The Cutie Mark Chronicles
"Ready?" Rumble asked, testing his weight on the zip line. Dinky wrapped her hooves tightly around the rope securing her.
"Uh.... I-I don't know Rumble..." She said nervously. "I mean... I never heard of a pony zip lining before..."
"I'm not so sure about this either..." Pipsqueak piped up behind the other two foals.
"It'll be fine!" Rumble insisted. "You guys do want cutie marks, right?" Dinky and Pip moaned.
"Yes...." They mumbled in unison.
"Okay then! 1....2...3!"
Rumble hopped off the tree branch he and the other ponies were perched on, and pulled the other two ponies with him. The tree ponies flew down the zip line the wind catching their manes. Rumble was incredibly pleased, so pleased he didn't bother looking out for the tree ahead of him. The three ponies screamed as they crashed head first into the tree and were knocked off the zip line.
"You were right Rumble..." Pip moaned sarcastically. "That was brilliant...ugh..." Rumble ran around in circles, chasing his rump.
"Do you see anything there? Is there something on my flank?!" He asked excitedly. Dinky lifted herself off the ground and inspected Rumbles flank.
"Mud and leaves, but no cutie mark." She said with a sigh.
"So what are we supposed to do, then?" Pip asked, exasperated. "Whatever we do we always end up blank flanks... and surprisingly often covered in mud..." He said, trying to wipe the grime off his coat.
"Why can't we do something safe?" Dinky whined, flipping onto her back. "Like... Bubble testing! Or muffin eating!"
"You sound like your sister!" Rumble groaned.
"Hey!" Dinky said, popping up. "That's a great idea!" Pip and Rumble, both horribly confused, turned to Dinky.
"Huh?" They asked.
"We should go ask Derpy how she got her cutie mark!" Dinky flapped her hooves in excitement, spraying mud everywhere. Rumble brightened up.
"Hey, Pip! I think Dinky's onto something! We should go ask somepony how they got their cutie mark!" Pip wiped the mud out of his eye and said.
"Yeah! We should do that! There are plenty of ponies with great cutie marks in Ponyville!"
"But we can't ask just anypony. We have to ask the coolest pony there is!"
"Derpy!" Dinky said, flapping her hooves again.
"The Doctor!" Pip piped up.
"Come on, guys, I mean someone cool! She's tough! She's not afraid of anything! And her music is amazing!"
"Octavia?" Pip and Dinky asked in unison.
"No!" Rumble moaned. "The greatest unicorn ever to come out of Canterlot!"
"Lyra?"
"No! Vinyl Scratch!" Rumble yelled, his voice cracking with exasperation.
"Oooh!" Dinky said, elongating the word in her realization. "Yeah, that makes sense." Rumble picked a few more twigs off his coat.
"Then let's go find her! Let's find Vinyl Scratch and ask how she got her cutie mark! Blank Flank Brigadiers!" Rumble flapped his stubby little wings, and they lifted him a tiny bit off the ground. He then held up his sap covered hooves for a hoof bump.
"Yeah!" Pip and Dinky bumped hooves with Rumble in their excitement, though quickly they realized they were now affixed to each other. The three ponies tugged at each-other, trying to break free.
"Ugh..." They moaned.
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As you walk through Ponyville, the first ponies you notice are the ones that really stand out. One of them is probably pink, and every time you see her, she makes you smile. One has a rainbow mane and is the best flyer you've ever seen. One is proper, and sometimes a bit stuck-up, but more generous then anypony you know. Another is a farmer, honest until the end. One is really shy, and the kindest pony you've ever met. And the last one lives in a library. She's actually Equestria's newest princess. And those are the ponies you think of. The ones that stand out.
But you never noticed us. It's okay, though, we don't need to be noticed, we like being lost in the crowd. But every time you saw that pony brushing past you or singing in the chorus or sitting in the crowd, it was one of us. One of the background.
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Rumble's wings flapped furiously as his bike flew down the street. In the back, a wagon was attached and in it sat Dinky and Pipsqueak.
"So where is Vinyl Scratch, exactly?!" Pip called over the noise of Rumble's fluttering wings.
"I'm not sure, but if we just cruise around Ponyville for a while, I'm sure we'll find her!" Dinky laughed. She leaned over to Pipsqueak but said loud enough for Rumble to hear.
