Sweetie Belle awoken and it was morning. Same as it was every morning, the sun was shining and the weather was perfect. She stretched, hearing a few joints crack before she stepped out of her bed. Her hoofs on the cold floor made her shudder. She trotted downstairs with a smile on her face for it was finally her birthday. She knew the day ahead of her was going to be full of presents and laughter and smiles and her two bestest friends in the whole wide world, Scootaloo and Applebloom.
"Happy Birthday, Sweetie Belle!" Applebloom squealed as she stepped into the clubhouse, hugging Sweetie with all her force. Scootaloo trotted over and gave Sweetie Belle a childish punch to the shoulder, making Sweetie squint a bit since it hurt a little. Sweetie was weaker than the rest of them and she was sure if she showed it they'd make fun of her for it. Applebloom held a box on her head with a pretty ribbon on it. Scoots had a tiny bag being held in her mouth.
Sweetie saw the two presents and started bouncing up and down and said in her squeaky voice, "ooh let me open them! Come on guys!" Applebloom laughed, "Come on now Sweetie Belle, ah'm pretty sure you can wait until after you eat y'er cake," Sweetie tilted her head overdramatically to the side and pursed her lips, "you baked me a cake?"
She bit her lip remember all the other times Applebloom tried baking. Seeing Sweetie's expression, Applebloom had to laugh, "Ah bought yah a cake from Sugar Cube Corner!" Scootaloo laughed and said in a almost mocking tone, "A cake from Applebloom's the last thing anypony would want on their birthday." Applebloom glared at her Pegasus friend for a while before turning back to Sweetie Belle, giving her a smile, then turning and trotting to the other cardboard box near the thinking spot.
Putting the box in front of Sweetie Belle, she sighed in content. The cake was the same colour of her mane and coat with the words "Hapy Birthday Sweetie Belle" and a poorly done picture of Sweetie. Scootaloo tilted her head seeing, "Hapy"
"I think you're missing a few P's there." She said sarcastically with a grin. "Guess ah ain't getting a cutie mark in spellin' any time soon" Applebloom muttered looking at her blank flank. She instantly perked up, "But we can get it in entertainment!" she yelled. Skootaloo covered Applebloom's mouth with her hoof and hissed, "Applebloom you're gonna spoil her present!"
"Entertainment?" Sweetie Belle asked, lifting a brow. Skootaloo let out a fustraited sigh and looked over at Applebloom, who did a awkward giggle and muttered a quiet "woops?"
"Here, it has something to do with your present," Skoots handed her the bag, "We were thinking about ways to get out Cutie Marks and thought up- -" Sweetie interrupted as she pulled out a harmonica, "A harmonica?! Getting our talents in harmonica playing?!" Applebloom threw her box on the floor, "or flute playin'!"
Sweetie opened the box and held up a wooden flute, which was more of a fife than anything. Sweetie still had the harmonica in her right hoof. "I think a harmonica would be easier to play. When I can do magic I'll have to give the flute a try too, huh?" Sweetie said in her childish voice as she looked at her two filly friends. Sweetie blew into the harmonica and it sounded awful, she did an awkward laugh.
Applebloom jumped up and down, "That was great Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo rolled her eyes and added, "Yeah, if you're deaf," Applebloom turned to Scootaloo and glared a little, "well its her first time playin' it! Its not gonna sound like a symphony," , "Applebloom I know that bu—", "Y'all probably don't even know what a symphony is!", "Well at least I—" they were interrupted by another blow of the harmonica which sounded even worse.
Scootaloo carried two sticks in her mouth, Applebloom with the flute and Sweetie Belle with her harmonica. They were walking to the school, although they were all on a break. The swings at the school were the nearest thing to a playground that they could get during this time of the year. Scootaloo was walking slightly ahead of the two.
"So when we get out Cutie Marks in entertainment, ewe can travel the world!" Applebloom said happily with a skip in her step. Finally they got to the playground, Scootaloo running to the swings befor either of her friends could get to it. She hopped on and flapped her wings to propel herself and make her swing higher. Sweetie Belle climbed onto the swing next to her, not bothering to swing while Applebloom just sat on the grass since the only two swings were taken up.
"So what songs do we know?" Scootaloo asked, tipping back her head to see if anypony was around. Sweetie Belle tilted her head to the side over dramatically and thought about any songs she knew, "I know songs but not how to play any," Applebloom stood up on her hoofs and said in a happy tone, "How about we write a song!"
"Write a song?" Scootaloo replied, slowing down her swinging. "Yeah! We can write one!" Sweetie Belle blew into her new harmonica, closing her eyes as she tried hard to make a loud sound with it. When she opened her eyes she noticed something far off in the distance. Blinking a few times she lowered the instrument from her mouth and squinted her eyes. It looked a lot like a stallion, not too tall and a little scrawny. "Who's that?"
Applebloom turned her head, Scootaloo looked over too and they both wondered who he was. He wasn't too close to the school but they could tell he was walking closer. Scootaloo ignored it and tapped her two sticks on her hoofs to make a beat. "So I'll do the drums, Sweetie Belle you can play your harmonica and Applebloom you play the flute." Applebloom sat back down on the ground and blew into the flute, the sound coming out was as equally as awful sounding as Sweetie Belles harmonica drones.
"Ready guys!?" yelled Scootaloo in a raspy tone, kind of like Rainbow Dash's. All at once they all started playing their instruments. It sounded completely horrid, but Scootaloo soon heard behind the awful sound, a pony clapping their hooves.
It was the scrawny stallion. He was clapping for them and saying in his almost husky voice, "Bravo! Bravo little filly's!"
The three smiled and Scootaloo said in almost a yell, "wow thanks mister!"
The stallion was brown with black hoofs. His mane was choppy and greasy, pretty gross. It was black and a little long for a stallion. He was tall enough to look down at the three, his smile showed his strangely clean teeth but the left eye tooth was missing.
"You young filly's are pretty good at that, do you have a band name?" asked the older stallion. Applebloom jumped up and down, "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Scootaloo looked over at her, "Well thats who we are but its not our band name.", "Well then what in the hay is out band name?!"
The two argued for a while and soon agreed that they never even had a band name, but would make up one. The stallion laughed at their childishness and said with a chuckle, "Whatever band you little fillies are I'd like to hear more of you," the three giggled to each other in joy before inhaling to blow into their instruments, aside from Scootaloo who twirled the sticks. The stallion stopped them before they could make the horrid noises again, "But! Could I maybe have a private concert?"
Scootaloo pursed her lips and tilted her head, Sweetie Belle looked over at her two friends and Applebloom squinted her eyes at the stallion. "Could we... could you excuse us?" The three little fillies each put an arm around the others shoulder huddling together. They all leaned in and began whispering to each other.
"Girls, what should we do?" asked Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle looked from Scootaloo to Applebloom over and over as she talked, "Stranger danger! We don't go!" Applebloom jumped in, "Now hang on y'all. What if are special talent really IS music?" Scootaloo tilted her head a little, "Then how come we don't have our cutie marks?" Applebloom had to grin, "Because thing 'bout it! Maybe its doin' private shows! Or doin' it in front of an audience!" Scootaloo grinned back at her, "Oh of course!" Scootaloo and Applebloom smiled and nodded at each other, then looked at Sweetie Belle, whom was quiet for a long time.
"I...guess that makes sense" she said with a lot of worry in her voice. Applebloom squealed, "Perfect!' the three broke apart and looked over at the stallion, "Of course we will, mister!" Scootaloo said.