Sweetie Belle prided herself on one thing: her voice. She loved to sing, but she denied it, her stage fright often providing a welcoming excuse to hide behind. She was ashamed to admit it, but she knew her cutie mark was going to be music related. She could feel it. She wasn't a foal anymore, nor was she stupid, but she went along with her friends because she was afraid of losing them. Back at her parent’s house in Manehattan she had no friends. She was the shy blank flank that never spoke. Here she was Sweetie Belle, Cutie Mark Crusader!

She was trotting down the streets of Ponyville humming softly when she heard some classical music float out from a building. She turned her head and smiled lightly, before trotting in to look around. The music store was owned by two of the newest Ponyville residents, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Pie. They were singing and talking about different styles of music. "I really think Gershwin...."

"Come on Octy! Gershwin has nothing on HeadHunterz!"

"Vinyl, you only say that since you are related to them!"

"Hey don't hate on my mom and dad." Vinyl said. Octavia tossed her hooves into the air and groaned before looking down and smiling tiredly.

"Hello young one. Anything I can do for you?" Miss Octavia asked, while Vinyl took the vinyl record off the phonograph before sitting down. Sweetie smiled and shook her head before waving to them. "Nothing ma'am, I have to go. Bye!" Sweetie replied.

The two mares waved before going back to arguing. Sweetie whistled a cheery tune as she trotted along and then looked up, as a rainbow spectrum filled the sky. She grinned slightly then trotted a bit faster down the path. Today was her day. She paused then looked back as a new song started up. She knew that one. It was Rhapsody in Blue. That was one of her favorites.

Chapter 1:

Scootaloo in Blue

Screams cut through the night air and her eyes wearily opened. Six o' clock already? Slowly sliding from her bed, Scootaloo trotted out of her room to the living room. In the kitchen, sounds of plates breaking and screams filled the air. Scoots shook her head before trotting to the closet and uncovering her box of cereal. She also uncovered some milk from under a bag of ice and began to eat.

Soon she was on her way to Sweetie's house to pick her up, when she found the filly trotting along whistling. Scoots blushed slightly before shaking her head and stopping a small ways away. "Hey Sweetie!" Sweetie stopped, smiled and trotted over.

"Hey Scoots what's up?" Scoots smiled and then nodded behind her at her scooter.

"Wanna go get Apple Bloom? I got an idea for our cutie marks!" Sweetie giggled, causing Scoot's face to go red before she grinned. Sweetie nodded, then hopped into the wagon attached to the back of the scooter and they took off. While they zipped through town Scoots felt herself drifting, and slowly she began to think about Sweetie. Her mane, her eyes, her.... Quickly swerving to avoid a pot hole she blushed redder and focused on the road.

"Do ray mi far so lay ti do!" Tiara sang while Apple Bloom sat on the couch reading, reclined on her back. Daring sat in front of the filly, slowly moving her hoof like a conductor.

"Next octave." Daring said. Tiara nodded and began to sing again an octave higher. Apple Bloom looked up as the door opened and Applejack trotted in. "Apple Bloom, yer friends are here." She said.

Apple Bloom rolled off the couch as Scoots and Sweetie trotted in. She smiled then waved them over. Right when the three of them took their seats on the couch, a cry came from outside. "Watch out!" The voice screamed.

Just as the window exploded, Daring jumped in the path of the blue blur and they crashed to the ground. They rolled back until they hit a wall and everyone else watched as Daring pushed the blur off. The blur just so happened to be Scoots’ idol and upcoming Wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash. Dash sighed before rolling over and grinning sheepishly at her marefriends. "Sorry bout that." Scoots smiled, then hopped off the couch and walked over grinning at her idol. Dash smiled at the filly, but that soon turned uncomfortable as Scoots continued to stare lost in her awe.

"Scoots?" Sweetie's voice snapped her out of her stupor and she flushed before looking at her unicorn friend.

"Um, yea! I have the perfect idea on how to get our cutie marks today! Dentistry girls!"  Sweetie's eyes lit up, as did Apple Bloom’s, while the three adult mares and Tiara cringed in horror. Goddess have mercy on their victim-er patient. Tiara took a step forward and looked at them. "Guys? Do you even want to be dentists?" she asked nervously.

Apple Bloom shrugged, as did Sweetie and they all looked at one another. "CUTIE MARK DENTISTRY, YAY!" They cheered, before galloping from the house with Tiara hot on their heels to keep them from accidently killing someone.

Three hours later, four fillies trotted down a path to their new clubhouse and three of the four held dejected looks on their muzzles. Tiara looked to her new friends and her fillyfriend, thinking about how to cheer them up. "Aw don't feel bad guys. Mister Caramel will be able to open his mouth in three to four weeks." The fillies cringed and Tiara nuzzled Apple Bloom weakly. Apple Bloom smiled softly then nuzzled her back.

"Thank ya Sugarcube. You always make me feel better." She said.

Tiara flushed at the praise while Sweetie and Scoots blushed at the display. Sweetie found them adorable while Scoots just felt a bit embarrassed at watching. She had nothing against homosexuals, but her step father... She frowned darkly and Sweetie looked at her confused.

