Mark Atlas: Future Explorer!

by The Real Mark Atlas

Chapter 2: Costume conundrum

Author's Note:

This chapter contains harsh but long overdue parental discipline but is pretty lighthearted slice of life otherwise. Hope you enjoy and feel like sticking around for more after.

The following morning, Mark and his parents, Pen and Saga, went off together to Scorch's house. Saga had promised that something would be done about Scorch's actions yesterday, and she had meant it. Mark hadn't been hurt, at least this time, but somepony picking on her son was one of the few things that could get her fuming mad, like a mother bear protecting her cubs. Even Pen was surprised to see her as upset as she was on her way there, which could be felt in the stomp in every step she took.

"Now honey, you need to calm down," Pen said with concern, stopping her with a hoof and gently patting her on the side. "We're going to be professional about this, and deal with it in a mature and responsible manner."

Saga rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes. I'll be very mature as I give Mrs. Blackburn a piece of my mind about her out of control son, and demand an explanation for why his behavior has been allowed to continue like this!"

Mark watched, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Sure, his mother wasn't angry at him. Being a normally well behaved colt, that hardly ever happened, save for days where he strayed too far from home or stayed out too late. Still, it was always scary to see her like this, no matter who was the target of her wrath.

Pen held his wife's chin, calmly looking her in the eye. "Look, honey. I know you're upset. I am, too. It isn't right the way her son has been treating Mark. But you need to keep your anger under control so we can handle this properly. Okay?"

Saga sighed. "Okay, fine," She admitted, holding his face by the chin now, and smiling. "You're lucky you're so handsome, you know."

"Years of practice," Pen proudly said with his head held high.

Saga giggled. "How do you practice looks?"

"Oh, you overthink everything! Just get over here!" He said, playfully sounding annoyed, pulling his wife in to nuzzle her and their lips meeting for a kiss.

"Eeeeewww! Gross!" Mark reacted with his tongue stuck out, pretending to gag and just walking forward on his own. He knew they'd catch up after they had their moment.

A few minutes later, the three had reached the house they were going to, Saga finally having been calmed down, for the most part at least. She had a serious look on her face, containing her anger and taking a deep breath when Pen knocked on the door, Mark in between the two of them.

The door was answered, and a gray earth pony mare with a purple mane and a blue flame cutie mark was revealed on the other side as it opened. "Oh, Mistah and Missus Atlas! This is a surprise!" The mare said in her city accent.

"Mrs. Blackburn, we need to talk," Pen said, holding his forehoof up.

Mrs. Blackburn's eyes immediately widened, and her ears went down. "It's about my son, ain't it?"

Pen nodded, telling her all she needed to know.

"Oh, fah pony's sake. Not again." Mrs. Blackburn looked down shamefully, eyes to the floor. "I am so sorry about my son. Nothing I do evah seems to woik with him. It's always one thing aftah anothah!"

"Well, punish his sorry flank and get him to behave for once, why don't--" Saga snapped, before being interrupted by her husband putting a foreleg over her chest, causing her to stop and take another deep breath, internally berating herself for allowing herself to get carried away for a moment. "Sorry. You're right, dear. Go on."

"Mrs. Blackburn, I realize that raising a child can be... challenging at times, but regardless, you need to nip this behavior of his in the bud right now," Pen stated calmly.

"I undahstand, Mistah Atlas. No more Mrs. nice mom fah me." She said, her expression turning much more aggressive, before turning her head back inside. "Scoich Oleandah Blackboin! You get yah flank down here this instant, young stallion!"

Mark shivered at her words. Oh dear. The dreaded middle name. Mark hadn't had many of these moments, but his own mother's use of that deadly power word on him always let him know he really messed up.

Scorch had come down soon after, grumbling to himself and stomping down the stairs. "What?! I ain't done nothin'!" Scorch yelled on his way down.

"Don't use that tone with me, mistah! What did ya do ta Mahk this time?" She said sternly, pointing a hoof at him.

"Nothin'! I told ya, nothin'! I nevah was even at the pahk yestahday!" Scorch denied as he looked away.

