At long last, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had finally earned their cutie marks. In a bright flash of magic, their destinies were revealed to them:
To help other ponies get their cutie marks.
A destiny that was unique for ponykind, as nopony ever before had a special talent like this.
Not much time should pass until the Cutie Mark Crusaders would be asked for help by their first client. But already their first mission to help a pony find its true destiny proves to be a challenge that seems completely adamant to them.
How to help a pony who already had a cutie mark once, but lost it?
This story is set a few days after Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got their cutie marks. Despite the description, this story will NOT ignore Tender Taps and what they did for him. It is simply at an earlier point in time (and unfortunately continued much later than I wanted) and at the end of it, everything will come together and make sense.
Story #1 of my anthology for "Crusaders of the Lost Mark"!
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Thanks! I look forward to hear what you think about it!
Very cute! A bit more in-depth than I was expecting from the construction, but seeing as that's the focus of the chapter it does make sense! I'm not sure what was happening with Twilight, Spike, and the sulfur scent, something to do with having Celestia delay the sun? I'm definitely going to be keeping up with this.
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That's totally what I was going for! So good to see that it was perceived the right way! Thanks!
Close. I'm not revealing it yet, I want to wait until the story has more reads.
I'm just saying that it's nothing too big, it's only affecting this chapter.
Thanks! I appreciate the support and I do my best to put out the next chapter as soon as possible!
Really nice,
My complements to the author for the magnificent touch in the story.
Rarely do I see stories with in-depth structures like yours so you are officially on my watch list :)
Hope to see the progress
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I don't know what you mean with "in-depth structure", but this is the biggest compliment I ever received for one of my stories!
Thanks for your comment! Motivates me even more to write this piece!
Nicely done, this deserves more likes. I'm also a Fan of the idea that dinky becomes/is a member of the cmc. If the story would be took place at the Same time as aunt millie, I don't think mille would like the idea that dinky joins the cmc
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Thank you! I'm going to work on the likes when I continue writing this!^^
Dinky won't join them completely, since she doesn't share their specific destiny, but she is their first client, so you can expect her to hang out a lot with them while they are trying to help her.
For Millie, I imagine she does exist in the universe of this story, since the universe is simply the same universe we see in the show. But since I didn't know yet that Millie is Dinky's aunt when I started this story, Millie won't appear or getting mentioned in this fic.
8075339 i look forward to the next Chapter. Given how mille reacted towards noi and lilly, I can imagine that she would have a familiar reaction towards the cmc if she would be in the story.
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This story will be continuing now! I revised the first chapter and will release a new one every Friday now!
I thought I let you two know about this, since you showed interest in the story, but haven't put it into a bookshelf.
I just took a look. It's very good.
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Thank you.^^ Going to do my best to keep that up with the new chapters.^^
8127161 Good luck!
It's like watching a train wreck... they have no idea what they're getting into.
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Absolutely no idea.
Thanks for reading!
I like how you potrayed Dinky here. Eagerly for the day. And the games and Lilly, suits her perfectly. I had the written part of my final exam this Wednesday, so this is good to get my head free from exams.
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Thanks! In a sense, writing this fic already feels like writing "Aunt Millie". Not completely, but bringing up the video games and Lily lets it feel like this a little.
I look forward to write the other exciting parts I have planned.^^
8160188 Me too. you're doing great work. Speaking of Dinky's Cutie Mark, In one story i have written long ago, I had the idea that she also has the shield like Cutie Mark like the CMC, with a letter inside of it. Such a Cutie Mark suits her, don't you think?
I know that song, it's beautiful. Don't be sad Dinky, with time, your magic will be there. I though she learned magic from Sparkler. And Derpy trying to help her daughter in any way she can, it just wonderful. Every mother should do that. Great work!
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Thanks! I'm a lot more happy with this chapter than with the last one. It's short too, but there's a lot more going on and the plot is finally progressing!
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Fixed! Hmm, I proofread it two times, but something slipped through the cracks still.....
Thanks for pointing it out!
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No problem! It's easy to miss using the wrong word, since the spellchecker can miss it.
8176281 agreed.
Dinky's picture Looks Really Good!
Your picture is oddly clever, in that she draws Scootaloo with a big rear end and the part of the painting with the most detail is her cutie mark.
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I'm sure she would love to hear this praise! Thanks for reading!
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They say our thoughts subconsciously influence our actions. Maybe that counts especially for fillies who desperately want a cutie mark.
Thank you for reading the new chapter!
8199155 You're welcome, keep up the good work!
Heart breaking seeing her cry. Shh, don't cry Dinky, we're all here for you. No matter what Cutie Mark you have, you always will be my favorite filly in the show. So cheer up! (Hugs her and boops her nose)
...marks?
