//------------------------------// // Chapter 2–Cutie Mark Troubles // Story: The Little Pony Legend: Tales of Equestria // by MaggiesHeartLove //------------------------------// *(~)* Proverbs 11:2~ Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. *(~)* Cutie Mark Troubles It's been three weeks since Amon's defeat. Korra and Tenzin were working with the Council in restoring peace in Republic City. Thanks to the ponies, many have learned a lot about friendship, but not everybody was on board with it, so Korra and her friends still had some work to do. However, that didn't stop them from enjoying each other's company whenever they had free time. The Ponies visited often and, thanks to their newly required Elements of Harmony, they could communicate with Korra at any time. Kind of like their own personal Pony/Avatar telephone line. In other words, things still got crazy sometimes, but at the same time they could have been a lot worse. On this particular day, a certain firebender was walking dow the streets of Republic City with a smile on his face. He and his brother were still living at Air Temple Island for a while. They planed on finding their own place soon but for the time being, they were happy there and until Mako found himself the right job, the island was their home. Mako gave the flower bender his money, he had just bought some fire lilies, "Here ya go, son" Mako smiled and saluted him, "Thanks. Have a nice day." "You too." Mako continued walking down the streets waving at anyone who said hello, "Morning, miss." "Good morning, young man." "Morning, Mister Yang." "Hello Mako, and what a fine morning it is." "Don't I know it." Words could not describe how happy he was. It was not to long ago when he and Korra confessed their love for one another and had recently started dating. So far, it was endless bliss. The firebender was so happy, he felt like singing. In fact…. Mako; Morning in Republic City shimmers Morning in Republic City shines! And I know for absolute certain That everything is certainly fine Yes, everywhere is a new beginning The Equalist war is done The city, today is so gentle and still Can things ever go wrong? I don't think that they will He got onto a ferry which took him to Air Temple Island. He continued his happy song until he reached the docks of Air Temple Island and jumped off of the boat, surprising a few Air Acolytes. Morning in Republic City shimmers Morning in Republic city shines! And I know for absolute certain That everything is certainly---OW! Mako was suddenly interrupted when he was suddenly knocked over by something that flew right into his face. He laid on the floor groaning, "Didn't see that coming" "Girls!" Mako heard the sound of his girlfriend running towards him. The Avatar spotted her boyfriend on the ground, the lilies he had bought for her were still in his hands. "Mako? Are you okay?" she asked she helped him up. "I was." Mako rubbed the back of his neck before handing her the flowers, "These are for you" Korra smiled at the lovely gift, "Aww, they're beautiful, thank you" she smelled the flowers and kissed his cheek. "Awwww!" Mako looked down and saw three fillies smiling at them. One was a unicorn with a white gray coat with grayish mulberry curled mane with pale, light grayish rose streaks and pale, light grayish harlequin colored eyes. She bared a strong resemblance to a certain unicorn. The second was a young pegasus pony with a light brilliant gamboge coat with matching wings, moderate cerise hame styled upwards into a spiky pixie-cut hairstyle and grayish purple eyes. The third one was an earth pony with a pale, light grayish olive coat and a mane colored in brilliant amaranth adorned with a light brilliant crimson bow on her head and brilliant gamboge colored eyes. "So they're the ones who crashed into me?" Mako said while smiling at the adorable little ones. The fillies had crashed into him while ridding on one of the airbender kids' gliders. Korra took the glider away from them and looked at them sternly. "Girls, why were you flying on Jinora's glider?" "We just wanted to try it out" said the pegasus. Korra sighed and introduced her boyfriend to the little ponies, "Mako, you remember Applejack and Rarity's little sisters: Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and Rainbow Dash's honorary sister Scootaloo" "Yeah, I remember them. And after that crash landing I don't think I'll