The high school adventures of two colts and three fillies searching for their destinies
A spin off of Coltland Chronicles! The high school adventures of a shy and self conscious unicorn, twin earth ponies, a bubbly but jealous pegasus with a crush and a tough, smart but short tempered unicorn.
It was a lovely September morning at Elizabeth and Daredevil's house.
"Wake up, honey! Time for school!" Elizabeth called from downstairs while her husband Daredevil was sitting on the couch, eating his breakfast of toast and a glass of milk.
"Is it school time already?" her daughter Bubble called from upstairs.
The filly then came downstairs and used one of her wings to grab her breakfast of eggs and sat beside her dad. Bubble was a daddy and a mummy's filly but she was more of a daddy's filly. She had her mum's body colour, her dad's hair colour and had her uncle Magnus' eye colour of gold which was also Elizabeth's cousin Dahlia's eye colour. She was best friends with Hugh, Jacinto and Moonlight and had been since they were in diapers. She had a little crush on Jacinto and she suspected that he had one on her. Bubble was also eleven years old just like her best friends.
"Time for you to start your first year in high school, young filly." Daredevil said and he patted his daughter on the shoulder.
"What if I don't fit in with the others, Daddy?" Bubble asked in nervousness.
"You will, sweetie. You know that Jacinto, Hugh and Moonlight will be in your class and onwards. You'll be just fine. I may have been made fun of for not being able to fly but I showed them." Elizabeth said as she put the cups, plates and glasses into the dishwasher.
It was already difficult to do it without magic.
"Honey, I only fit in at school because I was a rebel and I did it with class but I don't recommend it because you might get suspended from school a bunch of times." Daredevil said as he put down his piece of toast and hugged his daughter.
"I'll see you after school, Mum and Dad!" Bubble yelled as she trotted out of the door with her saddlebag.
Bubble trotted excitedly to the high school and she then flapped her wings to try and fly but she then fell to the ground and she felt a pain in her foreleg. She heard a colt's laugh behind her and she turned to see the colt with a white coat, black hair and dark red eyes. She hated him since nursery school.
"Oh hello, Spar. Did you get your cutie mark over the summer?" Bubble asked sarcastically.
Spar then nodded and Bubble got a feeling of defeat. She looked at his flank and saw he had a black belt as a cutie mark.
"I see you didn't get yours, Ostrich. And you still haven't learned how to fly." Spar said as he laughed then he walked away before giving a high hoof to his best friend, Poppy.
Bubble then walked through one of the gates of the high school. She heard laughing from the one of the benches at the front doors and noticed her best friends.
"Moonlight, Hugh, Jacinto!" Bubble called out and her three friends turned to her.
"Bubble!" all three of them galloped up to her and they all got into a group hug.
"You're crushing me...!" Bubble said in a choked voice.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry." the trio said and they brushed themselves off.
She then stared at her friends. Hugh and Jacinto were twin earth ponies but their appearances were different. Hugh had his dad Bromley's body colour and eye colour and his uncle Sven's hair colour. Jacinto had his mum Dahlia's body colour and had Bromley's hair and eye colour. It was so easy to tell them both apart.Moonlight was a unicorn filly, she had her mum Autumn's body colour and eye colour and had her dad Derek's hair colour.
"Are you excited for high school?" Moonlight squealed in excitement and they all laughed.
"I just know that colts and fillies that we didn't like are going to be here but hopefully different classes but it's likely a few will be in our class." Bubble said in annoyance and defeat.
"Anyway, did anything good happen over the summer?" Hugh asked as he gave a grin.
Before anypony could give an answer, Jacinto turned to a unicorn filly who had a curly light blue mane and tail, she had a light yellow body and dark purple eyes. Her eyelashes were very long and had a star necklace around her neck. Jacinto had his mouth hanging open while Bubble looked with jealousy and Hugh and Moonlight looked at him in confusion. All the other colts except Hugh had their mouths hanging open.
"Jacinto?" Moonlight tapped him on the shoulder a few times but he didn't budge.
She then looked at the filly that he was looking at then tapped him again but he still didn't movie. The bell then rang and Jacinto shook his head. The four friends walked into the school then went to the assembly hall and sat in the front seats. After over half an hour of the principal talking, all pupils were handed their timetables.
"Yes! We're all in the same class!" Bubble said with excitement.
"Excuse me for a bit, will you?" Jacinto said and he walked over to the filly that he saw this morning.
"Umm... hi." the filly said in a quiet voice.
"Do you need help with anything?" Jacinto asked calmly but she shook her head slowly.
Before she said anything, he then noticed her timetable and she was going to be in the same class.
"I'll... see you in class..." the filly said and she then walked away slowly.
"I didn't get your name." Jacinto said in a nervous voice.
"My name is Starshine." the filly said then she walked away out of the hall and to class.
Jacinto walked back to the others and Bubble gave him a confused look.
"Let's get to class now." Jacinto responded in a nervous voice then he trotted off to class.
The others except Bubble who just stood there and she gave a sigh of defeat before walking off to class.
The friends got to their first Writing class. They had hoped to do some creative writing as that was more fun to do in any class. They sat at the back of the class and Starshine also sat there, beside Jacinto. Bubble gave a quiet sigh of anger and she glared at the other filly with jealousy.
"Is something bothering you, Bubble?" Moonlight asked in concern.
"Yes, yes, everything is fine." Bubble said trying to give a smile then she faced the front of the class.
Moonlight and Hugh looked at each other in concern and question then did the same as Bubble.
"Good morning, class!" a unicorn stallion yelled in excitement and he wrote his name on the whiteboard. "My name is Mr Marker and I'll be your Writing teacher."
He then put down the marker and walked to sit at his desk.
"He seems like a better teacher than our primary school teacher." Spar whispered to Poppy and they laughed quietly alongside another colt.
"That's enough, class!" Mr Marker said and he whacked a ruler a few times on the desk.
"Now, let me give you some paper and you are going to write a story with any genre and whichever way you like. Don't write stuff that your parents talk about that is not intended for you or you'll have to start again." Mr Marker then sat down at his desk and did some writing on his desk.
What should I write about? Bubble wondered as she stared down at the lined paper in front of her.
A romance story? Drama? That was stuff she loved to watch at the theatre with tragedy. Something then popped into her head! A filly that was in love with another colt but he was falling for some other filly, but the other filly then suffered from an illness and died in the other colt's forelegs. The colt then went with the filly that was in love with him first. It reminded her of the musical Les Mares (a spoof of Les Miserables).
Bubble then got to writing and Mr Marker looked at her for a moment then smiled at her. Bubble was the first to finish her story and she took her lined pages and left them on the desk. Mr Marker gave her a small smile and she gave a smile back. He then got out a red pen and used his magic to mark her work. Bubble waited for him to finish and he then handed it to her.
"Good work, Bubble, keep up the good work. I'm sure you'll make a good writer." Mr Marker said smiling then she walked back to her desk with her work.
After a few hours it rang for lunchtime and Bubble, Jacinto, Hugh and Moonlight sat down outside on the dry grass with their break.
"Wow, my mum made me cucumber sandwiches!" Bubble said with excitement and she munched on her sandwiches quickly.
"I got a strawberry jam sandwich." Moonlight said with excitement and she stared eating hers the same way Bubble did.
Jacinto then turned around to see Starshine sitting on her own on a bench. She had her lunch beside her and she was eating it very slowly.
"Excuse me, will you?" Jacinto said as he got up and put his lunch into his saddlebag and walked over to Starshine.
"Umm... hi?" Starshine said as she put down the chocolate chip cookie she was about to eat.
"Do you need somepony to keep you company?" Jacinto asked and she nodded slowly.
He got up onto the bench and sat beside her.
"So... what do your parents do for a living?" Starshine looked at him with big dark purple eyes.
"My mum is a merchant and I don't have a dad. I've been told that he died before I was even born. It's just me and my mum at home." Starshine said in a sad voice then she sighed and got some of her mane out of her face.
It was hometime and Jacinto had completely ignored his friends to spend time with Starshine. This was making Bubble and Moonlight angry but Hugh didn't seem to mind. Starshine then trotted to her mum and they noticed that her mum was Svetlana! When did she even get married? Their parents or grandparents weren't even told about it.
"Hey, Jacinto! Want to come to my house and help me with my homework?" Starshine called out and she gave a smile as did Svetlana.
"Sure thing! See you guys later." Jacinto called out then he said to Bubble, Moonlight and Hugh.
He then galloped off and walked alongside Starshine and Svetlana. The three friends stared back at them and all except Hugh, gave angry sighs then walked home.
Bubble walked inside her home slowly, threw her saddlebag to the side and walked to her couch and sat on it then she gave a frustrated sigh.
"How was school, sweetheart?" Daredevil asked as he came downstairs then sat beside her. Bubble gave him a look of frustration and defeat then sighed again. "What's the matter? You seem upset."
"Jacinto ignored us for the rest of the day, just to spend time with Svetlana's daughter Starshine and he wouldn't even talk to us." Bubble replied with sadness and anger then she crossed her forelegs.
Daredevil put his hoof on his daughter's shoulder.
"Svetlana had a daughter? That's very interesting to know. Anyway, why don't you go talk to Jacinto about it and maybe sort it out?" Daredevil said with a smile.
Bubble nodded slowly then hugged her dad.
"I'll try that at school tomorrow." Bubble replied then she jumped off the couch and trotted out the door.
Moonlight, Hugh and Bubble were then sitting under a cherry blossom tree, looking bored and tracing shapes on the ground with their hooves.
"Do you think he'll show up?" Moonlight asked in an impatient voice.
"Very unlikely, in my opinion." Bubble replied and she knocked a rock away that was in front of her.
"I bet he's still with that filly Starshine. Who is always looking so pretty and never seems to speak to anypony." Moonlight said in a mocking voice.
"What does he see in her? I see nothing good about her. She just looks like she is being spoiled by her mum." Bubble said and she then put her head onto her crossed forelegs.
"Hey, sorry I took so long," Jacinto said as he walked over to his friends. "I also had Starshine come with me to join us."
Starshine then walked from behind him and gave them a small smile. Moonlight and Bubble sighed to themselves in annoyance with Hugh just giving a small wave at Starshine.
"Let's go check out that treehouse that I found at my grandparents' home." Bubble said with little excitement and they all walked the short distance to the castle and they saw the treehouse out in the front garden.
"Oh, it's so nice to see my grandsons again," Annamarie said with delight. "What can I do for you?"
"Can we use that treehouse there? We want to join a club." Bubble said with a small smile.
"What club are you wanting to start?" Miracle asked as she walked up to them after overhearing them as she was walking in the street.
"Aunt Miracle!" Jacinto and Hugh yelled and they galloped to her and gave her a tight hug.
"We want to join the Cutie Mark Searchers club because we want to find out what our talents could be." Bubble replied with a smile then she gave a glare at Starshine who gave her a questioning look then she shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm glad you are joining the Cutie Mark Searchers, your mum and I were part of it with our friends. The only one who's parents weren't in it, is Starshine's parents because it wasn't found until then." Miracle said then she gave a signal for them to follow her.
She then climbed up the ladder to the treehouse and gave the signal again.
"No problem, I'll just fly up there." Bubble said as she flapped her wings to try and fly.
