"Better Luck Next Time" and Other Short Stories

by Tarot Card

Better Luck Next Time

The prompt: Rainbow Dash’s first sonic rainboom gave all of the mane six their cutie marks. What did her second rainboom do?

Apple Bloom gave one last stroke of the paint roller, before dropping it back into the bucket. She sighed, and sat back on her haunches, exhausted. It had taken her two weeks, working everyday, from after school till dinner time, but she was done.

Covered in sweat, sawdust, and paint, she stepped back to admire her handiwork. The little hoof-me-down clubhouse was almost unrecognizable. She had spared no labor, no expense in making sure she and her friends had the best meeting spot for their crusading. All the old and rotted planks were replaced, the windows restored, with new shutters and even crown moulding. She remembered scrambling on top of the roof, and installing new shingles, with nothing to go by but a set of old home improvement magazines loaned from Twilight Sparkle’s collection.

The paint had been the real challenge. Not so much the color scheme, but reaching all the nooks and crannies.The little yellow filly had to drag a ladder all the way from the barn by herself. Keeping purchase on the wooden rungs was difficult enough without having to apply accent paint. Still, with remarkable and uncharacteristic care and patience, she turned the dingy tree fort into a filly’s dream house. Even though she had never tried her hoof at renovation before, The tiny clubhouse was just as charming and sturdy as any residence in Ponyville. Hay, her workmanship would probably have exceeded Ponyville building standards had it been built on solid ground. The fact that she was just a filly, (and one without the assistance of a horn, or even anypony else) just made the feat all the more impressive. She briefly considered finding Applejack and showing off the clubhouse, but then she remembered her sister was visiting Cloudsdale with her friends that day.

Even though there was nopony else to admire it, she felt a sense of awe at her own achievement. Had she really crafted such a lovely thing with her own hooves? The structure was masterwork. Apple Bloom was good at building. She was really good at building.

She thought to the time she made a crib for her doll. Stole Big Mac’s tools right from under his nose, and he didn’t find out till she showed him what she had crafted. The rocking chair she made for Granny Smith’s birthday. The fence Applejack had her put up. The family apple cart she repaired dozens of times.

Could it be? Could it be her one special talent?

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a glowing… coming from… her flank!

Before she could react, she heard a roaring boom, like a lightning bolt striking right by her. A pressure wave knocked her off her hooves and onto her back. she watched in stunned silence as a ring of rainbow expanded across the sky, spreading out to every corner. She felt a second pressure wave as the ring passed over her, and she thought she saw a rainbow streak flying through the center.

“Now what the hay is that?” she asked to nopony in particular. She got back onto her hooves and spun around, trying to get a glimpse of her flank.

She saw a blur of dust coating her flank. But she managed to contain herself long enough to surreptiously wipe away all traces of soil and sawdust before taking a second look. She closed her eyes, counted to three, and popped them back open.Her flank was blank as ever. “Ah ponyfeathers, ah thought fer sure I was gonna get a cutie mark this time.”

She dusted herself, and looked at where she fell in the dirt. In the midst the splashes of paint, was a neat little picture of a hammer, overlapping a saw, forming an X. She studied it momentarily, and nudged it with her hoof. It shifted, as though the image was comprised of grains of grit and dust. A gentle breeze scattered the hammer and saw into the wind. She thought of the sand, and wondered how it got into such a shape.

It reminded her of one of Cheerilee’s lessons. Something called “Mandalas”. Little pictures made by monks far up in the mountains of Neighpal, by placing each grain of sand, individually, until the whole picture was made, only for it to be destroyed by rain or wind. That gave her an idea.

Apple Bloom packed up her tools, and trotted home, planning her next crusade. She wondered with a small grin how Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo would like the sound of “Cutie Mark Crusader Mandala makers”.

Comments

[Honey Mead]

That was depressing.

[Derpy_Dash]

Oh Applebloom, that WAS your cutie mark!!
it was??

[StageQuill]

Poor AB! That just ain't fair!

[RyanMagika]

You depressing piece of... nevermind. Good show! for only 30 minutes!

[Nevermind1]

That's not funny, It's just depressing

I like it

[The1templar]

Damn now I am sad.

[PiMan]

Just had an idea.
If the first rainboom gave all the Mane 6 their cutie marks, and the second stopped Applebloom getting hers; then through the same fate tying of the first one, the second should also tie the fate of the CMC not getting theirs.
Sweetie Belle might have been just about to get hers, but the boom gives her a fright and she's no longer willing to go on stage and sing.
For Scootaloo, my idea is that she's on her way to a sporting goods store to buy <insert non-scooter device here>, but the rainboom shakes up the store so much that only the scooter is undamaged. She buys it, not knowing that what she came for in the first place would have given her a cutie mark. (This one isn't a great story, but with some further thought it could be changed to work.)