You know what’s weird about gaining your cutie mark? Sometimes it can be so obvious to the ponies around you what your special talent is, but you never actually realise it yourself.
It was kind of like that for me. Every pony was always telling me, “Sugar Belle, these cupcakes are delicious!” or “Sugar Belle, when are you going to make another cherry pie?” but I never once considered myself to be anything more than a simple mare who enjoyed baking tasty treats to enjoy with my family and friends.
When my cutie mark arrived, I wasn’t expecting it at all. Despite my love of baking, I never realised that I was good enough to consider it my special talent. I was just happily going about my day, icing a few cakes and rolling out some dough, and suddenly there it was; an image of delightful cupcake with a cherry on top; it was so cute, so whimsical, and so… perfect! Receiving my cutie mark made me more dedicated towards my baking than ever before.
My Cutesinara was really special. I told every pony that I now realised it must my destiny to make delicious cakes for ponies throughout Equestria. From the North, South, East and West, they would travel far and wide just to get a taste of my delicious desserts! Therefore, I had created a bunch of new recipes, and at my Cutesinara I asked my friends to decide which ones were keepers. To my surprise, every one of my new creations received fantastic feedback!
I started making my tasty treats and selling them at market stalls and other events, but usually I just spent the money on more ingredients. It wasn’t much of a profit, but I didn’t mind; all I wanted to do was make ponies happy, being told that my cakes were delicious was reward enough. However, I was now more certain than ever that baking was what I wanted to do in life, so when I grew old enough I took on a job at the local café, to learn how to turn my passion into a career.
It was wonderful! My desserts were really popular, and the kind boss was always saying how they were a credit to the business. I happily baked away for hours on end, pleased to know that my talent was appreciated and helping the café to become more and more recognised by the day.
Of course I always dreamed about having a place of my own, but that was a lot harder than it sounded. It wasn’t just about having the most delicious food; there was stock taking, money handling, customer service... I had a lot to learn, and it was going to be tough, but it was also pretty exciting.
Over time, the once quiet café gained more and more customers. That meant more money, and soon the business was able to expand. The kitchen was enlarged, more staff were hired, and ponies travelled from all over Equestria to try our famous desserts, just as I always dreamed they would. The place got busier and busier… and we had to work harder and harder to please every pony. My shifts slowly became longer, and more and more hectic…
“I didn’t order coffee cake! I ordered chocolate cake!” I heard an angry mare shouting from the diner one afternoon.
“I’m so sorry mam!” The nervous waitress replied, “I’ll have a chocolate cake made for you right away. Sugar Belle! Sugar Belle! We need another chocolate cake over here!”
“Another?” I gasped, “but I already have four carrot cakes to make and….”
“You’ll have to put those on hold.” She replied sternly, “the rest of her table all have their desserts.”
As quickly as I could, I took out one of the chocolate sponge bases I had prepared a little earlier. I cut it in half to fill it with cream and…. we were completely out of cream.
“There’s no more cream!” I panicked, trying to get the attention of a nearby chef.
“Sugar Belle, I’m busy with my apple pies.” She replied in a stressed tone, “You’ll have to use something else.”
“Where is my dessert?” The customer bellowed impatiently,
“Something else… but I… urmm… jam!” I darted over to the cupboard and filled the cake with raspberry jam. It’s not how I would usually make a chocolate cake, but I couldn’t keep all of the customers waiting. I handed it over the counter to the waitress, hoping for the best, and then I heard another angry voice.
“Where are our carrot cakes? We’ve been waiting ten minutes!”
I dashed off to finish the cakes that I had started earlier. It was our custom to draw a carrot with icing on top of each one. I did my best to keep a steady hoof, even with all of the flustered staff around me darting about, trying to get their orders out on time.
That’s when I smelt burning. For a moment nothing triggered, but when I finally realised where it was coming from, my hoof slipped and the icing carrot was no longer recognisable.
“The oven!!” I gasped, and hurried to the back of the kitchen.
