An Understanding Heart

by Alaborn

Group Session

An Understanding Heart
By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 1: Group Session

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Cheerilee watched her class as she went over her math lesson. The foals’ eyes, however, were drifting from the blackboard to the clock. The school day was nearing its end, a time when every teacher had difficulty keeping her students’ attention. She smiled as the bell rang. “Now, I hope everypony was paying close attention this afternoon, because we’re having a math quiz tomorrow!” she said cheerily. Just a hint of fear crossed her students’ faces, and Cheerilee smiled.

As the students gathered their books, the teacher made one last announcement. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, please stay after class.”

Diamond Tiara smiled wickedly at them. “Ooh, you’re so in trouble!” she sneered.

“Are not!” Apple Bloom retorted. “Are we?” she asked her friends.

“The only pony who’ll be in trouble is you, Miss Diamond Tiara, if you keep that up.” With a harrumph, the snotty filly departed.

Once the other ponies had departed, Sweetie Belle asked her teacher, “Are you sure we’re not in trouble?”

“You’re not,” Cheerilee explained. “Follow me.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders followed Cheerilee down the hallway, approaching that place that struck terror in the hearts of good schoolfoals everywhere. Three words: the principal’s office. The fillies let out a sigh of relief as they passed that door. Instead, Cheerilee opened an adjacent door, one the ponies had never seen open before.

The three fillies couldn’t figure out what to make of this room. Benches of various shapes and sizes were placed haphazardly around the room. There were balls, blocks, and other toys. They spotted an easel, and other art supplies. Small bookshelves contained books for ponies of all ages. It was as if every different room of the schoolhouse contributed some of its excess to this mysterious room.

And the room wasn’t unoccupied. A familiar older earth pony was already seated. “Good afternoon. I thought it might be you I’d be meeting today,” he said.

“Uh, hello, sir,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah hope yer not sore from yesterday.”

“Oh, I’ll be fine,” he replied.

“Now, girls, this is Open Book,” Cheerilee said. “He’s a counselor from Canterlot, and he’s come to town to help you.”

“Please, come in, and make yourselves comfortable,” Open Book said warmly.

The Cutie Mark crusaders glanced back at their teacher. Cheerilee’s encouraging smile helped erase their doubts. “Please speak with Open Book for as long as you want. You’re free to go afterwards,” she explained, then closed the door.

Apple Bloom sat on a bench, and looked around the room. Scootaloo settled into a beanbag chair and sulked. Sweetie Belle stood, suddenly finding a red rubber ball to be fascinating.

Finally, Apple Bloom broke the silence. “What did Miss Cheerilee mean about you helpin’ us?” she asked

“I’m a counselor. My special talent is helping other ponies,” Open Book explained. “Specifically, I want to help you discover your special talents and earn your cutie marks.”

“What would you know about that?” accused Scootaloo. She stared at the ground; she wouldn’t even meet the earth pony’s gaze.

“Because, girls, I was the last pony in my class to earn his cutie mark,” said Open Book.

The three fillies raised their heads and leaned in closer after hearing Open Book’s admission.

“But I think my case is somewhat different than yours,” Open Book said. “I was so focused on helping my friends uncover their own special talents that I wasn’t really trying to discover mine. When my last friend finally earned her cutie mark, my own appeared right afterwards. Right then, I knew I was going to help future generations of colts and fillies with the problems they faced growing up.”

“Then help us! We’ve tried everything!” Apple Bloom implored.

Open Book referred to his notes. “Yes, Cheerilee mentioned something about your, what did she call it, crusading?”

“That’s right,” said Sweetie Belle. “We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” she continued, in unison with her friends.

Open Book again referred to his notes. “Cheerilee said you’ve tried zip-lining, mountain climbing, and hang gliding?” He thought back to the previous afternoon. “And now, apparently, trampolining?”

“Uh-huh,” said Apple Bloom.

Open Book chuckled. “That sounds like my last vacation. A Mareibbean Sea cruise. I did all of those activities at the various ports of call.”

