A New Hero

by Alex The Lone Wolf

The Cutie Mark Chronicles

Episode 23 – The Cutie Mark Chronicles

I opened my eyes to see daylight. Everything was silent. I rubbed the back of my head with my hoof and climbed out of bed. I looked out the window for a moment, thinking about going to see Fluttershy. I made my decision and began walking out the front door.

As I was walking through the path surrounded by trees towards Fluttershy's cottage, I suddenly began hearing screaming. I quickly looked up to see something tumbling down towards me. After, three fillies crashed on top me from the trees, sticky with tree sap.

"See anything?" One of them said.

"Tree sap and pine needles, but no cutie mark." Another replied.

I lifted my head from the ground to realize it was Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.

"Girls, what are you doing?" I asked, very concerned about them.

"Oh, Alex! I didn't see you there!" Applebloom responded.

The three of them released their weight on me by jumping off.

"We're trying to earn our cutie marks!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

I pushed myself up and looked above me to see a rope spread across the sky. The middle of it was burnt off by the heat. I looked at their outfits to find out what they were doing. "Ziplining? Really? That's dangerous!"

"Well dangerous or not, we still didn't get our cutie marks…" Scootaloo replied.

"Plan B?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo thought for a moment, holding a hoof to her chin. "Yeah. You know where we can find a cannon at this hour?" Scootaloo asked, giving a determined but frightening look on her face. The other girls returned faces filled with fear. I sent a scolding look towards Scootaloo. She noticed this and lowered her head, throwing her helmet across the trees. "It's no use! No matter what we try, we always end up without our cutie marks. And, surprisingly often, covered in tree sap."

"Maybe we should do something less dangerous?" Sweetie Belle offered as I walked over to the helmet to pick it back up. "Like pillow testing. Or flower sniffing."

Applebloom had slid a couple of buckets filled with water and a washing rag towards Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Applebloom washed her hooves and used the rag to clean herself as the other fillies followed. "This town is full of ponies who have their cutie marks. Why don't we ask them how they did it?"

"That's a great safe idea." Sweetie Belle agreed.

My heart began filling with fear when I heard Applebloom say that. I really hoped they didn't ask me…

"Yeah! And we can start with the coolest pony in Ponyville." Scootaloo began.

I gave a sigh of relief.

"Alex!" Sweetie Belle and Applebloom suggested, striking fear into me again.

Scootaloo gave them an irritated expression on her face, leaving me to calm down once again.

The two fillies offered their sisters next.

"Applejack!"

"Rarity!"

"Come on, guys, I said 'cool'! You know who I'm talking about." Scootaloo began racing through the trees with her wings while staying on the ground. "She's fast. She's tough. She's not afraid of anything!"

"Pinkie Pie?" They both asked.

"No! The greatest flyer ever to come out of Cloudsdale!" Scootaloo dropped another hint.

"Fluttershy?"

"No! Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo gave up.

"Oh! Yeah, that makes much more sense." Applebloom realized.

"Of course!" Sweetie Belle added.

"Let's do it. Let's find out how Rainbow Dash found her cutie mark!" Scootaloo held out her hooves.

"YEAH!" Applebloom and Sweetie Belle placed their hooves on Scootaloo to only get themselves stuck with the tree sap Scootaloo still had.

"Aah! Uuh!" They tried to break themselves free but couldn't, causing them to groan.

I walked over to them, bringing the bucket filled with water along with me. I poured water on their hooves and slowly pulled them away from each other.

I brought the three buckets to each of them. "Wash your hooves so you won't have any more tree sap."

"Thanks, Alex." Applebloom thanked as they washed their hooves.

After they finished, Scootaloo immediately exclaimed, "Cutie Mark Crusaders…AWAY!"

They began racing out of the area until I stopped them. "Hold on!" I called after them. They instantly stopped and looked towards me. "If you girls are going to be adventuring, at least let me watch over you three so you don't get hurt."

