My Little Pony, Friendship is Out of This World

by Robobrony

Quest For The Cutie Mark

Quest For The Cutie Mark

A new day has dawned and it is Starburst’s first day of school at the Ponyville school house. “Nova, get up, get up, come on, it’s the first day of school!” Starburst cheered as he jumped up and down on Nova’s bed to get him up.

“Ugh, Starburst, knock it off for galaxies sake, it still a little early.”

“Come on Nova, get up, I don’t want to be late!”

Nova finally sat up and looked his little brother in the eyes. “Fine, I’m up, happy now?” He asked looking unhappy. It soon faded though as he realized how excited Starburst was about his first day of school.

“Yep, come on lets go sleepy head.”

Starburst jumped down off Nova’s bed and galloped into the living room. Nova yawned as he walked out of their bedroom. “*Yawn* by the stars your excited about this aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. Come on, let’s have breakfast and get going.”

“All right, all right, hold your comets.”

After a filling meal produced by their food synthesizer, they put on their holo-emitter necklaces and headed off for the shool house. As they walked the whole way, Starburst was beaming and practically skipping the whole way like Pinkie does most of the time. They got near the school house as Starburst finally couldn’t hold it in any longer.”Oooh, I can’t wait, we’re going to have so much fun and learn so much today Nova, I can’t wait.”

Nova looked down at his little brother curiously. “We?”

“Yeah, you and me, duh.”

Nova had to stop in his tracks and explain to Starburst that he would be going solo. “Starburst, I’m not going with you to school.”

Starburst stopped his skipping and his mood seemed to drop a little. “Wh-what do you mean, of course you are.”

“Starburst, this is a school for kids, I’m a grownup, I don’t need to go to school, I’m afraid you’ll be flying solo here for this.”

Starburst’s mood, then took a nose dive. “Solo….as in……alone? But….but we’ve never been apart before, at least not for a whole day. You have to come with me.”

Nova gave his brother a sympathetic look. “Starburst, I know this may not be easy for you, this isn’t easy for me either, but this is something we need to get used to. Like I told you before, there will be times where I can’t be there for you all the time, there will be times where we will have to be apart, and this school is one of them.”

Starburst looked like he was about to cry. “But….but…I…I don’t want to be alone.”

“I know you don’t, but you’ll have to, besides, I hear the teacher is real nice, she can look out for you while you’re there, plus Applebloom will be there too.”

“R-really?”

“Really, you’ll at least have a friend there for you, would that be ok?”

Starburst looked in thought for a moment. “I….I guess so.”

“Good, come on, I think I hear the school bell sounding.” Nova then led a less enthusiastic Starburst up to the school where many other little foals were seen running in while the teacher greeted them. She was an earth pony with a mulberry coat and two shades of pink in her mane and tail, she had three sunflowers with smiling faces for a cutie mark.

The teacher saw them approach and greeted them. “Well hello there, what can I do for you?”

Nova started. “Hello, you're Cheerilee correct?”

“I am, and who might you be?”

“My name is Nova, and this is my little brother Starburst. He’s here for his first day of school.” Nova gestured to
Starburst who was looking rather shy now.

Cheerilee gave a bright smile as she greeted Starburst. “Well hello there, welcome to the Ponyville school house.”

“Um, h-hello.” Starburst greeted nervously.

Nova addressed Cheerilee again. “This is going to be our first day apart from each other so he’s a little nervous.”

Cheerilee looked to Nova. “Really?”

“It’s kind of a long story, you’ll look out for him won’t you?”

The teacher answered with a smile. “Of course, I look out for all my students.” She looked back to Starburst. “Don’t worry Starburst, we’re going to have a great time.”

Starburst answered again with nervousness. “I…I don’t know if I….”

“Starburst, there ya are, glad ya made it!” Applebloom called out as she came trotting up to the school house. “Yer just in time, we’re gonna have lots of fun.”

Starburst was still nervous. “I don’t know Applebloom.”

“He’s a little nervous about being on his own today for school.” Nova informed.

Applebloom kept her smile. “Well shoot, you don’t have to worry none about that, I’ll look after ya, you’ll be fine.”

Starburst perked up a little. “Really?”

“Sure, come on, let’s head inside, you can sit next to me.” Applebloom then grabbed Starburst’s hoof and started leading him in.

“Uh, bye Nova, I’ll.....see you later.” Starburst said as he was dragged into the school.

Nova just smiled as he responded. “Bye Starburst, and don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” He then spoke to Cheerilee in a low voice. “He will be fine won’t he?”

Cheerilee laughed. “Heh heh, don’t worry, like I said, I’ll look out for him, and he’ll have Applebloom too.”

“Ok, I’ll be bye after school to pick him up. Bye Cheerilee, and thanks.”

“You’re welcome, bye Nova.” Cheerilee waved hoof as Nova walked off.

Nova left for home while Starburst started his first day of school.

Applebloom found a seat in the middle of a row of desks while Starburst took a seat on her right. Another filly took a seat next to him wearing a tiara on her head. She had a light pink coat and pink and white mane and tail with a diamond tiara as a cutie mark. On Applebloom’s other side, was another filly with glasses on. She had a grey coat and a white mane and tail braided with a silver spoon for a cutie mark.

The class was noisily chatting away when Cheerilee came in. “Let’s quiet down please, we have a very important lesson to get to.” The class soon quieted down. “Thank you. Today, we are going to be talking about cutie marks.”

“Boring.” Said the little filly next to Starburst. He just eyed her curiously and Applebloom seemed to glare at her with a raised eyebrow.

Applebloom quickly turned her attention back to Cheerilee with a smile. Starburst did the same minus the smile. “You can all see my cutie mark can’t you? Like all ponies, I wasn’t born with a cutie mark. My flank was blank.” Cheerilee presented a picture of her as a filly with no cutie mark on a stand.

“Awwwee, sheth tho prethious.” A filly sitting in front of Applebloom commented, she also wore glasses and spoke with a lisp. She had a cream colored coat and a red mane and tail.

