//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Curse Marks // Story: The Ghost of Chicken Scootaloo // by Betty_Starlight //------------------------------// What happened in the next three seconds is as follows: a hole in the far wall from Sunny and Izzy forms suddenly as fragments of it are blown across the room towards the two ponies. They feel small pieces of debris flying past their bodies as a loud reverberating BOOM is heard, even from underneath their closed ears. Sunny opens her eyes blearily to see the hazy form of a lavender earth mare on her left outside the new hole, motioning for her to follow with her right forehoof. She believes the mare is shouting something but cannot hear it due to the deafening ringing in her ears. She unsteadily rises back up to her hooves and shouts, “WHAT?” at the new mare. The new mare’s long blond mane streaks behind her in it’s big single ponytail, above her back as she hurriedly trots into the room to the other side of Sunny and lowers her neck to start nudging and shoving her towards the new exit. At that point, Sunny starts and snaps to when she remembers that she’s in the middle of a daring escape! She begins trotting out, causing the new pony to stumble and fall, face-first into the floor as her rump leaves the space she was pushing on! She shouts, “SORRY!” super loud as she continues to trot outside and squats to take off, before she recalls her blue friend, and turns just in time for Izzy to smash into her face! Izzy scrunches her nose with the impact before shouting, “OW!” Sunny can make out the new mare shouting something unintelligible from behind the unicorn, just over the ringing in her ears as she turns and begins trotting out the door… Sunny sees the new lilac mare gallop up to her left side as her blond mane falls over the left side of her back in it’s ponytail and motion for her to follow her down an alleyway across the street with her right forehoof, slightly to the left of an adjacent off-white building and so, Sunny turns and starts dashing that direction. All three ponies run past buildings on either side of them as they exit the town in full gallop towards the wide-open pasture that direction, nestled neatly in between the mountains as they all head east, towards the forest that direction, now visible lowly in the horizon with many lush green trees over darkness underneath. Sunny continues to run that way as adrenaline begins to charge her legs and she breathes heavily in and out of her mouth, all in the name of escaping the insane cutie mark cult… <*****> The ponies trot into the forest and begin following a long trail, deeper into the woods as they see thick dark-green trees on either side of them while heading down the path… Sunny on the right and Izzy at the other side, with the new lavender mare trotting ahead. Sunny finally raises her chin to speak to the new pony, “So, what’s your name?” The mare smiles while continuing to trot ahead of the two mares and says, “Call me, Solar Flare!” Izzy smiles and nods, “Okay, so it’s like a sun thing, or?” “Well, my cutie mark is the bright sun illuminating everything! So, bringing things out of the shadows is kinda my thing!” Sunny looks at the new mare, “Oh, okay! So that’s why you want ponies in the village to be able to show their cutie marks!” Solar nods, “Right! I want them to stop wearing those ridiculous patches and stupid designer saddlebags, and just see each other for who they are and accept it!” she adjusts her gaze forward, “What’s your names?” Izzy perks up wide-eyed at the mare upfront, “Designer saddlebags?” Sunny says, “Well, I’m Sunny Starscout and this is my best friend, Izzy Moonbow!” Izzy shakes her head, “Oh uh,” before raising her neck to the new mare and shouting, “HIIII!!!” Solar smiles and giggles, “Hi, Izzy!” Sunny frowns, “Uh, how many revolutionaries do you have, anyway?” Solar normalizes her mouth as she keeps her gaze forward, to the encroaching forest, “Including you two now, I got three!” Sunny starts, “W-wait! So, you’re the only revolutionary?” Solar stammers out, “No! I have you two, now!” Sunny grimaces and mutters to herself, “You know, just in case the whole zebra thing wasn't already hopeless enough!” Solar starts and asks, “What was that?” Sunny looks up before the three ponies and says, “Oh, nothing! Uh, how deep into the woods is your campsite, anyway?” <*****> The ponies all stand in a small clearing in the thick forest. Sunny is standing just beyond Izzy on the left while Solar Flare stands on the other side, with a blue lean-to tent behind her and a pale green two-pony tent just beyond all three ponies towards more trees, shrouded in darkness. She smiles and says, “Well, you can crash in the lean-to behind me! The mosquitos have all went south this time of year, although we’ll probably want a bug net later?” Sunny widens her eyes as she asks, “Wait, so what are we doing again?” Izzy turns her head left to Sunny, “We’re trying to get the village to see the joy of having cutie marks, rather than shun them, Sunny San!” Sunny narrows her eyes as she turns her head left to the unicorn, “Wait! Why is this whole showing cutie marks thing, even important? Shouldn’t we be heading further west now, to help out poor Scootaloo?” Suddenly, a clear burnt orange pegasus in a chicken costume materializes just beyond Solar Flare, to the right of the blue tent. Scootaloo looks at Sunny and says, “Izzy is right! We have to get these ponies to see that who they are