As the three fillies ran to the clothing store, a thought occurred to Diamond Tiara.
“Hey, why are you so dull and boring all the time?” Diamond asked, turning to Sweetie Belle.
“If you mean why I’m not all smiles and friendliness and excitement like my sister,” Sweetie replied, “I do have reasons. I used to be a lot different in the past, excited for everything and always in a playful mood...of course, I got taken in by my sister’s desire to fly and wanted to help her out. And then she got hurt, and I was so worried and scared everything froze. She got better and waved the whole thing off, and so she tried again. I tried to stop her, but she didn’t listen, and got hurt again, but it wasn’t as serious as the first time. And I was the only one around to bandage her up, and eventually that became my job, to take care of somepony who really should be old enough to care for me instead. We’ve been through the same routine for so long that...I just stopped caring about anything, better than worrying about some idiot with her head in the clouds, or even worse, ending up like her.”
The pink filly sweated nervously. “Ummm...”
The two of them tripped with a yelp over Twist, who had frozen in front of them with a big grin. “We’re here!”
The two of them got up beside her and looked up at the large building, to their young eyes appearing intimidating.
“Let’th head inthide!” Twist exclaimed, running into the store.
“Twist!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed, blanching. “At least knock first!” She ran after her.
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and followed after them.
“Howdy!” the three fillies were greeted by another filly, a yellow earth pony with a red mane, sitting at the cash register. “Uhh...Welcome to Carousel Boutique where everythin’ is uh...”
“Chic, Unique and Fantastique.” A young female buffalo said, walking to the filly’s side. “Applebloom, please try to remember the motto, your sister says it helps the shop stand out.”
“Ah know but Ah just ain’t used to them fancy words.” The filly sighed, turning to the visitors. “Ya’ll here ta shop? We got plenty of clothes fer ya!”
“Uh no we’re here on a school project...” Diamond Tiara replied, unsure what to make of the sight. “Are either of you...Applejack?”
“Oh no that’s mah sister!” the fily grinned. “She’s the owner of this uh....eee-stab-lish-ment...Name’s Applebloom by the way!”
“And I am Little Strongheart,” the buffalo added, “I am here to experience how ponies live to better understand them and to foster better relations with our peoples.”
“Okayyyy and why are a filly and a buffalo manning the main register?” Sweetie Belle asked with a raised brow.
“Cauthe they work here, thilly!” Twist answered with a goofy grin.
“’Sactly!” Applebloom said, pumping her foreleg up. “Ah wanted ta help mah sister a lot after Ah treated her so badly, and she made dress makin’ look so cool an’ effortless like yah wouldn’t believe, so I thought Ah’d make up fer it all by workin’ here!”
“She disagreed.” Strongheart added with a chuckle. “It seems ponies are far stricter on when their children can work than my own kind, but she did relent after the 20th time my friend begged her, and only after I had started working here to replay my own debt to her.”
Sweetie Belle narrowed her eyes. ‘Everypony is just handing out their life stories today for some reason.”
“Yeah that is kinda weird.” Diamond admitted.
“So what kinda project ya’ll are doin’ anyway?” Applebloom asked. “Why ya gotta see mah big sis so bad anyhow?”
Twist grinned excitedly. “We’re trying to learn about cutie markth!”
Strongheart tilted her head. “What is a Cutie Mark?”
“They’re the little pictures on our flanks!” Apple Bloom remarked.
“I’ve seen some ponies that don’t have them, however.” The buffalo added.
“Well that’s because they didn’t get their marks yet.” Diamond Tiara answered. “You only get them when you find your special talent, the one thing you’re better at than anypony else!”
Strongheart frowned in thought. “I don’t see why you ponies get have such things, I know of no other race in Equestria that has something like that. We buffalo are perfectly fine figuring out our ‘special talents’ ourselves, we don’t need magic butt pictures.”
Diamond Tiara glared. “Cutie Marks are SO important!”
“I disagree.” Strongheart shook her head. “They are not.”
“Are too!”
“Are not.”
“Are too!”
“Are not.”
“Are”
“Strongheart will you please stop arguing with potential customers!” a voice interrupted, laced with a light, sophisticated southern accent.
Strongheart blushed shamefully as she turned to the orange mare approaching from the back, who wore a stylish orange dress and had her blonde mane styled in an equally stylish, elegant braid. “My apologies, Miss Applejack, I got distracted by commenting on an aspect of your people’s culture. These three mentioned Cutie Marks and I found myself becoming curious.”
Applejack squeed. “You fillies want to learn about Cutie Marks? That’s adooooorable!”
Twist smiled cutely. “Yeah! We gotta athk as many ponieth we can about how they got their cutie markth!”
