For Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle it seemed like it was going to be a day just like every other day. A day spent on various activities in the hopes of getting their cutie marks. They were about to find out that today was not going to be like every other day, today would be different.
"So, Apple Bloom, why did you call this special Cutie Mark Crusaders meeting?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Apple Bloom slyly grinned. "Oh it's nothin'... except this here letter from Babs Seed sayin' she got her cutie mark! Look!" She held up an envelope that depicted a picture of what appeared to be scissors of some kind, with the handles looking not unlike apple cores.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle gasped!
Once the shock of the news wore off, Sweetie Belle was the first to comment. "Of course, a pair of scissors for a cutie mark! It all makes sense. She was always fussing with her bangs, even after she stopped being so shy. I'll bet she grows up to be a celebrity mane stylist or something!"
"But did we have to come all the way here just to be told this?" Scootaloo questioned Apple Bloom. "Couldn't you have just brought it up at the next regular meeting? I can't always drop everything I'm doing to come over here."
Apple Bloom just held up the letter. "Just listen," And she proceeded to read it aloud. "Dear Cutie Mark Crusaders: Babs Seed here, hope this letter finds you well. Guess what, I finally got my cutie mark! I was just fiddling with my mane the other day, and thought I'd try cutting off a few hairs to style it into somethin' else! Ended up making quite a mess, but when my got my cutie mark my folks didn't seem to mind. Anyways, I'm going to be enrolling in barber shop classes in the near future, so I won't have as much time to devote to the Manehattan branch of the CMC. So I'm effectively stepping down as of today, leaving the branch in capeable hooves. Don't worry, I'll still check it on it from time to time. But if I'm going to be a mane stylist someday, I can't always split my time between it and running a club."
"Well that totally stinks," Scootaloo grumbled. "But I guess she makes a good point. Once you get your cutie mark, you're not really gonna have time to be a Cutie Mark Crusader anymore. I mean, we started this club just for the three of us and Babs was our only other member."
Sweetie Belle then added. "I'm happy for her, but at the same time I'm not sure if I'd want to be up to my flank in mane hair all day. Could you imagine getting stuck with a cutie mark you didn't like or didn't want? You don't suppose that'll ever happen to us, do you?"
Apple Bloom gulped. "I sure hope not. I actually never really stopped to think about what would happen after we got our cutie marks."
Sweetie Belle smiled. "Well you're the easiest to pin down, Apple Bloom. Even Babs Seed's cutie mark was apple themed. So whatever your cutie mark ends up being it'll probably be apple related."
"And I'll probably have a cutie mark related to flying, maybe even related to the Wonderbolts!" Scootaloo boasted! "Or I'll bet my cutie mark will be in something related to extreme stunts! Not that I mean to brag, but I have been trying out some sick new tricks on my scooter."
"Even so, what if I grow sick of apples?" Apple Bloom questioned. "What if it's something related to apples that I don't like?"
"Oh come now, what's not to like about apples?" Sweetie innocently questioned.
As if she'd been questioned, Scootaloo started listing off a couple of things. "Well there's sour apples, and wormy apples, and bruised apples, and rotten apples, and..."
Sweetie glared at her pegasus friend as Scootaloo responded. "What? I'm just saying. I doubt there's cutie marks related to any of those things. Right, Apple Bloom?"
Apple Bloom didn't reply, she was too deep in thought about what Scootaloo had just said. As well as some other things that she had never considered before. All of them related to the inevitably of her getting her cutie mark.
These lingering thoughts still plagued Apple Bloom as she lay in bed that night, unable to go to sleep. "I guess I just spent so much time worryin' about how to get a cutie mark, I never even thought about what would happen after. There's just so many things I never considered before," She complained to Applejack. "Everythin' seemed so much simpler when I started that club."
Applejack just sighed. "Don't go gettin' yourself worked up, Apple Bloom. Worryin' 'bout all these things ain't gonna do ya a lick of good. Just get some rest, and if you're still worried about it we can discuss it more in the mornin'."
But Apple Bloom wouldn't go to sleep, she just started to list off worries. "What if I finally get my cutie mark and I don't like it? What if I get my cutie mark and nopony likes me?"
"Well, that's just ridicu—" Applejack began only to be cut off.
"What if the Crusaders drift apart? I mean, we won't really be the Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore, will we?!" Apple Bloom pondered. And then she gasped as an awful thought struck her! "What if it's not an apple after all?! Will I have to move out?! Where will I live?! I'm too young to be thrown out!"
