//------------------------------//
// Making a Mark 
// Story: The Bonds of Family 
// by KidatHeart5 
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	Later that night, after the party was over, everypony went back home to rest. The royals shuffled off to the Everfree Castle to climb into their comfortable beds. Skyla, however, was restless. She did not want to go to sleep in case she had the vision again. True, she had a quick nap on the train, but that’s all it was: a nap. The last time she had the vision, she was sleeping through the night, more than the hour she got during her midday nap. To remedy this, she got up from her bed and went out the door.
Just then, Flurry Heart heard a thump and jolted awake. She asked, “Hello? Who’s there?”
She climbed out of bed and walked to the open door. To her surprise, she found Skyla sleeping on the floor. 
She chuckled softly, “Oh, Skyla.” 
She used her magic to levitate her sister, even though she was afraid that her magic would go wonky again. Thankfully, Flurry set Skyla down on her bed without any mishaps. Before she could get some shuteye again, the alicorn heard strange noises outside her window. She looked out to see Discord muttering to himself in the garden. With her curiosity now raised, she trotted all the way downstairs to the door leading to the garden. She opened the door just enough for her to peek through and see Discord. She hoped he didn’t hear the creaking sound the door made, but thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice. 
Discord fretted, “I’m going to be a grandfather! I’m going to be a grandfather! I’m too young to be a grandfather!” He then growled angrily, “That changeling Scumball! He did this to her! He’s going to make my daughter suffer through every downside of pregnancy!” 
He wailed in sorrow, “Why, Screwball?! Why?! You’re my little girl! You shouldn’t be pregnant so soon!” He then said excitedly, “I’m going to be a grandpa! Yes! Take that, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich!” 
He began to dance as he sang, “I’m gonna be a grandpa! I’m gonna be a grandpa! I’m gonna – Huh?“  At that moment, he noticed that the door was slightly ajar. He knew that someone had just listened in on him. 
Flurry Heart was about to sneak away from the door when it suddenly opened!
Discord said, “Ah-ha! I just caught myself an eavesdropper!” When Flurry turned back to face her relative sheepishly, he wagged his finger and admonished, “Now, princess, you know it’s impolite to eavesdrop on other ponies.”
Flurry smirked, “Yes, but you’re not a pony.”
Discord realized she was right and chortled, “Oh-ho-ho! So I’m not. I like your style.” He then asked, “So, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?”
Flurry answered, “Well, I just wanted to check up on you after I saw you talking to yourself in the garden.”
Discord cringed, “Was I that loud?”
“No. I was up helping Skyla get back into bed. She fell asleep on the floor for some reason.”
The draconequus snickered, “Too bad you didn’t get any pictures of it.” 
“Yeah. Well, I should get back to bed now.”
Before she could start walking away, Discord stopped her, “Hold it, hold it. As long as you’re up, why don’t we have a little chat? You know, girl to…guy.”
“But I’m supposed to be in bed before midnight at the latest.”
“Oh, come on. You’re in the Everfree Kingdom now. Surely, you’ll have a little leeway when it comes to rules and protocol. Tell you what? I’ll let you sleep in tomorrow morning. After all, training doesn’t start until you’re ready.”
Flurry smiled, “Thank you. I’d really appreciate it. Plus, I don’t think I could get to sleep again until I let my worries out.”
Discord wrapped his lion arm around her and walked with her to the garden as he said, “And that’s what I’m here for.” He snapped his fingers and a tall tree with lavender-colored leaves sprouted from the ground. Flurry sat on one branch and Discord lied on his stomach on the opposite branch. “Spill the beans. Don’t leave out any details.” 
Flurry rubbed her arm as she began, “Well, um…There’s my magic.”
Discord waved his claw in dismissal as he said, “Yes, yes, yes. I know about that. What else?”
“Just please listen to me on this. I’m worried that my magic’s going to do something bad, so I try not to use it a lot anymore.”
“Ah,” Discord uttered as he put his finger on his chin. “You know, this reminds me of someone I know.”
“Who?”
“Your cousin, Snow Pea, of course. Talk with her about your magic and you should be good to go for your training.”
“But she’s too busy training to run a kingdom. I’m not. That actually brings me to my second worry. I think all the training Skyla has to go through is getting to her. She might be stressing herself out for no reason. I just want her to relax so we could have fun like we used to.” 
Discord was now wearing psychologist attire and appeared to be contemplating as he held a notepad in his hand. “Um-hmm.” He asked as he was writing, “And judging by what you said earlier about Ms. Skyla sleeping on the floor…” He tried to stifle a chuckle as he brought that up. He then cleared his throat, “…would you say that having some sister time would be the best remedy for her woes?”
Flurry nodded, “Yes! Exactly!”
“Well, that’s simple enough! Arrange a picnic, a walk around town, or even reading to spend time with Skyla.” He let out an aggravated groan before he continued, “Honestly, I was hoping for some juicy stuff to gossip – I mean, sort out with you.” He asked her with pleading eyes, “Are you sure you don’t have any ripe details to divulge?”
