//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Call of the Cutie // Story: Shisno Chronicles: Friendship is Magic // by nightelf37 //------------------------------// Chapter 12: Call of the Cutie In Chronicle's dreams… He was doing a practice duel with Blue Diary, who hovered above the ground holding two short swords with the use of red bands around his front hooves. These weren't ordinary swords however. These were the Justice and Retribution, Blue's personal weapons. They are capable of manifesting energies that can shapeshift into any form he desires. And Chronicle was seeing it in action as Blue created red-colored extensions from his swords and swung them around the dreamscape. The blue unicorn deftly evaded each slash and parried a few with his own "horn blade". Slowly, he closed the distance and swung his blade at Blue's body, only for a red force field to appear and repel it. From what Chronicle could observe, it came from the swords. The pegasus noticed and his "sword-extensions" then turned into grabbing appendages which tried to get Chronicle. However, the unicorn used his dreamscape to his advantage. After realizing that Blue was visiting him and not the other way around, Chronicle 'created' a stepping stone, jumped on it, then off it as he reached his brother and punched him only to be parried by a sword, then shoved down to the ground by one of the grabbing appendages. The appendage then grabbed him by the neck. Blue then turned his other sword's aura into a long sharp point and thrust it down at his brother, stopping short of his head. "You still got quite a ways to go before you can beat me." He then dismissed his swords' auras, letting go of Chronicle as he got up. "No need to remind me." In spite of it being many days ago, Chronicle was still sore from his defeat to Gilda. He hasn't mastered enough offensive tactics against flying opponents yet. "Oh, I got some bad news to relay.", Blue said as he landed in front of his brother. "Fire away." "It's about our uncle Reversi, a.k.a. Othello." "Othello's his pony name or Reversi?" "I'm not kidding here. He's dead." "Oh…wait, WHAT?! Since when?!" "Two days ago." "Which Equestria was he assigned to again?" "The Inferno Blaze Equestria, which is degrees 'darker' than my own." Inferno Blaze Equestria is an Equestria where, like in Luna Equestria, Celestia has become an evil overlord akin to the Tyrant Sun Corona. However, the bearers of the Elements weren't Trixie and co. but alternate versions of Chronicle's friends. "Whyever was our uncle assigned there?!" "Come on. You know how hardcore he actually is." "Right. …If I may ask, what finally…put him down." "Inferno Blaze eventually decided 'to heck with it all' and burnt the entire world to the ground. He didn't stand a chance. He didn't even put up a fight. He didn't even know what was coming to him." Both mare-faced stallions lowered their heads in a moment of silence. "Poor Reversi. He was a great uncle." "Yeah. He was always a great guy. Giving us our faorite treats whenever he visited, all those cool uncle stuff before we all had to leave and embark on our years-long missions to our respective Equestrias." "We all knew the risks of being a field operative, and not even a seeming sugar world lowered that risk. If anything, it made it potentially greater as we would have our guards lowered." "Yeah. Thanks for telling me." "Well, it turns out that he had left a will for all of us." Blue then procured two small books and balanced them in his hooves. One was named "Cupcakes", and the other "Rainbow Factory". "We're supposed to read these as soon as possible. Don't be fooled by the covers, though. They're grimdark as f***." "Wow. Really?" "You do remember what Equestria I was talking about, right?", Blue said as he tossed the books to Chronicle, who 'caught' them both in his telekinetic aura. "Oh, right. Wait. How are you able to deliver these when we are dreaming? Because books aren't known to have too many details in dreams." "You'll find them in your hammerspace once you wake up." "Okay." C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD A few days later, daytime… Chronicle (well, a magical clone of his) made himself discreet as he speedily and stealthily made his way to the schoolhouse. The facility sported a playground, flagpole, and bell tower, as well as a sign by the front walk that displayed a picture of an open book and two rearing fillies. Near the entrance was a filly-shaped topiary; a similar ornament topped the flagpole. He reached a window, then poked his head up to watch what was going on inside. Inside, he could see nine foals, Apple Bloom among them, in a single large classroom. They at on their haunches at separate desks, and some have placed their saddlebags alongside on the floor. He couldn't hear what anypony was saying, so he got down, and 'summoned' the "monitor" for his Surveillance. Unlike the real one, the magical clone cannot open a "rift" to "hammerspace" and instead 'conjures' items just like regular unicorns do when they take items from their "magicspace". He perused through the icons and tapped a yellow square, which now opened to reveal that he had placed a 'camera' on Bloom. During their return trip from Appleloosa to Ponyville, Applejack had asked him if he could set a camera on her sister, as she worried about her safety. He agreed to it, but only if she agreed to a condition he's put, which applies to all of whom he watches; whatever secrets he discovers through the 'cameras', he cannot tell to anyone; if they want to find out, it mustn't be through him. He will still watch over her and tell if Bloom gets lost or is in danger, but he won't pass any secrets. Through Bloom's camera, as he looked at the chalkboard, amidst the schoolfoal chatter, just as he noted the magnetic permeability symbol (the Greek letter Mu) there, he saw somepony walk in front of the class. It was an earth pony mare with a dark red-violet coat, green eyes, curly two-tone reddish-pink hair, and a cutie mark consisting of three smiling daisies. From what he recalled, her name was Cheerilee. "Let’s quiet down, please.", she called the attention of the class. "We have a very important lesson to get to." The talking stopped and she turned toward an easel set up by the front desk and chalkboard. "Thank you. Today we are going to be talking about cutie marks." The schoolteacher then nipped the top sheet in her teeth and pulled it away, revealing several designs. He recognized ones belonging to Bon Bon, Golden Harvest, Parasol, Amethyst Star, Sea Swirl, Merry May, and Lemon Hearts. "Boring.", his 'camera' caught, but it didn't come from Bloom. The "screen" revealed the speaker to be a pink earth pony filly, with violet/white hair, light blue eyes, and a not-impressed look. Her cutie mark depicted a tiara and she wore a similar item on her head. Appropriately, her name was Diamond Tiara. She also stood next to Bloom, who threw her an annoyed look. "You can all see my cutie mark, can’t you?", Cheerilee continued as Bloom came up with a pencil in her teeth, ready to take notes. She then nudged the sheet off the easel with her head. "Like all ponies, I wasn’t born with a cutie mark." The new page showed two photographs tacked to it. One partially covered the other and depicted Cheerilee as a filly with no cutie mark. "My flank was blank." Another of the foals spoke up. "Awww, she’s so precious!" The 'camera' turned to see a white earth pony filly with curly red hair and large blue-framed glasses. He also noticed that she spoke with a pronounced lisp. Cheerilee now had a pointer in her teeth as she resumed speaking. "Then one day, when I was about your age, I woke up to find that a cutie mark had appeared." With it, she pushed the first photo away to expose the second: herself as a younger mare, with teased-out mane and tail, black/white checkered bandana, neon bracelets on one foreleg, and a leg warmer on one rear leg. She also had braces, star barrettes in her mane, and her cutie mark was indeed there. Gah!, Chronicle "yelped" upon seeing the picture as he had his camera quickly turn away. They had the eighties too here? Although it's probably named differently in Equestria… When the camera stopped turning, it centered on the other filly beside Bloom other than Diamond. This one was grinning at the ridiculous picture on the easel. She had a gray coat, a two-tone mane/tail in lighter shades of this color, and light-blue-framed glasses framing violet eyes. She also wore a pearl necklace and kept her mane in braids. If he remembered correctly, her name was Silver Spoon, and she had such as her cutie mark, which had a