"I nevah said anything about the pahk, or yestahday, until ya just denied it! I'll take that as a confession! Now tell me, and Mistah and Missus Atlas, exactly whatcha did!" Mrs. Blackburn ordered as she grabbed a hold of his face and turned him to face the three at the door.

Scorch groaned and stayed silent, looking frustrated.

"Well?" His mother pressed him.

He only responded by mumbling under his breath, barely able to be heard.

"Young stallion, ya'd bettah tell us all whatcha did in the next ten seconds, or ya gettin' a big, fat spankin', right heah!" His mother threatened and stomped her hoof, Mark even getting the chills listening to her.

"Alright, alright! I took his little doohickey he made with the funny name, and I broke it! On poipose! Happy now?!"

"Well that wasn't a very nice thing ta do," She scolded him and then turned to Mark. "And Mahk, how long did it take ya to make this little... doohickey?"

"Three weeks." Mark said with a nervous nod, leaning by his father for comfort.

"Well, mistah," Mrs. Blackburn said, turning her attention back to her son. "Ya have two choices heah. Ya can be grounded fah three weeks, or ya can help Mahk rebuild it. What's it gonna be?"

"Ugh! Ya gotta be kiddin' me!" Scorch protested.

"Oh, I've nevah been more serious! And while ya at it, ya can say ya sorry to Mahk fah bein' mean ta him!" Mrs. Blackburn demanded.

Scorch groaned and looked down and to the side, mumbling something.

"I said, say ya sorry!" She ordered again.

He mumbled quickly and a little louder, but still barely able to be heard as he refused to look at anypony.

"Loud enough fa all of us ta hear it! Apologize! I ain't tellin' ya again!" His mother shouted at him, looking even more furious than Mark's mother did before.

Scorch gritted his teeth before finally snapping. "Fuhget it! I ain't apologizin' ta that slimy little twoip!"

This made all three of the adults gasp, while Mark simply frowned. He knew this was probably coming.

"Alright! That does it!" Mrs. Blackburn declared, before turning over to the Atlas family. "Once again, I am so terribly sorry for what happened. I'll see what I can do tomorrow about, um, whatevah it was that he broke again," She then turned back to her son, grabbing him by the ear. "And as fah you, ya grounded fa one whole month! Now come back in heah! Ya gonna give the whole house a cleanin' from top ta bottom while ya think about whatcha did!"

"Very well. I think we're done here, then," Pen says politely with a nod.

Scorch, meanwhile, was panicking as he was being dragged away. "No! No! C'mon, Mom, Gimme a break! Stooooop!" He was seen kicking and struggling in his mother's grip before the door was shut behind them.

"Well, I think that should teach him a thing or two," Saga chirped with satisfaction, stepping over to Mark and ruffling his mane. "I told you I'd take care of things. Nopony messes with my precious little colty," She said in an affectionate tone while grabbing him in for a hug and nuzzling him.

Mark giggled while trying to get out of the hug. "Moooom! Not in public!" He said as his efforts to escape the hug were fruitless, before finally just giving up and accepting his fate. He was getting hugs and nuzzles right now whether he liked it or not. "Okay, you win, mom! I love you, too!" Mark said with a laugh as he just let his mother have her way.

"Well, I'd better hurry to clock in for work. Can't be late, now," Pen declared.

"Good idea," Saga agreed, before finally letting go of Mark. "I'd better go home and get back to my writing. Mark, are you going to stay outside and play?"

Mark nodded. "Uh-huh. In a few hours, I'm gonna see my new friend Fluttershy, and we're going to play together!"

"Oh, look at you go. Already dedicating more time to your new friend, huh?" Saga nuzzles Mark lightly one more time. "Have fun with your new friend, sweetie. Just be back in time for dinner, okay?"

Mark nodded again, and Pen chuckled as he headed off to work. "That's my boy."

---

At noon that day, Mark had gone to the woods where he had met Fluttershy to see her again, just as she offered the day before.

"F-Fluttershy? Are you there?" Mark called out softly, looking around for her.

"I'm up here," Fluttershy responded while slowly descending from the sky and landing with her hooves on the grass, with a warm smile on her face. "You really did come."