She only got up a little then she fell over. She sighed then climbed up the ladder and got into the surprisingly roomy treehouse. The others then climbed up and looked around in surprise.
"Here's the storage area where all of the memories of the past times are. You should check it out," Miracle explained with a smile. "Now I've to get going now. Eloise and I are trying to help Lily and Mandarin get their wedding plans sorted because they are having some trouble. I'll see you all some other time."
Miracle then climbed down the ladder. Hugh then opened the storage area and took out a book that was the size of a photo album.
"Hey, check this out!" Hugh said as he blew the dust off and he opened the book.
Jacinto then walked over and looked at the book.
"Hey, there's our mum, Bubble's and Moonlight's!" Jacinto yelled in delight and Bubble and Moonlight then trotted up to them.
"And there's our Aunt Miracle." Hugh pointed out with a smile.
"There's my Aunt Eloise." Bubble said with a giggle.
"It's too bad that my mum doesn't have any siblings," Moonlight said with a sad sigh. "I have my great Aunt Jocelyn at least but she's mostly on trips to Hoovestralia with my grandfather, Connor."
Bubble then felt a tap on her shoulder, she turned around and to her disbelief, saw Starshine standing there with pleading eyes.
"You know that you have started your club. Can I join it because...?" Starshine said in a quiet voice then she stared at her flank and sighed.
Moonlight then looked at Starshine.
"No, no, you can't!" Moonlight yelled and Starshine looked at her with a scared look.
"Wh..y, why... not?" Starshine asked with a shaky voice.
Moonlight then stood up and made herself look taller.
"Because you keep stealing Jacinto away from us! He's always late and ignoring us everytime he is around you!" Bubble yelled and the room shook.
Starshine looked like she was about to start crying but she then shook her head and gave an angry look.
"Fine! Be that way! I'll make my own club! You'll see!" Starshine yelled back then she stomped off and climbed down the ladder.
"Starshine, wait!" Jacinto called out, he looked at Moonlight and Bubble with anger then trotted after Starshine.
Starshine galloped home very fast, crying in sadness and angry. She burst through the door, slammed it loudly and went up to her room and threw herself onto her bed and cried into her pillow. She couldn't believe on the first day of high school and her second month living in Coltland had just gone terrible! She and her mum, Svetlana had been living in Prassia since the year she was born and she already had a bad time in her primary school. Colts and fillies would make fun of her, saying that she was stuck up and one of the teachers said that she wasn't going to achieve anything in future. Starshine had been upset since and she never really made any friends.
Jacinto stood outside Starshine's home after following her all the way after that heated argument with Bubble and Moonlight. He gave a sigh then knocked on the door softly. It was for a moment until Svetlana opened the door and looked at him in surprise.
"Why, if it isn't one of my best friend Dahlia's twin sons!" Svetlana said in excitement. "What can I do for you?"
"Hi, is Starshine here? She had a heated argument with two of my friends then she just galloped off home all upset." Jacinto replied in a nervous voice.
"Really? She's never been like that. Not even when we were living in Prassia," Svetlana said in surprise and confusion. "I believe I heard her come into the house a little while ago and up to her room. But I think she'll want to be left alone to do her homework or so."
Jacinto nodded slightly then walked away home.
The next morning, Bubble, Moonlight and Hugh walked together to school. Jacinto wasn't with them as he told his brother that he decided to go to school a bit later than usual but he didn't give the reason why.
"Oh my, Starshine, how do you get your eyelashes so curly?" a filly asked in delight.
"You just get this eyelash curler that I have," Starshine said as she batted her eyelashes then levitated an eyelash curler out of her saddlebag. "This one is the best one yet! You then use it on your eyelashes and you'll have them curly like mine and look stunning!"
Colts including Spar then whistled and fillies including Poppy all gasped in delight and clopped their hooves in excitement.
"What are you doing?" Hugh asked as he walked up to her.
"Oh, it's you, Hugh. This is the Beauty Club." Starshine replied in an angry voice.
"Hey, can I join your club?" Jacinto asked as he trotted up to her then gave her a smile.
Starshine then looked at the other foals and sighed.
"I'm sorry but you have to be fashionable to join us. Now, go away!" Starshine replied then she turned her back to him and held her head high then giggled alongside the other colts and fillies.
"Good one, Starshine! We knew you were better than those losers!" Spar yelled as the four friends then walked away slowly with their heads down in sadness, humiliation and anger.
"Nice one, Spar!" Poppy agreed and she laughed alongside him, Starshine and the others.
"I can't believe she was so mean to me." Jacinto said in anger and sadness.
Bubble then looked at him slightly with a sly smile. He was finally hers!
During their lunchtime at the canteen, Moonlight was hit on the back of the head with a paper ball and she gave a growl of frustration.
"Alright, who threw that at me!" Moonlight yelled and she stood up and glared at the colts and fillies that were behind her.
They all acted innocent as if nothing had happened.
"I'm so sick of them! Always being mean, making fun of us and now they are friends with that snobby, stuck up filly." Bubble grumbled in anger.
"We should do something about it! We need to get revenge on her!" Moonlight said with more confidence than she had ever had.
"No, revenge never solves anything, it just makes things even worse." Jacinto said defensively and he stomped his hooves hard on the round table.
Bubble then felt something being put on her mane and she tried to get it off. Hugh took it off and showed it to her. It was a note saying "Ostrich" and the signature had a star then an S beside it.
"That's it, this means war! Let's go back to the treehouse and think of a plan." Bubble said with anger and the other friends nodded.
After school, the best friends went to their treehouse and sat down on the seats they had borrowed from the castle.
"What are we to do?" Moonlight asked and she hung her head down slowly.
"Hey, fillies and colts, what are you doing up here?" Lily asked and she gave a smile to them.
"We're just having ideas on how to get our cutie marks." Bubble lied in a nervous voice then she gave a smile.
"Oh, that's alright, I just heard you talking and wondered what you were up to. Anyway, I gotta go, I have to pick out which cake to use at Mandarin and I's wedding. See you another time!" Lily said then she climbed down the ladder and trotted off to Valentina's bakery alongside Mandarin.
"I still don't think we should do it." Jacinto said with nervousness and he rubbed his hooves together nervously.
"But we have to, she was being so mean to us and now she's got the ones that made fun of us on her side. We need to find a way to prank her and also to make them stop liking her." Moonlight said with the burst of confidence that she had at lunchtime.
All the friends except Jacinto and Hugh then thought to themselves and Bubble then got an idea in her head.
"I have an idea. Moonlight, remember that scene from that scary movie we aren't allowed to see because we are too young for it?" Bubble said and Moonlight nodded slightly. "Get me lots of red food dye and a bucket because this will work."
Eloise, Miracle, Lily, Mandarin and Lulu Belle sat in Valentina's bakery, with a notepad in the middle of the table.
"What flowers should we get for your wedding?" Miracle asked as she looked bored and stared at the notepad.
"Shouldn't we get red roses? Even though I love lilies, roses are also my favourite and they are so romantic." Lily replied dreamily.
"Are you sure that you won't want dahlia flowers because that would certainly make my sister happy?" Miracle asked with a smile.
"I hope that Madeleine and her daughters, Blackberry and Hazel, can come over in time for the wedding. We haven't seen her in quite some time." Eloise said and she traced a shape on the table with her hoof.
"Anyway, let's get back to what we were discussing," Mandarin said and he pulled the notepad towards himself. "Mum! Can you get us some cupcakes right now?"
Valentina then walked out of the kitchen with a bowl and wooden spoon levitated above her head. She then nodded really fast and walked back into the kitchen.
"When is the wedding again?" Eloise asked as she scratched her head.
"It is going to be in a few months and I'm going to be security since I'm the toughest one here. If anypony tries to ruin it, I could kick with a foreleg behind my back!" Lulu Belle said with a lot of confidence and all the best friends chuckled.
The next morning, Svetlana walked with Starshine to her high school.
"Hey, Starshine!" Poppy and Spar called out and Starshine then hugged her mum and galloped off to see them.
Svetlana then walked away.
"Did you get your hooves polished or what?" Poppy said as she stared down at Starshine's very shiny hooves.
"Oh yes, if you want to do it to your hooves, here is some polish I bought in." Starshine replied as she levitated a tub of hoof polish out of her saddlebag.
Poppy then used one of her wings to catch it then she put it in her black saddlebag.
"Thanks, Star, I'll use it today when I go home." Poppy said with a grin.
The four best friends stood at the roof and looked down at Starshine from the balcony. When she went to stand outside the front doors with Poppy and Spar, Moonlight levitated the bucket that was filled with red food dye and set it on the railing.
"Oh, this is going to be sweet revenge!" Moonlight said with a giggle.
"If there was a formal going on and she became the queen, wouldn't we do the same prank?" Bubble asked with a sly grin.
"Oh yeah, definitely! Just like that scary movie!" Moonlight yelled with so much confidence.
Bubble gave a nod and Moonlight tilted the bucket and the red food dye then poured on Starshine!
"Did somepony really just pour that on me? Why would they do this?" Starshine said with disgust and embarrassment.
Bubble and Moonlight then snickered and managed to muffle their laughs.
"I can't go to class like this. I need to wash this off." Poppy and Spar then laughed and she turned to them.
"Wow, Star, we thought you were pretty but it turns out that you aren't a beauty anymore! You'll never be a beauty queen!" Spar said laughing and everypony else laughed.
Starshine started to cry then she galloped off to the bathroom, covered in red food dye.
Starshine galloped to the bathroom, crying with humiliation. She then went to the sinks, got some paper towels and soaked them then wiped all the red food dye off herself. She checked in the big mirrors to see if any was still on her or her mane and tail. There was none and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Moonlight and Bubble continued laughing while Hugh and Jacinto were sitting, staring at them with disgust. They heard somepony clear their throat and the fillies stopped laughing and turned to see a teacher.
"Come with me, you two." the teacher said and Bubble and Moonlight then stood up and walked with him while Hugh and Jacinto looked back at them.
At the classroom, the teacher sat with Bubble and Moonlight as they looked at him with sadness. Svetlana then came in alongside Elizabeth, Daredevil, Autumn, Derek and Miracle.
"What is going on here?" Elizabeth asked as she looked at Bubble who gave her the same sad look.
"Your daughters were playing a nasty trick on one of our students, Starshine, I think it was because she might have been bullying them." the teacher said and Svetlana gasped with shock.
"Bubble and Moonlight, can you step outside, please?" Autumn said and the two fillies nodded then went outside.
"Why would Starshine be like this? It's not like her, she's usually very sweet." Svetlana said with surprise and worry.
"Well, she isn't, now that she was bullying my Bubble!" Elizabeth snapped with anger.
"And my darling little Moonlight." Derek also snapped with the same tone as Elizabeth's.
"Why didn't she bully my cousin Dahlia's sons, Jacinto and Hugh?" Elizabeth asked in wonder and anger then she gave a glare at Svetlana.
"I think it's because Jacinto was much nicer to Starshine on the first day. I saw them two being friendly with each other throughout the school day." the teacher said with a smile then Svetlana gave a gasp.
"But why would they do such a cruel trick on her? In front of her other friends?" Svetlana asked in horror.
