Tags: OC, CMC
Another extract from "The Price of Harmony" - this one actually came in the previous chapter to "On the Origin of Ponies". One of the major themes in The Price of Harmony was stories, and each chapter was planned to begin with either a story, an article, or an essay of some sort.
This piece was of no greater import than being the first introduction of Sojourn and Wild Meadow Bloom, my OCs. The actual ghost story was suggested by my housemate, who gave me permission to write it up myself for my fic - shame it never actually happened.
"Well then, my little ponies... I've been around a lot of places in my life, as you might expect - from the busy streets of Fillydelphia to the factories of Cloudsdale, the regal streets of Canterlot to little towns like the one you've got here, but there are some things that never change.
"And one of them are colts and fillies like you, and what the most important thing in life is. More important than good food, or playing, or your boring old parents and their rules - no, what you care about most is your cutie marks.
"Some of you got 'em, some of you don't! You can't see I've got mine right here - it's a book and a breeze, because that's what I do - I fly around telling stories! But don't you worry, you'll all get yours someday. ...Or at least... I hope you will.
"Because this is a story about a mare who never got her cutie mark.
"It was a little town just like this one where she was born, and where she grew up. Her coat was black as ink, her mane nearly as dark, wild and dark as the night, her horn barely visible, and she was quite pretty in her own way. For the first few years of her life, she was no different to any of you - she grew up with her family, went to school made friends... but the problems started when she got to that age - that age where many of you are now, when colts and fillies start finding their special talents.
"When the first of her friends found their talent, they were so happy! The party went on far past their bedtimes, and in the middle of that party, another friend found hers too, getting her mark on the spot! And it was then she swore she would find her cutie mark whatever happened, and every waking moment she had from that day she spent trying to hunt down her talent.
She tried everything she could, something new every day. Today she would try cooking, tomorrow stargazing. She competed in every sport, attempted a dozen musical instruments, and even spent a rather memorable week on a farm trying to keep up with the earth ponies there. But it was no good - every time she tried a new task, her flank remained a plain blank black, and all she saw were the others in her class finding their talents, one by one.
"Some of them teased her, of course. Her coat was so dark, they said, that a cutie mark couldn't be seen even if it did appear. That it didn't know where her flank was to put it. That she wasn't special. That she would never have a cutie mark - she would be a blank flank forever.
"Now I can see some of you with fear in your eyes, and some of you with scorn or pity. I'd be careful with those feelings if I were you, because the tale's not over yet. Because even though she tried harder and harder, every moment trying something more extreme, desperate to find her talent, soon every other pony her age had their cutie mark - and then every pony in the class below her as well. And as she soon became a full-grown mare, everything got worse.
"Some said that she had gotten her mark, but she was so embarrassed by it she inked over it every morning. Some said she was a changeling, merely pretending to be a pony. This was back before Luna had returned, of course - so given her colouring, and her penchant for running around at night, some of them said she might be cursed by Nightmare Moon. Some said she must be Nightmare Moon's daughter - or even the Princess herself, reborn. But of course none of this was true - she was just a pony, just like you or me, and every time they said these things, it felt like a buck to the heart.
"What friends she had moved on, saying their apologies and goodbyes but pursuing the destinies their marks had revealed. Without a cutie mark - without a special talent - she didn't know what path to take, where to go, what to do. Everybody in the town knew her, and knew of her plight - but nobody could help her. Even worse, as a unicorn, her magic was without focus - she couldn't do anything nearly as well as the other unicorns in town, because there was always somebody who had the right special talent for the job.
"She worked as hard as she could, whatever jobs she could get, and while some of the people of her town tried their best to help her, she soon found their pity almost as painful as the stares and mockery of the less kind. Even the strongest heart can be worn down, and soon she stopped trying as hard at jobs she had tried before, knowing they could never be her talent, and feeling it was pointless. She felt she would never find her talent. And then she stopped coming out of her house at all.
"But even though she had given up, she never stopped wanting her cutie mark. And soon ponies began to forget about her entirely... but she never forgot about them. Never forgot how every one of them had their cutie mark, a place in the world, while all that remained on her flank was a black void, swallowing up any hope she had of a normal life.
"And it was then she began to think... what if that is my cutie mark? What if that emptiness is what represents my special talent?
"Days later, when somebody realised that nopony had seen her for some time, they went to her house to make sure she was okay. When they knocked, the door creaked open beneath their hooves. And they called her name, gingerly moving throughout the dark abode... but there was no sign of her, no belongings, no notes. It was as if nobody had ever lived there at all...
"The next anypony ever saw of her was back at the school where she had spent her foalhood. Class was over for the day, and behind the desk was the teacher. Her name was Rising Dawn, and her cutie mark was a sun just peeking over the horizon. She had found her talent as a teacher as a filly, when their own teacher had slept in for the day - she always loved the mornings, and while every other pony yawned and mumbled and messed around, she had driven them all to get together and start their lesson before he arrived. She had been one of the first in her class to get her cutie mark - a class which included, as you might have guessed, a certain unicorn. And though she now knew to respect the children she taught and that their talents would all shine through in time, when she had been the first, she had been most smug, showing off the sun mark on her flank and never missing a chance to practise and show off her talent.
But needless to say, of all the ponies she might consider would come to her without a mark on their flank, she was not expecting her old classmate. When the door to the classroom opened, she was surprised indeed to see the inky black mare standing there.
"'It's been so long!' she cried. 'Where have you been?' - and if that had been all she said, maybe nothing more would have happened to her... but then again, maybe it would have made no difference. For the next thing she said was, with pity in her voice, 'You still haven't found your special talent?'
"And the Blank Flank Mare stared back into her eyes and said, "No, I still haven't found my talent... so I thought I might try yours instead."