I'm beginning to wonder if this is less a Cutie Mark Crusaders thing, and more a fate of Equestria depends on it thing.
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Intriguing thought..... I can't confirm one way or the other (even though the fact this fic is only getting very few reactions at all kinda tempts me to hype the hay out of it, but I can't spoil), but, I'm curious about your thought process here.
What do you think is going to happen?
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Well, something's giving Dinky cutie marks, then taking them away. I doubt that something is the cutie pox, because it would be too easy for Apple Bloom to comfort her then, plus everypony would have seen Dinky rampaging through Ponyville until her poor little heart gave out. So it's something else. Is it like Starlight Glimmer, where something is stealing her cutie marks? Is it something like Tirek, where the magic that makes her special is being consumed? There aren't many cases in which a pony's cutie mark vanishes, and they're all very serious affairs.
But what really scares me about it is that Dinky seems to imply that it happened more than once. That means it's not just a one time freak accident, but something that continues to plague her even now, somehow capable of reducing her to a talentless, bumbling fool. What if it starts affecting other ponies? What if it already has? Are adults immune? Are ponies with strong talents immune? If not, then this sounds more like a world threatening catastrophe than some particular little filly's insecurities.
Or maybe Dinky just lacks confidence, unlike every other pony in Equestria. Maybe nothing is going horribly wrong with her, and some positive thinking pep talk will fix her right up.
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Hmm..... You are right and you are wrong. That is what I will tell you.
Thank you for this comment. Your analysis here has lifted my spirits and gives me more motivation to continue this story, despite the only very few readers it has.
And your favourite as well. I thank you for this even more.
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I hope it gains more readers. I'm starting to find it genuinely intriguing.
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Me too. I just submitted it to three more groups today, but I need to do more things to hype it up.
Thank you for supporting it!^^
Well Sounds like a different Version of the Cutie pox to me. Sounds very serious if she cut her Cutie Mark out. Hope its nothing to serious
I like how you potrayed Lilly here, here to comfort Dinky as a good friend should
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She actually did not cut her cutie mark out. Dinky only cut into her flank, but she didn't remove anything from it.
I like it that I have an opportunity with this fic to delve a little into their friendship during the first days, when it had just begun. I can't focus on that completely, but there will be a future chapter that gives me a chance to shine some more light on this.^^
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Eager to see it. I might do a story with Lilly too in the future, who knows.
So... is this purely psychological? Dinky just went crazy? Her fits aren't lasting long enough for it to be bipolar though. I don't even know what you'd call that.
This better not be Jackie.
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Welcome back and thanks for reading the new chapter!
These are some "Yes and No" questions again very much. You'll have to wait and see.
All I can say is that the situation is wearing a lot on Dinky, obviously. One could think she's imagining things..... But it's things that are very much real that desperate her so much.
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Thank you for writing it!
They're also rhetorical questions. I just want to give you an idea what your readers are thinking. Don't worry, I already know I'll have to wait and see.
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I see. Well, that pretty much comes down to what you think anyway, since not many read this fic here. xD
Which is why I'm all the more glad that at least you stick around for what might go down in history as one of my best fic ideas ever.
And, since you are almost the only commenter, I'd like to ask you something about the first chapter:
Does it give you the impression that this fic was once planned as a one-shot and only spontaneously expanded on later?
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I sure would have been upset if it was a one-shot! They didn't help Dinky at all!
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Well, that's good. But did it feel like this to you? I'm just curious if this is an impression you get from this chapter.
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I got the impression that it wasn't a one-shot.
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Hmm, okay. Because I read the end again and the way it's worded kinda sounds like the end of a one-shot there.
This might be a reason why the first chapter is doing relatively well in views, but why they are cut in half with Chapter 2 all of a sudden; maybe most readers who start with Chapter 1 get a one-shot vibe and this makes them feel like the fic should end there, so they decide to stop there and to treat it as one-shot.
The other chapters might get more readers if I change that, but I don't feel really comfortable with changing something, now that I'm so far in.....
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I dunno. They might've gotten squicked by the accident with the nail? If you want the end to be more cliffhanger-y maybe put a spooky teaser about what's going on with Dinky at the end, after the CMC ride off into the sunset.
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Maybe. But I need to think about this, as I said, a change so late now wouldn't make me comfortable.
And I kinda doubt it's the nail, readers here read much worse stuff if it's written well.
Dinky, ì'm so proud of you. Congratulations! I thought of a muffin or something that connects to her Mother, but that dinky, suits yourself too. Now get out There and tell Lilly, she will be surely proud of you too
Oh no...
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What a twist?