AlwaysDressesInStyle's Ponyville CiderFest '23 Interactive App Stories

by AlwaysDressesInStyle

The Cutie Mark Database

Cutie marks are important in pony society. A cutie mark is a pony’s sense of identity. An advertisement to the world of their special talent. And it’s the primary reason ponies don’t wear clothes most of the time. Still, periodically a pony has trouble understanding what their mark means, or in some cases, even obtaining their mark in the first place. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are exceptionally aware of just how awful that is to a young pony. Especially when everypony else around you already has their mark.

There’s no profit in resolving cutie mark problems. That isn’t necessarily a problem until you consider all the expenses that went into solving said issues. For the Cutie Mark Crusaders, it’s a labor of love, meaning they didn’t draw paychecks for it, nor did they expect to.

Fortunately for them, they have friends and relatives looking out for their best interests. Princess Twilight had designated them an official branch of the government. Complete with government funding, their own office in Ponyville, and the promise of opening more branches in other towns throughout Equestria. Babs Seed is already wading through the permit process in opening an office in Manehattan.

Since their talents also involve interpreting cutie marks, in addition on how to earn them, they’d agreed to Princess Twilight’s suggestion of a name change. The Ponyville office of the Equestrian Bureau of Cutie Marks had opened to much fanfare, but a surprising lack of business.

With nothing better to do, and an empty office surrounding them, they start thinking up ways they could make themselves at home.

“The walls are so blank.” Sweetie Belle looks around their office. “So boring.”

“Do we know anypony with a cutie mark in interior decorating?” asks Apple Bloom.

“Not that I can recollect. Sure would be nice if we had some sort of database of cutie marks we could refer to.”

“Good idea, Scoots! I bet we could get Featherweight to take photos of everypony’s cutie mark. What do y’all think?”

“Great idea, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo gestures to the back wall of their office. “We can put the pictures here and really liven up this space!”

“I was thinking more along the lines of some nice portraits, and maybe some decorative lamps…” Sweetie Belle’s protests are unheard over the enthusiasm of her peers.

Featherweight is up to the challenge, and he goes around Ponyville capturing everypony on film. Getting a direct image of somepony’s cutie mark proves challenging, so he adapts on the fly, taking rear ¾ shots of everypony in town. After a few candid shots, he gets the hang of it, taking all of his pictures from the same angle.

It takes him most of the week, and then there’s just one last pony to document. He has to use a tripod and the camera’s timer to get his own flank, but after a few failed attempts he manages to get the angle just right.

Mission accomplished, he trots back to the Crusaders’ office with a stack of hundreds of photos.

He leaves it to the Crusaders to sort the pictures. Categories are created, and they start cataloging the marks alphabetically by theme. Animals is the first theme, and Doctor Fauna, Flitter, Fluttershy, Lily Longsocks, Sandbar, Snails, and many more make up this first category. They end with weather related cutie marks, and Scootaloo objects to Rainbow Dash bringing up the rear of the photo gallery. There are only half a dozen ponies in Ponyville with weather-related cutie marks behind her alphabetically.

The others object to redoing the database from scratch and overrule Scoots.

Business is still slow, so the Crusaders start discussing sending Featherweight to Manehattan to help Babs create her own database of cutie marks. With millions of ponies living in the city, Featherweight would undoubtedly need help to photograph everypony’s cutie mark. There was also no way all those photos would fit on a wall. No, for Manehattan’s cutie mark database, it would require putting the photos into books.

Their plotting is interrupted when Mayor Mare walks in. She exchanges pleasantries with the fillies before her eyes drift over to the wall covered in pictures of pony posteriors.

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[CHOICE]What should the mayor do?

>Eh, it’s unusual, but nothing’s on fire. (chaos)

>This an outrage! (villain)