Destiny's Awakening

by Strange Harmony

Pies, Crusading, Magic and More

Pies, Crusading, Magic and More

Virtuoso turned to his friends, "I'm sorry about this guys, but I just can't pass this chance up. Besides, we'll be fine so long as this spell works like it's supposed to. Good luck everypony, I promise to catch up as soon as possible."

Lightning shook a hoof at the unicorn, "Don't worry, we understand, good luck to you too." With that, the ponies departed to their destination.

With his friends on their way to Sweet Apple Acres, Virtuoso now had the opportunity to take care of something that had been gnawing at his consciousness for some time now. Turning to Princess Twilight he wasn't sure how to explain his worries, "Princess, I...I feel like I am only going to get in the way in the future. I can't fly like my friends and my magic isn't very strong, so I ask, teach me more, I want to learn everything I can while I am here, anything you can teach me would help. I'm sure our trials are only going to get tougher from here on out and I want to be ready."

The princess giggled, "Well you certainly get an A for enthusiasm, and I know how horrible feeling helpless can be, so, let's not waste any time." Twilight smiled at Virtuoso and extracted many books from the shelves with her magic and placed them on the desk that occupied the middle of the room. She motioned for him to get closer and he happily complied. "Now, let's begin by testing your knowledge of magic in general, this will give us a better starting point on actual lessons. Now what are the main elements of conjuring up a successful spell..."

Virtuoso felt a surge of emotions as he listened to the princess, excitement, curiosity, and a thirst for the unknown. Ever since he could remember, he had always felt indifferent about magic, but now, now he wanted to know, he wanted to learn, he wanted to become stronger. Not only to protect his friends, but anypony else who they might come across. Alright, I have to give it my all now.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Suddenly, Omega stopped and turned around, they were still within shouting distance so he bellowed, "BRING ME BACK SOMETHING LIGHTNING!"

Lightning and the guard had only been walking for about a minute when he heard Omega's request. Turning around to nod he was greeted by the stares of many of the Ponyville residents, blushing, he quickly nodded at Omega and quickened his pace to the bakery.

"Haha, your friend has no shame does he?" said the guard giving Lightning a soft nudge.

"Yeah...he's so light spirited and shameless, sometimes I wish I was more like him..." they walked in silence until Lightning noticed the guard was looking at him, he blushed and regretted saying anything at all.

The guard started cracking up, he threw his head back and Lightning was sure he was even tearing up, his timidity turned to anger and he was about to ask this guard what was so funny when the guard gathered his composure and said.

"You know kid, I used to be like you, When I was in cadet school there was one colt that stood out more than everyone else...he was, 'the perfect specimen,' tall, strong" he got closer to Lightning and whispered, "good looking too, all the mares swoon over him when the higher ups weren't around." going back to his original stance he continued, "I told one of my pals. you know, I wish I was more like him. But now, now I see the reality of the things. Looks rarely reveal everything, he was the perfect colt in cadet school, but when we graduated and our first real test came, he didn't last a second. Some rogues attacked a village we had been stationed in and he ran away when one of them scratched him with a sword. Haven't seen him since then. Still, I hope his alright, he wasn't a bad guy...I guess he just wasn't cut out for the real deal." Looking at Lightning, he realized he had his full attention," the point of this story is that you shouldn't worry about being like someone else, be yourself, I've heard things about you kid, what you did back in Phillydelphia, saving that foal and trying to protect your friends, a lot of ponies heard about your bravery."

"But I have my grandfathers earring, if it wasn't for that, I would hav-"

"The earring has nothing to do with it kid, you have a powerful tool there, and instead of using it for selfish desires, you use it to help those in need. That tells ponies a lot about who you really are. Now come on, we're both hungry and yakking all day isn't going to fix that."

And just like that, all the anger Lightning had felt towards this guard was gone, it had been replaced by respect. There is more to everypony than we know, guessing someones character based on the way they look isn't justified...he realized another thing, he didn't even know the guards name. "Excuse me sir, I don't believe you've told me your name."

"I haven't? well then lets fix that. My name is Steel Fortitude. Been a royal guard for 6 years now, and would you look at that, we're here, Sugar Cube Corner." Emerging from within the shop came the sweet aroma of all sorts of desserts. Steel Fortitude pushed the doors open and the smell intensified.

