“Come on, everypony, these curtains still need to be hung. And what happened to the ribbons?” Spike paced anxiously along the runway, trying to organize the crowd of workers that had gathered to set up shop for Rarity’s much-anticipated fashion show. With a Canterlot celebrity expected to be in attendance, everything had to be perfect. A dozen different ponies galloped around the front of the boutique, hanging decorations and setting up the lighting rigs.

Precious little time remained before sundown, and the fashion show was set to begin soon after. Already they’d put out a runway connecting the front door of the shop to a slow turntable a few dozen feet away, but some of the curtains intended to pretty up the shop’s façade were still lying in piles on the floor. Any minute now, ponies would start to gather around, taking the best spots close to the runway before anypony beat them there. The Carousel Boutique had to look the part of an elegant fashion runway stage by then, or else the shoddy decorations might draw more attention than the magnificent craftsmanship of Rarity’s innovative personality-inspired gowns.

“Hey, Spike!” Rainbow Dash greeted cheerily. She looked up, admiring the decorations.

“Dash, Vinyl, good to see you,” Spike returned warmly. “Can somepony straighten that banner already? Thank you.” A yellow unicorn grabbed hold of the large banner hanging above the stage with her magic and moved a few inches to the left. Two huge eyes stared down with an air of superiority from the banner, flanked by a stylized swirl of purple that resembled Rarity’s mane. Part of the reason she kept the same hairstyle despite the changing fashion was in hopes that somepony important would recognize her brand and take notice. Unfortunately, she had so far been unsuccessful.

“Rarity put you in charge of decorations for the show, I see,” Rainbow observed. “Not gonna lie, Spike, it looks pretty awesome.”

“Yep, it’s coming together alright. Shouldn’t you be in there changing already? The show will be starting pretty soon.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get back there in a jiffy. I just had to ask—what are you doing for music? For the show? A fashion show this awesome deserves some amazing background music.”

“Pinkie brought over the phonograph she always takes to parties. We were just gonna put on one of her party records. Not perfect, but it’s the best we could come up with on short notice like this.”

“Party music?” Vinyl was surprised. “As in…rock? Pop?”

“Something like that, yeah,” Spike answered. “Whatever Pinkie brought over. I was too busy out here to take a look at it.”

“No, no, no, that’s going to clash horribly,” Vinyl objected. “This is a fashion show. Formal wear. You can’t just throw on any old rock beat and call it a day. You need something loud, but with class.”

Spike scratched his chin. “Do you just want to DJ the show instead?”

“That’s the whole reason I brought her over,” Rainbow smiled. “She needs the money to help set up a nightclub here in Ponyville.”

“We could sure use one of those,” Spike agreed. “Alright, DJ-Pon3, you’ve got the job. I’ll get somepony to help you bring over your sound equipment and get you all set up.”

“Thanks, Spike. It means a lot.”

“Don’t mention it,” Spike waved off. “I’d prefer to give the job to a friend, anyway, and any friend of Rainbow Dash’s is a friend of mine.”

“Well, then, I’d better go get my equipment together,” said Vinyl, turning to leave. “Good luck with the show, Dash. I’ll see you on the runway all done up in your cool rainbow gown.”

“Gown? Forget gowns, I’m wearing rainbow armor.”

“Even better, then,” Vinyl chuckled. “Thanks for vouching for me. I owe you another one.”

Rainbow flew up to the runway. “What would you ever do without me?” she asked rhetorically, darting inside to get changed. Vinyl smiled at her friend’s charmingly excessive arrogance as she moved off to gather up her sound equipment for the show.

The small trail of footprints left by Fluttershy’s lost chicken snaked deeper and deeper into the Everfree Forest. Darkness crept in from all sides, shrouding the fearless crusaders in its eerie black veil. Hazy clouds of mist rose up from the alien landscape, blocking their vision of the trail ahead. The three fillies huddled close together as they braved the foreign terrain, and Scootaloo thought back on the events of that afternoon.

