Author's Notes:

Decided to do something a little different with this one and drop the 2nd Person angle to give some other characters the chance to fall in love with Sour Sweet.

As always, when Sour Sweet’s dialogue is presented in italics she’s sweet, in bold she’s sour, and in plain type she’s normal.

A video camera sat in the middle of the table as Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle just stared at it. Online, the girls were collectively known as “The Crusaders”… or at least, they would be known if they had any fans. They had already figured out that music videos were not their forte and thanks to a certain “Funniest thing I’ve ever seen” comment, they decided to try comedy. Unfortunately, their intentional attempts at humor didn’t go over so well, either.

So there they were moping around Sugarcube Corner on a Saturday, desperately trying to think up something that they could film.

Scootaloo suddenly lit up. “Ooh, I know! Let’s shoot footage of Rainbow Dash!”

Her two friends just stared at her blankly.

“Doing what?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Anything! Hanging around school. Brushing her teeth. We could film her just lying on the couch at home watching TV while eating Cheetos and it’ll still be awesome!”

Apple Bloom pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “Scoots, Ah’m only tellin’ ya this as a friend: yer Rainbow Dash admiration comes off as kinda stalker-ish sometimes.”

“Two SEVENTY-FOUR?!”

The three Crusaders looked over at the counter to see Sour Sweet staring menacingly at Mr. Cake. Having developed keen filmmaking instincts during their crusade for internet stardom, Scootaloo instantly grabbed the camera and began shooting the scene.

“That’s twenty whole cents HIGHER than the last time I ordered the chocolate shake! Are you trying to ROB me?!”

Mr. Cake gulped nervously. “Look, Sour Sweet, our ice cream supplier raised their prices a bit so we just had to adjust to ensure a reasonable profit for us.”

Sour Sweet put her hands on her hips. “What a likely story you got there, Mr. Cake! This. Is. An. OUTRAGE!!!”

“N-n-no, really! It happens all the time! That’s all there is to it! I-I swear!”

Sour Sweet grumbled and slapped down the money. “Mr. Cake, you’re LUCKY to have such a loyal customer.”

She grabbed the shake, took a sip, and made a cute “Mmm!” sound. Mr. Cake breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“Well, that was weird,” Scootaloo noted as she pressed the stop button on the camera. Her face suddenly brightened. “Hey, the internet likes weird! We should post this online!”

“I don’t think someone complaining over twenty cents is good enough to post, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle said, giving her a look.

“Well, okay, but something else Sour Sweet can do would make some good shooting I bet! Let’s go ask her to help us make videos.”

“Ah don’t know ‘bout that,” Apple Bloom said. “Sour Sweet’s kinda scary if ya ask me.”

“Aw, don’t judge a book by its freckled cover,” Scootaloo said. “Come on!”

Due to it being the weekend, Sour Sweet wasn’t wearing her Crystal Prep uniform. Instead, she had on the simple outfit of a white t-shirt, black shorts, and lime green sneakers over white socks. She was just keeping to herself at a table while enjoying her milkshake when the Crusaders approached.

“Uh, hey there,” Apple Bloom greeted nervously.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t a few Wondercolt freshmen! What are you bothering me for?”

“Um, you see, we post videos online and, well, we’ve been looking for something particularly, um, interesting to put up,” Sweetie Belle began to explain.

“Yeah, and we just thought you were pretty interesting with your whole, you know, weird mood swing thing you got going on and that you could help us make some funny videos!” Scootaloo said.

Sour Sweet glared at them. “So you’re saying that you want to EXPLOIT someone with a mental disorder by filming them make a fool of themselves for the entertainment of normal people.”

Three sets of eyes bugged out, their faces riddled with shame and guilt.

“Oh mah gosh, Sour Sweet!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “We honestly didn’t think of it in that way!”

“Yeah, forget we EVER mentioned it!” Scootaloo pleaded.

