April 10th, 999
"So, do you want the balloons over here or over here?" asks Pinkie Pie, floating a foot off the floor of Sugarcube Corner. Above her, dragging along the ceiling, are dozens of balloons, only the desperate flailing of Pinkie Pie's limbs through the air propelling the mare around. She bumps into one table, managing to avoid toppling over the plates of cakes. She rebounds towards the counter, her hooves climbing up one side and down the other. She pushes off the back wall, her body twirling around in circles as she stalls in the middle of the room.
"Over by the door is good!" says Applebaum, helping coordinate her cute-ceañera. "But what Ah was really hoping for was some smaller balloons! And Ah know just where to put them!" The filly moves over to the snack table, a deep sniff of the saccharine sweets, her mouth watering before she moves back to the central window.
Pinkie Pie rebounds off the wall, aiming for the opposite end of Sugarcube Corner. Her bank shot takes her next to the front door, the balloons released to form a large arch. "Okie dokie lokie! I've got all kinds and sizes of balloons! What'dya want and where'dya want 'em?"
"Ah was thinking, what if we had a giant dart board, right? And we put balloons on the dart board, and we try to pop the balloons!" Applebaum motions to a relatively bare section of the back wall.
"Hmm," Pinkie Pie says, pronking over, pulling out a bowl of green and red darts. "I suppose that could work, but we'd need to rearrange the entire flow of the party. I mean, you don't want ponies dodging darts to get to listen to you tell your story, right?" Pinkie Pie mimes zipping back and forth, pressing her body up against the wall before army crawling under a few chairs, then riding a balloon across the ceiling.
Applebaum takes one of the darts in her mouth, a keen eye watching Pinkie Pie slowly drift along. She tosses the dart into the balloon, Pinkie Pie yelping as her ride pops. The pink pony flails in midair for half a second before she tumbles to the floor, landing on her hooves. Applebaum says, "See? Perfectly safe!" She moves over, grabbing the soft tipped dart from one of the cupcakes, devouring the small treat with a small burp.
Pinkie Pie holds a hoof to her chin, "Hmm, you may have a point there. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to use my Pinkie Party Planner veto on this decision. The only things going into eyes around my parties are cupcakes!" Pinkie Pie holds up a giant sign, a picture of herself with a circle around one eye. To the side are depictions of a hoof and a cupcake, both with a green circle around them and a pink check mark next to them. Underneath those is a picture of a needle, an ice cream scoop, and a rubber chicken, each crossed out with a large red 'x'. Pinkie Pie quickly crayons in a picture of a dart, complete with a large red 'x' over it as well. "But we can still do it, just in a different spot!"
The bell above the door chimes, the two looking over to see Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo entering the bakery. Pinkie Pie begins rearranging the chairs and tables while Apple Bloom beams around Sugarcube Corner, her eyes finally spotting the brown filly. "Ah can't believe my little sister's got her cutie mark!" exclaims Apple Bloom as she dashes over, embracing her younger sister. She ends the hug with a quick noogie, "You gotta tell me how it happened! How you knew what to do!"
Applebaum grits her teeth as her mane gets pushed back and forth, her forelegs flailing about as her older sister digs her hoof into her scalp. "Hey! Get off me!" She drops down to her hooves, trying to throw Apple Bloom off balance as the two tumble to the floor. They roll over once, Apple Bloom ending up holding one of Applebaum's hind legs with the brown filly splayed in front of her.
Apple Bloom pushes her hoof into her sister's flank, depressing the explosion in the middle. She giggles at the sight, saying, "Come on, 'Baum! Just give me a hint!"
"Ah'm sorry, Apple Bloom! Ah don't know! Honest!" Apple Bloom looks at her for a few seconds before she releases her sister with a huff. Applebaum rubs her head, trying to smooth out her mane. "Ah just did what came naturally, you know? Ah thought that it would be really cool to make the model of the house, and then... and then... Ah could see it! How it would happen, you know? Depending on where Ah put the firework, how the house would blow up!" She excitedly looks around for anything to draw on or with, as if putting her explanation on paper would make it clearer to the three fillies.
"Yeah, but that was, like, just before you got your cutie mark!" Scootaloo says, reaching a hoof over and helping the filly up. "There's gotta be a sign before that! Something that lets a pony know they're on the right track!
"Well, yeah, but Ah've always loved fire. It's why Daddy's so afraid of me being alone, you know? Ah mean, my earliest memory is of Applejack and a candle flame." Applebaum smiles, "And now that Ah have my cutie mark, he doesn't have to watch me any more! Ah know when what Ah'm doing is unsafe!"
