Cutie Mark Wishes

by Silver Letter

Family Crisis

After the long day, all three sisters packed up their tents and got ready to move out towards home past the outskirts of town. They managed to meet their quota so Crystal was rather content. She hoped that Lavender would have a pineapple cake ready and waiting.

Glitter complained as usual about her hooves and back aching as they trudged along the road with the cart in tow. She was the one that liked manual labor the least. Ribbon was lying in the cart amongst the materials. She would normally be taking a short nap but that day, she couldn’t manage to doze off. Instead, she stared back as the town shrunk in the distance, her hooves dangling over the gate. Some of the castle caught a red hue from the sunset. But she couldn’t even enjoy that. Her mind still reeled from Twilight’s visit. She was so unfocused that she couldn’t think about anything other than what could happen. She knew that no matter what she said, Twilight wasn’t the sort to hold a grudge. But what if she was wrong? The thought of it was why she had tried to refuse payment from the princess. But so adamant was she, that the gold was practically forced upon her. Twilight even hurried out to avoid further protest, galloping away at full speed.

So Ribbon could be worrying over nothing. At least nothing she had any control over in the end. The only thing that begun to ease her mind was the sight of the old cottage. It was a two story house made of stone and surrounded by oak trees. The scent of pond water and the woods greeted them. Ribbon jumped out from the wagon as it was returned to its shelter near the animal stables. She had always lived on her family’s land and as far as she believed, she always would. But that wasn’t so bad. It was theirs for several generations and it was meant for her and her sisters. The land wasn’t something that ever needed to change. One look, and anypony would fall in love.

The three of them walked to the front door.

“I’ve been waiting to eat all day,” Glitter whined. Ribbon knew that she needed to be fed soon or she was liable to throw a tantrum. The mare was already beginning to sweat and her face looked almost pained.

“As long as you clean your hooves first, I don’t care if you eat yourself sick,” Crystal said.

Glitter burst inside and rushed to the washroom. Ribbon smiled amusingly. She would rather take her time settling down. She went to her bedroom to set aside her saddlebag where her crystal ball and robe were put away. She turned and glanced at her full body mirror. She saw her cutie mark. The ribbon tied in a bow behind a crystal ball. She had it since childhood and it remained just as bright, affixed to her fur. Nopony else she ever heard of had willed a cutie mark into existence. Even she didn’t call it a ‘cutie mark’ at first. Inking one’s fur was nothing special. But with everypony else believing it, then it became just as real as anypony else’s. Bu Ribbon usually didn’t look at it because it stared back, a stranger she couldn’t welcome into her heart. It was all fake. A fake cutie mark, a fake talent, and fake predictions.

Her mother called her from downstairs and she hurried to dinner. She thought that if she bit down on the cake and it turned out to be plastic, she would have deserved it.

---

Ribbon mostly forgot about the princess visiting her. A week passed quickly with work and daily life a blur. She went shopping, planted flowers and cooked meals with Lavender. The two were in the middle of knitting sweaters for the winter when Crystal stormed in the house. She was in such a fluster that she didn’t even bother wiping her hooves on the mat.

“What’s wrong, dear?” Lavender said, frowning. She stood and put the unfinished garment down. Her cutie mark was a stalk of lavender sprouting from a crystal ball. It looked nice against her light violet fur.

“It’s….the whole world, mother,” Crystal mumbled angrily.

Ribbon sighed. “Don’t you always have a problem with the world?”

Her older sister suddenly scowled. She normally did that when criticized or when something’s gotten under her skin. “Ribbon! I have no time for your absurd childishness!” she spat. Ribbon felt heat rising in her face and she was preparing for a huge shouting match but her mother moved as fast as ever. Any frayed nerves were soon calmed, at least temporarily. They both knew that one small shush from their mother was enough to quiet any room; the sound from a mare that knew when to intervene. She had such perception as to be able to tell what emotions a pony had at any given moment. When she used to do fortune telling, she could do more than foretell an event. She could predict love, embarrassment, pain, and hate. Nopony could lie to her either unless they could do it with no emotion which most would call impossible.

Their mother may have pacified things but Crystal refrained from sitting and kept pacing around, refusing to even let their mother touch her.

“I haven’t seen you so worked up in years. Maybe not since you first started at the shop,” Lavender said.

