//------------------------------// // Cutie-Mark Crisis // Story: Of Kingdoms and Cutie-Marks // by GreyGuardPony //------------------------------// The image in the mirror was almost mocking Skitch-Sketch, her eyes unable to move away from her faded cutie-mark. “No. No no no no no.” Skitch babbled as she stared at her faded pencil and paintbrush marking. “This...I...NO!” Icy panic ran down her spine, to the tip of her tail. If her cutie-mark was fading away, then her art talent could possibly fade away to, and if that went away, she wouldn't have a way to make money and at the end of her first week in Equestria with the intent to live here... “I'll be homeless...” She gulped. The indignity of facing eviction in two different realities made her want to scream. It was like some force in the universe, somewhere, had decided that it was her lot to suffer in life. She spun around charging back down the stairs, tripping over her hooves in her blind panic and crashing into a shelf of supplies. Cans of paint brushes tumbled off and rained down on her head, but she paid them no mind as forced herself back to her hooves and ran out the door. She galloped at top speed across Ponyville her mane and tail streaming in the breeze, her heart hammering in her chest like a jackhammer. As she wove through the morning crowds, she barely missed crashing into multiple ponies in her mad dash to find some kind of help. Reaching Golden Oaks Library she began to slam her fore-hooves on the front door. “Twilight! Twilight! Please open up!” After a few moments the door opened up and Spike stared at her, blinking sleep out of his eyes. “Skitch-Sketch? ...It's seven AM, what's wrong?” “Twilight! I need to talk to her, it's...well, I don't know what it is exactly, but she might be able to help me figure it out.” Spike stared at her for a moment or two before rubbing his forehead. “Okay, sure. Come on in.” Skitch stepped inside, flicking her tail over one of her fading cutie-marks and then back over the other, nervously waiting for Twilight to come downstairs. Stupid tail not being able to cover both sides! It's okay...it's gonna be okay. Twilight is one of the best magic users of this era and she's Princess Celestia's prize student! She can figure this out and she'll fix it and everything will be okay! Eeevvverrything will be okay! Twilight came downstairs mane and tail looking a little frazzled from being yanked out of sleep early, after a later night. Spike did not come back downstairs, Skitch assuming that he had gone back to bed. “Skitch?” She blearily blinked. “What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost.” Skitch bit her lip as she twisted to the side and wordlessly pointed to her cutie-mark. That snapped Twilight out of her half asleep state quickly enough as she trotted over to Skitch and examined it closely. “Oh my! Your cuite-mark, it's...” “Disappearing, I know. Can you help? Please?” Twilight winced, thinking for a moment. “Well, okay. Let me see what I can find in the books. I know I have a few books on cutie-mark studies here somewhere.” Skitch blinked. “Cutie-mark studies? That's a whole academic field or something?” “Kind of. Everypony accepts that cutie-marks work, and that they first appear when a pony discovers something about themselves, but there are still some things we don't understand about them.” She pulled a few books off the shelves and piled them on a reading table. “Such as?” Skitch asked. “Mostly their origin and why only ponies and zebras have them. We share the world with all sorts of creatures, but cutie-marks are rare when you look at things on a species by species level.” Twilight began to flip through pages while, Skitch's panic over her cutie-mark situation was blunted by this revelation. “That's kind of surreal. Cutie-marks are probably one of the things your world is most known for in my reality and now that I'm here I find out that they're rare.” “Well, kind of...” Twilight corrected. “See, ponies are the most populous species on Equis. But when you look at all of the sapient species, only two of them have cutie-marks.” “So...what kind of conclusions have those who study cutie-marks come to?” “Not a lot.” Twilight admitted, the frustration clear in her voice. “What about Celestia? Isn't she immortal? Wouldn't she know?” Twilight frowned as she continued to search. “I asked her about that once. She said that cutie-marks were just something that existed when she and Luna were young. A mystery of the world I suppose.” She suddenly perked up, an inquisitive look on her face. “Wait! You've seen all these things from your world. What has your world said about cutie-marks?” Skitch shook her head. “Sorry, Twilight. I have no insight here. From my world's