Part 1
"Apple Bloom, are you almost ready?" Applejack asked as she came into her little sister's room. Apple Bloom was running around her room looking for her sash for the filly scouts. "Your friends are going to be here any minute."
"Where is it? Where is it?" The filly asked frantically.
"Where is what, sugar cube?" Apple Bloom looked at her sister.
"My sash! You didn't see it anywhere, did you Applejack?" Applejack shook her head.
"Fraid not, sis." She answered. "But you better hurry. Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell are going to be here soon." There then was a ring. "Oh, speak of the devil, that's them." Apple Bloom groaned and she began looking again.
"Oh, what am I going to do? Ms. Creampuff doesn't like it when we're late."
"Well, I don't know what to tell you sis. Can't you go without it? You can explain to her that it got lost."
"I can, but she'll be really mad. Our sashes are our responsibility!"
"Well, I'm going to go down and greet your friends. If you can't find it, I'm afraid you're going to have to tell your den mother about it. I'm sure she'll understand and give you a new one."
"But I worked hard on getting those patches!"
"Well, you can work harder at getting them back!" Apple Bloom did another loud moan. Applejack left her room and went downstairs where Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell in their sashes with patches and their troop number and name: Butterflies, 2091992, were waiting.
"Is Apple Bloom with you?" Scootaloo wanted to know. "Cause we have to go."
"If we don't go soon, we'll be late." Sweetie Bell added. "And our den mother…."
"I know, I know." Applejack said. "Doesn't like it when you're late. She'll be here. She just had to find her sash is all." Both fillies gasped.
"Apple Bloom lost her sash?" Sweetie Bell questioned. Applejack nodded.
"Fraid so."
"Ms. Creampuff isn't going to like that." Scootaloo put in. "She might have to start all over."
"And she worked so hard too!" Sweetie Bell said. "It really isn't fair that we have a lot of patches and she has to start over." She looked at Scootaloo. "Maybe we should start over too."
"What!?" Scootaloo wanted to know. "Are you crazy?! We worked our tails off earning these patches! There's no way we're starting over."
"But Scootaloo…" But just then Apple Bloom came down the stairs, looking sad. Her friends went to her.
"You didn't find it, huh?" Apple Bloom just shook her head sadly.
"I'll just have to tell Ms. Creampuff and start all over." She said.
"Then we'll start over too!" Sweetie Bell told her. Apple Bloom smiled.
"Aw, that's mighty generous of y'all for offering, but I don't want you guys getting behind because of me."
"It's no trouble at all, right Scootaloo?" Sweetie Bell nudged her. "Right, Scootaloo?" Scootaloo let out a heavy sigh.
"Right." She agreed. Something then caught Sweetie Bell's eye as the fillies went past the apple baskets. She went over and looked into it. She used her magic to lift the piece of green clothing from the apples on top of it. It was Apple Bloom's sash! It had the same number of patches and troop number and level name as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle's.
"Here's your sash right here, Apple Bloom." She said. Apple Bloom was confused.
"What?" She wanted to know. She and Scootaloo went by their friend.
"Apple Bloom, how did your sash get into the apple basket?" Scootaloo asked her friend.
"I don't know." Apple Bloom admitted. She thought about this and remembered something. "Oh yeah, now I remember! I was out here earlier, showing Granny Smith the patches I earned. I then put it in the basket while I was working with Applejack. I must have forgotten it." She then slipped into it.
"And not a minute too soon." Scootaloo stated. "Come on, or we're going to be tardied." And with that, the three fillies were off.
"Okay, settle down girls." A cream-colored pony spoke to some fillies. "It's time to begin. Now, does anyone know where Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Bell are?" The fillies shook their heads.
"Don't start yet, Ms. Creampuff!" Apple Bloom shouted as she, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Bell ran in. "We're here!"
"Sorry we're late." Sweetie Bell told her. "Are you mad?" Ms. Creampuff looked at her watch on her hoof and smiled.