The three of them looked at each other.

Scootaloo sighed. "Okay…" She began racing over to her parked scooter with a wagon attached from behind. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle ran and jumped into the wagon, placing on the helmets that were lying inside. Scootaloo jumped on her scooter but then realized something. "Wait. Where's my helmet?" She asked. I walked up to her and gave her the helmet she had thrown earlier. She looked at me and smiled, taking the helmet. "Thanks, Alex." She placed on the helmet and began fluttering her wings. In a few seconds, she took off in the scooter.

I trailed behind them, but keeping a careful eye as well. They hadn't traveled much until they came to a sudden stop. I raced over to them to find out what was wrong. I realized they had stopped in front of a triplet of bunnies.

"Get back here, you thievin' varmints!" A familiar voice shouted.

"Thievin' what now?" Applebloom questioned.

Unexpectedly, Applejack jumped out from the bushes nearby. However, she was pouncing straight at me. Applejack realized this and ended up crashing on top of me.

"Alex!" She exclaimed.

"I'm alright…" I responded with a grunt.

She quickly removed herself from on top of me and helped me up. Meanwhile, Applebloom had taken a glance at Applejack's flank and her face filled with joy. "Hey sis! How'd you get your cutie mark?"

Applejack lifted up her eyes in confusion. "I never told you that story?" She asked.

"Hey! I thought we were gonna ask Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo intervened.

"We need all the help we can get." Applebloom reasoned.

"Ugh! Fine." Scootaloo surrendered.

"Why, shoot." Applejack began. "I was just a little filly. Even littler than y'all." Applejack sat down on the ground and brought me closer to hear her story. "I didn't want to spend my life at a muddy old apple farm. I wanted to live the sophisticated life, like my Aunt n' Uncle Orange. So I set out to try my luck in a big city. Manehattan! The most cosmopolitan city in all of Equestria. I knew I'd find out who I was meant to be in Manehattan. When I arrived at my Aunt and Uncle's, I knocked on their door. They let me in to the new life I was going to live!

'Aunt Orange! Uncle Orange! Thank y'all so much for lettin' me stay!' I told them as I walked in to their place.

'"Y'all". Ahahaha... Isn't she just the living end?' My Aunt said.

My Uncle chuckled. 'How quaint.'

'Don't worry. We'll have you acting like a true Manehattanite in no time.' My Aunt assured me. It sure went by faster than a sunrise when they taught me the ways of a Manehattanite! We were having a dinner party as we all sat down at a table with our guests.

'And how are you finding good old Manehattan?' One of the gentlestallions asked me at the table.

'Oh, it's simply divine.' I told him in a voice you wouldn't believe to be mine!

'Very well said, my dear.' My Aunt congratulated me.

'Although, I must admit the city noise took some getting used to. Where I'm from, nights are so quiet you seldom hear a peep until the roosters wake you.' My answer had frightened everypony, as if they had never seen or even heard a rooster before! As my Aunt began covering for me, I quickly grew nervous in my mind. What's he talking about? What do I say? I don't wanna look like a fool. That's what I was thinking until the food had finally arrived at our table.

'Thank goodness. Being a city pony's hard work. I'm so hungry I could eat a...' The top was taken off of the plate to only show a disappointed amount of food on it! I couldn't believe it! That night in my room, as I watched the sunrise, I could only wonder what my family back at Sweet Apple Acres was doing. 'Oh, I wonder what Granny Smith and Big Macintosh are up to. I bet they're applebuckin' their way through the Red Delicious trees. Oh, what I wouldn't give for just one bite...' I never felt so homesick in all my days as I did right then. Then all of a sudden, there was this loud explosion across the sky! It was amazin'! A rainbow pointin' right back to... home. In that moment, it all became clear. I knew right then just who I was supposed to be. That's when this here appeared." She pointed her eyes towards her cutie mark. "I've been happily workin' in the farm ever since." The triplet of bunnies came by once more to provoke Applejack as they blew their tongues while holding the apples they stole. "There they are! Get back here, ya thievin' varmints!" Applejack began racing after them.