point of view you all have cutie-marks because the toys your show were based on had them first.” “Wait....we have toys?” Skitch sighed and rubbed the side of her head. “The history of the My Little Pony franchise is long. And I'd rather not focus on it right now, as I really don't think it's relevant to this at the moment.” She finished, motioning to her flank. “Right. But were there any incidents similar to this? Even if it's a vague connection It might give me a place to start from.” Skitch sighed. “Well...I've seen stuff that can cause extra ones to appear, but nothing that would involve loosing one.” “And how did that come about?” “Magical herb called Heart's Desire. It basically caused a mess of cutie-marks to appear on the afflicted pony, until she stopped lying about the fact she had actually gotten one.” Twilight rubbed her chin, mulling that information over. “Okay...cutie-marks are slightly magical in nature themselves, just like all ponies are. Celestia taught me that there's a slight surge of magic when a cutie-mark appears in fact.” Nodding to herself as though she reached a conclusion on something, Twilight trotted back over to Skitch. “I'm going to try something. I learned a magic aura reading spell after the Collector's attack. May I?” “Go wild Twilight.” Smirking Twilight tapped into her magic, her horn lighting up first, then her eyes as she wove the spell. Once the weave was complete, she took a close look at her friend. From Twilight's point of view, it looked like Skitch had been replaced by flowing series of energy lines in the shape of a pony. That was, once she pushed past the jumbled collection of lines that was the snarl of transmutation magic responsible for her form. Twilight knew from her studies, that magic in ponies flowed in certain patterns and pooled in certain locations, based on which tribe they were from. Skitch's magic was flowing normally for a unicorn, running from head to tail and pooling just at the base of the horn; her aura was a light blue color, indicating her natural affinity towards the school of illusion magic. Glancing down at where Skitch's cutie-marks would be, she was unable to suppress the gasp that escaped her lips. The flow of the magic through them wasn't part of Skitch's natural magic lattice. Instead they were a pair of angry red pools, almost resembling large red scabs that were peeling away from the body. She could see the natural light blue tone of her natural aura behind them. “That gasp didn't sound good...” Skitch winced. “The magic of your cutie-marks! They just...they aren't part of you like they should be. They almost look stuck on. And now they're pulling away. This is unprecedented!” “That's a phrase that I'm getting really tired of hearing applied to me.” Skitch grumbled. Twilight laughed nervously as she let the spell end, the disgruntled looking form Skitch filling her vision again. “Sorry Skitch. But it's kind of true. Looking at your aura, they look like they're tearing away from you.” “Ugh. Why now? I was gone for almost a month returning all those things The Collector stole and my marks were fine. I'm back in Equestria for a week and now they're falling apart?” Twilight blinked. “A month? You were gone a week.” Skitch nodded. “Well, from Equestria's perspective I was. But I passed through enough different realities with their own flows of time that from my perspective, it was more like a month.” Twilight just stared at her for a moment before responding. “That sounds annoyingly confusing.” Skitch shrugged. “In the words of a man much wiser than I, “timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly”.” “That sounds like something Pinkie would say.” “....Okay, maybe a little.” Skitch admitted, with a slight smirk. “But what am I supposed to do about this?” “Well...the little pockets of magic that are your cutie-marks look and are kind of acting like they were just...glued on or something.” Twilight began to pace back and forth as she talked, her face scrunched up in thought. “Okay...we still don't entirely know what The Collector used to make you but you inherited the cutie-marks of the original Skitch-Sketch." “Right. And when her spirit left this body, she left some of her knowledge behind.” “Well...what if that's part of the problem?" Skitch blinked, sitting down as she looked at Twilight quizzically. “What do you mean?” “Well,” Twilight bit her lip nervously. “This is complete speculation mind you. It's completely unfamiliar magic, and nothing like this has ever happened before...” “But?” Twilight sighed. “Okay, like I said, this is just my speculation. But what if Skitch passing on kind of shook your cutie-mark loose? It was hers after all and a pony earns their cutie-mark when they discover