CrusadersView OnlineThrough TimeCrusaders“CRASH!” That was the noise that sound I just heard from downstairs. I’m rushing down to see a hole where a wall used to be, 3 little foals, and a scooter in the rubble. “Well I guess you won’t earn a cutie mark in doing stunts over houses,” the white foal says. “Guess not,” says the orange foal I’m guessing ran into my house. They stop talking for a minute and look over to me. “Hey mister, sorry about your house!” “It’s alright,” I say. They stop talking and I think they see my flank and the nothingness that is there. I cover it up with my tail in embarrassment. “Hey, ya shouldn’t feel ashamed. We don’t have any cutie marks either,” the yellow foal says in concern. I see that they aren’t lying. I wonder why, as most other ponies there age will get their cutie mark around then. “I’m Apple Bloom, and this is Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. We are the CUTIE MAR-“ “Excuse me, but could you be a bit quieter?” I ask them. “Sure thing,” she says, “and we’re most of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The only missing member is my cousin Babs who’s in Manehattan. Hey, how come we don’t know ya? We know almost everypony around here.” “I don’t go out much due to, ya know, and a couple other things,” I say. “Like what?” Sweetie Belle asks. “N-n-nothing,” I shut my door and then it falls. I should’ve remembered that my wall’s broken that the door was connected to. “Can you tell us? Please please please please please!” the cute foals say in unison. “No, no. Not right now,” I try to tell them. They give me frowns so adorable I just can’t say no. I sigh, “Alright, fine. Go sit on the couch.” They smile and sit down like he said. “Hey, what’s ya name anyways?” the red-eyed foal says. “Sparkflare,” I say. “Anyways, let’s begin. Well, for starters I didn't have that great of a time when my classmates reached around your age.”
Mark of ManyView OnlineThrough TimeMark of Many“Blank flank!” the class chanted. I started to cry. I couldn’t help it that I didn’t have a cutie mark. It’s not my fault. I just hadn’t discovered my talents yet. I ran out of the class ashamed of this. I ran back to my house and go up to my room. I just lay there in my bed, and cry. My mom doesn’t seem to care, as she doesn’t come up to check on me after getting home from work. I sleep around 6 until the following morning, only because of school the next day. “How are you, Sugarcube?” my mom asked as she made breakfast. “I’m fine,” I reply. “What was up with you being home so early yesterday?” she asked. “School got out early,” I said so she isn’t concerned about my well-being. “Alright then. Here’s breakfast. I got to run on down to the bakery to help the Cake family. You know they have a son a few years older than you who works as their apprentice. Why don’t you go socialize with him? I say you two would be good friends.” my mom said. “Sure,” I said to her to make her happy. “Really?” she asks. “I’ll try,” I tell her. “Alright,” she says. She kissed me on the head and left for work, like usual. I packed my stuff into my satchel, and walk to school like every other day. However, this was different. Two pegsi had taken my satchel. “Whatcha’ gonna do about your satchel Sparkfart?” one of them said. “YEAH!” the other pony said as they flew to the other side of Ponyville. I run after them to a pond. They hover above it, my satchel inches from the water. “NO!” I shout. They dump it in; then fly to class. All my stuff, thrown into a pond. I wasn’t good with magic at the time, so I couldn’t get it out that way. I just had to deal with it and move on. I went over to the schoolhouse and realized I was late as I entered. “You’re late, Sparkflare,” the teacher said while writing on the chalkboard. Everyone laughs at me as I go to my seat, while the two ponies hoof-bump. I put my head down in shame. When I get back home from school, I see my mom. “Are you really alright?” the light blue mare asks. “Yeah.” I respond. “I’m serious, Sugarcube. Are you alright?” my mom asks. Whenever she says she’s serious I know that she want to know what’s really going on, but I lie again because of how much I don’t want her to worry. “Yes, I’m alright,” I lie. “Well I got you a cake anyways. Chocolate, your favorite,” she tells me. I open the box. It’s a small cake, but enough for her and I. “Do you want any?” I ask her as I eat. She smiled. “Not really. It’s your cake. Have it all if you want.” I continue to eat and leave the rest for her. As it is sundown, I said, “Goodnight,” and head upstairs. “Wait,” she says. I stop and I go back downstairs, “I