Sweetie Belle woke up excited. Her class trip to Canterlot was this morning, and so she could hardly wait to see the city and castle and maybe even Princess Celestia!
The young mare raced through her morning routine, humming a playful tune she had stuck in her head today. Coming downstairs, Sweetie Belle spotted her father yawning as he perused his morning paper.
Starting Belle smiled over at his daughter as she came up to him, and rubbed her head good-naturedly as she passed. "How's my Sweetie today? Lookin forward to your trip?"
She nodded, grinning enthusiastically. "I am! This is going to be so much fun, dad! Scoots and Apple Bloom and I are gonna see I we can get our cutie marks on the train!"
Starting smiled back, his grin a little forced as he glanced from his daughter, to the paper and back. His daughter won out for a moment, and he spoke up, even as she started putting the plates out for breakfast, helping her mother get ready.
"Sweetie, you know how much I love sports, right? And how I got my cutie mark?"
His daughter groaned. "Dad! Not this story again!"
He grinned and continued. "No... but sometimes, I sort of wish I could have waited to get my cutie mark. I was a great quarterback for the Trotingham Manticores in my day, but these days, your old stallion's got to satisfy himself coaching the local team. It's just not the same. Don't be too eager to get your cutie mark, that's all I'm sayin."
Sweetie groaned. "But you FOUND your special talent, Dad! I have no idea what mine could be!"
Starting just shoot his head. "It'll come, Sweetie. Don't worry." With a shrug, he opened his paper again to the sports section.
Sweetie finished breakfast in a rush, but not before her mother kissed her goodbye. "You be good now darling!" Delicate Belle said, kissing her daughter's forehead, "You mind Miss Cheerilee while you're on your trip, and NO crusading anywhere dangerous! Have a good trip!"
She spoke the last words in an ever increasing volume as Sweetie made a run for the school, too eager to leave to wait.
Delicate watched her daughter go for a long moment, then shrugged and walked back inside the house. She looked over at her husband, and smiled warmly, then headed off to her work room, to put together a new necklace she had just thought of.
As Sweetie approached the one room school house, she was stopped by a 'PSST' coming from behind a hedge row. She looked over, and saw Scootaloo and Applebloom waving at her from behind it, and so happily bounced over to join them.
"Hey guys? What's up?" She asked curiously.
Scootaloo was frowning, as she pulled a paper out of her school saddlebag. "This is 'up'. My permission slip for the field trip!"
Sweetie looked at it. "I turned mine in Monday. What's wrong... hey Scoots, why isn't it signed?"
Applebloom snorted, upset. "Her folks wouldn't sign it, that's what's wrong!"
Sweetie gasped in horror. "Oh no! You can't miss the field trip! Gosh!"
Scootaloo's frown deepened, and she set the paper down carefully. "I don't want to! Sweetie, you got to help me. Mom woulda signed it, I know it, but she's outta town, and Dad's never around."
Sweetie looked confused. "Huh? How can I help?"
Applebloom snorted again, looking upset. "She wants you ta forge her mom's signa.. her sig... her name. It ta'nt right."
Scootaloo growled out. "I should get to go! It's not right that just cause my Mom works out of town, that I miss the field trip either!" She looked at Sweetie. "I know you can do it, Sweetie. Just sign my mom's name here..."
Sweetie looked conflicted. "How's that going to help? Miss Cheerilee knows what my writing looks like... and I'm not a good writer!"
Scootaloo gave her a pleading look. "You write really great when you magic the pencil!"
Applebloom sighed. "Cept the pencil always bursts into flames, Scoots."
Sweetie was shaking her head. "I don't know..."
Scootaloo was giving her, her best puppy dog eyes. "Pleeease Sweetie? I REALLY want to go and see Canterlot with you guys... my Dad won't miss me... please please?"
Sweetie gave this a long thought, then sighed. "Ok... I'll try."
Scootaloo gave a cheer, even as Applebloom frowned. The earth pony looked at the ground muttering. "Ta'nt right, sall I'm sayin."
Sweetie nodded, but she could see how much this meant to Scootaloo, and she herself wanted both her best friends to come on the trip with her. Not having them along seemed worse than forging a signature to her.
She looked at the paper and pulled out a pencil from her bag. She placed the pencil on the paper, then started concentrating.
Seconds past before her horn started sparking, a glowing tingle at it's tip, and then she quickly used her magic to write out Scootaloo's mother's name in a flowing script.
