It had become afternoon as Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle returned to their operation center on the next day. The night, and most of the morning, had been spent with a deep and revitalizing sleep by the three fillies. After a sumptuous breakfast, they had proceeded with equipping their new operation center with interior; posters on the walls, cushions to sit on and a round table of generous size in the middle of the room. Now they were sitting at said table, a sheet of paper in front of each Crusader and pencils in their mouths. It was Apple Bloom who addressed the question that was going through their minds.
“So, how should we do this exactly, helping ponies ta get their cutie marks?”
Clueless silence hung in the air for a few moments, until Scootaloo spoke up. “Just the same as always,” she said, lapidary.
Her friends rested their eyes on her. “What do ya mean?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Well, just what we always did. You know, trying out stuff. Every pony has a special talent, so if we try out different things they could be good at as fast as possible with them, they will have their cutie marks in no time!” Her face showed a cheerful conviction.
“Hmm.....” Apple Bloom looked down at her paper. It was an obvious idea, but she made a note anyway, if only for the sake of organization. While she scribbled with her pencil on the paper, using her mouth, Sweetie Belle chimed in and distracted her.
“But is this really going to do it?” the young unicorn squeaked.
Scootaloo looked at her. “Why not? It's what we always did and it helped us.” One of her eyebrows got cocked.
“Well, not exactly,” Sweetie Belle objected. “We tried out a lot of things, yeah, but nothing we did got us our cutie marks. And our special talents turned out as something we would have never guessed.”
“Right.....” Scootaloo felt her conviction waning. She cast her eyes down on the table.
“She does have a point, Scoots.” Apple Bloom had stopped scribbling and looked at her pegasus friend intensely. “A pony we help could have an unexpected special talent, somethin' unique. If we use our way ta try and get that pony a cutie mark, it could take us years ta help that pony! We must go about this differently.”
“So, what should we do?” Scootaloo crossed her arms and looked at the ceiling, thinking.
“We need to talk a lot with a pony that comes to us,” Sweetie Belle recommended.
At the other side of the table, Apple Bloom nodded, then made another note. She crossed out the first note she had taken, then looked at her friends again. “Sweetie Belle's right. We need ta get informations about our clients first. First, we need ta know what they've already tried ta get their cutie marks.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement and Apple Bloom wrote it down on the paper.
“And we need to ask them what things they like to do,” Scootaloo provided another idea.
Apple Bloom put it on the paper, right under her own idea. She took the pencil out of her mouth as she was finished. Remembering an old advice she had received for getting her own cutie mark, she brought another idea on the table.
“And we have ta ask them what they're already good at and what they think their–” Before she could finish her sentence, three loud, but hesitant, knocks on the door interrupted her. Startled by the sudden sound, she turned around and looked at the door. “Who's that?” she asked, bewildered.
“Maybe it's Applejack,” Scootaloo suggested.
“But we told her that we're busy,” Sweetie Belle reminded her friend. “Would she interrupt us like that?” Her face expressed disbelief.
“She might,” Apple Bloom confirmed Scootaloo's words, now looking at her friends again. “Applejack is always checkin' up on me. Ah bet she's carryin' a tray with apple juice an' pie ta pretend she just wants ta bring us some snacks.” The filly sighed and slid off the cushion.
As Apple Bloom had pulled the door open, she was greeted by a familiar face, though, it was not Applejack's face. In front of her stood Dinky, a charming smile playing around her lips. “Are you ready to start?” she asked, her voice sweet. There was anticipatory thrill in her eyes.
“Dinky?” Apple Bloom looked surprised at the filly in front of her. “What are ya doing here? We told ya ta come tomorrow!”
Apple Bloom did not leave her position in front of the entrance, but Dinky used the confusion to push past her, earning annoyed glances by all three Crusaders for this. “But today is tomorrow!” she said cheerfully. The disapproval in the faces of the other fillies deepened.
Apple Bloom turned around at Dinky, one eyebrow raised. “Seriously? Ya know exactly what we meant.....”
Dinky gave her a grin. Although she was trying her hardest, it looked more sheepish than confident.
