College was just a few blocks ahead. Apple Bloom knew her life was just about to begin. She takes the bus today. Ever since buses became bigger and faster while she grew up, she'd began taking them more and more to save energy.
She stared out the window and slumped in her seat. She sighed. She never realized how boring the bus was... Until now.
"Apple Bloom?" said a voice behind her. Apple Bloom turned around. "Apple Bloom! It is you!"
Apple Bloom's eyes grew wide. She remembered this pony, a pony she hadn't seen for such a long time. The butter-colored mare rubbed her eyes to make sure she was not dreaming.
"Sweetie Belle! But how--?"
"I'll bet anything we'll be partners with Scootaloo in college!"
"Scootaloo is here, too?"
"Well, I'm not sure. I haven't seen her in a while." Sweetie looked at Apple Bloom's flank. "You still don't have your Cutie Mark?! You're a full-grown mare now, Bloom."
"I know, I know." Apple Bloom looked down, then back at Sweetie.
"I remember that special day me and Scootaloo got our Cutie Marks."
"Yup." Apple Bloom looked at Sweetie Belle's flank, too. "Still got yours, I see."
"Of course. Cutie Marks are permanent. It's not like you can just mystically make them appear or disappear. You have to find them yourself. And once you do..." Sweetie flinched. "Well, let's just say you're... Stuck up for the rest of your life." Sweetie Belle stared down at her Cutie Mark and sighed. "Maybe we should have just stayed as the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
"Sweetie, I'm sorry."
"Apple Bloom, everypony eventually gets stuck up like this. You will, and I have the feeling it will not be too long now."
"But how am I gonna get my Cutie Mark?"
"Well..." Sweetie thought for a moment. "Have you done any Crusading, like we used to do in the old days?"
"Sometimes."
"Hmm. It's weird that you are a full grown mare and still don't have your Cutie Mark. Maybe..." Sweetie paused.
"Maybe what?"
"Nothing. It's nothing."
"Sweetie!"
"Alright! Alright!" Sweetie let the thought out of her mouth. "Well, I heard that Alicorns usually get their Cutie Marks this late. You don't suppose...?"
"No way, Sweetie! How could little old me be an Alicorn? An Alicorn is, like, a-- an Alicorn!" Apple Bloom could not really define "Alicorn", for she hardly knew any at all. She knew all Alicorns became Princesses sooner or later, and Alicorns were also half unicorn and half pegasus. That was all she knew. "Also, do you see any wings or horns on me? I'm the complete opposite of an Alicorn! I have no magic or power!"
"Apple Bloom, chill. You never know. You can't see the future."
The bus stopped. The two got off. Apple Bloom considered what Sweetie Belle had said, "You never know. You can't see the future."
When college had started, her mind was still processing what Sweetie had said. Sweetie had some logic there. Alicorns get their Cutie Marks at the same age Apple Bloom was (a full grown mare), and Apple Bloom could have inferred from Sweetie's statement that it was Alicorns only.
But was Sweetie right? Was Apple Bloom really royalty? Or was Sweetie just full of trash talking? This kept repeating itself over and over again through Apple Bloom's head. Nothing could have kept her from thinking it.
Apple Bloom needed to find out.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked side by side into the huge college building. But as they entered, Apple Bloom saw two ponies that made her heart stop for a second.
They were Apple Bloom's age, but different colors. One was pink with purple and white hair, and was wearing a tiara. The second was gray with white and light gray hair. They both had Cutie Marks, of course. Apple Bloom nudged Sweetie.
"Sweetie?" Apple Bloom whispered. "Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are here!"
"So?" Sweetie whispered back.
"If they find out I still don't have my Cutie Mark yet after ten years, I'll become a laughingstock!"
"Draw a fake one on your flank then. I think I have a marker or something in my saddle bag we could use."
Sweetie and Bloom snuck into the bathroom, which was about 2 doors ahead of them in the huge room. Sweetie and Apple Bloom walked into a stall and locked it. Sweetie levitated a red marker out of her saddle bag.
"Draw something on both sides of your flank!" Sweetie instructed. "You can't just have a Cutie Mark on one side."
"I know," replied Apple Bloom. "I've seen thousands of ponies. And most of them have their Cutie Marks already. I know where they are..."
"Heh, yeah."
Apple Bloom drew an apple tree with flowers growing around it. It smudged.
"Sweetie, I smudged!"
"Okay..." Sweetie threw her saddle bag on the floor and rummaged through it. She came across two stickers of apple trees, rubbed the marker off of Bloom's flank, and stuck the stickers on each side of Apple Bloom's flank. "That ought to do the trick."
"Oh my gosh!" Apple Bloom looked at her flank. "It looks just like a real Cutie Mark!" Apple Bloom felt the sticker on her flank. "Feels like one, too. Nopony will ever be able to tell the difference."
"Not at all!"
They came out of the latrine. Apple Bloom walked to her dorm room. As soon as she opened the door, she looked behind her. Sweetie Belle was standing there.
"Sweetie? Um, this is my room."
"It's mine, too."
The two mares exchanged looks and laughed. They were dorm roomies!
"So, roomie, what should we do first?"
"I don't know. Remember, this is a dormatory college, not a hotel." Sweetie looked around. "But it sure seems like one."
A purple light flew through the air and in front of the two as they closed the door and hopped onto the beds. A scroll took the purple aura's place.
"A letter?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I guess," replied Sweetie. She levitated the letter. "It says it's from Princess Celestia."