heart-shaped tip. "Look at her hair!", she said in a stuck-up voice before laughing, followed by the whole class. Back in the classroom, Cheerilee rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know, but honestly, that’s how everypony was wearing their mane back then." Glad I wasn't around at that time. "I had decided to become a teacher, and the flowers symbolized my hope that I could help my future students bloom if I nurtured them with knowledge." Bloom continued to take notes. "The smiles represented the cheer I hoped to bring to my little ponies while they were learning.", Cheerilee continued. "Now, can anyone tell me when a pony gets his or her cutie mark?" A hoof belonging to the filly with the lisp shot up. "Oh! Oh! Oh! When she discovers that certain something that makes her special." "That’s right, Twist." the schoolteacher replied as she circled to stand behind the desk. "A cutie mark appears on a pony’s flank when he or she finds that certain something that makes them different from every other pony. Discovering what makes you unique isn’t something that happens overnight. And no amount of hoping, wishing, or begging will make a cutie mark appear before its time." Right after hearing that, Chronicle turned the "monitor" away, lost in thought as he looked at his own cutie mark; an orange circle depicting an open book inside, the emblem of his organization the Story Crew. Hmm…I wonder what my cutie mark would've been if I was born and raised here? He pondered on his past life prior to his mission, but from what he could remember at the moment, he couldn't relate them to a book inside an orange circle. Apparently, the principle that applies to ponies when it comes to their cutie marks is different for those not native to this world like me. I'm sure all the other Equestrias my family's in follow the same rule. "Apple Bloom!", he suddenly heard Cheerilee's voice from the "monitor". He looked back to see that Diamond had passed a folded paper and the yellow filly was about to pick it up. "Are you passing a note?" Bloom dropped it as her teacher approached her. "Uh…um…" "What could be so important that it couldn’t wait until after class?" She directed her eye to the floor with a little gasp. As it turned out, when it came to the note… "It’s blank!" As she aimed a disapproving stare at the yellow filly, the 'camera' turned to face the note-passer, who laughed nastily, her voice marking her as a snob from head to hooves. "Remind you of anypony?", she teased. Silver joined in the laugh as Bloom looked unhappily at her own unmarked hindquarters and all the other students whispered and stared at her. Great…more bullies., grumbled Chronicle. And young ones too. There's no way I can deal with them like I deal with other bullies without getting a bad reputation from their parents. C—AB—C—T—DT—SS—C—AB—C—T—DT—SS Later… Chronicle (the clone) waited out the door and watched as the bell rang and the students headed out the door. After seeing Dinky leave with a white, light-blue haired, lavender-eyed pegasus filly named Cotton Cloudy (who had a cutie mark of a blue cumulus cloud), Twist hopped merrily along the walk, while Bloom lagged dejectedly behind for a moment, toting her saddlebags. Twist, like Bloom, didn't have a cutie mark. "Want some sweets?", the lisped pony asked Bloom. "I’ve got some peppermint sticks. I made them myself." Bloom just shook her head. "Mmm-mmm." Twist continued to coax her as they both stopped. "They’ll make you smile." "No." She looked back the way she came and saw Diamond and Silver walking along. "I don’t know why we had to sit through a lecture about getting a cutie mark.", Diamond complained. "I mean, waiting for your cutie mark is so last week." They have pulled even with Bloom and Twist and Silver waggled her rump smugly for Bloom to glare at. "You’ve got yours…" She showed off hers for "…I just got mine." They then walked past… "We all have them already." …before gasping and doubling back. "I mean, almost all of us have them already." The bespectacled white filly glowered silently at the showoff, who circled around with Silver. "Don’t worry, you two. You’re still totally invited to my cute-ceañera this weekend." "It’s going to be amazing.", Silver said. "It’s a party celebrating me and my fantastic cutie mark. How could it not be?" The two the proceeded to do a special shake. "Bump," They tapped one front hoof together—Diamond’s right, Silver’s left—while standing on the opposite hind leg. "Bump," Then, they stood on both hind legs and tapped both front hooves together. "Sugar lump—" Diamond’s left hock and Silver’s right one touched. "—Rump!" They finished by putting their rumps together so that their cutie marks were framed next to each other. Their giggles contrasted markedly with Bloom’s disgusted expression. "Gimme a break.", she grumbled under her breath as Diamond and Silver walked off. "See you this weekend…", Silver called, then she and Diamond giggled, "…blank-flanks!" There came more derisive laughter, leaving the pair discomfited. Man, I hate little bullies., Chronicle grumbled. While I'm not above hurting children, I'm more concerned on how others would treat me if I did and they found out. C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS Meanwhile, at Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns… The real Chronicle was beside his co-teacher Mystic Shield as they conducted yet another class. As usual, some who were present before (like Heartstrings and Pokey Pierce) were absent and those who were absent were now present. Also, his charge Twilight Sparkle was here, deciding to learn as well, and also because she won the small bet she made with Mystic; to not teleport for three weeks since he asked. "All right, class.", Mystic called, still thinking he sounded like a schoolteacher. "Time to test your barriers. Let's start with Greatstone, Comet Tail, Holly Dash, and Twilight Sparkle." Immediately, the students not mentioned moved aside, leaving the four as they positioned themselves in line. Well, Twilight didn't at first, but she moved into place soon enough. "Now, Chronicle, test them if you will. And this time, exert more power for those whose shields withstand your attack without a crack." The blue stallion nodded as he approached the four students. "Each shots will have the same power exerted into them.", he said, then turned to his charge. "And Twilight, I will not go easy on you." He then flared his horn and fired a shuriken-shaped shot at Greatstone's barrier. The shot hit, and the barrier held, its conjurer not so much as changing expression. Chronicle proceeded with Comet next and the shot hit, making him wince as the barrier shattered. Holly was next, and she winced as the barrier made a crack. As for Twilight, she concentrated immensely with her eyes closed as the shot hit and the barrier held. "All right. Holly Dash, nice work. Comet Tail, concentrate. Now the two of you take two steps back." They did as he said. "Chronicle, continue." Before he could do just that, the doors creaked open, revealing Derpy Hooves and Dinky. "Sorry I'm late!", the unicorn filly called. "I had school." "It's okay.", said Mystic. "Now stand with the rest of the class, please." Dinky did as he told. "Umm…the rest of the class is over there." As it turned out, Dinky had stood with the four he called earlier. Dinky made a sheepish smile before joining the rest of the unicorns. Mystic turned to his co-teacher and gestured him to carry on. Chronicle nodded before charging up another shot. This time, while the shuriken-shape that emerged was the same as before, it was a bit brighter, and more…solid. The shot struck Greatstone's barrier and he winced just a bit while it held. Another shot hit Twilight's shield, its caster still concentrating immensely. The blue stallion fired again, with greater intensity. With each stronger shot, Mystic noticed that Greatstone was straining himself more and more, while Twilight maintained the same stance and focus. Eventually, Chronicle decided to up it a notch and did a burst-fire version of the shot, releasing three "shurikens" at once at Greatstone. All of them hit his barrier and it made great cracks as he strained a lot from the attack. As for Twilight, her concentration remained the same and the barrier still held. Mystic frowned at Chronicle for this sudden change of pace, but decided to let it by and evaluated his students, "Greatstone, in spite of that great crack, you did well. Twilight, wow. That was a very powerful shield, although you could use some guidance in going easy so as not to use more magic than is needed." I wonder if it runs in