It took a surprising amount of will power for Lightning to keep his mouth from watering. Following the guard inside he caught glimpses of several heart-warming scenes. Starring deep into each others eyes while sharing a smoothie, a couple sat at the table closest to the door. At the table next to theirs, some friends were sharing stories over cold lemonade. In the middle of the place, a young colt ate with his parents, laughing. All the while the ambrosial scent of candy held its presence. Sitting at a table, one of the only two open ones, Steel Fortitude took off his helmet and let it clang on top of the table.

"Finally! I haven't eaten anything since I was deployed here" said the Steel, passing his hoof over his sand colored mane.

Taking the seat directly across from Steel, Lightning unbuttoned the saddle bags carrying the few possessions he still had. Relieved to lose the burden, if just for a moment, he let out a deep sigh. Looking across the table, he noticed Steel's eyes were closed. He wondered if he had fallen sleep and was about to ask when a pink mare appeared out of nowhere and startled them both.

"Howdy ponies! My name's Pinkie Pie, what's yours? I don't think I've seen you two before, are you visiting?" She asked with a tilted head.

"I'm Steel Fortitude and this here," he pointed his hoof at Lightning, "is Lightning Courage." Lightning smiled at her and she laughed.

"Nice to meet you Steel Fortitude, and you too Lightning Porridge, I'll be right back with your order." A second later, the mare dashed to the kitchen at what might have possibly been the speed of light.

"Not only did she get my name wrong," Lightning mumbled. "But we didn't even order any food, what is she cooking?"

"Who knows? To be honest, I'm too hungry to care." The guard said with a chuckle. He paused as his nostrils were filled with the sweet scent of whatever was being cooked in the kitchen. He turned to Lightning and noticed that he was looking at the kitchen. He turned to the kitchen as well and the doors flew open, Pinkie Pie was happily pushing a cart with two golden brown, magnificent pies filled with what seemed like some sort of pink paste. The two stallions were astounded, not by the sight of what seemed to be simple pies, but by the aroma that filled the room. All the ponies who were in the bakery stopped whatever they were doing and looked at the pies being pushed to were Lightning and Steel sat, some of their mouths watering. The delicious smell of strawberries and sweetness filled the air as the cart was pushed to it's destination for what felt like an eternity.

"Here ya go!" The pink mare said happily, setting the tray with two pies and glass cups filled with punch on the table. "This is the Ponyville Impressively Nutritious Kicking Intense Extravaganza Pie Special. Only new ponies visiting here get to taste this super duper delicious pie that I bake up myself!"

The guard put a hoof under his snout, thinking, after a while he laughed, "So only new visitors get the P.I.N.K.I.E Pie Special, I hope it tastes good as good as it smells."

"Well it's not called the P.I.N.K.I.E Pie Special, it's called the Ponyville Impressiv-" A blue mare put a hoof on her mouth, "Pinkie, I think these gentlecolts would like to enjoy their food dearie." She said in a happy voice and let go of her mouth. "Why don't you go clean the kitchen?"

"Ok, nice meeting you Steel Porridge and Lightning Fortitude." She turned and hopped merrily back toward the kitchen. The two stallions couldn't help but laugh.

The blue mare turned to Lightning and Steel, her pink swirl mane bobbing as she moved, "I hope you like your meal dearies, if you need anything, just ask. I'm Mrs.Cake, one of the owners of this cake shop."

"Thanks Mrs. Cake, Pinkie Pie must be quite the employee," said Steel Fortitude, getting ready to take a bite of his pie.

"Oh, she is very reliable, don't let her attitude fool you, she can be very responsible. Besides, we don't let her have any sugar after dinner. Now you two enjoy your stay." and with that, she returned to cleaning the mess some of the customers had left behind. Expertly moving from table to table.

"Well, our foods here and I'm starving, so let's get right to it." Lightning said, grabbing his cup.

"Sounds good Lightning," The guard said as he grabbed his cup as well.

Their cups met with a clanking sound, "Cheers!"

_________________________________________________________________________________________

"So girls, what have you tried already?" Alpha asked as she pulled out her notebook from her bag to cross out potential activities they had already tried.

"Well, there was this one time we tried singing and dancing!" Sweetie Belle responded.