Cheerilee continued. “Then one day, when I was about your age, I woke up to find that a cutie mark had appeared.” She then removed the first picture and revealed another of her at an older age with her hair in an 80’s style fashion, braces in her teeth, a checkerboard pattern bandana around her neck, different hair accessories, a bracelet on one of her front legs and a leg warmer on one of her back legs.

“Look at her hair.” The filly next to Applebloom said.

The class erupted in laughter.

Cheerilee rolled her eyes. “Yes I know, but that’s how every pony was wearing their mane back then.”

“I think it looks nice.” Starburst commented. The class stopped laughing and eyed him. Starburst cringed in his seat and tried to make himself smaller.

Cheerilee gave him a smile. “Thank you Starburst. Now then, I had decided to become a teacher, the flowers symbolize my hope to help my students bloom if I nurture them with knowledge. The smiles represent the cheer I hope to bring to my little ponies while they were learning.” Starburst noticed Applebloom was taking down notes while the filly next to her was just eyeing her hoof looking bored. “Now, can anyone tell me when a pony gets his or her cutie mark?”

The filly in front of Applebloom excitedly raised her hoof and waved it in the air. “Ooh, ooh, when she dithcoverths that thertain thomthing that makths her thpecial.”

“That’s right Twist. A cutie mark appears on a pony’s flank when he or she finds that certain something that makes them different from every other pony.”

As Cheerilee went on with her lecture, the pony with the tiara hissed at Starburst to get his attention. “Psst.” Not wanting to get in trouble, Starburst kept his eyes forward on Cheerilee. He heard it again. “Pssssst.”

Starburst finally turned his attention to the filly that was trying to get his attention. “W-what is it?” The filly picked up a scrap of paper in her mouth and offered it to him, Applebloom saw this too. Starburst and Applebloom looked over to see the other filly next to Applebloom waving a hoof to let them know the note is meant for her. Starburst nervously took the note in his mouth and passed it to Applebloom.

Before she could take it. Cheerilee caught them. “Starburst, Applebloom, are you two passing notes?”

Starburst quickly dropped it and panicked a little. “AH, I...I didn’t mean to!”

Cheerilee came up to them. “Just what is so important that it couldn’t wait until after class?” Cheerilee looked down at the scrap of paper. “It’s blank.”

The filly next to Starburst whispered to him. “Remind you of anypony?”

Applebloom glared at her while Starburst looked at her confused and scared, he then turned back to Cheerilee. “Please miss Cheerilee, I didn’t know it was wrong, I’m sorry.”

“Now Starburst, you shouldn’t be passing notes during class, it’s rude and disruptive, now I’ll let it go this time, but I want you to remember that for later, understand?”

“Yes mam, I’ll remember.”

Later in the day, lunch time rolled around. Starburst found a place just under a tree and sat down by his lonesome looking sullen. Applebloom and the filly identified as Twist came up to him with sacks in their mouths. They set them down and Applebloom started. “Hey there Starburst, you doin ok?”

“I guess so, but I was so excited at first to come to school that me and Nova forgot to pack me a lunch, so I don’t have anything to eat.”

“Awwe, well me and Twist can share our lunches with you. This is my friend Twist, Twist, this is Starburst.”

Twist stepped a little closer. “Hello, itth nith to meet you.”

“Hello.” Starburst greeted. “So you two really don’t mind sharing your lunches with me?”

Applebloom answered. “Cours not, Applejack always packs me plenty to eat.”

Twist answered as well. “And I don’t mind tharing with a friend.”

Starburst smiled. “Thanks you two, it’s nice to meet you Twist.” The two fillys sat around Starburst and Applebloom gave half a sandwich she had to Starburst. Twist gave him an apple. He took a bite of the sandwich and swallowed before asking a question. “So why did that one filly get me in trouble like that?”

Applebloom answered. “You mean Diamond Tiara, she’s always makin fun of us ponies that don’t have cutie marks.”

“That’s not very nice.” Starburst commented.

“Tell me about it, sheth alwayth making fun of uth and calling uth blank flankth.” Twist informed.

“Why?”

“She just thinks she’s better than us cause she got her cutie mark, well her and her friend Silver Spoon, that other filly that was sittin next to me.” Applebloom informed.

“That’s not nice, we’ll get our ski….uh, I mean cutie marks eventually. Just because she has hers doesn’t mean we’re not special, we just need to find our talent.”

“Exactly! Say Starburst, you wanna hang out with me later after school?”

“Well, if Nova says it’s ok, sure.” Starburst answered with a smile. “Thanks for sharing your lunches with me Applebloom, Twist.”

“Your welcome.” They both said in unison.

The rest of the school day went on and, thanks to Applebloom and Twist, Starburst was less nervous and was enjoying himself.

School finally let out and Twist, Applebloom, and Starburst left together. Out in front of the school, Nova was waiting. “Nova!” Starburst cried happily as he ran up and hugged his brother.

Nova returned the hug. “Hey Starburst, so how’d your first day of school go?”

“It was alright, I even made a new friend.” Starburst motioned for Applebloom and Twist to come over. They did so and Starburst introduced. “Nova, this is Twist, she’s a friend of Applebloom’s. Twist, this is my big brother, Nova.”

Twist looked up at Nova with a smile. “Itth nice to meey you thir.”

Nova looked at her carefully, her speech threw him off a bit but then smiled and returned the greeting. “It’s nice to meet you too. I take it you two were looking out for Starburst for me?”

“We sure did, no trouble at all, though you two did forget to pack Starburst a lunch, but me and Twist shared ours with him.”

“Oh, hayseed. I’m sorry Starburst, but thank you two for sharing with him.”

Starburst then looked up at his brother. “Nova, is it all right if I hang out with Applebloom this afternoon?”

“You want to hang out with her? Well, I guess it’s ok, just be sure to come back to the house before it gets too late in the afternoon ok.”

“You got it big brother.”

“Ok then, you three be careful now, especially you Starburst.” Nova warned.

“I’ll be fine, thanks Nova.” Nova then left and the three little ponies started their walk.

Once they started, Applebloom started looking sad as she hung her head. Twist was on her left and Starburst on her right. Twist started with a smile. “You want some thweeths I got thome peppermint thticks. I made them mythelf.”

