//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - Cutie Mark Chronicles Repeat // Story: Puny Purple Pony: From Padded to Proud // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 6 Cutie Mark Chronicles Repeat ___________________________________________________________ “Okay. Twilight, lifted these up,” Apple Bloom showed Twilight the marron curtains they were going to use for the club house windows. Twilight nodded, lighting her horn and levitating the curtains and fitting them over the window It had been three days since she’d met Derpy, Scootaloo and Cheese and they were finishing the touches to their clubhouse. Back when Fresh Veggies had been a filly, she and her friends had played in this clubhouse for most of their days. The thing had been an utter wreck when she’d shown it to the girls, but, with teamwork and Apple Bloom’s amazing sense of design, they’d managed to fix the place up and it was almost ready. “Are you sure you don’t mind me not doing much?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking sadly down at the sling her right-foreleg was in. Sweetie Belle had arrived two days after Twilight and Apple Bloom had started school and, as expected, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had been on her like diamond dogs and gemstones. Twilight and her friends had immediately come to the unicorn filly’s aid, telling Diamond and Silver very politely to buck off. They’d said it a lot nicer, but it was what they’d meant, anyway. However, this had not stopped the two cruel fillies playing a prank on the unicorn. A prank that ended up with her breaking her foreleg and landing them in three weeks of detention. Sweetie Belle had moved to Ponyville with her parents. Her sister was in Manehatten. Twilight was not surprised that Rarity had already become a fashion designer. Since this was an alternate universe, so something like that wasn’t much of a surprise. “Done!” Apple Bloom pronounced gladly. The clubhouse looked just like the one from her own world. Apple Bloom smiled around at the other five fillies. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, now’s the time to find out wha’ our Cutie Marks are.” At that moment a loud screech came from outside, followed by a pair of screams. All six fillies hurried to the window and looked out. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara were running through the fields beyond, their eyes wide with fear. Above them, a griffin flew, bearing down on the two fillies, her claws outstretched. “Gilda!” Scootaloo snarled. Twilight glanced at her. “The mother of a griffin fledgling I knew, back in Flight Camp,” she said, her voice cold. “Poor Poesy. She just wanted to make friends, but her mother only wanted her to be mean to ponies, strike fear into them.” “We can’ jus’ let her get those two!” Apple Bloom shouted, running out the clubhouse, Sweetie Belle, Cheese and Derpy hurrying after her. “Come on!” Scootaloo shouted, jumping out the window, her wings flared. Twilight hurried after her, a few wing-beats behind her. She was surprisingly fast, considering the Scootaloo from Twilight’s world could barely fly at all. _____________________________________________________________ The griffin, Gilda was about to grab the two fillies she had eagerly been chasing, when a burst of magic slammed into her head. She turned and glared at the two fillies flying towards her as her head ached from the magical fire. She paused. One of them, a lavender coated one had wings and horn. No pony ever had both. But her thoughts were stopped there when the other, an orange Pegasus, flew passed her, clipping her on the side before she shot into the air, while the other flew down, headed towards the fillies, who were being joined by more fillies. This was getting too crowded, so Gilda decided she’d focus on the filly flying up into the air. She’d be able to get her without a problem. She flew up, aiming for the Pegasus as she went higher, surprisingly fast for a filly. She didn’t think ponies had that kind of backbone for flying. As the Pegasus glanced back, Gilda screeched, intent on terrifying the filly. But, instead of fear, the Pegasus just smirked and went even faster. Gilda scowled. No one made fun of her. No one. Especially not some puny pony filly. She flapped harder, her claws at the ready. She would highly enjoy taking down this arrogant pony. She needed to learn her place. The filly seemed to be going even faster. Was...? Was that a cone of air appearing around her? Just what in the—? There was an explosion and a blinding rainbow light obscured Gilda’s vision. ___________________________________________________________ Twilight landed by the girls and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Both looked like they’d seen within the gates of Tartarus itself. “Let’s get them out of here,” Twilight said, looking at the girls. “Derpy, go to Town Hall and let the Mayor know a griffin flew in Equestria air space with the intent of harming ponies.” Derpy nodded and left, hurrying down the path and out of sight when a huge explosion rocketed around them. It took Twilight by such surprise that her world became white as her magic surged. She struggled, losing her balance and flopping on her flank as she forced her magic to calm down. Once her horn stopped glowing with her magic, she breathed a sigh of relief, her cheeks red with embarrassment. That was the second time in her life an explosion had caused her to lose control of her... Her eyes widened as she looked into the sky and saw the fading remains of a... sonic rainboom! Her jaw dropped. Had... had Scootaloo...? She turned to the other girls and her eyes somehow became even wider. ___________________________________________________________ Apple Bloom was trying to get Diamond Tiara to calm down. The Earth Pony was screaming like crazy, staring at Apple Bloom like she was the Grim Pony of Death. An explosion startled them both and Diamond suddenly clung onto Apple Bloom as if her very life depended on it. The farm filly returned the hug, patting Diamond’s back, whispering that everything would be alright. She was going to be okay. This did not seem to convice the spoiled filly, as she continued to shake with fear. Apple