“Alright!” Scootaloo yelled. “An entire day to ourselves, no school, no homework, no helping on the farm, no helping in the dress shop. Just quality time for some crusading!” The three little fillies were excited to finally have a day off from busywork. It seemed lately that they never had any time to go out and try to get their cutie marks.
“I know. I love my sister and all, but she can be a bit overbearing sometimes.” Applebloom responded. “The farm’s great, but I just want to go out and get my cutie mark. I feel so useless that I don’t know my special talent, that way my family can get the best from me.”
“But what should we do now?” Sweetie Belle asked. The trio pondered on that thought. They had already tried many things in their quest for cutie marks. From dentists to construction workers, from sales ponies to tax collectors nothing seemed to work. Especially the last one, it was so hard to believe how many ponies were angry at them.
Without any current ideas, they decided to go out to town square and see what most adults were doing on a Sunday. The place was bustling with activity, with the marketplace booming. They felt as though they were going to get sucked into the sea of ponies going about in their daily activities.Luckily, they squeezed their way past and got inside Sugarcube Corner.
“That was harder then usual.” Scootaloo said.
“Agreed.” Applebloom, cleaning off a tomato that had fallen on her from a Pegasus that got a little careless. “What about you Sweetie? Sweetie?” When she looked to her friend, the unicorn had a look of awe on her. “What are y’all looking at…?” She stopped when she saw that both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were standing there in the middle of the store. They got excited to see the princesses again, and they all ran and hugged each other. The princesses were quite happy to see them too. After getting to know them through their sisters, they had grown fond of the little fillies.
“What are you doing here?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Oh well, we were just visiting Twilight and decided to sneak in here to pick some of the cakes here. I heard that they were some of the best, thanks to Pinkie Pie.”
“Indeed. It’s also nice to meet you three, not in a dream.” She chuckled and the other shared a laugh. “How has you been?”
“Have you.” Celestia corrected. Sorry, but Luna is still trying to get the hang of the modern language.”
“Indeed. Learning something you have missed for over a thousand years is hard to get a grasp of. Again, how have you been?”
“We’ve been great, and I don’t think I got the chance to properly thank you when you helped me princess.”
“It is no problem, I help all in the night.”
“Oh it must be so cool to be princesses.” Sweetie said, “I Wish I could be one too.”
“I don’t” Applebloom responded. “I much rather be on the farm, bucking apples all day.”
“Me too. I could never do all that boring stuff you guys must do all day. No offense.”
“Sweetie Belle, you really like princesses?” Celestia asked.
“Of course. All those books that Rarity has, have the princesses falling in love with the most perfect colt, and you two and Twilight are so cool.”
“Maybe you’d like to be one for a day too?”
“Really?!” Sweetie Belle got excited. “You mean I can become an alicorn princess.”
“Yes. Now do you want to take my offer?”
“Would I?! Of course I’d love too.”
“Sister, are you sure about this?” Luna asked, a worried look on her face.
“Do not worry, it is only for fun. By sundown everything will be back to normal.” She replied. Then, she charged up her horn and shot a ray of magic over Sweetie Belle. The glow engulfed her entire body and its light nearly blinded Scootaloo and Applebloom. From the outside one would see lights exiting from every window from Sugarcube corner, though no one seemed to noticed. As the light dimmed, out emerged Sweetie Belle, but this time she came out with wings.
“Alright! I’m a princess now!” The little filly said triumphantly. Her wings, while not the size of an average Pegasus flared outward.
"Awesome, you even have wings too." Scootaloo fluttered her wings in excitement seeing her friends new transformation. "Do you feel any different?"
"Hmm." Sweetie took a long scan over her entire body. nothing seemed to change except for the pair of wings on her back. She even still had no cutie mark. "What?! Oh come on! I'm a princess and I still don't have my cutie mark."
"Oh sweetie Belle, you still have to wait until you find out what your special talent is." The two princesses giggled at the sight of a princess that was also a blank flank. The other two fillies also joined in on the laughter.
"Alright now, it's not that funny." She blushed.
"It kinda is." Applebloom said before continuing her fit of laughter. After a short time, they calmed down.
"Alright finally." Sweetie said in a mono-tone voice. "Now what are we going to do now, princess Celestia?"
"Well you will only be a princess until the sun sets, the moment that happens all the magic we gave to you will be released and returned to us.
"OK now!" Pinkie Pie's voice rang from the kitchen, as she trotted out with a box filled with most likely some really delectable treats, she nearly dropped them at the sight of Sweetie's new form. "Wow! Sweetie Belle you look different, did you get a new haircut?" All the other other ponies nearly face hoofed through the roof after hearing that statement. "I'm joking, duh, you silly fillies. I can clearly see that she has wings now and is an alicorn princess. What?!" Her sudden outburst startle the other five. "You know what this calls for? A..."
"Hush, hush, hush." Celestia stopped her before she could somehow magically form a party. "This is only for a day and just a little fun between us and these three sweet little fillies."
"Indeed, trying to keep the fanfare low would be the best course of action." Luna added.