is important and that they should be celebrating that and not hiding it!” Solar starts and turns to the right while widening her green eyes, “You’re clear! I can see right through you!” Scootaloo turns her neck further right to the earth mare, “That’s right! And you’re opaque! I can’t see through you!” Solar blinks, “Uh, why can I see through you?” Scootaloo frowns, “That’s weird!” Solar shakes her head, “W-what?” Scootaloo raises her beak, “Well, usually they ask about the transparency and the chicken costume at the same time, but you haven’t even mentioned my beak and feathers?” Solar frowns, “I was getting there!” Izzy widens her eyes and decides to resolve the situation by saying to Solar, “Okay, don’t freak out! She’s not going to hurt you! But Scootaloo here is a ghost!” Solar widens her eyes again and screams, “AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!” Scootaloo starts, “Stop it! Why are you screaming?” Solar stops yelling and blinks while breathing frantically from her mouth to look forward with wide eyes and says hysterically, “Well, you’re a ghost!” Scootaloo widens her eyes, “Yeah, and Izzy told you that I’m not gonna hurt you!” she nods, “Which is true! So uh, what are you even afraid of?” Solar frowns again, “Well, you’re a ghost!” Scootaloo grimaces, “Yeah, but if I’m not gonna hurt you, what are you really afraid of?” Solar leans towards the pegasus slightly, “I don’t know? I mean, what if you imprison me forever or make me insane or something?” Izzy turns her neck to Scootaloo, “Can ghosts do that?” Solar turns to Izzy, “I don’t know! Do you?” Scootaloo shakes her head before adjusting her gaze to the pink earth mare again, “Okay, look! I’m not going to affect you negatively in any way, shape, or form! How’s that?” Solar breaths heavily in and out of her mouth for a moment before saying, “Uh, better!” Izzy narrows her red eyes to the lavender pony before finally saying, “Being on your own like this, must make you paranoid?” Solar turns back to the unicorn quickly, “Well, it’s been about seven months?” Sunny says, “Geez! Didn’t you try to recruit other ponies from the village to your cause?” Solar says, “Well, yeah! But the brainwashing is very strong and uh, other ponies aren’t very reliable for help I don’t think, and so, “she widens her eyes, “I’ve had nopony but myself to talk to for seven whole months!” she narrows her eyes again and breaths through her mouth, “Honestly, I think I’m holding up okay?” before smiling nervously. Izzy turns her neck towards Sunny as the alicorn says, “Look! Showing your cutie mark or whatever, isn’t really THAT important and we really need to be heading west, now!” Scootaloo takes a long breath in through her nose and breathes out of her mouth slowly and gradually before staring at the alicorn and saying, “Sunny… It’s important…” Sunny widens her eyes at the pegasus, “How? Why?” Scootaloo frowns, “Do you know what it’s like to not know who you are and to have all of that hidden underneath?” she raises her gaze, “Because I do… Who these ponies are is important and they should be able to show that to the world!” Sunny frowns as she blinks and gulps, “Um, okay Scootaloo… If it’s really that important, we can stop and help out Solar here!” Solar jumps up and down, “Yay! We can have a sleepover and cook smores and…” Sunny widens her eyes at the earth mare, “Wait! Sleepover? Smores? I thought we were revolutionaries?” Solar grimaces as her mouth curves, “It’s been seven months!” Izzy turns her head left towards the alicorn, “She’s got a point?” Sunny just shakes her head as a slow grin forms on her face, “Sure! Why not!” <*****> The ponies are all sitting around the campfire eating smores with their hooves under the starry night sky in the wooded clearing, except Izzy holding hers in a blue glow just to her left, while Sunny sits on her right and they face the mad lavender mare from beyond the fire. Sunny finishes chewing her first bite before lowering the morsel with her forehooves and saying to Solar, “So, what’s the plan to get ponies to show their cutie marks?” Solar lowers her own food, “Okay, so! We trot into town! And then, we tell everypony it’s okay to show their cutie marks!” Sunny narrows her eyes, “Wait, so you don’t really have a plan, either?” Izzy turns her head right towards Sunny and says, “Well, it sounds pretty solid to me?” Sunny sighs and stares at Solar, “Look! You need to understand that we have to undo some programming here! We should probably use something dramatic?” Scootaloo smiles from where she’s standing on the right, “Dramatic, huh? How about a ghost?” Sunny turns her gaze to the spirit, “Actually, that’s not a bad idea?” Scootaloo raises her gaze, “Okay, but can we please come up with a better idea than, The Ghost of Cutie Mark Abuse this time?” Izzy stares at Scootaloo's direction, “The what?” Sunny frowns and widens her eyes, “Uh, right! Of course!” <*****> “Okay uh,” the clear pegasus looks at Solar on her right as they both stand inside the clocktower, “You say they’ll all come out soon?” Solar nods at the pegasus, “Right! Everypony gets off work at exactly five o’clock, to be fair. And that’s when you give the speech!” Scootaloo gulps, “Uh, right! The speech!” Sunny says from behind Scootaloo, “And I’ll use my magic to amplify your voice to make sure everypony hears you!” she blinks, “You know what to say?” Scootaloo narrows her eyes, “Actually, I think I do!” before turning her body towards the circular staircase