~Party Favor~
I was always so proud of my cutie mark. After all, it represented my great passion for partying and my incredibly skilled balloon crafting! I could make pretty much anything; animals, bridges, houses, you name it! I thought that my cutie mark represented the special talent which singled me out among my peers, and made me unique and different from every pony else... but I was sadly mistaken.
Ever since I was a young foal, I always loved having fun. I grew up in a small family; just me, my mom, my dad, and my younger brother Bubblegum. Me and Bubblegum were pretty tight; I loved that little guy from the moment he was born. We were always playing together, laughing together, and best of all, having pretend parties with all of our toys.
When we both became a little older, I threw my brother the best birthday party in the history of birthday parties. There were tons of games to be played, cakes and other snacks to be eaten, and a huge bouncy castle! I invited all of his friends, and we were all having a fantastic time… but the best was yet to come.
In honor of my little brothers third birthday, I had been practicing making balloon animals for days on end, and I had gotten pretty good at it. I was going to put on a show to 'wow' all of the fillies and colts at the party, and make my little brother proud. So, after everyone had finished their cake, I gathered every ponies attention and took out my balloons.
I started off pretty simple. A few unicorns and earth ponies, moving on to pegasi – it was pretty tricky getting their wings right at first. The youngsters all clapped and cheered, and I handed them out to the crowd one by one. When each and every one of the fillies and colts had their own balloon pony, I attempted something very special for Bubblegum.
Taking my largest balloon (which was purple, to match his coat) I took a deep breathe, and blew into it before knotting the end. Then I took a deep blue - the same cool colour as Bubblegum’s mane. I twisted them around one another and created my first ever balloon alicorn! It was amazing; three times as big as my previous creations, with a long flowing mane and tail. I handed it to Bubblegum, and he smiled the biggest most wonderful smile that I had ever seen.
Then, out of nowhere, my rump started to glow... and it appeared. A cutie mark depicting a wonderful balloon animal surrounded by streamers! It wasn’t an alicorn - more like a bob-tailed poodle - but it closely resembled the very first one I had ever made successfully. The crowd cheered louder than ever, and I was over the moon about finally discovering my special talent!
Of course - despite this being the biggest thing to ever happen to me - I still refused to allow myself to steal any more of the limelight. It was Bubblegum’s birthday, after all.
~
A few years went by, and me and Bubblegum eventually grew up and went our separate ways. He left to study ecology - he was always kind of an egg head like that. As for myself, I moved away, to a cool little town where my passion for partying was loved and appreciated by all. I started my own party business, stocking all kinds of decorations, food, and accessories required for all of your party throwing needs. I also rented myself out as an entertainer and became an expert at balloon crafting. It was a good life… nay, a great life.
Until one day, when he showed up.
I remember his face so vividly; that brown curly mane and tanned coat, those huge green eyes, and that cutie mark - which still makes little sense to me.
At first he seemed like a pretty regular guy, albeit oddly dressed. We asked if he was just passing through our town, and he told us that he was on a serious mission. Well, ‘serious’ wasn’t really a word that we came across very often, in our fulfilled, party having lives. A few of the townsfolk were a little confused by his seemingly solemn attitude, but I felt it my duty to get this fella to lighten up a bit, and show him the awesome ways of our town.
All I wanted to do, was throw an amazing street party to celebrate his arrival. But to my great surprise, at the very mention of this idea, the pony removed his dark cowboy hat, and told me he 'had it covered'. I didn’t understand what he meant by this at first, but I was about to find out.
Turns out this shady colt was not so shady after all. He started prancing around, and singing at the top of his lungs about how he was a super-duper party pony. It wasn’t long before the other ponies joined in (all but myself) and he started showing us what he could do.
The guy had serious skills. I mean sure, I always kept a handy stock of balloons in my mane for all balloon-animal emergencies, but it was as though this pony could pull an entire party out of nowhere; giant cakes, pinatas, enormous bowls of punch, even roller coasters! The colt introduced himself as Cheese Sandwich, and threw the most amazing party that I had ever seen, like, ever. I watched along with the other ponies, feeling both impressed, and a little defeated.