"He just wanted a chance to cruise around on his bike!" Rumble sighed but didn't say anything. "Hey!" Dinky shouted, pointing to a bench. "There's Lyra! Maybe she knows where Vinyl Scratch is!"
"Come on, Rumble! We might as well!" Rumble groaned but stopped the bike, and jumped off. Dinky and Pip hopped out of the wagon and headed toward Lyra.
"Alright..." He grumbled. "But we're not listening to any sappy stories, okay?"
"Hey, Lyra!" Dinky yelled, ignoring Rumble completely. Lyra looked up from her lyre and waved a hoof at the three ponies.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" She asked.
"We're looking for Vinyl Scratch so she can tell us how she got her cutie mark!" Pip said eagerly.
"Vinyl, huh?" Lyra asked rhetorically, fiddling with her instrument. "I wouldn't have gotten my cutie mark if wasn't for her, actually."
"Really?" Rumble asked excitedly. "Vinyl Scratch!?" Lyra nodded.
"Yup. I can tell you guys how I got my cutie mark if you like."
The three ponies nodded happily. "Okay then, come on and sit down." She said patting the bench. "Now let's see..."
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I suppose it all started in the record store. I was really into music, but more listening rather than playing.
"S'cuse me, sir!" Lyra piped up from the counter. She pushed a vinyl record onto the desk and asked. "How much?" The clerk leaned his head down over the counter to see the little mint-coated filly.
"4 bits." He said, placing the record in a paper bag. "Have you ever heard this artist before?" He asked. Lyra shook her head with a big smile on her face.
"I head she just published her first record, and I wanted to be the first to hear it." She announced, pushing the bits on the desk. The clerk laughed at the filly's cuteness.
"Well, I will warn you, she's a bit loud." He put a hoof to his chin. "Said she decided to 'go somewhere with music that no one's ever gone before', or something like that. Oh what did she call it... 'dubstep'?" He shook his head. "Oh I don't know. Anyways, you might wanna keep the volume down on that kid." He said, ruffling her mane.
"Thanks mister!" She called to him, skipping gleefully out of the record store.
"I told you, you can just call me Noteworthy!" He hollered after her.
Anyway, I took the record home and played it on my old beat up record player.
Lyra slipped in the record on turned up the volume as high as it would go. Then, remembering Noteworthy's warning, she turned it down a nudge. A little filly's voice was first on the record.
"Hey everypony!!" She said. "This is Vinyl Scratch bringing you my very first record, with my new kind of music that'll blow your mind- DUBSTEP!" And then the music started. The blaring music.
It was so loud, but it was like nothing I'd ever heard before! It was so electronic, it didn't even sound like an instrument. Right then and there, I knew what I wanted to do. I went home that day and asked my parents if I could have a lyre. And the very next day I started practicing my lyre as much as I could. I knew my destiny was to play the lyre and one day be as good as all the music I had on my records.
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"And that's when this appeared!" Lyra said happily, gesturing toward her lyre cutie mark. She turned a few things on her lyre, then strummed it with her magic. "Aha!" She said, then began playing a little tune.
"Thanks Lyra!" Pip called as the three ponies hopped in the wagon and sped happily away.
"No prob!" She yelled back.
"Aw, that was such a sweet story!" Dinky said, happily squeezing her eyes shut.
"Ugh..." Rumble groaned, mocking a gag. "It was too...sappy... Come on, let's go find Vinyl Scratch and get a cutie mark the cool way!" He said, determinedly, hopping on his bike. Rumble practically flew down the dirt road, only focusing on finding Vinyl Scratch. He didn't notice Bon Bon pushing a box across the street until he was slamming on the brakes, trying not to crash into her.
Bon Bon screamed as her box spilled on the ground. "You should really slow down, somepony could could get hurt!"
"Sorry Bon Bon." Dinky said picking up a few pieces of candy and dropping them in the box.
"Oh, it's alright..." Bon Bon sighed, with a little smile. "So what are you three up to anyway?"
"We're going to find Vinyl Scratch to hear how she got her cutie mark!" Pip exclaimed, throwing his hooves in the air. Bon Bon smiled.
"That sounds like a good idea! If you want, I can tell you how I got mine!" Pip and Dinky nodded excitedly. Rumble sighed.
"Fine..." He grumbled.