Applebloom just shook her head. “Mm mm.”

Twist tried again. “They’ll make you thmile.”

“No.” Apple Bloom said again sadly.

Starburst finally spoke up. “Applebloom, what’s wrong, why are you sad?”

Before she could answer, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were walking up to them with Diamond talking. “I don’t see why we had to sit through a lecture about getting a cutie mark. I mean, waiting for your cutie mark is so last week. You got yours.” Diamond said as Silver Spoon wiggled her flank. “I just got mine, we all have them already……well, almost all of us.” She sneered as she looked at the three little ponies with bare flanks. “Don’t worry you three, you’re still totally invited to my cutecinera this weekend.”

“It’s going to be amazing.” Silver Spoon commented.

“It’s going to be a party to celebrate me and my fantastic cutie mark. How can it not be?” The two then proceeded to do a kind of rhym with motions. “Bump, bump, surar lump rump.”

“Give me a break.” Applebloom said under her breath.

Silver Spoon than said her good bye to the three as she and Diamond walked off. “See you this weekend.” Then they both said in unison. “Blank flanks!” Then laughed and continued on.

Starburst leered at them as they walked away, he figured the reason Applebloom was sad was because of this whole cutie mark thing. He turned to Applebloom to try and cheer her up. “Come on Applebloom, don’t listen to them, they’re just trying to hurt your feelings, don’t let them get you down, we’ll get our cutie marks eventually.”

“Whatever, Starburst, I’m just gonna head on home, you wanna come along and hang out with me a bit, I could use the company.”

Starburst answered with a smile. “Sure Applebloom. I’ll come with you.” Applebloom gave a small smile. “I’ll see you later Twist, ok?”

“Ok, bye you two, and don’t worry too much about the cutie mark Applebloom.” Twist waved as the two made their way to Sweet Apple Acres.

The two came up to Applejack as she was bucking a tree. Applebloom went off. “It’s not fair, it’s just not fair!”

Applejack stopped her bucking. “Applebloom, what are ya goin on about?”

Starburst answered. “She’s upset about not having a cutie mark yet.”

“Applebloom, don’t get yer mane in a tangle, you’ll get yer cutie mark, every pony gets one eventually.”

Applebloom went off. “But I don’t want one eventually, I want one right now. I can’t go to Diamond Tiara’s cutecinera without one, and neither can Starburst.”

This got Starburst’s attention. “But why go at all, didn’t you say she’s always picking on you because of you not having a cutie mark?”

“We have to go, everypony is going to be there, we can’t be the only two ponies to not go.”

Applejack disagreed. “Course you can go without a cutie mark. You know, I was the last pony in my class to earn a cutie mark, and I couldn’t be prouder of it. I knew my future was to help run Sweet Apple Acres, and these bright shiny babies sealed the deal. Come to think of it, Granny Smith was the last one in her class too, so was Big Macintosh.”

Applebloom just walked around and kicked an apple. “I really don’t see how that’s supposed to make me feel better.” She then laid her head on a bucket with apples. “It probably means that bein the last one in yer class to get a cutie mark runs in the family.” She then lifted her head and her eyes lit up with an idea. “Runs in the family? Runs in the family.” She got more excited with each time she said this. “Runs in the family!” She then ran up to her sister. “You got apples for your cutie mark, Granny Smith has an apple pie, Big Macintosh has an apple half, my unique talent must have something to do with apples.” She started hopping up and down in joy. “Apples, apples, apples.” She landed on a bucket full of apples and knocked it over. “He heh, apples.”

“Applebloom, I don’t think that’s how it works.” Starburst said as he looked unsure of this.

“Oh come on Starburst, maybe your unique talent will have something to do with apples too.”

Starburst perked up at this. “You really think so?”

“Course I do. Applejack, can me and Starburst help you in the market today with selling apples?”

Applejack laughed and smiled. “He heh, all right, you two can help, come on, let’s get the cart and set up for the afternoon.”

The three ponies then headed off for town with Applejack pulling the stand for apple selling.
The stand was now set up in town with apples ready to sell. All three of them were wearing a white apron with a pocket on
the front. Applejack was calling out to get ponies to buy. “Get yer delicious nutritious apples here!”

Starburst followed up as loud as he could. “Nice and tasty apples for sale, get em while their red!” He did it with a smile.

Applebloom then followed up while balancing an apple on her head. “Delicious and nutritious, and SOOO many uses!” She tossed the apple up and ate it. “You can eat em.”

Starburst then started. “Play with them.” He then tossed an apple and quickly grabbed a nearby racket and smacked the apple in mid-air.

The remains hit a mare that called out in complaint. “HEY, watch it!”

“Creat fine art.” Applebloom then grabbed another apple, tossed it up and bucked it to a blank canvas a stallion was about to paint on. “You’d have to be crazy not to get a bushel of yer own.”

Applejack grabbed her and pulled her to her side. “She’s so creative.”

A brown coated stallion trotted by. Applebloom saw him and gave Starburst a nudge. “Starburst, you go try and get him to buy some apples.”

“Um, ok.” Starburst ran up to him and got in front of the stallion. “Excuse me sir, would you care to buy some apples? They’re nice and fresh.”

The stallion answered. “No thanks.”

Starburst looked to Applebloom, she just waved a hoof as if to say keep trying. He just went with it and tried again. “Well why not, they’re really good.”

“I have plenty at home thank you.”

Applebloom saw Starburst wasn’t having any luck so she came up to help. “Are ya sure?”

The stallion was starting to look nervous. “Yes I’m pretty sure.” He started walking off, but Applebloom popped up in front of him.

“Yer pretty sure, but yer not absolutely positively super-duper sure are ya?”

The stallion was sweating now. “Dah, if I buy some apples, will you please leave me alone?”

Applebloom gave a big smile. “All right!”

The stallion tossed few bits into Applejack’s apron, grabbed an apple and ran off. Applejack called after him. “You forgot yer change!”