"Of course I did!" Mark exclaimed while bouncing happily. "Why wouldn't I? We're friends, after all!"

"I... I guess I was worried that seeing you again seemed... too good to be true," Fluttershy said, blushing while hiding behind her mane.

"Yet here I am," Mark proudly declared. "So what do you wanna do today?"

Fluttershy dug at the ground nervously. "Well, um, I don't have a lot of time before I'll be missed at camp, so I was hoping, we could just, maybe, you know, relax and talk for a little bit?"

"Sure. That sounds fun. There's so much I want to ask you," Mark said before taking a deeeeeeep inhale. "What's Cloudsdale like? What does it feel like to fly? What do clouds feel like? Do they taste like cotton candy? Do rainbows really taste like skittles? Can you fly upside down? Do you know the Wonderbolts?" Mark asked all in one breath with a giant smile.

Fluttershy just stopped and went silent for a second, completely expressionless as she processed all of that, before she started to smile again, giggling at his nerdy yet adorable barrage of questions. "Um, in order, it's okay, depends on how I'm feeling, soft like pillows, they don't taste very good, they're actually spicy, I can't but others can, and no, but another friend of mine wants to join them someday."

"So cool!" Mark's eyes sparkled and his face was beaming.

A while later, while lying on the grass and gazing up at the clouds, the two of them spent their time telling each other about their personal lives, their interests, their favorite foods, favorite games, and their families.

"And so, besides Rainbow Dash, I don't really have a lot of friends in Cloudsdale. Well, besides my little brother." Fluttershy said to Mark, eyes to the sky.

Mark's ears perked up immediately and he sat up. "Oh my gosh! You have a little brother?!" Mark asked excitedly.

"Mmm hmm." Fluttershy confirmed, nodding and still lying down. "Just a year younger, but he's a teeny bit more... active than I am. I'll put it that way."

"I bet you're a great big sister," Mark said, going back to lying down next to Fluttershy. "I wish I had a brother. It's... lonely being an only child."

"It's not always easy having a brother, either. He can be a bit much at times, but he's worth it," Fluttershy replied, smiling fondly.

"I'm still a little jealous," Mark admitted, his eyes rolling as he went into thought. "And also a little jealous that I don't have wings like you. I always have wanted to be able to fly. It's a kind of feeling that an earth pony like me can only dream of. It seems like it would be so fun to just soar around the sky without a care in the world."

"Well, it's not as fun when you have dozens of ponies watching your every move and--"

"Silently judging you?" Mark finished for Fluttershy.

Fluttershy giggled. "So funny that we keep doing that."

"I suppose we just understand each other so well," Mark said with a little shrug.

"To be honest, I'm a little jealous of you," Fluttershy returned Mark's confession with her own. "Before I fell down here yesterday, I had never been on the ground before. I never knew that there were so many adorable animals here, and how beautiful it was up close. And you get to live down here."

"Well, if you like it so much down here, maybe you could live here too someday?" Mark suggested.

"You know... that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Fluttershy contemplated before getting up and stretching her wings a bit. "Well, it was nice talking with you, Mark, but I have to go back before anypony notices that I'm gone."

"Awww, already?" Mark whined with disappointment. "It's okay. I understand. I wouldn't want everypony to get worried about you like yesterday."

"Thanks, Mark. Believe me, I'd love to play another game of bunny attack if I had the time," Fluttershy said with a chuckle, covering her mouth with her hoof remembering last time.

Mark smirked. "Only because you know you'll win."

"Oh no, you found me out!" She replied sounding jokingly surprised, and the two laugh together. "I'll spend more time with you when I can. I'd love to see more of the animals around here with you, too. Same time tomorrow?"

"You bet!" Mark accepted.

She then gave him a hug over the neck, standing on the ground this time. "Goodbye, Mark. See you tomorrow."

Eep! Still not used to that yet, Mark thought.

After she broke the hug, she flew up towards the sky, slowly going out of view as Mark waved goodbye. At that point, Mark was alone once more, left with his thoughts once more.

That was nice, but a little short. Maybe... I should try to make other friends? That way, I can have even more ponies to have fun with if one is too busy. I can make more... can't I?