ever forget" Mako said jokingly while rubbing his sore neck. "Hay Mako!" Apple Bloom greeted. "So what are you three doing here?" Mako asked as he squatted down to their level. "We agreed to have a play date with Korra today" said Sweetie Belle. "I'm going to show them around the city" Korra said. "You wanna come?" Scootaloo asked Mako. "Actually, I--" "Korra!" The Avatar spun around to see Tenzin approaching her, "Oh, hey Tenzin. What's up?" "Don't you remember? We have a meeting with the Council." "Wait, that's today?!" "You did forget, didn't you?" Korra groaned and face palmed herself in frustration, "I did! I'm sorry, I'll be with you in a minute." Tenzin bowed before walking back to Oogie. Korra sadly turned to the girls, "Girls, I'm so sorry but I'm afraid we're going to have to cancel our plans for today" The ponies groaned in disappointment, "We'll do this another time. I promise. I really should leaner to write stuff down." While Mako understood Korra had other important stuff to do, he still felt kind of bad for the ponies. "Can't somebody else take them?" he asked. "Pema's busy taking care of Rohan and Jinora who's sick, plus Ikki and Meelo are still grounded" "What did they do?" Apple Bloom asked. "Long story. I'll call your sisters to come and pick you up" said Korra. Suddenly, Mako came up with an idea. "Why don't I do it?" "Do what?" Korra asked. "Take care of them for the day" Korra was surprised by this, "You can?" "He can?" the ponies asked just as surprised "Sure I can!" he said with confidence. "Mako, are you sure about this?" "Of course. You go to your meeting, I'll watch them for you." he gestured to the little ponies, "Look at them, do you really want to disappoint these sweet little angels?" Korra saw the fillies giving her puppy eyes and pouty lips. Nobody could resist those faces. She was pretty surprised that Mako was willing to care for these ponies, but then again it was a very nice gesture on his part and Mako did have experience caring for younger children, having practically raised his brother on the streets. Also, no doubt he wanted to do something nice for his new girlfriend. Korra smiled and sighed in defeat, "Okay, fine" "YAY!" the fillies cheered. "But promise me you'll keep a close eye on them and don't let them try anything too dangerous." Mako placed his hand over his heart, "I promise" They heard Tenzin calling, "Korra! We're going to be late!" "Coming!", she lowered down to the crusaders, "Okay girls, be good with Mako okay?", she gave each of them a kiss on the head. Mako leaned in to get a kiss from Korra but she shoved him away, much to his surprise and disappointment, "Bring them back in one piece, then you'll get your kiss", she waved bye before running to Tenzin and both got on the bison before flying away, leaving the ponies and Mako to awkwardly smile at each other. Mako spoke first, "Sooooooo….what would you girls like to see first?" "Can we go to the park?" Apple Bloom asked excitedly, "And then to a noodle shop?" added Sweetie Belle. "And then the pro-bending arena?" said Scootaloo. "And Aang's Memorial Island?" said Sweetie Belle. Mako blinked, these fillies really did plan out this whole trip. He knew he couldn't' disappoint them, "Okay, sure." The ponies cheered as they ran toward the docks to wait for the ferry. "This shouldn't' be so hard." he said to himself….and was he about to find out just how wrong he was. (~) First, Mako took the ponies to a noodle shop for brunch. Mako and the fillies were sitting at a table, laughing as Mako listened to one of the stories of their many adventures, "So wait, you girls actually made a love potion and used it on your teacher and brother?" Apple Bloom nodded, "Yep" Scootaloo added, "We sure did" "And did it work?" Mako asked, intrigued by their tale. "Oh, it worked alright" said Apple Bloom. "A little too well" said Sweetie Belle. "They were all "cuchi-coo" and calling each other wired nicknames." said Apple Bloom while wearing a disgusted look on her face. Mako scoffed, "Come on, it couldn't have been that bad" "How do you feel about "moochy-poo?" asked Scootaloo while arching an eyebrow. Mako shuddered, "Ew, okay I get the picture. Wow, you girls really do get yourselves into crazy situations, don't you?" "Yeah but we always come out on top" said Scootaloo. "Because the Cutie Mark Crusaders never give up" Apple Bloom said proudly. Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement, "Never!" They high hoof each other, making Mako smile, "I have to admit, you girls have got a lot of spunk." "Yeah. But no matter how hard we try we still can't get out cutie marks" Sweetie Belle said sadly. "Just be patient. I'm sure they'll show up when the time is right" Mako assured. Apple Bloom groaned, "Now you sound just like everypony else" But the firebender simply smiled, "Truest me, when you least expect it, something good will happen to you. I speak from personal experience." A waiter comes and hands them the food, four bowls of noodles. The ponies had never tried noodles before. They looked at the bowls curiously. "How are we suppose to eat em?" Apple Bloom asked. "Normally people use chopsticks" said Mako as he used the chopsticks to eat his noodles. Scootaloo looked down at the two sticks, silently asking herself how the heck to humans eat with these. She used her two front hooves in an attempt to try and use the chopsticks, but they fell on the floor. Sweetie Belle had not grown into her magic yet so she couldn't levitate the chopsticks. While Mako was already eating his food he noticed the poor little fillies struggling to eat their food like everybody else in the restaurant."Why don't you girls just eat them without the chopsticks, then?" "Nobody else around here is eating them that way" Apple Bloom said. Scootaloo lowered her ears, "We don't want to look weird" Mako chuckled, "You're three ponies eating in a noodle shop filled with humans. Can't get any weirder than that." But none the less, the ponies looked down at their food sadly. Mako should have known better than to get ponies to eat like humans. So he wouldn't. "Hey, look." The girls saw their human companion put down the chopsticks and instead took one noodle with his hand and slurped it into his mouth. The ponies smiled and each took a single noodle into their mouths and slurp them as well. "Mmmmmm!" "There ya see?" "You're right, this is better" said Sweetie Belle. The friends continued to eat this way for the rest of their meal. Some people looked at them strangely, while others found the scene adorable and sweet. Mako didn't even care that others were staring, he was just glad that the fillies were having fun now. (~) Latter, the four of them went to the park. "Wow!" the ponies were taken by the beauty of the place. The grass was lush and green like pure emeralds, the ponds were a clear shade of blue and the most adorable little creatures played in the water. They looked like a cross between a duck and a turtle. Mako said they were called turtle ducks. "This place is huge!" said Scootaloo. "Hey look!" Apple Bloom pointed to a group of kids playing with a ball. "Why don't you girls go and play with them for a while?" said Mako. "Really?" "Sure, just don't wander too far okay" "Okay!" The fillies all attempt to join the kids before Mako stopped them, "And don't talk to any grown ups!" "Okay!", they prepared to leave by Mako stopped them again. "And if any of you have to use the bathroom just let me know." "Mako!" they shouted, feeling a tad embarrassed. "Okay, okay go and have fun." The ponies run to the kids, who happily let the ponies play with them. Mako smiled, this "filly" sitting gig wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. "Mako is that you?" the young firebender turned around and was surprised to see a familiar face selling ice cream near a small cart. "Hasook?" "It's been a while" said his former teammate with a friendly smile."Yeah. What are you doing here?" it was quite odd for Mako to see this guy selling ice cream from a cart. The last time Mako saw him he was nothing but an arrogant no good waterbender and pathetic excuse for a teammate. "Well, after I quit pro-bending I took over for my grandpa's ice cream business" "You quit pro-bending…for ice cream?" "Yeah. Of corse Amon's whole "anti-war" thing made business kind of slow but now that it's over, I've never been happier.", he gave a little girl her ice cream cone, "Here ya go, sweetie" "Thank you" "Wow. I'm impressed" said Mako "So how've you been? I heard you helped the Avatar take down Amon" "Yep, I did" "And I also heard that you two are a "thing" now. Is that true?" Hasook said while giving Mako a sly smile. The Firebender chuckled, "Yeah it's true" "Congrats! So you gonna buy anything or what?" "I'll take one pistachio and three vanillas. And add some sprinkles