"Aww… That was such a sweet story!" Sweetie Belle commented.

"Sweet? Try sappy."Scootaloo climbed on to her scooter and mocked a gag. "Come on! We've got to find Rainbow Dash and hear the cool way to get a cutie mark."

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle climbed into the wagon and Scootaloo sped off. I followed them for several more feet until I heard them scream. I quickly rushed over to them and noticed that Scootaloo had to suddenly brake once more, causing them to fly out of the ride. I ran up to them to make sure if they were alright.

"All right, little ones. This way. This way." I heard another familiar sweet voice. I looked to see Fluttershy directing several chicks across the road. Fluttershy noticed me and instantly grew a wide smile. "Alex!" She rushed over to me and hugged me, almost dropping me towards the ground.

"Hey, Fluttershy…" I responded as Fluttershy kept her forelegs around me.

"You really should be more careful." Fluttershy advised the girls behind me. "Somepony could get hurt. Why are you in such a hurry anyway?"

"We're trying to find Rainbow Dash, so we can hear how she earned her cutie mark." Scootaloo answered.

"Oh…" Fluttershy replied as she slowly pulled away from me. "…that would be interesting. You know, I wouldn't have gotten my cutie mark if it weren't for her."

Fluttershy surprised me a bit with her answer.

"Rainbow Dash? Really?" Scootaloo excitedly asked.

"Oh yes. It all started at Summer Flight Camp." Fluttershy began her story. "You'd never guess, but when I was little I was very shy. And a very weak flyer. When I was practicing my flying, I accidentally messed up and got myself tangled in one of the flags. These two other boys saw me and began making fun of me.

'Nice going, "Klutzershy"! They outta ground you permanently.' One of them, who was named Dumb-bell, laughed.

'HA! My baby brother can fly better than you!' His friend Hoops joined. It was the most humiliating moment of my life…"

As Fluttershy continued with her story, I could only grow a little angry inside of me, guessing that it might have been those boys who were messing with Rainbow Dash at the Best Young Flyer's competition.

"And then, out of nowhere... Rainbow Dash had flown to my side.

'Leave her alone!' She said.

'Ooh, what are you gonna do, "Rainbow Crash"?' Hoops told Rainbow Dash.

'Keep making fun of her and find out!' Rainbow Dash aggressively responded to him.

Eventually, Rainbow Dash got into a race against them. I was the pony who was starting the race. As soon as I waved that flag, they began flying at top speed, making me fall off the cloud I was standing on top of. I could see myself falling straight towards the ground. I thought that was the end of me since I could hardly fly…but then the most wonderful thing happened! All these butterflies caught me! I had never seen such beautiful creatures. Butterflies don't fly as high as my cloud home. And I've never been near the ground before.

' What is this place

filled with so many wonders?'" Fluttershy began singing a song.

"'Casting its spell

That I am now under

Squirrels in the trees

and the cute little bunnies

Birds flying free

and bees with their honey

Hooneeeeey!

Oooh, what a magical place

and I owe it all to the Pegasus race

If I knew the ground had so much up its sleeve

I'd have come here sooner, and never leave

Yes, I love everythiiiiiiiiiing!'" Fluttershy finished her song. She noticed me gazing at her after hearing her beautiful voice. She blushed for a moment and continued her story.

"Anyways… there was this large burst of rainbow in the sky, causing a very loud boom which scared all the animals. However, I walked over to each one of them and told them it was okay. Somehow, I had the ability to communicate with the animals on a different level."

"Wait, wait, wait. What happened to Rainbow Dash? What about the race?" Scootaloo instantly asked.

"Oh. Well, I wasn't there, so I don't really know what happened." Fluttershy responded as she lay down near several butterflies, which also referenced her cutie mark.

