A cool Autumn breeze blew through a vast apple orchard saddling the quant little town of Ponyville. Harvest time had come and was nearly wrapped up. All that was left to do was to can and pickle the freshly picked produce. While many city ponies would see this as the easiest part of harvesting, Applejack knew better.
The unofficial overseer of Sweet Apple Acres looked out at her empty apple trees and breathed a short sigh of relief. The farm hands had almost been late in reaching their deadline. Too many distractions had cropped up and kept some of the workers from doing their jobs. Distractions that were in the shape of three over excited fillies. Applejack looked out at the three fillies in question and observed them trying to climb a tree, only to end up falling on their rumps. She rolled her eyes and trotted over to the young troublemakers. Preparing the harvest was a time consuming operation and she wouldn't have any more distractions. She needed... a babysitter.
"Now hold still, Sweetie Bell. There is a lot of sap in your mane and it won't come out unless you stop fidgeting."
"Okay, big sis."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders' attempt at earning their tree climbing cutie marks had not only failed, but also landed them in a bathtub at Rarity's boutique. With Rarity agreeing to look after the three girls, Applejack gratefully stayed behind to help clean up the would-be tree climbers. Sweetie Bell smiled as her friends gave grunts of discomfort while they were being scrubbed. Bath time was always Sweetie Bell's favorite and when they were deemed clean by Rarity, she brightly hopped out of the tub and shook herself dry. Smiling, she watched as Scootaloo and Applebloom gave even more noises of protest as they were towel dried. Applejack let go of her towel covered sister and shot a grateful grin toward Rarity.
"I want to thank you again for helping me out, Rarity. I sure owe you big time."
Rarity continued to vigorously dry Scootaloo as she spoke. "Think nothing of it, Applejack. I know how busy you are with all of that harvesting. You would have done the same for me if I had needed these little rascals out of my hair for a day or two." She looked down at the three girls, who were already whispering to each other in excited voices. "Rascals indeed..."
Applejack drew herself up and gave a final nod before walking to the front door and opening it. Before leaving, she turned around and gave a small glare to her little sister. "I better not hear about you causing any trouble when I get back, ya' hear?" Satisfied with Applebloom's vigorous nods, she turned and headed back to the farm. When the door closed, Applebloom stopped nodding and gave a mischievous look to her friends. Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell shared the same look before bursting out together.
"CUTIE MARK SLEEPOVER AT RARITY'S HOUSE!"
Rarity gave herself a look of determination as the three girls started tearing around her house. If Fluttershy could do this then so could she...
Even though the night had just begun, Rarity felt like it had lasted for hours. She had assumed that since she had no deadlines she could spend all of her time with the girls, but even that wasn't enough. Each of the three fillies was like a miniature Pinkie Pie, a never ending supply of energy bound up in the form of a small pony. Only when hunger forced them to stop their "Crusading" did Rarity get a small reprieve. After telling them to wait patiently, she headed into the kitchen and set about fixing up some carrot and lentil soup. While the carrots were being cut she couldn't help but listen in as the girls started discussing their next cutie mark idea. As usual, Scootaloo and Applebloom came up with ideas that bordered on the edge of dangerous. Rarity's attention was caught when Sweetie Bell made the suggestion that they should become street performers. She had seen street performers before. Perhaps she could use this to her advantage...
Rarity finished preparing the soup and promptly called for the girls to wash their hooves before supper. After all hooves were washed, dinner was allowed to begin.
At the dinner table, an interesting sight was taking place. Scootaloo and Applebloom were both doing a fine job of showing off their lack of table manners while Sweetie Bell was trying her best to remember the etiquette lessons Rarity had given her. Not wanting to feel out of place, Sweetie Bell finally decided to join her friends and not use a utensil. Rarity resisted the urge to tell her sister off. If this plan was to work then she would need the girls' cooperation. After dinner, Scootaloo started to make the suggestion that furniture climbing cutie marks could be promising but was cut off almost immediately by Rarity.
"Wait! What about Sweetie Bell's idea? I think that has a lot of promise, don't you think?"
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. She had never seen Rarity care about their crusading before. "You mean the street performing thing?"
"Why, of course dear. I think it would be lovely to see you ponies do something artistic."
Applebloom tilted her head at Rarity. "What kind of artistic things are you talking about? We already tried our hands at painting cutie marks."
"Not that kind of art, dear. I'm talking about the type of art you would see being performed in the streets. My personal favorite has to be miming. Why don't you three try that?"
Scootaloo tapped a hoof against her chin before responding. "Well... I suppose that could be fun. How do you mime? And what is it, anyway?"
Rarity smiled inwardly as she set about explaining the intricacies of miming to the three curious fillies.
Eventually, Rarity led the three little ponies to her vanity room so they could paint their faces. This excited the crusaders to no end and as Rarity worked on each filly, the friends started to argue on who would be the better mime. When Rarity finished applying the last bit of makeup, she stepped back so the girls could use her vanity mirror.
"Wow! Thanks so much, big sis!"
"I can't wait to tell Applejack what I did today!"
Rarity smiled warmly as she watched the three friends bound around with excitement. Now she knew that her plan was going to work.
Morning came and heralded a bright sunrise for the residents of Ponyville. The results of last night's sleepover went better then expected for all ponies involved and as such was the only topic the Cutie Mark Crusaders would talk about. Eventually, Applejack arrived at Carousal Boutique to pick up Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo. The two fillies excitedly filled her in on what happened last night and after they dropped off Scootaloo at her home, Applejack began to realize what Rarity had just accomplished.
Sweetie Bell noticed a peculiar look on her sister's face. "Hey, what are you smilin' about sis?"
Applejack continued to walk nonchalantly as she addressed the confused filly. "I'm smilin' because of what you just told me. I don't think you realized what just happened, do you?"
Tilting her head, Applebloom appeared confused. "What do you mean, Applejack? What happened?"
"Well, while you and your friend were telling me all about that miming business you got up to last night, I realized something."
Applebloom was starting to get impatient with her big sister. Why couldn't she just say what was on her mind? "Well, what did you realize? Come on, Applejack, just tell me!"
Applejack gave a playful grin before answering. "Rarity was able to keep you girls quiet the entire evening and it was because you and your friends were too busy miming. Imagine that, the Cutie Mark Crusaders actually being quiet for once."
"HEY!"
Applejack laughed loudly as her little sister chased her all the way back to the farm.
