//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: The Strange Case of Dinky Hooves' Cutie Mark Curiosity 
// by Fluttercheer 
//------------------------------//

The day after, Dinky stood in the Cutie Mark Operation Center once more, to the surprise of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
“Dinky? What are you doing here today?” Scootaloo asked in surprise after they had answered the knocks on the door and let Dinky inside. Scootaloo did her best to not stare at Dinky's horn, which was in a worse condition than her big sister's after what had happened not even twenty-four hours ago.
Dinky noticed, though, carefully stroking a hoof over it with a sheepish smile. “Not much left, I know..... But the doctor said the damage will grow out in a few months. Just needs a bit of filing then and it's going to be as new!” She grinned broadly.
“How comes you're here?” Sweetie Belle came closer. “I thought your mom and your sister grounded your for a lifetime for bringing yourself in danger!”
Being reminded on the dramatic events the day before, Dinky bit her lip, the sheepish look in her face now being replaced with earnest embarrassment.
“A month, actually,” she said, watching her hoof drawing invisible circles on the floor. “But I snuck out here as mom left the house to go to the market, to thank you for all the help and for going through all the trouble I caused you.”
Now looking up again, she graced each of them with an intimate, long hug.
“I would still be a cutie mark freak if you would have stopped helping me, but you never gave up!” Having said that, she approached Sweetie Belle again and gave her an extra hug, tighter and longer than the one before.
“So, everythin' is workin' out now?” Apple Bloom asked as Dinky had let go of Sweetie Belle. “No disappearing cutie marks anymore, no curse?”
Dinky shook her head. “No, I haven't gotten a cutie mark since everything stopped yesterday. It seems to be over!” Her voice was one, big cheer.
“And you are sure?” Scootaloo asked. “It's not even a full day yet, are you really sure it won't continue?”
Now, Dinky nodded. “Mhm! Just look at this!” She ignited the scorched remnants of her horn, pointed it at the open window and concentrated. A tiny beam of blue magic left it, but instead of getting shot out of the window where it could do no harm, it hit the wall to its left and burnt a nice, big hole into it.
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle lowered their eyelids at Dinky, disapproved stares burning into her now.
Dinky gasped, then squeaked. “Still not completely perfect..... But now my magic works like the magic of other unicorns does, I'm probably just behind other foals a bit.” She grinned again. “And that means.....”
“That the curse is gone, too!” Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shouted at the same time, then started to grin as well.
“Yep! Sparkler's magic really erased the curse and all magical anomalies it caused! I should be able to get a normal cutie mark now!”
“Ya still want ta have help with that?” Apple Bloom offered their continued assistance.
But Dinky shook her head. “No, it's fine. Now that I know I will get a real cutie mark one day, I just wait it out.”
“By the way,” Scootaloo followed a certain thought “how do you and your sister get along now?”
Dinky's eyes turned sad at this question. “We're fine.....” she whispered, now eyeing the floor and drawing invisible circles again. “I feel bad for feeling like this, even though Sparkler said she understands why I did..... But we talked for a long time and she isn't mad at me.” She sniffed, but then wiped over her nose immediately and looked up at the three Crusaders again, forcing herself to a smile.
“I guess that means everything's good then!” Scootaloo grin grew broader.
Dinky nodded, but then, a tiny portion of doubt appeared in her face.
“Well, almost.....” she said. “The downside is that I did drain a little bit too much of Sparkler's magic..... It's not dangerous for me, but it makes my magic act strange sometimes. You saw what just happened..... ” Embarrassed, she eyed the hole in the wall. “Sparkler says it will probably stay like this for a few weeks, at least.”
“Sounds good to me!” Scootaloo said, laughing in relief. “I mean, you will probably cause some property damage until the effect has worn off, but it could be way worse!”
This sentence earned her a poke by Apple Bloom. “Ya don't tempt 'worse', Scoots.”
Not commenting on the warning, Scootaloo just rolled her eyes. Then she addressed Dinky again.
“Hey, wanna hang in your house? The muffins Sparkler served us yesterday were delicious and they didn't say you can't invite guests!” Her wings swung out at the thought of the pastries.
“Sure!” Dinky said cheerfully. “I was going to invite you, anyway, because you helped me so much! You just need to arrive there after me, I need to make it look like I never left the house.” The sheepish grin returned as she rubbed the back of her head.
“Right on!” Scootaloo said. She exchanged a hoofbump with Dinky, then she and her friends galloped out of the operation center, eager to get more of the tasty muffins.
Dinky smiled after them. As she wanted to set herself into motion again, she suddenly noticed that her horn started to crackle. She could feel tiny sparks getting released from it. Before she really knew what happened, a big mass of magical sparks that looked akin to a cloud hovered above her head. Now in panic, Dinky rushed out of the door of the operation center, where Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle already waited for her.
“Get down!” she shouted at them, jumping down the ramp. Right when she had taken cover behind a tree, the windows of the operation center glowed blue, then the whole building blew up in a magical explosion.
In sudden shock, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle took cover as well, just in the right moment for the scorched remnants to fall down to the ground.
As it was quiet again, the four fillies left their cover and trotted over to the place where the operation center stood. All that was left were scorched remnants of the wooden pillars, the strongest parts of the construction, and a few pieces of burnt wood. Their mouths opened in shock, they stared at the destroyed construction.
Apple Bloom was shaking. “I-It..... For Princess Luna's sake, it took a whole day ta build it!” She gave Dinky an angry glare, which made the unicorn filly crouch down and retreat backwards slowly, then she let her frustration out on the ground by stomping on it repeatedly. “Ah said ya shouldn't tempt 'worse', Scootaloo! Now we have ta start over and build everythin' again!”
For a moment, Dinky considered to offer help with the reconstruction, but just remembered in the right moment how the last time she tried to help turned out, so she stayed silent.
“I don't think so, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo reacted to her friend's words.
Sweetie Belle nodded. “I agree with Scoots. I never really felt like we need it, anyway.” She shrugged.
“Ya two serious?” Apple Bloom couldn't believe it.
“Yep!” the other two Crusaders said in unison.
“But what's with the clubhouse and not gettin' disturbed by clients there, then? Ya two agreed ta build the operation center ta avoid that!”
“What about it?” Scootaloo asked, shrugging again. “We can just build a lock into the door of the clubhouse and hang a sign on it if we haven't opened.”
“Yeah, there's no need to do all that work again, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle added.
Apple Bloom let her eyes wander over the ruins. The building had meant a lot to her, but she could not deny that her fellow Crusaders were in the right. She turned around at them.
“Fine,” she sighed. “Ah guess we could have found an easier solution for that problem. But we still need ta clean up here and remove the ruins, Applejack's goin' ta become crazy if she sees the orchard like that.”
“But there's time later for that, right?” Dinky asked, finally daring to speak again. “I need to get you an extra round of thank you muffins now for destroying your operation center.” Her sheepish smile had grown tenfold now.
Seeing Dinky like this, rubbing her hoof and looking at them so sheepishly, it caused all three Crusaders to laugh, even Apple Bloom.
“Fine..... But ya'll better serve apple muffins then!”
Relieved, Dinky smiled. “You bet!” she said, then turned around and gallopped off towards the town.
Her counselors followed her closely, leaving behind the legacy of their first mission as Equestria's cutie mark counselors.....