"Scootaloo! Scootaloo!"

The orange filly awoke with a start, head shaking rapidly as her eyelids fluttered open. She was still snuggled tight between her covers, a thick patchwork quilt on top and the seasonal flannel sheets below. No, her sleeping situation was not what was unusual; it was the company that realised she had.

"Happy birthday, Scootaloo!" two familiar voices chorused. And familiar indeed they were; her best friends in the whole wide world, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, were on either side of her bed, excited grins plastered across their faces.

On the left of the bed, closer to the door, Sweetie Belle levitated a dish in her turquoise magical aura that held buttered toast and fresh apple slices—a perfect breakfast, and exactly what Scootaloo's stomach yearned for. To the right, in front of a window whose blinds were open to reveal the majestic morning sun, stood Apple Bloom with the strings of a few colourful balloons between her teeth. The orange and purple globes that floated in the air above her matched Scootaloo's coat and mane to a T.

"Ya think we scared her speechless?" Apple Bloom asked, speech garbled somewhat by the balloon strings in her mouth. "She ain't sayin' anything and she looks like she just saw a ghost."

"Give her time..." Sweetie Belle replied. She looked at Scootaloo expectantly.

"Wha—huh?" Scootaloo finally managed.

Sweetie Belle facehoofed. "Don't tell me you forgot it's your birthday!"

Scootaloo blinked. "Omigosh omigosh omigosh omigosh omigosh omi—" With lightning speed, the filly hopped out of bed. The speed at which she propelled herself around the room on her wings, still grazing the floor but seeming to float across it like it were air, was absolutely inequine from the perspective of her two friends. In just the blink of an eye, the bedroom door had been thrust open and Scootaloo was already long gone.

"What'n the hay just happened?" Apple Bloom asked, looking at the empty doorway.

"I think... I think she's gonna go look for Rainbow Dash," Sweetie Belle replied. "Wasn't she all excited about flying lessons the other day?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember. Hard to forget, what with all that bouncin' around the clubhouse. I hope she has a good time!"

"Me too, but I hope we get to help her celebrate her birthday, too..."

"I'm sure we will! What's a Crusader birthday without the Crusaders?"