Flurry thought on it until she smirked, “Actually, I might…but you have to tell me about your problems first.”
Discord was caught off-guard by that, so he rebuffed, “Who, me? Nah! You don’t want to hear about my troubles.”
“Is this about Screwball’s baby?”
He answered nervously, “Um, no! No! What makes you suggest that?”
Flurry said as she pointed to something, “You have baby stuff floating behind you.”
Sure enough, baby toys and blankets were floating behind Discord.
He snapped them all away as he tittered uneasily, “Oh, that! You see, I’m just excited about being a grandfather.”
The alicorn shook her head, “Nah, that’s not what your mood swings indicated.”
“They weren’t mood swings! They were…” When Flurry gave him an unconvinced look, he groaned, “Okay, they were mood swings.” He sighed as he sat back on his branch, “Look, don’t tell anyone about this, especially not Screwball. She’d flip a lid if she knew I was freaking out about being a grandpa. It just…happened so fast. One minute, she was my little girl, and the next, she’s got a bun in the oven. If only there was some way to change time and…” He suddenly got an idea and a wicked grin began to curve upwards as did his ears. He rubbed his hands together as he said in a low, devious voice, “…and maybe make Screwball my little filly forever.” He then chuckled sneakily.
Flurry quickly stopped him by saying firmly, “No. No way, Uncle Discord. The last time there was a time change, the cousins went into an alternate timeline.”
Discord grumbled, “Oh, fine.”
Back when the cousins were living in Canterlot, Twilight issued a decree for any pony to come woo the young princes and princesses. This resulted in friction amongst the cousins and that friction fueled the Windigos enough to take Snow Pea away. The icy ghouls made Snow Pea wear a tiara with a gem that could change time. When Snowy destroyed the day of a tornado, she and the cousins were whisked away to an alternate timeline where their parents never met. Eventually, they fixed everything and Snow Pea eliminated the Windigos once and for all. 
Flurry comforted, “Look, I know it must be hard for you to have your daughter grow up. Trust me, my dad knows.”
“Oh, does he now?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you and your sister aren’t married yet, so he wouldn’t know what it’s like to have one of his darlings become pregnant just like that.” 
“You’re right. But soon, he will.”
“In the meantime, though, you should air out your other problem. The one you promised to tell if I told mine?” He raised his brow as he uttered, “Hmm?”
Flurry sighed, “Okay. You know how I haven’t got my cutie mark yet?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, Blaze thought it would be something involving my magic since…you know.”
“I see. And has the incident got your mind on cutie marks again?”
“In a way, yeah. You see, I’m scared that it might have something to do with harming other ponies. I don’t want that.”
“Well, if I had a cutie mark, it would be chaotic. And you know what? That’s considerably better than an evil cutie mark.”
Flurry raised her brow in confusion and said, “I don’t get it.”
“Okay, the way I see it is that chaos opposes order, not good. Evil, on the other hoof, opposes good. Chaos is just plain craziness, not evil. You see?”
Flurry Heart wasn’t sure she got the entire gist, but she got at least some of it. She rubbed her arm as she said, “I guess. But I want my cutie mark to define me, to fit me to a T. If I find the one thing I’m good at, then maybe I can fit in better.”
When Discord heard music playing, he deadpanned, “Oh, great. You’re going to sing a musical number, aren’t you?” 
As if confirming what he said, Flurry began to sing, “There is something wrong…Magic scares me…even though I know…I’m in good company…You are not afraid…but I’m not that strong…You are all so brave…How can I still belong? What makes you you…and who am I? What can I do…without blue skies? 
"If the sun can keep shining bright…then why can’t I shine, too? If the moon can light up the night…like moons are meant to do…And the ocean stays deep…And the earth always turns…Ooh, ooh…If the sun can keep shining bright…then why can’t I shine, too?
“If I can learn…from someone who’s smart…or pretty, or cheerful, or bright…then I can be the best that I can…I can…I can get it right! If the sun can keep shining bright…then that’s what I must do…And if the moon can light up the night…well, I can do that, too…If the sun can keep shining bright…then I can…I can…I can…I can get it right!”
Discord clapped his hands and said, “Bravo, little Flurry. If you didn’t get your cutie mark in singing, then I don’t know what.”
“Thanks.” She then yawned, “I’m getting tired. Can we go to bed now?”
He then yawned, “Now that you mention it, I’m a little sleepy myself.” As he rubbed his eyes, he offered, “Tell you what? I’ll carry you to bed first since you are a princess.”
“But you’re a prince yourself.”
“Yes, but princes like me always have to carry sleepy princesses to bed.”
Flurry asked, “Is this a way to relive the days when Screwball was a filly?”
Discord let out a sheepish grin, “Well, technically, yes.” 
Flurry shrugged, “Okay. As you wish.”