Applejack stomped a hoof down and looked Apple Bloom square in the eyes. "That's enough of that, sugarcube. I've seen the friendship you, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo share. A cutie mark or a lack of one ain't gonna be enough to undo it. And just because you may stop bein' a crusader full time doesn't mean you'll have to stop bein' one on the inside."
"You really think so?" Apple Bloom wondered. "I thought Twist and I were gonna be friends even after she got her cutie mark. Then she and her parents moved to Fillydelphia and I never saw her again. Wonder if she even recognizes me?"
"Don't be blaimin' a cutie mark for that, Apple Bloom," Applejack replied with a shake of her head. "You can always stay in touch through letters. Sometimes friends move away through no fault of their own, it can't be helped," Then she added in a sweet tone of voice. "And I promise you, nopony's gonna make ya move out. If they try they'll have to get by me first!"
While not normally one to question her big sister, the farm filly still couldn't help but ask all the same. "Are you sure about all of that, Applejack?"
The older earth pony nodded. "'Course I'm sure. Now get some sleep. You'll see. Everythin' will be better in the mornin'." And then she began to sing, and it went something like this:
Hush now, little sister
You're loved by all you know.
And you'll never lose their friendship
No matter where you go.
There ain't no call to worry
So don't you cry or fret.
'Cause a cutie mark won't change you
No matter what you get.
Applejack then trotted to the door, flicking off the light as she bid her sister goodnight.
Apple Bloom yawned and drifted off to sleep, though not before thinking out loud to herself. "No matter what I get."
Next morning, Apple Bloom awoke as usual to the crowing of the rooster. She yawned and rolled out of bed. "Nothin' like a good night's sleep!" She proudly declared. "Don't know what I was so worried about before. Today's a new day and I ain't gonna waste it worryin' about silly things. I'll get my cutie mark whenever it's time, and everythin' will be just fine. Hey, that rhymed." The filly giggled to herself about that.
Just then, Applejack called up from below. "Breakfast! Come and get it, everypony!"
"Oh boy, breakfast!" Apple Bloom cheered and rushed downstairs. Had she bothered to glance her head out the window though, perhaps she would've seen the rooster fly away in a most unusual way and realized that not everything was right.
The filly came trotting down the stairs, feeling quite pleased with herself. "Applejack, you were right all along," She declared as she entered the kitchen where her sister was making flapjacks. "A good night's sleep was all I needed."
"See, what I tell ya?" Applejack smiled as she turned her attention towards her little sister. "A good night's sleep'll fix just about an— " But then she let out a gasp as something caught her eye! "Well as I live and breath! No wonder you were so worked up the night before!"
"What?" Apple Bloom questioned. "I have somethin' stuck in my teeth?"
Applejack shook her head and pointed to Apple Bloom's flank. "Looks like somepony finally got her cutie mark!"
Apple Bloom took one glance at her flank, and she saw that it was blank no longer! Depicted on it was an apple being sprayed by some kind of gas that was coming out of a nozzle, said nozzle being attached to a tank. The filly blinked and rubbed her eyes. No, her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. She had indeed gotten her cutie mark, all unbeknownst up to this point! "Oh my gosh! I can't believe it! I got my cutie mark! I got my cutie mark!" She proudly proclaimed, her voice becoming loud enough to echo across the farm and out into the fields! "Just wait 'til I tell everypony that my cutie mark is a... a..." She then trailed off as she realized that she had no clue what her cutie mark was. "Wait, what is it?"
Applejack gulped. "Well, I don't know. But I think I know somepony who does." She gestured a hoof out towards the door as it swung open.
Into the room trotted a tall and slender earth pony stallion dressed from heads to hooves in a gas mask and a bright yellow haz-mat suit. He took one look at Apple Bloom's cutie mark, all the while the only sound that could be heard was the breathing from his mask. "Ain't no mistakin' it," He commented in a deep voice. "It's the mark of a pest control pony. Which means, I can finally retire! Oh happy day!"
"Wait, who are you? I don't remember ever seein' the likes of you before." Apple Bloom questioned the strange stallion.
The stallion lifted up his gas mask. "Of course you ain't seen me, nopony ever does. We pest control ponies are up before the crack of dawn every day to spray the fields. We never get any recognition until there's trouble. And we have other responsibilities too. Like say, infestation management," With a smile, he added. "Follow me. It's my duty as a pest control pony to train my successor. Then I'm off to live out my golden years, Las Pegasus here I come!"
Apple Bloom followed the stallion out the door and into the fields, taking notice of the fact that he had a light brown coat, faded green eyes, a white mane and tail with a few bangs, and a cutie mark depicting a container similar to the one Apple Bloom now had on her flank.