"Come on, Crusaders. We've gotta find her. Besides, I can't take any more singing." Scootaloo called out to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, who climbed on into the cart.

"Maybe my sister knows where she is." Sweetie Bell offered. "Bye, Fluttershy!" She exclaimed as Scootaloo sped off with her scooter again.

"Bye, girls!" Fluttershy replied as they left. She looked over at me and smiled. "So, how are you doing, Alex?"

"I'm okay…" I paused for a moment and then remembered last night. "Listen, Fluttershy…I'm really sorry for how I left last night…I feel really bad about it."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Alex." Fluttershy gave me another quick hug. "I'm just glad you're doing alright."

"T-Thanks…" I responded with some nervousness in my voice. In the silence that followed, I realized that the girls had gone off without me, and I was significantly behind. I gasped slightly. "Sorry, Fluttershy, but I have to catch up to the girls. I don't want them to get hurt."

Fluttershy waved her hoof. "It's okay. Make sure they're alright. We can see each other later this afternoon at Sugarcube corner…if you have time…"

"Of course. I'll meet you right after I'm finished watching the girls. Later, Fluttershy…"

Fluttershy smiled and waved her hoof.

I turned around and began to immediately run towards where they rushed off.

Following the scooter imprints on the ground, it let me towards Rarity's shop. I opened the door to see Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle being used for dresses.

"How did we get roped into this?" Scootaloo groaned. "Oh, we'll never hear Rainbow Dash's story."

"Are you girls still obsessing over your cutie marks?" Rarity asked.

"Of course! Most other fillies at school already have theirs." Sweetie Belle answered.

"Mmm, I know how you feel. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why I didn't have mine." Rarity noticed me walking towards them. "Oh, Alex! You're just in time to hear how I received my cutie mark!" She gestured towards her. "Come! Come! Sit down!" I walked over to them and sat down, beginning to hear the story of Rarity.

"Well, you see…" Rarity began. "I was making the costumes for a play when I was your girls' ages. It was for the same school you three are attending right now. The costumes consisted of a group of fruit, a dandellion, a cake, a stack of hay, and a flower. However, I felt as if they could have still been much more fabulous!

'Well done, Rarity. Your costumes are very nice.' My teacher congratulated me on my effort.

'Nice? They need to be spectacular! And the performance is tomorrow!' I said, wanting to do everything I can to improve my costumes.

The next day, I tried every trick I could think of, but nothing seemed to work. The costumes just weren't right. And the play opened that night. When I was at the point of doubting myself in being into fashion, my horn suddenly began glowing and moving me! I had no idea where my horn was taking me. But unicorn magic doesn't happen without a reason. I knew this had to do with my love of fashion and maybe even my cutie mark! I knew that this was... MY DESTINY! At first, I couldn't believe that my horn had led me to a mere humongous rock. It wasn't until an explosion of rainbow flew throughout the sky. It had split the rock in half revealing many gems! There were so many gems; I could hardly stare away from their beauty!

That night, at the play, I had coated the costumes with gems. Everypony in the audience was amazed at what an amazing job I had done! I looked at my flank and there it was! My cutie mark!"

"Ugh! These namby-pamby stories aren't getting us any closer to our cutie marks!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "They're all about finding who you really are and boring stuff like that."

I narrowed my eyes at Scootaloo's comment.

"Yes, Scootaloo, that's exactly..." Rarity tried to explain.

"Come on, girls! We need action! We need Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo pushed them out the door.

I looked over to Rarity. "Sorry about that Rarity… but you know Scootaloo…"

"Oh no worries, Alex." Rarity chuckled. "How about you? Did you like my story?" She asked.

"Um…yeah…it was nice…"

"Care to tell me how you got your cutie mark?" She asked, pointing her hoof at my flank.

