"I'm telling you girls, I figured it out!" cried Scootaloo. "We've been going about it all wrong! We don't need to find our cutie marks the way normal ponies do. We're junior Elements of Harmony!"

"Heard it before," Sweetie Belle sighed. "Back when you wanted us to be the Elements Of A Good Cheer."

"Yeah," chimed in Apple Bloom. "Except you took 'Passion' right off the bat and stuck Sweetie an' me with the other two. I gotta say, Granny did not appreciate my Screaming And Hollering all the time."

"Rarity hated my Loss Of Control so much she sent me outside," said Sweetie. "I lost so much control that I kicked open a rotten log and got chased by bugs all afternoon. Big ones. It was a total washout!"

"That's because we were thinking about it all wrong!" insisted Scootaloo. "Listen—how did the real Elements of Harmony get their cutie marks? Not by trying things! They just saw Rainbow Dash do a Sonic Rainboom and suddenly, bam! Everything became clear. So all we have to do is watch Rainbow Dash do her Sonic Rainboom!"

"I dunno, Scootaloo," said Sweetie Belle. "It's like the world doesn't even want us to have our cutie marks. I mean, sometimes we really should have known better, like with the shots we had to get after we tried being Cutie Mark Crusader Animal Control Officers. But other times, it's totally random! Like that earthquake that stopped us from becoming Cutie Mark Crusader Soufflé Chefs. Or the bug bites that cut short the Cutie Mark Crusader Lumberjacks experiment." Sweetie shivered. "Bugs, again! I hate bugs."

"Yeah, and every time it was because we were doing something we weren't supposed to be doing. But today we're here, in the middle of a city, and we're doing exactly what the grown-ups told us to do! No irony stuff involved!"

"I sure hope there ain't no irony stuff involved," said Apple Bloom. "Ponyville ain't yet recovered from us being Cutie Mark Crusader Foundry Workers."

"And anyway, it's poetic justice," Sweetie Belle said. "Not irony."

"Whatever!" said Scootaloo. "The point is, nothing can go wrong this time. We just have to stand up front like good little fillies and let the inspiration of Rainbow Dash's awesomeness wash over us. The situation is one hundred percent flawless." Scootaloo gave a little tug at the bow around her neck. "Well, ninety-nine percent flawless," she added. "It'd be better if I weren't wearing a dress."

A shadow fell across the little gathering. "And who are you three supposed to be?" came a harsh, imperious voice from above.

Apple Bloom looked up. "Oh! Hey there, Yer Highness."

"We're your flower fillies!" squeaked Sweetie Belle, excitedly. "We'll be standing right up front with you!"

"With a perfect view of the Sonic Rainboom," said Scootaloo.

"Hmph," said the Princess. "Fine, fine. Just don't let your petal-flinging antics distract anypony from the main event, which is to say, me. This is my special day, after all."

"We won't," said Apple Bloom. "We promise."

"Good," said Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, gliding off down the hall with unsettling alien grace. "See to it that you don't."

"What a grouch," muttered Sweetie Belle, under her breath, as the Princess disappeared from view.

"Don't let her get you down," said Scootaloo, chummily throwing a hoof over the unicorn's withers. "It's gonna be a great day. We'll all have our cutie marks by sundown."

"Yeah," said Sweetie Belle, warming slightly. "Maybe today'll turn out okay. No bugs involved?"

"No bugs involved," Scootaloo said. "Guaranteed. This day is going to be perfect."