Sweetie Belle had managed to convince her sister to allow a Cutie Mark Crusader Sleepover to take place at the Carousel Boutique. She’d then immediately ruined the whole event by practically destroying Rarity’s workshop and cutting up her expensive gold silk to make their CMC capes. Sure, the capes were pretty amazing, but Rarity was so upset and inconvenienced by the loss of the silk that she’d cancelled the sleepover just as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom came by to get things started.

Luckily for them, Fluttershy had been at the boutique, and her ever-present generosity and kindness obliged her to host the sleepover at her cottage instead. Things were back on, but Fluttershy was too quiet, too passive, to let any real crusading go on. Maybe they’d been just a little too rowdy, but the destruction (and subsequent failed reconstruction) of one single table was simply the price of finding their special talents. It was a shame Fluttershy simply could not accept that.

But things were looking up now, even if the three of them were walking through the middle of the creepiest, scariest, darkest forest in all of Equestria on a dangerous rescue mission for Fluttershy’s lost chicken. Surely facing danger and excitement of this unparalleled scope would be enough to earn them their cutie marks once and for all. All they had to do was follow the footprints. It would be easy.

Sweetie Belle’s mane brushed against Scootaloo’s neck for the third time in what seemed like half a minute.

“Jeez, give me some room here,” Scootaloo complained. “You’re crowding me out.”

“Sorry,” Sweetie apologized, moving away until they were a full pony length apart as they walked.

“Ah don’t see a chicken anywheres,” Apple Bloom cried from the back of the group. “This fog’s just too darn thick.”

“We’ve got the footprints,” Scootaloo reminded. “We don’t need to see, as long as we can follow these.”

“Ah just hope we’re not goin’ in circles.”

“Relaax, we’ll be fine. We’ll grab that chicken and be back in bed before Fluttershy even notices we’re gone.”

A curl of pale pink hair swiped across Scootaloo’s neck again.

“Sweetie Belle!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…I just keep drifting over accidentally.” Sweetie moved away again, staying just close enough to keep the trail of footprints in her sight as they pushed ever onward.

Sweetie Belle would never allow herself to admit it, certainly not in the presence of such brave fillies as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, but she was scared. She was raised in quiet suburban comfort, not a hard-working life on a farm, and her primary role model had always been the fashionable, “civilized” Rarity, not an intense fiery pegasus who laughed in the face of dragons and set off rainbow-colored explosions in the sky. She’d never been exposed to this kind of thing before; she never had the desire to.

Scootaloo, her savior from the school bullies and the sole reason for the Crusaders’ current existence, provided her with a comfort from the scary world around her. The Everfree Forest was nothing but a harmless collection of mossy tree stumps when that wonderful orange pegasus was nearby to protect her from the monsters her mind kept seeing in the wilds.

“Don’t be so scared,” Scootaloo said, reading her mind. “It’s just a lost chicken, wandered off into a forest. We can do this.”

“I’m not scared,” Sweetie lied. “I just can’t see straight through all this stupid fog.”

Scootaloo hung back to inspect something on the ground, but Sweetie didn’t even notice until she’d inadvertently gone a dozen yards ahead, all alone. Scootaloo resumed her march right as Apple Bloom caught up, and now the two of them were walking side-by-side, leaving Sweetie Belle way up front by herself.

Dressing up in a basket and a rug and chasing each other around Fluttershy’s safe, well-lit living room was one thing, but she was nowhere near as fearless now that they could encounter the real thing. She wanted desperately to hold up and let the others catch her, so she could walk alongside the comforting security that her orange pegasus provided. But Scootaloo was watching her—if she held up now, she’d look a coward. That simply wouldn’t do. Scootaloo would never not be a friend to her; all three of them were in this together, as they always would be. But Sweetie wanted more than that, somehow, if such a thing was possible. She’d never get there if she couldn’t show Scootaloo that she was just as fearless as she was. Taking point on this little expedition was only a small step in that direction, but it was at least a start. Maybe, in time, Scootaloo would come to appreciate her feelings. She could only hope.

Next Chapter: Chapter 7 Estimated time remaining: 31 Minutes