What has six wings, three horns, and twelve hooves?
Diamond Tiara’s father spared no expense on the new playground equipment. The towering towers and slide-y slide were by far the towering-est of towers and slide-y-est of slides that any of the foals had seen. As such, nopony really noticed the Cutie Mark Crusaders peel off from the crowd to make a realization that would change the lives of all Equestrians forever.
Just in front of the window that inexplicably no longer displayed Diamond Tiara, and was, in fact, definitely an ordinary window, much like Pip had originally requested, but Diamond Tiara convinced— oh, well, you get the point. Anyhow, next to the schoolhouse proper, the crusaders conversed.
“I've been thinkin', Crusaders,” Apple Bloom said. “We spend an awful lot of time fussin' and frettin' tryin' to discover our true talent. But when we take a little time off, we end up helpin’ other ponies figure out their true talent!”
“I think that's way more important than worrying about our cutie marks, don't you?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Absolutely!” Scootaloo said with semi-restrained excitement, which manifested into a jump in mid-sentence a moment later. “I don't care if I ever get my cutie mark as long as I get to hang out with my best friends.”
Apple Bloom took a thoughtful step away from the others as she said, “So what do you say, Crusaders?” She turned back and gestured to the crowd of school-ponies. “Want to just focus on helpin' others find their cutie marks?”
With no explanation of the distance Apple Bloom seemingly teleported, the Cutie Mark Crusaders chorused, “YEAH!” They jumped and performed a group high-hoof.
A small purply-pinky-white spark of magical electricity flashed when their hooves met, then grew into a large haze of magical energy that surrounded them, all the while making typical magical-aura noises. For several seconds, there were lots of light rays emitted by the magic that now encompassed and lifted the Cutie Mark Crusaders, which caught the attention of many of the school-ponies. In a final burst of blinding white, the magical aura lowered the crusaders and dissipated.
The onlookers gasped.
“What’s happening?” Sweetie Belle asked as she rubbed her forehead.
“What’s goin’ on?” asked Apple Bloom.
“You’re...” Diamond Tiara started.
“What?” Scootaloo asked. “Did we get our cutie marks?”
All of their schoolmates were looking at them now, expressing their shock through murmurs, gasps, and wide-open jaws.
“N-No,” Diamond Tiara said. “You’re… alicorns! Maybe even princesses!” She held her hooves up to her mouth and squeed.
“What?” the crusaders exclaimed in unison. Scootaloo put a hoof up to her head, Sweetie Belle craned her neck around, and Apple Bloom attempted both at once. Sure enough, new appendages were present.
“This is so cool.”
“Awesome!”
“Big Mac is gonna hate me when I show him,” Apple Bloom said as an evil grin spread across her face.
They allowed themselves a moment to admire their new horns and wings, perhaps showing them off to the crowd as well.
“For a moment there I was afraid we earned our cutie marks,” Scootaloo said.
“Yeah.” Apple Bloom said. “Can you imagine? If we’d done that, then we’d have to accept that we’re individual ponies, you know, with our different marks and all.”
Sweetie Belle nodded. “Since there’s no way we’d get the same mark. We might actually have to spend less time together if that happened.”
For a moment, there was silence. The Cutie Mark Crusaders all shuddered at the prospect.
“Wouldn’t that be ironic, too?” Scootaloo asked. “If we got our cutie marks right after deciding that we didn’t care about them?”
“Actually,” Apple Bloom asked with an attempted thoughtful scratch of her head, which instead led to her hoof ramming into her new horn, ”why are we alicorns now? We don’t even have our cutie marks. Shouldn’t that come first?”
Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to respond, though the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ time before the school-ponies’ last dregs of restraint vanished had ended.
“MY BEST FRIENDS ARE PRINCESSES!” Diamond Tiara, in the form of a high-speed projectile, exclaimed. She bowled over the crusaders with her forelegs open wide to hug as many of them as possible, and remaining crowd followed, all of them wanting to fawn over their schoolmates’ new appendages.
“What were you gonna say, Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom asked from beneath a small group intent on investigating her wings.
