A moan, then a stretch. Minuette’s eyes cracked open, her body fighting against every movement she made. An eye itch prompted Minuette to remove the irritation and she scratched at it. In her open eye, the mare noticed her once blue arm now bore a moody blue-gray. Yesterday's events flooded Minuette’s brain, remembering Moon Dancer’s experiment.
After Minuette had completed her math equations Moon Dancer had for her, the next part of the study was to remove Minuette's cutie mark and solve a new set of problems. At first, Minuette didn't think much about her inevitable parting with her hourglass image. However, solving Moon Dancer’s second test was almost impossible. Minuette hardly had any time to solve the if-than statements after the guidelines were understood. As for Minuette’s answers, more than half was correct... on the ones she was able to complete. Wanting more data for research, Moon Dancer requested Minuette to spend the rest of the day and night without her cutie mark while recording her experiences.
Minuette had yet to make an entry of her chaotic afternoon of disorganization. Maybe after breakfast I'll do it… All she wanted to do was get her cutie mark back. Tossing the blanket aside, Minuette crawled out of bed and attempted to plan the morning in her head. Too bad her thoughts were too scattered to piece together a simple list. A sting in her front hoof bit hard, and the mare winced at the pain. The burn from last night still hurt.
***
“Good… morning?” Moon Dancer was unsure about her friend’s well being, noticing Minuette’s frazzled mane.
“Cutie mark!” Minuette stomped forward, her brain in control of her movement. “Give it back! Now!” Her muzzle pressed against Moon Dancer, brows creased with angst.
In self defense, Moon Dancer gripped her friend with telekinesis, preventing any potential irrational behavior. “Just relax Minuette. I’ll go get it.” Moon Dancer dragged her friend into the study, placing Minuette on the sofa. A jar rested on the desk, the hourglass floating from within, like a cloud without wind. She twisted the lit and allowed the cutie mark to fly out. It didn’t need to be told how to return to its owner; it just... knew.
The cutie mark crashed into Minuette’s hip, glittering as it cemented itself against her. Minuette sniffed through her nostrils, letting out a heavy sigh. Her mind was now clear.
“Oh, sweet CELESTIA! Last night was horrible!” Minuette exclaimed loudly. At once, Moon Dancer pulled her clipboard into her arm and prepared to write down notes. Before asking about the night before, the unicorn now noticed how Minuette did not have any notes of her own.
“Did you not write about your experiences?” she asked.
A hoof massaged Minuette’s forehead. “Even if I did, my head would not have been able to think straight. I couldn’t even figure out how to manage my time with cooking dinner last night!”
Minuette explained to Moon Dancer her evening to Moon Dancer. She had a pot of water set to boil for a simple meal of spaghetti. As she waited, Minuette went to adjust her camera in her room. Time went by, and soon, thirty minutes had passed. When Minuette noticed her sense of time was forgotten, it was too late for her boiling water; it all evaporated. Instead of trying to boil water again, Minuette made a simple sandwich with lettuce and tomato. Before the pot was even close to cool, the mare forgot about the heat radiating from it. She grabbed the metal handle with her left hoof, singing it in the process. Minuette was worried about setting her home on fire if she were to be even more careless. So she simply went to bed.
“No more leaving ponies without their cutie marks unattended for me…” Moon Dancer muttered under her breath, shaking her head. “It just seems… dangerous. Common knowledge seems to be thrown out the window upon ponies who have their cutie mark taken away.”
Minuette flashed a smile, “I don’t think it was because of that. After all, I was able to work on my camera last night with no problems.”
And yet, your sense of time was thrown off… Moon Dancer thought, scribbling down every detail she could. “By the way, where is your camera?”
Minuette threw her head up with a moan of irritation escaping her throat. “I knew I was forgetting something!” A shy grin grew on her lips. “Can I go get it?”
***
Moon Dancer stood at the balcony, peering out into the kingdom. Leaves were still clinging onto tree branches, the season of autumn still in the early stages; winter was far from close. She bit on her lower lip, in thought about her current study.
Cutie marks, if removed, effect the pony’s special talent. In fact, it nearly forces a pony who was knowledgeable in their special talent to almost forget all that they stand for. Is the cutie mark connected to their brain as well?
Just like everypony, once a special talent is unlocked, a cutie mark is bound to appear; magically of course. Perhaps cutie marks are like unicorn magic. She hummed to herself, turning back into the study. Many questions need to be written down and experimented even further.