The fillies fell silent, unsure how to respond to Open Book’s apparent non sequitur. “That’s… nice?” Sweetie Belle finally said.

More silence followed. Then, Scootaloo raised her head. “I get it! You’re saying we don’t have to stop doing these things after we get our cutie marks!” she said. Open Book just nodded.

Scootaloo scowled. “So you’re accusing us of sabotaging our own efforts to earn our cutie marks!” she said accusingly.

Open Book tried to wave off Scootaloo’s attack. “Let’s not be hasty,” he said. “Allow me to explain. And I apologize if this sounds too much like one of Cheerilee’s lectures.” That comment earned chuckles from the three fillies.

“For being such an important part of being a pony, there’s very little formal study of cutie marks,” Open Book started. “It is understood that a cutie mark represents a pony’s special talent, and that they can take obvious or abstract forms, though always personally meaningful to the individual pony. But not much is understood about when things go wrong.”

“Are we goin’ wrong?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Now, I’m not going to make any judgments without learning more about you,” Open Book replied. “That said, let me describe some of the conditions I’ve discovered in my work.

“Some ponies fixate on a talent they don’t truly have. Perhaps they have some talent in this area, but not at the level that makes them special. Often this happens with one of the ‘celebrity’ occupations, like athlete, actor, or musician. Such a fixation can delay the discovery of one’s true special talent.

“Others try to fight their fate. This decision often manifests in foals trying to be something different than their parents. But talents are often hereditary, so fighting one’s genes can be counterproductive towards the goal of earning one’s cutie mark.

“On occasion, a pony’s cutie mark will point him in the wrong direction. Most often, one blindly follows the suggestion of one’s cutie mark in a direction that is not actually one’s talent. That is typically a situation where one mistakes the literal meaning of a cutie mark for the more abstract symbolism that it actually represents. However, on rare occasions, a pony’s cutie mark will be wrong, and he will fail when trying to pursue that endeavor. That can be tragic.

“Finally, it is very rare, but some ponies never earn their cutie marks. But that is such a exceptional happening, that if three fillies of the same age from the same small town all had this condition… well, you should be placing bets in Las Pegasus.”

“That’s a great idea!” said Sweetie Belle.

“We could be Cutie Mark Crusader poker players!” said Apple Bloom.

“Now hold on a second, girls,” Open Book interrupted. The three fillies looked up from their plotting. “What gave you the idea that you would be good at poker?” he asked.

They paused. “We won’t know until we try, right?” said Scootaloo.

“Have you ever played poker before?” the counselor asked.

The fillies looked at each other. “Ah guess not,” Apple Bloom replied.

“Do you think that poker is likely to be your talent?”

“Maybe?” Scootaloo replied noncommittally.

“But Rainbow Dash said, the best way to find yer talent is to try lots of things at once!” Apple Bloom said.

Open Book checked his notes. “Rainbow Dash, you said?” He set his notes down. “In my experience, that approach is… not the best way to uncover one’s special talent. It’s normally better to try activities you’ve done in the past with some success. Think about your families. Do you think they were instantly good at their talents?”

Sweetie Belle pondered. “I’m not really sure about Mom and Dad, but Rarity’s story was pretty much like that!” she said.

“Same fer Applejack, but… Ah’d have to ask how good she was at applebuckin’ the first time she tried it,” said Apple Bloom.

Open Book smiled. “I think this session is done. Tonight, I want you fillies to think about everything you know about cutie marks,” he said. “I’d like to speak to each of you, individually, later on, after I speak with your families. Don’t worry. I won’t let you down. I’ve never failed to help a pony understand her special talent. Not even your teacher.”

Comments

[Airstream]

The CMC are relevant to my interests. I will track your story. Also, have a thumb.

[CoastalSarv]

Mmm, interesting. Following.

[Winterstorm]

I like this! It's about time somepony sat down and talked to them instead of letting them maim themseles.

[drnachos]

tinyurl.com/8yhyd5y