Applebloom slowly walked into her room with tears rolling down her cheeks.
She could not take it any longer.
For months she had tried everything she could think of: writing, painting, wood-crafting, bowling, baking, and various other activities, so many she was sure she would never be able to recount them all. Her most recent attempt involved exploring, but in only ended up in Scootaloo almost falling to her death in a cliff if it were not for Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle being stung by an entire hive of bees. And her... she was still a blank flank.
Climbing onto her bed, Applebloom sobbed uncontrollably and his beneath her covers. That was it, she was tired of it all, of trying to earn a Cutie Mark, just to look back at her flank and still find it empty. She was convinced she would never get her talent after all; she was doomed to stay as a blank flank, with no hope of ever being good for something.
"Applebloom?"
The filly dug her head into the pillow and flattened her ears against her head, "Leave me alone!"
"Applebloom, I'm sorry about what happened..." Applejack whispered softly as she walked into her little sister's room, "But hey, there are still many things you could be good at-"
"NO!" Applebloom exploded in tears, "I'LL NEVER FIND MY TALENT!! I CAN ALREADY HEAR ALL THE OTHERS!! 'THERE GOES THE BLANK FLANK! THERE GOES THE TALENTLESS PONY!' MY LIFE IS OVER!!"
Saying this, the filly dug her face into her pillow once more.
"Now, listen here, Applebloom!" Applejack spoke sternly this time, "Don't say that! Everypony is good at something! You'll find your talent eventually, why do you have to be so stubborn about it? You're not talentless, you just need to be patient!"
"Patient, patient, patient!! That's what everypony says! I'm just tired of it all!"
Realizing the filly would not listen, Applejack walked out of the room, not before looking back at her and whispering softly, "Just think about it, Applebloom."
Applebloom didn't listen to her. She just dug her head into her pillow for about the third time.
A week had passed, and things didn't get better. Applebloom no longer accompanied Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo when they hung out to look for their special talent, and she never tried to find it by herself. Applejack, BigMac and Granny Smith were getting worried, her mood didn't get better no matter what they tried. the idea of being a 'blank flank for the rest of her life' didn't get out of her head.
The others also tired to help cheer Applebloom up. Twilight and Discord invited her to go with them and their children to a picnic, Rainbow Dash tried to persuade her into playing hoofball with the other ponies, Rarity made her a pretty dress, Pinkie Pie threw a party to cheer her up and Fluttershy asked her help in caring for her animals to try and get her mind distracted on something else. But nothing worked, not even Stormfly's offer to help him with Misty Wing, like Applebloom had wanted since the first day she set her eyes on the Changeling hatchling, but the filly was completely blue, and to enworse things Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon endlessly teased her, and she no longer had the strength to stand up to them.
Miss Cheerilee and her classmates also tried to no avail to cheer her up, but nothing was effective. All Applebloom did since that day was going to school, going back to Sweet Apple Acres and either lock herself in her room, or go to the lake, where she would spend the whole afternoon, and sometimes even stayed there after dark.
That day, Applebloom was returning to the Sweet Apple Acres, her head down and her ears drooped against her head, when she bumped into somepony; when the filly looked up to apologize to whichever pony she had bumped into, and froze in place when she found herself in the presence of a black dragon.
Fukkuteru was startled when he felt somepony bump against him, and when he looked down to take a look, he was surprised to see a filly with pale, light grayish olive coat and brilliant amaranth mane with a red bow on her head, and couldn't help but feel amusement when brilliant gamboge eyes stared up at him in fear. His brilliant sea green eyes softened and a smile appeared on his lips.
"Well, hello, there," he spoke softly with his Krussian accent, not wanting to scare the filly, "You must be Applebloom, am I right?"
Applebloom gulped, "H-How do you know my name?"
"Your sister, Applejack, has told me about you."
"R-Really? But how do you know her?"
Fukkuteru chuckled, "It's a long story."
"Fukkuteru!" Stormfly's voice caught the two's attention, and the Changeling landed a few steps away, "I'm so glad to see you! How have you been? What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was passing by and I decided to pay you guys a visit," the Kuros replied, "And I just met Applebloom here," he looked down at Applebloom, but was surprised when he saw she had lowered her head once again.
