July 29th, 1000 Domina Solaria
“I don’t think she could have shoved it in our muzzles any harder,” Scootaloo groans, halfway to yelling at this point. “Who does she think she is? We just happened to need a lesson on cutie marks a week after she gets hers?” Scootaloo rides her scooter like it is responsible for Miss Cheerilee’s report, angrily leaning on the hoofbars, though she is still careful not to damage it. Even if it came from Diamond Tiara. And she can’t take that away!
Sweetie Belle and Twist continue walking next to her, heading towards Twist’s house. Sweetie Belle nods along, already tired of Scootaloo’s ranting. “Uh huh.”
“It’s ridiculous! And guess who was just sooo fascinated by the historical significance of cutie marks! And why certain ones tend to get repeated, or run in families, or different kinds of interpretive parades!”
“Paradigms,” Sweetie Belle automatically corrects. “Different ways of thinking about what cutie marks mean. And the Harmony associated with them.”
“Thanks,” Scootaloo nearly spits out, glaring at nothing in particular. “Next time I have a cutie mark related question, maybe I’ll come to you instead of listening to Diamond Tiara ramble on about crowns or blue and gold compasses.” She groans, parking her scooter outside the house before they go inside.
Twist shakes her head as she looks over at Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, the three fillies quietly sitting around in the kitchen of Twist’s house. “Tho, um, thankth for coming over, you two. I’m not thure what to do! I juth know everypony there ith gonna have their cutie markth! And you know Diamond Taira ith gonna make fun of uth! Thith latht week hath been terrible!”
Scootaloo shrugs, her anger mostly spent, “Eh, it’s not so bad once you get used to it. You know she doesn’t care for us having a human as a sire, and that’s been true for, like, ever. But it’s not like she goes around making fun of us to our faces about it.” She huffs, “She just finds other ways to really rub it in.”
“Really?” Twist says, looking out of the window of her house towards the Rich mansion, “Thee’th alwayth looking at me funny when I talk. Like thee can’t thtand that I have a lithp.”
Scootaloo nods, “Yeah, she never picks on me for not being able to fly, or on Sweetie Belle for struggling with magic. But, any time she can get away with pointing out that we don’t have the fanciest saddlebags, or that we bring our lunches every day?” Scootaloo shakes her head, looking towards her plain cloth bags and plainer lunch. She pulls out her hay sandwich, and apples, and bottle of apple juice, just like she gets every day. At least there's always plenty of it.
“And now thee’th thaying that we might never get our cutie marks! That we’re too old! I wanna get a cutie mark!” Twist drops down, sobbing into her hooves.
Sweetie Belle rolls her eyes, “She’s, like, the same age we are.” When that tactic doesn’t work Sweetie Belle slips next to Twist, tenderly running a hoof along her back. “Hey, Twist, it’s not so bad. I’m sure there’s something that you enjoy doing!”
“Yeah!” adds Scootaloo, looking around the kitchen. “There’s gotta be at least one activity here that you can get your cutie mark in!”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo pause, expectantly waiting for something that never comes.
“Hey, where is Apple Bloom, anyway?” Sweetie Belle says, looking around. “I thought she was coming over?”
“I think Diamond Tiara’s teasing got to her,” Scootaloo says. “I heard her talking about going to Rainbow Dash, something about trying new things. Maybe she’s trying to get her cutie mark too?”
“That’d be tho thweet!” Twist says, perking up. “Maybe we’ll all thow up to Diamond Tiara’s cute-theañera with our cutie markth!”
“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” Scootaloo exclaims. “So, what do you like doing?”
“Um, I like making candieth,” Twist says, glancing around the kitchen. She points at a few of the cooling trays, many different shapes of candy cooling, “But after I tried making a whole bunth of candieth and I didn’t get my cutie mark I, thorta, um, gave up.”
“Hey, maybe you just haven’t made the right candy!” Sweetie Belle looks outside, “If we go quick we might be able to get all of the shopping done before she comes!”