Moon Dancer grabbed her clipboard from the first floor, levitating it up toward her, writing down questions, such as, “Are cutie marks more mental or magical?” and, “Are cutie marks related to a pony’s character?”
She placed down her notepad, finished with her note taking and carefully threaded her head through the chain, removing her glasses. Moon Dancer’s poor eyes glanced here and there, her world in a blur and fog. “A pony without their cutie mark,” she spoke to nopony, “loses their vision to the world around them.”
“Who are you talking to?”
Moon Dancer screamed, swinging her hoof to swat at the intruder beside her, striking them with a weak punch. The grip on her glasses was lost and probably fell over the balcony. The blurry figure stumbled in Moon Dancer’s vision, and the mare quickly went on the defencive. Before she was about to blast the pony before her with a hot burst of magic, Moon Dancer noticed the figure was blue. “Party Favor? Is that you?”
“Yes, it is!” Party Favor chuckled, “Why do you have your glasses removed... Again?”
Moon Dancer patted the floor around her, but couldn’t find the whereabouts of her spectacles. She may not be able to see herself, but the mare could definitely feel her face flush. “I umm…” Moon Dancer quickly turned the situation on Party Favor. “Why did you sneak up on me?!”
The mare felt Party Favor grab her hoof, and something cold was placed in Moon Dancer’s grasp. Her glasses. “It was not my intention to scare you. I thought you would notice me land on the balcony, but you somehow like taking your glasses off for some reason.”
“Says the pony who can hardly walk straight down a hall before getting lost,” Moon Dancer jabbed playfully.
Party Favor rolled his eyes at the joke. “As for ‘sneaking up on you,’ I did want to surprise you and check on your progress on studying cutie marks.” Moon Dancer wanted to argue how the stallion got on the second floor, but remembered how… unique her friend can be.
“I do appreciate the friendly gesture,” Moon Dancer half smiled, running her head through the string of metal. “But next time, use the front door and knock.” She blinked a few times, her vision now restored.
“I understand,” Party Favor nodded. “So, how’s research?”
“Ah, yes!” Moon Dancer swung her head, glad to express her thoughts. A quick wave of her arm grabbed the notepad. “Minuette came by earlier this morning and I reported on her last night’s experiences.”
Party Favor would have been slightly bothered with her early appearance, worried Moon Dancer would sway more in her favor, but couldn't blame Minuette for coming before him. “How bad was it?”
A chuckle escaped Moon Dancer. “Already predicting the negatives?”
The stallion shook his head and frowned, “You remember how much it affected me when I was without my cutie mark, yes?”
“Oh… right…” Moon Dancer’s ear’s retreated in shame. “Sorry I keep forgetting about that. I am just very interested in this particular study now.” Her eyes glistened in an innocent way. “You understand, don’t you?”
“Y-yeah, hehe. It’s fine. I just n-need to not be too sensitive about my cutie mark all the time.” Party Favor looked past Moon Dancer, charmed by her cute stare. He scratched his cheek to try and hide the blush. Geeze, what’s becoming of me? Trying his best to stop Moon Dancer’s puppy-dog eyes charm, he suggested, “Maybe, sometime, you and I can talk about my past.”
The glimmer in Moon Dancer's eyes were now gone, but they were still locked on Party Favor. “You don't need to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. We already went through with this.”
A few moments pass in silence. Party Favor scratched his chin, really thinking about what he just said. “You know… I have been thinking about that…”
Moon Dancer turned her head and raised a brow, “About what?”
Party Favor began to walk down the stairs, the mare in tow. “About my troubling issue with being parted with my cutie mark.”
Flipping through her notes, Moon Dancer pointed to one of her sentences. “You are not the only one who partook in experimentation. Minuette was also in distress without her cutie mark. I was worried about her acting irrationally, so I quickly gave it to her before anything got out of hoof.” Now at the bottom of the stairway, Party Favor turned to face his friend. “The study needs more time to further solidify my claims, but seeing how you and Minuette have acted without a cutie mark, I have hypothesized that cutie marks are linked to the brain. Severing that tie may cause a pony to lose some form of identification.” Moon Dancer fanned through her notes before resuming. “Then again, a cutie mark is to appear when a pony’s special talent is discovered, so magic blockage can alto be a possibility.”