“I feel so dirty!” Sweetie Belle wailed a little too melodramatically ( her sister had taught her well ).

Sour Sweet watched the Crusaders squirm with great amusement. Her suspicion only lasted about two seconds and could now see that they didn’t mean any real harm.

She pretended to stroke her chin in thought. “You know what? I’m going to let it slide this one time.”

The Crusaders perked up.

“Luckily for you girls, my friends have commitments all weekend and my boyfriend is running errands for his family today, so I have absolutely nothing to do. I suppose I can help you out with your little internet videos. I can certainly do better than any of the NERDS making them right now.”

“YAY!!!” the Crusaders cheered.

****************

Lo, the crusade of Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle, with special guest Sour Sweet, to produce a legendary internet video commenced. They went to Scootaloo's house and quickly jotted down a bunch of popular video genres which Sour Sweet could do and proceeded to try them out:

BLIND REACTIONS

“So people actually watch videos of other people watching videos?” Sour Sweet asked as she put on the headphones. “That’s the DUMBEST thing that I have ever heard!”

“It’s the not the fact that it’s watching people watching videos, it’s how funny or poignant their reaction and commentary is,” Sweetie Belle explained.

The Crusaders picked out a bunch of videos from across the web and showed them to her one by one…

“I hate this already. The song is too happy. Multi-colored ponies, seriously?! That smile’s really freaky and… BAHAHAHAHA!!!! THE PINK ONE JUST PUNCHED THE PURPLE ONE’S HEAD OFF!!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!!! THIS IS THE BEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN!!!! YEAH, KILL ‘EM ALL, LITTLE PONY!!!! HAHAHA!!!”

… by one…

“So this critic has ‘nostalgia’ in his name but he’s now doing reviews about popular movies that are currently in theaters? Sounds to me like he sold out and only cares about his view count.”

… by one…

“Could this video have more of an unimaginative title? I mean, it’s like they want you to think that there’s something special about two girls and one… OH GOD, WHY?!?!?!?!!?!”

CAT VIDEO

Sour Sweet glanced down at Opalescence who was scooped up in her left arm. She then glanced over at the slice of bread with a hole in the middle in her right hand. She finally scowled for the camera.

“So, ‘cat breading’ is a thing that exists, huh? The internet is a silly place.”

ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE

“Didn’t this fad DIE like over a year ago?!”

“Come on, it’s for charity!” Scootaloo said. She glanced over to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “The charity’s still going on, right?”

They shrugged.

Sour Sweet picked up the bucket. Not wanting to prolong the inevitable, she dumped the ice water over her head without hesitation. She immediately grasped her shivering self and started swearing repeatedly from the cold.

“Uh oh, y'all, seems we fergot the fact that she was wearin’ a white shirt…” Apple Bloom observed before covering her eyes.

“There are certain sites that we can still put the video up on,” Scootaloo stated matter-of-factly.

Apple Bloom smacked Scootaloo in the back of the head.

EPIC SPORTS WIN

A terrified Apple Bloom desperately tried to keep her knees from knocking together so much as she tried to at least keep the two apples in her palms steady and at level with the one perched atop her head. Ten paces away stood Sour Sweet with her bow turned horizontally with three arrows pulled back at the ready to fire.

“Tell mah family Ah loved ‘em!” Apple Bloom squeaked while squeezing her eyes shut.

Sour Sweet released the string. Instantly, the arrows struck all three apples dead center and knocked them back out of Apple Bloom’s palms and off her head. Apple Bloom’s eyes shot open and darted around to see that she wasn’t harmed. She grew a big smile… before promptly falling to the ground in a faint.

Sour Sweet, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle came and hovered over her.

“Uh, Apple Bloom may need a few minutes,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Oh, the poor dear,” Sour Sweet said, before rolling her eyes and scoffing, “Big baby. It’s not like anybody got hurt.”

EPIC SPORTS FAIL WITH INJURY

“Are you freaking kidding me!?!”

