• Published 2nd Nov 2014
  • 1,819 Views, 56 Comments

Cutie Mark Crisscross - Everyday



The Cutie Mark Crusaders ask Discord for a favor. What could possibly go wrong?

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Chapter Four

Princess Celestia was enjoying a moment of serenity with her younger sister, as she often did at this time of day. The time to lower the sun was nearly upon them, meaning that Princess Luna would have to be nearby to raise the moon. The two royal sisters always enjoyed this opportunity to discuss the events of day—a tradition that they mirrored each morning to discuss what happened the previous night. But it was never merely talks about royal business or some bothersome member of the nobility. More often, they enjoyed their tea as they felt two sisters should: quality time to get to know the other better. No matter how long they have known each other, there was always more to discover. They each possessed a wealth of stories to tell the other, and even if a story had been told before, each retelling only proved more insightful and enjoyable than the one that came before.

The sudden appearance of sparkling green fire through the balcony doorframe interrupted tonight’s tea. A scroll materialized itself before Celestia, which she promptly gripped in her golden magical aura. Her eyes brightened and a smile graced her lips at the arrival of this report.

“Look, Luna,” she said pleasantly, “it’s marked from Scootaloo and her friends.”

“Splendid!” Luna said brightly. “May I read it with you, dear sister?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Celestia smiled as Luna came around the table to sit with her. The magic enveloping the scroll broke the seal and unfurled it before them.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today we learned a valuable lesson about being true to yourself. Sometimes, when you really want something, you might try taking the easy way to get it, even if it means becoming something you’re not. But even if you do get what you were hoping for, you can’t really enjoy it since you didn’t earn it in the first place. In the end, it’s better to stay who you are.

We also learned a lesson about appreciating the things you have. It’s easy to think about the things you really want. But when you focus on things like that, you lose sight of the things that you do have. Losing those things, even if you didn’t appreciate them before, can be a lot worse than missing out on what you want. You should always be thankful for what you have, and work hard for the things you don’t.

Signed, your loyal subjects,

The Cutie Mark Crusaders

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle

“Such wonderful lessons to have learned!” Luna said.

“I agree,” Celestia said with a nod, “but I do often wonder what it was that happened to teach my little ponies these lessons.”

“ ’Tis a mystery,” she said casually.

Another scroll suddenly appeared before the sisters. This one, however, did not arrive by enchanted dragon fire. This one had simply appeared. Perhaps stranger still was the fact that it seemed to be floating before them of its own accord, as if patiently waiting to be opened. They exchanged an odd look of confusion.

“Who is this one from, sister?” Luna asked, eyes fixed on the scroll.

“It does not say,” she answered, studying the scroll with careful consideration.

“Should we open it?” They looked to each other one more time, unsure of how to proceed. Celestia gripped it in her magic and unfurled the scroll.

Dear Celestia,

Today I learned a valuable lesson about

Blah blah blah.

Anyway, I understand that you want to be told whenever I stir up a little mischief, so I thought I’d save somepony else the trouble and come clean with what I did.

I recently changed the race of three little ponies, but I’ll have you know I had a good reason.

It was funny To teach them a valuable life lesson.

Now before you say anything, you should know that I did this after my vacation started, and vacations are about enjoying yourself, am I right?

Of course I’m right.

My vacation’s going well, thanks for asking. With all of the interruptions at the beginning, though, I might have to request some more vacation time sooner than expected. Remind me to have a chat with you about that student of yours.

And don’t you worry about those little ponies—the Cutie Mark Chrysanthemums, or something like that. I changed them back after they learned their lesson. There was smiling and cheering and they all lived happily ever after.

Probably.

I didn’t really stick around after that.

Here’s to hoping I can enjoy the rest of my vacation in peace. I’ll see you at the end of the week.

Wish you were here,

Discord

P.S. Tell Luna I’ll return her sunscreen when I get back.

Celestia and Luna stared at the letter before them, eyes notably wider than usual. They turned their gaze to each other for a prolonged moment, waiting for the other to break the silence. Luna was the first to speak.

“I told you my sunscreen was missing.”

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading my first story. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave any thoughts, criticisms, praise, or advise below. I would love to get opinions on my story and my writing.

Thank you for your time.

Comments ( 44 )

Very, very good for a first fic.

5221897
Thank you. That's very encouraging to hear.

PresentPerfect
Author Interviewer

Well done. :D

Very cute and fun. Well done!

5235616
One should always strive to make a good first impression, after all.

5235730
The search for cover art delayed this story literally for several days, and as you can obviously tell, came up empty. I lack the talent necessary to make cover art for myself, and so I submitted it without one.

The fact that this story compelled to you seek out cover art for it is a greater honor than I can express. Thank you for the effort.

5235850
I've heard numerous authors say that Discord can be a challenging character to write. It is absolutely a challenge, but I enjoyed every minute of it. It's nice to hear that I did it well.

My original thought was for it to be "after the explosion," but I decided that was a little too dangerous and violent. Setting off an explosion in the middle of a tree with four ponies inside? That'd be a bit much, even for Discord.

5235855
Thank you very much. I'm glad you think so.

5239852
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. Thank you for reading it.

A great story, especially for a first one. The only question I have left is, where did Discord go on vacation?