the family? C—TS—D—MS–G–CT—HD—C—TS—D—MS–G–CT—HD At a street in Ponyville… Applejack had set up an apple cart, ready to sell. From what the Chronicle copy could see as he looked for something that was advertized on the Request Board, She and Apple Bloom each wore a white apron. While the latter had an apple balanced on her head, the former was calling out to the crowd. "Get your delicious, nutritious apples here!" "Delicious and nutritious, and so many uses!", Bloom advertized. With a toss of her head, she flipped the apple upward, caught it in her mouth, and started chewing. "You can eat ’em…" She then addressed Golden Harvest and Shoeshine. "…play with ’em…" Grabbing another one from the nearest tub in her teeth, she threw it into the air and smacked it with a tennis racquet, which wound up a sopping, pulpy mess. A distant crash came later and a voice yelled, "Hey! Watch it!" A third apple went airborne and before it landed, Bloom kicked it backward. "…create fine art for your home with ’em…" Ponet, who was about to start painting a picture, had his creativity rudely interrupted when the apple splattered against his canvas. He caught some of the mess on his nose and glared at Bloom when she zipped over. "…you’d have to be crazy not to get a bushel of your very own!" "Or if you're a carrot farmer.", Shoeshine mumbled, turning to the orange mare. "Right.", Carrot Top agreed with a slight bitter look as she saw Applejack pull her little sister back by the bow. From her experience, carrots turned bitter when stored with apples. She fancied herself as a rival to Apple family, even though she doesn't earn as much as them. In fact, her farm, Golden Harvests, which she runs together with her father, was a fair distance from theirs. Applejack laughed apologetically to the crowd. "She’s so creative.", she said. Just then, as he searched stall after stall for what he was looking for, Chronicle noticed Doctor Whooves pass by. "You, sir!", Bloom said as she rushed ahead and cut him off. "Care to buy some apples?" "Uh, no, thanks." Bloom popped out from a produce cart to cut him off again. "Why not?" The Doctor began to back away nervously. "I have plenty at home." He then suddenly bumped into something and he turned around to see Bloom there. "Are you sure?" The Doctor walked forward. "Yes, I’m pretty sure." She cut him off yet again and slowly backed him up toward the apple cart. "You’re pretty sure, but you’re not absolutely, positively, completely, super-duper sure, are you?" The Doctor was beginning to sweat buckets before this onslaught. "Uh, if I buy some apples, will you please leave me alone?" Bloom brightened instantly. "All right!" After a quick bit of fishing around, he produced several coins, threw them into Applejack’s apron pocket, then bolted away with an apple in his teeth. "You forgot your change!" Applejack called after him. "Woo-hoo!", Bloom whooped. "That’s how you sell some apples and get a cutie mark!" These last words puzzled her older sister a fair bit. She turned to see her circling in place, her head cocked back over her shoulder to see if any new decorations have popped up farther back. "So, what does my cutie mark look like? A shoppin’ bag full of apples? A satisfied customer eating an apple?" She stopped after a while, noticing the area to be still blank, and crossed to Berry Punch, who was looking over a tub of apples placed on the ground. "Hmmm…maybe I gotta increase my sales figures first." She looked Berry dead in the eye. "You touch it, you buy it! We take cash or credit." This declaration came with enough force to push the prospective customer back in a fright. Applejack stepped in, "I’m sorry, ma’am." But the mare already bailed out. "Ma’am!" With a frustrated little sigh, she turned around. "Now, Apple Bloom, you can’t just—" On the end of this, Bloom was emptying a tub of apples into a saddlebag worn by Bon Bon. "That’ll be four bits." The mare glared down at her. "I didn’t put those in my bag!" "Likely story. Four bits, lady!" Applejack shoved a hoof over her sister's mouth. "Apple Bloom!" She turned to Bon Bon. "I am really, really sorry ’bout that. She’s new." She dumped in several apples on the saddlebag not stuffed with apples. "Here. Take these. No charge." Applejack pointed to another load. "And these." Those go in, but Bon Bon still didn't seem satisfied—so Applejack pulled out another tub. "And these." "Bon Bon!", Chronicle called out as he came over, a familiar cat 'in tow'. "Ebony just ran away again. And since you seem to be headed home, mind if I come with you?" "Sure. And maybe you could help me with these?", Bon Bon asked as Applejack hoisted a tub of apples on her head and dropped it on the two-tone haired mare's back, causing her to nearly collapse under the total weight. "Maybe…" Chronicle then got suspicious as he approached her. "Wait, did you buy all that?" "Yes.", The two-tone haired mare flatly replied. "Do you need all of that?" "Why do you ask?" "Because there's no way you can turn all of those apples into candy, not that I know how you make them. Or eat them all in a few days without getting tired of them, even with Lyra's help." Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to get to?" Chronicle got closer, made a look at Applejack that told her not to cut in, and replied in a hushed tone, "What I'm saying is that this isn't necessary." "What do you want me to do?", Bon Bon whispered. "That little filly just basically scammed me." "But does it validate taking all of Applejack's wares?" Bon Bon seemed to ponder on this for a while, even as the apples should've been weighing her down, but thankfully weren't since Chronicle was 'lifting' them a bit to reduce the stress on her body. "…No, I guess not." She then turned to Applejack. "I'll just take the bucket." The farmpony nodded, gave Bloom a harsh stare, then they began taking off Bon Bon's saddlebags and unloading the apples back into the tubs. Once that was done, they returned Bon Bon's saddlebags on her back and she walked away, Chronicle beside her as he was supposed to return Ebony—whom he still 'carried'—back to Lyra. Applejack called after Bon Bon, "Y’all come back now, you hear?" "Not in a long while so long as that filly is in the stands.", Bon Bon muttered. "You don't have to worry about that.", Chronicle said as he 'set down' Ebony inside Bon Bon's saddlebag. "From what I've been observing, that'll be Bloom's only day." "Okay." Bon Bon decided to change the subject. "Say, why don't you check out Sweet Treats?" "Let me guess, that's your shop?" "Uh-huh." "Sure thing." C—BB—A—AB—DW–C—BB—A—AB—DW—C—BB—A—AB—DW Meanwhile, in Mystic Shield's dojo… "You really don't know how to go easy, do you?", said Mystic Shield. As it was, Twilight Sparkle had shot a medium-length beam at a target, making a small burn at where it hit—the center. "Sorry, Mystic Shield." "That's Master Shield to you, Twilight Sparkle.", the teacher sternly replied before relaxing. "As long as we're in class, you shall address me as such." "Yes, Master Shield." "Good. Lemon Hearts, you're next." Twilight made her way to where the other students were standing as Lemon stepped forward. The yellow unicorn charged her horn and 'launched' an arrow-shaped shot, which mildly surprised the bearer of the Element of Magic, and hit the target. "Nice work, though you could improve a bit more on power." "Wow. I had no idea magic shots can come in all shapes and sizes.", remarked the studious unicorn. "Really, this is news for me too.", Chronicle remarked as Written Script was next. His quill-shaped shot hit the target spot on. "You're improving.", evaluated Mystic. "Dinky, show us what you can do." As the unicorn filly stepped up, Twilight seemed to worry a bit and voiced her concern to her bodyguard. "I still can't believe Mys—uhh, Master Shield's letting fillies take his classes, too." "Dinky's the only one so far. Others haven't been as willing to send their foals here yet, mostly due to violence potential. Dinky's only in because she wanted to and Derpy gave her a-okay." "Wonderful work, Dinky!", said Mystic. "I've never seen such accuracy in such a young age!" Dinky, having made many bulls-eyes in a row, turned to her teacher and beamed. Suddenly, a spot of light flashed briefly somewhere on her body, and everypony gasped. Once it was over, Dinky turned to look at— "I'm gonna tell Mom the good news!", Amethyst Star cried out as she made her way out of the dojo. "Wait—", Mystic cried out, but she was already gone. "Oh well." He sighed as he gave a smile. "It's not every day that this sort of thing happens in the middle of class. Dinky, I think you deserve a break. Class, let's