Applebloom cheered. “Woowoo, that is how you sell some apples and get a cutie mark.” Applejack looked at the two displeased. Starburst gave a sheepish smile. Applebloom started spinning around trying to look at her cutie mark that wasn’t there, Starburst took a casual glance at his flank and saw it was bare. “So what do our cutie marks look like? A shopping bag full of apples, a satisfied customer eating an apple?” She stopped spinning when she saw no cutie mark. She then looked over at Starburst and saw his flank was bare too. “Hmm, maybe we need to increase our sales figures first.” She came up to a pony that was looking in a bucket of apples, it was berry punch. Apple bloom got in her face and startled her. “You touch it you buy it! We take cash or credit.”

Applejack came up to the mare. “I’m sorry mam.” She then zipped off. “MAM?”

While that was going on, Applebloom came up to Starburst. “Starburst, help me with this bucket of apples.”

“What for?”

“Just help me, come on.”

Starburst grabbed one side of the bucket and Applebloom grabbed the other, they took it over to another mare nearby, Bon Bon, and dumped all the apples in her saddle bags. Once they finished, the mare noticed and Starburst announced. “That’ll be four bits.”

Bon Bon looked at them angrily. “I didn’t put those in my bag.”

Applebloom gave her a suspicious look. “Likely story, four bits lady.”

Applejack stuffed her hoof in AppleBloom's mouth. “Applebloom.” She then turned her attention to Bon Bon. “I am really really sorry about that, they’re new. Here, take these, no charge.” Applejack poured a few more apples into Bon Bon’s bag. Bon Bon just looked at her. “And these.” Applejack poured more apples in her bag. Bon Bon kept her look on Applejack. “And these.” Applejack presented a bucket and tossed it on Bon Bon’s back. She just smirked and walked off under the weight of free apples she got. “Ya’ll come back now, ya hear!” Applejack turned her attention to her now empty stand of produce and the two little ponies.

“What?” Applebloom asked clueless.

Starburst was not clueless, he just hung his head while keeping his eyes on Applejack. “Sorry Applejack.” He apologized.

Applejack started scolding them “Sorry you two, but yer sellin days are over.” Applejack took the aprons off the two little ponies.

Applebloom tried to object. “WHAT? But how else are we gonna get our cutie marks?”

“Applebloom, home, now.” Applejack stomped a hoof for emphasis. Applebloom gave a huff. Applejack softened up. “Listen sugar cube, I know it’s hard to wait for yer very own cutie mark, but you just can’t force it. Besides, you’re not that grown up just yet. Ain’t there other fillies in yer class without one?”

Starburst answered. “Twist doesn’t have hers yet.”

“Do you two think you’d feel better if you went to the party with her?”

Applebloom answered with a small smile. “Uh huh.”

Starburst spoke up. “Actually, I’m not sure I want to go at all.

Applebloom turned to him. “Oh come on Starburst, you gotta come with me, please, I don’t want to be the only blank flank there.”

Starburst just gave a defeated sigh. “All right, I’ll go too.”

Applebloom smiled at him. “Thanks Starburst, come on, let’s go ask Twist to go with us.”

Before taking off, Starburst turned to Applejack. “Sorry about the apples Applejack.”

Applejack smiled at him. “No big whoop sugar cube. Now go on.”

Before they left, another stallion called out. “HEY, who’s been using my racket!?”

“Come on Starburst, we’d better go.” Applebloom and Starburst then took off for Twist’s house.

The two soon arrived at Twist’s house. Applebloom knocked on the door and the top half of the door opened. Twist greeted them with a smile. “Oh, hey Thtarburst, hey Applebloom, whatth up?”

Applebloom answered. “So we were thinkin, maybe we could go to Diamond Tiara’s cutecinera together. We don’t have a cutie mark, you don’t have a cutie mark.”

Twist started looking nervous. “Well, um…..” She ducked down behind the bottom half of the door and opened it up. It was revealed that she had a cutie mark of two candy canes crossing on her flank. Applebloom gasped, Starburst was just surprised. “Ithnt my cutie mark thwell, I’ve alwaythd loved making my own thweetth, but it took me thome time to dithcover it was my thuper thpecial talent.” She said with a bright smile. “Pretty thweet huh?”

Applebloom’s mood really dropped then. “Yeah, pretty….sweet.”

Starburst gave a sad smile. “Congratulations Twist, it looks nice.”

Twist picked up on their mood drop. “Hey, this doesthn’t mean we can’t go to the cutcinera together, you’re still gonna come to the party aren’t you?”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were walking bye when they heard this. Diamond started. “Of course they will.”

Silver Spoon then started. “It’s not like being the only two ponies without a cutie mark will be like, the most embarrassing thing ever.”

Applebloom had the saddest look on her face. Starburst saw this as he looked at her with sympathy, he then turned his attention to the two fillies and started. “HEY, just because you have a cutie mark doesn’t make you any better than us, we’ll get our cutie marks too one day you know!”

“Whatever, see you at the party blank flank.” Diamond said as she and Silver Spoon walked off.

Starburst turned to Applebloom who was still looking sad. “Applebloom, just don’t listen to them, why should we care what they think, they’re just being mean.”

“I guess so.”

“Look, I need to get home, my big brother is waiting for me, I’ll see you tomorrow though, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Bye Twist, I’ll see you later.” Starburst then took off for home.

Upon his arrival, Nova was at his work table working on another gem for Rarity. He heard Starburst enter and turned around to greet him. “Hey Starburst, did you have fun with Applebloom?”

“Kind of.” He answered sadly.

Nova picked up on this. “What’s wrong, did something happen?”

“Well, there’s these two ponies at the school that are making fun of me and Applebloom just because we don’t have our skill signs…….cutie marks…..you know what I mean.”

Nova came closer to Starburst. “We’ll have to start calling them cutie marks Starburst, now why are these ponies making fun of you two?”

“They think that just because they have a cutie mark, they’re better than us.”

“I see, haven’t you told anyone about this?”

“I told you just now.”

Nova was at a loss. “I’m sorry Starburst, but…..I don’t know what to do about it, I’ve never had to deal with something like this. I wish I could be more help.”