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As you all know, my family were all confectioners. They wanted me to continue the family business by making candy. But I didn't want to spend my whole life sorting chocolates. I wanted a different life. I wanted to be an actress in Phillydelphia and live with my Aunt and Uncle Cocoa.
Bon Bon stood breathing heavily on the stage, sweat dripping down her face. She was squeezed into a costume that was much too small for her, and extremely nervous.
"Well, Miss Sweetie Drops?" The director asked sternly.
Bon Bon cleared her throat. She opened her mouth and began to sing the tryout lines. Her voice projected across the whole theater as she hit every note just perfectly. The director's jaw dropped to the floor. He stood up and yelled. "AUDITIONS CLOSED!" The he turned to Bon Bon. "Good gracious, miss! Where did you learn to sing like that?"
Bon Bon shrugged, blushing happily.
I was so excited! I was going to live my dream! But once I started to live it... I realized it was a lot different than I thought it would be...
"Bon Bon!" A stage manager yelled. "Curtain in two minutes!"
"But I'm not ready!" Bon Bon protested. "Can't we wait?" The stallion sighed dramatically.
"You're the star! No, we can't wait!" Bon Bon scrambled for her mane brush at her vanity. She began tearing the knots out of her mane and just making it frizzy. Sighing in frustration, she set the brush down and looked at herself in the mirror.
"What am I doing?" She asked herself.
I'd never felt as homesick in my life as I did right then.
"....No matter where you go... life will always lead you back home...." A song echoed faintly. Bon Bon leaned out out her window, trying to hear where the sound was coming from. "...play the song to set me free, music of my destiny...!"
That song reminded me of home...Right then, I knew who I was supposed to be.
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"And I've been happily making candy ever since." Bon Bon finished with a smile.
"That sounds like a nice safe way to earn a cutie mark." Dinky said wistfully.
"Come on, guys, lets go find Octavia, she probably knows where Vinyl Scratch is." Rumble said as they sped off. " I mean, they are roommates."
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"How did we get dragged into this?" Rumble moaned shoving another chair up against the long sleek table.
"Oh, I am sorry, kids." Octavia apologized. "It's just that I have a big performance tonight, and I can't get everything ready by myself. Ponies from Canterlot are coming and I want to make sure I make a good impression. You understand, right?"
"Of course, Octavia." Pip said with a smile.
"Yeah, it's alright..." Rumble muttered. "But at this rate, we'll never hear Vinyl Scratch's cutie mark story!" He whined.
"Are you three still obsessing over your cutie marks?" Octavia asked.
"Most of the fillies at school already have them!" Dinky exclaimed, sliding a bowl of punch onto the table.
"Oh I know how you feel." Octavia sympathized. "For the longest time I couldn't figure out why I didn't have my cutie mark."
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"Oh, that was lovely Octavia." The the teacher said with a smile. "You're playing is very nice, I'm sure everyone at the talent show will love it."
"Nice?" Octavia asked herself as she walked off the little elementary school stage. "It can't just be nice, it has to be perfect. And the talent show is tomorrow!" She moaned, throwing her head down on the table with a loud thud.
I didn't know what to do. My song was almost perfect, but it needed something else. Something to make it stand out.
"...catch me with your magic love, see the stars shine up above..." Octavia lifted her head up and looked for where the song was coming from. "...play the song to set me free, music of my destiny...!"
"That's it!" Octavia yelled, standing up. "Lyrics!" Octavia grabbed a scrap of paper and began to write down anything that popped into her head. She noticed a little sparkle on her flank and she looked over to see a purple treble clef emblazoned on her flank.
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"Ugh!" Rumble groaned, tossing a plate of fancy food on to the table. "These namby-pamby stories aren't getting us any closer to our cutie marks! They're all about 'finding who you really are' and stuff!"
"Yes, Rumble that's exactly-" Octavia started.
"Come on, Brigadiers!" Rumble said, dragging Dinky and Pip away from their seats on the floor.
"We need action! We need Vinyl Scratch!"
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"Doctor, how'd you get your cutie mark?' Pip asked, as the three foals stood on the doorstep of the repair shop.
"Cutie mark..." He pondered. "That's the-uh..." He looked around nervously. "Rose?!" He called.
"It's the hourglass on your flank, Doctor!" She yelled back, obviously annoyed.