"Really?" asks Sweetie Belle, looking at the door as a few fillies trickle in. "You can tell how dangerous stuff is?"
"Well, so far Ah've only tried it on fire and some of Pinkie's fireworks. But, that ain't the only thing! Now that it's happened, Ah can see other things, too! Like, if I hit a tree with my hooves. Ah can tell where Ah should hit it to get the apples to fall down! Or, if'n we're trying to clear the dead wood out of the top branches, Ah can see where to hit the branches, and where they're gonna fall! Or, um..." Applebaum's voice dies as she looks around the room, spotting Pinkie Pie giving her a curious expression.
"Or what?" asks the pink mare, pronking over. "Something you don't want to say?"
"Well, it's just... Ah can see how other things can fall over, too. Especially rocks. And, Ah know you worked at a rock farm, Pinkie, and Ah don't want to have to work at a quarry, even if Ah think Ah'd be good at it."
"Oh, don't worry about that, silly! Nopony's gonna make you do something you don't like doing! And besides, working at a quarry can be fun! It's like a little game, where you try to find all the delicious rocks hidden all around! And the only thing stopping you is how much fun you decided to bring along!" Pinkie Pie pulls out a few firecrackers from her mane, one of them lit and slowly burning down, before stuffing them back in.
More and more ponies start to enter the store, Pinkie Pie quickly breaking away to finish adding balloons to the dart board now set in the corner, so ponies wouldn't be walking through the line of fire. A few fillies, led by Silver Spoon and all with their cutie marks, come over to congratulate Applebaum, the brown filly breaking away from her sisters with a smile as she heads to the far corner.
"So, what do you think it means for our cutie marks?" asks Scootaloo, looking back at her orange flank. "I don't know that I ever felt some extreme attraction to anything in particular." She smirks, "Except the attraction to extreme danger!" She mimes getting on her scooter, running around and jumping over chairs.
"Ugh, I can't believe your sister beat me to a cutie mark!" exclaims Diamond Tiara, the filly angrily stomping a hoof as she walks up to the group. "It's so unfair!"
Sweetie Belle rolls her eyes as Scootaloo runs around the group, the pegasus' mouth imitating a motor. "Jeez, Diamond Tiara, you'd think that you are the only pony here without a cutie mark. Well, hello there! My name's Sweetie Belle, and Ah have a blank flank!"
"Are you making fun of me?" Diamond Tiara huffs, glaring at the filly. One foreleg comes up, Diamond Tiara pressing a hoof into her own side.
"Oh, I didn't see you over there!" says Scootaloo as she stops moving next to the pink filly. "My name is Scootaloo and I'm a blank flank!"
"I think you're making fun of me!" Diamond Tiara states, backing up slightly.
"Ah don't know if Ah've ever seen you three around town!" says Apple Bloom, doing her best to enact a long southern drawl. "It's been ever so long since Ah saw a blank flank around these parts. Ah thought Ah was the only one! But it's ever so pleasant to make your acquaintance!" She curtsies to Diamond Tiara, a few of the other fillies nearby snickering.
Diamond Tiara's eye starts twitching as Sweetie Belle turns to Apple Bloom, curtsying back. Applebaum and Silver Spoon watch from afar as more fillies wander over, watching the commotion. Diamond Tiara huffs, saying, "I do not appreciate this at all, you three! I demand you stop at once!"
"Why, Miss Apple Bloom, that is a b-e-a-utiful dress you have there!" Scootaloo continues, ignoring Diamond Tiara. "Did you craft it yourself?" Scootaloo puts her hoof on Apple Bloom's flank, rubbing the spot where a cutie mark would be.
"Why, Ah don't rightly believe so, Miss Scootaloo, because if Ah did Ah would have some sort of dress making cutie mark on my flank!" She waves her flank around, "And as you can cah-learly see, Ah do not have any sort of mark on my flank!"
Diamond Tiara bursts into tears, pushing past the fillies in her way as she gallops out of Sugarcube Corner.
Scootaloo drops her accent, "Huh. I wonder what her problem is?" She glances around at the other fillies surrounding them, a few shrugging, the others continuing to snicker. Scootaloo looks to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, "Do you think we went too far?" Silver Spoon leaves the party as well, though the other two of Silver's foals stick around, chatting with Applebaum.
"Nah," says Apple Bloom, "Ah thought it was funny. Ah mean, who does she think she is? It's not like a pony gets their cutie mark the same day as their sisters, you know? Ah think she's just mad Silver Spoon beat her to a cutie mark. And, um, so did my younger sister."