“Well, anyway, to top it all off, this pony, her name is Diamond Tiara, she’s having a party called a cutecinera, something to celebrate her getting her cutie mark, and for galaxies know whatever reason, Applebloom wants to go, but she also doesn’t want to be the only one there without a cutie mark, so she asked me to go with her to this party.”

“I see, well I’m sure it won’t be too bad.”

“Nova, do you think you could come too, for moral support?”

“I think I can make it, sure.”

“Great, also I’m going to be meeting up with Applebloom tomorrow until the party starts. I think she could really use a friend.”

Nova smiled at his little brother with a bit of pride. “That’s fine Starburst, I know you’ll find a way to cheer her up.”

The next day:

After breakfast, Starburst left to find Applebloom and see if he could try to cheer her up. It didn’t take him long to find her, she was lying on the ground next to a well looking as glum as ever. He came up to her and greeted her with a smile. “Hey Applebloom.”

She greeted with sorrow in her voice. “Hey Starburst.”

“You know, we still have time before the party, maybe we could find our cutie marks before then.”

“I doubt it.”

Rainbow Dash’s head suddenly popped down from above and noticed Applebloom’s state. “Whoa, looks like some pony’s got a dark cloud hanging over her head.”

Starburst looked up and noticed a black cloud was indeed lingering over them. “How did I miss that?” He asked himself.

“Let me do something about that.” Rainbow then flew up and pushed the cloud away, she then came to a landing in front of the two ponies. “What’s the matter kids.”

Starburst was about to answer but Applebloom took in a deep breath and went off. “There’s-a-cutecinera-this-afternoon-and-everypony-in-my-class-will-be-there-and-they’ll-all-have-their-cutie-marks-and-I-want-to-get-my-cutie-mark-but-I’m-no-good-at-selling-apples-but-I-really-want-to-go-to-the-party-if-I-don’t-have-my-cutie-mark-and-my-big-sister-says-I’ll-get-it-eventually-but….I WANT IT NOW!” She said the whole thing in one breath.

Rainbow Dash smiled. “Cutie mark, I can get you a cutie mark like that.” She said as she whipped her tail on the last word.

Starburst came in. “But Applejack said that these things take time. We have to wait for it to happen.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes at his statement. “Why wait for something to happen when you can make it happen.”

Applebloom then started. “But Applejack says that….”

Rainbow cut her off. “Hey, who you gonna listen to, Applejack,” She crossed her eyes and bobbed a hind leg in mock. “Or the pony who was first in her class to get a cutie mark. I always liked flying and all, but I was going nowhere in a hurry. It wasn’t until my very first race that I discovered a serious need for speed, and KAZAM, this baby appeared as fast as lightning.” She presented her cutie mark.

"Can you really help us earn a cutie mark Rainbow Dash?” Starburst asked.

“No problem squirt, just do what I say and you’ll both have a cutie mark in no time.” Rainbow answered. “Come on, we need to get you two into shape first.”

A little later, Rainbow Dash, Applebloom, and Starburst were wearing headbands, Dash had a whistle around her neck. She had the two doing pushups. “That’s it, stretch out those legs, gotta get nice and loose. The key here is to try as many things as possible as quickly as possible. One of em is bound to lead to your cutie mark. Are you ready?”

Applebloom answered proudly. “I’m ready.”

Starburst answered the same way, eager to try and earn his cutie mark. “Me too, let’s do it.”

Rainbow asked again louder. “I said, ARE YOU READY!?”

The two answered together louder. “WE’RE READY!”

“Juggling, go!” Rainbow Dash blew her whistle. The two tried juggling a few balls in their hooves but just ended up dropping them all over the place.

“Hang gliding, GO!” Rainbow blew on her whistle again. Starburst and Applebloom were strapped to a hang glider now and started galloping for the edge of a cliff they were on. Starburst tripped and caused them to flip over and end up upside down before they could take off.

“Karate, GO!” The two were wearing white karate uniforms. They both jumped in the air with one hind leg forward headed for a hanging sand bag, they each had one as a target.

“HIIIIEEEEE, YAH!” They both cried as they flew through the air, they both collided with their target, but fell to the ground with no success in their attempt.

“Kite Flying, GO!” Rainbow blew her whistle. The two each had a kite and ran to get it up in the air. Their kites were air born for a bit before they both crashed to the ground and fell apart.

“Ultra pony roller derby, GO!” She blew her whistle. The two were wearing skates in a roller derby arena with three other fillys who did not look very friendly. They skated as fast as they could around the track with the three other ponies on their tails.

Applebloom tripped and crashed into Starburst causing him to fall, the two tumbled along, the three others saw this and tried to stop but crashed into them. In the mess, Applebloom and Starburst somehow managed to get out of it unscathed. Applebloom gave a sheepish smile while Starburst looked back at the three with a sheepish smile of his own. “Oops, um…..sorry.” He said to them as they rolled away.

The three were now under a tree next to Rarity’s boutique, Starburst and Applebloom lying down while Rainbow went down a list. “Tried that one, tried that one, tried that one…”

As she did, Diamond and Silver’s laughter was heard approaching. Applebloom grabbed Starburst and dove behind a bush next to the tree. “Applebloom, what are you…”

“Shh.” Applebloom cut him off.

They looked out the bush to see the two ponies walking by with Diamond tiara carrying a box on her back. “Your new outfit is like, perfect for the party.” Silver Spoon commented.

Diamond Tiara agreed. “I know, it totally shows off my new cutie mark.”

“I love being special.” Silver added.

“Can you imagine how embarrassing it must be to…..not be special.”

“Like, I don’t even want to think about it.

Starburst glared at them as they walked by. Rainbow was still going down her list. “Tried that one, tried that one..”

The two emerged from the bushes. Applebloom started complaining. “We’re doomed, doomed. We’ll never find something we’re good at.”

Starburst tried to cheer her up. “Come on Applebloom, it’s not like it’s the end of the universe.”

“You two look like you’d be good at eating cupcakes.” Pinkie’s said as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Applebloom smiled big at this. “Eatin cupcakes?”

Starburst was confused but delighted at the idea as well. “Eating cupcakes?”