"How did that go?" Alpha asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

Scootaloo walked backwards toward Alpha, "Do you see a Cutie Mark?"

Apple Bloom saw a hint of irritation rise in Alpha's expression. "Scootaloo! She's tryin' ta help us, she sure as heck won't help us if yer bein' a big ol' smarty pants!"

Scootaloo turned herself around toward Alpha and apologized, "I'm sorry Ms. Alpha. I just feel like this is gonna be a waste of time, just like the rest of our attempts to get our Cutie Marks."

"Pffft, apology accepted, with me, you won't fail girls. I guarantee you'll all get your Cutie Marks by the end of today. Now, I've written down a long list of activities we're going to attempt today to cover every possible way to get your Cutie Marks." She flashed a two page list from her notebook at the girls.

The trio stared at the list surprised, "Oh boy." They said together hesitantly, not knowing what to expect for the rest of the day.

They're first stop was at the Ponyville park. "Alright girls, how bout some jump rope?" Alpha said as she pulled a jump rope from her bag. What that bag contained was still a mystery to the girls.

"Heck yeah!" Scootaloo shouted as she moved first in line to participate. Apple Bloom stepped out of the way and Alpha handed the other end of the rope to Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo stood in the middle of the two ponies holding opposite ends of the rope and got in position. "Ready?" Alpha asked.

"You know it!" Scootaloo said with confidence, and with that the game started. With ease the filly jumped over the rope, each time with increasing speed. One jump after another, she timed her jumps perfectly, obviously showing off her skills. There was even a point when she jumped the rope with her eyes closed.

"Oh, I see we have a little daredevil here." Alpha stated as she stopped the rope and went to her bag. "Here Sweetie Belle." She reached out, handed her another jump rope so she had one in each hoof. Now the filly stood in between two ropes and suddenly her confidence disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Once again the game began, but came to an abrupt end when just after the second jump Scootaloo's hoof got tangled in the rope and she slammed into the ground.

"Are you okay?" Alpha said with a hint of worry in her voice as she ran to help her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," responded the filly, trying to hide her embarrassment. "That was way too much for one filly to handle."

"Not if you're a master," Alpha said with nothing but confidence in her voice, "who's next?"

For about half an hour, the group tried jump roping. One after another, each filly attempted to beat the two ropes but failed continuously. They tried and tried until they eventually all fell to the floor exhausted.

"This...is...too much..." Sweetie Belle said, out of breath.

Alpha giggled, "Girls this is just your first activity, you still got 2 pages to go!" They each let out a sigh letting their bodies know it was going to be a long day.

The group walked all around Ponyville, trying everything possible. After every activity, the filly's always checked their flank for a Cutie Mark that just never seemed to appear. They were welcomed with disappointment after every single trial they were put up against, but Alpha was determined and promised she wouldn't fail the girls. So on they went, giving it their all in every single activity on Alpha's list. The girls pushed themselves beyond their own body’s limits and still to no avail, but only disappointment. Alpha started feeling disappointed and guilty inside as she marked off all the things she had written down with an "X". In the end, they returned to the tree house, defeated.

"Girls, I'm...I'm so sorry..." Alpha said as she held back tears.

"Let's face it girls, we're never gonna get our Cutie Marks," Scootaloo said as she lay her small body on a pillow inside of the tree house, "we've tried everything!"

"We're gunna be blank flanks forever..." Apple Bloom said in the saddest voice Alpha had ever heard. Sweetie Belle stood quiet, not because she had nothing to say, but because tears were already flowing down her disappointed face. Alpha tried to think of something to say but couldn't gather the words. The girls trusted her and she failed them, something that never happened. What was this feeling she discovered? Defeat? Guilt? Whatever it was, it was killing the mare on the inside as she watched the filly's cry in different positions around the little house. She was about to give into the tears before it hit her.

"Girls, there there, don't cry." She gathered all three filly's together in the middle of the tree house and sat in front of them. "Girls, I know you've heard this so many times but, you'll get your Cutie Marks someday. Just because you didn't get them today doesn't mean it's the end of the world, it just means you've got so much potential to be whatever you really wanna be. You've got so much heart and confidence, all you have to do is look inside of yourselves." She placed her hoof on her chest and paused for a moment. It still caught her by surprise that she had no heart, let alone no heartbeat to go with it, but she disregarded these feelings and continued on. "You need to look inside your heart and ask yourself, 'what do I really wanna be, what is it that I really see myself doing? Do I wanna be a doctor or a mail mare?' Girls, the possibilities are endless and it's way too early to give up! if anything, today we got rid of a bunch of possibilities as to what you especial talents can be!" Alpha shouted happily trying to give the girls the boost of confidence that they needed to change their moods.