know it’s been rough since your dad died. But I promise that things will get better for us. I guarantee it. Now get to bed Sugarcube.” She rubs my head and hugs me, and then I go upstairs to catch some sleep. ~~~ The past few weeks had been the same. Been teased, spit-balled, bullied, but I didn’t care as much. Still called a blank-flank, though. I’ve had better times. After school, I usually walk back home. But this day was different. My mom left a note that read, “Meet me at the bakery. I have to work a double-shift today.” I can’t argue that I don’t want to go so I walk over there like she asks. I walked in to find the Cakes and my mom working in the kitchen and at the desk. “Hey sweetie,” my mom says. “How was school?” “Alright,” I tell her. “Well over here is there son, Carrot Cake,” she tells me. We shake hooves and then I sit down at a table to do my homework. While on my final piece of homework, my mom sits down with me. “Here Sugarcube, here’s a new satchel. Whatever happened to your old one anyways?” she asked me. “It-it fell in the pond on the other side of town when playing tag with a couple of friends after school,” I said. Her face tells me that she doesn’t buy it, but she goes with it. She nods and goes back to work. Shortly after finishing my homework waiting for my mom, Carrot Cake comes up to me. “Listen up, I know you’ve been lying to your mom and I just wanna say that if you need any help over at that school, just ask me,” Carrot Cake said. “Alright,” I say. “But why have you been lying to her anyways?” the yellow stallion said. “I don’t want her to worry about my well-being,” I respond. "Alright. But trust me, I'll help you with whatever you need," he says. He leaves to go back to work and about ten minutes later my mom comes over to me. “What was he talking to you about?” she asked. “Oh nothing. Just about trying to get into sports when I get around his age,” I say. I see that Carrot Cake is not exactly happy about this by his facial impression, but he goes with it anyways. We head home, eat dinner, and then go to bed at sunset, like usually. It is times like these where I take things like this for granted.
Trouble in PonyvilleView OnlineThrough TimeTrouble in Ponyville“Class dismissed,” the teacher said. Every one ran out, including me. My mom said she would have a cake for my birthday ready right when she got home. However, when I get out, a group of ponies push me down. “Look, Sparklefart’s worse than that googly-eyed pony. Shame, really,” the pegasus from earlier says, who appears to lead this group. “Really, today? Give him a break Thunderlane, it’s his birthday,” one of the stallions said. “Screw you, Big Mac,” Thunderlane says. He pushes him down hard. Really hard. He looks mad, but he just goes back home. He definitely had the strength to beat him up, but he didn’t. “Now let’s show him what we can do. Snowflake, Graphite, go.” They start running after me. “YEAH!” Snowflake shouts as he chased me. They chase me to the pond, and corner me if I don’t want to fall in to the pond myself. “Whatcha gonna do Sparklefart? Cry back home and run?” Thunderlane said fiercly. They stand on their back legs, hooves up, ready to push me in, when Carrot Cake pushes them aside. “Hey, stop it! I’m not letting anyone hurt anyone my friend!” Carrot said. Thunderlane was furious at the yellow stallion for trying to stick up for me. He bucks Carrot right in the face. Carrot doesn’t hesitate to throw another hoof. He punches him right in the eye. Furiously, Thunderlane commands Snowflake and Graphite, “Sick ‘em, boys.” They gang up on Carrot and beat him up. “STOP! YOU’RE KILLING HIM!” I yell. Thunderlane notices my reaction immediately. “You heard what the guy said, stop,” Thunderlane says to the two other ponies. They walk away in silence. I then look over to a bruised, bloody, and unconscious Carrot Cake. For the first time, I use magic to levitate him over to the hospital not far away. I drop him off for the doctors, and rush back home, as it was over curfew. However, I noticed something strange when I am back home. Smoke rising from the Bakery. My heart rushes. I go there as fast as I can. The fire department is getting ponies out as fast as they can and trying to put out the fire. I see my mom getting pulled out of the fire with severe burns. I rush over to hear as fast as I can once she’s put on the dolly. As we go to the ambulance, she tells me something I will never forget, “You are going to beat this world; I know you will. You are smart, and you are strong, and you are so brave.” She’s then loaded on to the ambulance. They start to