Rainbow heard this too and was just confused. “Eating cupcakes?”

Pinkie said again to confirm. “Eating cupcakes!” She jumped up in the air as she spoke, then started hopping away.

Applebloom started. “We really appreciate all your help Rainbow Dash.”

Starburst continued. “You’re a really great coach and we’ve really learned a lot from you.”

Applebloom continued. “And we’re sure we could learn a lot more from you, but…”

They both chimed in. “We’ve got cupcakes to eat!” They then sped off to follow Pinkie to Sugarcube corner.

They followed Pinkie through the back entrance of Sugarcube Corner right into the kitchen. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this.” Applebloom commented. “A cupcake eating cutie mark, it’s soooo obvious.”

Starburst cocked an eyebrow. “It is?”

“Of course it is, now where are those cupcakes? I’m ready to chow down.” She asked Pinkie.

“I don’t have any cupcakes.” Pinkie answered with a smile.

“Oh.” Was all Applebloom could say.

Starburst then started. “But then, why did you suggest a cupcake eating cutie mark if you don’t have any cupcakes for us to eat?”

Pinkie made another suggestion with a loud gasp. “*GASP* I bet you two would be great at helping me make some cupcakes.”

Applebloom didn’t sound so sure. “I guess a cupcake making cutie mark would be good too.”

Pinkie then went off on a song to Starburst’s surprise.

All you have to do is take a cup of flour add it to the mix,

Then you take a little something sweet not sour, a bit of salt just a pinch.

Baking these treats is such a cinch add a teaspoon of vanilla,

Add a little more they you count to four and you never get your fill oooof

CUPCAKES , so sweet and tasty

CUPCAKES, don’t be too hasty,

CUPCAKES…CUPCAKES, CUPCAKES, CUPCAKES!

After a while of baking, the kitchen was a mess, Applebloom and Starburst were in front of an oven waiting for another batch of cupcakes they made to come out. The oven buzzed to let them know the cupcakes were done, Applebloom grabbed the oven handle and opened it, knocking over a bag of flower and causing some to float around. The two coughed a bit. Starburst used his magic to pull the tray out and set it on the floor in front of them and Pinkie.

“Ooh, those look much better than the last batch.” Pinkie complimented. The cupcakes were burnt and brown, they didn’t look all that good at all. Pinkie just went ahead and ate one right out of the pan and happily munched on it.

Applebloom and Starburst, thinking they were actually good, did the same thing. Upon actually tasting them, Starburst’s eyes widened in shock and quickly spat them out. “EWE, they taste aweful.”

Applebloom did the same thing. “GAH!” She started looking sullen again. “Guess we’re not cut out to be bakers either.” She went off again. “I’ll just have to face it, I’m gonna be a blank flank forever.”

Starburst came up to her to try and comfort her. “Come on Applebloom, don’t talk like that, we’ll get our cutie mark someday, you’ll see, we can’t just give up.”

“Face it Starburst, we’ve tried eveyrthin, we’ll never get em.”

“Applebloom, there’s a whole world out there, we haven’t tried everything yet, there are so many other things to do to try and find our cutie marks, we just need to get out there and keep trying.”

Applebloom perked up with a sad smile. “You really think so?”

“Of course I do, I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t.”

“Thanks starburst, yer right. We just need to try something else to earn a cutie mark.”

“What about that?” Pinkie asked.

Applebloom got really excited. “What about what, is there something on my flank, is there, is there?” Applebloom went over to a toppled over bowl on the floor and looked at her flanks reflection. “*GASP* A cutie mark! It’s a….a measuring cup? No, a mixing bowl? No, are those cupcakes, a tower of cupcakes maybe?”

Pinkie came over and blew off the splotch of flower that was on her flank. “Flower, it’s flower. YAY, I guessed it! What game do you want to play next, please say bingo, please say bingo.”

Twilight then came in and saw the mess. “Whoa, what’s been going on in here?”

Pinkie rushed up to Twilight with a plate of the burnt cupcakes on her head. “We’ve been making cupcakes, wanna try one?”

Twilight refused warily and politely. “No thank you, not that they don’t look, he heh, delicious.”

Applebloom rushed up to Twilight. “Twilight, you have to help us!”

“What’s the matter?”

Applebloom took another long breath and went off on a long one winded explanation.

“Diamond-Tiara’s-cutcinera-is-today-and-everypony-in-our-class-will-be-there-and-they’ll-all-have-thier-cutie-marks-and-I-wanna-get-my-cutie-mark-but-we’re-no-good-at-selling-apples-or-hang-gliding-or-making-cupcakes-and-I-want-to-go-to-the-party-but-how-can-we-go-to-the-party-if-we-don’t-have-our-cutie-marks-which-Pinkie-Pie-says-I-can’t-just-make-it-appear-but-I-need-it-to-appear…RIGHT NOW!”

Twilight was a little confused. “Uuuh, I don’t follow, how can I help you?”

“You can use your magic to make our cutie marks appear.”

Starburst came up to try and object. “Applebloom I don’t think that will work.”

Twilight agreed. “Starburst is right Applebloom, a cutie mark is something a pony has to discover for herself.”

Applebloom didn’t let up. “Please Twilight, just try.”

“I’m sorry but…”

Applebloom cut her off as she pleaded frantically and trotted in place. “Oh please, please, please, please, PLEASE!”

Twilight Caved. “All right, all right! *Sight* Come on over here Starburst.”

Starburst made his way up next to Applebloom, feeling unsure about this, he was willing to try it though if it got him a cutie mark. Twilight lowered her horn to Applebloom and Starburst and focused her magic. A cart of apples appeared on Applebloom’s flank while a telescope appeared on Starburst’s. Applebloom smiled big upon seeing hers. “YES, I knew you could do….it.” The marks faded.

“I’m sorry sweetie, but I told you…”

Applebloom cut her off again with excitement. “Try again, try again!”

Twilight sighed and lowered her horn and tried again. She managed to make a few cutie marks appear on Applebloom’s flank but they each disappeared. Twilight finally stopped and was exhausted. “Told you that not even magic can make a cutie mark appear before its time.”