while you're at it" "I didn't know you had such sweet tooth" he said jokingly as he began scooping the ice cream and placing them on cones. "The vanillas are for some ponies I'm watching" said Mako "Oh, yeah I heard that the Avatar was now best friends with those pony creatures that helped rebuild the city." "Yeah, I promised Korra I'd watch three of them for today." "Ah, the old "kiddy" routine." Hasook said with a sly smile. "What are you talking about?" "Come on, I've had a few girlfriends myself Mako, some of then had little siblings." As he talked and prepared the ice cream, the Crusaders were walking towards Mako but hid behind a tree to listen in on the conversation between the two men. "So I volunteered to babysit just to impress them. I'm not entirely proud of it now but, hey when it comes to girls we guys will do pretty much anything. Am I right?" Mako placed his hands into his pocket and sighed while looking downcast with guilt. "Well, actually…I did kind of agreed to this to impress Korra. We've only been going out for a couple of weeks and I wanted to do something special for her." Unbeknownst to them, The ponies gasped in shock. "See, I was right." said Hasook, "So are they a handful or what?" "To be honest, it's not that different than taking care of human kids. At this noodle shop, they couldn't use their chopsticks so I had to eat with my hands just so they would." The ponies lowered their ears in sadness, Mako sounded like he didn't like having to eat with his hands just for them. It sounded more like he did it because he felt obligated to. "Wow, that must have been embarrassing for ya." said Hasook. But by then, the fillies had heard enough. They all sadly turned away and walked in despair. "And here I though we were becoming friends" said a sad Apple Bloom. "Actually, it wasn't." Mako replied, "I liked making them feel comfortable. I know I did this for selfish reasons at first but, I really do like spending time with them." "So what are you gonna tell your girlfriend?" "I'm not sure. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." "Good luck with that. Here's your order", he hands him a box with the snow cones on top and Mako gives him his money. "Thanks. Good luck with your business" "Nice talking to ya" With ice cream in hand, Mako walked on over to the tree where he and the girls where suppose to meet. "Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, I got guys ice cream.", he looked around but, to his surprise, he didn't see them with the kids anymore. "Girls? Girls?!" He placed the box of ice cream down and continued looking around the park shouting their names, "Apple Bloom! Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle!" He walked towards a young couple and their baby, "Excuse me, have you seen three little ponies? One white, one orange and one with a big red bow?" The couple sadly shook their heads in no. This was bad. The fillies didn't wander off too far, and yet he couldn't find them anywhere. The firebender continued running and searching the park for the ponies, asking various people if they had seen them, but they all replied no. The firebender had to face the horrible truth. "Way ta go Mako…you just lost the ponies!" (~) Back on Air Temple Island, the phone rang and the earthbender answered the phone "Hello?" "Bolin! You have to come down to the park, it's an emergency!" Mako exclaimed, using a pay phone to call his brother. "Nice to hear you too, bro" Bolin said sarcastically. "Bolin please, I lost the Cutie Mark Crusaders and---" "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you lost the who's!" "Please get down here! Now!" "Okay, okay, I'm coming. Keep your scarf on" once Bolin hung up, Mako quickly dialed another number. The girl picked up the phone. "Hello?" "Hey, Asami how's it going?" he tried to sound as casual as possible. But there was no fooling the heiress. "What did you do?" "How do you know I did something?" "You know you're not good at hiding your guilt. You learned that the hard way, remember?" "Yeah, okay I did something terrible. I know you're busy but please help me!" "Mako, I want to help you but whatever you did you're going to have to face--" "I lost the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" "Why didn't you just say so?! I'm on my way!" with that, she hung up. Mako banged his head against the glass wall. "I am a dead man." Asami and Bolin both said