The farm filly was still confused. "So, by infestations do you mean parasprites?" She could faintly recall the time Fluttershy had accidentally brought one home from the Everfree Forest, and they had multiplied out of control. Had it not been for some clever thinking on Pinkie's part, Ponyville would've been left in ruins forever.
The pest control stallion just snorted. "Please. Anypony with a trombone can get rid of parasprites. I'm talking about the serious stuff! You ever hear of... twittermites?"
Apple Bloom gulped a bit. She was equally scared and confused. "Twittermites?"
The stallion nodded. "That's what I said. Pest ponies like you and I are the only things keeping these here live wires from destroying half of Equestria!"
"Pest pony?" Apple Bloom questioned. Was that her calling in life was? She couldn't remember ever having previously been interested in such a profession. Had she?
The pest control stallion simply glared back at Apple Bloom and told her. "It's no easy trade, I tell ya! But you're gonna have to stop repeating everything I say if you want to learn anything! So please pay attention, I ain't keen on repeating myself!"
"I'm sorry, Mister... whatever your name is," Apple Bloom profusely apologized. "I guess this just wasn't what I was expectin' to do with my life is all."
"Name's Green Horn," The stallion responded. "And don't worry. I can't retire till I've made sure you know how to handle yourself. With a cutie mark like that though, I reckon you've got the touch," He then trotted over to a jar holding a bunch of insects that appeared to occasionally sparkle and crackle like electricity. "Now, you're gonna need to be quick. Once these here things get out, it can get pretty shocking." He warned as he unscrewed the lid on the jar.
The twittermites flew out of their jar. Before Apple Bloom had a chance to realize what was going on, she felt a small jolt on her tail! "Youch!" She cried in pain.
Green Horn giggled a little. "See what I mean? And the farther apart they get, the more powerful their shocks become. Let 'em get too far apart and they can fry just about anything they set their sights on. If only they weren't so uncontrollable, they'd make a great energy source."
"Okay... so what do I do exactly?" Apple Bloom asked Green Horn. "And why'd you give me this here vacuum?"
Green Horn smiled and instructed. "Call 'em back, of course. Suck 'em all in and make sure you keep a tight lid on 'em. Those jars are very fragile, so store 'em somewhere safe and don't let 'em break whatever ya do!"
The farm filly gave a whistle, shouting out for the twittermites before she began to suck them all in with her vacuum and store them in several jars. "How was that?"
Green Horn smiled again. "Great! In fact, that was perfect! Reckon you're all set. Drop me a note sometime at the Piney Shade Retirement Community. I'm always keen to pass on my knowledge to the next generation." Then all of a sudden he seemed to disappear.
Apple Bloom looked all around but she didn't see any traces of Green Horn's location. "Hey, where he'd go?" She asked out loud. "Mr Green Horn?! Ya sure you should be leavin' me like this?! Feels like I just got to know you."
But then a pair of familiar, snooty voices filled the air with their giggles. Apple Bloom shuddered. There was no mistaking the identity of their owners.
"Well well well, look at the new bug pony!" Diamond Tiara teased in that trademark condescending tone of voice. It seemed to be extremely malicious today for some reason.
Apple Bloom growled back. "It's pest pony for your information. As in it's my job to take care of pests like you!"
Silver Spoon let out a fake gasp of worry. "Oh no, I'm so scared! What are you gonna do to me, Apple Bloom? Suck me into a jar? Fat chance!"
"Don't you two have better things to be doin' with your lives?" Apple Bloom questioned.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon just laughed, and Diamond Tiara added. "Oh we do, but we just wanted to see how our former rival has turned out. I might have known you'd end up with the worst cutie mark ever!"
"Funny, can't remember the last time I ever heard you talk about your cutie mark." Apple Bloom muttered.
Diamond happened to pick up on the remark as she spun around and taunted. "What is it with you Apples? Are you all this dense, or is it just you? If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred thousand times, my cutie mark means leadership! Something far more important than just collecting bugs for a living."
"Oh but look on the bright side," Silver Spoon teased. "Now whenever you need a friend, you can just go out and catch one. Maybe even trade some to other ponies." She and Diamond promptly laughed at the joke.
"That's not funny," The farm filly growled. "Can't you just leave me alone?"
Oblivious to the remark, Diamond went on taunting Apple Bloom. In the same tone of voice one might call a pet, she cried out. "Heeere, friendfriendfriendfriendfrieeend!"
Silver Spoon added. "Here, bug! Here, bug! Will you be my friend, bug? Because nopony else will! Sure stinks to be me right now!"