“It’s hopeless, hopeless.” Applebloom started walking out of the kitchen with Starburst following her. “We just won’t go to the party, we can’t go. Everyone will just laugh at us.”

Starburst spoke up. “Applebloom, come on, you can’t let them get to you, I say let them say what they want, we will get our cutie marks, it’s just a matter of time.”

Applebloom just looked at him sadly. She then looked around and was shocked to see that they were at the party now. There were big ponies and little fillies and colts all over the main room of Sugarcube Corner. Applebloom grabbed Starburst by the hoof and the two quickly hid behind a large chocolate statue of a pony. “Oh, how could I have forgotten the time, how could I have forgotten Pinkie was hosting the party, how could I forget it was at Sugarcube Corner?”

Pinkie then came up to the two and put party hats on them. “Don’t forget your party hats forgetty forgeterson.” Pinkie then hopped off.

She turned to Starburst. “We have to get out of here before some pony sees us. Starburst, I don’t suppose you could use your magic to teleport us out of here?”

Starburst gave her a wary look. “Sorry Applebloom, but I’m not good enough with my magic to pull that off.”

“What about an invisibility spell?”

“Sorry, still not good enough, those are too complicated and powerful for me. Sorry Applebloom.”

“It’s all right, we’ll just have to try and sneak out of here. Follow me.” Applebloom led Starburst to hide behind a large cake sitting on a nearby table. Snails came up to it and nearly ate the whole thing in one bite.

Diamond Tiara saw this and angrily came up to him. “HEY, this is MY cutecinera, I’m supposed to get the first bite of the cake.” Snails just gave a sheepish smile.

The two hopped onto another table and hid behind some balloons. Soon, they all started popping, a unicorn stallion was dancing and accidently popping them with his horn. The two just silently made their way through the party without being noticed till they came to a table that had a pink table cover with a punch bowl and a few glasses set up. They hid under it. Applebloom took a peek and saw the exit wide open. “Ok Starburst, we’re almost there. Come on, help me move the table over to the exit.”

The two moved the table a bit and stopped, then moved again. During the process while they were stopped, Berry Punch came up to the table and took a sip out of the punch bowl with no pony looking. The two carried on till they were just a few feet away from the door. Applebloom smiled when she saw how close they were to the door. “Come on Starburst, this is it, we can get out of here.”

“*Sigh* All right.” Starburst followed, but before they could get through the door, Applebloom ran into Applejack With Nova next to her.

“Applebloom, Starburst, you two made it. When I heard about Twist, I was afraid you two wouldn’t show up.” Applejack was completely oblivious to Applebloom’s distress as she pushed Applebloom back into the party.

While this was going on, Nova greeted his brother. “Hey there Starburst, how did things go today?”

Starburst frowned. “Not so good, me and Applebloom have been really trying to earn our cutie mark with no success, but Applebloom is more upset about it than I am, it means a lot to her.”

Nova frowned. “Gosh, that’s too bad, did you have any luck cheering her up?”

“No, she just keeps getting upset whenever something we try to earn a cutie mark fails. I tried cheering her up, but she just keeps getting sad when we don’t get a cutie mark.”

“Well, I’m sure she is at least glad to have you around so she’s not the only one without a cutie mark, I’ll bet that despite all this, she is at least glad to have you as a friend who keeps trying to cheer her up.” Nova said with a smile.

Starburst smiled back. “You really think so?”

“I know so, sounds like your doing your best to be a good friend, and I’m sure that means the world to her.”

Starburst smiled bigger, he then looked over at Applebloom and saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looking at her with a mean smile. “Uh oh, I better go and be a friend now, there’s those two fillies I told you about.”

Nova looked and saw the two ponies Starburst was pointing at. Nova smiled down at Starburst. “Good luck Starburst, I know you can do something to help.”

Starburst then galloped up to Applebloom and took her side just as she grabbed a table cloth and wrapped it around her waist to cover her flank. “Applebloom, what are you doing?” Starburst whispered to her.

“Hiding my blank flank, here, put this on.” She grabbed another table cloth and wrapped it around Starburst like a cloak to hide his blank flank.

“Hey, Applebloom, what are you….”

Starburst didn’t get to finish as the two mean fillies came up to them, they didn’t seem to notice what Applebloom did as Diamond Tiara spoke. “Well, well, well, look who’s here.”

“Nice outfits.” Silver Spoon commented.

Applebloom answered. “Just somethin we, uh, put together last minute.”

“More like last second.” Starburst said under his breath.

“It really shows off your cutie marks.” Diamond commented, obviously not meaning a word of it. “Oh wait, that’s right, you don’t have cutie marks.”

“We have cutie marks.”

Silver Spoon cocked an eyebrow at this. “WHAT?! Since when?”

“Since um….”

Starburst helped Applebloom. “Earlier today.” He said quickly.

Diamond Tiara didn’t believe it. “Oh really, let’s see them.”

Applebloom grew nervous, not sure what to say. “Well uh, um……”

Starburst came to the rescue again. “We couldn’t, we shouldn’t, you see, our cutie marks are so unbelievably amazing, they would draw attention on us instead of you. Do you really want to be outshined at your own cutecinera, think of how embarrassing that would be.”

Diamond Tiara changed her tune. “Uh forget it, I didn’t really want to see them anyway.”

Applebloom smiled at Starburst. “Ok then, we’re going to go mingle now, enjoy your party.” As the two walked off, Applebloom spoke to Starburst in a whisper. “Thanks fer the help back there Starburst.”

Starburst smiled. “No problem.”

“No, really, I mean it, you’ve been doin yer best ta help me all day and cheer me up and I really appreciate it, I feel real lucky ta have you as a friend.”

“What are friends for, I don’t like seeing you sad.”

Applebloom suddenly stepped on a part of her makeshift dress and tripped, ripping it off completely and falling into the record player that was playing the music for the party, stopping it and getting every ponies attention.

Starburst looked at her with worry, and like a pair of vultures, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon swooped in with wicked grins on their faces, seeing that she didn’t have a cutie mark. Silver Spoon started. “Wow, that is an amazing cutie mark.” The two laughed at her.