Bloom looked around for something she could do to cheer Diamond up and saw some twigs in the grass next to them. She picked them up and quickly fashioned them into a stick-figure doll, using some grass stems to tie the twigs together and some for the mane and tail. She gave it to Diamond, who grabbed it and clutch it like a child would a teddy bear. There was a white flash and Apple Bloom glanced at her flank. Where there had been yellow fur a second ago, there was now an apple shaped like a love heart. ___________________________________________________________ Sweetie Belle was finding it hard to comfort Silver Spoon. She was looking left and right, as if expecting somepony to toss her into the air to be taken by the griffin. And explosion in the sky didn’t help to calm her either. If anything, it made her even worse. She screamed and clung to Sweetie Belle like a life line. Once the booming had faded away, Sweetie Belle decided she’d sing a song that her mother had sung to her whenever she was scared. It was also the song she’d sung her to sleep with when she was a foal. Hush now, Quiet now. It's time to lay, sleepy head. Said, Hush now, Quiet now. It is time to go to bed. Driftin' (Driftin') off to sleep. Leave the day behind you. Driftin' (Driftin') off to sleep. Let the joy of dreamland find you. Hush now, quiet now. Lay your sleepy head. Said hush now, quiet now. It's time to go to bed. Silver Spoon stopped whimpering, but she still wasn’t smiling. She looked at Sweetie Belle, tears in her eyes. "Th... thank you," she whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes. "That's the song my mom always sung to me when I was little. You... You sounded just like her." There was a flash of white light. She glanced down at her flank and gasped. Where white fur had been there, there was now a musical note. An Ottava if she remembered correctly. ___________________________________________________________ Derpy ran. She ran faster than she ever had before. She had to warn the Mayor about the griffin before anything happened to her friends. She gave a weak smile at that. Friends. She still had trouble believing she had friends. For a long time, Scootlaoo had been her only pony friend; aside from her parents and her only other friends had been the animals her parents cared for. Suddenly the sky boomed, startling the grey Pegasus and she tumbled to the ground, her face flooping into a puddle from the previous night’s rainfall. She snorted into the water and a bunch of bubbles formed and floated across the puddle. Derpy looked at the bubbles and smiled. The light reflecting in them was so pretty. Life was so pretty too, just like these bubbles, when she thought about it. All you needed to see that beauty was look closely and it would always be there. There was a white flash and Derpy glanced around her, her eyes falling on six bubbles printed on her grey fur. ___________________________________________________________ Cheese looked at her friends as they tried to comfort the two scared fillies. She felt useless. Then again, that was the story of her life. The only reason she hadn’t run away from Ponyville was her Aunt and Uncle Cake were the only family close she knew of and she wasn't any good at rock farmer, like her parents and sisters. She was surprised her friends were indeed that. Friends. Who’d want a friend as useless as her? She didn’t have anything special about her. Apple Bloom was a great farm filly, Sweetie Belle could sing like an angel, Scootaloo was fast, Derpy was kind and Twilight had both wings and a horn. And Cheese... There was nothing to be said about her. Her friends probably just tolerated her because they felt bad for her. An explosion bombarded her ears, knocking her backwards, her mane and tail becoming massively frizzy for some reason. When she was able to get up again, she shook herself off and looked into the sky and saw a huge rainbow blazing across it. In that moment, that single, amazing moment, Cheese realized she wasn’t useless at all. In fact, she was far from it. She was a young filly, full of potential. She looked to her friends and, while the two fillies they’d been comforting were calmer, they looked miserable. Something inside her felt horrified by this. She couldn’t allow it. She smiled. She knew just what would make them happy and wondered how she hadn’t thought of this before. She reached into her now frizzy mane and pulled out a bunch of streamers and balloons and a chocolate cake. She shuffled over to her friends and put party hats on the two fillies, then on her other friends, all who stared at her wide-eyed. “Let’s have some fun!” Cheese grinned, her gaze focused on the two Earth Ponies who had tortured her all her fillyhood. “I don’t wanna see anymore sad faces.” Her grin widened. “Turn those sad frowns upside down.” She reached into her mane again and pulled out a record player, which started playing the Pony Rock Anthem. They all stared at her for several seconds and her ears drooped. Had she failed? Were her friends and Diamond and Silver unhappy with her idea for a party? Diamond and Silver’s lips quivered. That confirmed it. She had failed. Suddenly both fillies squealed with glee and starting dancing to the music. They seemed to have forgotten who they were with or what had just happened and were dancing like they didn’t have a care in the world. Cheese’s smile returned and she danced along with her friends, happy she’d made them happy. There was a flash, but she didn’t even really bother to look at the one yellow and two blue balloons that had suddenly appeared on her flank. She was having too much fun making her friends happy. ___________________________________________________________ Scootaloo loved this feeling. The wind in her mane and feathers, nothing ever compared. She now saw why her mother missed this so much. She’d give anything for her mother to experience this again, but knew it wouldn’t happen. the accident had made it impossible for her ever to perform again. An angry screeched from behind her reminded her that she wasn’t just flying for fun right now. Then again, flying was always fun and the fact that she was easily going faster than the adult griffin was the funniest thing. But