"Don't worry, girls." She told them. You're only a couple seconds late, No harm done." All three girls sighed with relief. Ms. Creampuff looked at her troop.
"Now girls, before we begin, would somepony like to sing the filly scout song? It's been a while since we did it last."
"Can me, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Bell do it together?" Scootaloo asked, hoof raised. "We've been practicing." Ms. Creampuff nodded.
"I think that's a splendid idea." She replied. All three girls smiled and got in position. Scootaloo looked at the other two.
"Okay girls," She told them. "Just like we rehearsed." They nodded and stomped their hooves as they swayed back and fourth.
"We're all filly scouts." They began.
"And we're going to tell you what we are about!"
"Honesty!" Apple Bloom sang. "We never tell a lie; now why don't you give it a try?"
"We're caring and loving." Sweetie Belle put in.
"We also share because sharing is caring!" Apple Bloom added.
"If we lose," Scootaloo sang. "we just grin. Knowing that we tried our very best and had fun means we've already won!
"We don't need anypony or fashion magazine telling us who we should be." Sweetie Belle sang. "I'm just happy being me!"
"We don't let any pony bully us around." Scootaloo stated. "We're princesses inside, we don't need a crown!
"We treat every pony the same." Apple Bloom chipped in.
"We don't cheat in any kind of game." Scootaloo put in.
"We use our manners," Sweetie Belle started. "are kind and polite. We never get into a fight.
We are never greedy.
"We always lend a helping hoof to the needy!" Apple Bloom chimed.
"We always think positive when things go wrong." Sweetie Belle put in.
"Because," Scootaloo sang, putting a hoof on each of her friends. "just being here with the ones I love is where I know I belong." They all sang the finale.
"We're all filly scouts and that's what we're…abooout!"
After the song, there was applause from every pony in the room.
"That was magnificent, girls." Ms. Creampuff told the singers. She looked at the other girls. "Wasn't it, girls?"
"Yes, Ms. Creampuff!" All of them said at the same time. Ms. Creampuff looked at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Okay girls, take a seat, and we can get started." Apple Bloom, Scootoloo, and Sweetie Bell all nodded and sat on the floor. All of the girls sat in a circle, surrounding Ms. Creampuff.
"Alright troop," She began. "As you already know, it's that time of year again where we sell cakes." Every girl cheered.
"I love selling cakes!" Apple Bloom said. "They're all for a good cause plus…" She licked her chops. "They're mighty tasty!"
"What's the cause this year, Ms. Creampuff?" Sweetie Bell asked her.
"We are raising money for the Little Filly and Colts Hospital of Ponyville this year." Ms. Creampuff answered. The fillies all cheered.
"The kids will love that!" Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle put in. "If I was sick and at the hospital, I'd feel grateful that someponies donated money to help me along with other colts and fillies."
"Other troops raise money for prizes," Scootaloo began. "But our troop gives our money away to charities to make life better for someponies that are less fortunate. That is just how we roll."
"That's right, Scootaloo." Ms. Creampuff agreed. She looked at the other fillies again. "And as always, Sugarcube Corner will provide the cakes we sell. They'll make them and we'll deliver them. Now, let's get what needs to be accomplished today, shall we?"
"So, how was Filly Scouts today, Apple Bloom?" Applejack asked her sister when they were in her room.
"Great!" Apple Bloom answered. "Ms. Creampuff handed us the cake order forms."
"Oh, it is that time already? I always love when you girls sell those. Tomorrow after school, we'll go house to house and ask what kind of cakes each pony wants."
"Thanks, sis. With your help, I just know we'll get a lot of orders in." Applejack chucked.
"Whoa there sugarcube, it doesn't matter how many orders we get. What matters is the charity we help. This isn't a complititon, remember."
"Yeah, I know, but with all the money we'll make, it'll help for sure!"
"What charity are you going to raise money for anyway?"
"The Fillies and Colts Hospital of Ponyville."
