//------------------------------// // 13 - The cutie mark crusades // Story: Just a day in Equestria // by dave89898989 //------------------------------// Another fine day in Equestria has just begun. I got out of bed and stumbled down the hall to witness Destiny bond sleeping silently, sprawled on the sofa. I chuckled and made some coffee for the both of us. The machine's sounds woke Destiny from her light slumber, and I took a mug over to her before she could get up. "Ready to help Scootaloo earn her cutie mark, Destiny?" I asked Destiny excitedly. "Sure I am! Wait, Scootaloo?" Destiny replied confused to why she had the role of helping Scootaloo. "Since Scootaloo's a pegasus, you might as well pair up with her as you're the same species, while I go and help Applebloom, who is an earth filly. Sound fair?" "Yeah sure it does, maybe I could teach her how to fly too!" Destiny jumped off the sofa, raring to go. "Alright, let's go find them then!" I answered with the same behaviour. And there they were, standing outside the door just as I opened it to rush out. "Well, that saves us some time, hi girls! Are you ready to get your cutie marks?" I exclaimed. "Of course we're ready, why wouldn't we be? We need to be as good as Sweetie belle!" Applebloom said competitively. "Alright, well let's pair up. Applebloom, you go with me, and Scootaloo, you go with destiny over her, alright?" We joined our allocated foals and went our separate ways. "Wait a sec," Scootaloo said, "I bet I could get my cutie mark before you Applebloom!" "Ah bet ah could get mine first!" Applebloom countered. "Last one back here with their cutie marks is a rotten apple!" "Now now, this isn't a competition you know, we are helping you because --" My sentence came to an abrupt end as the fillies raced off without us. "Uh, remind you of us back then, Destiny? See you later!" I dashed off to catch up with Applebloom. Well, getting somepony else's cutie mark should be simple enough. Well, I argue with that, it should be your own destiny, not somepony else's, but I'm willing to bend that rule, and Applebloom looks determined enough to find her cutie mark. We seemed to be going around in circles, searching for who knows what, so I stopped. Applebloom almost knocked me over after crashing into me from racing laps around the place. "Applebloom, let's stop for a minute. Do you know what we're looking for?" I asked. "Uh course ah know what we're lookin' for Electric Blue! My cutie mark, remember?" Applebloom returned in slight confusion. "That wasn't what I meant. Applebloom, what do you see about yourself that makes you special?" "Well, ah'm not sure really, what am ah good at?" "Apart from running in circles, what are you good at…" A long pause prolonged our conversation, when I finally came up with an example. "Oh I know! I remember Applejack telling me how you refurbished her old tree house so your group could use it!" "Uh…yeah! Yeah that's it! But how come ah didn't get my cutie mark back then?" "Because you weren't seeing the truth. I have a plan. How about we both go and fix up mine and Destiny's tree house and see how it goes?" "Yeah sure, ah saw what happened to it the other day, so we might as well rebuild that place together, right?" And back we went to my old tree house. The steady winds driving through the Everfree forest had blown over the last remaining supports, and all it was now was just a flat bundle of wood. "This looks like a lost cause now…" I sighed as I walked up to the ruins regretfully. "Of course it's not! We can make it good again, can't we Electric Blue?" Applebloom followed up with a moment of hope. "Please, call me Blue; my full name seems too formal. And I didn't think the tree house would be in this sort of state…it looks impossible to rebuild on our own." "Don't say that Blue, we got ourselves a challenge here, and we ain't gonna just let it go! Ah wanna find my cutie mark, and ah know that this is the way it's gotta be!" I sighed again, underestimating the filly's hopefulness. "I hope you're right Applebloom…so many memories destroyed…" We set to work putting up the main beams that made the structure rigid, and secured the planks over the supports. Luckily I remembered the tool box behind the tree, so I fetched it and took out a hammer and nailss. I blindly passed them to Applebloom while looking at the planted photograph in the toolbox. The photo showed me and Destiny when we were fillies, in front of our tree house. Strangely, there were two other ponies standing beside us. They looked like…like parents of some sort. I pulled the photo closer and turned it around to reveal some writing scrawled on the back. "Happy family" It read, with names listed. Of course there were mine and Destiny's names, but the two others on there were Zap Flower and Thunder Hum. I'll have to show Destiny this when I see her next. "Uh, Blue? You ok?" Applebloom took me back into reality. "Sorry Applebloom, I got distracted there, let's carry on shall we?" I couldn't break my gaze from that photograph. Applebloom nudged my shoulder with her hoof a little, and I finally tore my eyes away from that picture. "Really sorry Applebloom, I'll get back to work now." I took out another hammer and nails from the toolbox and started securing