When the thinking tree shrunk back into the ground, Discord grabbed Flurry Heart and carried her to the door. But just a few seconds after they went through the door…
Whump!
Discord was so exhausted that he fell asleep on the floor. Flurry sighed as he began to snore.





It happened again. Skyla had the vision again. This time, it was scarier. The shadow alicorn gave chase to her and her sister, and Flurry stopped to fight it. To Skyla’s horror, the shadowy figure crushed Flurry under its hoof. The enemy turned its glowing white eyes towards Skyla and the princess was frozen with fear. The vision ended when the shadow lunged at her. 
She yelped as she woke up with a start. She refused to go back to sleep after that. When the dawn broke, Skyla was wrought with exhaustion and fear that still lingered from her vision. 
What is happening to me? she thought to herself.
When Flurry saw her, she remarked, “Whoa, Skyla. You don’t look so good.”
Skyla shook her head wearily, “What? No, no. I’m actually fine.” She then yawned, “Just swell.”
“Was it that vision again?”
“What makes you think it was?”
Flurry furrowed her brow as she said, “Come on, Skyla. You can’t hide things like this. It could mean something. We have to tell Star about this.”
As her sister began walking out of the room, Skyla trotted up to her and said, “But we’re supposed to have a good time here. Besides, we shouldn’t burden them with this on top of their royal duties and worrying about your magic.” Suddenly, she saw a shadow creeping around the corner. Fearing that her vision was coming true, Skyla crouched in front of Flurry and readied for attack. She cried as she did this, “Look out!” 
To their surprise, Whirl appeared and waved his hooves in surrender. He exclaimed, “Whoa, whoa! Easy with the horn, Skyla!” As Skyla deactivated her horn, he continued, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you must’ve had a pretty bad nightmare last night. Grab a nap this afternoon, okay?”
When Whirl left the sisters, Flurry told Skyla, “That’s it. I’m telling.”
Before Skyla could protest, Flurry teleported away. The unicorn sighed in defeat because she knew it was hard to deter her sister. 





Star asked, “And you’re sure these visions are signaling an oncoming threat?”
Skyla nodded her head, “They felt so real to me and yet…not real.”
“Visions like yours can be confusing and random, but they often have one thing in common. In this case, your visions point to a shadow alicorn.”
Flurry Heart pointed out, “Well, the last time there was a pony that was a shadow and an alicorn at the same time was Belladonna. When she wore the Air Vest, she sprouted bat wings to make her fly.”
Star asked in concern, “Do you suppose she’ll return?”
Skyla shivered, “I hope not.”
Just then, a page entered the throne room and said, “Your Highness, the guests have arrived.” 
Star told him, “You may send them in.”
After the page left, Skyla said, “I wasn’t aware we weren’t the only guests this week.”
Flurry asked her cousin, “Who are they?”
Just then, a familiar voice declared, “Who else but your one and only cousins from Marendelle?”
The sisters smiled as they turned to see three of the cousins – Roller Blade, Skater, and Apple Butter. 
Flurry ran up to hug them as she exclaimed, “Hey, guys! Long time, no see!”
Skyla said to them, “We’re so happy to see you here!”
After Flurry pulled back from the hug, Skater explained, “When we heard that Flurry was having trouble getting her cutie mark, we thought we could help.”
Apple Butter pulled out a book chockfull of bookmarks and assorted material like leaves and stickers. She added, “Our mothers crusaded for their cutie marks whenever they had free time on their hooves. After they got their cutie marks, they wrote a book based on this one to help other ponies find what makes them special.” 
Flurry said sadly, “Thank you for this, guys, but…Snow Pea’s not coming?”
Skyla hissed, “Flurry!”
Skater said, “It’s all right.” She put her hoof on Flurry’s shoulder and comforted, “I know Snow Pea will understand what you’re going through, but she won’t be able to see you until the Crystal Gala.”
Apple Butter added, “But in the meantime, we could help you find what makes you special.”
Roller Blade pointed out, “That way, we won’t be totally useless.” Skater jabbed him in the ribs and he uttered, “Ow! What?”
Flurry shook her head, “I don’t think you’re useless. You’re princesses and a prince from Marendelle. What’s useless about that?”
When Apple Butter and Roller tried to explain, all that came out were nervous stammers and incomplete sentences. 
Skater sighed as she facehoofed in frustration. She then told her cousins, “I’ll tell her, you guys.” She said to Flurry, “Look, Flurry, it’s not easy being the cousins of the crown princess of Marendelle. We’re constantly being overshadowed by Snowy and LB. Ponies don’t know us so much, so we decided to come here in hopes of helping you find your cutie mark. That way, we’d know what we’re good for.”
Roller added with a small chuckle, “Yeah, and do something worth getting off the island once in a while.”
Flurry smiled in comfort, “But you guys are already special. You came all the way here just to help me. How’s that for being overshadowed?”
Skyla scornfully thought, You don’t even know what it’s like.