"Hey, Applebloom," Stormfly spoke to her, "Are you sure you don't want to come to the library?"
"No, thanks..." the filly simply said as she walked away, and then Fukkuteru noticed something he had not seen in the ponies he had met.
Her flank was blank, she had no... Cutie Mark, he recalled.
"Why doesn't that filly have a Cutie Mark?" he inquired, making Stormfly sigh sadly.
"Cutie Marks are some sort of 'coming of age' mark for ponies," he explained, "They get it when they discover something which sets them apart from the rest of the ponies, but I'm afraid Applebloom has yet to discover hers. But she's now convinced she'll never get her Cutie Mark, and no matter what we do, she doesn't cheer up. We've tried everything."
Fukkuteru thought for a moment, "Have any of you... spoken with her about it?"
"Applejack has tried, but she doesn't want to listen."
Fukkuteru watched Applebloom's tiny figure disappearing into the path towards Sweet Apple Acres, and felt sorry for the poor filly. She reminded him of his own hatchlinghood, and he thought that what she needed was not a talk about 'being patient', but a talk about her feelings, with someone who could understand why it was so important to her.
"So..." Fukkuteru spoke, "Mind if I talk to her?"
The reflection of Luna's moon gave the lake a beautiful gleam, and it would be a perfect place for a Hearts and Hooves date, but Applebloom didn't care. Her face was hidden in her hooves, and she was sobbing. She was crying her eyes out, cursing herself for being so untalented, for never having been able to find what she was good at. There was no point in continuing getting her hopes up, just to have them smashed again.
The sound of hooves -or paws- alerted her to the presence of somekuros, but she didn't move a muscle. Fukkuteru felt a twinge of sorrow and pity for the filly. He did not know Cutie Marks were so important in Equestrian, so he hadn't paid it much heed when he first arrived in Equestria.
"Hello there," he whispered, "Applejack told me you were here, and about your..." he was reluctant to say the word, "... Problem."
Applebloom stiffened.
"Don't mention it!" she dug her face into her hooves again, "I guess you're going to tell me what everypony does! That I have to be patient and all that stuff! But you wouldn't understand any of it!"
"Applebloom-"
"You're a Kuros! A black dragon!" Applebloom snapped, turning to look at him with tears in her eyes, "Your race doesn't have Cutie Marks! You don't know how it's like to be the only one in your class and family not to have a-!
"APPLEBLOOM!!!" Fukkuteru lost his patience and used the 'Kuros Roaring Voice' at full potency, startling the filly who stepped back in shock and terror.
The Kuros calmed down and rested next to her while stretching his wings, his muscles complying gladly from being folded upon his back most of the time, "I do understand how you're feeling, kid. Because I was like you."
Applebloom was caught off guard upon hearing his words, "What do you mean?" she whispered, walking back next to him and sitting down.
"See this?" Fukkuteru pointed to the triangular markings in his head with his paw, and then at other markings on his rear and shoulders with his snout, "Do you know what these markings are for?"
Applebloom shook her head.
"In a way, they're similar to ponies' Cutie Marks. We get them when we come of age, it's what separates hatchlings from adults; it's a rite of passage, males and females alike are tattooed with these markings when we are considered to be mature enough," The Kuros sighed, "But we don't' get it that easily, these marks must be earned, we must prove ourselves to the elders. If you fail, you are not marked and you are still seen as a hatchling by the rest of society, even if you're an actual full-grown Kuros."
"I don't understand, what does it have to do with you being like me?" Applebloom asked.
Fukkuteru lowered his head, "I... I didn't earn my markings when I was supposed to. I was about your age, maybe a little older, and I was supposed to prove to the elders that I was a great flyer and cool-headed, but..." he closed his eyes shut, "I failed."
"You failed you test?"
"Yes, I was too foolish and too reckless, I wanted to be the first to get my markings, and I was blinded by my overconfidence. Had I been more careful, I wouldn't have crash-landed at the middle of the test. I healed a few days later, but I lost my chance. I would have to wait until the next Coming of Age to earn my markings."