“Dinky, we told you that we aren't ready yet,” Scootaloo clarified from behind. “There are a lot of things we need to plan before we can help other ponies.”
Dinky turned around as the words washed over her. A flash of sadnes crawled on her face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. She did not respond to Scootaloo and her next reaction caused the trio of fillies to exchange concerned looks.
Stoically, almost mechanically even, Dinky trotted around the table and took seat at the far end of it. Diligently, she placed her hooves on the table in front of her. “Can we start?” she repeated her question from earlier, only slightly modified. She was still grinning, which looked creepy to the Crusaders now. Cold shudders went down their spines.
“Dinky, are ya alright?” Apple Bloom asked the odd-acting filly.
“Mhm,” Dinky nodded, her face now reduced to a simple smile. “I just wait for you to start.” There was a powerful insistence in her voice. It was almost stern.
Apple Bloom cocked her head. “Okay, this is really weird,” she said. The statement was loud enough for Dinky to hear it, but she did not react.
Not knowing what else to do, Apple Bloom closed the door. She felt helpless as she approached the table and sat down on her cushion again. Sitting now, she turned around at Dinky, prepared to tell her to leave and come back tomorrow, as they had agreed on. But as her eyes met Dinky's, Apple Bloom's resolve shattered like a glass window that got pierced by an arrow. Suddenly, there was an expression of utter desperation in Dinky's eyes. A short look down at the table revealed to Apple Bloom that even her hooves had started shaking.
Apple Bloom observed all of this, her empathy increasing by the second. Dinky wasn't just impatient about getting her cutie mark, she was downright nervous and distraught over not having one! There was one particular reason for this Apple Bloom could think of, which was harassment by their former bully Diamond Tiara, but she shoved the thought away and did not address it.
As sadness over Dinky's condition began to spread out in her, she confirmed with a quick glance that her friends were moved all the same way, then reached across the table and touched one of Dinky's hooves, keeping it still. She gave her a warm smile.
“Okay, let's get this started, Dinky. We aren't really ready yet..... But Scoots, Sweetie Belle and ah are worried about ya and we want ta help ya feel better!” In her voice, a very deep concern was ringing. The voices of her friends sounded the same as they agreed.
Apple Bloom's announcement changed everything. In a sudden mood swing, Dinky's hooves stopped shaking and her face cleared. Her smile became a happy one again and she placed her other hoof on Apple Bloom's, squeezing it gently while smiling at the earth pony filly. A few tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.
The extreme emotional reaction of their client not only moved the three other fillies, it surprised them as well. All of them had been desperately trying to get their cutie marks for years, but even they were never that distraught about always failing with their attempts. They understood the sentiment, though, so none of them was asking any questions about Dinky's motivations. Instead, they got right down to business of helping Dinky with her problem.
Dinky and her having separated, Apple Bloom looked down at the makeshift plan in front of her. Her eyes fell on the first note she had made, the one she didn't cross out again, that is.
“Alright, Dinky,” she said then, sounding a little unprepared, “we're goin' ta ask ya a few questions first.”
A grin appeared on Dinky's face and she nodded eagerly. But as she heard the first question that Apple Bloom was asking, the happiness left her expression again.
“So, what have ya tried ta get ya cutie mark already, Dinky?”
Dinky's ears dropped and she looked down on the table, her eyes casting a sad glance on the surface. “Nothing,” she whispered.
“Huh?” Apple Bloom's brow furrowed from confusion. She didn't expect this answer.
“What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked the sad filly.
“What I said,” Dinky answered quietly. “I haven't tried anything to get my cutie mark yet.....”
“Why?” Scootaloo asked, as baffled as her friends.
Dinky's head shot up suddenly. Beads of sweat were on her forehead. Her eyes darted hectically around. “I..... I-I just couldn't think of anything!” The answer sounded fake and Dinky's sudden nervousness deepened this impression.
Apple Bloom set up a smile. “Uh, that's fine! It's makin' things a bit harder, but we're goin' ta help ya!” Without awaiting Dinky's reaction, she looked at the paper again. “Okay..... What's it that ya like doin'?” She looked back at Dinky, expectantly.