With the laughter of the two rich fillies ringing in her ears, Apple Bloom stood up and declared. "I thought you two had changed! Guess I was wrong! My cutie mark isn't the worst, you two are!" And she threw down her vacuum and ran off. "The next time you need a pest pony, don't come cryin' to me!"
The filly kept on running with no real destination in mind. But once she was alone she sighed and started to talk to herself. "I really hate to think that Diamond Tiara is right, but she kind of is... this cutie mark sure isn't what I was hopin' for."
All of a sudden a mysterious voice called out from the dark. "Why should you have to keep it, then? You're not bound to a cutie mark you didn't want."
"And you can just take it away like that? Thought it didn't work that way," Apple Bloom questioned. "Who are you and what are you really tryin' to do?"
The mysterious voice simply replied. "I am a friend and I just want to help. If your cutie mark really bothers you so much, get rid of it! And I can help you with that if you just let me."
In a huff, Apple Bloom declared. "Oh yeah?! Well, if you know how to wave a hoof and erase a terrible cutie mark, you go right ahead!"
Apple Bloom expected for nothing to happen. But then to her surprise the mysterious voice replied. "As easily said as done. Your wish is my command."
There came a sudden gust of wind and Apple Bloom felt something whistle past her. Then she looked at her flank and saw that it was once again blank. "Uh, thank you... whoever you are." She called out but there was no reply. The filly couldn't help but feel a bit unnerved. "Something's not right about all of this. Maybe Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo will know what to do!" She thought to herself.
All of a sudden, Apple Bloom found herself in front of the clubhouse door. She blinked. "Wait, when did I get here? I thought I was somewhere else?" She thought to herself. "Somepony wanna tell me what the hay's goin' on and why nothing's making sense?"
Still, it would be rude to keep guests waiting. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were surely on the other side of the door, expecting Apple Bloom to come in at any moment. A full day of Cutie Mark Crusaders activities would be just the thing for Apple Bloom to take her mind off her troubles.
Expecting nothing the farm filly pushed open the clubhouse door and trotted inside. "Hey girls!" She proudly declared with a broad smile plastered on her face. "Boy, I tell ya I had the weirdest dream last night about cutie marks!"
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded but said nothing, and they seemed to be covering their flanks for some odd reason. That definitely caught the attention of Apple Bloom. "Girls, what's goin' on? Are we playin' some kind of game?"
Scootaloo stood up, as did Sweetie Belle. But it was Scootaloo who looked the blank flanked earth pony square in the face and told her. "We're not playing, Apple Bloom. In fact we're not going to have time for games anymore. Isn't that right, Sweetie Belle?"
In a noticeably serious tone, Sweetie Belle nodded her head and declared. "Yeah. Our days as Cutie Mark Crusaders are officially over."
"What do you mean?!" Apple Bloom questioned with a gulp. "You can't possibly mean-"
But her friends simply removed their hoofs from their flanks, revealing a pair of cutie marks! On Scootaloo's flank was a lightning bolt similar to the Wonderbolts logo. And on Sweetie Belle's flank was a black musical note. Apple Bloom found herself rendered speechless and a knot grew in her stomach! What she'd feared the most had happened, both of her friends had gotten her cutie mark and she had missed it.
"Do you see now, Apple Bloom?" Scootaloo went on. "We got our cutie marks this morning. There's no time for childish games anymore, it's time to get serious!"
"Scootaloo's right! A cutie mark is a very important responsibility," Sweetie Belle nodded. "I won't have time to help you get your cutie mark, Apple Bloom. Rarity's signing me up for singing lessons even as we speak."
"And if I'm going to make it into the next Wonderbolts' Summer Camp, I need to start training now!" Scootaloo boasted. "Sorry, Apple Bloom, but you'll just have to figure out what your cutie mark is all by yourself. As of today the Cutie Mark Crusaders as you knew them are nomore!"
"Sorry, Apple Bloom, but Scootaloo's right," Sweetie Belle apologized. "No hard feelings though, right? We'll still be friends, won't we?"
Apple Bloom swallowed a huge lump in her throat and forced herself to say. "Yeah, we will be. Silly of me to think otherwise. You two go ahead and enjoy your new lives with your new cutie marks. I'm sure I'll find my special talent someday."
Scootaloo smiled. "Okay then. See you in class next week, Apple Bloom. And who knows, someday soon you might see me flying with the Wonderbolts!"
"Or see me on stage, touring Equestria!" Sweetie Belle beamed. And then she and Scootaloo left the clubhouse without another word.