"That as well. Now Pinkie thank you for the delicious goods. We've left the money on the counter for you, and you can keep the change." Luna picked up the box with her magic and the two princesses slipped out the back door, to be unseen by anypony. Pinkie and the CMC waved goodbye before returning to the topic at hand.
"Wow." Pinkie said in awe. "What are you going to do now that you're a princess? At least for today." she asked.
"Well I haven't really given it much thought." she thought about what she could do with her new found powers. Maybe she could use it to get revenge on Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon for calling her and her friends blank flanks. Then again seeing even the princesses' reaction to her lack of one still may not be the best idea. Maybe she could show off her status for one day to the town's ponies and they can treat her like a princess, just like in those fairy tales her mom used to read to her at night. But, what if they don't like her new transformation. "Oh no, what if everypony hates me for being a princess now?"
"Oh don't worry your little head about it." Pinkie reassured. "I mean come on, what kind of pony do you have to be to hate somepony just because they become a princess for no apparent reason. Besides you're only going to be one for one day." Sweetie continued trying to find something, anything that she could try to do that she couldn't before now that she was a princess. She stood there for what seemed to be an eternity. Lost in her thoughts, the two other fillies were beginning to get bored.
"Uh, so is she gonna say anything? She's been like that for the last ten minutes." Applebloom asked.
"Yeah, at this rate she'll turn back into boring old Sweetie Belle before we even leave the building." Scootaloo added.
"Oh, I know." Pinkie suddenly thought up an idea, she snapped Sweetie out of her trance to get her attention. "Since you guys call yourselves the cutie mark crusaders, why don't you do some crusading. Now that Sweetie's a princess, finding your special talents should be no trouble at all.
"You know what, that is a good idea." Sweetie responded. "Say, doesn't Twilight still have that book with the spell that mixed up everypony's cutie mark?" The two fillies thought about it for a moment before nodding their heads yes. "Great, then maybe I can try that spell with alicorn magic and we can get our cutie marks from it."
"Yeah!" Applebloom and Scootaloo said aloud.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders! Go!" They said in unison and rushed out the door.
"Wait! Maybe that isn't such a good..." Pinkie tried to warn them, but they were already long gone and well out of earshot from her. "Oh no! I gotta warn Twilight!" Just then, a random balloon crossed her vision and her attention went straight to that. "Ooh pretty." She began to follow it, forgetting her goal instantly.
The crusaders now found themselves in a rather busy marketplace. As usual, most ponies were going about themselves in their usual manner, buying and selling goods, walking around to make them look like they're doing something when they're not. Overall it was just another day in Ponyville. However Sweetie Belle was caught off-guard on how nopony seemed to pay her new status any mind. It was almost as if they didn't notice a princess was in their mist.
"Oh come on!" She complained. "Why does nopony care what's happened to me?"
"Don't worry about it." Scootaloo reassured. "Nothing ever get these ponies attention."
"Yeah. Now let's go." Applebloom added. "Maybe those books Twilight has can get us our cutie marks!" In agreement the three made there way to the library. Sweetie Belle still felt the sting of no pony caring about her transformation. In fact, being a princess may not have been all it's been cracked up to be. However, she quickly brushed off those feelings as they neared Twilight's home. The day was still young and maybe there were some books that they could use to make the most of her princess hood. Right before they were about to open the door, Scootaloo stopped the other too.
"Wait!" She whispered. "I don't think Twilight will be very happy about us trying to take some of her books."
"What do you mean? Twilight loves us. We have Twilight time every week." Applebloom responded. "She let us have that one book with the recipe for the love poison, I'm sure she'll let us have another."
"Are you sure? We didn't exactly prove ourselves to be the most trustworthy fillies after that. Now come on. We're going to go through the back door."
"I don't think she even has a back door." Sweetie Belle said.
"Then we'll just sneak in through the window above the kitchen sink." The three quietly went around the tree until they reached the window. Carefully looking over it to make sure that nopony was inside they opened it with a small creaking sound. First, Scootaloo swiftly jumped through careful to not make a sound. Applebloom quickly followed, doing the same thing. Sweetie Belle wanted to do it differently, however. Being a princess and an alicorn, she decided using her wings would be much more suited for her.
She started to flutter her little wings rapidly, which seemed to work as her body began take lift. As carefully as she could, Sweetie tried to get herself through the window. However, having no experience in flight she was not expecting how hovering over any object or terrain worked, once she went over the window opening she lost control of her flight. She crashed onto the kitchen sink and in panic, flapped her wings harder. The loss in control sent her careening into the pots and pans hanging on a rack, knocking all of them down in a loud ruckus. She continued crashing into many of the items that Twilight usually kept in her kitchen, including books. Finally, Sweetie painfully landed on top of the dining table.
"Real smooth there, Sweetie." Scootaloo commented. "You hit everything, including the kitchen sink."
"I'm sorry." Sweetie Belle sadly apologized for the incident. "Hey, where's Twilight? Or Spike?" She wondered. She noticed that despite the disaster she created, neither of the two had went on to check on it.
