//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Apple Bloom 
// Story: Apple Trees Will Always Bloom 
// by Pissed-off-Pegasister 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 3: Apple Bloom


“Zecora, it just ain’t fair!”

“I am sorry, Apple Bloom, I wish there was something I could do for you.”

After learning her lesson from the Cutie Pox, Apple Bloom knew not to push Zecora further. She knew it would accomplish her nothing. Now that both of her friends had their cutie marks, Apple Bloom was on her own. It had been two months since Sweetie Bell had gotten her cutie mark, leaving Apple Bloom to fend for herself. Luckily for her, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were no longer bullies of Apple Bloom, as they had made good friends with Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo on the other hand, had her own new friends to hang out with.

In all fairness, Apple Bloom did push them away. She felt that they were too good for her now. She didn’t want to drag them on her “boring” adventures. After all, they already had their cutie marks, why would they want to watch Apple Bloom fail again and again while she desperately tried to get her cutie mark. Her ‘friends’ tried to be supportive to her, but it never made her feel any better.

“It’s like everypony told you, you just have to find your passion and recognize it.”

“Maybe your destiny is on the Apple Farm? That’s usually where your family gets their cutie marks from.”

“Maybe you already have a cutie mark, but it’s just invisible?”

“You could just be a permanent blank-Ouch! Don’t flick me there!”

Apple Bloom was sick of it all. She just wanted her cutie mark, to know what her great destiny was. She wanted to be an adult, respected and revered by all. Applejack tried to convince Apple Bloom that her blank-flank-ness was a good thing because it gave her more time to figure out how special she was. It just wasn’t good enough anymore.

Some days, Apple Bloom felt like jumping into a well and drowning, or maybe throwing herself under a cart. Every day without her cutie mark felt like complete torture. What’s even in a cutie mark anyways?

Apple Bloom thought back to the day where Pinkie Pie was working on the farm because her cutie mark was switched. What did that have to do with destiny? Just because her sister suddenly had three gems on her butt, that meant she had to spend her days locked inside a building sewing clothes? Wasn’t Rarity’s story about her finding her passion in making fashion? So what did the actual sewing part have to do with that?

And what about Rainbow Dash and Rarity? Rainbow Dash got her cutie mark from her love of racing and speed, so why did this suddenly put Rarity in as the caretaker of weather? Rainbow Dash wound up baby-sitting animals while Fluttershy learned she could communicate with nature and all that inhabited it. So what exactly is a cutie mark? A job identifier, or something that marks your destiny? Even Miss Cheerilee, what did her cutie mark have to do with teaching? 

After bidding her only friend good-bye, Apple Bloom quietly left Zecora to her business, and proceeded to talk a walk through Everfree Forest to gather her thoughts up. She felt like she was on a roll with something here.

“What is it, exactly? A Cutie Mark? If you just break it down,  it’s just a “cute mark”. But no, everypony has an individual one, to set them apart from the rest. But what runs in that mark? A job? A passion? Ah guess if you truly enjoyed your job and considered it a passion, you were lucky. Otherwise, it was just as useful as branding cattle, just a way to identify you in a crowd.

Looking at the sky, Apple Bloom thought about the Princesses. Were they born with their cutie marks? Born with the duty of raising the sun and moon each night? What about Cadance, the Crystal Princess, born to spread love? 

As the sun began to set, and the moon rise, Apple Bloom decided to head home. Angry that today was just another useless day, she arrived home late, apologizing to Granny Smith and Applejack about being home so late. She ate a very quick dinner, and headed up to take a bath before bed.

“Ah just wish…Ah could live in a world without cutie marks. None of this being branded with a job, or even needing to find your ‘destiny.’ Everypony is just the same as everypony else."

Apple Bloom gave a little giggle, tired and worn out from walking around all day. She crawled into her bed and tucked herself in , giving into the quiet of the night.

"Ah betcha I could be a Princess, in a land of no cutie-marks. Shucks, ah bet ah could be such a good ruler, ah could even be a queen! Ah just wish ah could find other ponies who were blank-flanks like me.."