“Ooof —” Sweetie Belle managed from beneath Diamond Tiara and a number of other foals who had joined the embrace. Muffled, she continued. “Maybe we should ask Twilight?”
“How do we manage that now?” Apple Bloom asked. “I can’t wait! I need to know!”
Scootaloo coughed deliberately. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked. Scootaloo was hovering a few inches above many of the ponies interested in her, her wings buzzing furiously. “We’re princesses, right?”
“Yeah… and I wanna know why,” Apple Bloom replied. “Scoots, why are you grinnin’?”
There was a bright orange flash, and the crusaders were gone. All of the school-ponies collectively sighed. “Awww...”
* * * * *
Over at Twilight’s Castle, Spike had been just about the put another batch of cookies in one of the kitchen’s several ovens, when there was a bright orange flash.
“Ah! Twilight, they aren’t done yet!” he called.
“Uh, can you give us a little help, Spike?”
“Sweetie Belle?” Spike turned around. Nopony was there. “Guys this isn’t funny. And NO you can’t have any cookies until they’re all done.”
“Uh, hehe,” came the voice of Scootaloo, “We were hoping you could get us down.”
“What?” Spike looked up, and on the chandelier – or more precisely in it – were the three Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“I’m still new to teleportation.” Scootaloo said, still somewhat dazed. “I think I need to work on my aim.”
Spike noticed the horn on Scootaloo’s head, and promptly, the new appendages the other two were sporting. “AA—hic—AHHH!” A spurt of fire engulfed the tray of cookies he held. “TWILIGHT! WE’RE DOOMED!” With that, he ran out of the kitchen, flailing his arms.
“I could try and teleport us do—” Scootaloo started.
“NO” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom chorused.
“We’ll find a better way down,” Sweetie Belle said.
“We could fly, but I don’t know how to use my wings yet,” said Apple Bloom.
They swung, entangled in the chandelier, for a few moments in silence.
Apple Bloom was the first to break it. “Did I tell you guys I’m afraid of heights?”
* * * * *
“Spike, why did you send me cookies with dragonfire?”
“Uh… new recipe I’m trying out.”
“Well,” Twilight said, munching down another one, “They’re really good. Still, I thought these were for Fluttershy’s picnic this afternoon.”
“I, uh, made an extra batch. Wanted to see what you thought of them before I baked the rest up.”
“Are you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“Three.”
“Huh?”
“Um…” Spike said as he tried not to fidget with his claws. “Have another cookie first?”
Twilight magicked another into her mouth.
“WouldyoubeleivemeifIsaidtheCutieMarkCrusaderswrealicornsnow?”
“Spike, you know I can’t understand—”
The familiar chorus of the Cutie Mark Crusaders interrupted her thought. “Hey, Twilight!”
It could have been a joke. Maybe a really great prank by Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Perhaps Luna was having fun? It couldn't be, though. Sweetie Belle was hovering along with her wings, and Scootaloo and Apple Bloom tried to levitate anything they walked by.
All Twilight could do was stare, dumbstruck.
* * * * *
“Gah! Luna, I asked you for a peaceful night’s sleep.” Celestia sat up in her bed, and glared at her sister, who sat on the tower’s balcony. “That was a nightmare I could have done without.”
“I am sorry, sister, but I felt that it would give an easier time accepting the news I have for thee.”
“Luna…?”
Luna gestured out towards the night, in the direction of Ponyville. Twilight’s castle could be seen, though at that moment, a multi-colored light show could be glimpsed inside. “It seems that the Cutie Mark Crusaders have indeed become alicorns.”
A green light flashed, and a dragonfire scroll landed on the bed before Celestia. She unfurled it, and her expression became one of apprehension. “Oh, dear.”
Author's Note
The reason for this story's existence, pulled from Bugsydor's Blogpost:
With that cutie-mark-getting sequence with all the glowing, floating, and general nervousness involved, was anyone else half-expecting the CMC to straight-up ascend to alicornhood? After the episode, I had this image in my head of them going through that scene and ascending, only to find that they were still blank flanks. Wouldn't that have been something?
Why there aren't more chapters.
But the idea lives on!
