//------------------------------// // 12 - The professionals // Story: Just a day in Equestria // by dave89898989 //------------------------------// "Are you ready to begin the day, Blue?" Destiny bond woke me with a smile, raring to go. "Sure, I can't wait for us to catch up with each other!" I replied excitedly. "How was your time in Appleoosa?" "It was great! Braeburn nursed me back to health, and showed me around town, I got to meet the locals, I had a snowball fight, and I even found love!" "That's excellent to hear! At least your experience wasn't as rough though…" "Why do you say that, Blue?" "Well, I did get to see all of Ponyville, I made friends with the group I was with, I'm Princess Celestia's student, and I found love too. Those were most of the good things. The bad things were that I was cut up, I went insane, I was involved in a war, and I was also starved for days. But the most interesting thing was that I used to be human! Strange how I don't remember more, even after reuniting with you." "Oh yeah, we both had trouble figuring that out when we were growing up. And I really do feel sorry for you about those bad things, but at least you're okay now." I swiftly changed the subject. "Ah, remember when we were fillies? Those were some good times that we had." "Yeah, all those amazing adventures… exploring places, fighting monsters, finding our cutie marks…" Destiny said with a laugh. We both stared at the ceiling to reminisce. Those really were the good times, when we were growing up. If only we had the chance to relive those memories. We used to visit this tree house every day, as that was our adventure headquarters. Now those drawings from the flashback make sense to me, they were all the notes from our expeditions. How detailed I used to draw on them and write about them, while Destiny repeated the whole thing through word of mouth. She was the ideas maker, the visionary, whereas I was the realist, the brave leader. We made an impressive team, and every other foal looked up to us both. The "Professional adventurers" we used to call ourselves. Destiny interrupted. "Hey, how about we do it all again? How about we become the questing team once again?!" "Sure! I'd love that! We'd become the greatest adventurers once more!" I shouted with delight of the thought. We then ventured outside to start on our first new journey. Suddenly the cutie mark crusaders bumped into me, just like they did before. "Hey girls, what are you doing on this fine day?" I asked cheerily. "We were gonna see you, remember?" Scootaloo asked. "Oh? Who's this pony you're with?" "Destiny, I'd like you to meet Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie belle, the cutie mark crusaders!" "Hey there! How's it going?" Destiny cried out. "Now, I was going to tell you, these fillies are going to join us today, do you mind?" "Oh no I don't mind, the more the merrier! Heh, we could show them who the real crusaders are!" Destiny sounded more cocky than usual. "Is that a challenge?" Applebloom asked cautiously. "Well, we just reformed our team, as we used to be explorers ourselves, so maybe we could have a joint adventure?" I announced. "Yeah! We could do that for sure!" Everypony yelled. "Right, well where shall we start?" I asked. "Uh, how about we go to our old tree house?" Destiny asked back. "Wait, you have a tree house too?" Sweetie belle got a word in. "Sure we do, ever since I and Blue became best friends forever, we built our own tree house or headquarters if you want to call it that." "Of course, I remember now! Let's go there! To the Everfree forest!" I called out, and led the way. It was good to be the leader again. It's good to be with Destiny bond again. She's grown up well since I've last seen her. She's even learned to fly now, as she's hovering above us. I laugh to myself as all the other memories come flooding back. Even… parents? Wait, I feel a sudden wave of remorse flow over me. Destiny's real parents were lost weren't they? I try and hold back the impending frown. We shared non-biological parents after that, who adopted both of us when we were just foals, even tinier then our younger forms. But wait, why didn't I have parents either? No, I understand, going back to my human form… something in my brain makes the connection. I wasn't born as a pony was I? I was formed from some sort of transformation spell! But why? I must have been hiding from something. I get it now, that person who hated me… I was running from him. Judging by that, his name must be Glais! It makes much more sense to me now. Anne's arch rival was Glais, and Glais was this man who descended into feelings of hatred towards Anne, all because Anne didn't love him. We arrived at the old tree house. It looked worse for wear. I approached it slowly. I inspected it more closely, and saw that it had been burned. Just… like my flashback! And Destiny was the one running with me! But just why was it