To Face the World
Sweetie Belle walked up the ramp that led to the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse. When she entered, she wasn’t surprised to see that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had arrived before her. Rarity still continued to fuss over her appearance even though Sweetie Belle herself didn’t care that much. “A lady must always look her best.” Sweetie Belle snorted at that thought. Upon hearing her expression of amusement, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked up. “What’s so funny?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Just remembering something Rarity says a lot,” Sweetie Belle replied with a wry smile. “It’s not important now.”
Apple Bloom shrugged before continuing, “Alright then. The reason I asked y’all to come here is because we all have our cutie marks now. And before you ask, no I’m not going to say that I don’t want to be friends anymore. I want to talk about what we named ourselves originally. Now that we’ve all gotten our cutie marks, the original name and purpose of our group doesn’t make sense with who we are. We have to figure out what to do about the Cutie Mark Crusaders since we are no longer a part of that.” As she finished speaking, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo could see the tears glistening in her eyes.
Scootaloo was the first to break the uneasy silence that had descended upon the group. “And who says we can’t be a part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore? Where’s the rule that says so?”
Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo incredulously and asked, “How can we be a part of it Scootaloo? We have our cutie marks now, and the point of our group was to find our cutie marks. I’m sorry Scoots, but it ain’t possible for us to continue calling ourselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The name doesn’t apply to us.” Her voice cracked as she said the last few words and tears began to silently stream down her cheeks.
Sweetie Belle, who had watched this exchange while silently pondering what they could do, spoke up. “Our name doesn’t make us who we are; we make the name what it is. We chose the name for our group years ago when we first met. Over time we’ve changed and grown into the ponies we are now. Everything we did, we did as a Cutie Mark Crusader. So why should we discard that and pretend as if nothing has happened these past few years?”
Apple Bloom wiped away some of her tears and said, “I know what you’re trying to say Sweetie Belle, but it still isn’t right. We’ve changed from the ponies we were when we originally named ourselves. We aren’t young fillies anymore; we’ll be adults in a few more years for Celestia’s sake! There are so many more things in the world than what we’ve been doing. The past few years, probably partly due to our name, we’ve been focused solely on getting our cutie marks. Now that we have them, we can’t let ourselves be held back by our name. We have to expand what we know, and try new things. We’ve got to find a new goal, and reach for that, rather than continuing to reminisce over past times. We ain’t old mares yet, so I just can’t help but feel that the name Cutie Mark Crusaders is going to stop us from achieving our next goal.”
“But why not let the knowledge of everything we did as the Cutie Mark Crusaders empower us to do better rather than hold us back?” Sweetie Belle countered. “I didn’t say that I wanted to hold onto the past few years and stay within them. I just said that our name has nothing to do with who we choose to be or what we choose to do with our lives. Of course we aren’t going to stop trying to achieve greater things in life, and merely remember the old times. We can still move forward in life and pursue a new goal while holding onto a small piece of who we once were.”
The smile on Scootaloo’s face had grown throughout the entire time Sweetie Belle had been speaking. “Sweetie Belle’s right Apple Bloom. Our name isn’t going to hold us back as long as we focus on what we want to achieve next. There’s no reason to completely cut ties to who we were in order to grow and become even better ponies. You’re kinda being silly with all this Apple Bloom. There was no reason to make such a huge deal out of something as insignificant as the name of our group.”
Apple Bloom chuckled, “Heh, yeah you might be right with that Scootaloo.”
“Of course I’m right!” Scootaloo rolled her eyes at her friend, “And Sweetie Belle and I are right about our name not influencing who we are too.”
After she had dried her eyes completely, Apple Bloom looked at her two friends. “Really? Does our name really mean so little when it comes to who we are?”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both nodded vehemently. A blush appeared on Apple Bloom’s cheeks as she said, “I guess I was being pretty silly then. Sorry y’all. I didn’t mean to get so worked up over this.”
Sweetie Belle smiled daintily, “It’s alright Apple Bloom. Everypony is allowed to overreact sometimes, especially when it’s over something that means a lot to them.”
“Y’all really are the best friends I could have ever wanted,” Apple Bloom said. “I suppose this also means that we don’t have to be ashamed of who we are anymore. Now that we have our cutie marks, what can Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon do to us?”
Sweetie Belle gasped, “You’re right Apple Bloom! Now we can stop hiding in the background; we are just as good as they are. There’s no reason for us to continue hiding. We can now reach for the new future that we deserve, and find our true selves.”
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both grinned widely at Sweetie Belle’s exclamation. A mischievous expression formed on Scootaloo’s face as she asked, “What do you think? Cutie Mark Crusaders New Future is a go?”
Quickly catching on to what Scootaloo intended, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle chuckled as they jumped into the air. Scootaloo did the same, and at the point where there hooves met, the three shouted, “Cutie Mark Crusaders New Future! Yay!”