“Maybe because I’ve never seen anything this bad in all those years,” Crystal replied dejectedly. Ribbon noticed that Crystal’s eye lining was smudged. It was a sobering thought that something bothered her so much that she might have cried. She even started to feel a bit guilty about her lack of tact earlier.

Glitter came down the stairs. She was in the middle of redoing her hooves and had her tan colored hair tied together. Usually she left it free and decorated with huge glass beads.

“What is going on down here?” she inquired.

“I guess you better all see for yourselves,” Crystal said, huffing. She gave a copy of the newspaper from her saddlebag to Glitter. Her bag had an emblem of her cutie mark on it. Three angular crystal balls in a triangle pattern.

Glitter started to recite the article plastered on the front page, the title in black blocky letters. A ROYAL AFFAIR. They called it a scandal. Ribbon had never heard of anything like it in her entire life. As Glitter kept reading, Ribbon felt dizzy. It was all too unreal. She had no idea that it was against the law for royal guards to enter into a relationship with royalty. When the part came about the poor colt being dismissed from the guard, Ribbon wanted to vomit. She knew it was all her fault. The next part practically stole the breath from everypony except Crystal. Not only did the town know about the relationship but they knew that Twilight had gotten her advice from the Wishes family fortune tellers. They even mentioned Ribbon by name. She felt hot as if there was a literal spotlight shining upon her.

“We’ll never hear the end of this!” Crystal exclaimed in alarm. “If the ponies think we caused this then that will be a serious blow to us! We’ll have to move away!” Each worse thought made her chest heave faster until she sat on the couch and fanned herself. Ribbon didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t even move her mouth to speak.

“Please be calm,” Lavender entreated. “I’ll go make some tea right away. That always does the trick.” She glided briskly into the kitchen and started pouring water into the tea kettle. They could all hear the clattering of plates and cups.

“Oh please, there isn’t going to be an end to anything!” Glitter said.

Crystal looked at Glitter as if she didn’t believe a single word she had made. “What are we going to do about it?” she replied.

“We’re going to go and confront the princess and make her take back what she had told the paper!”

The sisters argued for a bit even after the tea came. When Ribbon herself was prodded for an opinion, she had to force herself to speak. Her mouth felt like paper so she just muttered about the accusations being wrong. She didn’t want to necessarily say anything bad about the princess or make a mistake that she couldn’t take back. That was the last thing she wanted to do. Crystal ordered the two of them to pack their bags and prepare to head out. If they didn’t get things settled with the paper by tomorrow then they might as well not even bother with work anymore.

---

The three of them marched through town on the way to the castle. Ribbon expected the worst from the ponies. A lot of times brought out the mob in them. Jeering or even throwing things wasn’t too much when they were angry. She even felt worried more for their safety than anything else. But she thought that maybe Crystal’s stony face kept most of them at bay. She saw a trio of foals going the other way. One with purple hair must have realized who they were and snickered quietly. One burning glare later and they bolted away like rats.

At last, they were there. Crystal swung the doors open dramatically and went in first with her sisters behind. A long hall greeted them. It was rather empty inside with a very high ceiling. The air inside was dry and cool like in a museum. The sounds of their steps echoed off the walls. It was almost cavernous, bigger than Ribbon imagined.

A stallion came from one of the farther rooms. He plodded forward and saw them. Despite a ravished head of blue hair no longer in its former shape and sunken eyes, Ribbon easily recognized him from his photograph in the paper. The name ‘Flash Sentry’ below his image made him sound dignified. Not so much then…he sure looked different when he wasn’t wearing his polished armor and a winning smile.

“I didn’t expect any of you to actually show up here,” he said indignantly. He turned his muzzle up and scrunched his nose.

“Of course you wouldn’t. You never heard of us. Not that it stopped you from libeling us in the paper!” Crystal shouted. She obviously had no concern for his problems. She and Flash stood a couple meters from each other with unflinching eyes.

“Libel?! If anything, what I said was the truth and you know it. Whichever one of you is named Ribbon ruined my career in the guard!”

“Our sister is a grand fortune teller!” Glitter protested.

Ribbon could only wait in the back behind them. She avoided looking poor Flash in the eyes. If she spoke, anypony could have read the guilt that clung to her words. She wished she could step in and do something but she felt powerless.

“Considering your attitude, I would guess you’re Ribbon Wishes?” Flash said to Crystal.

She looked at him incredulously. “I am the elder sister and I speak on her behalf all the time!”