their special talent.” “Which I've never done myself, technically.” “Exactly. You can't make a cutie-mark appear with magic. Not at real one at least. And since their magic auras look like they're pulling away form yours, you're just loosing these marks you didn't earn. Maybe it was always going to be temporary and The Collector just didn't care. After all, we were all supposed to be dead by now.” “Ugh. I thought that magic was supposed to be predictable. This all sounds like guess work.” “Equestrian magic is predictable.” Twilight corrected. “We still don't know all of what The Collector used.” She smiled and put a hoof on Skitch's shoulder. “It won't be that bad Skitch. It's just part of being a pony.” “I know Twilight. I'm just still getting used to this, I guess. I was just starting to get some stability again, and now this on top of the whole possibility of losing my house.” “Wait.” Twilight blinked. “Losing your house?” Skitch sighed, nervously poking the floor with a hoof. “It seems that The Collector left me another surprise. The bank came and paid me a visit. I don't actually own my house...I got till the end of the week to make enough bits to keep it. Which was gonna be hard enough to do without loosing my ability to do art.” “Skitch...you do know that cutie-marks don't actually control a pony's ability to be good at something, right?” Skitch winced. “Normally...yes. But I was horrible at art before. Like...stick figure at the best here. What if the skills Skitch left behind for me are bound up in those marks?” She got to her hooves heading for the door, Twilight trotting after her, Skitch continuing to ramble. “If I push myself and get a handful of contracts maybe I can bash them out in time before my ability to do art drains away completely. And then...then...I don't know. I'll figure out my life from there. You don't have computers in this world, right?” Twilight shook her head. “Skitch if you need some help the girls and I would be glad to...” “How?” Twilight paused for a moment. “Well, maybe we can get a collection together for you...” “I'm not going to beg for money from the town Twilight.” Skitch said as she reached the front door. “I did enough of that in my human life.” “What do you mean?” Skitch sighed, stopping. “After I got fired from my one good job I basically floated between another series of dead end careers. I was constantly short of money to make rent and pay my bills, so I was always begging for help from my parents and friends.” She looked back at Twilight. “This was supposed to be a fresh start. I want to do it right this time. If I get bits, I'm going to earn them.” She ducked out the door before Twilight had a chance to respond, leading to a frustrated groan from the unicorn before she stomped back across the room. “Great Applejack impression she's doing there.” Twilight looked back at the small stack of books she had pulled down from the shelves, as she thought the situation over. The timing on the situation was suspicious to her. She had been back for a week and now is when they decided to try and repossess the building? “Could be a coincidence I suppose...How long does it take to look up bank documents anyway?” Then again, it couldn't hurt to ask Princess Celestia's opinion. “Spike!!” - - - - Skitch had made a mad gallop back to what was still currently her place of residence ducking inside quickly to quickly grab her saddlebags of holding, some pencils and a sketchbook before charging back out the door. “Right...gotta kick up some clients. Where to begin.” She muttered to herself as she ran through the streets. Thinking for a minute or two she made a sharp turn and shot towards Berry Punch's Bar. It was her first time actually heading into the bar and she did wish that she was heading there under better circumstances, as it was a very pretty looking building. It resembled a classic old English pub in a way. White walls framed in black, with large and inviting looking glass windows. Picking up her pace a little bit Skitch made a beeline for the door. WHAM! And crashed right off of it with a resounding clatter of pony body on wood. Stumbling away from the door thoroughly cross-eyed and dazed from the impact she collapsed backwards, landing on her buttocks before shooting a nasty glare at the door. “Damn it all to the bloody depths of hell!” She snarled. She could hear some whispers in the street behind her. “Is she a lush?” “It's eight thirty in the morning!” She twisted her head to glare at the offending peanut gallery who very quickly shut up and went back about their business. The sound of the door to the bar clicking open caught her attention again. Berry Punch was staring at her, a look of utter confusion evident on her