Diamond Tiara then came in. “Nice try.” Then they both said together. “Blank flank.”

Starburst glared at them and ripped off his makeshift cloak. The two saw this and stopped their lauging.

Diamond went off on him too. “Well what do ya know, you’re a blank flank too.”

Starburst was about to say something but was cut off by another voice. “You got a problem with blank flanks.”

The ponies all looked to the source of the voice. Two other little fillies were hiding under the table with the punch bowl. A little Pegasus filly with an orange coat and a hot purple mane and tail. “I said, you got a problem with blank flanks.”

The other was a white coated unicorn filly with a pink and purple curly mane and tail. Silver Spoon answered the question that came from the little Pegasus. “The problem is it means they’re like totally not special.”

The two fillies came up next to Starburst and Applebloom, the little unicorn started. “No, it means they’re full of potential.”

The Pegasus started again. “It means they could be great at anything. The possibilities are like endless.” She mocked Silver’s way of talking.

Starburst smiled seeing these two come to their defense.

The unicorn continued. “She could be a great scientist, or he could be an amazing artist, or they could be an amazing writer. One of them could even be mayor of Ponyville someday.”

The Pegasus picked up from there. “And they’re not stuck being stuck up like you two.”

Diamond Tiara was mad at this. “Hey, this is my party, why are you two on their side?”

The Pegasus answered. “Because.” The two fillies turned their flanks to show they had no cutie marks.

Applebloom commented. “You don’t have your cutie marks either? I thought we were the only two.”

The Pegasus answered again. “We thought we were the only two too.”

Diamond went off again. “Whatever your still just a bunch of blank flanks.”

Starburst glared at her and finally spoke up. “You know what, so what if we’re blank flanks, just because we don’t have our cutie marks, doesn’t mean we aren’t special, it just means we haven’t found what makes us special, you think that just because you have your cutie marks that your better than us? Well you’re not, I don’t know what your good at that earned you a cutie mark, but I’ll bet it wasn’t for having a winning personality, all you do is rag on others that don’t have a cutie mark.”

Starburst got up in Diamond’s face. “I can give you a reason why we’re better than you. We don’t pick on others like you do. I don’t care what you say about me, but you just better watch what you say to my friends, so back off.”

Diamond and Silver cringed under Starburst’s hard glare.

Nova came in and interceded. “Whoa there Starburst, take it easy, I think she gets the message.” He said as he put a hoof to his brother’s barrel and pushed him back. Starburst looked up at his brother, then back to the three fillies smiling at him, he went back to join them as Nova directed his attention to the two fillies. He gave them a hard stare. “Now look, they may not have their cutie marks, but they are still lucky.”

Diamond looked up and tried not to seem intimidated by Nova. “And just how are they lucky.”

Twilight came in and smiled as he answered. “Because they get to experience the thrill of who they are, and what they’re meant to be.”

Applejack came up to the four little ponies. “And they got all the time in the world to figure it out, not just an afternoon.”

All the little ponies then started getting excited and started gathering around the four little ponies. Diamond started getting upset at this. “HEY, What’s every pony doing, this is MY party, everyone is supposed to be paying attention to me!”

The four ponies introduced one another to each other with the little Pegasus starting. “Names Scootaloo.”

The unicorn then gave her name. “And I’m Sweetie Belle.”

Starburst gave his name. “I’m Starburst.”

Applebloom proudly announced her name. “Applebloom.”

Later in the party, the four ponies were gathered around a table. Applebloom decided to share an idea. “So I was thinkin, now that we’re friends….uh, we are friends aren’t we?”

Scootaloo answered. “How could we not be, we’re totally alike. We don’t have our cutie marks, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon drive us crazy…”

Sweetie Belle agreed. “Totally crazy.” The four then shared a laugh.

Applebloom continued with her thought. “Now that we’re friends, what if the four of us work together to find out who we are and what we’re supposed to be?”

Sweetie Belle raised her hoof in excitement. “Ooh, ooh, we could form our own secret society.”

Scootaloo gave her opinion. “I’m liking this idea.”

Starburst agreed. “Me too, but we need a name for it.”

The four began to think, Scootaloo was the first to share an idea. “The cutie mark four?”

Sweetie Belle shared her idea. “The cutetastically fantastic?”

Starburst then shared his thought. “The fillies four?”

Scootaloo pointed out a flaw with that as she cocked an eyebrow. “Aren’t you a boy?”

Starburst gave a sheepish smile and a blush. “Oh, right, he heh, oops.”

Applebloom then shared her idea. “How about, the cuie mark crusaders?”

Scootaloo agreed. “That sounds perfect.” The table sounded off with approval. Scootallo then grabbed a cucake. “What do you say we celebrate with some of these delicious cupcakes.”

Applebloom and Starburst sounded off together. “Not the cupcakes!” Applebloom then spoke on her own. “Trust us.”

“Let’s see if there are any cookies?” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Good idea.” Starburst agreed. The four then went for the cookies.

As they enjoyed the cookies, Applebloom spoke up. “Starburst, thanks fe stickin up fer us against Diamond Tiara like ya did.”

Starburst just smiled at her. “Hey, no sweat.”

Scootaloo agreed. “Yeah, that was cool how you got in her face like that and let her have it.”

Sweetie Belle agreed too. “I’ll say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anypony stand up to her like you did.”

Starburst kept his smile. “What could I do, she was insulting my friend.”

“Thanks Starburst, you’re a real good friend.” Applebloom commented. The three shared a group hug and Starburst actually let out a squee as he smiled bigger. This was definitely the beginning of a great friendship.

Author's Note:

And there we have it, as I said, I know that this episode comes before winter wrap up, but that would have been too long a wait for Starburst to start school, so next episode will be Winter wrap up, then I will go in order of the episodes. Also, if you have a problem with how I made the scenes where Applebloom was talking fast, let me know, I just felt it was the best way to convey how fast Applebloom was talking.

Comments

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

I know that this episode comes before winter wrap up

i think you mean after.

[TheDerpySoupCan]

What's a cuie? Lol gotta love typos.

[Haver]

Awwwwww