It was a cool, early spring day, and the sun was gleaming down onto a tired pegasus pony's face, just as he was waking up, through the window to his bedroom. The date was March 23rd, three days after the Equestria-wide "Winter Wrap-up" event, and everypony was still getting into the swing of the newly arrived spring. However, today wasn't just any ordinary day. This was the day of Dawn Shine's 17th birthday, and it also happened to be the day when he would finally earn his cutie mark, yet he did not know it. Growing up was tough for Shine, as he never earned his cutie mark. All the other ponies, like Ringaling and Bittersweet, were busy bragging about their newly formed flank decorations, but Shine was left out.
By the age of 13, his parents we beginning to question the value of having him around. They never much cared for him, as he was regularly abused, both verbally and physically, for fun. Mama and Papa Shine would tell him, "You'll grow up to be nothing." and "You'll never get anywhere in life without your cutie mark!" as they pointed to their matching cutie marks, each representing his parents' roles as lawyers. Those two were the best in all of Equestria. When they teamed up, nopony had a chance of beating them. They always expected Dawn to follow in their footsteps, but when he came to age 15 and still didn't have his mark, they gave up on him and kicked him out of the home. Underaged and all alone, Shine had nowhere to go. A week after being thrown out of his home, he met a gentle pegasus named Fluttershy who, after seeing the poor, beaten, unloved pony, decided that she would take him under her wing and care for him.
Over the next year, Fluttershy had devoted much of her time to taking care of Shine, helping him to have a normal life, despite all the tragedy. She learned much of his past and his early foalhood, and made it one of her personal goals to help him try to earn his cutie mark. Shine, feeling flattered by all the kindness of this mare, realized that he was slowing starting to think of Fluttershy as more of a motherly figure than his own mother ever was. Another year passed, and still no cutie mark was earned. They had tried baking with Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner, which just confused him. They tried racing, which, after granting Shine with a couple new bruises, proved to be fruitless. They had even tried to get him into making clothes, which, needless to say, was not really "his thing." They tried everything, and still, poor Dawn Shine was still a "blank flank." Today, our pegasus hero is feeling extra confident that it will finally be his time to get his cutie mark, and he has no idea how right he is...