"Scoots?" Snapping out of her dark place, Scoots looked to see Sweetie was looking at her concerned. Scoots grinned at her tiredly and nodded to the new clubhouse.

"Sorry. Let's go." The four raced off towards the clubhouse, but slowed when they found a stallion standing there. The stallion was a pegasus with sharp looking grayish purple eyes and a thick grey body. His mane of blue was spiked back and he smiled at the fillies, a bit sadistically. As soon as Scoots slipped out of her shocked stupor, she glared at him and snapped out "What do you want?" Her friends flinched at her dead tone and the stallion chuckled lightly.

"Nothing Short Wings,” he replied, “I need to take you to your lessons."

Scoots blinked in shock before facehoofing. "Oh darn I forgot about those. Sorry guys." She said to her friends, before trotting over to the stallion. He put her scooter on his back and then waited as she jumped up. She got settled onto his back and he took off into the air.

"So kid, how are you doing?" He asked. Scoots frowned and sank deeper on his back hoping he wouldn't ask again. He chuckled then looked down. "I guess your mom's new boyfriend isn't working out."

"They fight more than they buck."

"Hey, hey, hey language missy."

"Like you care."

"No but I gotta pretend I do." He said. Scoots chuckled at this and as they landed, he smiled. "Well I've done my daily duty. Have a good day in your lesson kiddo." Scoots nodded, then jumped off and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks dad." The stallion nodded then set her scooter down before flying off.

It starts with a clarinet solo. Scoots listened as the music slowly drifted from the phonograph and she began to dance. Graceful as a butterfly, motions as sharp as bee stingers, feline like reflexes. Like those around her she was still a beginner, but she could easily be called a protégée, a master of the art if you will.

Some didn't know why she couldn't figure out her cutie mark, but she knew why. She didn't want to get it yet. She wanted to be a blank flank. The music was speeding up and she needed to keep in tempo. She moved faster and spun before bouncing and landing in the directed pose. The teacher smiled proudly and asked, "Have you been practicing Scootaloo?" Scoots looked at her and blushed lightly.

"No ma'am." The class snickered and the instructor chuckled softly before patting her head.

"Practice or not you are becoming so much better at this. Just think. You could be a professional dancer if you wanted!" Scoots nodded her head before looking down at her hooves. She was smarter than people gave her credit for. She knew her cutie mark was music related but she was prepared to deny it, to herself and everyone around her.

She wasn't ready to get her cutie mark. She wanted to stay a blank flank a bit longer. Not for her own self, but because she was afraid of losing them. She was afraid of losing her... Shaking her head she dully looked at the teacher, who looked a bit concerned. When Scoots drifted like that a dead look came to her eyes that made the teacher very, very worried…

Tiara napped under the sun to her right and she couldn't help nuzzling the filly again before settling on the ground better. Music drifted from the phonograph in the clubhouse as Apple Bloom thought. She was a bit of a fix it. Anything she got her hooves on she could fix or build from scratch. She looked up, sighing as she did so, before looking down at Tiara. She smiled softly and then nuzzled the filly before relaxing into her side.

She was young and in love, and for her that was all that mattered. With a love sick sigh, she looked out and smiled tiredly at the fading sun. No matter what, she knew eventually her friends would stop lying to themselves and so would she. They would prove they were more than blank flanks or cutie mark crusaders. They were fillies of both talent and skill. They would get their cutie marks sooner than they thought.

The room was filled with smoke and the stink of sex hung in the air. An orange coated pegasus with a mane of fuchsia lay on the bed looking into the sky. Her coltfriend snored next to her, causing her headache to grow. She felt like growling at the fool, but kept it at bay. She did not want to be hit again. She gingerly touched her eye before closing them and trying to drift off. Tomorrow would be a better day... Shit! She sat up and groaned before looking outside. The night stars twinkled and she cursed lightly. "Damn it! Get off Cloud Runner! I need to get the kid from dance practice." She said, as Cloud Runner groaned before rolling off of her. She bounced out of bed and rushed out of her room to find Scoots was just walking in. The mare looked away then down. "Oh um...hey kid." She said quietly. Scoots glared at her and the mare gasped lightly. One of Scoot's eyes was blackened and her muzzle had blood on it. "What happened?!" She asked, startled by her appearance.

"I got beat up on my way home." Scoots replied stiffly. The mare flinched, then trotted over and moved to place a hoof on her shoulder but a crash from the bedroom caused them to look at her door in fear.

"Go to your room, I'll handle him." Her mother said softly before turning and trotting to the bedroom door. Not being needed to be told twice, Scoots rushed to her room and pulled her blanket off the bed. She crawled under it and made a small cocoon, before settling down and listening to her mother and step father yell at one another. Suddenly everything went silent and Scoots stiffened. Sobs suddenly rang out and the stallion gruffly tried to calm the sobbing mare down.

When the sobs refused to abate, the stallion began to scream again and a crash was heard before all when silent. Scoots shuddered at the deafening silence and buried her head further into her covers before beginning to hum the tune to the music she had danced to earlier. She remembered it was called Rhapsody in Blue.