burned? Surely I'd be able to remember this… "So… I'll go and take a quick look inside then…" Destiny said, slightly troubled. When she exited the tree house, her troubled look had been amplified. "Don't… look… in there…" She looked like she was about to faint. I couldn't leave it unnoticed, so I had to take a look. I walked vigilantly up the ramp, and entered the doorway. I saw a strange, rabbit type creature, with a bigger tail, wings resembling leaves, and the worst part, the skeletal face, with a broken heart symbol stuck on the forehead. It didn't seem of too much of a threat, even if the face partly looked like a skull. As soon as I was done studying its features, it opened its mouth, and produced a silent sound, which made me hallucinate and see every single bad thing that happened across the universe. I shouted "stop!" repeatedly, breaking down into tears. But those visions kept showing themselves, causing me physical harm. I was being forced to tempt myself to end my life there and then, so by being controlled by madness, I picked up a stray, sharp piece of wood, and I prepared to drive it straight through my heart. Just then, Destiny rushed in and knocked me out of my horrific trance. The rabbit-like creature stood up from its sitting position, and grew into something even more disturbing than the last form. The words escape me of how I could describe it, but it felt like my soul was being burned just from the sight of its appearance. I tried fleeing the tree house, but I wasn't able to move, so Destiny dragged me outside and onto the ground. The thing followed us out, smashing up the tree house as it went. The remains were barely standing. The cutie mark crusaders cowered behind some far trees, while I did nothing but sit there, waiting for my imminent death at the hands of this creature. "Blue, wake up! Come on, we've faced worse! We can beat this thing easy!" Destiny brought me back to my senses. "Yes, I know we can beat it, but how? As soon as you look at it, you just want to die…" I replied with uncertainty. "I have a plan for this! You remember your magic don't you? Can you create a reflection spell?" "Uh, maybe, I'll see what I can do." I looked at a nearby rock, and casted the spell. "Cogitationem faciunt!" I shouted, and I suddenly saw my face in the rock. "Quickly Destiny, before it wears off, lift the rock and show it to this strange creature!" Destiny picked up the rock, showed it to the abomination, and it looked at its own face. Something happened which caused it to just shrink and dissolve into the atmosphere. "We did it… we did it!" Destiny shouted, and we both put our hooves in the air for victory. "Yes, but I've now witnessed everything bad that ever happened." After I said that, all those visions were erased. I won't go crazy after all. "Forget what I said, where did that thing come from I wonder? Anyway, the important thing is that we defeated it. Come out girls, there's nothing here anymore." The three fillies came out of hiding, reassured a little bit by my voice. We all huddled together and walked back into the tree house. Funnily enough, most of our papers and notes were still intact, for this long that we've been away. I collected most of them up, and placed them on the table where our cutie mark founding items used to be. There was a drawer under the table, which I pulled open, and inside were two scarves, one yellow and one blue. "These must be our old scarves we wore when we were adventuring. Let's put them on! Hah, they still fit!" It was good to be a team again, with the blue scarf to prove it. I wonder how this is intact as well. Destiny put on the yellow scarf too, feeling proud of it. "These are what we wore when we used to go exploring." I explained to the crusaders. "They were symbols of how we were a team, and that we were recognised as adventurers back in those days. And here we are again, adventuring, all together again." "Wow, ah think we all look up to you Blue, and you Destiny, ah mean you just defeated that big old monster like it was nothin'!" Applebloom cut in. "Yeah, Rainbow dash is cool, but you two are much cooler!" Scootaloo added. "Aw, we're not that great… really…" I replied. "We think you'd be able to take on the whole of Equestria's monsters at once ah bet!" Applebloom countered. "Well, that did seem a little too easy, don't you think Blue?" Destiny asked me. "Yes, it did seem that way…" I said, suspiciously. "Well that's no problem anyway; we have an obstacle out of the way." My paranoia set in just then, and made me realise that Sweetie belle was shying away. "Sweetie belle, is there something wrong? You haven't been talking much you know…" I said to her, as I was the only one noticing her. "Um… well… do you mind if we talk in private?" She asked me. "Yeah… sure." I turned to the rest of the group. "Wait here for a while girls; I need to have a chat with Sweetie belle quickly." They nodded