After making his way back home, Mark went to his bed to think and write about the time he had with Fluttershy. He also figured it would be best to rest his hooves a little bit before heading back out, while giving him some more time to mull over other thoughts as well.

The Atlas Files: Entry ♤♡♧A

Going back into the woods again where I first encountered Fluttershy, I saw her again. And guess what? She actually wants to spend time with me again, too! And even though our time together was brief, this experience truly was an eye-opener for me. I could very well be able to spend time with her every day we can from now on, all because I was bold enough to talk to her just one time. I really have to think about the implications, here. Just one simple action can change everything. I was so worried about ponies not liking me, but Fluttershy did. Maybe I had it all wrong. But this is far from over. I need to experiment further with this. Was this merely an isolated incident, or was it the rule rather than the exception? If I could make one friend, who's to say I can't make another?

This moment of reflection came to a halt, however, when his mother Saga got his attention, snapping him out of his train of thought. "Oh, you're back! I'm so sorry to bother you, Mark, but I just wanted to tell you that somepony dropped by asking to see you while you were gone."

That got Mark's attention and he sat up on his bed. "Really? Who wants to see me?"

"You know that filly from school, Rarity? Her father came here, asking if you could come over. He said he had a present for you."

"Huh? But why would he want to see me and give me something?" Mark wondered aloud, certainly perplexed by such a thing coming out of the blue.

"I don't know. I offered to give it to you when you got back, but he said he wanted to see the look on your face when he gave it to you. You know where they live, right?"

Mark nodded. "I do. I've never been inside, but I have seen her go there on our way back after school," He said before getting up out of bed and standing on all four hooves. "I'd better go and see what he wants. I'll be back, Mom."

Saga smiled and pat him on the back. "Have fun, sweetie."

---

Mark traveled through the streets of Ponyville, setting a course for Rarity's house. Upon reaching the door, he gave it a knock with his hoof, and saw it open soon after.

Inside at the doorstep was, sure enough, Rarity's father, a fairly tall white unicorn with a brown mane and mustache, sporting a cutie mark with three hoofballs, and wearing a vest with a lightly colored floral pattern.

"Oh, there you are. You must be Mark, right?" He said while crouching down to be at eye level with Mark.

"Y-Yes, sir. I'm Mark. Y-You, w-wanted to see me?" Mark said, stammering nervously. He was still uneasy around new ponies, though the stallion's crouching helped make it a little less intimidating.

"Well, don't be shy. Come on in! I've got a surprise for you. You're gonna love it," He said, motioning a hoof inside for Mark to follow.

"O-Okay," Mark complied, slowly stepped inside, still nervous but also very curious. What could he possibly want with me? I don't even know him, and I barely know his daughter.

Rarity's dad took him inside to the living room, where there was a mare sitting down in a recliner. She was a pink unicorn with a tall purple mane, wearing a red dress with white frills, as well as yellow bead earrings.

"Oh, you made it! Been waiting to meet you. Mark Atlas, if I'm not mistaken?" The mare said full of cheer.

"Uh-huh. H-Hi." He said, shyly waving a hoof.

Rarity's dad sat on a loveseat sofa in front of a small coffee table. The table in question had a plate of cookies and a small object covered by a cloth on it. The stallion tapped his hoof on the adjacent cushion. "Go ahead, bud. Take a seat."

"Yes, sir," Mark said, now smiling as he got up onto the loveseat.

"Good. So nice to finally have you over. I'm Hondo Flanks, and this is my wife, Cookie Crumbles," He said, pointing to his wife as he introduced her.

"Oh. Well, it's very nice to meet you, Mr. Flanks. Mrs. Crumbles," Mark said while giving a polite little bow to each of them.

"Aww, now aren't you just the most polite little gentlecolt?" Cookie Crumbles said with her hoof to her chest, and pointing her other hoof to the plate of cookies on the table. "Would you like a cookie? I made them myself."

"Yes, please. Thank you, Ma'am." Mark said while blushing a bit, reaching for a cookie and munching on it. It was such a deliciously sweet chocolate chip with just the right amount of crunch, and he savored the taste. "Mmmmm!"