to themselves in unison, "He is a dead man" (~) Latter at the park, Mako gathered both Bolin and Asami. "Okay, so where was the last place you saw them?" the heiress asked. Mako explained the whole thing, "I let them play with some kids and I walked to the ice cream cart to buy them some ice cream. I gave Hasook the money and---" "Wow, wow, wait, Hasook sells ice cream now?" Bolin asked "Yeah, anyway I bought the ice cream, came here, I called the girls but they were gone!" out of nowhere Asami slapped Mako across the face. "Okay…OW!" Bolin rolled his eyes, "Quit complaining, you had that coming for a while" "Besides, I let you off easy." said Asami, "Imagine what Korra will do to you when she finds out you lost the Cutie Mark Crusaders after you promised you'd watch them." "Or what Rarity and Applejack will do when they find out you lost their sisters." said Bolin. Mako began to sweat as he started to imagine what Korra and the ponies would do to him once they found out what he did. Even his left eye started to twitch. "Mako!" Asami snapped her fingers to wake him up. The firebender fanatically grabbed her by the shoulders, "We've got to find those ponies before Korra gets back!" "When is she suppose to be back?" Asami asked. "Around five thirty." "It's already one o'clock." said Bolin, making Mako freak out even more. "GAH! We've only got four hours and thirty minutes to find them. Okay, their legs are short so they couldn't have gotten very far. Let's move people!" *Cue musical montage* The group of friends rode in Asami's car searching for the fillies. At every block, they split up to search. They looked in all the nearby fast food places but no such luck. They searched the stores, even asked the managers if they saw the ponies but no luck. They even looked at the pro-bending arena…but the ponies could not be found. After nearly three and a half hours, the three gathered around the tree in the park. "I can't believe we couldn't find them anywhere" said Mako. "For three little fillies they're fast" said Asami. "Yeah, no kidding…..Will you guys stop already!" Mako shouted at the group of musicians who have been playing the montage music this whole time while they were searching for the ponies. "You didn't have a problem with music this morning." said the leader, "Come on, boys" Boin placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, "I'm sorry Mako, but there's no way we're gonna be able to find--" "Sush! Quiet" Bolin felt insulted by this, "Well, excuse me!" Asami tried to get through to him, "Mako he's just being--" "Shush!" Asami scoffed in annoyance, "Don't you shush me!" "Just listen!" The three teens listened closely and they could hear…singing. Not very far away. Mako stood up, "Come on!" Bolin and Asami followed him towards the sound of music and singing until they reached a pile of bushes, from which the sound was even stronger. There, the friends found their old hobo friend Gommu, playing guitar with Sweetie Belle singing and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo dancing beside her. It was a beautiful sight. The Young fillies were safe and sound and with someone they knew. Mako jumped over the bushes and rushed towards the girls, squatting down and embracing them all in a hug. "Girls! You're okay!" "Well look who it is, my old friends. How-de-do?" Gommu greeted. "Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle! I'm so happy you're alright!", but to Mako's surprise, the ponies huffed and turned away from him, holding their noses up into the air. "Girls, what's wrong? I've looked everywhere for you. Do you have any idea how worried I was?" "Worried about what your girlfriend would think when she finds out you used us?" Sweetie Belle said bitterly. Mako was confused by this, "What are you talking about?" "We heard what you said you." said Scootaloo angrily, "That the only reason you offered to watch us was so you could impress Korra and nothing else." "We though you did it because you wanted to be our friend, but you don't care about us at all." Apple Bloom said angrily as well. "What? That's not true!" "So you didn't agree to this just to make Korra swoon all over how "sweet" you were with us little fillies?" Mako hesitantly answered, "Well…no, that part is kind of true." Asami was shocked, "WHAT?!" "That is low, bro!" Bolin was very disappointed in his brother, "I can't even look at you!" "All right, I'll