//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Born Cursed // Story: No Destiny for Me! // by Crowborn //------------------------------// My name is Coldbane Sky. I am a light blue unicorn with an orange mane. I am 12 years old, and definitely a foal who was born cursed. All my friends have gotten their cutie marks, but I don't want any. I think my butt looks just fine the way it is. My parents and my friends say that all I have to do to get one is to find something I'm really good at. That wouldn't be a problem for any other pony, but for me? It completely blows. While I am not the best in any particular field, I am far from the worst in a lot of things. I am unfortunately very good at sports and athletics. I am also unfortunately good at math and writing. I am sadly good at baking, unicycling, communing with nature, sky diving, spelling bees, bear wrestling, swimming, hopscotch, racing, and playing tag. I keep trying new things, but I keep being pretty good at what I try! But I can't give up though, there MUST be something I am not good at, and once I find it, I will finally be safe from getting my cutie mark! Today, I start my first day in magic school. A week ago, i convinced my parents to enroll me there. Sure, I'm a unicorn, but that doesn't mean I will be good at magic! Besides, there are plenty of great students there, I mean Princess Twilight herself was one of it's best students, and there is no way I can top that! And top of that, the competition should be fierce, hopefully I will be a complete and utter noob at this. I can't wait! My folks are of noble breeding. We live in Canterlot, so it's not far from Celestia's school of magic. My parents are so annoying. They can't wait for me to get my cutie mark, and won't listen to me when I say I don't want one. "Oh, Coldy-poo, I am so proud of you!" my mother doted, "Celestia was so kind to accept you even though you are a few years older than most who start this school. It seems you are still young enough to attend! I bet you will earn your cutie mark in no time!" "Mom! No way! And stop calling me Coldy-poo! I told you it's embarrassing!" She merely smirked and patted me on the head. When the castle finally came into reach, I couldn't wait to be away from my overbearing mother. I ran forward and approached one of the guards, "Hi, I am here to attend Celestia's magic school!" The guard looked at me and gave a small chuckle. "Go ahead inside. Princess Celestia's has been waiting to introduce you to your new class." Wow, Princess Celestia's is waiting on me? That is amazing! Though I hope I don't get any cutie marks from this. That is the last thing I need. Princess Celestia greeted me kindly, and as we walked toward my new classroom, she began to talk. "So, Coldbane Sky, was it?" "Uh-huh!" I beamed, "And your Princess Celestia, everyone knows who you are!" "Indeed. You're from the Noble Sky family, correct? Valiant Sky and CinderBell's son, if I am not mistaken? What made you decide you wanted to come here? Just curious, of course," she asked in a kind tone. "Uh-huh! I decided I wanted to try learning magic to see if its what I am looking for..." I said trying to hide the fact that I was hoping that I wouldn't be very good at it. Princess Celestia gave me a smile, until eventually we approached a doorway, and she gestured for me to go inside. Giddily, I opened the door. A teacher was already beginning class, which had a group of about twenty or so other ponies, some of which were younger than me, but a few were my age, and a couple seemed even older than I am. Princess Celestia walked me to the front of the classroom and introduced me to the class. "My little ponies, this is a new student who will be attending your class. His name is Coldbane Sky. Please treat him as kindly as you would any other student." Yes, ma'am!" came the collective reply of the students. Princess Celestia nodded and then left, probably to attend some other princess business she had. The teacher pointed me to my seat and I made my way to it and sat down. "Now class, we will continue are lesson on levitation. On each of your desks are balls of different weights. The white ball is the lightest, the grey ball is a bit heavier, and the black ball is the heaviest. I want you all to try and lift all three into the air. Don't worry, you have all of the remaining class to practice," the teacher said in a kind tone. She then looked at me, "Don't worry, Coldbane, since you are new here, you don't have to do it, but you can watch the other students to see what you can learn from them." She gave me a kind smile. I saw her point, but I wanted to try anyways. But first I looked around me. The other students were having various amounts of success. Some were struggling to lift just one ball, others could lift two, and several were even able to lift three. One philly, who was probably two to three years younger than me, was even juggling all three like it was nothing! So, of course I gave it a try. I concentrated real hard and all three began to move slightly, but despite my strenuous effort, not a single one lifted into the air. A smile pierced my lips. "I failed," I said giddily, "I failed!" I then got up out of my seat and began to dance in joy. "Uh-huh! I failed at something! Go Coldbane! Go Coldbane! You failed at something! Uh-huh!" I continued to dance, adding a little magic flare to my dance. Until I noticed the while classroom staring at me. "What?" I asked, when suddenly I heard the sound of three balls hitting the floor. I looked down to see the balls that were on my desk now at my feet. "Wow, Coldbane is all most as good as Gentlebreeze!" exclaimed one student. "Almost, Gentlebreeze is still far better!" exclaimed with a few murmurs of agreement. I then felt the teacher put a hoof on my shoulder. "Wow, that was impressive! While its not the best I have seen, you certainly have a natural talent for this!" she said smiling. I could only stare in horror. And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, my butt began to glow. I felt a mysterious force begun to lift me in the air. "Look! Coldbane is getting his cutie mark!" exclaimed Gentlebreeze. "No! No! Nooo!!" I exclaimed in a panic. I closed my eyes, desperately trying to fight it. Suddenly my horn surged with a burst of magic and a loud boom rang in my ears as I fell to the ground. I quickly turned to look at my flank. It was thankfully still blank. I looked around and noticed I couldn't hear anything, then my head started to throb and I felt dizzy. My whole body began to ache, throbbing with a pain I have never felt before and when the pain became too much to bear, I blacked out. The shocked and appalled expression on my teacher's face was the last thing I remember seeing before falling into a dreamless sleep.