"Oh, goodness, me. Somepony likes his cookies, doesn't he?" Cookie Crumbles singsongs.

"Mmm hmm!" Mark hummed with his mouth full, before finishing with a gulp. "They're very delectable, Mrs. Crumbles. But, um, if I may ask, why did you two want to see me? My mom said that you had something you wanted to give me, but it seems odd to do that for a pony you've never met."

Hondo Flanks pointed to the object on the table covered in cloth. "It's under there. Take a look for yourself."

"Yes, sir," Mark curiously grabbed the cloth and took it off, a great, big smile coming across his face as he saw what it was.

"My sextant! My sextant! It's fixed!" He exclaimed, bouncing in place excitedly on the cushion. There it was. The sextant that he spent weeks making, the very one that Scorch destroyed. It looked just like it did when he was finished, as if it was never broken at all. The mirrors didn't even have so much as a crack on them.

Hondo laughed happily. "Yes! That's exactly what I was waitin' for! Wouldn't wanna miss that reaction!"

"How'd you do it? It was broken in pieces!"

"Magic," Cookie Crumbles answered. "I took a class on repair magic in community college. Thought it would come in handy to fix broken toys. I wasn't sure how it was supposed to be put together, but my husband sure did. It was a team effort."

"Well, I tried a few other things before my hoofball career hit its peak," Hondo said, shrugging and turning back to Mark. "Ya really make this sextant all on your own? Pretty nice piece of work."

"Yes, Mr. Flanks. I made it all by myself," Mark said with a flattered smile. "But... why'd you do all of this for me?"

"Oh, it was our daughter's idea. She saw this colt at the park break it, and, generous little filly she was, brought all the pieces back and asked us to help 'er fix it for ya," Hondo answered with pride in his daughter's generosity.

"Really? She did that for me?" Mark smiled warmly, touched that a pony he barely knew would go out of her way to do something so nice for him. "I've got to thank her properly for this. Where is she?"

"Oh, she's upstairs, busy workin' on a little project of hers. She'll be down when she's done," Hondo answered Mark. "Would you believe she got her cutie mark just last night?"

"No way! Really?" Mark asked excitedly.

"I know, such a pleasant surprise. She found some sparkly gemstones yesterday and used them to made some costumes for a play that were just the cat's pajamas, and wouldn't you know it, there it was!" Cookie chirped with delight.

"That's so neat! And thank you both so much, too, for doing this for me!" Mark said, politely bowing his head once more.

"No problem, sweetums." Cookie Crumlbes assured. "We've been so busy around here, what with us getting ready for our new bundle of joy on the way, but we found time to finish it up, just for you."

Mark tilted his head curiously, and saw Cookie Crumbles was rubbing her belly, which, upon another look, seemed to be in a round bulge under her dress. Realizing what she meant, Mark's heart melted and smiled widely. "Awwww! You're having a foal?"

"Sure am, puddin'. Come a few more months, and she'll be keeping us even busier," Cookie Crumbles said giggling, before pointing over to the plate again. "Would you care for more cookies? Take them home, even. We have so many."

"Really? All of them? Thanks! You're the best!" Mark cheered with joy as she watched her put all the cookies on the plate in a plastic bag for him.

"We wouldn't have so many if you didn't bake so many," Hondo pointed out.

"What? I just wanted to make sure I made enough! I am eating for two now, you know!" Cookie argued, she and her husband sharing a laugh.

At that moment, the sound of a knock on the door was heard, getting the attention of Mark as well as Rarity's parents.

"I'll get it!" Hondo said, getting up to answer it. Shortly after opening the door, he looked back inside over to face his wife. "Good news, it's the remodelers I hired!"

"Perfect, let them in!" Cookie said, clapping her hooves together.

He invited the ones at the door to come inside, revealing three stallions dressed in jumpsuits which were wheeling in a cart full of various boxes, crates and cans.

"Alright, we've got all the necessary supplies. Please, Sir, show us the room, and we'll get right on the job," One of the stallions said to Hondo.

"What's all this about?" Mark asked the two parents.

