//------------------------------// // A Question of Cutie Marks // Story: The Ties that Bind // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// After dinner, the fire was put out, Ancient Scroll had awoken Rouge, and the group headed back into the Vardo for the night. With a wide yawn and a parting wave and 'good night' to the others, Rouge retreated to the sitting room to get some proper sleep. The stallion and husky made their way to the platform to further discuss the day's events and plans for what to do once they all reached the next town. The fillies had of course, laid down for the night in their own room. They hadn't however, gone to bed just yet. True to her word, Fia had chosen the quiet moment to bring up Blue Moon's odd behavior during the assessment. "Hey... Trixie?" Fia asked, sitting up and turning to the light blue filly in the cot next to hers, "can we talk?" "It's Blue Moon," came a flat reply, "and no, Blue Moon is tired and wants to go to bed." "Oh... alright then," Fia replied, "I won't try to push you, Trixie. I know we agreed not to keep secrets, but I also remembered that it wasn't a good idea to force somepony to talk... like we tried to do the last time we talked." "Yeah... we did kinda do that, didn't we?" Corona added from the opposite side of Blue Moon's cot, "sorry about that, Trixie. We were all still in a bad place and I just wanted the awkwardness and tension to go away." Blue Moon let out a muffled grunt into her pillow, but said nothing in response. Fia opened her mouth to say something else, but paused and looked over to Corona. The maroon filly gave Blue Moon a disappointed look before sighing and returning Fia's look with a slow shake of her head. She adjusted her position so that she was facing away from both of them and said no more on the matter. Fia frowned and settled back down in her cot, resigning herself to the fact that Blue Moon wasn't going to say anything for now. After a few minutes of complete silence, save for the soft breathing of the three fillies, there came a quiet, but heavy sigh. "Hey... Sunset?" "Hmm?" Blue Moon turned her face slightly so that one eye was on the maroon filly as she spoke. "What was it like for you?" Blue Moon asked, "when you got your cutie mark I mean, what did it feel like?" Fia stiffened slightly but didn't speak. "What did it... well..." Corona turned to fully face Blue Moon with a slightly confused and slightly thoughtful expression, "to be honest, Trixie, I don't really know. I was so awed by what I was helping Celestia do, that I hadn't even noticed it had appeared until it was already there." "Oh..." Blue Moon replied, burying her face into her pillow once more, "nevermind then." "Trixie, what's wrong?" Corona asked in concern, "why'd you wanna know what it felt like?" "It's about your own cutie mark isn't it?" Blue Moon and Corona both turned to see Fia giving Blue Moon a sad, understanding look. "I remember what you said about almost getting one," the black filly continued, "I had no idea how cutie marks worked -- and to be honest, I didn't really care -- but the way you described it makes it sound like something... I don't know... profound. Something worth waiting for." "And that... sorry excuse for a dad took that away from you," Corona finished with an angry snort, "I didn't even know you could stop a cutie mark from appearing." "Well you can," Blue Moon responded quietly, "the feeling I had when I was about to get my cutie mark was one of the greatest things I'd ever experience. Joining Hoofdini up there on that stage made me happy for the first time in... ever, but it was that warm feeling I felt..." she shook her head and sniffed, tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she spoke. "I didn't even realize how much not getting my cutie mark hurt until Uncle Scroll metioned how I had a talent for Illusion Magic," her voice hitched and she turned her teary gaze towards the ceiling of the caravan, "now I just feel like... like I missed out on something r-really important and I don't even... I d-don't even know if -- if I'll be able to--" "You'll get your cutie mark, Trixie." Blue Moon sniffed again and looked over to Corona. "H-How do you know?" Blue Moon argued, "I already lost it once, w-what if -- if I never..." "I may not have known that you could stop a cutie mark from appearing," Corona replied, "but I remember something Summer Breeze told me once back when I didn't have my own cutie mark yet," she gave Blue Moon a comforting smile, "she told me that cutie marks were connected to Harmony, and as long as Harmony existed, a pony would always get their cutie mark." "But... what if Harmony didn't exist anymore?" Blue Moon challenged, "then I'd never get my cutie mark." "Harmony can't just disappear, Trixie," Fia answered with a single shake of her head, "it's like... it's like air. You can't see it, but it exists, and it's everywhere." "So... so you really think I'll have another chance to get my cutie mark again?" the light blue filly asked, a hopeful smile tugging at her lips, "I'm not going to be a blank flank forever?" "Of course not," Corona replied, "in fact, I don't think there's ever been a case where a pony never got their cutie mark. If I remember correctly, the longest a pony's ever gone without a cutie mark on record was... fourteen years?" "I could be stuck without a cutie mark until I'm fourteen?" Blue Moon cried. "No, I don't think so," Fia replied calmly, "I remember reading about that same thing. Nopony knows why it took so long, but it was the only case of it's kind to ever happen. That's why it was such a big deal." Blue Moon was quiet for a moment as she thought on the information. "Who was the pony?" she finally asked. "it was some pegasus colt in Cloudsdale," Corona replied with a shrug, "don't remember his name." "Same here," Fia added, "it was old news years before I was even born." "Huh," Blue Moon replied before giving the black filly a curious look, "what about you, Twilight Sparkle?" "What about me?" Fia asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well, you don't have your cutie mark yet either," Blue Moon pointed out, "aren't you worried about getting it, or what it'll be once you do?" "Not really," Fia answered matter-of-factly, "it'll happen when it happens, and I'm fairly sure it'll have something to do with magic like with most unicorns." "I guess that makes sense," Blue Moon responded slowly, "I'd still like to know what my cutie mark is going to be." "Well, based off of what you told us, I think I have a pretty good idea," Corona said, putting a hoof to her chin thoughtfully, "I'm pretty sure that whatever your cutie mark is gonna be, it'll probably have something to do with being a showpony." "Hey, yeah," Fia agreed, "it did almost appear after you performed that show with Hoofdini, so it only makes sense that it would have something to do with being on stage." "You... you both think so?" Blue Moon asked, her hopeful smile making a brief return before falling once more, "but... I've been practicing for awhile now, and I'm still nowhere near Hoofdini's level." "You'll get your chance again, someday, Trixie," Corona replied with a warm smile, "I don't think a cutie mark is something you can just force to appear. Just do what you like to do and you'll get it eventually." Blue Moon once again turned her eyes towards the ceiling with a frown. After a minute she gave a slow hesitant nod before giving another quicker and more confident one. "You know what?" Blue Moon exclaimed, sitting up, "you're both right. Trixie just needs to keep being Great and Powerful and eventually she'll have the greatest cutie mark ponykind has ever seen!" "That's the spirit," Corona replied with a chuckle, "but you should probably keep it down, Loud and Obnoxious Blue Moon. We're supposed to be asleep, remember?" "Jealous," Blue Moon huffed as she settled back into the cot, "you just can't match up to the wonder that is Trixie, nor the mystique that is Blue Moon." "Yeah okay, Blue Moon, whatever you say," Corona muttered with a roll of her eyes. She turned away from the other two as she got comfortable again, "I'm gonna get some sleep now, and you both should probably do the same." "You're probably right," Fia agreed with a yawn, "good night girls." Corona and Blue Moon muttered their own 'good night' and within minutes the relatively quiet night was filled with the soft snores of the three tired fillies.