I immediately grew shocked and tried to excuse myself out of the shop. "Um… sorry. I-I don't have time…I need to watch the girls. Uh…maybe…another time…uh…bye…"

I rushed out the door, only hearing Rarity respond, "Bye…" in a concerned and confused tone.

The next stop was outside at a table. I guess Twilight must have gotten the girls to come over to her while I was still at Rarity's. By the time I arrived there, Twilight was already telling her story to the girls. Scootaloo was the only one who looked bored as she sighed and threw her head on her hooves. Twilight noticed me and motioned me to come to the table. I followed and sat near the girls.

"As a young filly in Canterlot, I always wanted to go to the Summer Sun Celebration, where Princess Celestia raises the sun." Twilight spoke. "And I saw the most amazing, most wonderful thing I've ever seen. After seeing Princess Celestia's spectacular appearance, I poured myself into learning everything I could about magic. Thus, I spent every day and night reading through my books, learning many new things! My parents decided to enroll me in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. It was a dream come true! Except for one thing... I had to pass an entrance exam! I had to hatch a baby dragon from an egg!

'Well, Miss Sparkle?' I could hear the voice of one of the examiners pressure me. I instantly grew nervous. I had no idea what to do! I could only sweat like crazy and try my best. I continued to try to pass it but I just couldn't get my magic to work!

'We don't have all day.' The examiner said, making me even more nervous!

I knew this was the most important day of my life, that my entire future would be affected by the outcome of this day and I was about to blow it!

After trying so much, I finally gave up. 'I'm sorry I wasted your time.' Was what I told the examiners as I could only feel so depressed at my failure…

All of a sudden, this explosion sounded from outside! It scared me so much that magic shot out from my horn and towards the egg! The egg broke, releasing a baby dragon. I screamed as I suddenly lost control of all my magic! I had no idea what was going on! I had never been more scared of anything in my life! It wasn't until the Princess placed her hoof on me. When I saw her, I instantly calmed down. All the bad magic I had caused was undone.

'Twilight Sparkle.' The Princess called my name.

I immediately grew afraid, apologizing greatly for the magic I had caused, but the Princess didn't scold me.

'You have a very special gift.' What was the Princess said instead. 'I don't think I've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities.'

'Huh?'

'But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study.'

'Huh?' I couldn't believe it.

'Twilight Sparkle, I'd like to make you my own personal protege here at the school.'

'HUH?' I exclaimed, almost believing that it was all a dream.

'Well?' The Princess asked me.

I looked over to my parents to see them exciting nodding for me to accept her offer. 'YES!' I screamed out.

'One other thing, Twilight.' The Princess included.

'More?' I felt my excitement fall, but the Princess pointed her hoof towards my flank revealing such an amazing gift. My cutie mark!

yesyesyesyes yesyesyesyes yesyesyesyes yesyesyesyes"

Twilight was hopping excitedly around us.

"Okay, okay." Applebloom responded, wanting Twilight to cease her celebrating.

"We're happy for you, Twilight." Sweetie Belle added.

"Yeah, thrilled. Let's get out of here while we still can." Scootaloo, along with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, had walked away from the scene as I could only continue to stare at Twilight hop excitedly around the table screaming out "yes". I sighed and looked around and noticed how Twilight had attracted a crowd.

"...yesyes, YEEEES!" She screamed.

I moved in front of her and placed my hooves on her, calming her down. "Calm down, Twilight. Everypony is looking at you…" I told her softly. She lost her grin and stopped bouncing. She looked around to notice the crowd around us.

"Are you okay?" One of the passerbys asked.

Twilight giggled nervously. "Um... yes."

The crowd separated back into their own paths.

"Well… I better go catch up with the girls…" I told Twilight.

"Oh, can I come with you?" Twilight asked.

"Uh… sure, I guess."

"Great!"

As I began walking, looking for where the girls went, Twilight walked alongside me.

"So, what are the girls doing anyway?" Twilight asked.