face. “Skitch-Sketch? Wha...what in Tartarus are you doing? The bar doesn't open till elven, minimum!” “Sorry, sorry, but I couldn't wait that long...plus I forgot. But can I please come in? I need to talk with you.” Berry just stared at her for a few minutes before shaking her head and opening the door fully. “Sure. Come in.” Sktich followed the owner inside heading quickly for the bar, hopping up on a stool while Berry slid behind the bar. “So...what's so important that you crashed into my door over?” “Well...I'm kind of in a bits crunch here with a very, very limited time frame to pull it all together. So I was wondering if you needed any work done, or if you knew anypony else in town who could need some work done.” “This was over work?” She asked incredulously. “Look...” Skitch bristled. “to make a long story short, I'm facing eviction unless I come up with cash fast. So, yeah this was over work.” Berry Punch blinked, a little taken aback at how blunt Skitch was over the situation. “Umm...well...AH! I got it! I always do a bit of a beer garden thing for the griffon's Unification Week holiday and I could use a sign for it. Think you can do it?” “Of course I can! ...Though I gotta ask, why is a pony doing a celebration for a griffon holiday?” Berry fixed her with an even “are you kidding?” stare before responding. “It's a holiday where the drinking of fine beer is considered to be an integral part. Do you really need to ask this question?” Skitch couldn't help but chuckle as she floated her sketchbook out. “All right Berry. Give me the details.” - - - - Luna was jerked awake by the sound of someone knocking rather loudly on the door to her room. She couldn't help but be annoyed at whoever had decided to disturb her daytime rest, but pushed it aside as she flopped out of bed and shambled over to the door and yanked it open. Emperor Placido was standing on the other side, looking apologetic. “My apologies for disturbing your rest princesa but may I come in?” Luna blinked but nodded closing the door behind the tapir as he trotted in and glanced around at the décor. Luna's chambers were mostly decorated in cooling deep blue, sometimes edging into almost black shades along the trim. The ceiling was a lovely sea of stars with Luna's favorite constellations prominently featured. “Hmm. Such nice shades of blue.” “We are sorry emperor, but we ask what thou want.” “Mmm? Ahh, yes, of course.” Turning to Luna, he gave a warm smile. “I was discussing further plans with your sister before I was preparing to leave and something she mentioned reminded me of something I had to do before returning to my people.” Rummaging in one of his jacket pockets Placido pulled a polished mahogany case out. He looked it over, before looking to Luna with a perceptive look in his eyes. “You remember the tapir delegate to the congress before your time as Nightmare Moon and banishment, yes?” “Ahh, yes. Dimas, we believe.” She smiled wistfully. “He certainly was a charmer. Asked for a lock of our mane. We...indulged him. It seemed a harmless request.” “Yes. He was an ancestor of mine. And he made this.” Holding the box up with one fore-foot he lifted the lid with his prehensile snout. Resting in the padded case was a very ornate looking amulet. Cut from a piece of dark mahogany carved into a teardrop shape, a sphere of crystal clear amber had been set into the middle in which the lock from Luna's mane had been suspended; it's shimmery etherealness perfectly maintained. A replica of her cutie-mark had been painstakingly hoof painted just below the amber sphere. “It has been passed down our family line since then, waiting for the day you would return as yourself.” “But at the time no creature could have known that we would have...” “We had faith, your sister and the rest of us who were still with her.” He said as he carefully slid the amulet around Luna's neck. “The amber is derived from the sap of the rare Dragon's Blood tree. It should speed the recovery of your powers princesa.” Luna was well aware of the legends surrounding the Dragon's Blood trees that grew deep in the tapiran jungles. Supposedly having sprung from the spilled blood of a mighty dragon in ancient days the sap from the trees was legendary for it's healing properties. But they were also incredibly rare and hard to find. She gaped for a moment before finding her voice. “Placido...I thank thou.” “You are not alone princesa nor is Equestria. Now go to your sister. She received a letter as I took my leave that seemed to upset her. Luna watched the tapir leave before heading out herself and trotting to her sisters room. When she arrived she could see that Celestia was scribbling out a letter herself; a frown of irritation clear on her face. “Tia?” Celestia