As I feared, a dark smoke was coming from the door. I opened it to find a tray of singed, overflowing batter. I couldn’t believe it; I had left the banana muffins in for too long.
This was bad; an entire tray of desserts, ruined by my carelessness.
“Where are our carrot cakes?” The customers shouted,
“This is supposed to be cream, not jam!” The mare from before was cursing the waitress for my doing.
“We have no more apples!” One of the other staff ran into the kitchen to tell us. “Wait… where is all that smoke coming fro...” Suddenly, every pony in the kitchen turned to face me.
They saw everything; the burnt muffins, the smoking oven, and the tears which filled my eyes.
I ran.
As I galloped out of the crowded café, and through the streets, my emotions suddenly caught up with me. I wasn’t happy working at that place any more, and I was definitely no longer a credit to the team. Maybe baking had been a fun hobby when I was young and naive - when other ponies thought it was cute how much I loved making cakes for them and having little stalls - but how could I be so terrible at something which was supposed to be my destiny?
The events of that day had proven that I really wasn’t a good baker after all. So… why did I have this cutie mark? Why did the image on my rump display such a delicious looking cupcake when I just made stupid singed muffins and carrot cakes with scribbles upon them?
Everything was a mess; I didn’t even know who I was anymore.
That’s when I met her.
“Sugar Belle, where are you off to in such a hurry?” A pretty unicorn with a streaked mane approached me from behind.
“Who… are you?” I sobbed, “how do you… know me?”
“How do I know you? Why, your desserts are famous throughout Equestria! You turned that rusty old café into a successful landmark with your special talent!” The mare replied kindly.
“T…thanks.” I forced a smile, “but I’m starting to think that I no longer have a… special… talent.”
“Now why would you say that?” She tilted her head, “your cutie mark is a clear representation of what a fantastic baker you are!”
“No.” I answered, “I proved today that I’m not fit to have a cutie mark like this, and I’m certainly not a fantastic baker. I’m just a failure.”
“Now now,” the unicorn tried to comfort me, “just because you cannot live up to your cutie mark, doesn’t make you a failure.”
I looked up, what did she mean by that? Of course it did!
“Who ever heard of a pony being terrible at their special talent?” I asked. “I’ve let the café down! I’ve let every pony down!”
The mare hugged me, then replied,
“Cutie marks give false hope to ponies, dictating their fate and deciding their place in the world. Once you have one, it’s almost as though you’re trapped. You think you must excel in whatever skill your cutie mark represents, and if you cannot do that, then you are worthless.”
“Yes.” I looked up at her, “that is exactly… how I feel. I always enjoyed baking before I had a cutie mark, because I wanted to… not because I felt like I had to.”
She nodded in agreement, and then continued;
“I believe that ponies would be much happier living their lives free of their cutie marks and special talents. If we were all the same, there would be no such thing as failure, or success, and you would never let any pony down, ever again.”
“Ponies… without talents….” I pondered. “I guess that wouldn’t make much of a difference to me, since I don’t really have one to lose. That kind of freedom would feel pretty liberating right now.”
“Then Miss Sugar Belle, I would like to personally invite you to come and stay in our town. The ponies there do not have to live up to the expectations of their cutie marks, as they have no cutie marks to live up to!”
“Huh?!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “No cutie marks? How is that possible?”
“I have a magical staff which can remove the cutie marks of ponies, and replace them with this symbol.” The mare pointed to her flank, it had a really simple image upon it that was like no cutie mark that I had ever seen before; it was an equal’s sign.
“This symbol represents our way of life. Every pony in our town is equal, no pony is any better, or any worse, than any pony else. Likewise, they are not pressured to live up to any expectations. I know I speak for every pony there when I say that we would be very happy to have you join us.”
“So I would never be able to let any pony down again? I wouldn’t have this constant pressure, I could just enjoy my life and relax? That sounds… wonderful.” I replied.
“Then welcome to our family!” The unicorn hugged me, “My name is Starlight Glimmer.”