"Right, then... uh... Well... When I crashed into this dimension, previously being a human, I suddenly found myself a pony and this came along with it." He said, with a little smile.
"Doctor!" Roseluck yelled from the back of the shop. She came galloping to the front door and noticed the confused looks on the fillies faces. She laughed nervously. "I'm sorry kids, he's nuts. Off you go, then! Vinyl Scratch is at Sugarcube Corner I think." Before any of the ponies could say a word, Roseluck slammed the door shut. The fillies assumed the Doctor was just kidding. As they headed toward Sugarcube Corner they could hear Roseluck screaming something along the lines of What were you thinking?! Don't you know what would happen if they...
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"Why don't we ever crash into Vinyl Scratch?" Rumble complained.
"Ooh! You're looking for Vinyl Scratch?" Rumble turned around to see Derpy sitting in the wagon, happy as can be. He was about to ask how in the name of Celestia she got there, when she burst in talking again. "If I were her, I'd be eating muffins at Sugarcube Corner! Well, actually, if I was anypony I'd be eating muffins at Sugarcube Corner! Hey! I have an idea! Wanna go eat muffins at Sugarcube Corner?!"
"Well, we're actually looking for Vinyl Scratch to hear how she got her cutie mark!" Dinky said, smiling up at her sister.
"Cutie mark? Come with me and I'll tell you how I got mine!" Rumble sighed.
"Why not?"
"Alright, then!"
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When I was little I was teased a lot. I was clumsy and my eyes were a little.. off...
"Alright, who wants to help set up for the school dance?" The teacher asked, looking out at the class of little fillies. Derpy's hoof shot straight up.
"Ooh! Can I help?" The teacher smiled.
"Of course you can, Ditzy!" A few ponies groaned at the thought of Derpy helping set things up. Derpy frowned but pretended not to notice.
Later that day, Derpy trotted into the cafeteria, where a couple of other foals unwrapped homemade treats and setting them on tables. "Wow, guys! This all looks really good!" She saw a bowl of punch and picked it up as carefully as she could. She lifted herself up off the ground and slowly flew over to the table. She set the bowl down and smiled, happy she didn't mess anything up. Derpy turned around and asked, "What can I help with next?!" As she said this, her flank bumped the table behind her, and everything on it came toppling over. "Oh-Oh-no!" She said, trying to catch them falling food. She sat there for a moment, stunned, and unsure of what to say. "Uh-I'm-I'm sorry-I-I didn't mean to-"
"Look what you did!" A light blue filly shouted. "See, you always mess things up! You're so stupid!" Derpy stood there, trying to apologize.
"I'm sorry- it was an accident! I won't do it again!"
"Yeah, you'll bet you won't do it again! Only normal ponies get to help, and only normal ponies get to go dances!" Derpy felt tears forming, and a few slipped down her cheeks. The ponies shouted insults toward her. Things like, Wall-Eye and Derpy.
"I- I just wanted to..." Derpy couldn't get any more words out before she darted out of the room, tears flying behind her. Derpy ran down the hallway and into the fillies room, sobbing. "I wish I wasn't like this... I just want to be like everypony else..." She scrunched up her face and tried to focus her eyes. When she looked in the mirror she was still the same little wall-eyed pony, and she let out another sob, curling up on the floor.
"...don't change anything you do... you're perfect just being you..." A song played faintly in the distance. Derpy lifted her head out of her lap, drawn to the music.
I felt like the song was just for me, telling me exactly what to do. In that moment, I knew just what I thought of myself.
"No!" Derpy yelled, sitting up. "I'm not gonna let those other fillies ruin everything for me! I like myself the way I am, and I'm not gonna change! I am Derpy Hooves, and I am perfect just the way I am!" There was a faint twinkle, and Derpy looked over to see a couple of bubbles on her flank.
"...play the song to set me free, music of my destiny...!"
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"And that's how Equestria was made!" Derpy said happily, concluding her story.
"Say what?" Rumble asked, stopping the bike.
"Oh look, we're here!" Pip said, climbing out of the wagon.
"Maybe on the way home I can tell you the story of my cutie mark!" Derpy hopped out of the wagon and happily trotted into Sugarcube Corner. Rumble's mouth hung open, and he looked to Dinky for some kind of explanation. Dinky smiled, her nose scrunching up in the process, and she then proceeded into the sweets shop. Rumble followed suit, unsure what to think of the strange sisters.