looked at her sister her expression softening as she took in the amulet around Luna's next. “I see that you spoke with Placido. He's been carrying that for a long time.” “Yes. We were grateful. It was nice to know that there were creatures outside of family hopeful for our return.” She tilted her head to the side regarding her sister carefully. “He also said thou received a letter of some kind?” Celestia sighed, motioning to the offending piece of paper with a hoof. “It seems that the noble courts have decided to be foolish again. My prized student has just informed me that Skitch is facing eviction if she doesn't fall into compliance with her mortgage by the week's end. And if First Canterlot Bank is involved, that means that Nouveau Riche is involved and has most likely thrown in with Blueblood.” She continued to write her own letter tail twitching in annoyance a gesture that she only ever really did in the sole presence of her sister. “The seals on prisons of ancient evils around the world may have been cracked open by The Collector's actions, we need to be united more than ever, and they're focusing on the unicorn that's just trying to make herself a home.” She sighed rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. “I should ask her if human rulers have had to deal with things of this nature.” Luna giggled. “We think thou know the answer to that question already, sister.” Celestia smiled back. “Yes...you are right, of course. It is just frustrating. But such is the burden of leadership.” Finishing her letter Celestia rolled it up with her magic and then touched her horn to it, causing it to fly off in a gout of green flame. “There's something else involved here isn't there sister?” Luna asked. Celestia nodded as she grabbed another piece of parchment and begin to quickly write another letter. “Skitch is loosing her cutie-mark, and she believes her ability to do art with it. A possibility I expected, but the timing is bad. She's also suffering from a bad bout of pride and isn't accepting any financial help.” She finished the second letter quickly folding this one up into a very tight and small square before wrapping it in a different spell that sent it shooting off in a different direction from the last one, north towards the griffon lands. “I could intervene...but if they are doing this for the reasons I think they are then, a heavy hand will just make them more convinced of their positions.” She sighed as she began another letter. “No...this time I must have faith that she can handle it and hope that her friends will catch her if she falls.” - - - - Skitch stumbled back into her house, barrel and flanks heaving from exhaustion as she dropped her saddlebags by the door. She had ran at top speed in between every location that she had gone too, stopping only long enough to get the information needed to begin working. Now it was past lunchtime and she had a stack of work to look after. Yanking open her fridge she inhaled a pair of carrots like a starving wolf before stomping back into the main work room. “Right. Beer garden sign.” She growled as she pulled out a fresh sketchbook, plopped down on her barrel and yanked a pencil to her from across the room. She began to sketch like a hurricane, laying down lines of graphite as fast as she could. The degradation in her skill and style was already evident. The lines weren't as crisp. The composition not as ordered but it wasn't unsalvageable...yet. Working through some possibilities on designs, she ruled out a few standard long and horizontal before deciding to flip it around and do one vertically laid out banner. It would be hung out the central window of the second floor giving everypony who walked down the street a clear view of what Berry Punch was advertising. It would have to be big though, three foot by five would probably do it. And it would have to be durable. She didn't have any canvas large enough to do the job. “Fabric!” She shouted to the empty room before grabbing her saddlebags and charging back out the door. - - - - Rarity looked up from her work as the bell above the door chimed. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique...oh, Skitch-Sketch dear what is the matter?” Still panting from her all day run about Skitch just fixed her with a steady stare. “Fabric.” “...Fabric is what's the matter?” “No! Fabric! I need it! I need a banner base that's three feet wide, by five foot long and that tapers to a point at the end.” “I...see. While I would be more than happy to provide you with said fabric, I insist that you tell me what is wrong before I do so.” Skitch's ears flicked back as she hung her head. “Come on Rarity. I'm in a rush!” The fashionista's withering glare made Skitch-Sketch flinch. “But...I...I already told Twilight and I don't...” “Skitch!” Sighing, she just motioned to her cutie-mark. “Mark fading, might be loosing ability to do art. Bank trying to foreclose on house. One week to earn three hundred bits. The fabric is for a sign that I'm making for Berry Bunch.” “Oh! For her beer garden festival?” “You got it.” Rarity walked over to her bolts of cloth grabbing a long bolt of plain white, as well as her scissors and thread. “Of course. Just give me a moment darling.” Skitch calmed down some as she watched Rarity work as she slipped into one of her fangirl moments. Rarity quickly snapped the roll of cloth out with a flick of her magic, her scissors moving with a quick dart and flourish. Quick cuts were made to sculpt off the bottom, a fold was made across the top and sewn shut so that it could be easily hung from Berry's place. And then the whole process was repeated to make another. “There you are dear. One and a backup, just in case.” She said as she floated the pair over to her. Skitch smiled as she stowed them in her saddlebags. “Thanks Rarity. You're a life saver. How much do I owe you?” “Shall we say five bits? That and you clearing an hour from your schedule around four this afternoon for a spa trip.” “Wait...what?” “I'm calling the first half of my promise in. You and I will hit the spa, have a nice girl's afternoon, and talk things out. You've already proven that you have a tendency to bottle your problems up.” She said as she walked over to Skitch. “But...I have art to do...” “You forget dear. You're talking to another artist who's pulled plenty of all night design sessions herself. And if you have as much work as I think you do, you'll be doing that anyway.” Skitch just stared at her for a few moments before sighing in frustration. “Fine. I know I won't be able to get out of this. But can you at least do me the favor of filling the others in if you see them before me? I don't want to have to keep explaining this.” Rarity nodded. “Of course.” “All right. I'll see you around four o'clock then.” And with that she rushed out the door again. - - - - A few hours later, Skitch walked back into her house, dropping her saddlebags by the door. A slight ache ran through her muscles from running at top speed for most of the day. Sighing to herself, she looked over at her empty canvases and art supplies and then at the clock. She could just start now. Four large pieces were a lot to do on an unsure time schedule. Surely Rarity would understand that...right? Ugh. No, I can't just blow her off. She's probably right. A little relaxation session can't hurt that much. Turning and heading out the door for what felt like the fifth time today, Skitch briskly trotted for the spa, not wanting to walk too slowly as she was still feeling self conscious about her cutie-mark situation. It didn't take her long to reach the building, thankfully. Skitch-Sketch walked into the Ponyville spa her tail nervously flicking to cover her cutie-mark as she glanced around; spying Rarity stretched out on one of the couches before the main soaking tub. One of the spa ponies- Aloe by Skitch's memory- was giving Rarity a hooficure as Skitch came trotting over. Rarity smiled at her friend motioning her head to the couch next to her. “Take a seat dear. We can talk while you get a hooficure.” “Oh...uh...” Skitch winced as she slowly climbed onto the other couch. “I guess?” “Something wrong?” “It just...I dunno. It feels girly. Really, really girly. Super duper girly.” Rarity regraded Skitch carefully for a moment. “Isn't being a girl what you've wanted?” “Well...yeah. Cutie-mark freak out aside, I have felt oddly more comfortable as a girl pony than I did as a male human...” She glanced down at her fore-hooves. “Still miss my hands though.” “But?” “I want to be a girl on my terms. I still want to be me. Not some kind of uber girly-girl, super fashion and makeup obsessed fluff-ball!” Immediately after those words left her she snapped her mouth shut and gave an apologetic look towards Rarity. “Uhh...no offense Rarity. I mean...I'm not trying to slam you or anything...” “That's just not the kind of pony you are or want to be. I know dear.” She smiled. “Hoof and horn care is important, however. We mostly interact with the world through them, walking on our hooves, channeling magic through our horns. They need to be properly cleaned and maintained. So! I won't inflict any polish on you but let's give them a simple filing.” Skitch nodded. “All right Rarity. I trust you.” The other spa pony, Lotus Blossom, set to work with her file. For Skitch it was probably the most bizarre thing she had felt since gaining this equine body. She could feel a light pressure on her hooves from the file but not