It wasn't until her friends were nearly out of sight that Apple Bloom was able to will herself to react. Up to that point she had just stood there with a cold, numb feeling. But now she was running to the door, trying desperately to keep her friends in her sight for what might be the last time. "Please, don't go! I'm beggin' ya!" She pleaded! "I don't wanna be the only blank flank in class again!" But her pleas were carried off by the same sudden gust of wind as before.
And just like before, the filly's surroundings seemed to suddenly change as a shadowy figure in an echoing voice spoke up. "What's the matter, Apple Bloom? Aren't you happy to be a blank flank again and be rid of that awful cutie mark?"
Apple Bloom turned and growled at the figure. "You tricked me! You knew my friends had already gotten their cutie marks, and you didn't tell me!"
The figure simply retorted. "Oh come now, don't blame me. I simply did what you asked of me. You didn't want to catch bugs for a living, so I helped. You wanted to see your friends again, so I helped. If there are other cutie mark problems, be with it friends, family, or yourself, I can help you with that."
"The only 'help' I need from you, is to never see the likes of you again!" The farm filly shouted! "Everythin' was just fine until you showed up!"
"You think I had anything to do with your cutie mark appearing? Nopony can do such a thing, you know that." The figure slyly replied.
The farm filly just growled anew. "I don't care! There's somethin' you ain't tellin' me! You're in control of all of this, aren't you?! You haven't even told me who you are or what you want from me!"
"It is as I told you, I only want to help you." The figure answered.
"Then go away, and make everythin' the way it used to be!" Apple Bloom demanded! "Make things the way they were before Babs sent that letter and upended everythin'! I wish I'd never even got that letter!"
"I can't do that. I am here to stay. I live to serve you," The figure replied as it crept closer. "Please, tell me what I have to do to help you."
"I said go away!" Apple Bloom roared and pounced on the figure only for it to suddenly disappear, and then reappear behind her! "What's goin' on?! How'd you do that?!"
But just then, a gentle yet somber tone of voice called out amidst the darkness. "Oh Apple Bloom, you can't escape from your own shadow." A moment later, a brilliant flash of light revealed that the figure Apple Bloom had been conversing with was indeed made of shadow. The more light that shone, the smaller the shadow became.
The farm filly then looked up, and all of a sudden everything made sense to her! For hovering above her, was the familiar form of Princess Luna in all her glory. That meant that this was all a dream!
"Princess Luna! Am I glad to see you!" Apple Bloom happily exclaimed as she rushed up to the majestic alicorn. But then a thought struck her. "If that... whatever it was was my shadow, why were all of these other things happenin'?"
"This dream is a nightmare, composed of what you fear the most," Princess Luna explained. "And right now, cutie marks are what you fear most. Because you fear what may happen when you get one."
"But if this is a dream, why does it feel so real?" Apple Bloom pondered. "How am I even supposed to snap out of it?"
Princess Luna moved her wings over her face as she told her young charge. "Well... sometimes we can worry about a thing so much, that the fear can make us feel like we're trapped in a nightmare. That's exactly what's happening to you right now."
The farm filly hung her head in shame. "I guess I just assumed we'd all get our cutie marks at the same time, and that they'd be what we'd always dreamed of. Guess it was silly of me never to consider what would happen if neither one came true. I must be the only pony in the entire world of Equestria who's freaked out about cutie marks."
But Luna shook her head. "I wouldn't say that. There are lots of ponies who have fears similar to the ones you're having. And not all of them are without cutie marks as you and your friends are at the moment," Then with a glow of her horn the surrounding landscape changed. Instead of a dark and empty field, everywhere it was lined with stars and on either side stood a series of doors. Each strangely colored to resemble various ponies Apple Bloom knew. "Tonight is your lucky night, Apple Bloom. I've helped you as much as I can already, now you must help others."
"Help 'em with what?" Apple Bloom questioned.
"Why, with cutie mark problems of course. One in particular will be very happy to see you." The night princess explained with a smile.
The young earth pony looked all around. The color of the doors gave a few vague hints as to whose dream they represented. She recognized the doors of ponies like her teacher Cheerilee, or her big sister Applejack, and some of the various colts and fillies she occasionally interacted with in school. Was one of them harboring the problem she needed to solve?
Still smiling, Luna lit up her horn and presented a door to Apple Bloom with a brilliant gamboge coat of paint. It didn't take a genius to figure out whose dream was behind that door. "Babs Seed is havin' nightmares too, huh?" Apple Bloom realized, to which Luna nodded. "But why? She's already got her cutie mark."