"I think I know what's going on. I'll take care of it." Miracle said with a sad smile then she walked out of the classroom and stood in front of Bubble and Moonlight.
Miracle took Starshine, Moonlight, Bubble, Hugh and Jacinto to the treehouse and they sat in the room together.
"Now, why were you bullying Bubble and Moonlight, Starshine?" Miracle asked calmly and Starshine gave a sigh and steadily stood up.
"Because... because..." Starshine then gave a sigh. "I was being bullied in my old school in Prassia and I was so hurt that I wanted to do the same so I wouldn't be bullied."
Everypony gasped and Bubble gave a look of pity as did Moonlight.
"We... we didn't know that, why didn't you tell us?" Bubble said with a sad voice.
"I was afraid that if I told you then you would bully me next." Starshine said in a shy voice then she blinked her tears away.
"Well, I'm sorry because I started this and I dragged Moonlight into it after she got hit with that paper ball at lunchtime yesterday. So, are we friends?" Bubble replied and she held out one of her forelegs.
"Friends." Starshine said with a smile then she hugged Bubble and Hugh, Jacinto and Moonlight joined in the group hug.
"Alright, you five, say cheese." Miracle said with a smile as she levitated a camera in front of her.
The foals then turned to the camera and smiled with big grins.
"Now let's put that picture in the photobook, also known as the memory book." Hugh said with a smile and the friends were ready to start their club and find out their destinies.
Miracle woke up from her nap on the couch the next afternoon. She then stretched her forelegs and her back legs and gave a small smile. She was glad that she helped Starshine make new friends and getting the Cutie Mark Searchers together. A knock was heard on the door and Miracle got off her couch and used her magic to open the door.
"Oh, Lulu Belle, how are you?" Miracle said with a grin.
"I'm doing very well, actually. I just came here to see if you want to hang out or something like that." Lulu Belle replied with the same grin that Miracle was giving.
"Sure, I have nothing to do and my sister, Dahlia, is currently busy at her flower shop with Lily. My nephews, Hugh and Jacinto, are probably out with their friends at the moment." Miracle replied and she closed her eyes and gave a wide smile with her mouth closed.
The two best friends then walked out of the house and went to the castle where they used to live with their parents and best friends.
"Hey, Dad!" Miracle and Lulu Belle called out at the same time and Jordan walked out to see them and he came up and hugged his daughter tightly.
"How is my little filly doing?" Jordan asked with a smile and he smoothed some of her brown mane back with his hoof.
"I'm doing well, Daddy." Lulu Belle replied with her eyes close and she gave a wide smile.
"How is my daddy by the way?" Miracle asked in a sad voice.
Jordan then looked at her and gave a sad sigh.
"I'm afraid that his condition is getting worse. Hugo has tried everything to get him better but it doesn't appear to be working." Jordan replied in a sad voice and he hung his head down.
"Is the same thing happening to my Uncle Sven?" Miracle asked with worry and Jordan slowly nodded his head.
The two best friends then looked at each other and walked out the front doors.
"I'm so sorry, Miracle." Lulu Belle said as she looked at her best friend with sad green eyes.
"Thanks, Lulu Belle, that's nice of you to say. I'm also wondering how Sapphire and Ruby are doing. We haven't seen them since the Hearts and Hooves Day party." Miracle said then she gave a small smile.
"I just heard that they both got married to two stallions from Felltaly and they moved there. I hope they will be able to attend Lily and Mandarin's wedding." Lulu Belle said with a grin then she smoothed some of her mane away from her face.
"How are you and Blackstone doing? Got any marriage plans?" Miracle asked as she jumped a little then looked around the town.
"We're not really planning on getting married but we're thinking about it." Lulu Belle said in a dreamy voice and she then laughed along with Miracle.
They walked into Valentina's bakery and sat at one of the tables at a window.
"Hey, Thaddeus and Crystal!" Miracle called out and the couple then turned to her.
They waved back and they went back to eating their cupcakes and biscuits. Valentina walked over to them with a notepad and pencil levitating in front of her.
"What can I get for you two?" Valentina asked with a smile.
"We'll have strawberry shortcake and some cherry pie. We're really hungry." Miracle replied with a smile and she levitated thirty bits onto the table and Valentina nodded slowly and wrote their orders down on the notepad and took the bits with her as she walked away back to the kitchen.
The door bell rang and a mare that had a similar appearance to Miracle walked in and she looked around for a little until she looked straight at Miracle. Miracle got a bad feeling rushing through her body.
"Can it be?" the mare said with disbelief as if she couldn't believe what she was looking at.
"Who are you and why are you looking at me like that?" Miracle asked in disgust and confusion.
Lulu Belle gave her tough mare look and she clopped her hooves and rubbed them together.
"You're my daughter, I'm your mum who abandoned you the day you were born." the mare said with a smile and everypony including Thaddeus, Crystal and Valentina all gasped.
"You're my mum?!" Miracle said in disbelief and Lulu Belle groaned and stomped her hooves onto the table.
"Is this some kind of sick prank you're pulling? Because I don't like it when it happens to my family and friends!" Lulu Belle said in anger and she rubbed her hooves together again and the mare looked at her with wide dark pink eyes.
"If you are my mum then why did you leave me at the orphanage?" Miracle demanded in anger.
"I already have a family that loves me and have raised me all my life! I also have friends who are on my side and rely on a lot. Mandarin had the same thing happen to him and his parents haven't even come forward!"
Miracle then screamed in anger and galloped out of the bakery and slammed the door. Crystal and Thaddeus stood there, still staring then they slowly continued to eat their baked goods. Miracle galloped through the street, sobbing and her eyesight was getting blurry. She then crashed into somepony and she wiped her tears and fixed her mane.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mum." Miracle said apologetically and she gave Annamarie a tight hug.
"What's the matter, honey?" Annamarie asked as she hugged her only daughter.
"The mum that abandoned me at the orphanage, came to me at Valentina's bakery and I yelled at her then galloped out of there." Miracle replied in a choked voice.
Annamarie then gave a soft sigh.
"Miracle, to tell you the truth. Me and your dad didn't find you in an orphanage. We found you in a cardboard box in a dark alley on Hearth's Warming Eve on the year you were born." Annamarie explained and Miracle looked at her with wide dark pink eyes.
When the weekend came, the Cutie Mark Searchers trotted through the street and went to Starshine's home.
"What are we going to do today?" Hugh asked with a smile at Starshine.
"We're going to do some dress making. My mum does it when she's trying to get new products to sell and they look so good that I want to be just like her!" Starshine yelled in excitement with a smile and she jumped a little.
"Umm… isn't dress making only for fillies because I don't think Hugh and I should do it since we're colts?" Jacinto said and Starshine just giggled and shook her head.
"You know those models that sometimes come to different towns in Coltland to show off new dresses and all?" Starshine asked and Hugh and Jacinto nodded.
"Did you know that those dresses are also designed by stallions rather than just mares?" Hugh and Jacinto then gave small gasps of surprise.
The best friends then walked into the home where Svetlana was in her room, making some bracelets and necklaces with gems that she ordered from other countries and towns in Coltland.
"Hey, Svetlana, can we go into the room where you make your dresses?" Bubble asked and Svetlana put down her gems and looked at the five foals and smiled at them.
"Of course, just don't mess up the room or it'll be a long time of cleaning for you, Star." Svetlana replied as she smiled at her daughter.
The friends then walked into the room and got all the sewing materials needed. After an hour, the friends didn't do too well on their designing. They accidentally ripped the outfits and got them ruined like having the pins stuck through them.
"Oh no, I'm late for my flying club! See you all tomorrow!" Bubble yelled then she galloped off and tried to fly again but fell and decided to trot off instead.
The others then had left because they had plans similar to Bubble's.
The next morning, Starshine woke up and brushed her light blue hair with her favourite sparkly dark blue hairbrush. She then walked downstairs to the living room to get her breakfast as she could smell that her mum was making egg sandwiches, her favourite thing to eat.
"Morning, Mum." Starshine said as she sat down at the table where a glass of orange juice was in front of her.
"Hey, sweetie, I have to talk to you about something important." Svetlana said as she used her magic to levitate Starshine's breakfast and hers as well.
"What is it?" Starshine asked as she started to eat one of her egg sandwiches.
Svetlana then levitated a sheet of written paper in front of Starshine and she dropped her egg sandwich onto the plate.
"Can you explain how you got a zero on a maths test?" Svetlana asked in a stern voice and she put the test down on the table.
"I didn't want you to know, Mummy." Starshine replied in a scared and sad voice.
"It means you're not studying enough. You need to do well in school if you want a good job and get into that technical college." Svetlana said in a calm voice then Starshine sobbed and galloped out the door.
It was Monday when school started, Bubble, Jacinto, Hugh and Moonlight stood outside the school building, waiting for Starshine to appear. After five minutes, she appeared later than usual but instead of walking her head down with shyness around the other foals, she was walking with sadness on her face.
"Hey Starshine!" Bubble yelled with excitement with a smile but it faded when Starshine didn't even lift her head or give a smile.
"What's the matter, Star? Why are you so sad?" Jacinto asked with concern and Starshine looked at him a little.
She had bruises under her eyes (as in bags under the eyes. It's what I use for any story I write) and she looked really tired.
"It's nothing, I'm just tired and I'm not a morning pony." Starshine replied in a tired voice and she yawned a little.
"Well, none of us are morning ponies either and we have to get up for school at seven." Hugh said with a smile and Starshine smiled a little. At least she gave a smile to them or else it would make them sad. Their first class was as usual, Writing class with Mr Marker. Everypony sat at their desks and Starshine was the last one to be sitting down.
"Starshine, may I talk to you for a little?" Mr Marker asked and she looked at him with sad dark purple eyes and nodded slowly.
Mr Marker then walked out with her and they stood outside in the hallway.
"Starshine, has something been bothering you at home?" Starshine shook her head slowly and looked at the ground.
She then sniffed and started crying then she galloped off, sobbing loudly with Mr Marker calling after her but she didn't turn to look him and continued galloping away. Mr Marker walked back into the class with concern and surprise on his face.
"Where is Starshine, sir?" Moonlight asked with surprise and he looked at her with the same expression.
"She just galloped away from me, crying. Can you look for her after school?" Mr Marker replied and Hugh, Jacinto, Moonlight and Bubble nodded their heads slowly.
It was after school when the four friends walked to Starshine's home and knocked on the door. Svetlana answered the door and she gave a look of confusion at the sad expressions on their faces.
"Is Star here?" Jacinto asked with concern.
"She galloped away from our Writing teacher today and never returned back to class for the rest of the day." Hugh continued as he finished Jacinto's sentence as a lot of twins would do.
"What?! She galloped away from school! We must find her!" Svetlana replied in a panic and she rushed back into her house to grab a few things and they all went off to search for Starshine.
Hugh and Jacinto searched the park, Bubble searched at the fashion shops and Moonlight searched at the different houses, asking if they had seen Starshine anywhere but they didn't see her. Svetlana was sitting at one of the park benches, calling for her daughter but to no answer as a result.
"Look, Starshine, I'm sorry for pushing you so hard into your maths studies! I just don't want you to fail school and end up homeless and having no job to support you! Please forgive me and come home!" Svetlana called out then she broke down in tears and sobbed.