The Kuros hatchling had climbed into the nearest tree to his family's nest, sobbing heavily. He wouldn't bear the disappointment his parents would have in him, or the teasing his siblings would give him. He hadn't the courage to stand up to his father to tell him the harsh truth.
He failed.
His oldest son had been seemed unworthy of receiving his marks.
He would have to try again next year.
His father, the Air Force captain Glacial Moonlight, the first in his generation to obtain his marks, would not like it in the least. His father, his father's father, and all their ancestors had been the best and the first to earn their marks in their generations, but he had broken the tradition. He could already hear it, in fact.
"You call yourself my son? You're nothing more than a failure!
"I told you he couldn't do it!"
"You disappoint me."
Finally, the hatchling cried out in frustration, "I'm not a failure!"
"Fukkute?"
The Kuros hatchling stiffened when he heard his older brother's voice through the air. He was slightly larger, and unlike his younger brother, his underbelly was a soft lavender, and his Mohawk pointed backwards. He had earned his marks last year, but according to tradition, he was not to help his younger sibling. This was a test they had to pass by themselves.
"You came to laugh at me?" Fukkuteru sniffed, "You came to make fun of me, Catseye?"
Catseye shook his head, "No, I'm here to see how you were."
"How do you think I am?! I failed!" The hatchling cried out in frustration and a sorrowful rage, "I can already hear father talking!
"Fukkuteru-"
"He's going to say he's disappointed of me, that I'm not his son, that I'm the shame of the family-"
"FUKKUTERU!!" Catseye lost his patience and yelled at his little brother, who fell back by the volume if his voice, "You are NOT a failure! You are simply young and you still have a lot to learn before yo are ready!" Catseye's face and tone softened. "Look, just because you missed this time doesn't mean you are condemned to be a failure. Do you remember when father told us he story of Irontalon the Vanquisher?"
Fukkuteru nodded.
"He was not always as famous as he is today. In fact, when he was a hatchling he as the worst in his class."
"He was?"
It was Catseye's turn to nod. "He was. He couldn't carry a weapon, his couldn't control his magic and he was the worst flyer. But that didn't stop him. He failed, once and again, and every time he remained strong and got back on his paws. He never gave up, and eventually, he became one of the strongest Kuros that ever existed."
Fukkuteru heard his brother' swords with amazement.
"You think someday I'll be like Irontalon the Vanquisher?"
Catseye grinned as he ruffled his younger brother's mohawk. "You will, Fukkute. You will."
Applebloom was surprised that the black dragon wasn't crying with the memory; she guessed that after all these years living in by himself taught him to control his emotions.
"So you are like me, after all," she whispered, looking down in shame.
Fukkuteru nodded, "I thought my father would be disappointed of me, but he didn't; instead, he told me that no one was perfect, not even him."
"What does it have to do with my lack of Cutie Mark?"
"Listen, kid," Fukkuteru turned to look at her with a serious expression, "I understand that you want to get your Cutie Mark, but if you try to rush things up, it can end badly. There's a time for everything during life; infancy is the time to learn, use diapers and take naps. Foalhood is the time to make friends, play and form your character,the teens are the time for maturity. Even if you are not the first to grow up in your generation, it doesn't mean they'll be better than you. It just means that you still need to mature not only in body, but in mind and soul as way." the Kuros covered the filly with one of his large wings and gave her a small smile, "You'll get your Cutie Mark, you can be sure of it."
For the first time in days, a smile appeared on Applebloom's face and she wiped the tears from her eyes, "Thanks..." she spoke softly, "I think I feel a little better now..."
Fukkuteru looked up at the sky and noticed the moon was almost in the middle of the sky, "It's getting late, Applebloom. We should head back soon."
The filly nodded, and the pair headed back to Sweet Apple Acres.
She dreamt she was flying.
Applebloom was soaring the skies, feeling the wind against her face, the adrenaline wherever she dove towards the ground and the freedom... Nothing could stop her. She guessed this was how the pegasi felt. She was confused as to why she was dreaming of this. She was an Earth Pony, after all, and Earth Ponies didn't fly. But right then, she didn't care.
