Magical Mystery Marks

by bdoubleowo

Pinkie Pie's Story

Magical Mystery Marks

Pinkie Pie's Story

Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike waved goodbye to Fluttershy, who waved back, and headed towards Rainbow’s cottage. Rainbow needed to get back to caring for the animals, and Spike wanted to help, so Twilight dropped them off and headed off on her own.

Fluttershy had said that Pinkie could probably be found at Sweet Apple Acres, so Twilight headed in that direction. The path to the orchard, although familiar, seemed different and strange now that everything had changed. Twilight’s thoughts swirled around her mind as she trotted along the road. Why had her friends’ cutie marks changed? How did this happen in the first place? Who was responsible? Twilight made a mental note to check as soon as she returned to the library.

Soon, the familiar sight of Sweet Apple Acres appeared. Twilight reared up and galloped through the open gate – only to be greeted with the sight of Pinkie Pie, of all ponies, bucking an apple tree while singing a song. The song had a tune that Twilight had heard twice before, but with a slight change:

“I don’t care much for pickin’ fruit, and plowin’ fields ain’t such a hoot!” Pinkie sang, while running like a bullet all over the place, ending by pushing the plow with her head. Then, in the blink of an eye, she ran back to the barn and started strangling a gutter. “No matter what I try, I can’t FIX THIS BUSTED WATER CHUTE!” Suddenly, the gutter broke off and Pinkie fell into a puddle of water.

Twilight blinked at this sight, and when she looked up again Pinkie was pulling a cart full of chickens in cages. She raised an eyebrow at this too.

“I have so many chores to do, it’s no fun being me!” Pinkie sang, and tears sprung to Twilight’s eyes. She blinked rapidly to clear them. Remembering how Pinkie was with her three-balloons cutie mark, comparing with that one statement from Pinkie’s own mouth, made Twilight’s heart hurt. She rubbed her eyes with her hoof, clearing the remaining tears.

“But it’s got to be my destiny…” Pinkie bucked a tree, then held a bucket underneath it. Instead of landing in the bucket, the apples that fell hit Pinkie right on the head, knocking her over. “’Cause it’s what my cutie mark is telling me.” Pinkie rubbed her head while lying on her back, showing her cutie mark. Twilight blinked again, wondering if her eyes were deceiving her. Pinkie’s cutie mark had changed as well, from three balloons to three apples.

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. Pinkie blinked, and looked over at her unicorn friend.

“Oh, hi, Twilight!” Pinkie looked happy to see her, and Twilight smiled. “What’s up? Want some apples?”

“Um…” Twilight did feel rather hungry, as she had missed breakfast in order to talk to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “Sure!”

“Awesome!” Pinkie picked up the apples that had fallen on her head, and Twilight helped. When they were done, the two went into the barn to put them away.

“Thanks for your help, Twilight!” Pinkie smiled and hoofed Twilight a bucketful of apples. “Here’s your apples! Free of charge, ‘cause you helped me!”

“Pinkie. . . no. . . I can’t. . .” Twilight was already going through her saddlebag for her payment.

“No buts!” Pinkie said, pushing her hoof into Twilight’s mouth. “I insist!”

“Mmph. . .” Twilight said, levitating Pinkie’s hoof out of her mouth. She coughed twice, then nodded. “Alright.”

“So! Did you want anything else?” Pinkie asked.

“Actually, yes. I was just wondering; how did you get your cutie mark?” Twilight asked her. Pinkie blinked, confused.

“I never told you? Wow!” She smacked her forehead. “How did I forget to tell you?! Never mind. The point is, you’re in for a story!” Pinkie sat down on a hay bale, and Twilight sat down next to her.

Pinkie inhaled, then exhaled. “It all started when I was a filly, working on my family’s rock farm. . .”

***********************

“The Pie family rock farm was probably the last place that you would think a pony like me would grow up! It was gray, dreary, and hard work; but for Igneous Rock, Cloudy Quartz, and their four foals Maud, Limestone, Marble, and I, it was home. Their days consisted of moving rocks into the barn and making them into things like sidewalk plates, gravel for walkways, and many other items. However, this one day would change the life of one of the Pies forever!” Twilight sat silently, listening intently. Pinkie smiled at this, and continued her story.