"And with it comes a whole new set of worries." The alicorn somberly replied as she opened the door. There was a brilliant flash of light and Apple Bloom shut her eyes!
When at last the flash faded, Apple Bloom's eyes beheld a sight she would've never expected to see even in a dream by her favorite cousin.
There was Babs Seed, the filly's new cutie mark clearly visible from afar. Her brownish-green eyes, however, reflected not a look of happiness at no longer being a blank flank, but rather one of horror.
And soon Apple Bloom knew why. For without warning, Babs Seed suddenly found herself facing a huge stack of light and brilliant amaranth mane hair! She took out a pair of scissors similar to those depicted on her cutie mark and tried to cut the stack down. But every time she cut even one small chunk of mane hair, it just split into more stacks that grew taller and taller!
Babs kept on cutting, and cutting, and cutting, but it was all in vain! No matter what she did and no matter how hard she cut the stack of mane hair did not decrease! Before long it had piled up to where it was flank high, the filly struggling not to be overcome by the steadily growing pile! "Wowsa! This is unbelievable!" She exclaimed with worry! "Oh, I wish my cousin Apple Bloom and her friends were here! They'd know what to do! They're not afraid of anything."
"Babs!" Apple Bloom shouted in horror, watching from afar.
Princess Luna nudged the filly forward. "You have the power to act, Apple Bloom! This is why I brought you here. You must be the one to help Babs."
Realizing what she had to do, the farm filly rushed forward to help her city cousin. She could only hope she wasn't too late. "Babs!" She shouted again, this time to draw attention to herself.
Babs Seed spun around, shocked to see her favorite cousin come charging through the huge stack of mane hair as if it meant nothing! "Apple Bloom?! Is it really you?!"
Apple Bloom nodded. "It's okay, cousin, I'm here to help you."
"You are?" Babs questioned as her cousin nodded. "Well, maybe you can start by telling me why all this mane hair keeps growing and growing. This is a future mane stylist's worst nightmare!"
"Don't you see, Babs," Apple Bloom spoke up. "This is a nightmare. It's what you fear the most!"
"I don't get it. I'm afraid I'm gonna get swamped by killer mane hair?" Babs shot a puzzled look at her cousin.
The farm filly shook her head in protest. "No, Babs. You ain't worried about the mane hair, you can style anything if you set your mind to it. Somethin' else is botherin' you, ain't it?"
"How would you know?" Babs questioned. "You still ain't got your cutie mark yet, no offense."
"None taken, Babs," Apple Bloom apologized and then she explained. "Your cutie mark is what's botherin' ya. You're afraid your mark is gonna come to control your life, define who you are. But you don't wanna be stuck as a mane stylist for the rest of your life, do you?"
Now it was Babs' turn to shake her head. "Of course not! I wanna open my own barber shop in Manehattan, and travel to Canterlot, and maybe even have a family someday. I can't do all of that with my cutie mark though, Mom and Pop are already signing me up for the next mane styling camp when it rolls around."
Apple Bloom threw back her head and laughed. "Oh Babs, you're worryin' over nothin'. I was havin' the same kind of fears you're havin' now, afraid that my cutie mark was gonna hold me back and ruin my life. But you know what I've come to learn since I founded the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"
"What's that?" Babs nervously asked.
"It's that a cutie mark is what you make of it. It doesn't have to control you," Apple Bloom explained to her cousin. "If you wanna open your own barbershop, nothin's stoppin' ya! Not your cutie mark, and certainly not your folks! Ponies don't have to do things just 'cause it's what their cutie mark tells 'em they're meant to do. If that was the case, my teacher would be a gardener 'cause her cutie mark is a trio of flowers. Does that sound like the kind of cutie mark you'd expect a teacher to have?"
"Well, I guess not, but..." Babs trailed off as her lip trembled ever so slightly.
"-But nothin', cousin!" Apple Bloom firmly declared as she stomped a hoof down. To Babs' surprise it did not sink into the mane hair. "So maybe you won't be able to do everythin' you used to do, that doesn't mean you can't still do things outside your cutie mark. Ponies do it all the time. And whatever you wanna do with all this mane hair and those scissors, that's up to you. And if you ask me, that mark indicates a pony who can tackle anythin' life might throw at her! Not just a pony who's gonna be workin' with mane hairs all day!"
It took a moment for the words of her country cousin to sink in. But once they did, a look of fiery determination shone in Babs' eyes and a renewed sense of vigor and passion could be heard in her tone of voice. "You're right, cousin! After all, mane hair ain't the only thing scissors can cut!" She trotted over to some nearby fabrics that had not been consumed by the rising mane hairs. She quickly cut them into various shapes resembling all sorts of activities she liked to do. And as she cut and folded the mane hairs began to recede. Before long they had disappeared completely.
