Cutie Mark Wishes

by Silver Letter

Final Chapter

The warm spring sunlight fell upon Ribbon’s shoulders. She was relaxed, leaning back in a black leather chair. The smell of lemon cleaner was still thick in the air even after a month since she started her practice. It was all new but she liked the look of her office. Just having one at all made her giddy at times. The furniture had a professional air to it but the couch, paintings and flowers made it comfortable to the ponies that came in. It was a delicate balance that anypony that worked with mental issues would relate to. Every day was a gift from Celestia and she wasn’t about to start wasting it.

Her case load was rather heavy most of the time. She even had a receptionist that filled her work hours with ponies with all sorts of issues that needed dealing with. She was looking through the file of a foal that was the victim of repeated bullying when she stopped to give her eyes a needed break. She reached across her desk and grabbed one of the pretty fruits that were carved to look like flowers. It was from her coltfriend for their first anniversary together. He knew that fruit and chocolate were her weaknesses. She ate it greedily before picking up her pen.

Her receptionist buzzed her on her phone. Somepony had come to visit so Ribbon told her to let them in. A minute later, her family strolled into her office. Her mother and sisters.

Ribbon was pleasantly surprised. She only expected her mother to come since she had been planning a visit for a while. Her family looked around, absorbing the neatness of her office.

“Hey, this is nice to see you all,” Ribbon said. She went and hugged Lavender. “What is the occasion? Is it just to see the office?”

“Well, of course. Why else?” Crystal said, grinning.

“This place is something,” Glitter said. She looked particularly impressed. “I didn’t know ponies in your line of work made so much money.”

“Well, there is a lot of money to be made from it.”

Lavender nodded. “I know, dear. We’re all happy for you.”

“We also didn’t come just to visit. You got a package today from Uncle Cotton,” Crystal said. She was holding a brown paper box tied together by black string. Ribbon smiled and took the package. After opening it, she found what was inside. It was her old crystal ball. She had to blink rapidly, unsure whether it was some kind of trick of her eyes. Surely, he wasn’t able to fix the ball and if he could, why?

But there was something different about it. She reached down and tried to pick it up but as she nudged it with her hoof, the thing jiggled apart, revealing it to be two halves still. There was a letter next to the ball which Ribbon opened and read.

Ribbon, my dear niece. I’ve heard so much in the last year. Living with royalty, getting a coltfriend (how delightful!) and now this. Your own practice. It must be so fulfilling…I know the feeling myself as a fellow business owner. I just wish you the best no matter what you do in the future. Still, I bet you never expected to see that old ball again? Well, fortune teller or no, they’re still valuable and I’ve made it even better for you. I hope it makes up for lost time. Love, Uncle Cotton.

If her uncle was there, Ribbon would have wanted to squeeze his tiny rib cage until he couldn’t breathe. Instead, she settled on tearing up. She opened the ball and gazed at it in the light. The broken edges had been smoothed and coated with an opaque layer. And there was something engraved in the crystal itself. On the left side, the cutie marks of her family was etched in. On the right, a large version of her own. Her mother picked that one up.

Ribbon was nearly speechless. She looked at them both in astonishment.

“Princess Twilight gave us the idea…me and your uncle came up with using your cutie mark,” Lavender said. “That way, you can live where you want and not worry about where you stand at home.”

“That means so much….thank you.” Tears streamed down her cheek. She dabbed at them with tissues and hugged her family, telling them that she loved them. Then after she regained her composure, she set her side on a stand on the windowsill. Lavender kept the other side as they all departed her office, set on celebrating life together.

It was family history that none of the Wishes family could ever foretell the future of one of their own. Not even the greatest of them knew of their children’s destinies or what would come of the family after they were gone. Some tried in vain to do what couldn’t be done. But Ribbon Wishes, a mare without a shred of a fortune teller’s power, managed to find out a truth never understood. The future of the family they all searched for was there all along. It was just hiding in plain sight.