shut the door before I stop it with my hoof. “Why can’t I go with her?” I ask them. “She needs serious attention right now,” they say. “I’m her son,” I tell them in a strict manner. “The answer is no,” they say. They shut the door and leave the burning Bakery. I run to the hospital as fast as I can to make sure my mother is alright, that everything is alright but deep within I know, nothing will ever be the same. ~~~ I sit in the waiting room for what’s happen the next day. The doctor comes up to me. Already, I start crying like an infant. The doctor puts his hoof over my head. “What about Carrot Cake? Is he alright?” I ask. “He’s starting to wake up. You guys must’ve got into a real bad fight yesterday,” she says. “Can I go talk to him?” I ask. She nods her head and walks me over to his room. When I get there, I can now see how bad it got and the effects. I see his black eye, the bruises on his body, and dried blood on his outfit. “Hey,” he says, “how’s it been since yesterday? My parents know I’m here, right? How’d things go at the bakery without me?” I tear up at the thought of it. He looked dumbfounded, but then it seems that he pieced the story together. He seems sad, but he stays strong. He lost his family and his home, but he stays strong. I still wonder how such a young pony can handle all of this. He lost everything, but he stays strong. “You know what, you can stay at my house until you rebuild the bakery,” I tell him. “What about your mom? What’d she think?” the hurt pony asks. “She-she went down with the bakery,” I tell him. “Alright. Right after I get out of here I’ll come over,” he says. Carrot comforts me in this time of grief. I wonder how things went so wrong in our friendship.
The Next DayView OnlineThrough TimeThe Next DayEveryone just stares at me when I get to school. No one talks. Or laugh that I don’t have a cutie mark. They just stare. I sit down in class. My teacher walks up to me. “Listen, I’m sorry for what happen to your mom. I feel really bad that you lost her at such a young age, being only 11 and all,” my teacher said. “You don’t understand. She was the only part of my family I had left. My aunts and dad died in the train wreck a couple years back traveling back home, my grandparents died of old age, and now, my mom is dead due to that fire. Everyone, everything that I love, it seems that it dies, all because of me,” I tell him in a strict manner. “Alright,” he says. He goes on and teaches class like every other day. The rest is normal until I get home, to be all alone. No one there. No note. Just me and me alone. I try to do my homework to take my mind off of things, but it doesn’t work. I just have to cry. I sobbed, after school and night. I got no sleep that night. Or the night after. The next day in school I fall asleep in class, allowing Thunderlane to put a “Kick Me” sign where a cutie mark sign would be. I wake up and find that it is sunset, the teacher still here. With him is Carrot. “Hey buddy. Ready to go home now?” Carrot asked. I nod, and he helps me up. “Due to the recent circumstances, I excuse you from homework for the rest of the month to help Carrot Cake here rebuild his home,” the teacher tells me. He waves us goodbye and then we leave back to the house. “So, when do you want to start working on rebuilding the bakery?” Carrot asked when we got to my house. “First thing tomorrow morning,” I say as I walk upstairs. He seems alright with it, as he nods in agreement and goes to what is now the spare bedroom due to my mom’s death. When we wake up, we eat breakfast, and then head to the rubble of the bakery. For the first few days we work on moving the rubble, which is a bit quicker due to my magic. We build a bit out of the rubble that wasn’t broken, but not much. Since he was out of school, he had got a job in the fields for a bit until he made enough to finish building the bakery a half a year later. A half of a year of him not being here for me, but instead working. A half of year of being pushed, shoved, and bullied. A half of another year of not having a cutie mark. “What should we call it?” he asks soon after completion. “Sugarcube. Sugarcube Corner,” I say in response. “Why’s that?” he asks. “My mom used to call me “Sugarcube” a lot. And they are delicious, just like the food here should be,” I tell him. “Alright. Sugarcube Corner it is,” he says. We go tell the mayor and she decided that she’ll unveil it at the Running of the Leaves the following month. That’s when we planned to open business. I went back to school for my final year the following week. That’s when things went back to going downhill.