admit, my intentions where kind of selfish" "Kind of?" Asami asked angrily. "Okay, a lot! But once I started to hang out with you girls and after we talked and got to know each other better, I realized you're all really amazing. Sweetie Belle, you're kind and loyal and you have the most beautiful voice." Sweetie Belle blushed at his words. "Scootaloo, you're so full of spunk and curiosity" Scootaloo slightly smiled. "And Apple Bloom, I really admire your independent and ambitious spirit. I'm sorry for being so selfish before. Could you forgive me?" The ponies all looked at each other before looking back at him with serious glances. "Can you prove you're sorry?" Apple Bloom asked. "I just said I was, what more proof do you want?" The red haired filly huffed before turning away from him, "Just as I thought", Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both turned away from him as well. Mako still couldn't' understand why they were being so stubborn. "Girls," Gommu stood up and took Mako by the arm, "Hey, kid can I talk to you for a moment" He lead Mako a few feet away from the Crusaders and Bolin and Asami. "You know, your little friend does have a point" said Gommu. "But I already told them I was sorry. I searched like crazy tying to find them. Isn't that enough?" "You say your words are sincere, but now you need to show that they are" "Were you not listening?" "You say you searched for them, but they need to know you were looking because you cared for them, not to impress someone. Words are easy to say, but sometimes, when it comes to friends, the meaning behind the words need to be shown." He started to play his guitar. (song is a parody of Make it right sub by Sofia the first and Princess Belle) Gommu: I've got a tale to tell, about a boy I know, who fell for one Avatar A love he couldn't undo And though you tried to say that yes your heart was true There was just one way to make the truth shine right through You saw her plight Put up a fight You tried your best To make it right To fix your mess, do more than confess Use all your might To make it right Mako beginning to understand what Gommu was trying to tell him. Maybe he wasn't being sincere enough. Gommu; If you want to set things strait, you gotta go for broke By doing something great, your friends will say "okey-doke" You could delight, your friends tonight They'd be impressed, you tried to make it right To fix your mess do more than confess Use all your might To make it right "I'm sorry" is a phrase that's often heard But actions speak louder than words You could delight, your friends tonight, they'd be impressed you tried to make it right To fix your mess, Mako; Do more than confess Gommu; Just keep your goal plainly in sight and use all your might Mako; To make it right "Yeah, I just have to show the girls how sorry I really am. But how?" "Just think about what you could do to make them happy." Mako thought for a moment and then came up with an idea, "I know what to do. Thanks Gommu" "That's what I'm here for" Mako walked on back to his friends, "Girls, I understand why you're upset and you have every right to be. But I have a way to show you that I really do cherish your friendship" "How?" Scootaloo asked. "Come with me to Air Temple Island." The ponies all shared unsure looks and Mako looked at them pleadingly, "Please" After a while, they smiled slightly at him, "Okay." (~) Boy was today a long day. Council meetings were SOOOOOOOOOOO Boring! Well, at least that was one less thing she had to worry about. Now, she needed to focus on another. Once Oogie landed, Korra quickly jumped and ran to the patio. "Mako! Girls! You here?" "Hey Korra" The Avatar was surprised to see Asami and Bolin sitting neat the plate of stairs that lead to the inside of the temple "Asami? When did you get here?" "The guys invited me" "Where is Mako, and more importantly, where are the Cutie Mark Crusaders?!" "Why don't you go around back and see for yourself" Bolin pointed with his thumb to behind the temple. Korra arced an eyebrow but did as Bolin said. She reached to where she normally trained airbending and was surprised by what she saw… Mako was happily playing leap frog with the Fillies. They were each wearing what appeared to be scarfs with the Cutie Mark Crusaders emblem on them. Korra noticed that the scarfs looked strangely similar to Mako's long capped jacket. Once he stood up, she noticed that his jacket