much else. “So,” Rarity continued. “I have a hunch that your confusion over what kind of pony you want to be is tying into the loss of your cutie-mark. You're still struggling with who you are now. Did you speak with your family about your situation when you went home?” “Of course!” Skitch blurted out. “They were shocked, of course. It's not every day their human son shows up as their now pony daughter. But they supported me the best they could. I mean, what else would they do?” “Mmm. Well, if I'm honest darling you still sound and act like a pony trapped between two identities.” Skitch sighed as she rested her head against the pillow of the couch. “I guess you have some experience here, eh Rare?" Rarity smiled a sad smile back. "That I do. Trust me Skitch you just need to focus on working out who you are now. When you do, your cutie-mark will appear, if it's vanished by then.” “After I finish my work.” Rarity sighed. “Yes. After you finish your work. Now sit back and just relax for now. And maybe we can get you a bit of a massage to work the kinks out.” - - - - By the time Skitch got back to her place Rarity had managed to talk her up into getting a massage and her mane and tail styled. Nothing too extreme, but both had picked up some more bounce and a light curl at their ends. She wasn't entirely sure of herself still. The fear of loosing what little she had been able to build since she came here still pulsed through her, but she still had friends willing to support her. Frowning she glanced towards the ceiling. Is it still right for me to do this? Insert myself into the group and become friends with six of the most important ponies on Equestria? I'm living a damn Human in Equestria fic and I'm still feeling guilty about it. She began to gather up paint and paintbrushes before unrolling the cloth that Rarity had given her. Then the other canvases were set up for her other pieces. No way around it though, this is home now. She looked over the assembled blank working surfaces, sighing slightly. “My destiny is not pretty...but it's what my cutie-mark is telling me.” And with a flourish of her magic she began to paint. She started with Berry Punch's sign, her paintbrushes dancing across the fabric surface with a slight wobble. Resolute, she scrunched up her face and focused more magic through her horn, it's glow becoming brighter as she intensified the grip on what skill was still there. A full cask of beer was painted in the middle of the sign the royal crest of Equestria painted on it's front, griffon wings spread wide from either side. Twisting vines were painted in a line above the top and then down the sides, instances of Berry Punch's cutie-mark added into the vines to tie the whole banner together. The right along the bottom was the practical information, the name of the event, and the bit cost for a mug of the imported griffon ale. She turned to face the next canvas, moving onto a piece for Vinyl Scratch. She had requested something vibrant for her next record cover. Idly tapping a clean brush against the edge of a can she mulled over some possibilities. She glanced at her media center, still sitting where it was left from movie night. “Computer. Give me some techno music. Something with a good dance beat.” The rhythmic music began to flow through the room as Skitch launched into painting again. She blocked in a silhouette of Vinyl rearing up on her hind legs in stark white before throwing on her cutie-mark, making it larger and bolder than normal. Switching colors to a blue that matched Vinyl's mane color, she began to paint large looping circles reminiscent of sound waves around the silhouette; her paintbrush moving in time to the sound of the bass of the music. She painted onwards, deep into the night. - - - - It was past midnight by the time she finished. Yawning, she dropped the brush she was using back into a can of water, the smell of freshly applied paint filling the room. Smiling contently to herself, she took in the fruits of her labor. Aside from Berry Punch's banner, and Vinyl's record cover, she had done a portrait for the cafe, and another one for Amethyst Star's jewerly store. All told it was just enough to cover the cost of her first mortgage payment. Slowly walking back to her bedroom, she flopped into bed with a satisfied smile. She had done it. Pushed all night, but she had done it. Now she could worry about her cutie-mark situation without having to worry about being homeless. I can start looking for a solution tomorrow. Maybe I can try some heart's desire? Na...that'll probably just give me cutie-pox. I'm sure I can think of something... She snuggled deep under the covers, staring at the ceiling with a tired smile before she drifted off into sleep.