The RunningView OnlineThrough TimeThe Running“Alright, alright everypony. Settle down now. Before starting the race today, I want to announce something important,” the mayor said. “The new bakery, Sugarcube Corner, will be open for business starting soon after the race, being run by the Cake family’s own son, Carrot Cake!” The crowd applauds, cheering on about the announcement. “Now for the race,” the mayor says. “3, 2, 1, GO!” the announcer says to the race ponies. The ponies run off when I notice something. All the hard work I did, he didn’t give me any credit for building Sugarcube Corner with him. Oh well. I sit back, eat some popcorn and watch the race. Soon after I rush over there, Carrot’s waiting for me. “What took you so long?” the freckled pony asked. “We open for the first time in 45 minutes!” “Alright, alright,” I say. I take out some of the recipes from my mom’s cookbook. They were good to me, so I hoped other ponies would like them. Big Mac let me have some apples to make apple fritter and apple pies to sell on the first few days. We rack up a bit of money on the first day, but we make enough to reach the quota. “We need more employees,” says Carrot. “Like who?” I ask. “I don’t know. A good cook obviously,” he says back. I’ll have some job interviews throughout the week. I go back home and go to sleep. A bit better now that Sugarcube Corner was finished. I wake up early to go to school. I stop by the bakery to say hello to Carrot before leaving, seeing he posted a “Help Wanted: Baker” poster on the door. I assume he will keep the sign up for a bit before deciding on a baker. I go to school without any troubles. That is, until I walk into the classroom. I get shot by what seems like hundreds of spitballs as I walk in, while most of the class chants. “Blank flank! Blank flank! Blank flank!” they all chant. I remember the chant echoing in my head all too well. And what happens next. I stop my hoof down and yell, “ENOUGH!” I said. “I’m sick and tired of this bullcrap about me not having a cutie mark. It will be there when it comes. Now just shut the hay up about it,” I tell them all. “Well Sparkfart, what else can you do you blank-flanked piece of crap? Huh? Cry to your mom? Oh wait. You don’t have a mom, do you? You live with that crazy-arse pony that runs the bakery. And even he abandoned you to live back at the bakery. You’re a worthless piece of crap,” Thunderlane says. He then punches me straight up in the face. “It’s not like you look any worse than you already do,” he says with a smirk. These thoughts make me furious I punch him right back in the face. He runs up to me to try to punch back, but I block the hits then bop him in the stomach. He then punches me across the face. My nose started to bleed. I punch him back in the stomach, followed up by a punch to the face, sending him flying across the room. His cheek is cut and bleeding, so he sends Snowflake and Graphite to pin me to the wall. They are successful in this. Thunderlane hits me in the stomach and face repeatedly faster than a Wonderbolt. Then, in a moment where hope seems lost in this fight, Carrot rushes in where he was going to give me some new cake to sample, but he sees my trouble. He punches Thunderlane in to the table, knocking him out. I see this for a split second before I pass out. ~~~ When I wake up, I am at the hospital. “Hey,” I ask Carrot. “How long have I been out?” “A couple of hours,” I tell him. “You got into a real bad fight earlier. How’d it start anyways?” “Trying to stand up for myself. You know, that doesn’t always work,” I tell him. I laugh at the thought. “Why are you laughing?” the freckled pony says. “That I thought it would work,” I tell him. “You should’ve told an adult before things got this serious,” he tells me. “You wouldn’t be here in the hospital, you wouldn’t have had to deal with Thunderlane, and most of all you wouldn’t get spit-balled and made fun of in school all the time.” “Says the pony who said you’d be there for me all the time. Were you there last year when I was thrown into the bitter cold after school? Were you there when they stuffed me into a locker? And did you stand up for me last year when I had got excluded from all the clubs because of not having a cutie mark? No, you were in those dammed fields,” I said. The room went silent. A doctor comes in with results. “Alright. Let’s see here,” he says. He looks at the results of the current testing. “Okay, you should be out of here in about a day. No surgery required, but you should stay over-night for more testing,” he tells me. “Also, visitor hours are over,” he tells Carrot. “So come with me,” he says. The doctor and Carrot leaves. I feel that something happened that day that never got repaired in our friendship.