"They're trying to find Rainbow Dash, so she can tell them how she got her cutie mark. However, they keep bumping into every other pony besides her."

"Rainbow Dash?" A voice exclaimed near us. We looked to our side to see Pinkie Pie bouncing. "If I was her, I'd be at Sugarcube Corner. Of course, if I was anypony, I'd be at Sugarcube Corner. Hey! I have an idea! Wanna go to Sugarcube Corner?"

"Uh…sure?" I replied, remembering that I would meet Fluttershy there anyway… she was probably there… along with the girls…maybe…

"YAY! Come with me and I'll tell you how I got my cutie mark!"

Twilight and I looked at each other and shrugged. As we walked with Pinkie Pie, she began telling us her story. "My sisters and I were raised on a rock farm outside of Ponyville. We spent our days working the fields. There was no talking. There was no smiling." She sighed. "There were only rocks. We were in the south field, preparing to rotate the rocks to the east field when all of a sudden... BOOM!" She shouted. "This huge rainbow exploded in the sky! When I saw it, I was so happy! I never felt joy like that before. It felt so good. I just wanted to keep smiling forever. And I wanted everyone I knew to smile too, but rainbows don't come along that often. I wondered, how else could I create some smiles? I spent that whole night and morning making a huge party for my family! When the sun rose up, I looked out the shed where the party was going to be at.

'Mom! I need you and dad and the sisters to come in. Quick!' I screamed out to my parents, excitedly.

When they came in, I shouted to them, 'Surprise! You like it? It's called... a party!'I made a huge grin! After seeing them tremble with fear, I lost my smile. 'Oh. You don't like it.' I continued to see them shake, seeing all the party stuff I did. Suddenly, they smiled like never before! 'You like it! I'm so happy!'

And that's how Equestria was made." Pinkie finished oddly.

Twilight and I remained silent until I finally broke it. "…what?" I questioned.

"Wait a minute… I heard an explosion too!" Twilight spoke.

"Look! We're here!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, forgetting about Twilight's comment and pointing to the cake shop. "Maybe on the way home I can tell you the story of how I got my cutie mark. It's a gem!" She walked towards the inside of the shop.

I looked over at Twilight with a confused expression on my face.

"Aah. Typical Pinkie." She giggled.

Twilight and I walked in to see Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy inside. Twilight went over to them while I walked over to Fluttershy, who was sitting on the stairs.

"Fluttershy." I greeted her.

"Alex! You made it!" She answered cheerfully.

"Of course…"

"Where are the girls?" She asked.

"Um… to be honest… I lost them…"

"Oh, don't worry! I'm sure they're on their way over here right now! Especially since Rainbow Dash is here."

Fluttershy was right as we heard an exclamation towards the door.

"Rainbow Dash! You're here!" Scootaloo exclaimed out loud.

"I hear you're looking for my cutie mark story?" Rainbow Dash answered as she walked over to the three little girls.

Scootaloo sighed. "You have no idea what I've been through today to hear that story." She immediately sat down to hear it.

Rainbow Dash gave them a grin and began her story. "It all happened during the race at Flight Camp, where I stood alone against all odds to defend Fluttershy's honor. As soon as the flag flashed, I began with an amazing burst of speed! I've never flown like THAT before. That freedom was unlike anything I've ever felt. The speed, the adrenaline, the wind in my mane... I liked it A LOT. Turns out the only thing I liked more than flying fast... was winning! Most ponies thought that the Sonic Rainboom was just an old mare's tail. But that day... The day I discovered racing... I proved that the legends were true. I made the impossible happen! And that, little ones, is how you earn a cutie mark."

"Wooooow..." was all the Cutie Mark Crusaders could reply with.

"Wait a second!" Fluttershy spoke up. "I heard that explosion. And I saw the rainbow too. Rainbow Dash, if you hadn't scared the animals, I never would have learned I could communicate with them and gotten my cutie mark."