She glanced up to see Party Favor blowing into a colorful rubber pipe, bubbles drifting from the hole. “Yes, quite interesting,” he spoke in a pompous tone.
Moon Dancer chuckled, half smiling. “With all that being said, why would you need to talk about something that already has some grounding?”
Party Favor looked at his pipe blankly. “Because you are a friend not from my village, it would be nice to ventilate my frustrations and fears.”
The word “fears” rang loudly in Moon Dancer’s ears and she was instantly concerned. “What seems to be the matter? Is everything alright? Have my- studies done more harm to you?”
A smile lifted Party Favor’s cheeks. “You are not the issue. You are one of my best friends.”
“You were very vague about what your frustrations and fears are, so all I could do was assume.” Despite his smile, Moon Dancer couldn’t help but worry. “But if you want to talk, then we can. You helped me the first day we met, and I am willing to do the same to you.”
Party Favor blew into his pipe again. “And as we talk, you can take notes.” Moon Dancer did not know where the unicorn was getting at and only stared in bewilderment. “What I mean is I will be talking about my past and my village.” As the pipe parted his lips, Party Favor’s smile now gone. “None of my fellow villagers wanted to discuss what happened to us when we decided to pilgrimage to an isolated location with Starlight Glimmer, let alone the aftermath.” He paused and looked back at his cutie mark. “I want to move on from the past like you have. To not look at the negatives and stare into the positives.” The stallion grinned gleefully, “Just like how you always mention to me how glad you are to be your closest friend.”
Moon Dancer’s ears fell back at the compliment, her cheeks slightly flushed. “I do thank you a lot, don’t I?”
“More than you realize,” Party Favor answered. “If you are willing to set a date, I would like you and Princess Twilight Sparkle to sit down with me, allowing us to discuss my issues.”
“Why do you wish for Twilight to be present?” the mare asked.
“She was there when she helped my village. And I am sure she can give you some noteworthy facts about her experiences without her cutie mark.” Party Favor looked up, thinking about his next remark. “So in a way, you can help me with my problems, and Twilight Sparkle and I can help you on your research.” He blinked and looked at Moon Dancer. “In fact, her friends do live in Ponyville as well. Perhaps you can ask them what their experiences were as well.”
Moon Dancer was impressed with his proposal. Party Favor was willing to ask for help about an issue that makes him uncomfortable, while assisting in her cutie mark research. “You are quite calm about all this. Usually when you talk about your past, let alone mention it, you get upset quite easily.”
Party Favor’s eyes stared at the ground, a sign that the unicorn was still troubled. “Trust me, I am doing my best to keep a strong composure. But I want to be strong and do the right thing for myself. It’s time I face my discomfort.”
Walking over to her friend, Moon Dancer placed a hoof on his shoulder. “It takes a lot to face any fear. Trust me, I know. And now look at where I am. Here with an amazing friend; a friend who was willing to use his time out of his day to help me.”
Party Favor pulled Moon Dancer with an arm, embracing the cream pony. “You do like to talk about me, don’t you?”
An arm pulled playfully on Party Favor’s neck. “Shut up,” Moon Dancer responded bluntly, but smiled nonetheless.
Without any warning, the doors to the study swung open. Minuette entered with her camera wrapped around her neck, ready to capture anything that may be worthy of a memory. Too bad the mare was watching Party Favor hog Moon Dancer’s attention.
“Why hello Minuette!” Party Favor boasted, pulling Moon Dancer close and pressed his cheek on hers. Moon Dancer’s glasses popped off her face and the mare grunted by the sudden force. “I see you have your camera there. Do you mind if you can take a picture of this wonderful moment?”
All Minuette could do was stare with irritation, hating herself for forgetting the camera at home. Moon Dancer grumbled with irritation, “Party Favor, that was not necessary…”
“Oh, sorry…” He let go of the mare, but his cheek remained glued to her face.
“Umm, you can not be so close now…” Moon Dancer’s cheeks flushed, uncomfortable by Party Favor’s pressure.
“I somehow cannot move my neck,” Party Favor complained. Both ponies looked down and saw the problem: Moon Dancer’s glasses were pressed on the side of Party Favor’s neck. When he went to pull the unicorn close, Party Favor didn’t realize he trapped himself with the spectacle's chain.
Minuette couldn’t help but laugh hysterically, watching the two unicorns struggle by their own ensnarement. “I think this will be a good memory to capture.” A veil of magic lifted the mare’s camera, then blinked a bright light.