on her right, leading up the tower. Izzy smiles from the left of the staircase, “Go on Scoots! No problem!” <*****> Scootaloo stood there on the balcony, in her white chicken outfit, as she trotted forward with her hooves and her little wings at her side, also in the chicken suit… She took a long breath, in and out through her nose before the clock tower suddenly blared, DING DING DING DING DING! 5 times in rapid succession and she began to see the various shops open as ponies of various colors and races began to exit in a small throng on the only road in town… The clear pegasus speaks up noisily as Sunny’s magic loudens her voice from the first story, “HEAR ME, OH PONIES OF THIS TOWN!” she lowers her gaze and clears her throat before continuing at a somewhat lower volume, “Listen! I lived the first part of my life, not knowing who I was or what I was supposed to do! I wanted that mark, because I knew that that would be a sign or signal, I could use to help me!” she smiles, “It told me who I was and what made me special and I cherish that part of myself and don’t want to cover that up!” she lowers her grin somewhat, “And you shouldn’t either! Learn to cherish the things that make you special and celebrate your differences! Don’t cover that up!” she breathes out her nose and grins broadly once more, “Everypony is great in their own way!” A green pegasus mare with a blond mane looks to the right while standing on the road and exclaims, “She’s right! Covering up our cutie marks is stupid!” A yellow earth stallion with a wavy blue mane turns his chin towards the mare who just shouted, “Yeah, this is dumb!” Suddenly, a familiar tan mare with a red mane and tail and freckles looks up at the clocktower, “Wait! But those marks are cursed and bring nothing but misery! The ancient wisdom said so!” Scootaloo starts and looks down at Augusta standing there in the road, “Just because something was from a long time ago, doesn’t make it true and correct! Once upon a time, ponies thought the world was flat!” Augusta squints her eyes when she realizes she’s seen this figure before, when suddenly, her face grows pale, “Hey! Aren’t you the Ghost of Cutie Mark Abuse?” Scootaloo can’t help but chuckle at how ridiculous their original plan was as she adjusts her gaze to the earth mare, “Sorry if I lied, Augusta… I’m clear and you can see through me, and so I tried to trick you into doing the right thing…” Augusta and most of the other ponies widen their eyes as the mayor asks, “Why are you clear?” Scootaloo shakes her head and adjusts her gaze back to everypony standing below, “Never mind that! That’s not important!” she breathes through her mouth, before eyeing the tan mayor below, “Why do you want to hide your cutie mark?” Augusta frowns, “W-what do you mean?” Scootaloo looks sternly at the tan mare, “I’m over two-thousand years old Augusta… That gives you a lot of time to think… It’s obvious that there’s something about your cutie mark that disturbs you, otherwise you wouldn’t want to cover it up so badly…” Augusta grows visibly more annoyed as her body shakes and she grimaces up at the orange pegasus before finally sighing and turning her neck to her back right flank and using her left foreleg to remove the square white patch she had stuck to her side, to reveal a cutie mark featuring a yellow pony in a green dress, dancing and having a good time as everypony around her gawks and gasps… She sighs, “My cutie mark is about dancing… That has nothing to do with being a mayor, and so, I felt I should hide it…” Scootaloo says, “But why hide it? That’s part of who you are?” Augusta looks back up to the strange chicken-pegasus on the clocktower, “But I’m the mayor! I’m not supposed to dance or party! That’s not what I do!” Scootaloo frowns, “Just because you’re into dancing, doesn’t mean you can’t also be the mayor? Both of these things make up who you are!” she smiles, “Be proud of that, Augusta the dancer!” A pink unicorn mare shouts from Augusta’s right, “Yeah, and maybe not make us cover our cutie marks, just because you’re confused? If you need help, we’re all right here, you know?” A blue pegasus stallion with an orange mane says from behind the tan mare, “We’re friends, right?” Augusta Hoofmyer can only stand there, dumbfounded at the spectral pegasus in her chicken outfit as she frowns and looks down with her eyes, “Alright, fine!” she adjusts her gaze back up the clocktower, “If it’s really that important, we can all show our curse marks!” Scootaloo smiles, “Yeah, and one more thing! They’re called cutie marks! Not curse marks!” before vanishing in front of everypony, seemingly into nothingness. Augusta suddenly widens her blue eyes as she suddenly thinks that maybe she should honor her word, as she really doesn’t want to mess with anything like that… <*****> The trio of ponies trot forward, through the tan earthen canyon on the far side of the mountain pass, with Scootaloo upfront and Izzy in tow on the left, and Sunny to the right. They see the large imposing rock walls on either side, with their granite exterior and something far ahead, past the canyon as well. Izzy chimes up, “Hey, any idea what’s beyond this canyon?” Sunny looks at Izzy on her left, “No! And the villagers weren’t much help, either!” she adjusts her gaze forward, “What lies beyond is a complete mystery, I’m afraid!” “Oh, this sounds fun!” Izzy happily exclaims while bouncing to cause her long wavy blue mane to shake and vibrate! (To be continued…)