“Ohhhh such an adorable lisp! OH I simply MUST make you girls lovely dresses!” Applejack twirled around as she squeed.
“No, please don’t.” Sweetie Belle drawled. “We just need to get this done.”
“Yeah, please tell us!” Diamond Tiara said. “I’m sure you got an interesting story about how you gained yours!”
“Ah’m mighty curious mahself...” Apple Bloom added.
“I would like to know more about this phenomenon too.” Strongheart said with a light nod.
Applejack lifted the hem of the orange, frilled dress she wore, revealing her Cutie Mark: a pink set of fabric with stitching along its side, in the shape of an apple with a needle in place where the stem would be and some thread leading from the needle to the stitching. “Very well darlings, it’s a fairly simple tale all told: as a filly, I went to live in Manehatten with my relatives and...well, long story short, I gained an acute awe for fashion and how it can help ponies feel special. However, just feeling that wasn’t enough for my Cutie Mark to appear, no, for you see I had to TRULY discover, first hoof, my skill at dress making. So, as a special gift for a new set of friends who helped me discover this new passion, I decided to try hoof-make some dresses. I worked hard and long into the night, trying to remember anything about them I could incorporate into the dresses, for I was more concerned with making something unique and meaningful rather than something actually good...and to my surprise, the fillies LOVED what I made for them, and their praise filled me with so much joy, which only grew more as I spied my cutie mark had appeared! I knew then where my talents lay and what I wanted to do with my life.” She smiled wide. “And thus, I returned to my childhood home to begin spreading my joy and passion to others.”
Diamond Tiara tilted her head. “Okay but...what exactly IS your special talent?”
Applejack tittered, holding a hoof in front of her mouth. “Oh darling, it’s quite simple really: my talent is creating clothes that symbolise a pony’s inner qualities, allowing a pony to express themselves perfectly and bring out their inner beauty for others to see.” She looked at the fillies before with a sudden gasp, stars in her eyes. “Oh! Wait right there, I just got an idea!” The earth pony quickly darted back into her room, leaving the fillies and buffalo where they stood.
“Is she....always like this?” Diamond Tiara asked.
“Yeah, she’s a little weird.” Apple Bloom noted in agreement. “But she’s honestly really pretty awesome and she’s REALLY good with clothes! Not that Ah’m much for ‘em mahself, but Ah’m willin’ ta try.”
“You’d look good in anything...” Strongheart muttered with a blush.
“What was that?” Apple Bloom turned to her co-worker.
“Nothing!” Strongheart shook her hooves wildly in the air, flustered. “I...I was just...coughing!”
“Coughing.” Sweetie Belle stated with a disbelieving gaze.
“Y-yes!” the buffalo replied, sweating with a nervous grin on her features.
“TA-DAAAAAA!” Applejack sang out, interrupting proceedings as she daintily glided over to the fillies, placing a bright blue cape on each girl’s back. “Behold! I just got struck by how ADORABLE you three would look in these!”
Diamond Tiara looked over the cape adorning her back. It was bright blue and the edges had a gold trim stitching, an image of her cutie mark stitched into the middle of the cape. She looked at her two acquaintances whose capes matched hers except they were largely blank.
“I’ll stitch your Cutie Marks onto your friends’ set when they get them.” Applejack exclaimed, clapping her hoofs together as she cooed. “Don’t you three look simply adorable!?”
Sweetie shrugged noncommittally, while Twist grinned wide. “Ooooh! Now we got thomething to look forward to!”
“Exactly!” The fashionista replied, her ear twitching. “Now why don’t you girls run along, I have some business to attend to.”
Diamond Tiara nodded. “Sure...are you sure with just...making these for us?”
“Oh certainly! All that matters to me is that they look stunning on you girls!” She smiled and twirled around, heading to the backroom of the building.
Diamond Tiara shook her head as suddenly Twist yanked on her and Sweetie Belle’s capes, dragging the pair along, Diamond Tiara struggling in surprise.
“W-what they hay!?”
“I jutht had the betht idea who to talk to nektht!” Twist grinned. “She’th thuper fun and nithe!”
Apple Bloom and Strongheart watched the trio run off. “So...why do you not go to this ‘school’?” Strongheart asked.
Apple Bloom shrugged. “Ma an’ Pa didn’t think Ah need a fancy education, an’ well it’s too late fer me to start now, so Ah might as well just help out mah sis.”
“That is fair.” Strongheart said.
--------------------------
“A-a-are you s-s-sure we should be d-doing this...?” Scootaloo asked nervously looking around herself as the three of them had snuck into the backroom of the Boutique.
“You implyin’ somethin’, Buttaloo?” Babs replied in a dangerous tone as she tried to force a drawer open. “Look, we’re just gonna grab somethin’ and scare ‘em a bit, we ain’t gonna hurt ‘em at all.” She smirked as she whispered. “Much.”