continue." C—TS—LH—AS—D—MS–WS—C—TS—LH—AS—D—MS–WS Back with the Chronicle clone… After acquiring the reward for returning Ebony…again, Chronicle returned to Applejack's cart to see that her entire inventory was now gone. Apple Bloom was looking at her sister as if not know what she did wrong while he was gone. "What?" "Sorry, little sis, but your apple-sellin’ days are over!" Applejack then pulled at Bloom’s apron in her teeth and took it off. "What?! But how else am I gonna get my cutie mark?", she argued as she yanked it back. "Home!" The older sister stamped a hoof. "Now!" The failed salesfilly spat the apron away with a pout and whine and Applejack gave a sigh. "Listen, sugarcube. I know it’s hard to wait for your very own cutie mark, but you just can’t force it. Besides, you’re not that grown-up just yet. Ain’t there other fillies in your class without one?" "Well…Twist doesn’t have hers yet." "There's also Dinky.", suggested Chronicle. "Daughter of the mailmare Derpy Hooves. Thankfully not as clumsy as her mother." "Do you think you’d feel better if you went to the party with either of them?", Applejack asked. Bloom gave a smile. "Mmm-hmm." "Well, there you go! Bet you and Twist and/or Dinky would have a great time together." Bloom started to hurry off and Chronicle decided to follow. "Now run along and find your friend." Just then, the yellow filly stopped. "You’re sure you don’t want me to stick around ’til the end of the market?" "Hey! Who’s been usin’ my racquet?", a male voice called out. The three turned and observed with worry an earth pony stallion with a light tan coat, dark blue eyes, dark brown hair with mustache and sideburns (which greatly confused Chronicle), a red headband that held his mane back, a blue/white sweatband on one foreleg, yellow-white shorts that hid his tennis ball cutie mark, and prominent tufts of hair on his chest. As it was, he was the owner of the tennis racquet Bloom used a couple of minutes ago and he was not amused. Applejack answered her sister, "Yeah. I’m sure." "You've been a bad filly.", the blue unicorn said. "That guy's Ace, tennis champion. You won't be getting any tennis-related cutie marks anytime soon." C—A—AB—A–C—A—AB—A–C—A—AB—A A while later… Chronicle followed Bloom to the herb/flower shop which was tended to by Daisy, Rose, and Lily, but they weren't around right now. Bloom trotted to the front door and knocked. Its top half opened and Twist looked out, noticing her classmate after a moment. When she spoke, Chronicle noticed that her tone was somewhat less cheerful than when they met after school, though she was still smiling. "Oh. What’s up, Apple Bloom?" Bloom was occasionally glancing back at her rump as she spoke. "So I was thinkin’, maybe we could go to Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañera together. I don’t have a cutie mark, you don’t have a cutie mark." Twist was uneasy at this. "Well, um…" She ducked down and hit the latch on the door’s lower half. It swung open to expose two things: a suddenly self-satisfied grin, and a mint-condition cutie mark of two crossed candy canes. Bloom stared pop-eyed with a gasp as Twist brightened considerably as she walked past. "Isn’t my cutie mark swell? I’ve always loved making my own savory sweets, but it took me some time to discover that it was my super-special talent. Pretty sweet, huh?" If Bloom’s spirits were low before, they were now perhaps five feet beneath her hooves as she sat on her rump in front of the shop door. "Yeah. Pretty…sweet." Twist tried to console her friend. "Hey, this doesn’t mean we can’t go to the cute-ceañera together." It was at that moment that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon crossed behind her. "You’re still gonna come to the party, aren’t you?" "Of course she will.", said the pink earth pony filly. "It’s not like being the only pony there without a cutie mark will be, like…" Silver made a contemptuous laugh. "…the most embarrassing thing ever." Those last five words caused the little filly’s cheeks to burn red with shame, and she bit her lower lip to keep from crying as the stuck-up pair’s nasty laughter drifted over. "Hey, lighten up, there's still Dinky.", Chronicle tried to console her. I hope… C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS Eyecatch (picture-type) - Apple Bloom looking dejected. Zoom in on her blank flank, where the show's logo fades into view. C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS Back at Mystic Shield's dojo… Unfortunately for the Chronicle clone, Dinky was a blank-flank no more either. "I'm so proud of you, my little muffin!", Derpy said as she spun around in the air, holding her little unicorn daughter, who was beaming in pride of her cutie mark; a golden bow and arrow, which represented her skill in masterful precision. All the unicorns around them cheered for this moment, including Mystic Shield. Twilight Sparkle was also awed at this incident, but she said nothing. This celebration lasted for a full minute before Mystic decided to clear his throat. "A-he-hem." Everypony stopped and turned to face him. "While I appreciate this sentimental and not-at-all-common moment, is it rude for me to ask for class to continue?" "No, not at all.", Derpy said, then turned to Dinky. "Why didn't you tell me you were taking his classes?" "I'm sorry, Mom, but I know how you've always been there for me, and well…I wanted to be able to protect you too when the time comes." Dinky's mom hugged her tighter. "Oh, Dinky." Mystic cleared his throat again to catch their attention as the others already got into position. "Sorry." Derpy set her daughter down. "Okay. Miss Hooves, if you don't need to get back to work…" "Oh, right! I still got some more letters to deliver! See you later, Dinky, Sparkler!" She then flew out, only to bump into the door first before finally leaving without problems. "Sparkler?", Twilight asked. Amethyst Star answered, "That's Mom's nickname for me." "I can't help but think she looks too young to be your mother." "Hasn't adoption crossed your mind?", Chronicle asked his charge. "Oh, right." C—TS—DH—D—MS–C—TS—DH—D—MS–C—TS—DH—D—MS Elsewhere… Apple Bloom sat glumly by a well amid a cluster of houses in Ponyville, Chronicle's clone watched from a short distance. Derpy had passed by a while ago, looking real happy and singing to herself that Dinky's got her cutie mark. Of course, this set the yellow filly's spirits deeper. Just then, Rainbow Dash poked her head into view from above. "Whoa.", the pegasus said. "Looks like somepony’s got a dark cloud hanging over her head." Indeed, there was a dark cloud directly overhead—a sizable one, to be exact. Why Chronicle didn't move it was because it wasn't rumbling any lightning. "Let me do something about that." Rainbow bulldozed it away and descended to the ground. "What’s the matter, kid?" Bloom stood up, sucked in a huge breath, and started to spill her guts, not literally thankfully. "There’s a cute-ceañera this afternoon and everypony in my class’ll be there and they’ll all have their cutie marks and I wanna get my cutie mark but I’m no good at sellin’ apples but I really wanna go to the party but how can I go to the party if I don’t have my cutie mark which my big sister says I’m gonna get eventually but…" She then went into full whine mode. "…I WANT IT NOOOWWW!" The pegasus did not even skip a beat in the face of this phonetic onslaught. "Cutie mark? I can get you a cutie mark like that!" At the end of this, she snapped her tail out straight and revealed her own. "Applejack says these things take time. I have to just wait for it to happen." "Why wait for something to happen when you can make it happen?" "But…Applejack says that…" "Hey, who are you gonna listen to? Applejack, or the pony who was first in her class to get a cutie mark?" "You were the first in class?", Chronicle asked as Rainbow flexed her wings, and bounded over Bloom. "I always liked flying and all, but I was going nowhere in a hurry. It wasn’t until my very first race that I discovered a serious need for speed. And ka-zam!" She showed off her flank and went into a crouch. "This sweet baby appeared as fast as lightning." She then took off, leaving a certain yellow filly to gaze up in admiration. C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB A while later… The clone Chronicle watched as Bloom, wearing a headband with her bow, did push-ups in the grass while Rainbow hovered behind her, having put on a headband and hung a whistle around her neck. "That’s right!", the pegasus was saying. "Stretch out those legs! Gotta be nice and loose! The key here is to try as many things as possible, as