“Why can’t she speak for herself and defend her words personally?”

“Whatever. I didn’t come to speak to some unemployed loser!” Crystal said.

Flash growled and raised his hoof as if had contemplated striking her. He didn’t though and panted through his teeth. Glitter had gasped and stepped back but Crystal didn’t even budge. “I predict a lot fewer ponies coming to your joke of a family business in the future,” he said.

That was a bad idea as soon as he said it. Thinking it was over, he even lowered his guard. Crystal smirked and took a step forward. “Maybe…but I predict a lot of pain in yours!” She walloped him in the lower jaw with a thud. Even a large stallion like him found himself collapsed in a heap on the floor. He could have been mistaken for a drunk if it wasn’t for a bruise on his face.

Glitter hollered excitedly. “You showed him!” she said. Crystal told her to be quiet and to follow her. They still had to see the princess. Ribbon went with them but as she looked back, she noticed Flash moaning and squeezing his eyes shut. She couldn’t believe that just happened. And she thought the situation couldn’t get any worse. She really hoped she wouldn’t end up having to jump in front of Twilight to defend her from Crystal’s wrath.

They reached the throne room. It was so pretty that they stared up in awe. Even Crystal looked impressed. Ribbon couldn’t believe was there, walking in the very center of an actual throne room. Crystal was surprised at there being six thrones and Glitter peered at them oddly.

“I think it’s like a council or something,” Ribbon mentioned offhandedly.

Crystal nodded. “Maybe.”

Twilight soon arrived like a royal coming to an important meeting. They all had the same strong gait. Even Twilight when she had to. It was impossible not to notice. None of them bowed when she arrived. The meeting was going to be anything but formal. There weren’t even any proper introductions.

“My friend spotted you coming. I apologize for not seeing you all sooner. I know and understand why you may be upset,” Twilight said.

“We sure are,” Crystal replied, clearing her throat. She started taking charge, making demands. “I want to see you retract anything bad you might have said about the Wishes family and our business right away before things get out of hoof.”

Twilight inhaled then exhaled deeply before smiling. She was an inexperienced princess but it didn’t mean she wasn’t made of tougher stuff. “Well, for starters, I must say that I hadn’t intended for anything to be made public. I am not sure how it was leaked but I do apologize for that. As for my actual words, I can’t do what you ask of me. To do so would be to cover up something I meant to say. It would be like a lie.”

Twilight’s rationalization made sense but Crystal ignored it. “But ponies are going to get the wrong impression. I thought you liked my sister.” She turned to Ribbon. “Please explain to her what happened.”

Ribbon didn’t have a lot of options. She really had only two and both would leave its mark in one way or another. The closer she got to the truth, the more it might hurt. But keeping so much of her locked inside has hurt since she was little. For being so kind and accepting of her place instead of lashing out. And again, she barely had any time at all to think.

“Princess, I am sorry about earlier,” Ribbon said sadly. “I gave you the wrong predictions and caused you trouble. Sometimes, it just happens. In our family, we make mistakes too.”

Twilight probably had no reason to question Ribbon’s statement but she did appear disappointed as if she wanted to hear more. “I understand but you gave me the wrong advice. You didn’t see what was to come and now, Flash Sentry is disgraced and I am subject to an inquiry from the capital. I may have been one to let things slide but the ponies are demanding I investigate your family’s practices,” Twilight said firmly.

“There will be no such thing!” Crystal interjected. “We won’t suffer that one bit!”

Ribbon was worried about what Twilight would say. Her wings even bent back like some Pegasus ponies do when irritated.

“You may have no choice,” Twilight growled.

Crystal laughed arrogantly. “Who do you think you’re talking to?! You may be a princess but you’ll never be my princess. Let’s go, girls. We’re done here.” All three of the Wishes sisters walked out of the throne room with Twilight on their tails. Her youthful face grimaced as she saw a couple ponies helping Flash to his hooves. He still looked dizzy.

“Your business is no longer welcome in town,” Twilight declared. Seeing Flash with his bruised jaw inflamed her anger even further.

Crystal turned and glared at Twilight. “You’re like all the other royal ponies. Snubbing us fortune tellers from your ivory towers. Well, we don’t need you!” The three of them withdrew from the castle. Before leaving for home, Crystal picked up a rock and chucked it through one of the stained glass windows in front. Ribbon could only bite her lip to prevent herself from crying.