the wooden planks. The tree house was finally rebuilt, and all that was left was to repaint it in array of different colours to make it stand out, like an orange tree in an apple orchard. My hoof was shaky as I applied the paint, but Applebloom looked steadier on her side. "See, you have to be gifted with this sort of thing Applebloom, look at my side compared to yours, yours is much more accurately lined." "Aw shucks Blue, but ah don't think it's that good…" Applebloom returned. "Come now Applebloom, you don't have to be modest about this, I can clearly see that you are skilled with this sort of thing, handiwork. Already I've seen you build back up this tree house, mostly without my help, and you painted this place with the finest brush strokes. Now tell me it's not good!" "Ha, well thank you Blue, that means a lot to me. Hey, ah feel kinda hungry, shall we go back to the farm?" "Sure, we're just about done here anyway, so lead the way Applebloom!" We trotted to sweet apple acres, and Applebloom told me to sit comfortably while she went to find some leftover zap apples. I saw her crush and churn the apples until they were a thick jelly substance, which of course turned out to be zap apple jam. She served a bowl to me, and I tasted some. And then some more and more until it was all gone. Applebloom mimicked me, but she was slightly faster eating the jam than me. "Well, that was some really good zap apple jam you made Applebloom! You definitely have a natural talent for making this sort of stuff! And would you look at that, your flank is glowing!" I pointed to the location of Applebloom's upcoming cutie mark in joy. "Aw thank you Blue, but ah—wait what?!" Applebloom's nature suddenly changed from meek to surprised. She looked at her flank and started to turn around constantly in amazement. And then there it was. Applebloom's cutie mark was right there, clear as crystal. It was a paint palette in the shape of an apple, with all the colours of a zap apple in blobs. "Wow, ah finally have my cutie mark! Ah can't believe I have it now! Thank you Blue for lettn' me fix up your tree house, ah mean it gave me this!" "You're quite welcome Applebloom, I'm glad that you were willing to rebuild my tree house with me. The zap apple jam helped find your cutie mark too. How do you feel now?" I tried to contain my excitement. "Ah feel… special! Ah feel more mature! Thank you again Blue, you've been a real help!" "Oh yes, and so have you been a help Applebloom, I must thank you too." Suddenly Applejack walked into the room casually, and quickly noticed Applebloom's new mark. "Look Applejack, look what ah have!" Applebloom showed off her cutie mark. "Oh wow! Ya have a cutie mark! Blue! Did ya help with this?" Applejack seemed as thrilled as ever. "Yeah of course I helped out Applebloom; it's what I'm here for!" I replied. "Thank ya ever so much fer this Blue! How could we repay ya for yer kindness?" "Oh it's fine, your friendship and hospitality is payment enough!" *Destiny Bond's point of view* It was a coincidence to me that Scootaloo's name almost matched the word 'scooter', which she was riding on at the time. Scootaloo turned to me and said, "Hey, how come you can fly and I can't, Destiny Bond?" "Well, learning to fly takes years of practice, especially for weak flyers like I used to be. Now I can pretty much fly anywhere and as far as I like!" I replied, showing off a loop the loop in the air. "Aww…all I got are these tiny things…" Scootaloo's constantly fluttering wings couldn't lift her off of the ground, no matter how fast they flapped. "Don't worry; I think I might have a plan. I could teach you how to fly! Just like Blue taught me." "Wait, but Electric Blue is an earth pony! How did she teach you to fly?" "Well, Blue always had this fancy magic with her, so she casted a spell to make wings for herself. From there she coached me, usually by jumping off cliffs and believing in will and strength. She was a very determined pony, and still is." "She sounds like a mare to look up to." "Every foal in the village of Ponyville back then looked up to her, as she taught us all lessons that we never would have learned by ourselves. She always had a lot of knowledge, even when she was just a tiny filly, so she gave advice to me and everypony else. Her magic fascinated everypony too; there was no unicorn that could match her mystic words back then." "Wow, she sounds cooler than anypony I've ever met! Apart from Rainbow Dash of course, but there'll be some stiff competition there I bet!" Blue always was the best pony out there, always happy, always kind, always intelligent, determined and strong. Her attitude changed a little bit in the great Everfree fire, as our tree house was burned down back then, but we rebuilt it soon after. Sometimes I found her sitting alone, facing away from everything in the corner of the tree house. Who knows what she was doing, but usually she was slowly rocking herself, sometimes crying softly, and sometimes singing morbid songs. It got worse and worse until we parted ways for a while, and when we were reunited just recently, we both regained our memories. It was good that her condition didn't come back with it though. I'd rather keep that part of her a secret though, even from Blue