It was all over. Lee breathed in and out slowly, softly, as chaos broke out around him. Shouts and cheers like gunshots exploded as other colts and fillies near him jumped up and down in celebration. Lee, however, couldn’t bring himself to do anything except produce a wry smile in spite of himself. Longshot had finally received a blue bow and quiver on his flank. Mont Blanc had a delicious looking likeness of a pastry where there had been none just a few weeks before. Shooting Star flew into the air with a cry of satisfaction, and Lee could clearly see her telescope cutie mark. It was graduation for the extended classes, and yet here he was, at the end of another year, still as blank a flank as he was when he was a foal.

After things quieted down and the party disbanded, Lee took a walk to the young pony’s schoolyard. A few small fillies and colts remained on the playground, pushing each other on the swingset and waiting for their parents as the sun sank lower into the clear sky. Teacher Cherilee watched the young ponies from the schoolhouse door to make sure their parents picked them up safely, and she absentmindedly looked up at a small, lone cloud, obviously forgotten by the weather team of Ponyville. Lee walked up to his old teacher and smiled a ‘hello’.

“Good afternoon, Lee,” she greeted warmly. “It’s been a long time!”

“Yes,” Lee agreed softly. “I’ve just finished my extended talent classes. I’m all done with school now.” Cherilee looked at him proudly.

“I’m glad you took my advice. There was once a trio of friends here who attended those classes as well, and it worked for them! Some ponies just need a little more reach to discover their special talents.” She paused, and looked at the gown covering his flank. “So? What is your special talent, Lee?” Her smile cut deep into his wound, and a timid grin crept onto his disappointed face as he sat on the ground. Cherilee’s smile faded a little, and she looked away for a moment. “I had hoped…”

“No offense, Miss Cherilee, but you’re preaching to the choir.”

“Of course,” she said, suddenly very attuned to the embarrassment and hurt Lee was feeling. “Well, Lee…if that is indeed the case, then there’s something we need to do.”

Lee looked up at her, ears flattened. “There’s no more schooling to be done, though. It seems everypony in my class has graduated with their cutie mark except me. I’ve tried everything. Maybe I just don’t have a special talent.”

“Oh no, Lee. All ponies have a special talent. It’s just that…some ponies have a very special special talent. A very special cutie mark. It requires exposure to things one wouldn’t normally find in Ponyville, or in any town or city in Equestria.” She took a moment to wave good-bye to the last of her students as they began to walk home with their parent. Turning back to Lee, she smiled—but there was a sadness in her eyes. “In fact, I’m sure you’ll receive information about it soon. One of the princess’ guards has likely already written, if not sent out, your special letter.”

“Special letter?”

“Yes, Lee. All ponies without a cutie mark after extended talent classes receive a special letter from Canterlot or the Crystal Empire, detailing what they are to do.”

The green unicorn looked back at his gown-covered flank. “This happens to ponies other than me?”

“Of course! In order to find your special talent, you need to have some experience to have discovered you’re good with it. It’s only natural that sometimes, there are things ponies are good at that they won’t get exposure to in the towns of Equestria.”

Lee’s grim look lifted a little bit. While he was nervous about what the letter would entail, he was grateful to Cherilee for clearing his doubts about being a permanent blank flank. “Thank you, Miss Cherilee.” He looked at the setting sun and sighed. “I guess I’ll see you around, then?” Cherilee’s eyes widened, and then she smiled.

“Of course we’ll see each other again. …Just, be careful, Merilee.” She leaned forward and wrapped her foreleg around Lee’s neck in a tight hug. When she finally let go, she turned towards the schoolhouse. “Good luck, Lee.” Taken aback a little by the odd change in his old teacher’s personality, he waved it off as tiredness.

“Thank you, I will. You take care, too.” With that, Lee turned himself towards home and began the long walk back.

As he walked the road back to his home near the edge of Ponyville, Lee thought about what his future might entail. He tried to think of things he hadn’t tried yet, things he hadn’t been exposed to. What could lie outside of Equestria that he wouldn’t have been exposed to? World travel, maybe? An explorer, perhaps? But no, Lee had trouble camping, let alone trotting around the globe. He liked the comforts of a home, and the stability it offered. Could it be studying other cultures? Lee had always been fairly interested in griffons, dragons, and other sapient creatures. His thoughts plagued Lee’s mind all through the night, and though hours had passed, he felt as though it had been merely minutes. A sudden knock on his door startled him, and Lee sat up in bed, opening the door with his magic.

“Lee, dear, breakfast is…Lee? Are you all right?” His mother, Merry Tune, stared at his face—and the bags under his eyes. “Did you stay up all night?” Lee rose and opened his curtains to see daylight peek through them. He squinted and turned back to his mother.