"Oh, see, we hired some ponies to turn our old storage room into a nursery. Got to make space for the new foal and all," Cookie explained.

Hondo got up from the loveseat and stood up on all fours. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Mark, but we're probably gonna be pretty busy for a while. Was hoping to see you here sooner, but we've got to instruct the remodelers where we want everything to go."

"Oh, it's okay. It was nice of you to fix my sextant for me, and invite me over. Tell Rarity I said thank you, okay?" Mark said, getting up off the loveseat as well, and putting the cookies in his saddlebag. "And Mrs. Crumbles, I'll be sure to share these cook--"

"Aaaaaggggghhhh! It just isn't working!" A loud voice erupted from upstairs, interrupting Mark, with the sound of hoofsteps coming soon after.

Then, Rarity herself could be seen coming down the stairs, now with her cutie mark of three diamonds, and she brought down a clear bag of broken and torn costumes with her.

"Mother, Father, please tell me you can fix these broken costumes!" Rarity pleaded in distress. "The play last night was so perfect that they want an encore performance tonight, and the costumes were all damaged in an accident! I thought I could fix them by myself, but I simply don't have the time! Mother, you can use your magic on these, right?"

Cookie Crumbles looked at the broken costumes. They were all in pretty bad shape, needing some serious work before they could see the light of day again. "Oh dear, Rarity. I wish you told me sooner. We have so much work to do for the new foal. I could have a couple of these ready by tonight, but all of them? We just don't have that kind of time right now," She regretfully informed Rarity, much to her disappointment.

Left to see all these events unfold, Mark examined the situation.

It looks like Rarity is in a bit of a bind here. If she can't get these costumes fixed, then her encore performance will have to be postponed or canceled. She looks like she could use some help.

"I... I can help you, Rarity," Mark offered, waving a hoof to her.

"Oh, Mark! You made it!" Rarity exclaimed, too distraught by her costume predicament that she didn't notice he was here earlier. "You... You really want to help me?"

"Uh, yeah," Mark said, shyly rubbing the back of his head with a hoof. "I don't know what I'll be doing exactly, but I'm good at following directions. You just tell me what you need, and I'll get it done. It's the least I could do, after you helped me fix my sextant."

"That sure is a nice thing to offer, Mark. Good on you for bein' so polite," Hondo praised.

"What did I tell you? Such a well mannered little gentlecolt." Cookie agreed. "Mark, how about you come over tomorra afternoon, and we can bake some brownies together?"

Mark blushed and smiled. "You're gonna make me pudgy if you keep giving me all these sweets. But okay. Brownies sound good. Thank you, Mrs. Crumbles."

"Uh... Sir? Ma'am?" One of the remodelers got Rarity's parent's attention.

"Oh, right. Job to do," Hondo flank said, snapping out of his distraction, his wife getting up to follow him, directing the remodelers to the spare room. "See ya, you two. Have fun," He said as he parted from Mark and Rarity.

Rarity, meanwhile, took this opportunity to suddenly wrap him in a big hug. "Oh, thank you, Mark! Thank you!"

More hugs? Is this a thing? I guess I'll HAVE to get used to it now! Hehehe... "N-No problem, Rarity.

---

MUSIC: https://youtu.be/2uSOjLOT94g

Wasting no time, the two ponies got to work on the first costume, one made out of a bunch of fake fruit. Rarity gave Mark a tube of glue, and as a team, they re-attached the pieces of fruit that were separated from each other, as well as gluing the gems that had fallen off back on, Mark applying the pressure needed to hold them in place while the glue dried. With both their efforts combined, it was looking just fine again in no time.

The second costume was made of several strands of yellow fabric, many of which torn off here and there. As instructed, Mark used some measuring tape to get the length for each one, organizing them into piles by size, allowing Rarity to easily tell which one was supposed to go where. Using the sewing machine, she stitched them all back on one by one, it looking good as new when they were done.

The third was a costume that looked like a big chocolate cake, several holes where gems used to be were covering it. Mark got out the measuring tape again and got a measurement for how long every empty gem socket was, and compared them to the length of every gem that he organized into piles by size and shape. Rarity and Mark both proceeded to glue each of the detached gems into the appropriate sockets on the costume, and one more was done.