"Well, no matter how much money you earn; they'll be happy just for helping them. Now, go to bed. You need sleep to be a good salespony."
"Right." Apple Bloom hopped into bed and her sister tucked her in. "Love you, Applejack." Applejack smiled.
"Love you, sugarcube." And with that, she kissed her sister's forehead. She shut off the lights and went out the door.
When the last bell of school rang, Apple Bloom jumped out of her seat.
"Somepony's eager to get home." Sweetie Belle observed.
"It's school, Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo told her. "Everypony is eager to get home."
"Applejack and I are going to get started on the cake orders." Apple Bloom informed her friends.
"You think you're going to get a lot of orders?" Sweetie Belle asked. Apple Bloom shrugged.
"Perhaps, but Applejack says it doesn't matter how many orders we fill. All that matters is how we help the hospital."
"Yeah," Scootaloo agreed. "But if you fill in lots of forms, you'll help the hospital a lot more." Apple Bloom thought about this.
"Well, I suppose that's true. I never looked at it like that before."
"Hey, blank-flanks!" They heard Sliver Spoon say. The Cutiemark Crusaders turned and saw her and Diamond Tiara headed their way. They all narrowed their eyes at them.
"What do you two want?" Scootaloo questioned.
"Nothing." Diamond Tiara said. "We just wanted to tell you that we got our order forms for selling cakes at Filly Scouts last night."
"Yeah? So did we, what's the point?"
"So, are you going to start asking ponies what they want?"
"Yeah!" Apple Bloom told them. "My big sister and I are going to go house to house to fill out forms."
"That's sweet. Diamond Tiara and I are going house to house too." Silver Spoon stated.
"We may get more orders filled." Diamond Tiara added.
"Well, this isn't a contest." Apple Bloom told them. "We're doing this for charity, so however forms we fill, we're going to be winners anyway."
"Whatever." She and Diamond Tiara headed out. So did the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"Are you ready?" Applejack called up to her sister who was upstairs finishing her homework. "We don't want to get back and it's dark."
"Comin' sis!" Apple Bloom shouted down when she had her homework done. She put her homework away, put on her sash and went down to her sister.
"Are you ready for this?" She asked.
"Yes I am! Let's go get those orders so we can help the hospital." Applejack smiled at her sister.
"Okay, the order forms are out in the barn. Let's get them and be on our way."
"Sounds great!" And with that, she and Applejack were off.
Applejack knocked on Twilight's door and Spike answered.
"Is Twilight home?" She asked the baby dragon. Spike was about to answer when Twilight called to him. '
"Spike! Who's at the door?" She wanted to know.
"It's Applejack and Apple Bloom!" He called back.
"Well, what do they want?" Spike looked at the sisters.
"What do you want?" Spike asked.
"Cake orders!" Apple Bloom replied. Spike nodded and was about to call for Twilight when the alicorn ran up, knocking Spike to the ground. Twilight looked at the injured Spike.
"Sorry Spike." She apologized. Spike did a thumbs up.
"Don't worry." A woozy Spike told her. "You just get your cake order in." Twilight looked at the sisters again.
"So, it's that time of year again."
"Yep!" Apple Bloom responded. "And this year, my troop is going to raise money for the Colts and Fillies Hospital of Ponyville."
"Then I better write down what I want if it's going for a good cause." Spike got up, shook his head, and looked at Twilight.
"It's cake, Twilight." He said. "You would've placed your order anyway."
"Yeah." Twilight agreed. "But knowing that you helped the less fortunate always feel great." She then kicked up her heels in excitement and licked her chops. "Plus; I love cake!"
"Here's the order form." Applejack told Twilight. Twilight looked over the form
"Gosh!" She observed. "They all look good; it's so hard to choose." She looked at Spike. "Are you going to order, Spike?"
"Are you kidding me?" Spike said. "Of course I am! Who doesn't like cake?"