5244017

Four-thousand miles away, on an entirely different continent, where (he thought) he could enjoy the sun, sand, and surf in peace. He stayed at a lovely resort and enjoyed the company of others, even exchanging funny stories with other tourists.

What species they were, I leave to your imagination.

5244265 Thanks! (I'm guessing sentient cats).

I really liked this story. It was fun, cute, and had a nice little moral at the end. This could almost be an episode from the show!

5255263

That is precisely what I was going for, so thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Even with the assistance of a good editor, I'm wondering how this could possibly be your first story...

This was an absolute delight. Thanks for writing! :scootangel:

5261574

Thank you for reading. I'm glad you found delightful.

You'll need to look over this again. Found a few mistakes here and there.

5311721

I've been meaning to, and hopefully I'll find the motivation to actually go through with it.

This is a very nice debut indeed! :twilightsmile: Neither the CMC nor Discord are the easiest characters to write for, but you did very well. I was especially impressed with your Discord, who was one of the best versions of him I've come across recently. Also, the Rarity/Sweetie scenes are adorable. Have a like and a fave, and I hope this won't be your only ponyfic. :pinkiesmile:

Edit: Also, I see this got picked up by Seattle's Angels today. Well deserved!

Found this in the recent Seattle's Angels blog post, and came hankering for a good CMC story. Great job! Angels was right, this very well could be an episode, and a good one. Also, great quality of writing. I'm not one to pick up on minor misspellings and technical errors, but for what it's worth, I didn't see any problems with this story. Thank you for writing! :eeyup:

5614347

Thank you for all of the kind praise. I really appreciate it.

I certainly have more planned for the future. (I'm just a terribly slow writer.) Rest assured, this is only the first of more to come.

I had assumed you found this through the Seattle's Angels post, so this comes as a surprise. How else did you find me?

5614509

Thank you for reading. I'm glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the praise. I was definitely going for an episode-feel, so it makes me happy to hear that I managed to pull it off.

5614552 You're very welcome! I've very glad to hear you're intending to write more; I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for any future stories.

As to how I found you, fairly simple: via PresentPerfect's reviews. I noticed that: a) he liked your story; b) he said it was episode-like, something I enjoy reading; and c) you also told him about Blueshift's wonderful So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish, one of my favourite ponyfics ever. Put those together and they add up to an author worth checking out. :)

I have to say, I hope you write more and especially about Discord, because this was hysterical :rainbowlaugh: You captured his personality incredibly well--the gags, the sarcasm, his 'season 4' way of helping but in the most obnoxious and roundabout way possible. I also really loved the lesson the girls learned--it wasn't just some 'throw away' lesson for the sake of the plot, it was a very interesting and complicated one to add to their experience of the world :twilightsmile:

Thank you so much, I loved this! :pinkiehappy:

5614881

I'm so glad you enjoyed it as much as you did. Don't worry, I have more stories I intend to write and definitely more Discord in the future. Thank you for reading and thank you for adding it to your Favorites.

This was excellent. I could see it as an episode, easily. Major props to you, dear author! It was a great read. Please keep writing lovely stuff like this!

5615735

Thank you, dear reader. I'm glad you enjoyed it and added it to your Favorites. It's positive feedback like this that helps motivate me to write more.

5615756
I'll be watching so I can enjoy your next story! :twilightsmile:

Best crusader fic I've read in a while. This story deserves way more attention than it has recieved.

5615874

Wow.

Thank you for adding it to your Favorites and for the praise. Just those two sentences had a greater impact on me than you'd probably expect.

Colour me impressed! Nicely written, with the storyline and characterisations very show-accurate. A fine work of fanfiction that stays true to its roots. Liked and favourited. :moustache:

5617618

Thank you for the praise and thank you for Following. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Take pride in knowing that you've provided me with my very first moustache.

That was great, glad I stumbled on this.

5618100

I'm glad you found it, too. Thank you for the compliment.

5221897
That indeed. Maybe a little bit to fast at times but very well executed.

Whaat? Be true to yourself? I thought the lesson was that you don't want to be in the other pony tribes because it's friggin uncomfortable!

:derpytongue2:

5651693

"Dear Princess Celestia,
Today we learned that Discord is a huge jerk!
Love,
The Cutie Mark Crusaders"

Nothing less than delightful

5663114

I'm glad you found it to be a delight. Thank you for reading.

Well written, check. Funny, check. Great moral, courtesy of Discord, double check. This one's a keeper. :raritywink:

5950885

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for adding it to your Favorites.

5240355 This fic is really good and can really help cheer you up! The moral was great and seemed like a real episode, but in book form. Not only that, but you managed to keep it funny. Keep up the good work! ^^
Now let's get down to business, I'm not the best artist, but I can still art. If you like I could try and make you some cover art of the crusaders with their new appendages/lack of appendages.

Lesson one: do Not read when drinking coffee! In mid sip I came to the line; “I thought we were being Cutie Mark Crusader Explosives Experts”. I laughed out loud causing very HOT coffee to come out my nose.
After contending with annoyed cafe patrons and a steaming red set of nostrils, I continued reading. I found this piece delightful. I think you did a great job of keeping to the characters. It had a very good flow and a wonderful ending. I enjoyed it despite my inflamed nasal passages.

6445647

This may be the first time a story of mine was credited to causing someone bodily harm. I'm sorry about that.
Still, thank you for the praise. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it, and I hope your nose is alright.

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