"I think I know where she could be." a stallion's voice was heard near her and Svetlana looked up to see a unicorn stallion with a similar appearance to Starshine apart from the mane and tail and she gasped in shock.
"What do you want? Here to insult me for being a bad mum?" Svetlana replied in anger and she crossed her forelegs and turned away from him.
"No, I'm here to help you find our daughter. I know I wasn't there for her entire life but I want to help and want to see her." the stallion said and he put his foreleg around her shoulders.
"Alright, you can help me, I just want her to come back home. She's the best thing of my life ever since she came to this world and now I pushed her so hard into her maths studies that she galloped away from school." Svetlana replied with light blue eyes that were tear streaked.
"I think I know where she could be. Come with me and get her friends." the stallion replied and they both stood up and called for the others.
They all arrived at Colleen's farm and she looked at them with surprise.
"Howdy, partners, what are you all doing here?" Colleen asked in surprise with a smile on her face and she lifted her purple cowgirl hat out of her face. "Svetlana? Is that you? I haven't seen you in years!"
Svetlana then gasped and the two mares gave each other hugs and they all struggled to say anything else.
"We're here because we believe my daughter, Starshine, might be here after she galloped away from school because I pushed her so hard into her maths studies." Svetlana said with a sad voice and Colleen nodded and was about to lead her into the grapevine area but the stallion stopped her.
"I'll go talk to her as she is my daughter and needs to know who I am." the stallion said and Svetlana looked at him for a moment then nodded slowly.
The stallion walked to where Starshine was and sat down beside her.
"What do you want?" Starshine demanded in anger and sadness.
"I just want to know why you just galloped away from your class." the stallion replied and she stared at him then sighed.
"I JUST CAN'T DO MATHS, OKAY? Everytime I'm asked a question, I can't even count or work out the problem at all!" Starshine yelled in frustration.
"I think I know what you have since I have the same problem as you," the stallion said and she widened her dark purple eyes.
"You and me have a learning disability called Dyscalculia. It means that you have trouble with maths stuff like with counting and figuring out problems. If you get help then you will be fine with maths." Starshine still had her eyes widened then she got up and trotted off to see her friends and mum.
"Oh, Starshine, I'm so sorry I pushed you so hard into your studies! I hope you can forgive me." Svetlana said as she cried and hugged her daughter close.
"It's okay, Mum, I just need to get some help from my friends with maths homework and I'll be able to pass my maths class. Not sure how I'll handle with exams because I might not be able to get help and everypony else will think I'm cheating." Starshine replied with confidence.
"Don't worry, we'll help you out with maths and hope you'll pass." Moonlight said with a smile and Starshine and the rest of the friends all joined in a group hug.
Mandarin sat down in the waiting room of the hospital, waiting for Lily to be finished from examining. She hadn't been feeling the best all week and he instantly knew that nothing wasn't right with her. He thought it was just a cold but she wasn't really sneezing or sniffing. She was vomiting and he decided to take her to the hospital.
"Hey, Mandarin, how is she?" Lyla asked as she walked up to him and sat beside him.
"She's still being examined and I hope she isn't with a life threatening disease that'll make me lose her. I don't want to because she's my ray of sunshine, ever since we were in diapers." Mandarin said in a sad voice.
Lyla wrapped her foreleg around his shoulders.
"I'm sure that she's just fine. You're the best thing that's ever happened to her ever since you two started dating those years ago." Lyla replied with a reassuring and soft voice and she gave a soft smile.
The door opened and Lily and the doctor walked out of the room.
"I have some good news for you, Mandarin," the doctor said and Lily gave him a wide grin and Mandarin tilted his head to the side a little.
"It turns out that Lily is with foal and by a few weeks." Lyla and Mandarin had their mouths hanging open.
"I'm going to be a grandmother!" Lyla squealed with delight and she hugged her daughter tightly.
Mandarin then gave his mare a hug then turned to the doctor and gave him a look.
"She's going to have a filly." the doctor replied with a smile and Mandarin gasped and hugged Lily tightly.
"Let's go home and try and pick out some names for our little filly." Mandarin said with a smile and she nodded and they both walked home.
"Congratulations, Lily and Mandarin!" Miracle, Lulu Belle, Blackstone and Eloise screamed as the couple walked into the home.
"What are you all doing here?" Lily asked as she tried to get her breath back after being so surprised by her best friends.
"We heard that you were having a filly and we wanted to celebrate with you." Miracle replied with a big smile.
"Should we say that this is a foal shower?" Blackstone asked as he turned to Lulu Belle who was smiling at him.
"Yeah, we should even though it usually should be happening in some months but lets celebrate really early!" Eloise replied with excitement and a little of her magic shot out of her horn.
They all then sat down on some soft and comfy dining seats where they were all surrounded by a bunch of presents.
"Open mine first!" Miracle squealed and she levitated her gift in front of Lily.
Lily gave a sigh and a giggle then opened the present and saw that it was a heart shaped gold locket that came with a small key. Lily mouthed her thanks to Miracle and she gave a grin.
"Oh, on another note, Blackstone and I are going to have a foal too. A colt!" Lulu Belle said with a smile.
"Aaaaw!" everypony said.
"So are we, I'm having twins, two fillies and Eloise is having twins as well, also fillies!" Miracle replied and everypony gasped and turned to them.
"When did you two get stallions? I was going to try and set you up on dates." Lulu Belle said with surprise.
"We got dates with these business stallions but I believe they might not be there for the birth of our foals because they are on a lot of trips." Miracle replied with a smile then she gave a sigh.
The next eleven months were definitely going to be good!
It was February when the Cutie Mark Searchers trotted off to school for their last day before it was the Hearts and Hooves Day term then they would need to go back to school a few weeks later. A lot had happened over the months, all the Cutie Mark Searchers except Starshine, celebrated their twelfth birthdays in November while Starshine's was in March. Today, they were excited to be making cards for everypony in their class.
"I wish my grandfather Sven was getting a lot better but he just keeps getting worse." Bubble said with a sad voice and she hung her head down.
"We wish for our grandfather Magnus as well but he also keeps getting worse." Hugh replied in the same tone as Bubble's then he hung his head down as well.
"Come, you two, it's near Hearts and Hooves Day and we should all be happy and cheery!" Starshine squealed with delight then Hugh and Bubble looked at each other then nodded and held their heads high and smiled.
"Can't believe we also need to give cards to Poppy and Spar, after they were so mean to us in our first year of primary school." Moonlight grumbled under her breath and the friends all nodded in agreement especially Starshine as she thought Poppy and Spar were her friends before but after they laughed at her and told her that she wouldn't be a beauty queen, she knew that they weren't her actual friends.
The Cutie Mark Searchers were her true friends and they would be forever until they grew old! The five friends got to class and sat in their usual seats when their art teacher, Miss Easel walked in with art supplies levitating in front of her.
"Good morning, class!" Miss Easel said with her usual cheery voice and everypony said good morning to her as well.
"All of class, you will be making cards for all your classmates."
Everypony except Poppy and Spar moaned and buried their faces in their desks and covered their faces with their forelegs. Miss Easel put out all the art supplies and everypony got all the materials and started to decorate their cards. Starshine decided to put gems on her card and she tried to figure out which one would go with a red gem. She tried blue and decided that it didn't go too well, then yellow and the same result and tried green and she thought it went well until she noticed that the colours looked more like Hearth's Warming Eve colours. She took off the green gem and looked around for a pink gem and found one on the floor before Poppy came around and snatched it away from her. Starshine looked away from her to avoid any trouble then she walked over to Bubble's desk.
"Bubble, do you have any-" Starshine asked and she stopped when she saw Bubble's card.
It was filled with heart shaped bubbles that were outlined with dark pink glitter.
"That's so beautiful, Bubble!" Moonlight squealed near her and Hugh and Jacinto then joined them.
"It's for you, Jacinto." Bubble said smiling at him and he gave a look of surprise because his eyes had widened.
"That's really sweet, Bubble, thank you." Jacinto said and when he looked at her, she gave a slight blush.
It was home time as the school day was finishing early and the Cutie Mark Searchers went back to the classroom to see what cards they got from their class. Starshine got one from a unicorn colt named Dribble, who sat near her in almost every class except Cooking, Hugh got one from a pegasus filly named Sprinter, who was the best one in athletics when it came to running class, Jacinto got one from Poppy but it was just a gluey mess so he had trouble getting it off his hooves, Moonlight got one from a pegasus colt called Skater, who was good at ice skating and on the skateboard and Bubble got one from Spar and all he wrote was "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Ostrich, from Spar".
The friends were about to leave when Bubble noticed another card on her desk and she opened it and it had a nice poem but it wasn't signed.
"Who is it from?" Starshine asked and Bubble looked at it in confusion. "It doesn't really say." Bubble replied in surprise and confusion.
"Oooh, you have a secret admirer!" Moonlight squealed and Hugh and Jacinto put their hooves over her mouth and she still giggled.
"I also can't believe that we're getting two filly cousins!" Hugh said with excitement and Jacinto nodded with agreement.
"I'm also getting two filly cousins from my Aunt Eloise!" Bubble said and she tried to fly up in excitement but she ended up falling on the ground again and she sighed in defeat.
"It's too bad I might not get cousins because my mum doesn't have any brothers or sisters. She was an only foal." Moonlight replied with a sad voice.
"So is my mum, ever since her brother and sister died in a fire. I don't really mind not having an aunt or any cousins." Starshine said with little excitement in her voice and the five of them walked all the way home.
It was snowing lightly this morning when Starshine woke up, brushed her curly mane with her favourite hairbrush then went downstairs to get her breakfast.
"It's snowing!" Starshine squealed with delight and she galloped to the window and looked at the falling snowflakes with a big smile forming on her face.
"Oooh, I can't wait to have snowball fights with the others!" Starshine then ate her breakfast very quickly, almost choking in the process and she grabbed her scarf and coat then galloped out of the door and tripped and fell face first into the snow.
She got up and spat some snow out of her mouth and brushed some off her coat and scarf.
"Hey, Starshine!" Starshine turned to see Bubble, Moonlight and Hugh galloping towards her at a fast pace and a snowball was thrown by Moonlight and it hit Starshine in the chest and she fell flat on her back and Bubble, Moonlight and Hugh laughed as she got up and shook some snow off her back.
"Very funny! Where's Jacinto by the way?" Starshine said then she gave a look of worry.
"He's feeling sick today with a cold and he can't go outside so my mum, dad and I decided to keep at home in the living room with a nice warm blanket and the fireplace lit." Hugh replied in a sad and worried voice.
"Yeah, it's just not going to be fun without him but let's make the best of it with snowball fights and snowponies!" Bubble squealed in her usual excitable voice and she flapped her wings and it lifted her a few feet off the ground.
"Looks like your flying is getting a little better." Moonlight said with a smile.
"Yeah, I hope to actually fly so I can show Spar that I didn't give up on trying to be a great flyer like my mum and dad and the grandmother that I never knew," Bubble replied with some confidence then when she mentioned her grandmother, her voice turned sad.
"I just know my mum didn't even know her mum and that's just so sad. Would be sad if I didn't know my mum."
The four friends trotted to Valentina's bakery and Valentina and Mandarin were cooking in the kitchen because they could smell cookies, cakes and pies being baked in the kitchen. The customers there were, Eloise and Miracle who were eating some cookies alongside Lily and Lulu Belle as they were giggling and munching on their baked treats.