"Thanks for the help, cousin!" Babs Seed smiled as she embraced her fellow earth pony in a hug.
"Think nothin' of it, Babs. I'm just happy to help," Apple Bloom replied. "Looks like my work is here done. Better go find Princess Luna."
"Princess Luna? What's she got to do with all of this?" Babs wondered aloud only to turn around and see that her cousin had somehow vanished.
Apple Bloom returned to Princess Luna to see the night princess smiling. "You've done well, Apple Bloom. Not only have you conquered your own worst fear, but in doing so have helped another overcome theirs."
"I just can't believe I've spent all this time worryin' about nothin'," Apple Bloom commented with a chuckle. "Now I know how silly I've been. Lots of ponies get these worries for no good reason."
But at that, Princess Luna frowned and her posture became noticeably more serious. "I wouldn't be saying that, Apple Bloom. Sometimes ponies have very good reasons to worry about their cutie mark and what it means to them. You just told Babs Seed that a cutie mark is what you make of it, didn't you?"
"Well, yeah, I did. But where exactly are ya goin' with this?" The farm filly inquired of the princess.
Luna responded simply by gesturing to another door, this one a familiar magenta in color.
The door opened the same way the ones to Babs Seed's dream had opened, with a brilliant (and blinding) flash of light. The dream occupant was easy to determine, for she sported an easily identifiable headgear that matched what was reflected in her cutie mark. In short, it was Diamond Tiara.
"Why have you brought me here, Luna? Diamond Tiara doesn't have any problems with her cutie mark." Apple Bloom questioned.
"It's not the mark that's the problem, it's the expectations that come with it. Observe." Luna simply explained as she gestured a hoof.
Diamond Tiara stood before a massive piano and although there didn't seem to be anyone in sight she was still nervous. As if she'd rather be anywhere else.
Apple Bloom and Princess Luna watched silently as the pink coated filly trotted up to the piano, clambered onto the stool, and after positioning her hooves started to play a song on the keys. Her cornflower blue eyes glancing up only on occasion to the musical notes printed on the sheet. "I have to do it by heart." She told herself.
"No talking!" A stern but unrecognizable voice bellowed out from the darkness. "The only sound I wanna hear is the sound of those hooves pounding those keys!"
Diamond gulped but said not a word, she just continued to play the song. However, towards the end of it her hooves slipped and pressed the wrong key. Compared to the right keys, this one rang out quite audibly as though the surrounding environment suddenly echoed. The filly seemed to shudder almost on instinct.
And the same stern voice from before bitterly remarked! "Idiot! Do it again, and do it right this time!"
"I'm trying to! Can't I please take a break?" Tiara pleaded with the voice. "I promise I'm not trying to slack off."
But the voice only answered. "No excuses, no exceptions! As a rich pony, perfection is the one thing always expected. Anything less is not tolerable! Now go again! You're not getting up from this stool until every single key has been played exactly right! Do I make myself clear?!"
Weakly, Diamond answered the voice. "Yes." And went back to playing from the beginning without a word.
As Apple Bloom watched the whole scene from afar, she felt something inside her snap. "This ain't right! Poor Diamond's bein' tortured!" And acting on instinct she charged into the dreamscape, penetrating the darkness that surrounded her on again/off again rival.
Tiara barely noticed the unexpected visitor. Or if she did she paid no attention, she just continued to pound out the keys to the best of her ability.
It wasn't until Apple Bloom cried out "Diamond Tiara!" that the rich filly finally took notice of her unexpected visitor. "This is all a dream!"
But Diamond shushed her guest. "Apple Bloom, not so loud. Can't you see I'm in the middle of something important?"
"What? Bein' forced into somethin' you clearly don't wanna do?" Apple Bloom questioned. "I thought you said your cutie mark meant leadership."
Tiara rolled her eyes. "Of course it does. But that leadership comes with expectations, expectations that must be met no matter what! So go away, blank flank. Why do you care what happens to me?"
"Because cutie mark or not, nopony should be forced to do somethin' they don't wanna do!" Apple Bloom boldly declared as she stood up. "So whoever you are out there, you ain't controllin' Diamond Tiara anymore tonight! She's free to do whatever she wants, she ain't bound by what you may think of her cutie mark or the ability that comes with it!"
"You dare to snap at me?!" The voiced angrily roared. "Insolent brat! You'll pay for your disrespect! Diamond Tiara, kindly show this 'pest' the door! And then I expect you to return to your piano lessons."