Then, it happened. Cheese Sandwich finished his song, and took not one, not two, but about twenty balloons of all shapes and colours. He took a deep breath and began twisting them to make a huge multi-coloured balloon alicorn in mere seconds. It was bigger and brighter than almost anything I had made. And he just crafted it in a flash and then went on to do other amazing stuff, without even breaking a sweat. My mind was blown as I gawked at the marvelous work of this outsider.
How could this be? That guy could do everything I could do, only bigger, faster ...better. I had flashbacks of Bubblegum’s party, of how my little brother beamed when I handed him the pitiful two coloured alicorn that I had created way back then. I looked sorrowfully at my cutie mark; what good was my special talent, if some other pony was better than me at it? Surely this Cheese Sandwich guy was more worthy of my cutie mark than I was.
The more I watched him, the more my heart wrenched, and I felt a feeling that I had never felt before. It was worse than sadness, worse than anger, worse than jealousy; it was the feeling of being completely useless. No pony in town needed me anymore; not now they had him.
Saddened, I abandoned my store, removed the balloons from my mane, and left the town which I had called home for many years. No pony followed me or tried to stop me, in fact I don’t think they even noticed that I was gone.
Then, I heard an elegant voice calling my name.
“Party Favor? Party Favor, what’s wrong?” A beautiful pink coated unicorn, with a curly purple and cyan blue mane, was looking at me with the most sympathetic eyes.
“H…how do you know my name?” I asked, startled.
“Why, every pony knows your name around here!” The unicorn replied, “You’re the pony who’s special talent is to throw incredible parties, and your balloon creations are simply the best.”
I sighed, “Thanks... but you’re wrong. I’m not the best… at anything, and neither is my work.”
“Now why in Equestria would you say that?” She asked, “even your cutie mark is a balloon animal, you must be very proud of your special talent.”
“I don’t have a special talent.” I scowled; maybe she was trying to be nice, but her words were just getting me down. I tried to continue walking.
“Are you unhappy because some pony else is better than you?” The unicorn called after me, before adding, “what about the other ponies? how do you think they felt when you were showing off your ‘special talent’?"
I paused. What did she mean? My parties always made other ponies happy, my balloon animals bought smiles to all of their faces, I never made any pony feel useless… did I?
The mare trotted over and caught up with me, “The whole idea of ‘special talents’ is just a cruel trick played upon us ponies by our cutie marks. Being the best at something only causes hurt and jealousy, to all of those who aren’t as good as you. I can see that you are finally starting to get a little taste of that yourself.”
Now that made me think. Was this true? The way I was feeling at that moment - is that the same way that I was making other ponies feel when I was showing off my skills? Were all the ponies that had attended my parties and seen my balloon shows really happy watching me being so much better than them at something? Or had I spent my whole life making others feel miserable and useless because they couldn’t do what I did? The more I thought about it, the more it made sense.
She continued,
“Cutie marks are terrible things; they make you believe that others are beneath you, or that you are below others. They either give you a selfish sense of pride, or a longing sense of envy . Wouldn’t it be much better if we didn’t have them at all? If we were all equal? That way, no pony would ever have to feel the way that you do now.”
“No pony would ever feel this terrible,” I began to agree, “No pony would ever be better or worse than any pony else, at anything…”
“Nope.” The mare smiled, “everypony would be equal and happy, together.”
I felt myself becoming a little emotional at the thought, “If only, that could happen...”
To my surprise, the mare gave a large grin and replied,
“I have already made it happen.”
“Wh…what do you mean?” I lifted my head in curiosity.
She extended her hoof invitingly,
“Come with me to my little town." She smiled, "every pony is welcome there, and every pony there is happy. We all live together peacefully, without our cutie marks.”
That is when I took a first glance at the mares flank. Instead of some colourful cutie mark representing a special talent, she had two grey lines - an equal’s sign.
“I have a magical staff, with the ability to remove cutie marks.” She told me, “we replace them with this symbol, which represents how we are all equal, in every way.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. All of this pain, all of this hurt, it could all be taken away just like that? I was being welcomed into a town, where I wouldn’t be able to hurt or offend any pony else, and no pony else would be able to hurt or offend me. None of this would matter anymore - I would be free.
“That… sounds wonderful.” I couldn’t help but sniffle a little.
The unicorn put her hoof around me tenderly, “Then Party Favor, I would be very happy to welcome you into our family, let me take you to the village. By the way, my name is Starlight Glimmer.”