"Ugh. Is it morning already?"
Blinking the sun out of her eyes, Daydream yawned and stretched, resenting the light of the sun invading her bedroom. Throwing off her covers, she crawled out of bed and looked across the room. The lilac unicorn stared at the sleepy pony in the mirror and sighed. She had dark circles around her bright turquoise eyes and her blue and violet mane was tangled and unruly.
Her horn glowed as she levitated a hair brush into position and combed her mane and tail. She felt a little more awake as she finished, and tried to think about what she'd dreamt about. She couldn’t remember.
Daydream groaned. She knew that she dreamt at night. She knew that she had the exact same reoccurring dream night after night for as long as she could remember. She just didn’t ever remember what her dreams were about. It annoyed her to no end.
The unicorn sighed. Every morning she woke up, every morning she groomed herself, and every morning she tried to remember what she dreamt about. After fifteen years of this tireless routine, she still hadn’t figured it out.
That in mind, she took a relaxing breath and smiled confidently at her reflection. “But I will find out," she muttered. "One of these days."
************
Daydream stepped outside and took in the friendly environment. The sky was filled with puffs of cotton clouds floating aimlessly in the sea of deep, bright, endless blue. Birds chirped and butterflies fluttered past, enjoying the nice weather as much as she was. She sighed contently as she crossed the street to the shopping center at the center of town, wondering why more ponies weren’t enjoying the sunshine.
As she watched a blue jay pecking at some dropped crumbs, she crashed into a pegasus she was walking towards unknowingly.
The grey mare with a messy gold mane whipped around, looking at the unicorn who was now sprawled on the ground. "Oh, sorry!"
Daydream stood, groaning with discomfort and vaguely wondering how the pegasus managed her balance. "No, it's my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going." She noticed their location in the street. "Why are you standing in the middle of the road anyway?"
The pegasus looked in the direction of the blue jay Daydream had been watching. "The bird took my muffin. I was watching him eat it." She looked back at the unicorn with her cross-eyed gaze. "It was good, too! I got it from that nice mare at Sugarcube Corner!"
Daydream looked down the street until her eyes caught the bakery. So it's open now, she thought. Maybe I'll pop in for a doughnut. She turned back to the pegasus. "Sorry about your muffin. I guess I'll see you later, uh..."
The pegasus stared blankly at her. There was a moment of silence, in which the blue jay flew away. "Okay then..." Daydream finally said. "Bye."
The pegasus smiled. "Bye," she replied, before she trotted away.
Daydream watched the strange pegasus for a little longer and continued on her way. She couldn't recall meeting her before. Then again, she didn't have the best memory. Daydream neared her destination and shook the thoughts away.
As she walked through the door of Sugarcube Corner, a friendly voice greeted her.
“Why, good morning, Daydream!” The sweet-as-sugar baker exclaimed in her usual perky demeanor. “What would you like today? Cupcake? Pie? Perhaps our new hot cross buns?”
Daydream chuckled. “Just a doughnut today, Mrs. Cake, thank you.” She smiled. Seeing the turquoise mare always brightened her spirits.
“You got it Dearie!” Mrs. Cake’s pink mane bounced as she turned to call her employee. “Pinkie Pie! Can you take care of Daydream for me? I need to make the cupcakes for a customer downtown.”
The bright pink earth pony with curly, deep pink hair bounced up to the register replying, “Okie dokie lokie! I’ll take care of it Mrs. Cake!” Pinkie Pie turned to Daydream, wearing her trademark smile. “What would you like?”
She repeated her order. “A daisy doughnut, please.”
“Coming right up,” she said enthusiastically, and trotted to the kitchen. A few minutes later, she returned with Daydream’s order. “We have a hot new batch of doughnuts. You get the first one of the day!”
Daydream realized for the first time that morning how early it was. She thought back to the few ponies she had seen outside and understood why most ponies were inside. Good. The earlier she was awake, the more time she got to discover her talent. “Thank you, Pinkie Pie. Have a nice day,” she said as she gathered her goods and happily trotted out of the sweet shop.
Her heart warmed by her encounter with the two cheerful and familiar ponies, Daydream began to search for something to do. She was nearing Carousel Boutique when she heard three young voices chatting away.
“That was so much fun! Can we do it again?”
“Are you kidding? That was a catastrophe! We didn’t even get our cutie marks!”
“At least now we know that our special talents don’t involve fly fishin’. We just need tah try somethin’ else.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders trotted past, soaking wet, discussing the activity they had just attempted. They looked over at Daydream and the yellow filly with a large, pink bow brightened as an idea formulated in her head. “Hey!” She exclaimed to her two friends. “Let’s ask Daydream how she got her cutie mark!”
“Good idea, Applebloom!” said the orange pegasus riding a scooter.
