Repairing the beakers took less time than Brominous had expected. The problem was that his clumsy magic had caused the lines marking volume to become displaced. By the time he had set up a way to measure the exact volume of a liquid, began the operation, and realized his calorimeter was broken, it was nearly a quarter-to-six before he left the townhouse. Passing through the oaken front doors, he berated himself for not keeping closer track of the time. He did not know how long it would take to make his way to the house where Applejack and her family were situated.
Brominous picked his speed up to a quick trot, pulling his map of Ponyville and the surrounding area out of his saddlebags. As he clumsily unfolded his map with his magic, and began to calculate the time it would take him to reach the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse from his current position. He noticed dimly that he had just passed through the gate on the map, when the smell of hundreds of apple trees assaulted his nostrils. Such a smell was not something he was used to, being cooped up in his musty apartment and constantly inhaling fumes from the chemicals he often had to handle had de-sensitized him from what fresh air had really smelled like. “Nothing in canterlot smells this nice, not even the perfume the mares in the lab had such an obsession with synthesizing.” He thought, smiling to himself “What they wouldn’t have given to smell like this, rather than fumes and cinders all day.”
As he continued trotting down the lane, Brominous was woken from his thoughts on the lab he had previously worked in by a harsh impact to his side, followed by another on his other side as he hit the ground. Wondering who had the nerve to be launching cannonballs at him, he tried to pick himself off the ground, only to find himself face-to-face with a yellow filly. She had red mane that was a few shades lighter than his coat, and a large bow adorned her head. “Sorry ‘bout that,” she mumbled, pulling herself off of him, “Ah should’a checked where ah was gonna land b’fore ah took off…”
Brominous to a slightly longer time to recover than the filly did, and by the time he had lifted himself back on his hooves and dusted himself off, he noticed two fillies of similar size to the yellow one galloping towards him. One of them was a white unicorn with a pink and purple mane; the other was another pegasus, albeit an orange one. Looking back down at the yellow filly, he noticed that he was mistaken in assuming her identity as a pegasus, “Though I think I was justified in assuming that it was a pegasus that FLEW into me…”
“Applebloom! Did you get it? Did it work?” The orange pegasus asked, her purple mane slightly disheveled from the gallop over. The yellow filly, Applebloom is what the pegasus had called her, did a small spin, turning to look at her flank. “Nope, ah can cross stunt flyin’ off the list now.” She said, staring at her blank flank, daring it to show a picture, “Darn, that woulda been such a nifty cutie mark too.” “Ahem, may I inquire as to why I was hit by a flying earth pony?” Brominous asked, “I assume it has something to do with stunt flying, and the three of you attempting to discover what you’re good at.” “Yes sir," replied the white unicorn, "My friends and I were trying to find out if our talents are stunt flying. It's not Applebloom's apparently, but it could be mine or scootaloo’s!”
“Applebloom, would you happen to be related to Applejack?” Brominous asked suddenly, realizing far to late the delay these fillies had caused. “Yeah, she’s mah sister, how do you know her?” “She’s my landlady now, I moved into the townhouse near the edge of the ranch.” “Yah did?” Applebloom asked loudly, “mah sister told me and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders that we might be able to help with the cleanin’” “My sister” said the white unicorn, “said we could be…” there was a collective intake of breath as the three fillies filled their lungs with the apple scented air, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER HOUSECLEANERS!”
This phrase set off an alarm inside Brominous’ head. “These fillies aren’t the most responsible lot, I’m not sure I want them “cleaning” my room, especially considering that the earth pony considers flying to be a viable career choice… Though when I was their age, I was just as-” Just then, he was torn from his thoughts by the sound of a loud bell ringing, and a distant voice yelling “Soup’s on, everypony!”
Recognizing the voice as Applejack, the four ponies realized their hunger. The three fillies continued talking about stunt flying all the way to the farmhouse, debating the finer points of whether it was worth another shot, considering Applebloom’s landing. Bromious trotted a few paces behind the three fillies, enjoying the rustic scenery of Sweet Apple Acres. They approached the farmhouse, and as they neared, the door opened and Applejack appeared. Ushering them inside, the orange earth pony set about to gather the food, and to place it on the table. Noticing the spread, Brominous wondered if the family ever tired of apples day in and day out.
Each plate had a portion of apple salad on it, and spread along the length of the table was a loaf of bread with a deep brown spread sitting near it, (Brominous could only assume this was apple butter), an apple pie with a dripping caramel glaze, and a steaming apple roll, smothered in cinnamon and melted brown sugar. It had been a long while since Brominous had a meal like this, his dinner most nights consisting of cheap instant noodles, the occasional lettuce sandwich, and if he really felt like splurging, a can of soup from the nearby QuickPony. Accepting the seat that Applejack offered him, he sat his haunches on the chair and waited for the others to sit down. Applebloom sat across from him, the other two fillies sitting on either side of her.
