hung her head. "I thought that, maybe, with my friends by my side, we'd be able to pull this all off and win the crown. And yeah, I know it's for one person, but as long as at least one of us gets it, then I'm happy either way. Guess that's not gonna happen now, is it?"

"Definitely not like that." Rarity crossed her arms and shook her head. "Now, Sweetie Belle, I'm not entirely cross with you, but I'm very disappointed. You're just lucky I'm not Applejack. She would have your neck for this if you were in her family." She knelt down and tenderly massaged Sweetie's shoulders. "I'm not going to stop you from doing this, but I will let you know that you probably won't win with your act and get up. Usually, I would offer some helpful support, but I'm just letting you down easily just in case the crowd doesn't like you."

"It's not the crowd that I'm worried about, Rarity." Sweetie Belle looked her sister in the eyes and put her own hands on Rarity's shoulders. "It's Applebloom and Scootaloo. Their sisters are gonna ground them if they find out."

"Applejack might, but I'm not so sure about what Rainbow Dash would do to Scootaloo." Rarity looked out of the window. "Well, whatever the case, I just want to let you know that everything might not be as smooth as you girls might think on the night of the formal."

"I know, I know." Sweetie Belle's vision drifted off as she looked out at the descending sun one last time that day. "I just hope that the others are alright."


"Alright, Applebloom. You can do this." She paced back and forth in her room, using a light blue blanket to conceal her hair. "You've been in worse situations than this and you've made it through. Whatever happens now, I can't let Applejack see me like this. She'd have my hide!" She threw off the clothes and put them in her closet, proceeding to slip into her casual wear for the evening. "There. Outta sight, outta mind."

"Applebloom? Can ya'll come down and give me a hand in the kitchen?" Applejack's voice rang out through the house. "These floors ain't gonna clean themselves, ya know!"

"Uh, coming!" Applebloom quickly put her trousers on, bouncing around as she tried to slide her legs through the holes. She flopped back onto the bed and pulled them up to her waist, bouncing off and falling onto her back as she got them on. As she crashed onto the carpeted floors, her towel fell off. "It's, uh, gonna take some time, though."

"Applebloom, hustle your bustles and get down here as fast as you can," Applejack called once again. "I can't clean these floors without your help. Ya'll might be a kid, but you've gotta learn to be a bit of independence. Me, Granny, and Big Mac ain't gonna be 'round forever, y'know."

"I know, I know." Applebloom reached down and picked up the towel, wrapping it around her hair once again. She made sure to tie it up as tightly as she could as she walked towards the doors. "

Applebloom ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, seeing that Applejack was busy washing up the pots and pans in the sink. As she watched her sister cleaning up, she went over to the nearby closet and pulled out a ragged broom, nonchalantly sweeping as she tried to keep the towel on her head from falling.

"Where were you all day?" Applejack turned her head from the work she was doing and looked at Applebloom sweeping the floor with the broom. "Ah was gonna pick you up and take you home when class was over, but when I came out, there weren't hide nor tail of you or yer friends. Care to explain?"

"I was just, uh, playing a game of tag with the other Crusaders. That's all." Applebloom chuckled meekly and stared over at her sister, who crossed her arms.

"And seconds of all, why do you have that towel on yer head? Take it off, will ya? It just makes you look plum ridiculous if you ask me." She put her hand on the towel and clutched it as tightly as she could.

"Applejack! Wait! Before you do anything rash, let's just talk about this for a second!" Applebloom began to wave her hands in front of her face.

"Why?" Applejack yanked the towel off. "What could be so important that ya need to hide yer hai—" she made a loud gasp when she realised how Applebloom's hair looked "—WHAT IN TARNATION?!"

"Applejack, it ain't what you think it is!" Applebloom tried to cover up her hair, but it was simply too big to hide without the towel on.

"Oh, really?" Applejack's brows shot up as she stared at Applebloom. "Then what the heck is it?"

"Oh, fine. Guess ya caught me." Applebloom took a deep breath and looked up at her sister. "Me and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders wanted to dress up as the Dazzlings to try and win the Fall Formal. I was against the idea, but Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo roped me into it and we wanted to hide our hair and clothes away from you and the other Rainbooms because we knew you'd be angry with us."

Applejack merely scrunched up her hands and twitched her forehead muscles, looking down at her little sister. Of all of the things that she had seen her do, she had never in her life seen something so ballsy and so irresponsible in her life. She suppressed a snarl as her teeth gnashed together and her face began to turn red.

Finally, she took a deep breath and grabbed Applebloom by the ear, pulling her into another room. "Living room. NOW," she said, "You and I are gonna have a talk, little missy."

Author's Note:

Sorry it's been so long. I just had a number of different things going through my mind, and the whole Christmas and New Year's thing was a real strain on me and my family. We just wanted to take everything easy and chill for a bit.

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