And with that, Dinky's nervousness had been washed away again. She only appeared confused over this question now. “What I like to do?” She eyed Apple Bloom, puzzled.
“Yeah. Ya know, ya hobbies. The things ya doing after school or on the weekends.”
“Oh.” Dinky blushed a little, feeling embarrassed. “I like to play video games a lot.” Her face became brighter again. “I have a Neightendo 64 and an own TV for it! And I spend my pocket money mostly on games, so I have a big collection of them!”
Now Dinky appeared like a completely different filly. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle noticed the sudden mood swings between happy and sad, but, not wanting to be rude, they didn't say anything.
“Got it!” Apple Bloom said and wrote down what Dinky had told her. “And is there more?” she asked as she was finished.
Dinky looked into the air, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Hmm..... Not much. Sometimes, I like to read a good book, but not too often. And I play outside, of course, but we all do that. Oh and I hang out with Lily often!” Her face became adorned with a big smile as she mentioned the name.
To her left, Sweetie Belle looked up. “Lily?” she asked curiously. “Isn't this the filly with the hedgehog cutie mark who just moved to Ponyville some weeks ago?”
Dinky looked over at the unicorn and gave her a nod, still smiling brightly. “Mhm! We became friends at your cute-ceanera!”
“She does have a really odd cutie mark,” Sweetie Belle answered. “Maybe she needs help with it, too?”
Dinky wanted to reply, but Apple Bloom cut her off as she had just opened her mouth. “Not now, Sweetie Belle. We need ta focus on Dinky now. We can help Lily later, if she wants to.”
Sweetie Belle moved a hoof over the back of her head and laughed dryly. “Hehe, yeah, I guess you're right. Let's talk about you, Dinky!”
Apple Bloom addressed Dinky with the last question. “So, what are ya good at? Ya have an idea what ya special talent could be?”
Another thoughtful expression began to grace Dinky's face. “There isn't much,” she said after a while. “I'm good at school, but not really better than you or anypony else there. And I guess I'm average at gaming. But I'm sometimes shooting spells at targets with my big sister Sparkler and I've gotten really good at this!” Her face showed a proud grin now.
“Magic, huh? That sounds like somethin'.” Apple Bloom took more notes.
The tone in her voice lifted Dinky's spirits more. “Do you think this could be my special talent?” she shot a question at Apple Bloom, excited.
“Maybe,” Apple Bloom answered as she had put her pencil down. “Obviously it didn't get ya a cutie mark yet, but maybe ya just need ta do it more often and get more practice!”
Dinky beamed with joy now.
“Yeah,” Scootaloo agreed. “You said you got better a lot, so, maybe you're really close to getting it!”
Dinky jumped up from her cushion. “So we're going go try this together?!”
“You bet!” Scootaloo responded, giving Dinky a determined look.
Apple Bloom laughed. “What Scoots said!”
Sweetie Belle agreed as well.
Now Dinky couldn't hold onto herself anymore. “Then what are we waiting for?!” she asked, impatiently. “Let's go and get me a cutie mark!” Without a care in the world, she jumped onto the table, galloped over it, jumped down at the other side and rushed outside the door, leaving Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle behind in the operation center.
“She's really exciteable,” Apple Bloom commented on the happy outburst. Then the three of them laughed.
“And that's great, it's more fun that way!” Sweetie Belle said with her squeaky voice.
“Yeah, who would have guessed that our first time helping a pony to get a cutie mark would be like this?” Scootaloo added in excitement.
“Well, girls, are we ready ta leave?” Apple Bloom finally asked. Before Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle could answer, though, Dinky took care of it for them.
“Hey, why are you letting me wait? Come on!” Her eager voice cut through their eardrums, coming from outside.
“Well, guess that answers this,” Apple Bloom chuckled. “Let's move, girls! There's a pony in need of a cutie mark and we are the only ones who can help!”
Not wasting more time, the three cutie mark counselors left their seats and hurried outside, following Dinky to their first mission of helping a pony to get its cutie mark.