After everypony had taken their seats, everyone began their meal. Everyone except Applebloom, that is. She was staring at Brominous, a question that had obviously been asked many times to many different ponies was on her lips. “Hey mister, how did yah get that cutie mark?” She was pointing at Brominous’ flank, where the letters A and B sat, connected by an arrow pointing from the first to the latter. “Now Applebloom, what have ah told yah about pesterin’ guests ‘bout their cutie marks?” “No, that is quite alright miss,” Brominous responded, happy to share his story.
“I was a young colt, a few years older than you. This was obviously very late for someone to get their mark, but until that point I succeeded in nearly everything I did. Because I was good at nearly everything but drawing, music, and magic, I had no clue what my talent really was. So one day I decided I would sit down on a chair, and not get up until I figured out what my talent is. So I grabbed a jug of water, a few snacks, and a notebook full of paper and sat down. I began writing everything I was good at, and I began to try to figure out what my talent was based on how good I was at the things I tried. I graded myself on my proficiencies with all my subjects in school, and began to try to come up with a formula to describe the relation between them. I grabbed the jug of water with my magic, and ended up dropping it because I wasn’t magically proficient enough to hold it steadily. It shattered on the floor, and I looked around to see if there was anything within reach that I could use to clean it. I glanced down at and flank, and lo and behold I saw my mark. I was so focused on trying to analyze what I was good at; I completely missed my mark for doing exactly that appearing. So yes, to answer your eventual question, there are cutie marks for basic things like figuring things out, analyzing situations, and thinking. Marks like those are much more likely to appear in a society like the one where I grew up, where physical labor wasn’t as necessary as it is around here.”
As he finished his tale, Applebloom gazed at Brominous with something close to wonder. “Ya mean that you can get yer cutie mark fer doing nothin’?”
“Well… Yes, you can. I have a friend who did get his cutie mark for procrastination, but logic and analysis isn’t nothing, it’s everything!”
“If ya say so mister…”
Apologizing for Applebloom’s rudeness, Applejack moved the conversation to Sweetie Belle, asking her how Rarity had been. “She’s been fine ma’am, though I don’t know what she’s thinking; She’s been collecting magazines with Prince Blueblood again. The last time she did that was the weeks leading up the Grand Galloping Gala. I thought she had said that he was a,” she paused for a second, a slight blush crossing her face, “Well, she said I shouldn’t say what she called him…” This elicited a hearty laugh from everypony in the room, aside from Granny Smith who had fallen asleep during Brominous’ long yarn regarding his cutie mark, and had begun drooling onto her plate.
“Still, ah wonder what Rarity could be thinking.” Applejack wondered aloud, “Ah know that ah wouldn’t have forgiven anypony that quick if they had treated me like that.”
“What happened?” asked Brominous, “I know that the Prince can be a bit of a jerk, but he’s always been popular with the mares. The fillies that I had to work with in the labs back in Canterlot all had their celebrity crushes, the majority directed at him.”
“Ah’ve only heard ‘bout it from Rarity, she said he was an absolute beast, treated her worse than dirt.”
“And she chose to forgive him? That sounds a bit off for anypony, is she normally this lavish with her forgiveness?”
“Kinda, she’s the Element of Generosity, but ah don’t know if she’d go that far, I’ll have to talk to her about it tomorrow.”
“Speaking of tomorrow, I hate to be a burden, but would you mind giving me a quick tour of the town? It would be really helpful to get to know the ponies who live around here, especially if any of them know anything about the Everfree.”
“That’s right, ah’d forgotten about yer job. What is it yer doin’ in the Everfree again?”
“Testing the soil for magical corruption. The elements in the soil will have a different elemental composition. It may let us know why the creatures that live there are able to thrive, and why they were drawn to that place to start off with.”
“Sounds interestin’. I’ll give you a quick tour of town tomorrow, I’ve gotta deliver some apple pies to a few friends in town anyway. Maybe I can ask Rarity bout her new obsession with Blueblood.”
With that, the group got up and left the table. The three fillies said goodbye to each other, thanked Brominous for telling them his story, and headed their separate directions. After hashing out a few details regarding when they would be leaving for town, Brominous thanked Applejack and her family for their hospitality and left for the townhouse. Upon arriving back in his room, he closed the door and settled into bed, setting his alarm to wake him up early the next morning so that he could finish unpacking his gear. As he began to fall asleep, his mind began to wander, running through the day in his head. “She’s the Element of Generosity, but ah don’t know if she’d go that far.” Something about that seemed off. “Applejack’s expression when she said that wasn’t just one of worry. No, there had been something else there. Was it fear? No, it was closer to discontent. I wonder what that could be about?” With that last thought running through his head, he shut his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Author’s fun facts #1: Brominous didn’t have a name until an hour before I decided to upload the first chapter… His name was OC all through the planning phase and all the way through the first chapter.