quickly as possible. One of ’em is bound to lead to your cutie mark." "Or at least among those things, find something that you like.", Chronicle added. "If you like it, it's probably your calling and you keep at that activity until your mark appears." Rainbow didn't seem to mind his interruption. "Are you ready?" Bloom straightened up and replied, "I’m ready!" "I said, are you ready?!?" Bloom reared up. "I’m ready!" C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB "Juggling! Go!" There was a blow of the whistle, as Bloom stood on one hind leg, juggling several balls from a nearby basket. She did well for a few seconds before losing her balance and belly-flopping into the grass, the balls bouncing off her head and back. "This doesn't sound like a good idea.", Chronicle quipped. C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB At the end of a cliff… "Hang gliding! Go!" Another whistle and Bloom—now sporting an old-style aviator’s leather helmet and goggles—started into a sprint with a glider on her back. After several dozen yards however, she tripped and started to tumble head over tail. "Whoa!" She slid to an upside-down stop just short of the cliff, with one corner of the glider hanging over the edge and Rainbow throwing her a slightly disgusted look. Chronicle just grumbled and said. "Let's try this again." C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB After a lot of failed attempts… "Karate! Go!" They were now in a karate dojo, no connection to Mystic Shield's, with Rainbow clad in a martial-arts training uniform—and a black belt (unsurprisingly) to boot—and Bloom similarly clad, and without the headband, but with a white belt (naturally). Chronicle hadn't put any uniform on as he was a magical clone, with the real him still in Mystic Shield's academy. At the sound of the whistle, Bloom took off with a flying kick, yelling out something appropriate for the martial art. One rear hoof connected squarely with a heavy bag, but it did not move; instead, Bloom’s face instantly froze into an expression of incredible silent pain. She hung motionless for a second before thudding to the floor. So that's how they learn karate. Chronicle then turned to Rainbow and asked, "Say, you mentioned Fluttershy taking karate classes, right?" "No. I mentioned it was Rarity, as it turns out when I asked the sensei, but yes, Fluttershy does take a few." "Ah." Really… C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB In a meadow… "Kite flying! Go!" Having ditched their uniforms, and with Bloom back in her blue headband, the latter stood with a with a kite made of leaves lying behind her, its spool of line in her teeth. The two blue older ponies watched from a safe distance. At the sound of the whistle, The earth pony filly began to gallop, letting the line play out as the kite started to gain altitude. All too soon, though, it took a few deranged loops before nose-diving straight to the ground. The novice kite-flyer watched wide-eyed as all the leaves crumpled off the branch framework. "Seriously?", Chronicle asked his friend. "What about kite-fighting or something more intense?" C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB "Ultra Pony Roller Derby! Go!" The two blue ponies stood on a small table on the infield of a roller rink. As the whistle sounded once more, they watched a crash-helmeted Bloom scramble by on skates with three tough-looking fillies in pursuit. She looked fearfully back just in time to see them growl at her, then pitched forward with a scream and tumbled out of control. The other three slammed on the brakes, but too late. There was a collision and the four skaters now lay in a semiconscious tangle at one corner of the rink. Bloom recovered quick, extricated herself, and rolled slowly away, red-faced and grinning as best she can. C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB "Target practice! Go!" And Bloom, with a barrier cast around her and wearing a red-and-white target on her flank, ran into the fray at the start of the whistle as magic shots of all shapes and sizes (well, shaped at least) tried to hit her. The barrier cast around her was very small, enough to tuck her tail and bow within its bounds. Left and right she strafed for two minutes, her shield taking a few hits along the way, until a voice called to stop. The onslaught of magical blasts ceased and Bloom stopped moving as well. "Tell me again how you convinced me this was a good idea.", Mystic Shield decided to ask, having given the order. As it was, they were at his dojo, and Bloom was suggested to play as a moving target for his students to shoot at. They have been absolutely assured them that Mystic—who was the one who put up the barrier—won't let her come to harm. Of course, some of them didn't want to take part, among them Twilight Sparkle, who was vehemently against the idea. "I haven't a clue.", Chronicle, the real one, shrugged his shoulders, having dismissed his clone. "Oh wait. I just remembered.", one of the students said. "There's a cute-ceañera taking place at Sugarcube Corner!" "Oh, I gotta prepare my little sister for it!" "Me too!" And the conversation soon devolved into discussion for that oncoming party. Mystic Shield sighed at the lost attention and decided to declare, "Class dismissed." And as one, nearly every unicorn left the dojo, leaving himself, Chronicle, his charge, Rainbow Dash, and Apple Bloom. "Ugh…this inconsistent schedule is killing me." "Well, if you'd like, I can offer you tips in keeping—", Twilight began. "Yes, you told me about maintaining a rigid and consistent schedule and all that, but while I think it may fit with your job as librarian and student of Princess Celestia, I also have my students' livelihoods to consider. While you somehow maintain an orderly schedule that also factors in your interaction with your few friends—not that that's bad or anything—I, on the other hoof, have to factor in all of my students' 'timetables' so I can maximize the…umm…how do you say it…" "Maximize the total hours you spend teaching your students what you know?", Chronicle put in. "Yes. That and the bits I earn each day from each of them or their parents or guardians." "Well, we better get going.", Rainbow interrupted. "Still got some more activities to do." She and Bloom—who ditched the target she wore—then took off, followed by Chronicle, leaving Twilight and Mystic in the dojo. C—TS—RD—MS—AB—C—TS—RD—MS—AB—C—TS—RD—MS—AB Later… After a lot more activities, the three were now lounging under a tree that was a few feet from Carousel Boutique. While Rainbow was consulting a checklist, Chronicle was doing a few practice swings with his "magic horn blade" on some falling leaves, failing miserably to slice them in half. "Tried that one…tried that one…tried that one…", he heard his pegasus friend say. Just then, the sound of young laughter caught his and Bloom's attention. He paused to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walking past, the former having a large, wrapped box on her back. "Your new outfit is like, perfect for the party.", Silver said as Bloom gasped in fright and dove behind a bush. "I know. It totally shows off my new cutie mark.", Diamond replied as they walked past the tree where they were resting, ignoring or not noticing the death glare Chronicle was giving them. "I love being special." "Can you imagine how embarrassing it must be to be…not special? " Silver sighed with contempt. "I don’t even want to, like, think about it." And if there's one thing I also don't like about them, it's Silver's excessive use of the word 'like'., Chronicle grumbled as they walked out of sight. It's irritating to no end. Then, as Rainbow continued to check the list, Bloom climbed out of the bush and lamented, "I’m doomed! Doomed! I’ll never find somethin’ I’m good at!" She then dropped her head with a pathetic little whimper before Pinkie Pie poked in. "You look like you’d be good at eating cupcakes.", Pinkie suggested. Bloom gave a smile. "Eatin’ cupcakes?" Rainbow was a mite confused, "Eating cupcakes?" Chronicle however seemed to be on edge. "C-c-c-c-c-c-cupcakes?" Pinkie jumped in place and replied in a sing-song manner, "Eating cupcakes!" As she then hopped away, Bloom turned to the polychromatic-haired pegasus. "I really appreciate all your help, Rainbow Dash." She then slowly backed off "You’re a really great coach and I’ve really learned a lot from you, and I’m sure I could learn a lot more, but…I’ve got some cupcakes to eat!" She then dashed after Pinkie. "See you at the cute-ceañera! Hold on, Pinkie Pie! I’m comin’!" "I better go too, just in case.", Chronicle told Rainbow before following. "The word 'cupcakes' seemed to have a negative vibe on you.", she said to him and he was forced to stop. "May I ask why?" "Two words: Baked bads." "Those were muffins." "Still. That, and also because of a horrible nightmare." "Why would you have a nightmare about cupcakes?" "I don't wanna talk about it, okay. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm have to make sure Apple Bloom doesn't fall into trouble." C—RD—PP—AB—DT—SS—C—RD—PP—AB—DT—SS The reason behind Chronicle's cringing on the word "cupcakes" is because of the "Cupcakes" book Blue Diary gave him days ago in his dreams. In that story, Pinkie Pie invited Rainbow Dash to her bakery and offered her a drugged cupcake. After eating the drugged confection, Rainbow woke up some time later strapped to a table in a darkened room decorated up like a party, but in place of streamers and balloons are blood, bones and body parts. Pinkie, wearing a dress made from pony flesh and a necklace of unicorn horns, revealed that she had killed many other ponies and then told Rainbow Dash that "her number came up" before proceeding to slowly and brutally mutilate her in graphic detail, eventually killing her. Othello was absolutely horrified in finding out this side of Pinkie and had to…put her down when he came next. Chronicle has been on edge upon hearing "cupcakes" or "rainbow factory" ever since. SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM Chronicle shook that horrible memory off of his head as he frantically followed the high-spirited Bloom into the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner from a back door outside. He considered doing a background check on Pinkie later using Surveillance, but then remembered his promise and the consequences of breaking it. He then shook that off, telling himself that his Pinkie Pie wold never to such a thing, although he'll have to keep his guard up. His continued pondering was interrupted by hearing Bloom say, "I can’t believe I didn’t think of this." As they entered, Chronicle watched Pinkie set a muffin tin on the counter. "A cupcake-eatin’ cutie mark! It’s so obvious!" Bloom then began to zip about, looking in drawers, cabinets, and even the oven. "Now, where are those cupcakes? I’m ready to chow down!" "I don’t have any cupcakes.", Pinkie said, triggering something in Chronicle's mind as he continued to listen, stay still, and get ready for anything. "Oh." Pinkie then gasped sharply as she then went and plunked a chef’s hat on Bloom’s head. "But you look like you’d be good at helping me make some!" Bloom sounded uncertain as a light mandolin/tambourine melody began to play. Fast 4, D major. "I guess a “making-cupcakes” cutie mark could work too." C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB In a completely different, non-pony world… Now Playing: Sandviches! In a RED base somewhere, the Engineer walked over to the Heavy, who had his back turned to him as he tended to Sasha. "Heavy…", the Engineer asked and he turned to face him. "How do I make sandvich?" The hardhat-wearing guy produced one in a plate at the end of this in demonstration right after. [screen mode] {Heavy leans into view of from the right, singing in a booming voice and over-emphasis of the lyrics. The plate disappears from Engineer's hold, who begins to bob his arms up and down as he makes a wide open-mouth grin of enthusiasm, which he retains for the entire song. The Heavy then sumps some flour into a mixing bowl.} All you have to do is take a cup of flour! Add it to the mix!♪ {Heavy then moves off screen and Engineer pops up as a chocolate bar, a steak, and a paprika bottle fly, the first into the bowl, and the other two over it. Heavy shows a salt container to Engineer's right, then comes up to his face as the Engineer made an even bigger open-mouth smile.} Now just take a little something sweet, not sour! A bit of salt, just a pinch!♪ Bass in {Heavy moves over to a cabinet and opens it while Engineer keeps his smile going. Cut to close-up of Heavy's face as he then leans back to show a teaspoon (and the rest of his body).} Making these treats is such a cinch! Add a teaspoon of bologna!♪ {View of the bowl as if the camera was on its rim as Heavy continues to sing, Engineer puts his upper jaw onto the rim opposite to the camera, and four small, disc-shaped pieces of bologna. Scene cuts to another where Heavy bends down with his neck elongated to prove his point, then raises his arms to the ceiling.} Add a little more and you count to four, and you never get your fill of…♪ Drums/synthesizer in {Heavy pulls up a plate with a "sandvich" as a wheel transition pattern of white-and-pink is behind him; Heavy tilts his head to it as it sits on his open palm.} Sandvich! So moist and delicious!♪ {Same backdrop as before, but with Heavy showing the "sandvich" to Engineer; close up of Heavy's eyes.} Sandvich! I'm coming for you!♪ {Same scene as before where Heavy pulls up the "sandvich" on a plate.} Sandvich!♪ {Scene of the "sandvich" and the Heavy; then the "sandvich" at its plate alone; then finally a from-table view of the singing Heavy as he stretches his arms out to the "sandvich" and the enthusiastic Engineer as the food item sits there.} Sandvich! Sandvich! Sandvich!♪ Song ends {Heavy went into an akimbo position and Engineer retains his enthusiastic look. Camera then zooms past them and right at the face of an exasperated Scout as he holds his bat.} [screen mode] "This did not just happen!", Scout exclaimed. SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM Back in Equestria (Prime)… Chronicle was busy cleaning up the mess that had resulted from the attempt to make cupcakes. Apple Bloom was running the electric mixer, there was batter everywhere, and he was splattered in places with it. He then saw her leave it at the sound of a buzzer elsewhere. Grumbling, he walked over to the mixer, looked for the power switch, then 'flipped' it so that it would slow down and not spill too much batter. I've seen cleaner bakery kitchens…, he grumbled as he organized the counter. While he was far from being a clean freak like Rarity, he tolerates messiness as much as the next average Joe—and indeed he knew of one pony with that name—, not too much. He then quickly went over to Bloom as she stood in front of the oven and pulled open the door handle with her teeth. Black smoke came from the oven and she slipped, knocking over a bag of flour, causing her to cough. She then grabbed a potholder in her teeth to pull the cupcakes out. Her eyes popped in sudden pain, presumably from the heat. "Hot! Hot! Hot!", she exclaimed as she spat out the tin and let her tongue hang out. Pinkie and Chronicle went and stood over the results, which were a set of burnt-black treats. "Ooh!", the pink earth pony said. "Those look much better than the last batch." "Considering the ones before these, I can't tell if you're being sincere or not.", snarked the sole unicorn as Pinkie took a big crunchy bite out of one, crumbs adhering to her bulging cheeks. And I know sarcasm is a foreign concept to you. He and Bloom watched in total disbelief. He then cringed as Bloom tried to follow Pinkie's example, only to spit it out. Bloom was obviously crushed. "Guess I’m not cut out to be a baker either." She then gave a moan. "I just have to face it. I’m gonna have a blank flank forever." "Now don't fret too much. I think being too impatient in finding your cutie mark is what's not letting you find it." "What about that?", Pinkie asked as she pointed at a white patch on Bloom's flank, whose red-gold eyes bugged out and turned back to it. "What about what?", the filly asked as she circled in place, her chef hat falling off. "Is there something on my flank? Is there? Is there? Is there?" She rushed to an overturned metal bowl on the floor, angled herself to show the spot’s reflection clearly, and gasped happily. "A cutie mark! It’s a…a measurin’ cup? No. A mixin’ bowl? No. Are those cupcakes? A tower of cupcakes, maybe." Pinkie decided to blow over the white patch, causing it to disappear. "Flour! It’s flour!", she exclaimed as she jumped up and down. "Yay! I guessed it! What game do you want to play next? Please say bingo, please say bingo." Only Chronicle noticed the devastating effect that her action has had on Bloom and they were all caught off guard by the next voice. "Whoa!" They all turned to see Twilight Sparkle at the kitchen door. "What’s been going on in here?" Pinkie slid over to her, with a tray of burned cupcakes on her head. "We’ve been making cupcakes. Want to try one?" "No, thank you. Not that they don’t look…" The unicorn mare forced a grin. "…delicious." Chronicle "pfft"ed in response. "Twilight!", Bloom cried out. "You have to help me!" "What’s the matter?" For the second time, the little pony got a good lungful of air, but before she could tell the tale, Chronicle cut in and began to say it for her in rapid fire, but not as fast as Bloom had done. "Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañera is today and everypony in her class’ll be there. They all got their cutie marks and she wants to get hers, but she's no good at selling apples or hang gliding or making cupcakes. She wants to go to the party, but cannot go without a cutie mark, which she can't make appear but wants it to regardless." "RIIIIGHT NOOOOW!", Bloom finished. Like Rainbow, Twilight had managed to hold her ground and her composure through her bodyguard's verbal torrent. "Uh…I don’t follow. How can I help her?" Chronicle smacked himself in the face from his failure to get the message across. "You can use your magic to make my cutie mark appear!" "Oh, no, Apple Bloom. A cutie mark is something that a pony has to discover for herself." "Please, Twilight. Just try." "I’m sorry, but—" Bloom started to fidget, grabbing Twilight’s chest. "Oh, please, please, please, please, please!" Left with no choice, Twilight conceded, "All right, all right!" Bloom backed up. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" The multi-talented unicorn then fired up her horn and hit the right spot with a blast. A cart filled with apples appeared. "YES! I knew you could do…" Her tone changed as she saw it vanish. "…it." "I’m sorry, sweetie. But I told you—" "Try again, try again!" With the classic sigh that was the precursor of an “I told you so”, Twilight followed orders. This time, she conjured up a kite mark, which also faded out. This was followed by three cupcakes, a teddy bear, a tricycle, and so on. Bloom was gradually showing increasing dejection as flash after flash hit her with increasing speed. The final failed attempt was a trio of footballs, after which she voiced a little gasp and Twilight lifted her head clear. "Told you that not even magic can make a cutie mark appear before its time." Suddenly, Chronicle had an idea as he lighted up. "Oh wait! There is another way!" "Really?!", asked the two females. "But you'll eventually have to try and actually live up to it or explain why it has changed after you really get your cutie mark." "Why?", Bloom wanted to know. "Two words. Flank stickers." At this, Twilight frowned. "Those things?" "Uh-huh. Sometimes, my charge may not want my presence for certain reasons but may need them. So along with some hair dye, special body paint, and even fake eyelashes, I use flank stickers to disguise myself when shrouding myself in clothes isn't enough." And it's not as easy as you think it is. "May I see one?", Bloom asked. "Please, please, please!" "Unfortunately, I don't have any." This set Bloom's spirits down. "Then why did you even bring it up if you don't have them?", Twilight scolded. "It was only until all this cutie mark-searching did I remember them. And that I'll need to get more from the Canterlot black market." "You go to the black market?!" "Sometimes. I keep away from the very shady ones though." "It’s hopeless. Hopeless!", Bloom lamented, interrupting their argument as she walked slowly to the shop floor, Chronicle following her. "I just won’t go to the party. I can’t go! Everyone will just laugh at me and make fun of me and call me names. It will be the worst night of my life." "I’m sure it won’t be as bad as all that.", Twilight assured, putting her argument with Chronicle behind her for the moment. "I'm sure it will be now that you said that.", her bodyguard snarked. "Forget it.", said Bloom. "There’s no way I’m goin’ to that…" She stopped short upon seeing the shop floor filled with mares and fillies, presents and sweets stacked up on the tables, and the whole place tricked out for a soiree. She gave a hard gulp. "…party?" C—TS—PP—AB—C—TS—PP—AB—C—TS—PP—AB Eyecatch (video-type) {Eight cards fly in from the right and pile up on one another, depicting the following in the following order: seven bubbles, a lyre, a trio of wrapped candies, a bundle of three carrots, a grape and strawberry, a trio of brilliant-cut diamonds, an hourglass, and another hourglass.} {The eight cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting two rows of eight ponies. The top row depicts (from left to right) Amethyst Star, Minuette, Doctor Whooves, and Berry Punch. The bottom row depicts Bon Bon, Heartstrings, Derpy Hooves, and Golden Harvest. The show's logo shows up on the center.} C—TS—PP—AB—C—TS—PP—AB—C—TS—PP—AB Chronicle took the time to analyze his surroundings after remembering the event taking place here. He heard music and happy chatter. He then heard the sound of somepony spitting out something, then turned to see that one of them had tried Apple Bloom's failed cupcakes. He turned another way and saw Diamond Tiara strutting her stuff, wearing an outfit that consisting of a white-polka-dotted pink saddle with blue and pink edging and a frilly white collar, which ironically covered her cutie mark. Silver Spoon, who was alongside, wore a pink/blue saddle with yellow/light-green edging and a blue collar accentuated by a yellow flower. He could even see Twist getting into the spirit, leaving Bloom to sit by a chocolate filly sculpture, which she hid behind. "How could I have forgotten the time?", she lamented as Chronicle stood right next. "How could I have forgotten Pinkie Pie was hostin’ the party? How could I have forgotten it was at Sugarcube Corner?" Pinkie popped in and set a party hat on their heads. "Don’t forget your party hat…Forgetty Forgetterson!" She then hopped away as Bloom took off her hat. The yellow filly then zipped from a sculpture to hide behind a cake. "I have to get out of here before anypony sees me." As a couple of late arrivals strolled in, Snails walked over to the cake and took a huge bite, making a big enough hole to leave Bloom in view…as well as get a reprimand from Diamond. "Hey!", she yelled as she get into his face. "It’s my cute-ceañera! I’m supposed to get the first bite of cake!" The yellow filly took advantage of the distraction to get away from the table and onto another one, with Chronicle providing himself as cover. Next, she dove behind a bunch of balloons, but then a dancing Pokey Pierce started to pop them with his horn. She quickly made a break for it and began to work her way in between tables and guests, eventually reaching one with punch bowl. "Okay, Apple Bloom.", she told herself as she saw the open exit door ahead. "Almost there." Lifting the table on her back, she tiptoed gingerly down the home stretch, stopping twice so as not to draw attention while Chronicle walked with it. On the second stop, he greeted Berry Punch, who looked around and ignored him before slurping directly from the bowl, ignoring the provided cups. Chronicle could only give a confused look as the table soon moved again and approached the doormat. Bloom then emerged and happily headed out, with Chronicle following, only for them to run flat into Applejack. "Apple Bloom! You made it!", she cheered as she walked in, pushing Bloom back, forcing Chronicle to follow. "After I heard about Twist, I was afraid you wouldn’t show up. Sure am glad you came to your senses about this whole cutie mark thing." All the while, she hasn't noticed her sister’s profuse sweating and scrabbling to get past her and out the door. "These things happen when these things are supposed to happen. Tryin’ to rush it’ll just drive you crazy." She finally stopped. "I’ll let you be. Looks like your friends want to talk to you." "Which friends?", asked Chronicle as she and he walked off, then turned to see Diamond and Silver, who were clearly relishing the moment. Chronicle then turned to the farmpony and said, "Seriously? You think those two are her friends?" "Why wouldn't they be?", Applejack asked as her little sister yanked the cloth off another table holding a punch bowl, then knot it into a makeshift dress. "Listen to the conversation carefully." He turned his and her head to the three earth pony fillies as they began to converse. "Observe the tone of the voices of your sister's 'friends'. Do they sound even the slightest bit friendly to you? Hmm?" He made sure to say his words slow and clear to make certain he's got the message across. "I've seen Cheerilee act useless as well since during class she didn't stop the teasing and mocking going on in her classroom that was directed towards your sister. Ponyville's school system clearly has not instituted a zero-tolerance policy on bullying." "Wait