The three fillies zoomed over to the lilac unicorn, curiosity sparkling in their eyes.
“Hey, Daydream,” asked Scootaloo. “How did you get your cutie mark?”
Daydream shuffled her hooves uncomfortably, searching for a suitable answer. “Well… ” She never liked to discuss the issue of her cutie mark, but if she knew these three fillies, they would bother her until they got a story. Meanwhile, said fillies were staring her down, eager for a response. "I... Uh... "
A white unicorn with a coiffed indigo mane noticed her hesitance from a few feet away and trotted over. "Come along now, girls. If she would prefer not to answer, she does not have to answer."
The Crusaders let out a disappointed, "Awww... " However, Applebloom soon perked up. "Hay, Scootaloo, ya think Zecora will have a story ‘bout her cutie mark?”
“Well, let’s go see!” Scootaloo began to zoom towards the looming forest at the edge of Ponyville.
“Hay, wait for us!” The other two fillies galloped after her.
Rarity smiled. "Well, they certainly are quite the enthusiastic bunch." She turned back to the lilac unicorn. "So, Daydream. It's been a while since we talked. Still reading Daring Do?" A humorous twinkle lit her eyes.
Daydream looked away. As good as the white unicorn's intentions were, she didn't like to talk to anypony. It only ever led to something bad. "Well, no... " she began cautiously. If she paced her words, she wouldn't say anything regretful. "I'm reading a new series...
Rarity cocked her head, sensing her discomfort. "...Well, then... Perhaps I will see you again soon..."
An awkward silence followed. "...Goodbye." Rarity trotted away.
"...Bye."
Daydream breathed a sigh of relief. However tense that was, she was still glad that Rarity had stepped in, sparing her the shame of relaying what little she knew about her cutie mark to the three curious Crusaders.
The lilac Unicorn ate her doughnut as she absent-mindedly trotted around Ponyville. The fact was, she didn't know anything about it. She didn't even remember how she got it. Any time she had a conversation that even remotely had to do with cutie marks or special talents brought up all sorts of bad memories for her. She couldn't help but think that, if she knew what her cutie mark represented, her life could be that much better. She just didn't know how.
Daydream suddenly found herself at home. While she’d been thinking, she must’ve wandered back to where she started. She went inside her cottage and saw a book on her writing table. She realized that the book belonged to the library and remembered that she was going to return it today.
Of course! Daydream could check out a book from the library about cutie marks. She levitated the book off of the table and got her saddle pack. This would make a perfect excuse to look for information. Twilight Sparkle could easily find all sorts of books on the subject for her. This could give her a clue about her special talent.
Beginning her journey to the library across town, Daydream wondered why she hadn't thought of it before.
************
Daydream stood in front of the enormous oak tree that contained the town’s library. The thick novel that weighed down her saddle pack had been checked out only a few days ago. Daydream loved to read, and over the years had gained a reading level that excelled over that of most ponies. She winced as she remembered the scorn from her youth that her love of the written word had encouraged. Banishing the memories to the recesses of her mind, she walked through the front door. “Good morning, Twilight!”
Twilight turned from the shelf she was examining to look at the visitor coming towards her. “Good morning, Daydream.” She glanced at the novel floating alongside the unicorn in front of her. “I see you brought back the book you borrowed the other day. Another quick read?”
Daydream chuckled. “You bet. I just couldn’t put it down!” She set the novel onto the pile of check-ins.
“So, do you want me to get the next book in the series?” Twilight trotted over to the correct shelf.
The novel in question hovered over to where Daydream could easily read the title. “Adventurers: Secrets of the Wild,” she murmured to nopony in particular. As much as the fresh read tempted her, she had a mission. “Sorry, but I can’t right now. I have to pick up another book.”
“Okay.” Twilight looked a little confused, but went over to put the novel back on its shelf. “So what book do you want to pick up?”
“The Guide to Cutie Marks: An Inside Look at the Special Talents of Ponies.”
“Sure thing.” She turned to the correct shelf. “So, why do you want to do research on cutie marks?” Twilight prompted.
Daydream’s smile slackened a little. She stumbled for an excuse. “Oh! Um, it's not for me. I’m getting it for a friend.”
Twilight turned her head and looked at Daydream suspiciously. “A friend,” she repeated.
The unicorn blushed. “Yeah,” she lied. “A friend.”
Twilight looked hard at Daydream. “Okay, then." She levitated the book out of its place. "Any particular reason that this friend wants to research cutie marks?"
"Well, she was curious because she has her cutie mark, but she doesn't remember how she got it, and she was hoping that this book would help her out, and, uh, she couldn't come get it herself because she was embarrassed about it and, um... " Daydream trailed off, biting her lip.
Looking into her eyes, Twilight asked, "Daydream, this friend... Could it be you?"