Cloudkicke...
Then the pencil burst into flame, and she shrieked.
Applebloom helpfully snatched the permission slip away as the pencil incinerated, and Scootaloo stomped on the tiny fire as it dropped to the ground, putting it out.
Sweetie sighed. "I just can't do it! Everything keeps burning!"
Scootaloo took a quick look at the permission slip, then grinned. "Nah! It's fine... looks great!" She grabbed a pencil of her own and put a long slash after the 'e' on the signature, and said, "There... that'll fool Miss Cheerilee! Now I can come with you guys!"
Applebloom, holding the slip, grunted through her teeth. "I ougta jst tear dis up... ta'nt..."
Scootaloo snatched her precious form back quickly, putting it into her saddlebag with care. "Ta'nt right. I know, you've said so a billion times already, sheesh!"
Applebloom shook her head."Scoots, you should jus tell Miz Cheerilee! She'd unnerstand, I jus know it!"
Scootaloo shook her head. "No way! What if she told me I couldn't go, cause it's a rule?! I gotta go!"
Applebloom looked at Sweetie Belle. "Why'd you go and help her, Sweetie? It's jus like lyin!"
Sweetie was taken aback at this, she widened her eyes. "Well... she's my friend! And it's not her fault... and I wanted to help..."
Applebloom sighed, defeated. "Al'righ. I got it. I want Scootaloo ta go with us as much as ya'll do. I just don' think it's right-n-all."
Scootaloo started skipping towards the school. "Come on you guys! Race you! The bell's going to ring!"
The three fillies raced inside, Applebloom keeping up with Scootaloo, and Sweetie as usual, coming in third.
Miss Cheerilee greeted them with a warm look, even as she stepped outside with her bell and started ringing it.
The rest of the class filed inside the schoolhouse quickly, and Miss Cheerilee trotted up to the front of the room. Taking roll quickly, she then spoke up. "Alright! Today is our field trip to Canterlot. Everypony who's not turned in a permission slip, bring them up to my desk... Twist? Scootaloo?
The two came up obediently, and Sweetie held her breath as Cherrilee glanced at the two slips. The school teacher however, seemed to find nothing wrong with them, only glancing at them for a moment, before putting them in her desk drawer and closing it again. "Alright then! Everypony line up, and we'll head to the train station!"
Scootaloo grinned at her friends, and the other two grinned back, though Applebloom's smile looked a bit forced. The Orange Pegasus filly said cheerfully. "Canterlot! This is going to be SO AWESOME!"
The class boarded the train with little difficulty, gathering in one long car together. Miss Cheerilee was speaking as Sweetie Bell squeezed in after her friends, last as usual.
"So I want you to all keep together on the trip. Keep your eyes on the next pony in line at all times when we move, alright?"
"Yes Miss Cheerilee!" The class said together cheerfully. Sweetie looked around, and saw that most of the train car window seats had been taken. Scootaloo and Applebloom were sitting together on a bench near the back of the car, and Sweetie joined them.
Scootaloo looked up as she came, and got up, motioning to her seat. "You can have the window seat, Sweetie." she said cheerfully.
Sweetie Bell smiled happily at her friend, and moved to the window to sit down, eager to enjoy the trip.
Applebloom shrugged, and looked over Sweetie's shoulder. "Have we got anythin ta pass the time with?"
Scootaloo pulled out a travel checkers set from her bag and set it up, and the three fillies took turns playing each other, while the odd pony out would enjoy the view from the window as the train traveled. The time passed easily, the three friends getting comfortable in the simple routine until Canterlot castle came into view again around the mountain.
Now most of the class was busy staring out the window at the sight. Though the castle was visible from parts of Ponyville, most of the fillies had never seen it up close before, and it was quite a spectacular sight.
Minutes later, the train pulled into Canterlot station, and Cheerilee led the class into the town center. She headed towards a large ornate building at the corner of the town square.
"Our first stop today, class, is Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns! As I told you last week, our town librarian, Twilight Sparkle, has arranged for our class to get a tour of the building and it's labs, and our Unicorn students will be having a lesson from the head of the school, Bright Star himself!"
Sweetie Bell HAD in fact forgotten this part, and she tensed uncomfortably even as the others cheered. The class entered the building, and Cheerilee greeted the school's receptionist. "Hello! We're the class from Ponyville."