Vinyl Scratch sat in at one of the tables, surrounded by all the other ponies the three fillies had heard stories from throughout the day.
"Vinyl Scratch!" Rumble cried, a smile stretching across his face.
"Hey, squirt!" Vinyl said, ruffling his mane. "I hear you're looking for my cutie mark story." Rumble sighed.
"You have no idea how long I've waited to hear that story."
"It all started..." Vinyl began like she was going to tell an epic tale.
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In my basement. Yeah, I know, kinda lame for my standards, but sometimes the coolest music is born in the un-coolest places. Like Octavia!
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"Excuse me?" Octavia interrupted, forcefully putting a glass of of punch on the table.
"Octy, shut up! I'm tryin' to tell a story here!" Vinyl Scratch said, jabbing a hoof at the fillies eagerly awaiting her tale. Octavia sighed dramatically.
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Anyway, my parents just got me my first amp and turntable and I was trying it out in the basement so I plugged it in and tried putting a record on.
Vinyl her hooves on one of the records as it started to spin. She scratched the record, creating a digital fwoop sort of sound. The music exploded across the room and and Vinyl Scratch grinned widely.
I had never heard music like THAT before! And I like it! A lot!
Vinyl ran over to her computer and put the music she had just made into a music program.
I messed around with the file for a while, trying to see what else I could do with it. I finally cam up with something no one had ever heard before: Dubstep.
Vinyl Scratch listened to her work, the wubs blowing her away. Everything was electronic and remixed. It was perfect.
Turns out the only thing I liked better than music, was making my own!
Vinyl's scruffy blue mane blew back with the force of the sound.
That day I made the impossible happen! I created... Dubstep!
And a week later I published my first song: Music of my Destiny!
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"And that, little ones, is how you earn a cutie mark." Vinyl said, smiling with pride.
"Whooooooooaaa..." The three fillies stood in awe, then Lyra piped up.
"Hang on, 'Music of my Destiny'?" She jabbed a hoof at Vinyl. "You wrote 'Music of my destiny'?! That song inspired me to buy a lyre and get my cutie mark!"
"'Music of my Destiny?'" The Doctor asked, confused.
"Yeah, don't you remember?!" Lyra then broke into song: "Play the song to set me free..." The rest of the ponies joined in.
"Music of my destiny!"
"Hang on..." Bon Bon started, putting a hoof to her chin. "I remember hearing that song down the hall when I was in Fillydelphia! And then I heard the lyrics that reminded me of home!"
"Oh! Oh!" Derpy jumped up and down. "I remember hearing that right before I got my cutie mark!"
"But that's so strange, Vinyl.... I could swear I heard that song as well... Right before my first concert! I think you helped me earn my cutie mark!"
"Group hug!" Derpy yelled, throwing herself on Vinyl, and dragging the others along with her.
"Uh... thanks.... Derpy...." Vinyl wheezed out, being given a death hug by Derpy. The ponies all were pulled happily into a big hug, saying things like 'I'm so glad we're friends!' and 'I love you guys!'
"Awwwwww....." Ditzy and Pip whined happily.
"Eeeeewwww..." Rumble moaned. "Come on, Brigadiers, maybe we need to try zip-lining again...." Before Rumble could take more than a step, Pip and Ditzy tugged him into their own group hug.
"How about a song?!" Bon Bon gasped, with a big smile on her face.
"NOOOOOooooooooooo.....!!!"
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"So how'd it go today?" Rose asked, as the Doctor walked into the shop. The Doctor laughed.
"Ohhhh.... It was sappy." Rose giggled. She walked into the big blue box in the center of the room, leaving the door ajar. The Doctor followed her in.
The two ponies stood for a moment, staring at the console. It pulsed weakly with a small blue-green light. The Doctor stepped forward, running a hoof along the edge of the console.
"I think you were right." He said, giving a glance to Rose. "The TARDIS's responding to that... power you talked about..."
"Friendship?" Rose asked, a smirk forming on her face. The Doctor chuckled and gave a long sigh. Rose paused, then asked a bit more sadly in a very hushed tone. "And... do you think one day it might be able to take us back home...?"
"Maybe." He said. The Doctor ushered Rose out of the blue machine and turned back to it. "Someday..."
