• Published 27th Apr 2019
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Errant Finale - Doug Graves



Chaos at the Grand Galloping Gala is the least of the Elements of Harmony's worries as they are called to defend Equestria!

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55 Hubris

“Now how are we gonna do that?” Apple Bloom asks, her voice straining. She glances around Starlight Glimmer’s house, as if there might be a clue hidden somewhere among the bare walls.

“Maybe if we knew what their cutie marks were, that might give us somewhere to start.” Scootaloo taps her hoof against her muzzle, humming to herself. “Didn’t Double Diamond say something about wanting to see his cutie mark?”

“I thought he said something that was the exact opposite of that,” Sweetie Belle says, slightly confused.

Scootaloo rolls her eyes. “Yeah, but did you hear how he said it? He’s obviously having second thoughts about the whole ‘giving up my cutie mark’ thing. Who knows how deep the rabbit hole goes?”

“Ah don’t think Fluttershy digs them that deep,” Apple Bloom remarks as Starlight Glimmer’s voice rings out among the town.

“In Sameness, there is Peace. Exceptionalism is a lie.”

The three fillies stare upwards in shock, the recording broadcasting from Starlight’s house.

“Uh,” Sweetie Belle says, each sharing her confused expression.

“Be your best, by never being your best.”

Muffled cursing comes from upstairs, the three young mares glancing at each other. Several bumps are followed by a loud ‘click’, and the voice cuts off. A few seconds later the pink unicorn walks down the stairs, her plastic smile twitching.

“What was that?” Scootaloo asks impertinently.

Starlight Glimmer chuckles, cocking her head slightly. “Oh, that? It was, um, nothing important. I just thought I heard some… subversive talk about cutie marks.”

“Sub-ver-sive?” Apple Bloom frowns.

Starlight Glimmer nods. “You know, ponies who are unhappy? Who might… diverge from the utopia that I’m- we’re establishing here?”

“But…” Sweetie Belle says, stepping up, “isn’t that the entire reason we’re here? To help ponies figure out the best way to work with their cutie mark?”

“Oh, you’re still on that?” Starlight Glimmer sighs, then perks right back up. “I’m glad to see you three are so optimistic! But we need to be prepared for every eventuality, including the one where you, sadly, aren’t able to help.”

“We’ll see about that!” Scootaloo says, yanking open the door. “Come on!”

The trio steps outside, leaving their bags and, to her sorrow, Apple Bloom’s ribbon. She keeps rubbing the spot, her loose mane spilling down her neck more so than normal.

“Come on, give it a rest,” Scootaloo says, shaking her head at Apple Bloom’s scratching.

“Hey, you go without something you’ve had your whole life and let me know how it feels,” Apple Bloom grunts out. “Ah just need something to get my mind off it.”

Scootaloo’s stomach grumbles. “Hey, maybe we can get something to eat?” The pegasus points towards a pink unicorn with a curly purple mane standing in front of a somewhat drab store with a sign of a loaf of bread. “Maybe we can get something from her!” The three walk up to the plain wood stall, looking over the meager selection of lumpy brown bricks with more than a little trepidation.

The mare’s cheery voice, just like everypony else in the town, rings out. “Welcome! My name is Sugar Belle! And you three are Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, right?” The unicorn steps out from behind her cart to better see the young mares, smiling like everypony else.

“That’s right!” Apple Bloom says, smiling back and recording the mare’s name on their list. “Are you a baker?”

“Well, um,” Sugar Belle replies, looking away and scratching her foreleg with a hoof. Her smile disappears as she sighs. “I am the town’s baker, yes. Can I get you anything?”

“Sure!” Sweetie Belle says eagerly. “What do you have?”

“We have… bagels.” Sugar Belle offers a hopeful smile, motioning to the lumps of what might be bread.

Silence stretches for several uncomfortable seconds before Scootaloo says, “Then we’ll take three bagels!”

“Okay!” Sugar Belle hoofs over three bagels, eagerly anticipating their response.

The three young mares bite into their bagels, chewing precisely twice before Apple Bloom and Scootaloo gag. They choke them down, then stare at Sweetie Belle as she goes for a second bite.

“What?” Sweetie Belle asks, chewing her piece methodically. “It’s only the second worst thing I’ve eaten, and it’s got nothing on that.”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shudder, tentatively taking a second bite each as Sweetie Belle polishes off her bagel.

Sugar Belle sighs, her frown returning. “I know I’m not a very good baker. Or, at least, I’m not any better than any pony else in the village.”

“Well, that’s obvious,” Scootaloo says, grimacing.

“Hey!” Sweetie Belle nearly yells, spinning around to glare at Scootaloo. “That’s no way to speak to anypony!”

“Whatever,” Scootaloo says, rolling her eyes. “Your cooking always been this bad?”

“No, it hasn’t,” Sugar Belle says, shaking her head. She stammers a little, her flank shaking a little. “I mean, ever since I joined our little village, it has been. It has to do with-” her voice cuts off, glancing nervously at the other ponies. Far too many of them seem to be paying a lot of attention to them, especially that April Showers. “But that’s all speculation, anyway.” Her voice drops low, whispering, “Meet me inside,” and walks into the bakery.

“Okay!” Apple Bloom says, following immediately after her and leaving her half eaten bagel on the stall.

“Uggh,” Scootaloo moans, especially as Sweetie Belle snags the lump of bread. She mutters, “At least try to be sneaky,” as they follow Apple Bloom inside the darkened building. The earth pony’s red tail disappears into the cellar, and the two trade nervous glances as they walk down the rickety steps.

“H-hello?” Sweetie Belle asks the darkened room. She startles as the door behind her slams shut, leaving only a thin line of light underneath and the rest of the room pitch black.