their heads and went back to talking amongst themselves, and Sweetie belle led me slightly away from them. "So, what's up Sweetie belle? I know we don't know much of each other, but I'm here to help." I consoled her with my calming voice. "Well, I… something's wrong…" She replied. "Alright, please tell me, I am here to be talked to about problems." "Uh… ha… well, whenever I'm alone, I start humming to myself. It gives me a warm feeling, and I begin to sing which makes the feeling more warm and happy." "I see. Please, continue." "When I sing louder and louder, I see that my flank lights up, if you get what I'm talking about. Do you understand, Electric blue?" "Call me Blue, I prefer my informal name. And yes, I understand what you're talking about, I think." "Well, I want to ask you a question. What does growing up feel like?" I smiled to her and nodded with a chuckle. "I'd say it's one of the best experiences that you'll ever get. You will feel a never ending sense of accomplishment, and you will know where your fate lies. You'll know that you've matured, and you're ready to face the rest of the planet's obstacles because you know who you really are. I see that singing is your destiny, as your flank 'lighting up' symbolises the establishment of a cutie mark. That's right; you'll be the first one to get your cutie mark out of your group!" "But… what will the others think of me?" "I'm sure they'll be supportive of you, even if a little jealous, which will come naturally. Hey, how about you sing to me? That'll prove if I'm right or not." "Uh, well, I have a song I'm working on right now… so here goes." Sweetie belle cleared her throat gently, and let out the words of song. "Three lost foals out to find their souls making themselves known doing whatever they can One day their cutie marks will come to them and ignite like sparks And tomorrow will bring the next day that we will receive our pay Of the fates we have to come." I was perpetually amazed by her voice and how harmonious it is. She definitely had a natural talent for singing. For some reason, I recognised that tune, even though I've never heard it before. But what struck me even more is that her flank glowed once more, and an outline of a cutie mark followed that. "Well how about that sweetie belle, you have your cutie mark! I wonder what it could be, even if it is obvious!" I called out to her in excitement. And there it was; a symbol of a bell with a musical note embedded in it. Sweetie belle made her fate known, before the other crusaders. "Wow! I'm grown up now aren't I?" Sweetie belle exclaimed. "Well, not just yet, it will take a little bit of time before you have a growth spurt, please, come see me tomorrow, and show me how you've grown. For now, shall we go see the others?" I told her. "Um, yes, let's." We walked back to the rest of the group, and they noticed Sweetie belle's new mark. "How is that even possible? Why did Sweetie belle get her cutie mark first?" Scootaloo said with a hint of envy and impatience. "Now now, don't worry about it Scootaloo, you will get yours too, as well as yours Applebloom, I promise it, as I and Destiny bond are going to guide you. Do you mind, Destiny?" I calmly announced. "Sure, I'd love to! I can't wait to help others!" Destiny replied. "Tomorrow, we shall make a quest to find your cutie marks, for the final time. And trust us, we will find your marks." I declared. "But now, we have to get you all home. It's getting dark." I led the way, and the group tailed. We sent them to their individual homes, and went back home ourselves. "A pretty eventful day, wasn't it Destiny?" I asked. "Yeah, it was a great start to our renewed friendship. I was glad to take you out of that trance before you… um—I guess we should take it easier next time though, we almost bit off more than we could chew." Destiny answered with concern. "Hmm, I guess you're right, we weren't quite prepared for that event, so we should pace ourselves before running into something as dangerous as that." "Well, I'm pretty tired now, so we should hit the hay now." "Okay, let me just write this letter to the Princess first, and then I'll go to sleep." "Dear Princess Celestia, Today I went on my first adventure with my long lost friend Destiny bond, and we kind of got ourselves in a life threatening situation while doing that. We shall give ourselves an easier way around next time. We were with the Cutie mark crusaders, and Sweetie belle earned hers first as she sang like an angel. We will help the others earn their marks the next time we see them. What I've learned today is that hot water can scald you if you aren't careful, but if you know the way to go about it, the water will be fine to take a dip in. What I also learned today is that not everypony will find their destinies as fast as others, so they often seek help from others to try and find it better. Yours faithfully, Electric blue and Destiny bond."