"Aunt Eloise!" Bubble squealed and she trotted over to her.
"Aunt Miracle!" Hugh also squealed and did the same with as Bubble.
"Why if it isn't one of my nephews, Hugh? Where's your brother?" Miracle said as she hugged him tightly.
"He got a cold and he had to stay at home." Hugh replied in a sad voice.
"How's my favourite niece, Bubble?" Eloise said and she scruffed her niece's mane.
"I'm your only niece, Aunt Eloise." Bubble replied with a smile.
"I still can't believe I'm going to get two more cousins. Have you all got names for them yet?" Hugh said with excitement and a smile on his face.
"Since Mandarin and I are having a filly, we can't decide on the names, Apple Blossom, Chocolate Chip, Cookie, Sunflower and Honey." Lily replied with a smile.
"I'm stuck on the names, Victory, Clover, Candy, Liquorice and Floss to name my twin fillies." Miracle said with the same tone as Lily.
"I'm stuck on the names, Gold Glitter, Silver Glitter, Silver Star, Gold Star and Shining Star to name my twin fillies." Eloise said in the same tone as her friends.
"I'm deciding on the names Jasper, Topaz, Turkish Delight, Target and Arrow to name my colt." Lulu Belle said just like her friends.
The four foals then said goodbye to them and walked out of the bakery.
"Bubble, time for dinner then we will be taking you to your flying classes (changed it to flying instead of running unlike one of the other chapters)!" Daredevil called out and Bubble then hugged her friends goodbye and galloped off home.
The others then galloped off to their homes for dinner and clubs that they had to go to.
Madeleine trotted off the ferry that she used to get to from Northern Arabland to Coltland, she then called Blackberry, a unicorn and Hazel, a pegasus, to follow her and they jumped excitedly over to her.
"Come on, you two, we're going to visit your grandparents and your uncle and soon to be aunt." Madeleine said as they trotted next to her.
"Soon to be aunt?" Blackberry, the youngest one, asked with widened dark purple eyes.
"Yes, your uncle Thaddeus is going to get married to Crystal in about a month and it is going to look so beautiful as it will be a royal wedding. Your uncle could be a prince." Madeleine replied with a wide smile.
"That's going to be soooooo, awesome!" Hazel, the older sister by two years, yelled with confidence and she also gave her best confident look.
That was so like her.
"Hey, Maddie!" Madeleine turned around at the sound of her nickname and saw her brother Thaddeus galloping towards them.
The siblings then trotted to each other and gave each other hugs and did their secret hoofshake.
"Uncle Thaddeus!" Blackberry squealed as Hazel flew after her and they tackled Thaddeus to the ground and he struggled to get his excitable nieces off him.
"I'll never get used to being called an uncle for a long time," Thaddeus said to himself as he got up and brushed himself off.
"I noticed that you two lassies have got your cutie marks." Blackberry and Hazel nodded their heads really fast.
"I got my cutie mark when I was picking some blackberries at a charity event and Hazel said that I got my cutie mark and I was so happy that I wanted to fly in the air in excitement but I don't have wings. I want to be an alicorn like Grandmother Elena!" Blackberry replied with a burst of excitement as usual.
"I got my cutie mark when I went on a school trip to a factory. They were making chocolate and when they allowed us to make them and I put hazelnuts into mine and this cutie mark appeared," Hazel said with a smile. "I just hope no pony got an allergic reaction from the hazelnuts."
She then whipped some of her chocolate brown mane out of her eyes.
"How are you and Crystal by the way?" Madeleine asked as she, Thaddeus, Blackberry and Hazel were walking to the castle.
"We're looking forward to the wedding next month and we have a surprise for you when we get to the castle." Thaddeus replied with a smile and they then started to trot and changed to a canter until they got to the castle.
They walked through the door where Elena and Duncan and the rest of the herd except Sven and Magnus all stood there with grins on their faces. Colette wasn't smiling the slightest and had a face of sadness and worry. Madeleine already knew why she looked like that.
"So, what's the surprise that you have for us, Uncle Thaddeus?" Blackberry asked with the same smile she had on since arriving at Coltland.
Crystal then flew out of a room, holding a banner and she hung up on the wall and gave a smile to her soon to be nieces. They turned to the banner and it read "You're going to be an aunt to a filly named Golden Heart" and Madeleine hung her mouth open and Blackberry and Hazel jumped about excitedly as their mum stood motionless.
"I'm going to be an aunt?" Madeleine asked in disbelief.
"We're going to be cousins?" Blackberry and Hazel asked in the same tone as their mum's.
Crystal and Thaddeus nodded as did the others and smiled.
"Oh my stars!" Hazel squealed and to her surprise she started to fly around the castle. "I can fly!"
Everypony stomped their hooves and cheered at her and they went to the next room to celebrate with cakes and healthy snacks.
"So, any more ideas on how to get our cutie marks?" Bubble asked as she put up a blank sheet of paper onto the wall of the treehouse.
"Nope." Starshine replied in a sad voice and she laid her head down onto her forelegs.
"We tried everything like ice skating, skateboarding like what Skater would do." Moonlight said with defeat and she did the same thing as Starshine.
"Should we just give up and maybe do this in some years or so?" Hugh asked and Bubble looked at them with surprise then flew off the soapbox she was using and landed in front of them.
"Are you kidding me, Searchers? We'll never give up!" Bubble replied with a surprise and a small smile then she opened her mouth to sing:
"We've been searching for our destinies
For some years now
Trying to find out how we belong
So many times we've tried before
But we will never give up"
The others then began to sing:
"Because we will keep searching"
Then the five friends all sung together:
"We'll find our destinies
No matter how long
We'll find our destinies
When we're to discover
The ultimate prize of our destinies!"
"Now that's more like it, best friends." Moonlight said with a smile and she wrapped her forelegs around them all and they are had a group hug.
Monday came and it was lunchtime at the high school and Hugh sat facing away from his friends and stared at Poppy as she was sitting with Spar and laughing with him. Hugh sighed a little then hung his head down in defeat.
Oh, Poppy, when will you see how I feel about you? Hugh thought to himself and Jacinto looked at his twin brother.
"Did you say something, Hugh?" Moonlight asked with a look of concern on his face.
Hugh widened his eyes, he didn't realise that he actually said the words not thought of them.
"No, no, I didn't say anything." Hugh replied nervously. "Are you sure? I thought I heard you say something about Poppy." Bubble responded with the same tone that Moonlight gave.
Hugh shook his head then went back to eat his lunch. It was home time and the five friends walked home with Hugh slowly behind them.
"Come on, let's go to my house and have a sleepover!" Starshine squealed with excitement.
"You coming, Hugh?" Moonlight asked and Hugh lifted his head and looked at her.
"I'll catch up with you guys later, right now I just need to go for a walk and think of something." Hugh replied with a small, reassuring smile.
"Okay, we'll see you later." Starshine said with a grin and they all trotted off with Hugh still standing there and it suddenly began to rain.
He then opened his mouth to sing:
"I love her
Imagining she's with me
I'm all alone
Watching her everyday
Without her
I feel her forelegs around me
And when I am feeling lonely, I close my eyes
And I see her"
Hugh then walked into the forest as it continued to rain and he continued:
"With the rain, the puddles are like mirrors
All the clouds, are grey in the sky
In the night, the stars are very sparkly
All I see is me and her together and forever
And I know that in my head
She is talking to Spar and not to me
And even though I know she's blind
I still think, we can still be together
I love her
But when school's over
She is gone
The clouds are just clouds
Without her
The colours I see start changing
Every colour is going grey
There is nopony around"
Hugh then walked over to a bench and sat on it:
"I love her
But everyday I'm thinking
About what I can do
Without her
My world will be not be turning
A world that's full of sadness
That I may always have"
He then started to cry:
"I love her
I love her
I love her
But I'm too afraid"
He then got off the bench and slowly walked off home.
"Oh, Poppy, I hope you will realise how I feel about you." Hugh said with a saddened voice and he wiped his eyes so that Jacinto or the others wouldn't suspect that he had been crying.
Hugh walked to the school therapist office after school the next day and he had a sad look on his face.
"You can do this, Hugh, just talk about the problem and you should feel a lot better. Jacinto said that this was a good idea." he said to himself and he gave a deep breath.
He knocked on the door softly and after a moment, a unicorn mare opened the door and looked down at him.
"You must be Hugh," the mare said with a smile and she moved to the side and Hugh walked in slowly.
"You scheduled to have a one hour appointment with me until you are all better and I won't charge you."
"Thanks, doc, I hope this really helps with the situation I've been having ever since the first year of primary school." Hugh responded with a sad voice and he laid down on the chaise lounge.
The school therapist nodded her head and levitated a notepad and pen in front of her and she sat down on the chair next to the chaise lounge.
"Let's talk about your family first. What is your relationship with them?" the doctor said and she took the lid of the pen.
Hugh wriggled a little to get himself comfortable and gave a deep sigh.
"My twin brother, Jacinto and I are very close and our parents love us very much. We've never had any fights except really silly fights as siblings would usually have, like who should have the last biscuit and stuff like that." Hugh said a little faster than usual and he panted heavily then took a deep breath and relaxed.
"Very interesting, I usually have foals coming here, saying that they don't get along with one of their parents and such," the school therapist said as she wrote down notes on her notepad. "Tell me, Hugh, why are you here, exactly?"
Hugh looked at her with widened eyes and he took a deep sigh.
"I have a crush on this filly even though she's been making fun of me and my friends except Starshine since primary school. I don't know why I would have a crush on somepony that makes fun of me," Hugh explained with nervousness and the look in his eyes made it seem like he was going to start crying. The school therapist then put her hoof on his shoulder. "You won't tell anypony else about this, will you?"
"I assure you, Hugh, that I will not tell anypony this if you don't want me to. There is also nothing to be ashamed of," the school therapist replied in a soft and reassuring voice as she rubbed Hugh's back with her hoof. "To tell you, I had a similar thing happen to me when I had a crush on a bully but we never really got together." Hugh looked at her with surprise and gasped.
"Well, the whole thing started when me and my friends except Starshine, were in the first year of primary school." Hugh said in a calm voice and it turned into a flashback of primary school.
It was when all the fillies and colts were gathered round and put to their desks.
"Hi, I'm Hugh." four year old Hugh said to a filly with a bright red body, black mane and tail and dark green eyes.
She looked at him for a little then she turned away and faced the front of the room. When it came to breaktime, the Hugh and the others all sat at a wall with their breaks of snacks.
"What is that problem with that filly you were being so nice to?" Moonlight asked in annoyance and she took a bite of her chocolate biscuit.
"No idea, I just said hello to her and she just ignored me." Hugh replied with sadness and he took a bite of his shiny, red and delicious apple that his mum, Dahlia, had given him.
"I'm pretty sure that she is just shy." Jacinto responded and he took a bite of his green apple.
"Yeah, it is scary on a first day of school but I'm sure she'll talk to you at some point." Bubble said and she took a bite of her piece of chocolate.
The bell rang and the friends walked back to their classroom where their teacher told them that they were going to do painting. Hugh walked over to an easel and he got some colours of paint and got started. As he was painting a picture of his family, Poppy came out of nowhere and poured some water onto him and she giggled at him alongside Spar.