a sec! You've been stalkin' my sister while she's in class?!" Chronicle smacked himself since Applejack apparently missed the point. "Hey, you asked me to!" He was given a leer from Applejack. "Okay, maybe I ended up making you misinterpret my message, but…I also wanted to see how schools in Ponyville are like." He didn't tell the truth about not learning tha cutie mark lesson by virtue of not being born in Equestria. "Are they that different from those in Canterlot and all those other places you've been?" "Very." Just then, they saw Bloom saunter away from whom Applejack called her friends, only to have her "dress" get snagged on one of the nails of the floorboards, After a moment’s straining against the snag, she ripped free of it and toppled forward headfirst. Instead of going out the door, though, she banged into a table next to it that held a manually-cranked phonograph. The loud scratch of the needle being knocked off the record elicited a gasp from the rest of the crowd, followed by stunned silence as a smirking Diamond and Silver zip over as they saw Bloom’s blank hide, out there for all to see. The two "friends" began to laugh as Bloom pulled a face that showed that she was screwed. "Oh, wow, that is an amazing cutie mark.", Silver mocked before laughing again. "Nice try…", teased Diamond before being joined in by her friend. "…blank flank!" As she found herself on the receiving end of more mockery and a soft chant of “blank flank”, Chronicle gave an "What did I tell you?" look at Applejack. Suddenly, a brash young female voice spoke up. "You got a problem with blank flanks?", it said. There were stunned gasps from the entire crowd, two of whom backed away to expose a pair of fillies hiding under a table behind them. The speaker was an orange pegasus with a deep pink, unruly mane/tail and vivid violet eyes. Her companion was a unicorn, nearly the same gray-tinged white color as Rarity, light green eyes and a curly mane/tail in pastel pink and violet. Both were roughly Bloom's age…and Chronicle recognized them as the two fillies who cowered under a table with Bloom during the night Nightmare Moon appeared. "I said, you got a problem with blank flanks?", repeated the pegasus filly. "The problem is, I mean, she’s, like, totally not special.", Silver replied. The unicorn filly's voice carried a higher pitch than her companion, but her vexation gave it the same edge. "No…" The two then trotted to stand in so that Bloom was now in between them. "…it means she’s full of potential." "It means she could be great at anything.", said the pegasus. "The possibilities are, like, endless." The last words were said mockingly in valley girl style. For some reason, Chronicle could see the crowd was dumbstruck. "She could be a great scientist, or an amazing artist, or a famous writer. She could even be Mayor of Ponyville someday!" "And she’s not stuck being stuck-up like you two." Said two took this very badly, but the rest of the bunch got a good laugh out of it. "Hey! This is my party.", retorted Diamond. "Why are you two on her side? "Because…" The two then presented their profiles, rump to rump, revealing themselves as "blank-flanks" as well. Bloom gasped at the sight—or lack of one, in this case. "You don’t have your cutie marks either? I thought I was the only one!" "We thought we were the only two.", said the pegasus as Chronicle then saw Twilight walk up. "I, for one, think you are three very lucky fillies.", his charge said. "Lucky?", Diamond gasped in a disrespectful manner as Silver let her tongue hang out in disgust. "How can they be lucky?" Twilight gave a mild look of disgust, then game a smile. "They still get to experience the thrill of discovering who they are, and what they’re meant to be." Applejack then walked over, accompanied by Chronicle. "And they’ve got all the time in the world to figure it out, not just an afternoon." "And you better watch your tongue.", the bodyguard stated as he gave a stern look. "You do know who you're taking to, right?" He raised an eyebrow at the end of this. Already, Bloom found herself the center of attention from several others in her age group. "Wow, Apple Bloom! I wish I could be a scientist.", one said. "Do you really think you could be Mayor?", said another. "Maybe I got my cutie mark too soon.", spoke a third. It then soon became prevalent that the focus of the crowd has shifted away from Diamond and onto the trio. The two fillies with the overstuffed egos found themselves standing alone with Chronicle still staring down at them. "Hey, what’s everypony doing?", Diamond was complaining, looking past the mare-faced stallion. "This is my party. Everypony’s supposed to be paying attention to me!" "Whatever.", Silver said, trying to save face, and apparently ignoring Chronicle in front of them "We still think you’re losers—right, Diamond Tiara?" She then started into their special shake routine from before, but quickly lost steam as she noticed that Diamond was having no part of it. "Bump, bump, sugar…lump…" "Not now, Silver Spoon." "You do know I'm standing right here, right?", Chronicle said, but they ignored him and clomped away. "Huh… why do some ponies do that sometimes with me around?" He turned back to the trio of blank-flanks. "Name’s Scootaloo.", he heard the pegasus introduce herself. "And I’m Sweetie Belle.", said the unicorn. "Apple Bloom.", the yellow earth pony filly stated. Chronicle turned a while to see Diamond and Silver now up on the stairs and watching the proceedings with no enjoyment whatsoever while The music and the festivities resume. "This song is so super!", Twist was saying as she jumped up and down. Chronicle grumbled as he 'picked up' a cup and got some punch, watching the other guests enjoy themselves. As he eyes his two friends clinking cups of punch held in their teeth and drink a toast, he grumbled again from the farmpony's obliviousness to the fact that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were bullies. He then walked over to the table where the three new friends were gathered, bypassing Snails taking a bite of a properly prepared cupcake. "So I was thinkin’.", Bloom was saying as the stallion stood behind them in a watchful manner. "Now that we’re friends…I mean, we are friends, right?" "How could we not be? We’re totally alike.", said Scootaloo, seemingly cool with the adult pony in their view. "We don’t have cutie marks, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon drive us crazy—" "Totally crazy!", Sweetie corrected and they all laughed at the end of that. "Well, now that we’re friends, what if the three of us work together to find out who we are and what we’re supposed to be?" "Ooh, ooh! We could form our own secret society!", Sweetie suggested. Secret society, my flank., Chronicle thought to himself. More like a simple group and nothing else. "I’m liking this idea!", Scootaloo agreed. "A secret society! Yeah!", Bloom was game for this. "We’ll need a name for it, though." "The Cutie Mark Three?", suggested Scootaloo. "The Cute-tastically Fantastics?" Sweetie. "How about…the Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Bloom. Scootaloo agreed with this. "It’s perfect!" So did Sweetie. "This is gonna be so great!" "We’re gonna be unstoppable!", Bloom said. Using her nose, Scootaloo retrieved a cupcake from the nearest counter and deposited it on the table. "What do you say we celebrate with some of these delicious cupcakes?" Before she could dig in though, Bloom hurriedly stopped her from doing so. "Not the cupcakes! Trust me." "Seriously.", agreed Chronicle. "She tried baking some an hour ago. The results were…something only Pinkie Pie can appreciate." "Let’s see if there are any cookies!", Sweetie suggested two seconds after he was done talking. Bloom agreed, "Yeah!" And so did Scootaloo. "Come on!" As they headed across the room, Chronicle stood as watched as the newly minted Crusaders had their fun. Scootaloo had a cookie in her teeth and flipped it upward, intending to catch it upon landing, only for it to land on her forehead and break. The other two laughed at the sight, and she shakes herself clean and offered a sheepish smile. As they began to dance around, soon joined by Twist, the mare-faced stallion thought, This'll make for a good friendship report. I better tell Twilight later. C—TS—A—PP—AB—T—DT—SS—SB—S “Dearest Princess Celestia: I am happy to report that one of your youngest subjects has learned a valuable lesson about friendship. Sometimes, the thing you think will cause you to lose friends and feel left out can actually be the thing that helps you make your closest friends and realize how special you are.”