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// Before The Bells Rang 
// Story: One Of The Same 
// by Emily_Is_Bunnii 
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Before The Bells Rang
By: Emily_Is_Bunnii

Emmaline smelled something. She automatically knew that her mom was cooking, but she didn’t know what. All she was worried about at the moment was getting all this mud out of her coat. Her skin was going to be pretty irritated for quite a while… But she continued scrubbing. Emmaline didn’t know how long she was in the shower, all she knew was that she was squeaky clean, and that she was extremely upset. It felt nice to have the warm water rain down strongly on her harmed wing, but as soon as she got out of that warm air the abrupt change of temperature caused Emmaline to cry out in pain. She heard rushed footsteps come up the stairs and SunnySide came in. “Bunn! What happened? Are you alright?” Emmaline stood back up and said “I’m fine, my wings just didn’t react to the temperature change very well. I’ll be fine, Mom don’t worry.” SunnySide kept her worried look and insisted on helping Emmaline get ready. 
After a while, with Emmaline all dry and clean the two went downstairs to see Zee taking the chocolate cake out of the oven. “Oh, was it burning?” SunnySide asked. “No, it’s perfect! I just thought that I’d take it out before it did burn though.” SunnySide smiled while she sat Emmaline down on the couch in the living room. They all chilled out a bit and relaxed after such an eventful day. The cake cooled down, and was eaten into very quickly. “So, now Emma… Please, tell us what exactly happened since you’re hopefully feeling better.” Zee requested. SunnySide nodded and looked at her daughter. Emmaline, now feeling obligated to tell the story pushed her plate away and began.
“Well, I was just sitting there thinking during break. I wasn’t doing anything, or talking to anypony. This one pegasus who’s always been a jerk to me swished his wing in front of my face and got my attention. He… He grabbed me. My wings, and pulled me up really high. He tugged on them a lot and was saying really mean things to me, teasing me about how I can’t fly very well and how I forgot my cloak at home. All the other ponies were laughing at me. He let go of me and my wings hurt and I couldn’t fly…” Emmaline started to tear up, her words trembling as her voice shook. 
“I fell on the ground. I couldn’t even feel it, all I knew was that I was on the ground and that my whole entire left side hurt and… I was soaking wet, and sticky… Somepony had a bucket filled with water ready as I fell down. They splashed me with it and then I became the dirty mess you guys saw me as. So yeah. That was my day…” The two ponies saw that this event really shook poor Emmaline, and to comfort her they both went to her and put a hoof around her shoulders and SunnySide asked “How badly are your wings hurting you now, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest?” Emmaline shivered and somehow managed to say eight. “Oh dear… Well, here, Zee? Go into the bathroom upstairs, first door on the left. In the cabinet there’s an ointment especially for wings, there are two but get the yellow bottle, please darling…” 
Zee did as requested. As Zee went upstairs, Emmaline looked at her mother and asked through tear filled eyes “Mom, why is it so bad to not have your cutie mark? There are a few other ponies that don’t have their cutie marks, but they’re not treated as badly as I am!” SunnySide shook her head and tried to make Emmaline feel a bit better by saying “Most other ponies don’t realize this, but it’s not a bad thing at all. I once heard a statement from a very smart pony that said ‘just because a pony doesn’t have a cutie mark, doesn’t mean they’re not special. It just means that they still have the opportunity to find out who they really are.’ So don’t worry my Honey Bun, you’ll find out who you are really soon! And with Zee, you’ll have a very good friend to help you through it all, that’s more than most ponies have already!” Emmaline smiled, thinking positive thoughts like she tried to do every morning as Zee came back down with the lotion.
Emmaline didn’t go to school for a few days, letting her wings heal up a bit. It didn’t hurt to walk, but with gym class it pushed the winged ponies very far and for some ridiculous reason, hurt ponies couldn’t be excused from gym unless they just didn’t go. So SunnySide just let Emmaline sit in bed, eat sunflower sweets, and relax. Zee came to visit a lot, and after the second day Emmaline was wondering why Zee wasn’t back in Canterlot by now. So she asked him about it on his third visit. 
After Zee said hello, Emmaline immediately asked “Zee, why are you still in Ponyville? I mean, I love having you here but I was just wondering…” Zee stopped her there, with a slight smile. “Emma, I haven’t gone back to Canterlot because you’re hurt. I will remain in Ponyville until further notice, because I don’t want to leave my friend alone while in pain. It’s the best I can do.” Emmaline was startled by this response, never hearing a pony say such a nice thing other than her mother. Zee noticed this hesitation, and continued on. “Emmaline, I’ve only known you for about a week. It’s felt like I’ve known you for years, and only very special ponies can get into that level of friendship in such a short amount of time. They are the ponies that I am meant to have in my life. And with you, I would gladly keep you in my life for as long as possible if not forever. So until you either want me gone, or when I die, is the only times I’ll leave. Of course respecting personal space and alone time, but you know what I mean…” Emmaline nodded, and smiled gently. They stared at each other for quite a while, but soon continued on with their silly little conversations.