“I-I guess so…I didn’t fall asleep at all.” He yawned and Merry looked at him with a mother’s concern. They walked down the stairs together, Merry fixing her son’s hair here and there as they did so.

“Lee, is there something you’re not telling me? You never stay up late…what’s bothering you? …It’s your cutie mark, isn’t it?”

“Mom, mom, stop it,” Lee said, trying to squirm out of reach of her hoof. “I’m not a foal anymore…” He sat down at the breakfast table and levitated a piece of toast and some jam to his plate. “Miss Cherilee told me about cutie marks yesterday, and said there should be a letter arriving soon telling me what to do since I don’t have mine yet.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Merry said, bringing Lee a glass of juice. “Your father is out on his usual morning walk, and he usually checks the mail…maybe you’ll get your letter sometime this week.”

“Nah, it’s gotta be today mom. Miss Cherilee said—”

“Morning everypony!” Lee was interrupted as his father swung the door open and trotted happily into the kitchen. “Boy am I beat; Gusty and Flitter Mist needed some help cloud bucking and I decided to lend a hoof.” Argent Sun took a seat next to Lee and unceremoniously stuffed a piece of toast in his mouth.

“Did any mail come for me, dad?” Through cheeks full of food, Argent Sun fished a sealed scroll out of his saddlebag and handed it to Lee. “Thanks.” Lee finished breakfast quickly and then took the letter to his room, ignoring his mother’s protests to stay and eat more and read the letter at the table. Closing and locking the door, he sat on the bed and carefully peeled the seal off. He’d never seen a seal like it before; it bore a shield insignia on it. Lee read it quietly to himself over and over again. At first he was too excited and nervous to really comprehend it, and then the shock came.

“…By order of Prince Shining Armor, the unicorn Merilee Argent Sun is to, a week from the date signed at the bottom, report to boot camp?” He read the last two words aloud again and rubbed his head. “…Boot camp? But…but what’s boot camp?”

Lee dug at the ground nervously as he waited for the train. He found himself at Dodge Junction, awaiting the second train he would be on as he traveled towards the destination specified in his letter. His saddlebags were heavy with snacks from his mom and some bits he’d taken out from the bank. Most of the other ponies waiting for the train were making quiet conversation with each other and didn’t look like they were headed to a ‘boot camp’, though there were still a few arriving to the platform. The train was due in five minutes, and it was starting to get crowded. Lee felt alone; it was hard to tell with the amount of ponies with bags, but he seemed to be the only blank flank in the crowd. What if he got to this ‘boot camp’ and nopony else was there? His eyes widened and he started to breathe quickly in panic when there was suddenly a commotion; a loud pony was making his way through the crowd.

“Oh, e-excuse me, sorry, oops, ahaha, that was your h-hoof, h-huh? Sorry! My b-bad! Lemme through!” Finally the colt making all the ruckus pushed through to the front of the platform where Lee was standing. The pony in question was had an olive-colored coat and wild purple hair, and he stared at Lee hopefully.

“Oh, oh thank Celestia, are you maybe…? Are you?” He trotted over to Lee, who took a step back, and lifted Lee’s saddlebags. Lee’s face turned a shade of red and he held up a hoof to stop the odd earth pony when he jumped in the air and trotted happily in place. “Oh, you are!! You’re a b-blank flank, just like me! Haha! Would you look at that?” Before Lee could respond, the other pony was suddenly shaking his hoof and smiling wide. “Oooh, this should b-be fun. Finally! Another b-b-blank flank! I’m B-Boomer, b-by the way.” Boomer’s blue eyes sparkled and Lee found himself at a loss for words.

“Do I…know you?”

“Hmm? What? No, no! Well, now you do, b-but you didn’t b-before, so I guess that’s a no? A yes? Oh, b-but isn’t this e-e-exciting? B-b-boot camp!! What’s your name?” Lee had to take a moment to process what Boomer was saying, as he spoke so quickly his sentences ran together like wet paint.

“My name…oh. My name’s Lee.”

Boomer cocked his head. “Lee? Just Lee?”

“Well…” Lee sighed. “My full name is Merilee Argent Sun, but I’d prefer if you just called me Lee.” Boomer stared at him, as if waiting for an explanation. Under the gaze of this wild-eyed pony, Lee didn’t want to disappoint. “…My mom and dad couldn’t decide on a name, and so I ended up sort of being named after both of them, and so I’ve got this weird middle name and…” He found himself going on a tangent. Even though Boomer was staring at him intently, Lee shied away and summed up what he had to say quickly. “…Anyway, just call me Lee?”