The four of them were lined up in the neighborhood street. Scootaloo was of course on her scooter, both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were on bicycles, and Sour Sweet had on roller skates ( Sunny Flare and Lemon Zest weren’t the only ones who enjoyed a good skate once in a while ).

“Relax, Sour Sweet, none of us will actually get hurt,” Scootaloo assured. “We’re just going to fake it! Okay, here’s what I’m thinking. We’ll ride on for a few minutes just to make it seem like everything’s all nice and fun and legitimate, then Sour Sweet will suddenly fall down and pretend to be really hurt, and while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle point and laugh, I’ll be all like, ‘Aw, dude, you’re bleeding! Walk it off! Just walk it off, bro!’” That last part she put on her best deep, boyish impression for.

Sour Sweet rubbed her temples as she grumbled in aggravation, “I should have just been content to being bored all day.”

The four of them sped off. Scootaloo took the lead as she held out the camera to point behind her to capture the action for when Sour Sweet took her dive. They were approaching the end of the neighborhood street which led into the traffic-heavy highway, so they turned towards the sidewalk. Scootaloo jumped up onto it, followed by Apple Bloom and Sour Sweet. However, Sweetie Belle didn’t jump in time. Her bike’s front wheel hit the curb hard, causing Sweetie Belle’s body to catapult forward through the air.

“SWEETIE BELLE!!!” Scootaloo cried.

Just in time, Sour Sweet swung around and caught Sweetie Belle in her arms.

“Whoa, nice save there, Sour Sweet!” Apple Bloom praised.

Sour Sweet let Sweetie Belle down on her feet.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Sour Sweet asked, concerned.

Shaken up over what just happened, Sweetie Belle stared at her in shock for a moment before wrapping her arms gratefully around Sour Sweet. Sour Sweet cringed from the contact at first, but then relaxed enough to return the hug in order to calm her down.

****************

“… so all we got to do is get a script written, convince Rarity to make costumes, as well as Apple Jack and Big Mac to construct some sets, and we’ll make this Daring Do fan film happen!” Scootaloo cheered.

Sour Sweet clapped. “That’s fantastic! So how soon afterwards will the owners of the Daring Do franchise SUE US for copyright infringement?”

Just then, the sound of her cellphone vibrating was heard. She read the text she had just received and beamed brightly.

“My boyfriend just got done with his dumb errands! He’s outside to take me out to dinner!” She saluted. “Adios, Crusaders!”

Sour Sweet was almost out the door, when a trio of voices shouting “Sour Sweet, wait!” halted her.

“We just wanted to say that it was really awesome to hang out with you today,” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah, and Ah absolutely misjudged ya,” Apple Bloom admitted. “Ah thought ya were really scary and felt like makin’ videos with ya would be a real disaster, but it’s turned out ta be the most fun Ah think Ah’ve ever had!”

“And I could have been seriously hurt if it wasn't for you, Sour Sweet!” Sweetie Belle gushed.

Sour Sweet didn't know how to respond at first. It wasn’t every day that she received so much affection from anyone outside her family, small circle of friends, or boyfriend.

“Yeah, girls, it was good for me, too,” Sour Sweet finally said sincerely. “Uh, keep me posted about how the fan film is coming along, alright?”

Scootaloo gave her a thumbs up. “You got it!”

“Hey, let’s take a picture before you go!” Sweetie Belle said, taking out her cellphone.

The Crusaders huddled close around Sour Sweet. They smiled which caused Sour Sweet to smile. Sweetie Belle held out her phone and snapped the photo.

The Crusaders waved as Sour Sweet went out the door. They then went over to the window to witness Sour Sweet running out to her boyfriend. She launched straight into his arms and he swung her around in a circle, all the while they blushed, giggled, and gave each other light kisses. Forget not seeing each other for a day, they acted as if they hadn’t seen each other in years. The Crusaders were near-shocked at this display.