But Tiara, feeling a sudden surge of confidence, stood up and roared back. "I won't! You can't make me do what you want anymore! If this is a dream then that means I'm free to do what I want! I'm not your little puppet, at least not in here! And you know what I've always wanted to do?"
"What?!" The voice questioned.
With a grin, the pink coated filly giggled. "This!" She leaped onto the piano and started to slide along the massive keys with no rhyme or reason to her rhythm. In fact, she was having so much fun that she didn't even notice when Apple Bloom slipped away, back through the darkness.
When Apple Bloom returned to Princess Luna, she was surprised to see the princess not frowning but instead smiling. "You've been a bigger help than I ever imagined, Apple Bloom. I have been trying for ages to assist Diamond Tiara in her dreams, but always I have fallen short. You, however, seemed to have figured out a way to break through to her."
"Just who was that shadowy figure she was takin' orders from? And why did they sound so cruel?" Apple Bloom questioned. "I never could make out a face."
"If I had to harbor a guess, I would say that was her mother: Spoiled Rich," Princess Luna explained. "I have heard... things about her. Things I dare not repeat in the company of a filly like yourself. But heed my warning, stay away from her at all costs. Spoiled Rich is not a pony you should ever get on the bad side of."
"Spoiled Rich, I think I've heard that name before somewhere." Apple Bloom realized.
Luna nodded, before she conjured up another door. "It's been a busy night for us all, but I think it's finally time to bring it to a close."
A moment later, the door swung open. On the other side of it was the familiar interior of the clubhouse the Cutie Mark Crusaders frequently occupied. And inside it already were Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Babs Seed. All of them at once realized their visitor. "Princess Luna!" They all exclaimed!
Luna smiled. "Yes, it is I. Fear not, for I have brought Apple Bloom. All of you have been suffering from very similar fears this very night."
"Wait, we're still asleep?" Sweetie Belle questioned.
Scootaloo, however, took advantage of the opportunity to fly around the clubhouse. "Cool! So this is what flying feels like! Can't wait 'til I can do it in the waking world one day!"
"Hold on a minute," Babs Seed questioned. "What am I doing here? And what's this got to do with all of us?"
Luna gestured to the podium. "I think Apple Bloom has something she'd like to share before you wake."
Apple Bloom stepped up to the podium. "Well, reckon I oughta call this dream meetin' of the Cutie Mark Crusaders to order!" She pressed her hoof down, causing the podium to let out a honk. Princess Luna suppressed a giggle. "I know we all got pretty anxious when we found out Babs got her cutie mark, but I for one don't want to have nightmares every night from now until we three get ours! Or in Babs' case, forever!"
"Not anymore, cousin! Thanks to you, I don't think I'll be having any more nightmares about out of control mane hair!" Babs declared.
Scootaloo smiled. "This isn't the first time I've had nightmares over something silly. If you could overcome yours, Babs, I'm sure the rest of us will do the same."
"It's lucky we're all scared of the same things. That way we can help and remind each other to just be who we are!" Sweetie Belle added.
Princess Luna then added. "And when the day comes that you all finally get your cutie marks, you can be sure they'll fit you to a T."
"Most importantly though," Apple Bloom declared. "Tonight I think I need to make somethin' clear. Just because somepony gets their cutie mark, doesn't mean they have to stop bein' a Cutie Mark Crusader. Once a Crusader, always a Crusader!" And a short time later, the dream clubhouse faded away as the fillies were all led away.
When morning came for real, Apple Bloom awoke feeling refreshed and cheerful. It was a new day, and she knew that any worries she might have previously had were long gone. So as she made her way downstairs for breakfast, she found herself singing:
There ain't no call to worry
So don't you cry or fret.
'Cause a cutie mark won't change me
No matter what I get!
Applejack smiled, overhearing the lullaby she had sang the night before. "Well, sure looks like somepony's feelin' better. Sleep well last night, sis?"
"Oh believe me, you wouldn't believe the kind of sleep I had!" Apple Bloom proudly declared. "Though, I do have one question."
Applejack turned. "Oh, and what would that be?"
"Is there an actual Mr. Green Horn around these parts?" Apple Bloom questioned.
Applejack nodded. "The pest control pony? Yeah, he's been here since before you were born. Why'd you ask, sis?"
"Well, let's just say I suddenly have a newfound appreciation for the work he does." Was all Apple Bloom responded with, leaving her family quite puzzled. Breakfast was certainly going to be interesting for the Apple Family today.