herself. We arrived at a cliff face, overlooking all of Ponyville, with the snow topped mountains behind us. I readied myself for a flight lesson just for Scootaloo, and I mustered all my hope to make sure this went alright. "Are you prepared for this Scootaloo?" I asked with optimism. "Sure I am! But what are we doing exactly?" Scootaloo answered with another question. "Well, seeing as you're very fast on that scooter of yours, and that cliff edge looks like a ramp, you could try and jump off it and attempt to fly. Sounds risky I know, but trust me, I know this will work!" "Well, I guess it could work, and you would save me if I fall, won't you? And what about my scooter?" "Well, I would have to save both of you and the scooter of course; hopefully I can do that if I put my mind to it." "Alright, let's do this then!" I closed my eyes and inhaled, held my breath and opened my eyes to watch Scootaloo get a head start. She picked up momentum rapidly, and at the last moment when she passed over the cliff's edge, she propelled herself into the air. She looked hopeful, but then she started to fall. I picked myself up and flew to her aid, catching her falling body, and then grabbing the heavier scooter. I pulled myself back up and landed safely on the ridge. "Well, you had a great beginning their Scootaloo…keep at it, I can see you flying!" I panted. "I hope you're right Destiny, I really do. I don't want to go without a cutie mark!" Scootaloo said with diligence. I regained my strength and waited for Scootaloo to try flight again. Nevertheless, she fell again, and I went to save her. This kept happening until the sun started setting. "Scootaloo, you're missing something. You have to believe in yourself, you have to know that you can fly. Here, I'll show you." I put Scootaloo down so she could watch me take a run up. I closed my eyes and spread my wings. When I sensed I was close to the edge of the cliff, and launched myself upwards. And there I was, flying like I did when I was younger. I haven't flown for quite a while, since I didn't really need to, I didn't travel a lot. But it felt so good to exercise my wings again. When I cam back down to land, I confronted Scootaloo. "Also, you need to spread your wings out, and think that you're going to get caught in the wind. Do you understand?" "Uh, I guess so Destiny. I'll try my best now, I promise you!" Scootaloo primed herself for another try, making sure that she was going to do everything right this time. She had that look in her eyes to show that she really wanted this cutie mark, and she really wanted to fly too. She pushed herself backwards on her scooter, and quickly forced her back leg into the ground, pushing herself vigorously onward. This time she bent herself slightly forward, lowered her head, put her tiny wings out straight, and rode as fast as she could on her scooter. "You're…look at that Scootaloo! You're flying! You're flying!" I jumped for joy after unblocking my eyes and seeing Scootaloo in the air. "I'm doing it Destiny! This does feel great! I don't want to stop flapping my wings! I want to just fly away!" Scootaloo was as happy as I was, if not more. "Scootaloo look! Your flank, it's glowing. You're getting your cutie mark!" A scooter wheel with wings appeared on Scootaloo's flank, showing that she's discovered her talent. Not to mention the skill of flying too, she's beyond beginner flight already! I went to get her fallen scooter, and then joined her to fly back to Blue's house. When we got there, Applebloom, Blue and Sweetie Belle were already there, celebrating their new found cutie marks. Scootaloo re-joined their group, and Blue had a private conversation with me. "So Blue, how was today for you?" I asked. "Well, Applebloom rebuilt our old tree house with me, and painted it too, and then we went back to Sweet apple acres to make some zap apple jam, which of course made her find her cutie mark. How did your day go?" Blue replied casually. "Oh, well Scootaloo had some trial runs on trying to fly, until finally when the sun was setting, she managed to do it, and she got her cutie mark then." "That sounds just like when I was training you, the days we spent getting you to fly." "Oh yeah, it was definitely hard work for both of us back then. Hey, let's take the fillies back to their homes shall we?" "Of course Destiny, let's do that." I frolicked ahead of everypony because that's just me, and we returned the retired cutie mark crusaders back to their homes. It sure was fun teaching a friend to fly, it showed me how hard it was (or easy) for Blue to teach me. When we got back to Blue's house again, Blue said her good night and went straight to bed. I couldn't blame her since she had black rings around her eyes, and so did I, but I really wanted to write this letter to Braeburn, as I'm going to meet him tomorrow. "Dear Braeburn, I miss you so much already! My time in Ponyville has been great for these past few days, and Blue's been such a good friend as always! I helped Scootaloo (one of Applebloom's friends) get her cutie mark, which was brilliant fun! I taught her to fly too, just like Blue taught me! Oh I can't wait to see you tomorrow, we can be together again! Happy early Hearts and hooves day Braeburn! Love from Destiny bond."