She is greeted by a soft click, and the shadowy faces of two ponies slowly emerge from the darkness. Then the light turns on, revealing the white face of Double Diamond and the blue face of Night Glider.

“Welcome!” they exclaim exuberantly.

Sweetie Belle lets out a loud sigh of relief as Scootaloo exclaims, “Hey, you’re members of Our Harmony!”

“Smart, kid,” Night Glider says, the pegasus sizing them up. “We heard you’re here to help with-” she glances back and forth, then upstairs “-cutie mark problems.”

“Yup!” says Apple Bloom. “What’s with all the secrecy?”

Sugar Belle narrows her eyes as she looks back the way they came. “It all has to do… with this.” She motions backwards, indicating her equality cutie mark. The thick gray bars seem to pulse, almost like they are sapping the vitality out of everypony, turning each of them a bit duller than normal. “And the spell that Starlight uses to remove everypony’s cutie mark.”

Scootaloo frowns. “Okay, so, let’s say that’s true. We’re trying to get rid of that mark, make it so you don’t have to have it any more.”

Each of the three ponies gasp, but Sugar Belle recovers quickly. “Starlight said you might be trying something like this. However, there are those in this town who have taken her message to heart. So, there’s something that we want you to do for us if we’re going to take this chance.”

“Hold up,” Apple Bloom says. “You want us to do something for you in order for us to do something for you?” She scratches a hoof against her head. “That don’t seem fair at all to me.”

“But think of the risk we’re taking,” Double Diamond says. “If this doesn’t work out, we could suffer some serious repercussions.”

“Like making you eat the bagels?” Scootaloo says, sticking her tongue out.

Night Glider points at the list Sweetie Belle is carrying around. “What we want, is for you to-”

The door to the basement opens, a green mare sticking her head in. April Showers narrows her eyes, demanding, “What’s going on in here?”

Scootaloo pokes Apple Bloom in the side, “I knew we should have been stealthier!”

“Hey, it’s not my fault!” Apple Bloom says loudly.

April Showers points a hoof at Sugar Belle. “You’re not trying to get special consideration, are you?!”

“N-no, of course not!” Sugar Belle exclaims defensively. “We’re just… talking… about our cutie marks! Yes!” She motions towards the three young mares. “And how these three will help us if, or when, we get them back!”

“Hmm,” April Showers says coldly, staring at each of the six ponies below her. Then her smile returns, just as chipper as everypony else in the town. “Well, if that’s the case, then I wish you the best of luck!”

“What?” Sweetie Belle says as April Showers turns to leave. “Wait!” The green mare looks back. “What about you?”

“What about me?” April Showers asks, glancing back as Sweetie Belle points at her flank. “Oh, my cutie mark?” She snorts. “I should have been born a pegasus. And even my cutie mark said that! Or it did, before I met Starlight Glimmer.”

“Huh?” Scootaloo asks, her head turning to the side to stare at the earth pony. "How does that work?"

April Showers nods. “Well, I made the unfortunate mistake of being born to two pegasi. Neither would admit to having any earth pony ancestors, but of course you know how pegasi can be.” Night Glider’s eyes narrow. “It drove my parents apart. And I don’t know what it’s like where you came from, but in Cloudsdale? An earth pony, especially one with only her dam looking after her, tends to fall through the cracks. And then when I got my cutie mark in weather crafting?” The green earth pony shakes her head, turning and shutting the door behind her as she leaves.

“Huh,” the trio says softly, sniffling back tears.

Night Glider sighs as he points towards the closed door. “April never really belonged anywhere. Her dam did the best she could, of course, but couldn’t or wouldn’t leave the life she had in Cloudsdale. So April grew up isolated, rarely able to leave the house if she wasn’t on somepony’s back. She had friends, of course, but so much of a Dale’s social life revolves around races and flying. So, while some foals go through a rebellious phase when they no longer have their dams telling them what to do, she went the other direction. Because she, deep inside her, wants you to belong.”

“So what can we do to help her?” asks Apple Bloom to nopony in particular, silence reigning for several seconds.

“For what it’s worth, I am sorry about the bagels I gave you,” Sugar Belle says contritely, breaking the silence. “It’s even worse because I used to be able to make all kinds of delicious sweets. But, then, ponies started complaining that I would use too much sugar.” Her eyes grow wider, her expression slightly maniacal. “And I said, ‘how can there be too much sugar?!’

“Shh,” Night Glider says soothingly, stroking Sugar Belle’s back. “It’s okay. That isn’t now. Those times aren’t here any more.”

“Isn’t pure sugar just, like, candy?” asks Sweetie Belle, her eyes furrowing.

Sugar Belle’s eye twitches. “Yes. But when I’m baking cakes? I’d tell you how it ruins it, but then I would show that I know more than somepony else. But the more I tried to stop myself using sugar, the more I wanted to, and it just got worse and worse. Until I met Starlight Glimmer.” Her smile returns. “Even if I can only bake as well as the worst pony with this cutie mark can.”

“And you?” Scootaloo asks Double Diamond. “Let me guess. Something about skiing?”

The white pony nods. “Yup. Not many ponies need a daredevil skier. Or any kind of skier, for that matter. Vanhoover’s about the only place with actual snow, but cross country skiing ain’t my thing.” A faint twinkly shows up in his eye as he looks far, far away. “Going downhill, breaking left and right to dodge trees and boulders? Now that’s living. But, you can only do so much of that before you have to eat, you know?” He glances at Night Glider; she returns a half-smile. “Or start a family.”

“Well,” Apple Bloom says to her sisters, “this may be a bit harder than Ah thought.”

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