The pink unicorn at the desk nodded with a smile. "Ah yes! We've been expecting you. Professor Star is ready for your Unicorn foals in Lab two, and Lab four is open for a magic demonstration for the rest of your class." She motioned to the corridor to the right of the desk.
Cheerilee nodded to the receptionist with a smile, and led the way down the corridor. At the door labeled Lab 2, she stopped and waved her hoof. "Snips, Snails, Sweetie Bell, here we are!" She opened the door and ushered the three in. Sweetie looked back at her friends with a nervous expression, but Snips and Snails entered the room enthusiastically, and Sweetie followed uncomfortably, swallowing nervously
Cherrilee came in after them, and spoke up. "Well, this looks very nice!"
The room was a smallish room, round and with a concave floor and ceiling. A dark blue unicorn with a scroll and star cutie mark greeted the foals with a small smile.
He stepped forward to speak, nodding the Cheeriliee before saying, "Hello, foals. I'm Professor Bright Star, and today we're going to learn more about what makes you special. Unicorns, unlike the other two races of pony, have no innate magical abilities. All of a Unicorn's magic comes from training and, thus an Unicorn is only as powerful or skilled as they decide to be. I hope I can show you some of that in today's lesson."
Half an hour later, Snips and Snails had successfully levitated a marble, and had lit a candle tip. Sweetie Belle, on the other hand, had set her marble on fire, and her candle had melted.
Bright Star tried to be encouraging, even as he eyed the melted marble curiously. "You show a lot of potential, Miss Belle. Once you manage to calm your mind and focus on the spell, you'll begin to see better results!"
Snips was laughing behind her, still making his marble circle his head. "Yeah! Cause it's really hard to concentrate, n stuff!"
Snails laughed once as well. "And stuff!" His marble was rolling around on the floor in an uneven circle.
Sweetie looked down at the ground, scraping the floor with one hoof. "Thanks, Professor Star. I'll keep trying." She sighed. I thought I WAS concentrating. she thought with some annoyance.
"That's the spirit!" Bright Star said, grinning widely at the three foals. "Now, let me get you back to your class. They should be finishing up the magic demonstration in lab 4 soon."
He led the three out into the hall and down the corridor to the door in question, and Sweetie Belle perked up at the sound of her classmates cheering from inside.
When Bright Star opened the door, they could see the rest of their class standing around a Yellow Unicorn with a Orange mane, who was apparently in the process of changing a brick into something. After a few more seconds, the brick, surrounded by the yellow glow of the unicorn's magic, made a popping noise, and suddenly changed into a flowering shrub.
Sweetie joined the rest of the class in cheering.
The orange maned Unicorn looked up, and seeing Bright Star, nodded to him. "And that's the end of my demonstration, foals! I hope you were entertained?"
Miss Cheerilee spoke up. "Everyone, thank Miss Beam for her excellent demonstration!"
The students looked quite excited, but calmed down at this reminder of proper behavior. They dutifully spoke up together. "Thank you Miss Beam!"
"You are very welcome." The unicorn mare answered them with a small grin. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."
As the class left the building and headed off towards their next destination, Sweetie Belle told her two best friends about her lesson, and then listened to their description of the magic demonstration.
Scootaloo was making wild motions with her hooves. "And then she was like, "Woosh!" and the paper airplane started flying around the room, and it was so fast... and then it landed on Twist's head and went all "Poof!" And Twist was wearing a party hat!"
Applebloom was giggling. "I'll betcha Pinkie Pie woulda loved that trick."
Sweetie sighed. "I wish I could have seen it. All I got to see was everything I tried to magic... melting or bursting into flame."
Scootaloo and Applebloom frowned, but neither could think of anything too say before their attention was drawn away by Miss Cheerilee speaking. "Alright class. I want you all on your best behavior now. We're going to visit the Canterlot Royal Sculpture garden next."
Sweetie Belle perked up at this. Oh... art? Sounds interesting!
As the group entered the garden, passing through an arch formed from a large green hedge, which apparently surrounded the garden, Sweetie noticed that one edge of the garden was bordered by the royal palace, and she gave the building a long, interested look, before Miss Cheerilee started leading them towards one side of the garden, where several large stone statues were gathered around what appeared to be a huge hedge maze.
Sweetie Belle thought cheerfully. I love art! This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun!
