//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Crusading Garnet // by Basmati //------------------------------// The sun rose over Ponyville, welcoming a new day. A pony walked out of Sweet Apple Acres towards the centre of Ponyville. Usually, this pony was never up this early - she had never had an urge to see sunrise, or to be awake before the sun was up itself. Tossing her red mane out of her face, the purple mare galloped down the streets. As she ran towards her destination, many ponies stopped and stared at her. Garnet usually attracted attention in Ponyville, for many different reasons. Firstly, no-one, apart from her friends, knew where she was from. That was always going to attract some attention - a pony who just appeared out of thin air with no backstory and no history. Also, unlike most ponies, her coat and mane were both dark. Usually, ponies had a light coat and a dark or light mane. Garnet, however, had a dark purple coat and a bright red mane. This made her stand out considerably when she walked down the streets of Ponyville. But she didn't mind - purple and red were her favourite colours, and if she had to be a pony, she would prefer to be one in these colours. Another reason for attention was that she, unlike most ponies her age, did not have a cutie mark. Garnet stopped running, and looked around her. She had only been in Ponyville for a few day, and still didn't know her way around the town yet. She started walking left, hoping that that route would take her where she wanted to go. "Whoa! Watch out!" she heard a shout behind her. She turned around, and saw a small orange filly on a scooter headed straight for her. Garnet jumped out of the way and just managed to avoid any collisions. As picked herself up and brushed the dust off her as Scootaloo sped past her again on her scooter, pulling the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders behind her. Garnet watched as Scootaloo lost control of the scooter and fell off it, with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom following her. Garnet immediately ran up to them. "Are you girls ok?" Garnet asked, as soon as she reached them. The Cutie Mark Crusaders nodded, then stood up, brushing the dust off themselves. "I'm really sorry, Garnet. I promise I'll be more careful next time," Scootaloo apologised. "Don't worry about it - I'm fine," Garnet reassured her. Applebloom immediately started explaining what they were going to be doing today -"We're gonna try testing our talents at scuba-diving!" - and why they were in such a hurry - "We have teh get some equipment and we have teh go teh the library teh ask Twilight about what scuba-diving actually is." - when Garnet noticed Sweetie Belle was staring at her, silently. "Err...Sweetie Belle? Are you ok?" The purple and pink maned filly looked at Garnet for a while, before saying, "Why don't you have a cutie mark?" Garnet made the automatic look at her blank flank. She had never really understood the concept of a cutie mark, no matter how many times Adara had gone over it, but from what she gathered a cutie mark was something that you got when you found out you were good at something. She knew that she didn't have one, but it didn't bother her as none of her friends did either. "Well, you see, where I come from, no one has cutie marks, so I don't have one. But hopefully I'll get one in time...maybe," she said, giving them a small smile. The 3 fillies smiled back at her, and quickly gave each other a quick glance. "Anyway," Garnet said, her smile fading. "I'm kinda in a hurry, so I'll see you girls later." And with that, she ran off. *** "Hello, girls!" Twilight said, opening the door for them. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo all walked in, their heads hung. Twilight was surprised - usually, they were the happiest of fillies. She expected that they had tried another talent and failed. Again. She walked over to them. "What's wrong?" she asked, reasuringly. "Is it possible to never get a cutie mark?" Sweetie Belle said, looking up at the purple unicorn, tears forming in her eyes. Twilight was surprised - usually they asked questions about when and how they would get their cutie marks. This was the first she had heard them ask about never getting one. "I don't know. Every pony has a special talent, but sometimes it does take a while to find it." She wiped the tears that were now falling down Sweetie's cheeks. "What brought this?" "It's just tha' we bumped in ter Garnet and-" Applebloom started. "She has no cutie mark." Of course, Garnet, Adara, Skylar, Sophie, Lacey, Liz and Effie, none of them have a cutie mark, Twilight thought. But she knew she couldn't explain to them why. "Don't worry, girls. Garnet and her friends are exceptions. You will get a cutie mark, as will they, hopefully." "Who'll get a cutie mark?" They heard behind them. They all turned to face a grey unicorn with a blue and turquoise mane standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Morning, Adara. I just telling the Cutie Mark Crusaders that they will be getting their cutie marks in time, just like you and your friends hopefully." "Course," Adara walked up next to Twilight. "Don't you guys worry about it. You are meant to have one, and it'll come in time. Just you wait." "Hey!" Scootaloo immediately jumped up. "You know what we should do?" The rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at their friend. "What?" Applebloom and Sweetie Belle said together. "We should help Garnet get her cutie mark!" The three of them looked at each other, then beamed. "That's a great idea, Scoot!" Twilight and Adara stood there in surprise. "I-I'm not sure Garnet will like that." She knew her friend - as much as she loved adventures, Ponyville had been a bit too much for her, and three fillies following her around, talking about cutie marks and destinies may drive her crazy. "Thanks Twilight!" Applebloom shouted as the three fillies ran out of the library door. "Oh dear," Twilight said, turning to Adara. "This won't end well."