"Now, now, Spike. You know that's not true. Not everypony…."
"Yeah, yeah. Not every pony likes the same thing. I know." He looked at the order form with Twilight.
"Uh, Twilight?" Applejack said to her a few minutes later. "Can you and Spike please get a move on? Apple Bloom and I have to get more orders in."
"Well," Twilight began. "It's so hard to pick, but I'll pick strawberry, no carrot cake, no wait marble or maybe…"
"You know we can always come back and you can have another one. If you don't have one now, we can come back and…"
"I'll take chocolate."
"And I'll take vanilla." Spike added. Twilight put her name near the image of the chocolate cake and she let Spike put his name by the vanilla one.
"Thank you." Apple Bloom said when her sister took the form back.
"No." Twilight told the filly. "Thank you. Because of you and your friends, the hospital will be all so grateful." Apple Bloom smiled.
After their goodbyes, Applejack and Apple Bloom trotted to the next house.
Apple Bloom and her friends were telling each other how many cake orders they filled the next day in the school yard, waiting for school to begin.
"So, blank-flanks," Silver Spoon said, she and Diamond Tiara going over the crusaders. "How many orders did you fill yesterday?"
"We told you." Sweetie Belle said to them. "It's not a contest."
"But if you must know," Scootaloo stated. "Apple Bloom filled out 14, Sweetie Belle filled out 16, and I filled out 17."
"So, all together?" Silver Spoon challenged.
"Uh…" Scootaloo hesitated, trying to add the numbers in her head. Apple Bloom added the numbers on her calculator.
"47." Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah." Scootaloo told them proudly. "47. How much did you girls get?" Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looked at each other and smiled wickedly.
"All together, we got 50 orders in." Diamond Tiara bragged. All of the Crusaders were shocked.
"Whoa!" Sweetie Belle said. "50?"
"That's a lot of orders." Scootaloo added.
"Like we said before, this isn't a contest." Apple Bloom put in. "So it doesn't matter who got who." Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon smiled wickedly again.
"Yeah," Silver Spoon started. "Good thing this isn't a contest, because Diamond Tiara and I would surely win." The crusaders narrowed their eyes at them.
"What do you mean you guys would win?" Scootaloo asked. "What makes you think we wouldn't win?"
"Well…" Diamond Tiara said. "Just because."
"That's not a good enough reason."
"Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom told her. "What are you doing? This isn't a contest."
"I don't need a reason to why." Diamond Tiara stated. "I just know!"
"Because we're all better than you." Silver Spoon told them. The three all gasped. "We both have better cake selling skills than the three of you combined."
"Hey!" Scootaloo shouted. "Take that back! How do you know you have better cake selling skills than us? Maybe we have the best cake selling skills!"
"We just know." Diamond Tiara stated.
"Scootaloo told you." Sweetie Belle put in. "That's not a good enough reason."
"We don't care." Silver Spoon spoke. "We're still going to cream you."
"Are you challenging us?" Scootaloo questioned.
"Please!" Apple Bloom pleaded. "No need to make this into a contest. It'll only end badly."
"Yeah!" Silver Spoon said. "Bad for you guys because we're going to sell more cakes than you. "Apple Bloom turned to Silver Spoon, narrowing her eyes at her. "I'm sick and tired of you saying that. We don't have to take this you know."
"Well, challenge us then. Or are you all chickens?" The two bully fillies then clucked like chickens.
"You're on! If you all want a contest, then let there be a contest." Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara both smiled their wicked smiles.
"Perfect. If we win, which we will, you all have to be our slaves for a week."
"And if we win?" Sweetie Belle wanted to know.
"Yeah!" Scootaloo added. "If we win, what do we get?"
"If you guys win," Silver Spoon started. "Which will be unlikely, Diamond Tiara and I will…" She thought about this. "Well, we'll win anyway so it doesn't really matter."
"We'll tell you two what we want when we win!" Scootaloo shouted.
"Fine. Then may the best ponies win."