Revelations of Past and Present
Cutie Mark?
The rooster crowed as the first rays of sunlight peeked out in between the ground and the already amassing cloud that the pegasi had put out for the coming snowfall, waking Sunny up. She didn't mind, in her travels she always got up very early to put as much ground behind her as possible before stopping for a scavenged lunch of berries and flowers. She looked out the window to find Applejack already out in the field, bringing in the last bushels of apples to the barn below her. As Sunny came down the stairs, Applejack was coming in through the door, and setting the apples on the top shelf of a storage unit made to hold the buckets and bushels the apples came in. "Good mornin' Sugarcube! Y'all are up mighty early, you sure ya didn't grow up on a farm?" Applejack greeted her playfully.
Sunny smiled, "Good morning to you, Applejack. Is there anything I can help with?" Applejack thought for a moment, "Y'all think you could help me gather up all th' tools? An' after that we c'n bring some o' these here apples inside and make us some breakfast, what d'ya say?" Delighted at the opportunity to return the kindness Applejack has shown, Sunny jumped on the job "Of course I can! I may be small, but I've travelled enough to know my size doesn't reflect my ability!" Applejack laughed, "Well, if y'all prove yerself to be handy, Ah might be interested in hirin' you in th' spring as well! At least, if yer wantin' to stay that long. It would be more than enough pay for livin' here in th' barn rather than findin' another house, if that's what yer worried about, not that Ah'd charge ya anyway."
Sunny and Applejack spent the better part of the morning finding and putting away all the tools, and some leftover apples, and finally made it into the house to get a nice, big, delicious breakfast. "Y'all did real good out there Sunny. You should be proud o' yerself." Happy with her accomplishment, Sunny smiled, "Thanks Applejack! That means a lot to me. You are the first pony I've ever met that hasn't shunned me out of fear. Well, it's not that other ponies aren't nice, it’s just that-" Struggling to put it to words, she stopped, looking pained. "Ah know Sugar, tha's mighty kind of you t' say so, but just you wait till ya meet mah friend Fluttershy, there ain't nopony nicer than she is. Maybe Ah c'n introduce y'all to 'er tomorrow." Sunny, perplexed at the thought that Applejack considered her important enough to introduce her to her friends, smiled and let the memories of struggling to find her place go.
After the delicious breakfast, Applejack decided to take Sunny into Ponyville market, getting her some supplies that she might need for winter. They made their way around the market square, and Applejack bought everything she thought was necessary both for her and Sunny. They stopped for lunch before heading back home, and by the time they had finished there was a cold breeze blowing through the town, the first sign of the approaching snowfall. Sunny wrapped her brand new scarf around her neck, thankful for Applejack's insightful generosity. They started back towards the trail that leads down to Sweet Apple Acres, which Applejack had informed Sunny was the Apple family's home. As they reached the gate to Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack pointed down the road that kept winding down into Whitetail Woods, "That there's th' path that leads down t' Fluttershy's house, Ah'll take ya t' meet her tomorrow. Sound good?" Sunny smiled at Applejack, "That sounds great! Thanks again for all this stuff. I probably would've frozen my tail off otherwise..."
She chuckled and started towards the barn, wanting to put her new gear away. Applejack stood there a second longer, studying Sunny. She looked at her Cutie Mark again, still puzzled by the clashing name and mark, when she noticed something, there were four Stars around the Moon. Applejack was sure she was seeing it wrong, but she could swear that yesterday, there were only three Stars. "Uh... Sugar? Can Ah ask ya somethin'?" she blushed at the embarrassment of her question. Sunny turned around, ready to answer, "Of course, Applejack! What's up?" Pawing at the ground, wondering if she really is just being silly, Applejack put her embarrassment away and looked at Sunny, "I was wonderin', yesterday when Ah looked at your Cutie Mark? I thought I saw three Stars surroundin' that Moon, but when Ah look now, there're four? Am Ah jus' seein' things, or did yer Cutie Mark change?" Sunny suddenly looked very serious, "I'll meet you in the kitchen once I've unpacked my bag, and I'll explain then. You'll want the whole story, but not here." Turning without another word, Sunny rushed into the barn to put her stuff away.