"Why did you do that?" Hugh asked in a calm voice and she looked at him with a sly grin.
"Oh, I'm sorry, you had something in your mane and I was trying to get it out." Poppy replied with a giggle and Spar gave her a wink.
"From now, we'll keep this up for the rest of your lives and make them miserable." Spar said and he and Poppy laughed, gave the high hoof and walked off to do the rest of their painting.
Hugh snapped back to reality and stared up at the school therapist. She wrote down the rest of her notes on her notepad.
"What do you think I should do, doc?" Hugh asked and he looked up at her with pleading eyes.
She tapped the pen on her chin a few times and gave a surprised look and smiled a little.
"I suggest that you go to Poppy and tell her how you feel and see what she says." the school therapist said with a smile.
"Thanks, doc, I'll try that right now!" Hugh said with a lot of confidence and excitement then he got off the chaise lounge and galloped out the door.
The school therapist gave a chuckle and gave a happy sigh.
"I love my job." she said with happiness and she got up to get a coffee from the coffee machine near her.
Hugh galloped through town and went to a small house that was near the exit of the town. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It took a moment and the door opened and Poppy stood in front of him.
"What do you want?" Poppy asked in her usual annoyed voice, rolled her dark green eyes and whipped her black mane out of her face.
"I have something to tell you, Poppy, I have been hiding it since primary school. I just hope you understand and accept it," Hugh said in a breathless voice and Poppy's face expression changed to surprise and confusion then she tilted her head to the right. "I... I.. I have a crush on you and I've been too afraid to tell you."
Poppy's eyes widened and she stepped to the side and he walked into the house.
"Are you serious? After I did those things like pour water on you in the art class of the first year of primary school?" Poppy asked to make sure that her ears were not messing with her.
"I actually found it funny that you did it but I was trying to be mad that you did but I found it funny," Hugh replied with a nod of his head and he smiled at her. "I also thought that you had a thing with Spar."
Poppy threw her head back and laughed.
"I don't have a thing for him. I've only considered him a best friend and I like you too. When he said that we would keep on making your lives miserable, I accepted because I didn't want him to think I was stupid to make friends with you and the others." Poppy replied and she smiled.
Hugh then gave a deep breath.
"Can I... I... kiss you?" Hugh asked and she widened her eyes.
It took her a moment for her to give a nod and she walked up to him and had her face close to his. Their mouths then touched together and the kiss made Hugh get excitement rush through his body and it also did to Poppy. After some seconds, they stopped and looked at each other with love in their eyes and their breaths heavy.
"I will tell Spar the next time we are at school and I hope that he will accept and I think he might have a thing for Bubble." Poppy said and they both laughed.
It was the weekend when Hugh woke up earlier than he usually did and he galloped down the stairs and tried to eat his breakfast quickly but he was told by his mum, Dahlia and Jacinto to slow down.
"What are you so excited for, Hugh?" Dahlia asked with a smile as she sat down opposite him at the table.
"I'm going to spend the day with a new friend!" Hugh replied with excitement and he got back to eating his scrambled eggs.
"Aww, that's so sweet, darling." Dahlia responded with a smile and she took a sip of her grape juice and smacked her lips with delight and she licked them.
"Since when did you get a new friend?" Jacinto asked with betrayal and shock in his voice.
"Yesterday, after I finished the school therapy session," Hugh responded with a smile and he finished his scrambled eggs and grape juice then he got off his seat. "My, my, I should get going and meet up with them."
"But, we were going to be planting some flowers at Mum's flower shop today and work on our homework." Jacinto said with a sad and angered voice and he had he urge to stomp the table with his front hooves.
"Don't worry, we'll do that tomorrow, okay?" Hugh responded with a reassuring voice and smile then he walked out the door with Jacinto staring back at his brother with betrayal.
Jacinto walked slowly across the street with his head hanging low and he looked around to see everypony else so happy. He sighed and walked up to Starshine's home and knocked on the door slowly. It took a moment and Starshine opened the door and her dark purple eyes widened.
"Oh, Jacinto, I didn't expect to see you here." Starshine said with a smile and a slight blush then for some reason, she looked behind her in nervousness.
"Will you be able to come and hang around for a while?" Jacinto asked with a grin.
Before she could give an answer, a colt came from behind her and stood there. Jacinto instantly recognised them.
"Who is it, Star?" Dribble asked and Jacinto widened his eyes and felt sadness, heartbreak and betrayal go through to his chest.
"Oh it's just Jacinto. Sorry, I can't play right now. Dribble and I were just going to a movie." Starshine said and the two walked out of the door and walked to where the movie theatre was.
She then looked back at Jacinto and mouthed "I'm sorry" to him then turned away and looked at Dribble.
Jacinto then walked over to Moonlight's home and knocked on the door.
She then opened the door and gave a smile.Her mane was tied in a plait like Colleen's as was her tail. They both had long dark blue ribbons. Was she also going somewhere?
"Oh, hi, Jacinto, what can I do for you?" Moonlight asked with the same smile on her face.
Jacinto asked the same question that he asked Starshine and her eyes widened.
"Oh, I can't, I'm going off to the ice rink with Skater. He asked me and I said that I would go." Moonlight responded in an apologetic voice and she hung her head down.
"Oh, okay." Jacinto said with a sad voice and he slowly walked away without looking back at her.
The last house he had to go to was Bubble's and he hoped that she had no plans with somepony else. He arrived and knocked on the door and Daredevil opened the door.
"Hi, is Bubble here?" Jacinto asked and Daredevil gave a sigh.
"Bubble has... come... down with the flu. We... aren't allowing guests at the moment." Daredevil responded with nervousness and he then closed the door.
Jacinto trotted slowly all the way home, went upstairs to his bedroom, laid down on his bed and buried his face into one of the pillows he used.
"Jacinto, are you okay, son?" Bromley asked and he sat beside him and put his hoof on his son's back.
Jacinto shook his head as he still had his face buried into the pillow.
"No pony can even come and play with me today because of plans and Hugh made a new friend and we had plans to do homework and plant some flowers at Mum's shop." Jacinto replied as his voice was muffled by the pillow and he sounded like he was crying.
"Why don't you go to Valentina's bakery? A tasty treat should cheer you up." Bromley said with a smile and Jacinto lifted his head the hugged his dad and galloped out the door and went outside.
He was about to walk into the bakery until from the corner of his eye, he saw Hugh, Poppy, Spar and Bubble talking and eating baked treats and Jacinto pressed against the window and looked at them with sadness, betrayal and anger. Bubble looked from the corner of her eye and the expression on her face made it look like that she knew that she was in trouble.
"What is going on here?!" Jacinto demanded as he walked into Valentina's bakery and Poppy, Spar, Hugh and Bubble jumped a little and looked at him in shock.
"Why, we are just hanging out with our new friends." Hugh responded with anger and annoyance in his voice.
"With our bullies?!" Jacinto yelled and he rubbed his eyes to make sure that his eyes weren't messing with him.
"They are no longer our bullies anymore, Jacinto. They've changed now." Bubble said defensively and she stomped her front hooves onto the table and looked at him in anger.
Jacinto then yelled in frustration and stomped out of the bakery then went back to his own home without looking at anypony even his mum and dad.
"That was a great game you played, Dribble." Starshine said with a smile and he smiled back at her and she blushed.
"Well, I did practice a lot as you would see when I was playing basketball in the school playground at break, lunch or after school," Dribble replied with the same smile. "Star, I like you and all, I'm wondering, do you want to be more than just friends?"
Starshine stopped in her tracks and her mouth hung open a little and her dark purple eyes widened. No pony had ever asked her a question like that before! Not even when she was still living in Prassia.
"I... I... don't know what to say..." Starshine said with a shaky and shy voice.
"Why don't you think about it for a while then tell me what you think, okay?" Dribble responded with the same smile, Starshine nodded slowly and he gave her a gentle hug then he walked away back to his home.
"Wow, you've grown up so much!" a stallion said from behind some bushes that were at the side of her house.
Starshine turned quickly and still had her eyes widened but this time with fear and surprise.
"Oh, it's you, the stallion who told me that we both had the same learning disability that had to do with maths." Starshine said with a small smile and she had her head tilted to one side.
"Well, Star, I have something to tell you." the stallion responded with a nervous smile and she gave look of confusion.
He then cleared his throat and opened his mouth to sing:
"I've watched you for a few years
And I've watched you grow up so much
To see how much you've changed
How much you've grown mature
To see you're like your mum
And all the ways that you make me proud"
The stallion and Starshine then walked through the street and Starshine started to sing:
"You've made me feel so very
Confident when I'm around other foals
Now I have new friends
I am now less shy
I feel less self conscious
It's now time for me to find my destiny"
"I can't believe you are my dad even though I suspected it the first time I saw you!" Starshine squealed and she gave him a tight hug and he was surprised as no one had ever hugged him except his parents.
Not even Svetlana had hugged him on the day that Starshine was conceived.
"I will go and make up with your mum and we'll be a happy family again. By the way, my name is Money Bags." the stallion said and they walked into her house with smiles.
“Attention, attention, here is a meeting of the Cutie Mark Searchers!” Bubble announced from the soapbox they used and Moonlight, Starshine, Hugh and Jacinto all sat down in front of her.
“What is going on, Bubble?” Jacinto asked and he tilted his head to the side.
She gave a grin then flew down a little and landed in front of them.
“I got my cutie mark!” Bubble replied with excitement then showed her flank and her cutie mark was a bubble shaped like a heart, just like the ones she drew on the Heart and Hooves Day card she made for Jacinto.
“What?!” the others all said in surprise.
“How did you get it?” Starshine asked with surprise and her eyes widened. Bubble gave a sigh and she flew a little off the ground.
“Well, my Aunt Eloise came over for a visit yesterday and we decided to play with bubbles that she brought over. At one point, I blew and a bubble got bigger and bigger and bigger! Then it flew away out of town and Aunt Eloise noticed my cutie mark as did my mum and dad.” Bubble replied with a smile.
“That explains the bubble I saw when I was outside.” Hugh responded and he rolled his eyes.
Bubble nodded and the two of them gave a high hoof.
“But, since you have your cutie mark, does that mean you have to leave the CMS?” Starshine asked in a worried voice.
“What?! Of course not, I'll stay here with you guys and I can help you get your cutie marks. I would never leave my friends.” Bubble responded with a reassuring smile and they joined in a group hug.
“Imagine getting a cutie mark that you didn't want.” Starshine said in the same worried voice and Moonlight gave a look of fear.
“Uh... no. At least I haven't.” Moonlight said with nervousness then she gave a slight giggle.
“It's okay, Moon, you'll get a cutie mark that you'll want. You're from a family of unicorns including your grandfather, Connor and great aunt, Jocelyn. I'm sure you'll get a great cutie mark!” Hugh said with a smile and Moonlight did the same.
“Thanks, Hugh, that's so nice of you to say.” Moonlight replied and they both shared a hug.
That night, Autumn and Derek tucked Moonlight into bed and put on her nightlight that was a moon as it was one of her favourite things to look at night apart from the shining stars.
“What if I get a cutie mark I don't want?” Moonlight said as she looked at her parents with panic.