“I was hard at work, pushing a rock towards the barn. It was tough work, but somepony had to do it! I had stopped pushing for a second so that I could catch my breath – and that’s when it happened!” Pinkie stopped talking for dramatic effect. Suddenly, she shouted “BOOM!” Twilight jumped back, and Pinkie laughed nervously. “Sorry. Anyway, that noise was made by something that caused rainbow light to extend outward from a point in the sky. I didn’t learn until much later that that ‘something’ was called a ‘Sonic Rainboom.’”

Twilight sat back on her hay bale. “Wait, a Sonic Rainboom? Really? You saw it too?!”

“Yeah! It was really cool. The shock wave sent me straight into the ground! Looking up, I noticed that my mane had become really frizzy, as opposed to my mane’s usual straightness.” She shook her mane, which indeed was straight.

Twilight cocked her head. “So, what happened?”

“Suddenly, another huge rainbow shot across my vision! For some reason, it seemed that the rainbow ended at some place in Ponyville, the neighboring town for the rock farm, and where we are now, obviously. My eyes grew wide, and I gasped. At that moment, I realized that rock farming was not what I was meant to do!”

“That’s true!” Twilight said. “Rock farming wasn’t your destiny at all! But how did you find what your destiny was?”

“Well. . . I was very sad, but I knew my family wouldn’t accept that my destiny wasn’t rock-related. I left the rock farm, following the path until I reached Ponyville. Once in Ponyville, I went to Sugarcube Corner. Inside, a yellow pegasus filly was working behind the counter. She said her name was Fluttershy, and I asked her where I could get a place to stay.” Pinkie smiled at the memory. Twilight blinked.

“You met Fluttershy as a filly?” Twilight asked. “She didn’t mention that.”

“Yep! Well, I met her after she earned her cutie mark. She had three balloons on her flank, and she was baking a cake. I asked her where I could get a place to stay, and she said that there was a farm that had an open room since one of the family’s foals had left for Manehattan. I thanked her, and then ran up here to Sweet Apple Acres, where Granny Smith told me that I could have the room. I’ve been earning my keep by bucking apples and by doing chores, and after bucking apples for a while on my first day, I felt a peculiar sensation on my flank.”

“You got your cutie mark?!” Twilight asked, excited to hear the answer.

“Exactly! I got my cutie mark!” Pinkie showed Twilight her flank, and Twilight blushed a little. “My cutie mark was three apples, showing my apple-bucking prowess! Nowadays, that’s my job, and actually, I’ve made up with my family! They accept my cutie mark and my destiny, rock-related or not. And that’s how Equestria was made!”

Twilight had been listening so intently, the last sentence threw her for a loop. “What?”

“Maybe one day I’ll tell you how I got my cutie mark, Twilight!” Pinkie jumped off her hay bale, and shook Twilight’s hoof. “It’s a real gem! Sadly, though, I gotta get back to work. It was great to see you!” She smiled. “Enjoy the apples!” Pinkie ran off towards the fields, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts.

Twilight’s thoughts once again swirled around her mind, and she shook her head to clear them. Blinking once, Twilight cleared her head, and trotted in the direction Pinkie went. However, she was heading back to the center of Ponyville.

While there, Twilight’s thoughts returned. She remembered that Pinkie had stated that she had only received the room in Sweet Apple Acres because one of the Apple Family’s foals had left for Manehattan. She also remembered that in Applejack’s original cutie mark story, she had headed for Manehattan to live with her aunt and uncle Orange. Twilight stopped in her tracks, annoying a passing Shoeshine who had turned to trot behind the purple unicorn right at that moment.

If Pinkie had achieved the room at Sweet Apple Acres because Applejack was in Manehattan. . . where would Applejack be now? Would she be in Ponyville, or in Manehattan? Twilight rubbed her head, clearing the impending migraine. That’s when her earlier thought returned to her: what would Applejack’s new cutie mark, and new cutie mark story, be?

Comments

[EverfreePony]

10096134
No problem!

Well, for example, you could have Fluttershy inquire how much Twilight knows already, so that she wouldn't repeat herself.

[bdoubleowo]

10096171 Alright! :)

[EverfreePony]

I was wondering how are you gonna handle Pinkie's story. Very well done!

[bdoubleowo]

10100999 Thanks! :)