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Back in the kitchen, Sunny and Applejack were sitting around the table. Sunny was speaking very seriously, and very carefully, "Okay, you asked me whether my Cutie Mark had changed from three Stars to four, or if you were just seeing things. Well, I'm not going to lie to you, you've been kind to me, and I owe it to you. My Cutie Mark did change. Every New Moon, my Cutie Mark becomes a constellation of countless tiny Stars, and as the Lunar cycle continues, a Moon shows up and follows the phases. At first, it's a Crescent Moon with one Star, and every two days a new Star shows up. Once the Moon is full, my Cutie Mark has seven Stars surrounding a Full Moon, and then the cycle reverses itself." She stopped, watching Applejack, waiting for a response. Applejack just sat there, trying to understand, and trying to hide her confliction from Sunny with varying degrees of success.
"Well, uh..." Applejack was lost for words. "Ah don't quite understand Sugarcube, you don't have a Cutie Mark? Instead you have," she stopped for a second, counting, "eight? Eight Cutie Marks?" Sunny chuckled, "It's not quite that complicated, it's all there all the time, you can just only see certain parts of it at a time." She finished a little guiltily, knowing full well that this Cutie Mark was nothing if not complicated. It was the reason for her dreams, she knew it was. Also, she felt it was the only thing that gave her any hint as to her family's identities, though she hasn't made any progress finding them. Applejack was still confused "Oh, uh, okay then, but why does it do that? What's yer special talent?" Sunny was struggling to decide whether or not to tell the truth, and Applejack could tell, "Sugar, Ah don't want t' put any pressure on ya, y'all don't have t' tell me if ya don't want to. But, fer th' record, if y'all're worried about scarin' me, I would'a been scared by now, you can trust me."
Sunny sat quietly for minutes on end, struggling with memories and trying to straighten everything out in order to think straight. Applejack's words had eased her conflict a little, but she still worried. Resolving to trust in Applejack's words, she decided to try to explain the Solstice of the Eclipse, which was still the only lead she had to find out what her special talent was. But she couldn't put her thoughts into words, "Okay Applejack, I trust you. Do you know- Have you ever- Uh..." Stopping completely, and reorganizing her thoughts for a fresh start, Sunny gave Applejack a sheepish grin, "Sorry, um... Have you ever heard of the Solstice of the Eclipse?" Applejack gave a shake of her head, confirming a negative. "Well, it is a centennial solstice which represents the beginning of the Celestial Cycle. Basically, every one hundred years, the Sun and Moon are reset. This helps the Princesses keep their control over them."
Applejack looked like she was completely lost, "Uh... Ah don't understand Sugarcube. How can the Sun and the Moon be 'reset'? An' Ah'm not sure what this has t' do with yer special talent, what's the connection?" Sunny thought for a moment, "Okay, the Princesses use their magic to reverse the natural repulsion that the Sun and Moon have for each other, that's how they are reset, it just erases any anomalies that may have surfaced. As far as the connection to my special talent, I don't know if there is any. I just know that every time this happens, seven Stars surround the Moon, no matter what." Applejack was catching on, "An' tha's what yer Cutie Mark is on a Full Moon, right? How do you know all this?" Sunny looked embarrassed, "I spent about three months in the Canterlot Archives last year, basically reading about anything that struck me as important, it was fairly near to when I initially woke up, so I wasn't very coordinated."
As Sunny and Applejack talked, the room got progressively darker, along with the Sun going down. "Well now! Ah wasn't expectin' this t' take all day!" Applejack got up to get some light going, so they weren't in complete darkness. Sunny laughed, "I didn't think so either, I suppose we should probably get some dinner?" Applejack nodded her agreement, and got to work as Sunny got up to help her make dinner. Applejack had continued to ask questions all through the preparation and eating of dinner, and Sunny gave what answers she could. They were both soon too tired to continue, so they said the good nights and went to their respective bedrooms and went to bed.
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