“Don't worry, hon, you'll get your cutie mark and you'll like it.” Derek said with a reassuring smile and he stroked her black mane.
“On another note, why was I named Moonlight again?” Moonlight asked with a small smile and she gave a yawn.
“When it was nighttime and you were born, the moonlight shone down on you and we got your name.” Autumn said with a smile and she kissed her daughter's forehead then she and Derek left the room and closed the door.
Moonlight then fell fast asleep. The sun shone through the window and birds chirped. Moonlight opened her eyes and stretched her limbs and gave a yawn.
“Nothing like a good sleep to cheer me up.” Moonlight said with a smile.
“Breakfast!” Derek called from downstairs and she got up and walked to the kitchen where she saw some pancakes with icing sugar and a bowl of strawberries.
“You were right, Dad, a good night's sleep really helped me.” Moonlight said with a grin and twinkle in her green eyes.
He turned to her and gave her a grin and his eyes then widened.
“Looks like somepony has gotten her cutie mark.” Derek said and Moonlight gasped then she looked at her flank.
“I've got my cutie mark!” Moonlight squealed and she jumped up and down. “My cutie mark is a telescope?”
Derek looked at it again then an elderly stallion with rounded glasses, came into the house unexpectedly and looked down at Moonlight then gestured for her to follow him. They then arrived at a tall house that had a big telescope on the roof.
“Here, young one, this is what your talent is,” the elderly stallion said as he adjusted the telescope and Moonlight looked at it with surprise and curiosity. “Here is a smaller one if you want to look somewhere else like a hill. Now that you are the next one, I'll be off to a retirement home.”
The elderly stallion then walked away and got into a carriage that suddenly drove away. Moonlight took the small telescope and walked out the house. She walked to the hill, set up the telescope and looked through it.
“Wow, I can see the next town with this!” Moonlight squealed with delight.
After a moment of silence, Moonlight heard Skater's voice and he said: “Moonlight? I was going to ask you out but I guess you've just become a nerd and I don't date nerds so forget it.”
Moonlight quickly turned to him and he looked at her with sadness.
“Skater, don't please!” she pleaded but he walked away without an answer and never once glanced back at her as she stared at him with heartbreak.
“I hope the others will accept me being a nerd.” Moonlight took apart the telescope and put the parts into a box and used her magic to lift it and along with her to the treehouse. She used her magic lift herself and into the treehouse with the box that had the telescope. “Hey, guys, I found out that my talent is astronomy!”
The others looked at her with surprise and disgust.
“Eww, you're doing something that a nerd would do?” Bubble responded with a mocking voice.
“We didn't want to tell you but no nerds are allowed now.” Starshine said with the same tone as Bubble's.
“So, get out and never talk to us again!” Hugh yelled and Moonlight stepped back a little and she almost fell off the edge.
Moonlight felt tears rising and she levitated to the ground along with the box that had the telescope in it. She looked at it then threw the box away but she didn't know where it went but she didn't seem to care. She started to cry and galloped away into the forest without realising and went into a cave.
“Why did I get this cutie mark if it's going to have my friends turn on me?” Moonlight cried out and her cries echoed in the cave.
“If you don't want your cutie mark, I can get rid of it for you.” a voice said in the shadows and they walked out.
She looked a lot like Moonlight except her eyes were bright orange. She used her magic and when she stopped, Moonlight looked at her flank and saw that the cutie mark was gone.
“Oh my gosh, thanks so much!” she squealed then she galloped away and when she got to town, everypony was screaming in panic as they pointed to the sky.
Moonlight looked up and saw something in the sky and she galloped back to get the box with the telescope but she looked all around and couldn't find it.
“Come on, Moon, we need to get out of here and to the next town!” Autumn called out and Moonlight trotted up to her.
As everypony else galloped away, Moonlight tripped on something and felt a pain in her back left leg and chipped one of her teeth. She got up and each time she tried to gallop, the pain in her leg kicked in and she fell over again. The last thing she saw was the meteorite in the sky coming at her and when it hit her, everything turned to black. Moonlight opened her eyes and sat up in her bed. The sun shone through the window and the birds chirped.
“Wow, what a nightmare! It felt so real.” Moonlight said as she rubbed her eyes and looked around her.
“Breakfast!” Derek called from downstairs and she got out of bed and walked to the kitchen where she saw some fried eggs and grape juice being put on the table.
“Dad, you won't believe what a dream I had. I guess I really did need a lot of sleep.” Moonlight said with a small smile.
Derek looked at her then he widened his eyes when he looked at her flank.
“Looks like you have gotten your cutie mark.” he said and she looked down with excitement.
“I... again?” Moonlight said with surprise and noticed that it was a moon with dancing shoes. “Wow, I guess listening to all that music sure paid off and would make me into a good dancer.”
She then got to the table and ate her fried eggs quickly and drank her grape juice. She then galloped out the door and to the treehouse where all her friends were sitting down and playing a game that looked like Ponyopoly.
“Hey, what are you so excited about, Moonlight?” Starshine asked with a tilt of her head.
“I got my cutie mark!” Moonlight replied in excitement and all their eyes widened except Bubble's.
“That's wonderful!” Jacinto and Hugh said at the same time with proudness in their voices.
“Did you all get yours?” Moonlight asked and they all shook their heads even Bubble but she had hers.
“Uhh... Moon... we have some bad news. We thought of this rule minutes ago and well...” Bubble said with nervousness in her voice. “You have to be kicked out of this club because this is now for ponies that don't have any cutie marks.”
“But, Bubble! You got your cutie mark!” Moonlight yelled in anger.
“Like I said, we decided it a few minutes before you came around here. Now you need to leave, unless you don't have a cutie mark, you can come back but right now... get out!” Bubble said and Moonlight then levitated herself to the ground and yelled in anger.
Moonlight galloped to the cave in the forest and she saw the figure that looked like her apart from the glowing orange eyes.
“I'll get that cutie mark away from you now.” the figure said and she used the same method.
Moonlight galloped back to the treehouse and when she looked to see where the others were, she didn't see them. She then turned around to see them.
“Hey, guys, I now have no cutie mark, we can work together and get ours again.” Moonlight said with a smile but they didn't.
“We... sort of... gotten our cutie marks.” Starshine said with nervousness.
“What are they?” Moonlight asked with her eyes widened.
“We don't have time for that now. Right now, we have to go and do more important stuff. Let's go, guys.” Hugh said with a sharper tone then he had ever spoken with.
Moonlight called for them but they didn't once, turn back to her and when she screamed, she woke up and was back in her bedroom.
“What in the hay is going on?” Moonlight asked herself and she went downstairs.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Autumn said and she pointed to Moonlight's flank and she saw that it was a lightning bolt. “You have a cutie mark that doesn't have a moon on it like your name.”
“It means that you will have to leave this home.” Derek said as he walked around her with a stern look and Autumn did the same.
“But, yours also doesn't match.” Moonlight said with a nervous voice.
“It's different now in this family!” Derek yelled and she cowered in fear.
Moonlight then screamed and she woke up again in her room and she looked around in confusion and curiousity.
“This is getting so frustrating. I hope this isn't another dream.” Moonlight said to herself and she walked over to the mirror and she checked herself to find a cutie mark on her flank but when she did a few more times, the cutie marks all changed.
Moonlight growled in anger and frustration then she galloped out the door and to the cave in the forest.
“Back so soon?” the figure asked and Moonlight stared her down.
“I don't know what you are doing to me but these nightmares are not as funny any more!” Moonlight yelled and she frowned and gritted her teeth.
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared behind her and an alicorn had a white body, light yellow mane and tail and her eyes were the colour of cornflower blue.
“Moonlight, you can't get away from your own self conscious side.” the alicorn said and she pointed to the figure who stood there.
“My self conscious?” Moonlight said in confusion and the alicorn used magic on the figure and it flew away back into her chest and she gasped.
“Remember, when you wake up and if you do get a cutie mark, your friends will accept you no matter what.” the alicorn said then she faded away and Moonlight woke up.
She walked downstairs to see some pancakes and strawberries with icing sugar on the table.
“Did you get a good night's sleep, Moonlight?” Derek asked with a smile and he sat on his seat.
“I sure did, Dad!” Moonlight replied with a squeal and she went to sit down and eat her breakfast.
“Look at your flank, dearie.” Autumn said and Moonlight looked at her flank to see a cutie mark that was a moon.
"Hey, guys, guys!" Moonlight yelled as she galloped towards the school and she knocked them over by accident.
"Ow! What are you so happy about?" Starshine asked and she rubbed her head then shook some tiny stones out of her curly mane.
The others also asked the same question and they got up and brushed themselves off. Moonlight was panting really fast and she got up and did her best to get her breath back.
"I got my cutie mark this morning or when I was sleeping last night!" Moonlight replied with a squeal and they all stared at her with widened eyes and jaws hanging open.
"What is your talent then?" Hugh asked as he titled his head to the right and gave a confused look when he looked at her flank.
"I think it has something to do with my magic like lighting it to make it shine or something like that. I'll have to find out when it's nighttime and I'll try it out in the dark with the lights off." Moonlight said with pride and she stood up with a proud and confident face.
The five friends walked the rest of the way to the school and Poppy galloped up to Hugh and gave him a tight hug.
"Awww, how's my little rose without a thorn?" Hugh asked and he gave her a small kiss on the lips.
"Why, I am feeling so much better now that you are here!" Poppy replied and she gave a wide grin.
The six friends got to their P.E class and got to what exercises they had to do depending on what type of pony they were.
Unicorns had to use their magic to blast, take items out of their way in a obstacle course and had to have magic duels without hurting each other and getting themselves sent to the school nurse. Pegasi had to fly over obstacle courses, high and low, and had to do races from one hundred metres to eight hundred metres. Earth ponies had to show how strong they are with lifting weights, push ups and even racing against pegasi unless the pegasi wouldn't use their wings or they would have to start again.
"I'm going to beat you, Moonlight!" Starshine yelled as they walked to the arena that was surrounded by a magic proof fence so that it wouldn't go through and hit the other students.
"No, I'm more powerful than you because I can levitate myself from different heights and you can't!" Moonlight replied with anger in her voice and she dug one of her hooves into the ground a few times.
"I'll beat you in the two hundred metres, Bubble!" Spar yelled and Bubble gave him a long glare.
She sighed and they both raced, pushing each other and even hitting each other in the sides. After P.E, the six friends were sitting in the school nurse's office with ice packs on their heads and plasters because of cuts they had on the forelegs.
"That was like so extreme, guys." Bubble said with pain in her voice.
"I know, but that is what happens when you get so competitive." Moonlight said with the same tone.
"I'll apologise to Spar for pushing and hitting him a bunch of times when we were on the race track." Bubble said and she gave a smile at Poppy who just shrugged her shoulders.
"How are you six feeling?" their teacher, Mr Marker, asked as he walked through the door and stared down at them.
"We're feeling fine, sir." Jacinto said and he gave a slight salute with his right hoof. Mr Marker gave a small smile at them.
"I wanted to tell you that there is a talent show coming up in four days and would you like to join it?" Mr Marker asked and he levitated some flyers in front of him and gave them one each. "You just sign your name there and what you'll be performing."
He gave them another smile then walked away with the remaining flyers.