"I heard that boom! And right afterwards there was this amazing rainbow that taught me to smile." Pinkie Pie added.

"When I got my cutie mark, I saw a rainbow that pointed me home." Applejack included. "I bet it was your sonic rainboom!"

"There was an explosion I could never explain when I got my cutie mark!" Rarity now exclaimed as well.

"This is uncanny! If that explosion didn't happen when it did, I would have blown my entrance exam. Rainbow Dash, I think you helped me earn my cutie mark too!" Twilight brought up.

"We all owe our cutie marks to you!" Pinkie Pie had tackled Rainbow Dash playfully to the ground.

"Do you realize what this means? All of us had a special connection before we even met." Fluttershy said happily.

"We've been BFFs forever and we didn't even know it!"

"Come here, y'all!" Applejack exclaimed and pulled all of us in for a group hug as they all presented, "AWWW!"

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle repeated the same thing until Scootaloo interrupted. "Ewwww... Gimme a break. Come on, Crusaders! Maybe we just need to try zip-lining again."

They began heading out the door as the girls continued the group hug until they suddenly became silent.

"Wait a minute…" Applejack said. "What about, Alex?"

They all pulled apart and looked at me. My heart started racing as I began feeling sweat form on my head.

"Yeah, Alex!" Pinkie Pie announced cheerfully. "Did you see the rainbow too? Did you?"

"I…uh…I…" I could hardly speak. I was so nervous that I could only switch my eyes toward each one of them. I remembered clearly…everything that happened when I got my mark… I did… I heard the rainbow explode… it was what changed me… what brought the trapped vigor in my heart to come out and stand up for itself… to all those kids… "Y-yeah…" I nervously replied.

"Well, come on! Tell us!" Rainbow Dash encouraged.

While I still felt their eyes stare at me, wanting to hear my story, I began feeling as if I was suffocating. I could hardly breathe as I was very nervous. My whole body was shaking…shivering… Their eyes changed into worried ones as they mostly likely noticed that something was not right with me.

"…Alex?" Twilight asked, walking slowly towards me.

I could only back away slowly, feeling horribly claustrophobic. "I…I… I need some air!" I immediately rushed out the door and planted myself towards an open spot...a spot where no pony was at and where I can breathe in fresh air. I fell to the ground, breathing so deeply that I almost felt as if I was about to faint. I was still shaking like crazy… but I could feel the nervousness inside me slowly pass away. I placed my forelegs around my head and shut myself away from the town for a moment.

"Alex…" I heard a soft and sweet voice, sedating most of myself back to normal.

I pulled my head away from my forelegs and looked at the pony who called my name. "Fluttershy?" I weakly asked.

"What happened, Alex? Why did you run away like that?" Fluttershy asked, very worriedly.

"I…I can't…I can't do it…"

"You can't do what…?"

"My story… I can't relive it…"

"…What do you mean…?"

I remained silent for a moment. Afterwards, I sighed and looked over to Fluttershy. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell anypony how I got my mark…"

"Oh…okay…" Fluttershy lowered her head. "What about you? Are you alright?"

I took another deep breath and stood up, walking towards Fluttershy. "…I'm fine now…"

"Thank goodness…" Fluttershy gave a sigh of relief and hugged me warmly. "You scared all of us badly."

"Sorry…" I apologized.

"Come on." Fluttershy pulled away. "Let's return to our friends."

I slightly nodded. "…Alright."

We returned to the inside of the shop where all the ponies were waiting worriedly.

"I'm sorry everypony…" I apologized. "…for scaring you. It's just that… right now… I can't tell my story… at least for right now… and before any of you ask why… it's just that…" I sighed. "It's too much to deal with…"

"Aw, we're sorry that we asked you…" Applejack apologized.

"Yeah… we just wanted to know so bad…" Pinkie Pie added.

"But, if you're uncomfortable of expressing your story…" Rarity said. "We understand…"

"We can wait until you're ready." Twilight finished.