“Is that the same Sour Sweet we were with all day?” Sweetie Belle asked, bewildered.

“Wow, she never ceases ta amaze, does she?” Apple Bloom remarked.

“Hey, girls?” Scootaloo said while picking up her camera. “I just got the perfect idea of what kind of video we can put up on the web!”

****************

Once again, Sour Sweet sat alone at a table in Sugarcube Corner, enjoying a chocolate milkshake. It turned out that her boyfriend’s family had come up with a whole NEW set of errands for him that morning. For the second day in a row, it seemed like she would have nothing to do… of course that was until the Crusaders entered the picture yet again...

“There she is!” she heard Apple Bloom shout.

“Hey there, Crusaders!” Sour Sweet warmly greeted as they ran up to her.

“Sour Sweet, you won’t believe it!” Scootaloo declared excitedly. “The video with you that we put up is a huge hit!”

“It received four hundred thousand views overnight and is still going up!” Sweetie Belle cheered. “Congratulations, Sour Sweet, you’re an internet sensation!”

Sour Sweet grew a smug smirk. “Oh, really now? HA! I told you that I could do better than all those NERDS out there! So, which of our videos did you end up uploading? Wait, let me guess, it was the cat video, wasn’t it?”

The Crusaders grinned at each other knowingly. Sweetie Belle then took out her cellphone and brought the video up.

“Why don’t you look for yourself?” Sweetie Belle suggested, pressing play.

What began to pass before Sour Sweet’s eyes was certainly not what she had expected. First off, it was a music video. She recognized the song as “Friendship Through the Ages” by the Rainbooms, however it wasn’t sung by them. It was a cover by the Crusaders.

Secondly, what the music was overlaying were various clips of all the footage they had filmed together the previous day: Sour Sweet cutely enjoying her milkshake, her hard laughter at the “Smile” video, her apologetically stroking Opal’s back as the annoyed feline sported bread around her face, her playfully chasing and throwing ice water on the Crusaders ( her translucent shirt thankfully pixelated at the chest ), as well as her epic shooting of the apples. There was even a sequence where her catching of Sweetie Belle was presented on repeat as well as slow-mo. The most considerable amount of footage featured was Sour Sweet cuddling and kissing with her boyfriend which she had no idea that they had filmed. Closing the video was the photo that the Crusaders and Sour Sweet had taken together as the caption, “Us and Our Friend, Sour Sweet” faded in over.

Sour Sweet’s eyes moistened. She instantly pulled Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle into a great big hug. This was certainly a feeling that Sour Sweet was not used to: acceptance. Yes, she had her four best friends and her boyfriend, but she had always chalked that up to some sort of Stockholm syndrome from being stuck together at Crystal Prep for so long. However, she was now faced with three girls from a completely different, not to mention rival, school who had known her for only a day… and they considered her a friend enough to make such a beautiful tribute to her.

They held the embrace until Sour Sweet’s eyes popped open with a sudden realization. She jerked out of the hold.

“WAIT, the other stuff I’m cool with, but does this mean that HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people have seen me KISSING AND CUDDLING with my boyfriend like some kind of SCHOOLGIRL!?!” Sour Sweet shouted with anxiety-fueled mortification.

“Ya are a schoolgirl,” Apple Bloom deadpanned. “All four of us are.”

Sweetie Belle scrolled down on her phone. “But look at these comments being posted about you two, Sour Sweet! ‘Cutest Couple Eva’. ‘Young love, so touching!’ Oh, and… um, never mind about this one…”

“What is it?” Sour Sweet asked, eyes narrowing.

“Just a stupid troll comment. ‘The guy looks like a total…’ well, uh, the f-word…”

Before Sweetie Belle knew it, her phone was ripped out of her hand.

“Oh, it’s so ON, troll!” Sour Sweet declared, furiously texting. “You insult my man, YOU GET THE FLAME WAR OF YOUR PATHETIC LIFE!!!!!”

THE END