“B-b-but w-won’t Applejack be mad...?”
“I’m sure she won’t mind if we give what we borrowed back!” Snails crowed obliviously.
“And just WHAT are you three doing?”
Scootaloo yelped fearfully and fell to the floor, hooves over head as Babs screamed in surprise and pulled the drawer open, accidentally striking herself across the face with the hard wood.
“Oh hi there Miss Applejack!” Snails waved cheerfully, grinning wide.
Applejack however was not amused. “Get out of my house!”
“Okay!” Snails cheered and ran out as Scootaloo fearfully ran after him, leaving Babs behind, who was trying to reach into the drawer she opened.
“You just broke that drawer’s lock.” Applejack looked furious. “Those are QUITE expensive to fix. I hope you are prepared to make up for that.”
Babs shivered, gulping. “W-what do ya mean.”
Applejack suddenly brightened, smiling cheerfully. “MAKEOVERRRRR~! Honestly you look ATROCIOUS, but worry not, we shall have you sparkling like a gem!”
Babs gasped as she inched back, raising her hooves to her face as Applejack approached. “No...no....NOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
----------------------
Diamond Tiara squirmed and struggled as she pulled herself out of Twist’s grip. For her part, Sweetie Belle merely glumly accepted her position and simply hung stiffly.
“Where the HAY are you taking us, Twist!?” Diamond Tiara demanded.
“We’re here!” Twist exclaimed, Dropping Sweetie Belle to the ground as she held her hooves up high.
Diamond Tiara looked ahead of her as Sweetie Belle got up to her hooves. At the very edge of Ponyville, about as close to Everfree a part of the town could be without being in danger, was a grassy little clearing full of flowers with a large, cosy looking cottage standing before them, its walls painted bright pink with balloons attached to the roof.
The door swung open suddenly, revealing a yellow pegasus with a long, light pink mane and tail, a wide grin on her face and excitement in her eyes, her flank bearing a Cutie Mark in the form of a smiling bird surrounded by in a circle by music nights. “Hello Twist! What brings you here? Oh, and are those new friends!? That is AWESOME!”
The Pegasus quickly began to sing.
“Howdy doody
Pleased to meetcha
I’d love to give you cake
Or handy dandy back scratcha!
I am Fluttershy
And it’s so great to see you!
If it’s fun you want I’m your guy!
All I want to do is sing
and of course make you smile!
So don’t forget to give me a ring!
But I think that’s enough about me
Please tell me all about you!”
Diamond Tiara blinked. “Um.”
Fluttershy grinned manically, staring deep into Diamond’s soul with empty, glass-like, soulless eyes.
Or at least, that’s how it looked to Diamond.
Twist simply giggled. “We’re doing a report on Cutie Markth, and we wanted you to tell uth all about yours!”
“Oh!?” Fluttershy gasped and giggled. “I’d love to!” She inhaled some air.
“No!” Diamond protested, waving her hooves in the air. “Don’t sing it, please!”
“Aw, poopie.” Fluttershy pouted, then brightened up. “Oh well! Well a long time ago, I wasn’t the happy mare you see before you. OH no sirree bob, I was really miserable and depressed and really shy, which only made me more miserable cause it made me an easy target for bullies! But, one day, whe I was at my saddest and felt so alone...a mare visited me! She was an earth pony with a purple mane as fluffy as clouds, and had the widest, most beautiful smile in the world! Her name was Maud Pie and she cheered me up with songs, funny antics and general friendliness! She convinced me that instead of being sad and alone, I should go out and SING and convince ponies to befriend me and not bully me, cause they just need a good reason to smile instead of a bad one!” She stood, pointing at her cutie mark. “And, on the day I first tried that, I found it worked and I became more and more happy and comfortable around ponies as they started to like me and I liked making them smile with my song! And the moment I realised that, this appeared! This cutie mark is proof my special talent is making others smile through song!”
Twist clapped as Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. Diamond Tiara raised her brow at the odd pony, but couldn’t help but feel....sympathy and a little happiness at the mare’s tale.
Fluttershy clapped her hooves. “Oh I know! We should get you to talk to my friends, then you can learn THE MOST about Cutie Marks!”
“We already talked to Rainbow Dath, Rarity an Applejack.” Twist helpfully pointed out.
“Oh that’s good!” Fluttershy grinned. “That means we got two more left! Don’t worry, I’ll show you girls the way!”
“That’s not necessa” Sweetie Belle began, eager to just be done with the silly project, but was interrupted as the manic Pegasus grabbed all three fillies in a tight hug.
“Come along now, we’re not too far away!” Fluttershy hollered excitedly. “Next stop...THE FARM!”