Cutie Mark Crusaders

The Cutie Mark Crusaders (CMC) is a club consisting of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, formed in Call of the Cutie. Their unity is based on being "blank flanks", ponies who have not yet gotten their cutie marks. Each pony represents a different race, with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle being an Earth pony, Pegasus pony, and unicorn respectively.

The exploits of the Cutie Mark Crusaders are featured in several episodes in the series.

Founding
Although the three fillies only introduce themselves to each other in Call of the Cutie, the three make an appearance together in Friendship is Magic, part 1 huddling under a table in fear of Night Mare Moon. According to a layout artist, the scene was originally story boarded with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, but he was sent different characters for the shot. The artist assumed the different characters were sent by mistake, and used the Cutie Mark Crusaders instead.

The three fillies meet at Diamond Tiara's cute-ceañera and form a bond, as all three don't have their cutie marks yet. Sweetie Belle suggests they found a "secret society". They each propose a name for it and Apple Bloom`s suggestion–Cutie Mark Crusaders–is approved by everyone. The term Crusade refers to any military expedition undertaken by the Christians of Europe in the 11th to the 13th century to reclaim the Levant, though it is commonly used as a metaphor meaning a vigorous movement for or against something.

Development
The society is not kept a secret, as the Crusaders later come to sing about it at a talent contest and often shout out the name of their group. The club's purpose is to "work together to find out who we are, and what we're supposed to be", and the Crusaders are often seen engaging in activities in pursuit of their cutie marks.

In The Show Stoppers, Applejack passed on her old clubhouse for the Crusaders to use. Initially the clubhouse is dilapidated, but Apple Bloom fully repairs it and the clubhouse becomes their headquarters. A watchtower with a telescope is added in Family Appreciation Day.

Activities
The Crusaders pursue various activities to discover their special talents. They briefly try carpentry and chicken-herding in Stare Master, and feature in a montage of pig farming, taffy making, hairdressing, mind-reading, mountain climbing, and underwater exploring in The Show Stoppers. Right after the montage, the three make a mess in Twilight Sparkle's library in pursuit of a librarian cutie mark. Twilight enters with Cheerilee, who suggests the Crusaders appear in a talent show. The fillies excitedly suggest juggling, acting, magic tricks, square dancing, tightrope-walking, and tiger-taming, but Twilight advises them to try things they're already good at. They concur, but throughout the series they seem oblivious to their innate talents. The Crusaders' insistence on pursuing different activities seems to comes from Rainbow Dash in Call of the Cutie, who suggests "[trying] as many things as possible as quickly as possible", however this view is not shared by Applejack, Cheerilee, or Twilight.

Innate talents

 * Apple Bloom: Whoa! Hi, Scootaloo! Back already? You're amazin' on that scooter.
 * Scootaloo: Thanks! Wow, Apple Bloom. You did all of this?
 * Apple Bloom: Yep! I've fixed the broken shutters, sanded off the splinters, rebuilt the roof, painted...
 * Scootaloo: That's so cool. What's Sweetie Belle up to?


 * Sweetie Belle: [humming a song]
 * Apple Bloom: There you are, Sweetie Belle! See? I told you we could find her by following her totally awesome voice.

The Crusaders demonstrate their talents very clearly in The Show Stoppers. Apple Bloom quickly and masterfully repairs the broken-down tree house that Applejack passes on to the Crusaders, Sweetie Belle effortlessly composes rhymes and music for their "theme song". and Scootaloo performs spectacular maneuvers on her scooter. Later, Apple Bloom asks Sweetie Belle to be the singer in their act, but she opts for making the costumes and scenery; she asks Scootaloo to do the choreography, but she opts for singing; and Apple Bloom herself is left with the choreography. They each find their chosen task difficult, and get help from the other Crusader who is skilled at the task.

Sweetie Belle tries her hand at sewing in Stare Master. She makes capes for the Crusaders, complete with a patch of the club's emblem. However the results are somewhat patchy and ragged. In the same episode, she breaks into song in a very theatrical and professional manner. In Friendship is Magic, part 1, when Twilight and Spike are looking for their copy of Predictions and Prophecies, one of the books Twilight pulls out has an emblem similar to the Crusaders' emblem.

Near the end of The Show Stoppers, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash visit the Crusaders backstage. While Applejack and Rarity are Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's older sisters, respectively, Rainbow Dash is not related to Scootaloo. However, Scootaloo idolizes and looks up to her.

Appearances
There are five episodes centered around the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Stare Master, The Show Stoppers, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, Hearts and Hooves Day and Ponyville Confidential. The Cutie Mark Crusaders also feature together in Friendship is Magic, part 1, Call of the Cutie, The Return of Harmony Part 1, Luna Eclipsed, The Cutie Pox and Family Appreciation Day. They also appear in the remastered opening sequence in the last car of the train that passes by after Twilight Sparkle hops off her hot air balloon.

In the cold open of The Return of Harmony Part 1, they argue over what the "statue" of Discord represents. Apple Bloom says it represents confusion, Sweetie Belle says it represents evil, and Scootaloo says it represents chaos. After a brief scrap between the Crusaders, Cheerilee assigns them to each write an essay explaining the meaning of "discord".

They appear briefly in Luna Eclipsed, dressed up as the three classic Universal Studios horror movie monsters: Sweetie Belle as Dracula, Scootaloo as the Wolf Man, and Apple Bloom is the Bride of Frankenstein rather than the monster.

They are the initial victims of Twilight Sparkle's shenanigans in Lesson Zero when she gives them a doll in hopes that they will fight over it, allowing her to stop them and get in her friendship report on time. She casts a "want it need it" spell on the doll and shows it to the girls. The girls' pupils turn to hearts and they begin fighting over it. Twilight, unable to break up the fight, gets Big Macintosh to take the doll away from them, but the spell affects him too, and subsequently causes dozens of ponies to fight over the doll. Celestia eventually undoes the spell.

Galleries

 * Apple Bloom image gallery
 * Scootaloo image gallery
 * Sweetie Belle image gallery