//------------------------------// // Day 2: Blank Flank Forever // Story: Cutie Bloom // by Black Kyurem //------------------------------// ~ Day 2 ~ "Ah'm useless! That's all ah'll ever be!" Apple Bloom woke up the next morning with a knot in her stomach. All the thoughts of Diamond Tiara's antics doubled up with what she could do to her today was making her uncomfortable and ill. That's when she heard a knock on her door. "Rise and shine, sis!" Applejack called. "It's your last day of school before summer!" Apple Bloom groaned, but got up out of bed. Applejack greeted her when she came out of her room. "Feelin' any better, sugar cube?" "Not really," moaned Apple Bloom. "Well, try not to worry so much. It's your last day and after that, you'll have a whole summer to spend with your friends. Aren't y'all lookin' forward to crusadin' for yer cutie marks?" "Yeah, we're lookin' forward to gettin' ourselves into just another heap of trouble," Apple Bloom replied sarcastically. Applejack sighed. "Yer startin' to make me worry. Ah don't think ya should walk to school alone today." She led Apple Bloom to Big Macintosh, who had hitched himself to a wheelbarrow full of apples. "Say, Big Mac, if it's not too much trouble, would ya mind walkin' Apple Bloom to school today? She's been feelin' a little low lately." "Eeyup," Big Macintosh agreed. "Actually, I was just on mah way to Ponyville to bring these apples to the market anyway." "Thanks so much, big brother. Ah'll see y'all later!" "Eeyup." And with that, Big Macintosh escorted Apple Bloom to the schoolhouse. "Uh... thanks, Big Mac," said Apple Bloom nervously. "Eeyup." Big Macintosh watched Apple Bloom enter the schoolhouse and after making sure she was okay, went on his way to do his errands. School seemed to go smoothly for Apple Bloom, but after the day was out, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon met up with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Hello, girls," greeted Diamond Tiara deceivingly. "What do you want?!" snarled Scootaloo. "We were just wondering if you'd like to be our B.F.F.'s." Now this surprised the Cutie Mark Crusaders. B.F.F. generally stood for 'Best Friend(s) Forever', so for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to offer a peace treaty like that was definitely more than unusual. Unless of course, Cheerilee had in fact spoken to them. "Okaaaaaay..." said Scootaloo. "Meaning..." A wicked grin suddenly spread across Diamond Tiara's face. "Blank flanks forever!" she and Silver Spoon said in unison, and they gave a hoot and roared with laughter. Scootaloo growled furiously. Sweetie Belle looked visibly hurt and upset, but Apple Bloom was beside herself. She let out a wail and ran home crying. "Have a nice summer!" Diamond Tiara called after her. Silver Spoon on the other hand looked somewhat concerned for Apple Bloom. Scootaloo's rage took control of her and without a second thought, she tackled Diamond Tiara and they both took a nasty tumble onto the schoolyard, where Scootaloo pinned the now surprised Diamond Tiara to the grass. "Take... that... back!" she roared in her face. "Scootaloo!" Cheerilee stood over both of them, clearly not looking too happy at all. Scootaloo instantly got off Diamond Tiara. "I... I'm sorry, Miss Cheerilee," said Scootaloo remorsefully. "But she hurt Apple Bloom's feelings... and I... I..." "I'll talk to her about that," said Cheerilee. "But as for you, this is not the kind of behavior I will tolerate on school grounds." Scootaloo looked guilty. Meanwhile, Applejack and Big Macintosh were hard at work apple-bucking when they heard Apple Bloom crying. They then saw her running past them, tears flying from her eyes. "'Scuse me," said Applejack, taking a temporary break from her work. "Eeyup," said Big Macintosh. Applejack found Apple Bloom in her room again, crying on her bed, but this time more loudly than yesterday. "Apple Bloom..." said a worried Applejack. "Ah'm almost afraid to ask what happened..." "They called me 'blank flank forever'!" wailed Apple Bloom, tears running down her wet cheeks. Applejack was surprised to hear that kind of a name call, but she then realized it had been initialized with B.F.F. and that Apple Bloom had been practically deceived. "Oh, Apple Bloom. Ah'm so sorry. Ah don't know why they have to be so mean. Ah thought they would have learned their lessons after Twilight and ah mentioned the advantages of not havin' a cutie mark. But ah guess... nopony can teach them a lesson." Meanwhile, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle rode into Sweet Apple Acres on Scootaloo's scooter. Scootaloo halted upon seeing Big Macintosh. "Hi, Big Macintosh!" they both said. Big Macintosh smiled at the fillies. "Is Apple Bloom home?" asked Scootaloo. "Eeyup," said Big Mac. "Can we talk to her?