Twist shakes her head, “No, I can’t. Dam told me to thtay inthide! And you thould thtay inthide too!”
“We’ll be fine,” Scootaloo nearly groans out, hurrying to the door. “I can’t believe Diamond Tiara decided to have her cute-ceañera on the same day Zecora comes to town.”
“She probably just figured she’d be inside Sugarcube Corner by that point.” Sweetie Belle bounds up next to her, both looking back at Twist. “Come on, Twist! It’ll be quick, just in and out!”
Both glance to the open spot next to them, Sweetie Belle awkwardly adding after a few seconds, “We’ll be back before you know it!”
Twist keeps shaking her head, “No, I’ll jutht, um,” she grabs the bowl of candies, munching on one of the peppermint sticks. Her fearful expression briefly breaks as she says, “Make more of theethe. They’re my favorite!”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sigh before leaving, entering the nearly deserted marketplace. A pony occasionally peers out of a doorway or window, quickly disappearing back inside. Scootaloo sighs, “You’d think we’re the only fillies around here who do anything exciting.”
“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle says, nervously glancing around but trying to keep her spirits up. “Like, they’re all afraid of nothing!”
Silence reigns for a few seconds as they walk.
“I like it more when Apple Bloom comes along,” Scootaloo says, her voice slightly shaking.
“Yeah, me too.” Sweetie Belle jumps as a door shuts, huffing loudly at the fright.
Scootaloo snorts, “It’s not like anything super scary is going to happen, right?”
“Yeah, right. Hey, is that her?” Sweetie Belle says, pointing at a hooded figure walking into town from the south. A brown cloak covers the rest of the body, along with earth toned saddlebags that look like they could disappear into the dirt if she merely lay down. Her dark hooves occasionally glinting gold against the dirt as she purposefully strides towards Ponyville. Sweetie Belle continues, “Nopony else is out and about.”
“Um, maybe?” Scootaloo says, flinching as many of the nearby doors and windows slamming shut. “Early Nightmare Night costume?”
“I don’t know, she looks a little bigger than Apple Bloom.” Sweetie Belle squints, “Maybe she’s wearing platform horseshoes!”
“Yeah!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle bound up towards the hooded figure, shouting, “Hiya, Apple Bloom!”
The two tone gray equine pulls her hood back, her dark muzzle grinning at the two fillies. Her white and black mane is styled in a tall mohawk, her dyed fur continuing the striped pattern in light and dark gray. She has five golden bands around her neck, a single large golden earring for each ear, and a dark muzzle containing rows of teeth!
Their voices catch in their throats, unable to scream as they cower down in the dirt, holding their hooves above their heads and trying to ward off her gaze. Sweetie Belle pleads without looking up, “Please don’t eat us!”
Scootaloo whimpers, “Or cook us into a stew!”
They both stay silent for a few seconds before glancing around.
Sweetie Belle begs, “Or cook us into a stew and then eat us!”
A lyrical, soothing voice rings out, “I assure you, young filly, that doing so would be quite silly.” The zebra bows down, her movement slow but still enough to send the two fillies cringing in fear. “I promise, you need not be afraid of me, for Zecora is my name and I am quite friendly.”
“Oh. Um, I’m Scootaloo” -Scootaloo waves a hoof somewhere to her left- “and this is Sweetie Belle” -she waves a hoof to her right- “and this is Apple Bloom.”
Zecora glances around, looking for the third filly. She smiles, “I may have heard of you three, for your sire I have met personally. He still helps from time to time, even when it leaves him coated in grime.”
“Really?” Sweetie Belle says, standing up. “Grime doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Can’t be worse than tree sap,” Scootaloo agrees, getting to her hooves.
Zecora raises one eyebrow at the silence that follows.
Sweetie Belle huddles closer to Scootaloo, her voice still loud enough for Zecora to hear without difficulty, “And she says she knows Daddy, and he never said anything bad about her.”
Scootaloo nods again, “Or warned us against spending time with her.” The two fillies sigh before smiling at the zebra.