had been torn and cut with multiple large holes. Korra realized exactly what had happened. "Wow, I honestly did not see this coming" "Korra!" the three fillies ran up to hug her. "I see you girls had fun" "Yeah!" said Sweetie Belle, "Mako took us to brunch at this noodle shop, then we went to the park and met Gommu" "And then we came here where Mako made us these supper awesome scarfs for out club." said Scootaloo "And then he took us on a ride on a sky bison" said Apple Bloom. Korra's eyes grew wide at the mention of this, "He…did?" "Don't worry, I made sure it was perfectly safe." said her boyfriend. "And Asami did makeovers in our hair" said Sweetie Belle. Indeed, their hairs did look more elegant and pretty. No doubt it was Asami's work. "Wow, I'm actually jealous." said Korra, "You all had a better day than me" "Meeting was pretty boring?" Mako asked. "You have no idea. They said it was suppose to end at five thirty but they expansed it to six. Jerks. But the good news is that there won't be any more meetings for a while so that gives me enough free time." The ponies cheered, "YEAH!" Sweetie Belle hugged Mako's leg, "Thanks for the fun day, Uncle Mako" Korra couldn't help but laugh, "Unce Mako?" Apple Bloom nodded, "Yep, he's the Cutie Mark Crusaders honorary den mother. But we prefer to call him uncle" "That is so cute. Congratulations" Mako blushed. They then all saw something glowing near the patio. "I think that means your sisters are here" said Korra "Let's go show em our new scarfs!" said Apple Bloom as they ran to greet their sisters. Korra smiled proudly at Mako, "I gotta admit I am extremely impressed." But the firebender looked at her with a face of guilt, "Actually Korra, you shouldn't be. I volunteered to watch the girls today…just to impress you. I was doing this for me. The crusaders found out and I lost them for a moment. I looked all over but I couldn't find them. Turns out they were with Gommu in the park the whole time. When I apologized they didn't believe me. Gommu helped me realize that I had to show them how sorry I was and that I really have grown to value their friendship." "So you made those scarfs from your own jacket and took them on a bison ride to prove that?" "Yes. And I'll do everything I can to make it up to you too" but, to his surprise….Korra kissed his cheek, "What was that for?" "For being honest with me. And for caring so much for the ponies" Mako smiled…then Korra punched his arm "OW!" "And that was for loosing them!" Mako rubbed his sore arm, "Yeah, I deserved that" Korra smiled at him again, "But then again, I kind of knew all along" Mako's eyes winded in surprise, "Say what?!" "I knew you did this to impress me. But I also knew that once you really got to know the ponies you would learn to like them. However, you loosing them was not what I was hoping for! I honestly, expected better." "I swear I learned my lesson." Korra smiled proudly at him. "I know you did." "Korra, Mako" They both turned to see Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash along with the crusaders. "Hey, thanks for watching' the fillies today, buddy" said Applejack "Hope they weren't too mush trouble" said Rainbow. Mako scoffed, "Trouble? No, of corse not" Applejack turned to her younger sister, "We better get going. By ya'll" "Bye guys" The Crusaders waved at their new friend, "By Uncle Mako" The young couple watched them leave into the portal and disappeared. "You know Mako, what you said you learned today. That would make a great letter to Princess Celestia" "You think she'd accept a letter from me?" "Of corse. You learned a very important lesson about friendship today. I think it deserves to be shared. Don't you think?" Mako smiled in agreement. (~) "Dear Princess Celestia, This is probably the first time you ever received a letter from a human, but I wanted to share with you what I had learned today. Sometimes it's not enough to just say you're sorry, you need to do everything you can to show just how much you really mean it. After all, actions really do speak louder than words. And if you're going to do something nice for someone, make sure you're doing it for them and not so you can get something out of it. I've also realized that I still have a lot to learn about friendship. Good thing I've got the best teachers to help me with that, one who just so happens to be my girlfriend." Thanks for listening --Sincerely, Mako."