Fellowship is Madness

by Imperator Chiashi Zane

Cutie Mark Crusade, Part 2

Strawberry Punch knocked on the door of Twist’s house, and waited for her to open the door, “Oh, Hi Strawberry. What’s up?”

“I was thinking, maybe we should still go to Diamond’s party. Since neither one of us has our Cutie Mark, it won’t be so bad.”

Twist made a small, barely muted groan, and turned, revealing her Cutie Mark, a pair of crossed peppermint sticks, “Isn’t my Cutie Mark cool? I’ve always loved making my candies, but it took me some time to discover that it was my talent. Pretty sweet huh?”

Strawberry lowered her eyes. The taste of unrestrained glee was everywhere, and she had to turn her head to avoid the urge to just bite down and drain her friend right there.

“Hey, this doesn’t mean we can’t still go together. You are still coming to the party, right?”

“Of course she will,” Diamond Tiara showed up, of course, right when she was least wanted. And her minion was there too.

“It’s not like being the only pony there without a Cutie Mark would be, like, the most embarrassing thing ever!” More laughter followed as they strolled away, neither noticing the low hissing sound coming out of the Changeling’s throat.

“Goodbye Twist. I will see you at the party,” her voice was stilted and clipped as she forced the words past her lips, trying to conceal her emotions.
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“Hey, li’l Berry. What’s up?” Fleethoof floated over the filly’s head, “You look down.”

The filly looked up, “There’s a party this afternoon to celebrate Diamond Tiara getting her Cutie Mark, and everypony else in my class has theirs, and I wanna get my Cutie Mark, but I don’t know what to do, and d’Jar’k says it’ll happen soon, but I want it to happen before the party so I’m not the only one there without my Cutie Mark.”

Fleethoof paused, brain trying to sort through the data, “Ok. Who’s D’jar’k?”

Almost without thinking, Strawberry responded, “My big sister.”

“Uh…Your big sister is Blueberry Jam. Are you ok?”

Strawberry thought back across what she said, and froze, “Uh…Brain slipped. That’s the name of her character in our Castles and Chimeras game…” Inwardly she was begging that the Pegasus would believe her, and almost let out a relieved sigh when the party pony nodded.

“Oh, yeah, I know how into characters you can get. Hey, could I join your game at some point?”

“Not this campaign. We’re too far along, and it’s kind of a Berry family thing. Play by post, you know. We send out a letter every week with our actions and dice rolls to the Manehattan Berry’s, where the game-runner lives.” Her relief was almost tangible, at least to a Changeling, when Fleethoof agreed that it wouldn’t be good to force her way in.

“So, do you want me to help you find your Cutie Mark then?”

“But Blueberry says we can’t force it…”

And,” Fleethoof giggled, “Who are you going to listen to, Second to Last-in-her-Class, or First-in-her-Class? I always knew I liked making ponies happy, but I really wasn’t fully invested in it until the DJ collapsed on stage and I stepped up to the plate. I discovered my skill at bringing life to a party there, and Boom. There was my Cutie Mark.”
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“Good, good. Stretch out your legs. Get nice and loose. The key is to try as many things as possible, as quickly as possible. One of them is bound to work. Ready?”

“Yeah?”

“Good! GO!”
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“Ok, so that narrows it down a little. You aren’t a Juggler, a Hang-glider, Definitely not Karate. How do you lose a Kite? Roller Derby is definitely out. Eating Cupcakes didn’t work either. Baking them didn’t work. Oh, hey, look at the time. It’s party time. Here’s your party hat.”

Strawberry looked around the room, “Uh…What? I wasn’t going to go to the party, not without a Cutie Mark.”

“Too late, kiddo. Get out there and have fun,” Fleethoof pushed her out of the kitchen.

Strawberry looked around. The party was already in action, and she struggled to adjust her skirt to hide the blank spots on her haunches, even as Twist slipped up next to her, “Hey, Strawberry. I see you decided to come after all. Nice outfit.”

“Eh, it was just something I threw together. So my new Cutie Mark wouldn’t outshine Diamond Tiara, you know.”

“Ok,” Twist looked at the skirt curiously, “What is it?”

“I’ll show you later. I don’t want to be the center of attention.”

“Oh…Kay,” Twist turned to walk away, and Strawberry went to follow, feeling her skirt catch on something. She couldn’t stop in time, and fell, ripping the fabric loose and leaving her bare rump in the air.

“Uh, where’s your Cutie Mark, Strawberry? Didn’t you say it was awesome? There’s nothing there.”
Diamond Tiara turned around and looked, “Hey, Blankie!”

A squeaky voice rang out, “You have a problem with that!?”

The white Unicorn filly with a purple mane stood tall, even as Diamond Tiara’s minion pointed at her, “The problem is that it means she’s totally not special.”

“No, it means she’s still got potential!” The orange Pegasus filly added, “She could be great at anything!”

A griffon cub raised his head too, “She could be a scientist, or a Blacksmith, or a Hunter, even the Mayor. And not a stuck-up brat like you two!”

Strawberry stared at them, “You two don’t have your Cutie Marks either? I thought I was the only one.”

“We thought we were the only two,” the Pegasus said.

“And Griffons don’t get Cutie Marks anyway, so Ha.”

“Whatever, losers,” Diamond Tiara turned back to her party.

The four moved together, “I’m Scootaloo,” the orange filly started.

“Sweetie Belle,” the white Unicorn.

The Griffon smiled, beak twisting eerily, “Cuuper Talus. I’m here with my big brother and sister.”

“Strawberry Punch. So, I guess we’re the only ones then?”

A fifth pushed into the group, “Uh, Ah’m Apple Bloom. I don’t have a Cutie Mark either.”

“Yeah. We should totally make a club, and they,” Scootaloo pointed at Diamond Tiara, “aren’t invited.”

“We need a name for it though. Something to do with our Cutie Marks, you know,” Sweetie Belle pushed in.

Cuuper tapped his beak thoughtfully, “Destiny Seekers?”

“No, something to do with our Cutie Marks,” Apple Bloom pointed out, “Cutie Mark Five?”

“Cutetastic Fantastics?” Scootaloo tried.

Cuuper shook his head, “Fanatics, maybe.”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Sweetie Belle.

A violent lurch from Cuuper dragged their attention to the Griffon, “What…Haven’t any of you studied history? The Crusaders were horrible ponies.”

“What about Destiny Knights?” Strawberry voiced over Cuuper’s head.

“I like it.”

“Definitely.”

“Do we get armor?”

“Of course we get armor. I’ll see if I can get some scrap steel from the forge. We’ll be unstoppable!”