"Her horn lit up, and before a thing could be said or done, her magic struck the teacher! It didn't hurt, exactly, but a terrible feeling settled over her, because as that magic faded, she felt something else fade inside her as well. And even then, somehow knowing what she would see, she turned to look at her flank - as empty as the day she had first walked into this classroom.
"And on the black coat of her visitor, she could see the image forming... exactly like her own, the sun standing out bright against her black coat. The Blank Flank Mare laughed, and turned and fled the room, leaving her alone, with nothing...
"Over the next few days, other ponies were visited also... all those who had struck out at her, who had rejected her for her blankness, and each was left in turn exactly as they had left her - without any cutie mark at all. And once she was done, once she had taken all she felt she was owed, she vanished away again... and while many tried to find her, to reclaim what she had taken from them, none ever succeeded.
"But it's said that she lives to this day... walking always alone, always searching... Visiting cities and towns, looking for new talents, perhaps one day to find the talent that was truly hers, that could let her rest..."
"And always on the lookout for fillies and colts just like her." Another voice suddenly cut in, causing a murmur through the crowd as they strove to find who had interrupted the tale. "Those who had not yet found their special talents, but struggled every day to bring them out. They were of no use to her yet, but though her heart had grown as black as her coat, she could still remember that sorrow."
Soon all eyes were locked on the source of the new voice, a cloaked figure who strode from behind the stage, moving up towards the pegasus as if she owned the stage, never turning to look at the crowd. "And she sought to show those who would taunt the blank flanks that nopony could feel safe just because they had found their talents... and she would remind them how it felt to be talentless... for the rest of their lives."
"Excuse me, miss." The storyteller glared at the newcomer. "Who exactly is telling this story?"
"Why, the storyteller is telling the story, of course. But who is the storyteller?" With a flourish, she threw off her cloak, giving the crowd a moment to take in her inky coat, her dark grey mane and tail, and featureless flank... before her horn lit up brightly, a flash of magic striking out and engulfing herself and the pegasus, who cried out in shock... "Why don't you tell me?"
And as the two ponies faced each other on the stage, sides to the audience, it was clear to see - the symbol of breeze and book had faded from the stallion's dust-coloured flank - and was now starkly visible in contrast to the black coat of the mare. Stunned silence reigned for a long five seconds as the two matched glares, before the unicorn finally turned to the crowd, sweeping it with her brilliant purple eyes.
"So which of you little ponies has a talent for me?" She grinned, her horn coming alight once more.
Then suddenly, with a blur of movement, the pegasus leapt at her, the two of them falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Holding her down, he looked at the crowd with imploring eyes. "Run!"
As if a spell had suddenly been broken, a scream rose from twenty young throats at once, the crowd of foals broke and ran in all directions, bringing stares from all around the field. The two adult ponies struggled valiantly on the stage, grunting and crying out, trading blows and rolling one atop the other, first the black unicorn having the upper hand, then the pegasus pinning her down, until they guessed most of the audience was out of sight, and could hold their straight faces no longer. They fell into each other's hooves, laughing at the memory of the captivated faces.
"Oh dear... we definitely have to do that one next Nightmare Night..."
"S-Stop right there!"
Both of them froze suddenly, their eyes turning as one to the new voice. By the look of things, three of the fillies had returned - a yellow earth pony with bright red mane in a bow; an orange pegasus with a styled purple mane, and a white unicorn with pink and purple curls, and not one of them with a mark on their flank. All three stood with an air of defiance, trying to hide the shaking of their legs as they faced down the Blank Flank Mare.
"Y-you cahn't go around taking other ponies' cutie marks!" the earth pony cried.
"Yeah... we'd do anything to get ours, but they've gotta be our cutie marks! If you take someone else's... that's not doing it right! You haven't earned it!" The pegasus flared her tiny wings, apparently ready to charge.
"So you give him back his cutie mark, and don't ever steal another one!"
The two on the stage blinked, taken aback by the vehemence of the trio. For a moment there was silence, then they looked at each other again... with the slightest of smiles and nods entirely missed by the fillies, they had their plan.
The black unicorn pushed the pegasus off her, leaving him sprawled on the stage, and trotted over towards the Crusaders with all the menacing grace of Nightmare Moon herself. The three took a step back in unison as she approached - but only a single step, glancing at each other before they stood firm.
"And why should I give back his talent? It's mine now. Don't you have other fillies who tease you for having no cutie marks? Don't you wish you could take theirs, and leave them Blank Flanks while you could move on?"
The three hesitated only a second before replying.
"Ah won't say ah wouldn't like to see Diamond Tiara's face if she lost her mark suddenly... But--"
"But not even she deserves that! We'll find our talents our own way! Everypony should have their own cutie mark!"
"If anything, you should have a cutie mark for being a thief!" The pegasus finished the rant with a flourish, before all three took a step forward together and spoke as one.
"Now give him back his cutie mark!"
The black mare took a step back, clearly taken aback by their passion, before slowly looking at the stallion slowly getting up on the stage. After a long moment, she gave a sigh, bent her head, and let the magic flow once more...
And with a much more subdued flash this time, the mark disappeared from her side and appeared back in its rightful place.
The trio looked shocked momentarily that she had done so, staring for a moment until she turned back to them again, when they quickly regained their stances, at the ready.
"You're very brave fillies." She said quietly. "I think you will get your cutie marks soon... and you might just take Equestria by storm when you do. But always remember what you just said, little ponies!" Her horn lit up again, energy now swirling around her. "Because I will have my eye on you!"
A flash of light and wind made all three fillies cover their eyes, and when it faded only they and the stallion remained on the stage.