Zecora smiles back, “Perhaps you would like to help with my toils, for potions to cure wounds and boils?”
“Potion making cutie marks!” Both fillies exclaim, reaching two hooves into the air and leaving an obvious space for a third pony.
Scootaloo huffs, “Okay, this is getting annoying.” She looks around, then behind her, as if Apple Bloom is hiding somewhere.
“Yeah. Sorry, Zecora, but I don’t think Apple Bloom would let us go off and get our cutie marks without her around.” Sweetie Belle grins, offering a sheepish smile.
“It is quite alright, little one. Though it could be a lot of fun.” Zecora pulls off her saddlebags, grabbing one of the glass containers inside.
Scootaloo rolls her eyes, “Yeah, just don’t start offering us a bunch of candy to come follow you or something.”
Sweetie Belle pulls Scootaloo to the side, “Hey, speaking of candy, weren’t we supposed to get Twist some candy making stuff?”
“Oh yeah!” Scootaloo grins, “And maybe we can find Apple Bloom! She’s probably around Sweet Apple Acres, right?”
“She could be anywhere in town, actually, if she was following Rainbow Dash around.” Sweetie Belle looks up at Zecora, “Um, just out of curiosity, you aren’t actually an evil enchantress, are you?”
Zecora paws at the ground, digging around for something, “I have been called many names by this town, all of which would make one frown, but much like all plants have their use, from wolf repellant to tomato juice.”
“That isn’t a no,” Scootaloo says with a frown.
“It isn’t a yes, either,” Sweetie Belle counters.
Zecora grins as she holds her hooves up into the air, her lilting, ‘oooo’ shaking back and forth like her hooves.
Scootaloo snickers, “Heh, I like you, Zecora. You’re all right.”
Sweetie Belle smiles, “Hey, we can meet up with you once we find Apple Bloom, right?”
Zecora nods as she unearths the roots of one of the nearby flowers, placing it in the pack on her side. She wipes the dirt off of her hooves, “I suspect it will be quite easy, as my mere presence makes ponies queasy.”
“Let’s go find Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle says as she takes off, Scootaloo in close pursuit. “And some candy!”
The two scamper around town, looking for various areas that Apple Bloom could have gone as they make their way to Sugarcube Corner. As they get near they hear a loud whispering, glancing around to spot Pinkie Pie waving at them. The pink mare is crouching in the doorway, trying to make herself as small as possible while trying to get them to come inside to safety. They shrug; they are heading there anyway.
Inside Sugarcube Corner is Apple Bloom, the bored filly practically enveloped by her terrified dam. Applejack is shaking uncontrollably, occasionally trying to reassure herself by convincing Apple Bloom that her frightened movement is actually her, and no intention of letting go.
Well, at least they found the third member of their trio. “Hey, Apple Bloom!” says Sweetie Belle.
“Hi.” Apple Bloom grunts out, none too thrilled at her dam’s overprotectiveness.
“You wanna come back with us?” Scootaloo says excitedly. “We were just about to… um…” she stammers, looking up at Applejack’s glare.
“You two weren’t going to talk with that Zecora, were you?” Applejack snarls, glaring outside.
“No! Um, that wasn’t our plan in coming here,” Scootaloo says, wilting under Applejack’s glare.
Sweetie Belle nods along, “Yeah! We were coming here to get, um, candy! And sugar! We’re helping Twist out!”
“Oh, is that right?” Pinkie Pie says, pronking around. “Well, I already sang Apple Bloom my cupcake song once, but I’d be happy to sing it twice for both of you!”
“That’s okay, Pinkie. I think we’ll be making candy, not cupcakes. We just needed to get a bag or two of sugar. And maybe some spices.” Sweetie Belle smiles up at Pinkie Pie.
“Hmm,” Pinkie Pie says, looking between the two. “Okie!” She pulls out two bags of sugar, dumping each on a filly. “Have fun!”
“Sure thing, Pinks!” Scootaloo exclaims. She waves and winks at Apple Bloom, though Applejack narrows her eyes as the two walk away and head back to Twist's house.