"Maybe, this is the answer you're looking for." Applebloom pointed out a sticky note that was now attached to Sweetie flank. Swiping it off her, it read:
Ran out of quills. Went out with Spike to pick some up from the Sofas and Quills shop. Will return soon.
"Well I guess we didn't need to sneak in after all." Scootaloo nervously chuckled as the other two looked at her with irritation. "Now then, girls. We need to find something we can that can help us get our cutie marks." The trio quickly began searching the bookshelves for books that could help get them their cutie marks. Twilight owned a lot of books, and when somepony said a lot, they meant that there must have been thousands in this little library. There simply was just too many to sort through all of it. Just when the CMC had almost decided that the search was no use they stumbled upon an odd looking journal.
"What's this?" Sweetie asked as she used her magic to flip through the pages. Scanning each page carefully to make sure she didn't miss anything important, when one caught her eye. She quickly read through the line again catching something relating to a mark of destiny. "Girls this is it! I think this is the spell that can help get us our cutie marks." Scootaloo and Applebloom scrunched up over Sweetie's shoulders to get a better look.
"Wow you're right." Scootaloo replied.
"Alright then, just stand over there." Sweetie pointed out a spot about a couple yards in front of her. "All I have to do is recite the spell and and direct my magic toward you and it should work."
"Wait, but what about you?" Applebloom asked.
"I guess I haven't thought about that. Don't worry girls, even if I can't get mine today maybe your cutie marks can help me find mine."
"You mean that one of us could be a cutie mark helper for colts and fillies that don't have their own? That would be awesome!" Scootaloo said.
"Cutie Mark Finders!" The trio yelled out their signature catchphrase as Sweetie's horn began to glow.
"Okay girls. Get ready." She read over the spell in her head as the light began to intensify. Suddenly A beam shot out and made contact with the other two. The magic began to levitate the Applebloom and Scootaloo as the light flared blindingly. Sweetie had to close her eyes as the the brightness exploded, engulfing the entire room. Then, as soon as it occurred, the magic's glow quickly dissipated and the two fillies fell to the floor. "Girls?" Sweetie asked, slowly opening her eyes, worried.
"We're okay." Applebloom responded. "Wait a second, what about our cutie marks?" Both Applebloom and Scootaloo took a quick look at their flanks in hopes of finding their cutie marks. Their faces of hope quickly turned to disappointment as all they saw were their regular blank flanks.
"Gosh darn it! I guess it didn't work." Scootaloo said, frustrated at their failure.
"Oh, don't worry." Sweetie tried to reassure. "Maybe we still have time." She stopped her sentence short as she witness the sun falling out of sight in the horizon. "Oh no, not now." The moment it went out of sight a magical wave surrounded Sweetie Belle. Soon a ball of energy engulfed her body glowing bright and when it burned out, she had returned to her normal form. "No." she said in a defeated tone. "I didn't, didn't." Tear formed in her eyes has she began sobbing.
"Cheer up Sweetie." Applebloom comforted. "We'll have another chance to get our cutie marks in the future."
"No it's not that." Sweetie, still crying tried to say. "I'm an awful princess."
"Huh?" Scootaloo was confused. "What do you mean by that?"
"I couldn't do anything right, no pony even noticed me. My flying is the worst and I could use my magic to give you girls your cutie marks." She pulled herself from Applebloom and turned away. "I'll be anything and I'll never get my cutie mark, because I'm such a loser."
Don't say that." Scootaloo said. "You're awesome! I mean, who else can say that they were a princess for even a day."
"I guess I can."
"And what about what you were going to do? You were willing to sacrifice a chance to get your own cutie mark for us?"
"I guess I was going to let that happen." Sweetie wiped off her tears, feeling much better. "Thank girls. You two are the best friend a pony could ever have."
"And you're the best Sweetie Belle we could ever ask for, princess or no princess." The other two said in unison. As they were cleaning themselves up Twilight and Spike came home.
"Oh my." She witnessed the mess they had caused. "You girls really left a mess here."
"Hi Twilight! Sorry for the mess, we were just looking for some of your books for useful information."
"Well I'm never against the pursuit of knowledge. I'll just have Spike clean this up tomorrow."
"Of course, I am the number one assistant after all." Spike bragged.
"Now you three should be getting on home now. It's late and your families must be getting worried."
"OK!" The trio yelled together and went out the door to head home."
"Maybe we should lock our doors when we both go out instead of leaving a note." Twilight yawned and made her way upstairs. "It looks like you're gonna have a long day ahead of you Spike, so I suggest getting your rest." Spike was about to follow when a knock on the door stopped him. When he went to answer it, he was confronted with both Applejack and Rarity with each others cutie marks."
"Oh Spike, it's awful!" Rarity quickly said. "The two of us were just finishing up the details of some dresses I was working on when out of nowhere our cutie marks were switched! You have to get Twilight to fix this mess."
"Ugh." Spike heavily sighed. "Twilight!!!"
