Fellowship is Madness

by Imperator Chiashi Zane

Cutie Mark Crusade, Part 1

Cheerilee looked across her class. All rather eager to learn, except that one orange Pegasus filly in the back, who just looked bored. Some were still talking, but she knew they would stop as soon as she rang the bell, “Alright class, quiet down. We have a very important lesson today. Today we will be learning about Cutie Marks.”

Almost immediately, several students, none of the brightest ones, she knew, stopped paying attention. The Pegasus filly in the back didn’t react in any noticeable way to the news, just stared blankly at the board. One grey Earth filly raised her nose, “Boo-ring,” which she terminated with a dramatic sigh.

Cheerilee made a note to dock the filly several points for the day, and kept talking, “You all see my Cutie Mark, right? Like all ponies, I wasn’t born with a Cutie Mark,” she held up a picture of herself in school, cringing slightly at the poofy mane style she had worn then. One student, a tan filly with a slight lisp, made that sound everypony made at seeing something so uncontrollably cute that their language centers shut down, and Cheerilee made a note to talk to her parents about her mental state, “Anyway, one day, when I was about your age, I woke up to find that my Cutie Mark had appeared.”

This picture made her flinch away, and she immediately regretted choosing that picture. The day it had appeared, she had chosen her clothes specifically to show it off. While male ponies wore clothing that would hide their Cutie Marks, and often only revealed them when they needed to, Females had a tendency to accent their Marks, to frame them with clothing such that they stood out.

Cheerilee had, that day, chosen an unfortunate combination of neon leg-warmers and torn jeans with a lime green mesh shirt and the highest pseudo-afro she could make out of her mane. Even as the picture panned so every student could see it, she debated dropping it in the garbage and lighting it on fire. A few weak laughs, and she dropped the picture face down on her desk, “Moving on. I had decided that I would become a teacher, and the flowers symbolized my hope that I could help my future students bloom if I nurtured them with knowledge. The smiles represented the cheer I hope to bring them while they are learning. Now, can anypony tell me when a pony gets their Cutie Mark?”

The same tan filly raised her hoof, “Yes Twist?”

“When he or thee discoverth that thertain thomthing that maketh her thpethial.”

“That’s right, Twist,” Cheerilee tried not to correct the lisping, and made a mental note to talk to her parents about getting the filly a speech tutor, “A Cutie Mark appears on a pony’s haunch when he or she finds that certain something that makes them different from every other pony. Discovering what makes you unique isn’t something that happens overnight,” she noticed a pink Earth filly trying to get another filly’s attention,” and no amount of hoping, wishing, or begging,” she was about to stop and draw attention to the pink filly, “would make a Cutie Mark appear before it’s time.”

Now, she saw the pink filly trying to pass a note, and strode up, snatching the piece of paper, “Miss Rich, please do not interrupt my lesson by passing notes,” she opened it, and looked at the blank sheet of paper, “Especially blank ones.”

The rest of class went by quickly and without incident, though Cheerilee suspected that was more because each and every student had their eyes locked on hers, worried that she might catch every little mistake they made, than because they wanted to keep listening.
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Class let out, and the students filtered out, leaving their teacher behind to grade assignments.

The tan filly, Twist, grabbed one of the others, a red filly with a bright green mane, the youngest of the Berry siblings, “Hey Strawberry, do you want some peppermint sticks? I made them myself.” Strawberry Punch sighed, and shook her head. “Come on, they’re really good.”

“No…”

The pink filly, Diamond Tiara Rich, groaned, “Why did we have to sit through a lecture about getting out Cutie Marks. I mean, waiting for a Cutie Mark is sooo last week. You got yours, I just got mine. We all have them already,” she looked at Strawberry, still lacking a Cutie Mark, “Oops, I mean, Almost all of us have them already. Don’t worry you two, you’re still totally invited to my party this weekend.”

A silver filly who seemed perfect for the part of evil minion added her own two bits, “It’s going to be amayayzing!”

“It’s a party all to celebrate me and my fantastic Cutie Mark. How could it not be!?”

The two did a fancy hoof-shake, ending by smacking their haunches together and rolling on the ground laughing. Strawberry Punch sighed, “Gimme a break.”

The two stood up and trotted away, still laughing.

Strawberry looked at Twist, “I should get home.” She trotted off as fast as her legs could carry her.
__
“It’s just not fair! How does a spoiled rotten brat like her get such a nice Cutie Mark?”

Blueberry smiled and ran a hoof through her little sister’s mane, “Don’t get all huffy. You’ll get your Cutie Mark eventually. Everypony does. It’s just…”

“What? Is it because we’re Changelings?”

Blueberry sighed, “Yes, and no. When you find your special talent, it will show in your true form, whichever you choose that to be.”

“But, how long will that take? I need one now! I can’t go the party without one, I just Can’t!”

“Of course you can. I did. I was nearly the last in my class to get mine. Only Applejack was later. I knew my ultimate destiny was to become the next leader of the Berry Hive.”

“But your Cutie Mark is a Blueberry branch, not a crown?”

“That’s…Much more difficult to explain. I’ll tell you when you’re older, Kor’el’k.”

Comments

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

5354727 I'll have to get in a campaign with you, then.

[Imperator Chiashi Zane]

5761233 Yeah, at some point I'll have to start one (after I finish the three other ones that I'm in, and the Shadowrun game, and graduate from college, and finish writing Fellowship is Madness, and so on...)