"Hugh, you have a great singing voice, you should do singing." Jacinto said and he put his foreleg around his twin brother's shoulders.
"I'm not sure what I should do, I have stage fright and you know what my school in Prassia was like." Starshine said in a nervous voice and she rubbed her hooves together slowly.
"Why don't we sing a duet?" Jacinto asked and Starshine gave a small and nodded.
"I'll be doing daredevil tricks like flying through a flaming hoop and other dangerous things. Just like my parents would do." Bubble responded with a smile.
"I'll do some magic tricks." Moonlight responded and a little of her magic shot out of her horn.
"I'll do just dancing to some Sapphire Shores or Countess Coloratura's upbeat music," Poppy responded with a nod and she got up. "Come on, let's get home and get prepared."
"What song should we sing together?" Starshine asked as she and Jacinto were looking through some pages for a song to perform.
They were at a music shop where there were bunch of instruments for them to play.
"Should we sing 'The Confrontation' from that play called 'Les Mares'?" Jacinto asked as he looked through a song book that said 'Les Mares'.
"Oh my stars, I love that song! It never leaves my head." Starshine replied with a smile and Jacinto blushed slightly.
"Okay, it's settled, let's practise this song at your home since Hugh will probably be at home, practising his song," Jacinto replied and he gestured for Starshine to follow him.
"I wonder what song Hugh is going to sing."
Hugh looked through all the song books that he had stashed away in a secret compartment on the floor and not even Jacinto suspected it.
"What song should I choose?" Hugh asked himself as he looked through the books in a panic.
"I think I'll sing 'The Magic Inside' by Countess Coloratura, that'll probably make Poppy proud."
He opened the book to the song and read the lyrics. He cleared away the other books back into the compartment.
"What are you doing, son?" Bromley asked as he stood in the doorway and gave a small smile.
"I'm in a talent show in a few days and I chose a song to sing. Do you know anypony that can play the piano?" Hugh responded with the same smile as Bromley's.
His dad gave a small chuckle.
"Why don't I teach you on how to play the song and sing at the same time?" Bromley said and Hugh's red eyes lit up with excitement.
"You can do that? Thanks, Dad!" Hugh said with a yell then trotted up to Bromley and jumped at him to give him a tight hug.
"Come, let's get to the piano down in the soundproof basement and get some practise done." Bromley said and they walked to the basement to practise.
Poppy sat in her bedroom, thinking of what song to dance to for the school talent show. She looked through her collection of CDs and came across the album that had the song "Razzle Dazzle".
"Well, this is the catchiest song that Countess Coloratura has done even though it's short, I shall dance to it," Poppy said to herself and she put the album onto her desk.
"I might as well, play it three times and keep on dancing then walk offstage."
She opened her CD player, put the CD in and fiddled with the buttons until it got to the song that she wanted. As the song started, Poppy did dance moves that involved whipping her black mane about and a few backflips and the dance moves that backup dancers would've done.
At Moonlight's home, Moonlight went to her bedroom and turned all the lights off and shut the curtains until it was pitch black. She then focused on her magic and then the room start to brighten and some magic that looked like fireworks about to explode, just flew around and did tiny explosions. Moonlight then turned the lights back on and she was panting with excitement and exhaustion.
"So that must be what my talent is, make things bright and if a power cut happens, then I will be useful for a source of light." Moonlight said with a smile and she jumped up and down in excitement.
"Alright, I'm ready, Mum and Dad!" Bubble called as her parents stood outside the house and she looked at the flaming hoop that she was going to try and fly through.
"Are you sure that you want to this, honey?" Elizabeth asked with concern and she gave a look of it.
"Mum, I have to prove to everypony that I am brave and rebellious and they may like me. Jacinto, possibly..." Bubble replied with confidence and when she mentioned Jacinto, it turned into a dreamy voice.
"Sweetheart, would the teachers not allow you to do this sort of thing?" Daredevil responded with the same tone as his wife's.
"It's a talent show, Dad!" Bubble screamed and she got her wings ready.
She then flapped them really fast, she got to the flaming hoop and flew straight through without a burn on her wings or anywhere on her body.
"That was amazing! You're just like your dad now!" Daredevil exclaimed and his jaw was hanging open as was Elizabeth's.
"Of course I am, Dad! I can feel the rush going through me now!" Bubble squealed and she gave her best look of pride.
"I'm ready for the talent show!"
A few days later, it was nighttime and the school had a sign saying "Coltland High School Talent Show!". All the relatives, parents and grandparents of the students that would be performing, all walked in and sat down at their seats in the assembly hall. Moonlight, Bubble, Hugh, Jacinto, Starshine, Poppy and Spar, looked from behind the curtains with anticipation and nervousness.
"I am so nervous, I hope I don't mess up." Starshine responded with a shaky voice.
"Don't worry, Star, you'll be fine as long as I am by your side." Jacinto said with a reassuring voice and he put his hoof on her shoulder.
"Mares and gentlecolts!" the principal announced and everypony stopped talking and listened.
"Tonight, we have seven foals who are going to perform for us today. Let's welcome our first contestant. Hugh, who is going to sing and play the piano for us."
Everypony clopped their hooves together. Hugh walked out onto the stage, set up the ivory piano and sat down at it as he was prepared to sing.
He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to sing:
"I'm here to show you who I am
Throw off the veil, it's finally time
There's more to me than glitz and glam, oh-whoa
And now I feel my stars align
For I had believed what I was sold
I did all the things that I was told
But all that has changed, and now I'm bold
'Cause I know"
Hugh then started to sing with more passion:
"That I am just a pony
I make mistakes from time to time
But now I know the real me
And put my heart out on the line
And let the magic in my heart stay true
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
And let the magic in my heart stay true
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
Just like the magic inside of you"
While he continued the song, something fell from the ceiling and it smashed the piano to pieces. Hugh stared at it with shock and sadness and everything went quiet. He then walked offstage with his head hung low and the others just stared at him.
"What the hay just happened?" Bubble asked with concern and they didn't notice that Spar was looking around nervously.
"Alright, colts and fillies, I have no idea what just happened there but let's hope it won't happen again. Starshine, Jacinto, you two are up next." the principal said and he gave a reassuring smile.
The principal did the same announcement and Starshine and Jacinto walked onto the stage, got their microphones ready on the stands. Jacinto sang the first verse of the song and with a look of encouragement, Starshine started to sing the next verse until a spotlight shone on her and she gasped then galloped offstage, crying and Jacinto went after her. The memories of her bullying flashed before her eyes and it was when she was still in Prassia. In a class, she was told to go to the front of the class and sing a song that the teacher chose. Before Starshine could sing the first line, one of the bullies made fun of her by mocking her and she cried in front of the class.
"Alright, whoever did this, it isn't funny!" Jacinto demanded in anger with Starshine walking beside him as she wiped her eyes with tissues and continued crying.
Bubble looked around nervously with her gold eyes and no pony gave her a suspicious or angry look.
"Alright, Poppy, you're on." the principal said and Poppy nodded and trotted to the stage.
She signalled for the song to play and she did the dance moves that she practised at home. When the song was played the third time, some liquid was thrown on the stage and Poppy slipped on it and landed on her forelegs and she felt pain go through them. She turned to the audience and looked for her mum but couldn't find her anywhere. She had seen her at the front earlier but she was now gone. Poppy limped off the stage and she went to a corner, covered her face with her forelegs.
"Poppy, what's the matter?" Hugh asked and he sat beside her and put his foreleg around her shoulders.
"I slipped on that stage and I think I did it in front of my mum because when I looked to the crowd, my mum was nowhere to be seen. Now she'll never love me." Poppy responded in a choked voice and she sniffed then wiped her nose.
"What are you talking about?" Hugh asked with the same calm voice he had.
"You've never mentioned your mum to any of us before."
"My mum and I... never talk to each other. My dad died a few months before I was born and my mum has never said that I'm a blessing and she's never wanted me. I wouldn't know why she doesn't just give me up to the orphanage if she doesn't want me." Poppy responded with sadness and anger in her voice.
"Bubble, you're up next. I've got the props and equipment all set up." the principal said and Bubble nodded then trotted to the stage.
Bubble got her wings ready and she flew through the flaming hoop a few times.
Everypony gasped with anticipation and nervousness. She was then going to try and spin through the hoop but when she was about to, the hoop then fell and the stage got set on fire. Everypony screamed and panicked and ran out of the assembly hall as the other teachers went to go and get the fire extinguishers to stop the flames from getting any further. Everypony got outside and Spar, Poppy, Bubble, Moonlight, Starshine, Jacinto and Hugh stood at some trees.
"I'm sorry, Poppy, for ruining your performance." Moonlight said in an apologetic voice and the others gasped with shock.
"I'm sorry, Bubble, for ruining your flaming hoop stunt I never meant for that to happen." Starshine said in a shy voice.
"You could've killed us all in there!" Moonlight yelled and Starshine widened her eyes and took a step back.
"I'm sorry, Hugh, for ruining your piano and singing performance. You did sound really good." Spar said in shame and Hugh just shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm sorry for scaring you, Starshine, with that spotlight." Bubble said with sadness.
"Thanks to you, it reminded me of when I was laughed at in my class back in Prassia. I was going to sing but I never got to." Starshine said in an angered voice and she sat down and crossed her forelegs.
"Look, let's calm down and forgive each other for what had happened." Hugh said calmly and he got in between his friends and gave them stern looks and they all nodded.
"I guess our competitiveness got the better of us." Moonlight said with a smile and they all laughed a little.
"What we have learned is that, when it comes to competing, don't worry about winning or who wins, as long as you are having fun." Starshine explained with bravery and all the friends joined into a group hug.
"Let's get back to our parents." Spar suggested and they all nodded.
They got their mums, dads and relatives and everypony gasped and pointed at Hugh and Starshine's flanks.
They both turned around to see their cutie marks.
"We got our cutie marks! They both mean our talent is singing!" the two foals squealed in delight and they gave each other a hug.
"Can Poppy stay at our house tonight?" Hugh asked with pleading eyes at Dahlia and Bromley.
They both nodded and Hugh gave Poppy a tight hug.
The next morning, Jacinto was out planting some flowers in the back garden while his parents, Hugh and Poppy were out in the town. He spotted some other seeds near him and they were named 'Hyacinth' flowers. He took out a few of the seeds, planted them into the soil and watered them.
"Hey, Jacinto!" Bubble called and he turned to see her, walking slowly towards him with a nervous expression.
"I have two things to tell you."
"What would they be?" Jacinto asked with a tilt of his head.
"First of, you have your cutie mark and secondly..." Bubble replied nervously and she took a deep breath.
"I'm... in... love with you. I always have been." Jacinto stood still and had his jaw hanging open a little.
He also loved her too.
Even though he had a crush on Starshine before, she was now with Dribble, Bubble was then the only one left that he loved the most.
"I'm in love with you too." Jacinto said and she just squealed quietly to herself, tackled him to the ground and gave him a kiss on the lips.
When they finished, they stared up at each other with smiles in their face expressions and their eyes.
"How about we have a date at Valentina's bakery? About 3 o'clock?" Bubble asked and she gave a tiny giggle.
"I'd like that." Jacinto replied then she gave him a wink and she skipped off.