The filly's wiped their tears and looked at each other, "You know what? She's right; it's way too early to give up." Sweetie Belle said as she tried to cheer up her friends.

"Yeah, why are we quitting now? We pushed ourselves so much today, there'd be no point." Scootaloo said with her 'can do' attitude.

Apple Bloom gathered herself, "Ah know fer sure now, we'll have ta get our Cutie Marks in somethin now, not fer ourselves, but fer Alpha. She's helped us so much; it'd be a darn shame if we gave up on her."

Alpha laughed, "You girls have lots of determination, which means giving up is the last thing you'll ever think about. I've opened so many doors for you girls, the sky's the limit, and there are no boundaries." She looked out the window and noticed it was getting close to sunset. "Girls, I apologize, but I need to get going. I wish you the best of luck."

Before she could turn toward the door she was stopped by their voices calling out, "Wait!"

Alpha turned around to see them digging into a bin, trying to find something. After a few minutes of searching they pulled out a sort of cape bearing the symbol that was painted all around the treehouse. The cape said "CMC Leader."

Sweetie Belle grabbed the cape in her mouth and ran over to Alpha, "We forgot to tell you about our little group called The Cutie Mark Crusaders. We made this group for all the blank flanks who are searching for their Cutie Marks just like us. We never actually came up with a leader but, as founding member of the CMC, we want to make you the leader."

Sweetie Belle gave Alpha the cape, "I'd be honored..." she said, tying the cape around her neck she felt warmth inside. She was glad to have spent the day with these girls, maybe her methods of helping them could have been better, but she felt like she had really helped in the end. Not only that, but all of her negative feelings disappeared. Even though they didn't get their Cutie Marks today, the girls were going to get them someday. In the end, she knew they would be successful.

Alpha finished tying the cape around her neck and looked back at the trio. She couldn't help but shed a tear, "Thank you." She said before flying around the house gathering up all three of them in her arms. She hugged them tightly and allowed more tears to flow.

They hugged her back and in unison said, "No, thank you."

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Feeling the sweat drip down the side of his face, Virtuoso felt a surge of distress. What did balancing a glass of water on ones nuzzle while levitating three cones of ice cream have to do with magic? Oh yeah, and he was using his magic to allow himself to walk on water as well. Why is she having me do this? he asked himself. Deep down, he knew why, Twilight had made it very clear that many spells required immense concentration. What better way to train concentration than to have someone simultaneously perform a bunch of nonsensical tasks right? He began losing concentration over the ice cream cones when he allowed his mind to wander. Oh no he though, he was familiar with the process that followed. First, he dropped the glass of water while trying to regain control of the cones. Then, the ice cream began to melt because he was concentrating solely on keeping the cones airborne and ignored the fact that the ice cream would melt if he didn't help it maintain its shape. Trying to gain control over one thing made him lose control over another. Uh oh.., and with that, the last of his concentration faded and he felt his magic give out. Exhausted, he didn't even try to keep himself afloat and allowed himself to fall into the water. Allowing himself to float for a minute he thought about how physically exhausting magic training could be.

"You can take a brake now, if you want." It was Princess Twilight, observing him from the shore of the swimming hole they were at, she had been carefully instructing him on what to do. After studying for some hours in the library, she felt it was finally time to go out and get some real world training.

Virtuoso swam back to shore and laid on the sand with his eyes closed, when he opened them, he saw the princess starring down at him, smiling. "How long did I last that time, Princess?" he asked, suddenly feeling drowsy.

"Very good, you lasted for almost twenty five minutes! that's your new personal best." Looking up, the princess saw the afternoon sun beeming down at them. "I think we've done enough for now, I've taught you a couple of new spells and ways to improve your magic. I think it's time we go back to my home, maybe the others have already returned."

"Can I stay here for a while princess? I'm exhausted and I want to enjoy the splendid rays of the spring sun before they are replaced by the scorchers of summer."