how much faster could she go? She heard a screech, clearly meant to scare her. She chuckled, and just looked back, grinning. She shot forward, pushing herself further. She noticed a cone appearing around her. Her mother had told her of this. A sonic boom. If she went fast enough, she’d be able to break the sound barrier. She grinned. A sonic boom would teach that griffin a thing or two. She’d think twice before coming back to Equestria. Scootaloo pushed herself even further, the cone squeezing around her until— BOOM! She heard an explosion and felt herself pushed forward by something and she was rocketing through the sky. She glanced behind her to see the griffin falling from the sky, a rainbow something pushing her down. And behind her, her mane and tail had become a stream of rainbow colours. She grinned as a mark shaped like a cloud and a rainbow coloured lightning appeared on her flank in a flash of white. She turned, heading back towards where her friends were, eager to show them all she’d gotten her Cutie Mark and that she’d knocked the griffin right out of the sky. ___________________________________________________________ Twilight smiled as she danced with her friends. They’d all gotten their Cutie Marks. Diamond and Silver had left, seeming to realize whom they’d been dancing with (though Twilight noticed Diamond took the doll Apple Bloom made for her with them), but that didn’t stop the four fillies from having a fun time. “Hey, girls!” The four dancing fillies turned to see Scootaloo landing, a rainbow trial just fading away as she touched the ground. She glanced around, her eyes wide. “You three got your Cutie Marks, too?” Twilight looked to Scoots’ flank and smiled. Scootaloo had a Cutie Mark just like her world’s Rainbow Dash. She now understood that she hadn’t imagined it. Scootaloo had done a Sonic Rainboom, just like her world’s Rainbow did and it had been responsible for her friends getting their Cutie Marks... and her losing control of her magic again. She used a wing to hide her blush. She’d never tell them it was her second time. As far as they’d know, this was the first and only time she’d lost control of her magic. Wait. If Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Cheese had gotten their Cutie Marks... did that mean Derpy had too? Twilight focused her magic and searched for Derpy’s magical essence. She could see her leaving the Mayor's office, looking pleased with herself. Twilight smiled. On Derpy’s flank, she could see six bubbles where there was once just grey fur. She focused her magic further and Derpy glowed with lavender light. A second later, Derpy appeared in front of Twilight, who smiled. “Huh?” she said, looking around, confused. “How’d I get here?” Twilight chuckled. “Wanna join the party?” Derpy looked confused for a second, then smiled and followed Twilight, joining her as they danced along with their friends, all of them now bearing a Cutie Mark. ___________________________________________________________ Queen Emaryalis nodded, excusing the Griffin Ambassador, who bowed to her and walked out. The queen leaned back, letting out an exasperated sigh. That had been the worst meeting with Griffonia she had ever had to deal with. She and the ambassador had been enjoying a wonderful conversation about how well their boarders were getting along so well these last twenty years, when a message had arrived from Ponyville. A griffin by the name of Gilda, an ex-member of the Griffonian Army for illegal activities had been attacking several fillies. What those activities that had gotten the griffin, Gilda discharged were, the Grinonian Ambassador did not say, though Emaryalis was certain she didn’t want to know either. A Pegasus filly by the name of Ditzy Doo had informed the Mayor, who’d had the local Royal Guard posted there to come with her and they arrested the griffin and she was now in custody. The interesting thing was, she was found, her wings bent on the ground in the middle of the town square. When she was asked why she said it had been a sonic rainboom, a rarity of rarities, that had knocked her out of the sky. She refused to tell who had performed it, at first, out of pride. However, with several spears pointed to her throat, she’d mumbled that it had been an orange Pegasus filly. The Ambassador had face-palmed at that and the queen had understood why. An adult griffin, highly trained in combat, knocked out of the sky by a mere filly? The shame it brought on the Griffin Army was unexplainable. Sighing, she got up and walked out of the throne room, down the halls and entered her personal study and sat down in front of her fire place, lighting it with her horn. She frowned. While the tension this incident would create between the two nations was her political priority, something else about this worried her. She didn’t find it likely that it was merely a coincidence that something like this happened, including the Sonic Rainboom, which hadn’t happened in over five thousand years, had happened in the very town she knew the alicorn, Twilight Sparkle was living in. She’d had several guards placed in the barracks of Ponyville placed there, with explicit instructions to keep an eye on the young alicorn and determine whether or not she should worry about her. Over the years, the reports had told her nothing much. True, the filly was rather smart for her age and she seemed to know more than most fillies would, but she seemed no immediate danger. However, something about this incident made her worry. Several minutes before their meeting, she’d sensed an immense surge of magical energy, unlike anything she’d ever felt. It had only lasted a short time, two or three minutes at the most, but it had happened. Was that Twilight Sparkle? Had she used her magic against the griffin? Possibly an attempt to make other believe she was more powerful than the queen? She shook her head. No. No, from the reports, Twilight Sparkle was not that type of filly. She seemed to value friendships a lot, a trait that the queen had to admire, despite herself. She sighed and flopped down on her cushions in a very un-princess like manner. This was going to be a long night of paper work. She'd be lucky to get to sleep before one in the morning.