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Eeyup." And so, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo went to visit Apple Bloom in her room with Applejack, all three of them trying to comfort their crestfallen friend. "Come on, Apple Bloom," said Scootaloo desperately. "You can't let Diamond Tiara get to you like this." "Just ignore those two," said Sweetie Belle. But neither of their words did a thing to improve Apple Bloom's mood. She just kept on crying. "Ah'm useless!" she sobbed. "That's all ah'll ever be!" "Stop that, Apple Bloom!" demanded Applejack. "You're not useless!" "Yes ah am!" cried Apple Bloom. "Ah haven't got mah cutie mark! And ah'm a big failure without it!" "That's not true and you know it! Look, the arts and crafts fair begins in about eight days from now and ah really want ya to take part. It'll be fun." "Ah don't even wanna go outside! Ah don't wanna be called 'blank flank' again!" "Oh, come now. Ya can't just stay cooped up in here because of those two." "Yes ah can! As long as ah don't have mah cutie mark, ah'm gonna spend the rest of mah life right here if ah have to!" Despite Apple Bloom's sadness, Applejack wasn't taking her words very seriously. "Okay, sugar cube, yer comin' with me!" Applejack took her little sister and her friends to the Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie Pie always worked delightfully. "Yo! Pinkie Pie! Mah little sister needs an emergency cheerin' up! Pronto!" On cue, Pinkie Pie appeared right in front of Applejack. "An emergency, you say?" she squealed, bugging her eyes out at Applejack. "One emergency cheering up coming right up!" She pulled out her party cannon and started firing several rounds as some funky phonograph music started up. Pinkie then sang as she grabbed Apple Bloom's hooves and pulled her into a wild dance. Gonna cheer you Gonna cheer you Gonna cheer you up! If you're ever feeling sad or blue And you just don't know what to do Just slap a smile on that frown And you won't have to feel so down During the song, Pinkie Pie even gave Apple Bloom noogies. Gonna cheer you Gonna cheer you Gonna cheer you up! Gonna cheer you Gonna cheer you Gonna cheer you up! Gonna cheer you up! Once she finished the song, Apple Bloom's face was struggling to put a smile on, which the others could see. Eventually, Apple Bloom gave a wide smile and starting laughing, which made Pinkie laugh too. She even gave the little filly a red velvet cupcake with pink-colored frosting. "Here's a treat from me!" said Pinkie Pie. Apple Bloom ate the cupcake with delight. "Mm! Thanks for cheering me up, Pinkie!" she said. "You're welcome!" beamed Pinkie Pie. "Anything to make my friends smile!" Later, as Applejack was escorting Apple Bloom through the streets of Ponyville, Apple Bloom overheard Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon talking, seeing that they were looking at a flyer for the arts and crafts fair. "Ponyville Arts and Crafts Fair next week," Silver Spoon read. "Do you think those... Cutie Mark Crusaders are gonna show up for it?" "That's Cutie Mark Losers, Silver Spoon," corrected Diamond Tiara. "Don't forget that." "Oh, right. Losers." "And of course they'll show up. Those three troublemakers are always on the move, making a mess in Ponyville. Let's go to the fair ourselves so we can watch them screw up. All the more reason to laugh at those ridiculous 'blank flanks forever'." They sniggered, making Apple Bloom feel awful and uncomfortable. Silver Spoon took notice of Apple Bloom, realizing that she overheard them, but because she was starting to feel for Apple Bloom, she chose not to say anything to Diamond Tiara. Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom, Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith were all sitting down at the table having a family dinner. Apple Bloom was hardly eating anything. "Apple Bloom," said Applejack, noticing Apple Bloom eating very slowly. "Ya hardly touched yer food. Come on, you were doin' just fine a few hours ago. Now what's botherin' ya?" Apple Bloom chewed and swallowed a piece of food. "Applejack," she said. "Ah don't wanna go to the arts and crafts fair." Applejack stared at her. "Why not? Oh, wait. Ya can't tell me yer not goin' because of those two rich fillies. It's not like they're out to get ya." "Says you! Ah heard what they said. They wanna come just to embarrass mah friends and ah." "Look. Ya gotta stand up fer yourself, Apple Bloom. Ya can't just let them push y'all around." "Ah've tried that! Ah'd be better off with mah own cutie mark, and ah just can't get it no matter what ah do!" "Look, Apple Bloom," sighed Applejack. "Ah'm startin' to lose mah patience with ya. Yer actin' ridiculous, ya think a couple of fillies are pickin' on you especially, and ah've tried everything ah know to make ya feel better, but yer just makin' this worse on yourself by gettin' all cynical." Apple Bloom did not want to hear any more of it. She got up from her seat. "Ah can't finish mah dinner anymore." And she trudged upstairs to her room. "AJ," said Big Macintosh. "Ya think yer bein' a little hard on our sister?" "Tut! Of course not," said Applejack, almost pouting. "She's growin' up and we can't keep stickin' our necks up for her like this. Besides, she always wants me to stop treatin' her like a foal anyway." "But she's still just a little filly. Quite frankly, ah think her problem is somethin' that's too big for her to handle on her own. Wouldn't you agree, Granny Smith?" "Oh, yes!" Granny Smith, holding a mug of apple cider proud and high, as if she was ignorant of the conversation. "Ah quite agree! Here's to ya, Apple Bloom! Good luck getting yer cutie mark!" She then took a mighty swig of her cider, leaving froth behind on her lip and set her mug down with a loud clunk. Applejack and Big Mac had nothing more to say. They both did a facehoof instead. Later that night, while the Apple family slept, Apple Bloom crept out of her room with a sack on a stick. Ah'm tired of being called 'blank flank' all the time, she said to herself. If ah can't find mah special talent in Ponyville, ah'll just have to go somewhere where ah can. As she left Sweet Apple Acres, she took one last look back over her shoulder and then sadly left. At first, she wouldn't know where she could go, but one place did come to mind...