"Thanks, girls…" I thanked.

"Until then…" Twilight began as she used her magic to bring a letter and pen. "Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned something amazing. Everypony everywhere has a special magical connection with her friends, maybe even before she's met them. If you're feeling lonely and you're still searching for your true friends, just look up in the sky. Who knows? Maybe you and your future best friends are all looking at the same rainbow."

After, Twilight rolled up the letter and looked outside the window. Everypony followed, except Pinkie Pie, who ran into the kitchen. A moment later, she came back out with a tray of cupcakes. "Hey everypony! I've got cupcakes!"

Everypony looked back at smiled. They each grabbed a cupcake off the tray and began enjoying the treat, together.

"Aren't you going to grab one?" Fluttershy asked me, presenting the cupcake.

"Um… no thanks…" I replied, rubbing the back of my head with my hoof. "Actually, I think I'm going to head off to bed now…"

"Why? Is something wrong?" Fluttershy quickly questioned.

"No… no… I'm just really tired… that's all…"

"Oh…okay…"

"I can stay to walk you home if you want, though…"

"No, it's okay. I can go home by myself. I don't want to keep you if you're really tired…"

"Alright… well I'll see you later. Okay, Fluttershy?"

"Mmk…"

We walked towards the outside of the shop and noticed the stars above us. We actually spent some time looking at them. After a moment, we looked back at each other.

"Goodnight, Alex." Fluttershy said, and moved her head towards the side of me, planting a kiss on my cheek.

"Goodnight, Fluttershy." I responded. Before she turned to walk back inside, I surprised her by giving her a hug. This instantly brought a smile onto her face. When I pulled away, she was blushing and her eyes drifted away from me. Soon, she brought them back to me and hugged me once more. After, she gave me a wave with her hoof. I returned the wave and she began returning to the shop as I walked towards my home.

When I arrived back home, I threw myself on the bed. I thought about what happened at the cake shop…

What if I did tell them the story… how would they react? Would they laugh or make fun of me? No…they wouldn't do that… I mean… would they? They don't seem like the ponies to something horrible like that… but still… there's still that fear of experiencing it all over again… experiencing that fateful day at the playground which transformed me into something more…

Comments

[Alex The Lone Wolf]

842348
Do you know the difference between ellipses and pauses? Geez...everyone is really getting the wrong idea of the story here...it's all quite shocking.

[CorruptedBrony]

842482 Yep! Because I'm a troll like that!

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[Silver Sea]

Damn, tons of comments in the story and about 10 of them have been actual reactions and thoughts.

[White Wolf]

Alex's past is intriquing me more and more. What could he so shamed of?

My thought? Isn't depression Alex is suffering from. I suspect abuse, most likely Verbal.

Just a thought.

If this is true, then the Mane 6 are exactly what he needs

[Tesla Moon]

I swear if I reach the end of this story and I don't find out is story I will hunt you

[F14m3rz]

Ok. So Alex's cutie mark is a wolf- head. A singular wolf-head. An alone wolf-head... A...lone wolf...head. Oh! A lone wolf! I think I can see it, now. Alex has probably dealing with inconvenience after inconvenienc and he kept it inside as a child. But THEN! As an INCREDIBLE inconvenience rears it's ugly head, a burst of primary and secondary colors (and indigo) lit the sky, sparking the the catalyst needed to tell the world what was UP!... And then he became alone, entreating upon himself in another home, where no pony would bother him again... until that fateful day/night...
Or, maybe he just likes to chase chickiens in his spare time, who knows?

[jamespotter]

I really am exited for the grand galloping gala coming up I wonder how Alex will react. maybe he will grow a mustache and look like spike

[Retyui]

5185007 Please be the chickens. Please be the chickens...

[Azucon]

Omg. Was really looking forward to hearing the story when you got to this chapter! Should've known... Now it's more fun!