"Yeah, she's gotta be, like, the first in her class to get one," says Scootaloo, a long sigh. "Wish I was the first in our class to get a cutie mark."
Sweetie Belle rolls her eyes, "Yeah, well, some ponies just know what they're good at. I mean, look at her name! I know Doug says it means apple tree, but when you name a foal apple bomb, you really just hope they aren't blowing up toilets when they get their cutie mark." She points a hoof at her own flank, "I mean, what do you expect from a name like Sweetie Belle? I'm going to be good at making sweets? Or being cute? I don't want a cutie mark in being cute!"
Apple Bloom sighs, "Yeah, or Diamond Tiara. Probably will get her cutie mark making, Ah dunno, a fancy piece of jewelry." The fillies startle as a balloon pops behind them, a few of the others starting to play at the dart board while Pinkie Pie watches.
"You mean like a diamond tiara?" Scootaloo deadpans. "I really hope it isn't that obvious. At least Silver Spoon doesn't carry that spoon she made around!" Scootaloo points at the spoon on display high above the counter, Ms. Swirl next to a picture of her fiance.
The three fillies sigh, kicking their hooves against the floor. Sweetie Belle looks at the group, "I kind of feel bad that we made fun of her like that. I still think it was funny; I mean, how sheltered do you have to be to think that you are the only one with a problem like that? It's not like we don't see each other every day at school. But, maybe we should go apologize to her about it." The other two fillies nod, heading out the door towards the Rich mansion.
Apple Bloom walks up to the ornate front door, her hoof finding the metal knocking plate at the bottom and tapping on it. Randolph promptly answers the door, a pleasant smile from the gray earth pony. Apple Bloom asks, "Is Diamond Tiara in there? We, um, we wanted to apologize to her."
Randolph nods, a glance backwards before he says, "I will let her know you are here. And I'll be back, in case she does not wish to see you. She arrived in quite the state."
The three fillies nod, a repentant look in their eyes. A few moments later Diamond Tiara opens the door, a curt, "What do you three want?" coming from her tear streaked muzzle.
Apple Bloom starts, "Diamond Tiara, we're sorry that we made fun of you not having a cutie mark."
Scootaloo continues, "We were just trying to be funny."
Sweetie Belle goes to say something as Diamond Tiara cuts her off, "Well, it's pretty obvious you don't have comedian cutie marks! Because you didn't do a good job of that, at all! In fact, I hope you three never get your cutie marks!" Diamond Tiara slams the door in their muzzles, a loud couple of stomps following soon after. The three fillies barely glance at each other as they stand around, stunned. The door reopens, Diamond Tiara chucking a blue ball at them, "And take your stupid ball with you too!" She slams the door again, hoofsteps thundering away inside as Scootaloo chases after the ball.
"She... she doesn't mean that, does she?" a tearful Sweetie Belle asks as Scootaloo returns with their gift to Silver Spoon commemorating her cutie mark.
"Ah don't think so," says Apple Bloom, sighing as she looks at their signatures on the ball. "Ah sure hope not."
The trio sighs, getting ready to leave as the door opens again. Silver Spoon is standing there, an apologetic look as she says, "Hey, you three. I'm sorry about Diamond Tiara, she's just taking this whole blank flank thing really hard." Silver Spoon sighs, "I think she needs some time, you know, away from any reminders of, you know, being a blank flank."
Apple Bloom frowns, "We're sorry, Silver Spoon. We didn't mean to make fun of her or nothing."
"I know." Silver Spoon motions to the ball, "And, it wasn't right of her to throw that away. It's my gift from you, and it means a lot to me. Though I might have to hide it a little, at least until she gets over this."
"Yeah, we get it. Um, sorry we kind of ruined the party for you. You're welcome to come back!" Apple Bloom smiles at Silver Spoon, the filly holding in a breath for a long time.
Silver Spoon finally exhales, a long sigh as she says, "I'm sorry, you three. Maybe not today." She takes the ball from Scootaloo, a wave at the three as she forces a half-smile to her muzzle, "You know how Diamond Tiara can get. She really likes to get her way. Probably spend the rest of the day bossing everypony around until she feels better."
Scootaloo snarks, "Probably?"
Silver Spoon gives a small smile at that, a shout coming from behind her. She glances into the house before saying, "Well, have a good day, I guess."
"Yeah, Silver Spoon, good day to you too. Tell Diamond Tiara we're sorry, and all that." Scootaloo waves back, a quick smile before her mouth turns glum, the three walking back to Sugarcube Corner.