Lowering her eyes, she decided to explain her situation. "Yes. My memory isn't exactly... whole. I have no idea how I got my cutie mark, and so far nothing I've tried has been my 'special talent'. I was hoping that this book would help in that regard. But... " She sighed. "I can imagine that it's hard enough to not have your cutie mark yet, but it's just plain embarrassing when you have it and you still don't know what your Celestia-given gift is."
Twilight put her foreleg over Daydream's shoulder. "I understand. Come with me, I'll help you do any research you need to do."
The embarrassed unicorn's jaw dropped. "Really? You'd help me? Just like that?"
"Sure. I've got nothing else to do today and I've been bored out of my mind anyway," Twilight giggled, sitting down and setting the book in front of her.
Daydream smiled thankfully and joined her next to the tome.
The lavender unicorn flipped through the text, and read a page. “It says here that cutie marks almost always give a literal or metaphorical representation of the pony’s special talent.” She examined Daydream’s cutie mark: Two revolving comets surrounded by stars. “It has quite a few celestial bodies, perhaps your talent is astronomy.”
Twilight climbed the stairs up to her study, Daydream following closely behind. The lavender unicorn levitated a star map up to her. “Can you tell me which constellations are which?”
Daydream studied the map. It looked like a bunch of dots to her. “No idea,” Daydream announced after a few minutes.
Twilight put away the star map, not at all discouraged. “Well, maybe you’re better at naming celestial bodies,” she suggested. “What’s the difference between a nebula and a quasar?” she prompted.
Daydream looked bewildered. “A nebula and a what now?”
Twilight sighed. “Okay. How about a planum and a planitia?”
Daydream cocked her head in confusion.
Twilight tried again. “A meteor and a meteorite?”
Daydream shook her head.
Twilight thought for a moment. “Let’s try something a bit more abstract.” She stole a glance at her own cutie mark; a six pointed star surrounded by five smaller stars. “Perhaps your talent has to do with magic, like mine.” She took a spell book left on her reading desk and flipped through its pages. “Can you perform the ‘Come to Life’ spell?”
The lilac unicorn looked at the spell in question and shrugged. “I’ll try.”
She chose a broom lying across the room and cast the spell. The broom began to move and sweep the room on its own.
“Wonderful!” Twilight exclaimed. Daydream gushed with pride.
But the broom didn’t stop. It continued to sweep the room, sweeping up other items along with dust. It carried books and papers left on the floor; bumped knick knacks off shelves; it even started to knock over furniture.
“Daydream…” Twilight began, anxiety forming in her voice. “You can stop now…”
“I’m not doing it!” She strained against her own horn, which was increasing the Come to Life spell with every second. “I-I'm not controlling it!”
The rogue broom was becoming more violent, sweeping faster and faster. It climbed the stairs to Twilight’s bedroom, cleaning as it went.
Twilight gasped. “Spike! He’s taking a nap upstairs!”
From the bedroom a crash sounded.. There was a yawn, a distant “Wha-huh?”, and the sound of flame.
A small purple and green dragon came down the stairs, looking aggravated and holding a charred and obviously lifeless broomstick in his claws.
“Somepony lose something?” the dragon grumbled, tossing the recently burned piece of wood and straw by the lilac unicorn’s hooves.
“Heh heh,” Daydream giggled nervously. “Sorry.”
“Okay, let’s try something new.” Twilight went back to the book. “Well, it says here that a unicorn’s powers usually gave clues as to what their special talent is.” Twilight turned to Daydream. “Why don’t you try something?”
Daydream was a bit confused. “What do you want me to do?”
“Anything. A burst of power. Conjure something random. Just do something that could reveal your talent.” Twilight looked expectant.
“Okay…” Daydream wasn’t sure what to do, and she was a little anxious after the last “activity”. She closed her eyes, cleared her mind, and felt that familiar warm sensation in her horn that appeared whenever she performed magic.
The lilac unicorn began to rise above the floor. Her eyes opened, completely clouded over like an extreme daydream.
All of a sudden, Daydream’s mind exploded with memories. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, ponies she knew, events that occurred, everything that she ever saw, heard, or read. Daydream recalled the memories she thought she had lost all those years ago. She remembered why she got her cutie mark. She remembered everything.
Then, as quickly as they had come, all of her memories were gone.
Daydream fell to the floor of the library. The books were askew, the papers and scrolls everywhere. The library was a complete mess. Spike, who had still been downstairs, had been flung to the top of a bookshelf where he promptly fell back into his interrupted nap. Twilight, however, was more concerned about the unicorn in a heap on the ground.
Twilight gasped. “Daydream! Are you okay?” She galloped over to the unicorn, looking to make sure she wasn't injured.
Daydream looked up, dazed, at the lavender unicorn standing above her.
“Who’s Daydream?”