“Fair e-enough, Lee! Nice ta meetchya!” Lee thought that would be the end of Boomer talking, but the silence didn’t last a second before his new friend was off on a story about how he got his letter and came to Dodge Junction all the way from the Coltorado Rockies in much the same fashion that Lee did from Ponyville when a whistle blew off in the distance.

‘Finally, the train is here,’ Lee thought to himself. Boomer was a little too talkative for his tastes, though he had to admit he was happy to have somepony to be with. Not to mention, somepony who was attending boot camp as well. The only thing that boot camp could refer to, Lee thought, was what new royal guard recruits went to, but you had to apply for that. As far as he knew, Equestria didn’t have a draft for royal guards, so what could it be? The question nagged and nagged at him.
The train pulled into the station and the doors opened. Lee readjusted his saddlebags and Boomer bounced excitedly next to him. “Oooh, Lee, sit with me! C’mon, let’s get on and find seats!”

“Okay…”

The two colts boarded the train and found and empty car to sit in. Boomer took a seat next to the window and started jabbering about how excited he was to see the scenery on the way, and Lee settled into the seat right across from him. However, the car wasn’t empty for long; just before the train started to move, the car door swung open and a pretty white pegasus strode in. She flipped her mane and batted her gray eyes.

“Hello boys.” The filly strode over to an empty seat next to Lee. “This spot taken?” Lee and Boomer both turned a light shade of red as she sat down and set her saddlebag down. When she did, it revealed what neither of them was expecting—no cutie mark. The blush on Boomer’s face immediately departed and he flew into another wild introduction.

“Wow! Wow! Two ponies in the same day who don’t have their cutie marks! A second b-blank flank!! Can you b-b-b-believe it, Lee? What e-extraordinary luck! Hiya miss, I’m B-Boomer, and this h-here is Merilee Argent Sun! Oh, b-but don’t call him that; h-he doesn’t like it. Prefers ‘Lee’. See, his dad and his mom…”

“Woah, Boomer,” Lee said with a smile. He put his hoof to the other colt’s chest. “Take it easy, buddy.”

“Nice to meet you, Boomer, Lee,” said the pegasus pony. “My name is Prism Stone. …I take it you two were both summoned to boot camp, too? By decree of Prince Shining Armor, no less…” She sighed. “Princess Cadence sure is a lucky filly. Such a handsome unicorn…” She looked at Lee and smiled sweetly.

“That’s some unique coloring you have there miss Stone,” Lee said, admiring her mane. Prism’s mane on top of her head was several shades of gray, but her tail was a brightly colored rainbow. Both gleamed beautifully in the light; a sure sign that Prism Stone took very good care of it.

“Oh, thank you Lee,” she said with a giggle. “It’s too bad not all of it is rainbow colored, though. And there’s no need for ‘miss Stone’, just Prism is fine.”

“If you don’t mind me saying so, I don’t think so—about your h-hair—, Prism,” Boomer piped up, “It sure does look lovely just the way it is!”

The train jolted to a start and picked up speed quickly as it began to roll down the tracks. “I wonder if this train will have a lunch or a dinner,” Prism wondered aloud. “I missed breakfast when I left home.”

“You can say that again,” Boomer said, slouching over in his chair. “On my ride h-here they didn’t offer anything e-either.” Merilee was about to comment that he was hungry as well when he remembered he had saddlebags full of food. He knocked himself on the head for being so silly and levitated the tan and white bags to his seat. Opening them, he pulled out a variety of apples and two daisy sandwiches.

“I nearly forgot I packed ahead of time,” Lee said. “Won’t you two join me?” Prism and Boomer lit up at the sight of food and thanked Lee over and over again. “It’s really no trouble…I can’t eat all this by myself, anyway.”

“So,” Boomer asked between bites of a red delicious, “Where do you think we’re going? What do you suppose we’re going to do? Fresh outta school and I got this letter all of a sudden…I don’t know what it’s all about, b-but I sure am curious!”

Lee responded with a sigh. “I don’t know either. My old teacher Cherilee said that once you’ve completed extra classes to find your cutie mark and you’re still a blank flank, all ponies have to go through this. She said something about having a talent in an area you haven’t had any exposure to, and that apparently this ‘boot camp’ is likely the place to find it.”

“Something we haven’t had exposure to…well, I don’t know about you two boys, but I hope it’s not anything dangerous. I’m…I’m a pretty cautious pony!” Prism laughed and a quiet fell over the three new friends as they all finished eating and looked out the window.

No matter what was ahead, Lee felt a glimmer of hope. Perhaps where they were going he, Boomer and Prism would all finally find their special talents…

Author's Note

Just a quick note--I've been out of the fanfiction writing scene for many years now, but I've had this idea stuck in my head for so long I just had to do something about it. I hope you find the writing decent enough, and I hope you enjoy the story! ;w;