The princess giggled, "That's fine, just don't take too long." walking away, she stopped after some steps to look back and say, "I'm really proud of you Virtuoso, you showed your dedication many times today and I think you've learned a lot for just one day."

Virtuoso stayed silent for a while, "Thanks Princess, I just hope I can remember everything you've taught me..."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will, and you can just call me Twilight, now I'll be seeing you at the library," she called back as she walked away.

Lying under the warm blankets of the sun, many thoughts crossed his mind. A little more than a month ago, I was looking forward to seeing my mother and my grandparents...now look at were I am. Trying to improve my magic to fight a evil alicorn bent in destroying life in Equestria. He laughed a little at the thought, not knowing why, he guessed when ones life is altered so drastically to the point were everything seems like a fantasy and you could be facing your own death, feeling pity for yourself would do now good, so, there is aught to do but laugh. He also thought about princess Twilight, she was so nice and seemed so distant from what he envisioned a princess to act like, still, there was something about the aura around her that let you know she could be serious and take charge if she wanted to. "I should get going," he said to himself and stood up. Before walking away, he took one last look at the beautiful spring sun shimmering over the soft ripples in the water, and hoped everything would be alright.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Omega couldn't believe it, he had found one of the ponies they needed. Looking back over his shoulder, Applejack was still following him. After Applejack had put his hoof to her chest so he could realize what she had been trying to tell him, she had started to cry. Omega tried to comfort her as best as he could. Even the strongest of ponies need comfort. Holding this secret in must have been one of the hardest things Applejack had ever had to do, Omega could only imagine how good it felt to let it out. Still, he wondered why she hadn't told one of her friends. What had she been scared about, that her friends would view her differently? Omega had let her feel his chest as well, she had seemed somewhat relieved to meet someone that was going through the same thing.

"So why can't ya tell me what's happenin' to me?" asked the Applejack.

"Because I'm not sure I can fully explain it by myself, besides, I think it would be good if you talked to Princess Twilight about this."

After hearing this, Applejack didn't say anything, she just lowered her hat so it covered her eyes and kept walking.

Applejack looked like her old self, but Omega knew she wouldn't start acting like it for sometime. After realizing this, Omega thought about why he didn't feel much different. He had no heart, literally, but he acted like his old self. He couldn't say it didn't bother him at all, that would be a lie, but he hadn't gone into a state of depression like Applejack had. Then he realized why. He hadn't been alone, since the beginning of all of this he had been with his sister and their new friends. They had helped make everything feel...better. He could do without the life threatening encounters they had with monsters but, he was glad he didn't have to do all of this alone. I just hope we can get Applejack to act like her old self again. It killed Omega to see somepony who was usually so energetic and happy act like this.

Finally, the library was in sight, Omega didn't know what to expect. He wondered how Virtuoso's training with the Princess had gone and what Alpha had done with the fillies they had met on their way to Sweet Apple Acres. But more importantly, he wondered how Princess Twilight would react to finding out her friend Applejack was one of them, one of the ponies needed to defeat Destiny. Another thought appeared in his mind. Why hadn't Applejack been attacked like they had? They had already been attacked by monsters from Tartarus in Canterlot, and on the train ride to Ponyville. Why then, had Applejack not been attacked, in her current state, she might be the easiest target out of all of them. What are you planning Destiny?...

They reached the door of the library, Omega took in a deep breath and pushed it open. Smelling the now familiar scent of wood and books, he entered and waited for Applejack to follow, inside were Alpha, Princess Twilight, the guard he had seen earlier, Virtuoso, and Lightning. The whole gang is here... he thought with a chuckle. Applejack finally entered reluctantly. She raised her head and her eyes met Twilight's...

"I'm sorry Twi..."

Author's Note:

Still no prereader! sorry for any small mistakes that escaped our eyes while we were going over what we had written. Thanks for all of you that have given us suggestions and please, keep em coming. We have some big stuff planned and we are thinking of writing a one-shot. Hopefully school doesn't get in the way...though I highly doubt that...
-Virtuoso
And thanks to my wonderful sister for helping us with a scene, couldn't have made the chapter more awesome than it turned out. Thanks sis!
-Omega

Comments

[Strange Harmony]

Sorry we haven't updated the story. School. Is. Killing Us!