Then came to the fourth. It was a two piece costume, one being a bale of hay made of piñata paper, and the other a yellow hat with several holes in it. The two got to cutting up new strands of paper right away, fastening more to places where the originals were torn off. Then Rarity and Mark applied patches to the hat to fill in all the holes. Mark was unsure how to at first, but Rarity was able show him the process in a timely manner, and the two began going at an assemly line pace. When they were done, the costume was in tip-top shape.

And then they came to the final one. It was a flower costume with six petals, gems on each one, and a bumblebee that goes on the top. The petals were broken off from each other, and the bee had a bunch of paint splattered on it. While Rarity stitched the petals back together, Mark took out a little brush to give the bee a new coat of paint, taking great care not to merge the yellow and black paint. Those two colors really were tricky to use together without them mixing. And with that, the final costume was completely restored! Mark and Rarity bumped each other's hooves, congratulating one another on a job well done.

[END OF MUSIC]

"We did it! We really did it!" Mark shouted with excitement.

"I simply cannot thank you enough for all your help, Mark. But really, really, thank you," Rarity praised, bowing her head respectfully. "If it weren't for you, I would have never finished these in time. You truly are my hero today."

Mark blushed, flattered by her praise. "Heh. It's no real trouble, Rarity. Honest. I mean, you helped me, and you barely even knew me. It's only fair I help you back, right? 'Hero' might be a bit excessive." I mean, I also just happened to be here at the time. And she did have nopony else to turn to. But... it feels oddly satisfying to see a pony be this happy because of something I did. Is that a friendship thing?

"Well, it was a big deal to me. I just got my cutie mark last night from the first performance. Everypony loved my costumes. If I hadn't been able to fix them for the encore performance, I'd be letting them all down, and then the memory of my cutie mark would have been tainted forever. You fixed everything," Rarity explained, holding back joyful tears, bringing Mark in for yet another hug. "What I've done for you is far from enough. I don't know how I could ever make this up to you."

You know, I think it's finally starting to grow on me, Mark thought.

"Uh, well, you know, there is one thing you could do."

Rarity broke the hug, facing Mark again. "Yes? What would that be? Anything, you name it.

Mark's eyes drifted around the room nervously, an embarrassed smile on his face. "We could... be friends?"

Rarity gently placed her hoof onto Mark's chest. "You have yourself a deal, Mark Atlas. I'd be honored to have you as a friend."

"Yay!" Mark cheered, so happy to have made a new friend today.

---

That night, Mark and his parents all attended the encore performance of the play, the dancing ponies on stage wearing all the costumes that he and Rarity fixed.

"I'm so very proud of you, Mark," Saga said while holding him by the side while in the audience. "You made a new friend, and so soon after the first. Not only that, you also helped her when she really needed you. That was a very kind and generous thing to do."

"Well, you know, it... kind of felt good to help," Mark admitted.

"Yes. Doing something nice for another pony does have a way of making you feel good inside," Saga said.

"I see what you mean. Oh, I almost forgot," Mark said, and getting some cookies out of his saddlebag. "Rarity's mom gave me these. Mom? Dad? Would you like some?"

"Awww, Mark! You're sharing? How sweet! Thank you!" Saga practically sang, promptly eating the cookie that Mark gave her.

"Sure thing, kiddo. Don't mind if I do." Pen said, scarfing one right down himself.

Mark, content in the moment over this wonderful day, thought of his next journal entry.

The Atlas Files: Entry ♤♡♧B

My progress in this venture of friendship has defied all my expectations. A mere two days ago, I had thought that nopony would like me if they got to know me. And now look at how things have changed. Two new friends, back to back, over a period of just two days. Having fixed those costumes with Rarity was the most accomplished I've felt since I got my cutie mark. Helping ponies in need is actually really fun. Now I think maybe risking rejection to make a new friend once in a while may not he so bad after all. Sure, maybe not everypony will like me, but you know what? If this is what I'm missing out on by never trying, then I've got to try!

Oh, and one more thing. Hugs are nice.