Applebloom flew into a group of clouds and started to shape them using her wings. Various shapes of various objects, meaning to represent Cutie Marks, but she felt no anguish when staring at them. In fact, for the first time in a long time, she did not care about getting her Cutie Mark, despite it being one of her greatest desires ever since forming the Cutie Mark Crusaders with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle
Applebloom flew down to the ground, flapping her wings and dodging through the trees, faster perhaps than Rainbow Dash herself. As she flew above a lake, she looked own at her reflection but what she saw shocked her.
Instead of a filly with yellow coat and red mane, she found herself staring at a great, black dragoness...
Applebloom woke up with a start, quickly rushed out of her bed, looked at her face in the mirror and was relieved to find that she was still a pony. The dream she just had confused her; before waking up, she had seen a Kuros as her reflection, but she couldn't tell what it meant, whatever it was, she hoped it was nothing bad. After all, no matter how much she liked Fukkuteru, she just couldn't imagine herself as a three meter tall black dragon.
Applebloom looked outside her window and saw the sun had already risen...
Wait, the sun...
Realization hit her like a bucker of cold water.
"I'M LATE FOR SCHOOL!!!" Applebloom practically yelled in horror.She quickly grabbed her saddlebag and galloped out of her room, down the stairs and outside. Applejack and Big Macintosh were already doing their chores, and as she waved them goodbye continued on her way
She ran through Ponyville, dodging other ponies as she made her way to school. Soon, the Ponyville schoolhouse was in her sight, but as she was running through the schoolyard, something made the filly trip and she fell face fist into the ground. The filly shook the mud off her face and twirled her head around to see the item... Or pony, who had made her trip.
"Oops." Diamond Tiara snickered. "Sorry, Blank Flank. I guess you're so insignificant you're invisible."
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo helped the yellow filly stand up, and glared at Diamond Tiara, "If only you were the one who's invisible!" Scootaloo snapped at her
"You're just jealous of our Curie Marks." Silver Spoon replied, looking at her hoof in a snobbish way. "You're just angry because you'll never discover your talent."
"Oh, yeah! What's your talent? Blabber?" Sweetie Belle replied. "Because you're pretty good at that."
Before Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon could retaliate, the ground shook violently, and screams were heard coming from Ponyville, followed by angry roars. Applebloom ran back towards Ponyville, ignoring Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo's cries, telling her to come back. She had to know who had made that roar.
Lyra Heartstrings and Minuette barely dodged a giant clawed hand trying to catch them, like a cat hunting mice. The black creature looked around for these two, or for any unicorns around. Much to his disappointment, there were mostly Earth Ponies and Pegasi. But that was not there reason of his 'visit'; no, the unicorn he was looking for was said to be more powerful than the Regal Sisters themselves, and he was sure she would make an excellent magic source. Black wings flared up and lifted the dragon into the air, allowing him to fly in circles around Ponyville, searching thoroughly for this Twilight Sparkle.
Applebloom ran through the fallen carts and crates, avoiding running ponies for a second time that day. Everypony was running into their homes, closing their doors and windows and praying the black dragon would not go after them. Applebloom looked around in the sky, trying to spot the black figure, but he was fast, and he was furious for something. When she was running in front of Twilight Sparkle's library, the beast landed 3 meters away, from it. That's when the filly realized the creature she was dealing with was of the same type as her dear friend.
A Stray Kuros.
This one was a large male, probably a little bigger than Fukkuteru, his underbelly and jaw were a dark navy blue which almost blended with his ebony black scales. His wings were completely black, but what most called the filly's attentions that this male had no horns. All left of his once majestic horns was the stubs where they once were.
The Kuros felt a great quantity of magic emanating from the library tree, something he had not felt since his first encounter with the Regal Sister, during which he lost his horns. He landed, making the ground shake, and started walking towards the tree, the energy becoming stronger, but he was caught off guard when a young filly with light yellow coat and bright red mane stood in his way.
"Wait!" She called out to him.
The Kuros paid her no heed and simply pushed her aside softly. When the filly galloped ahead of him and stood in his way once again, he started to lose his patience.
"Move aside, filly," he ordered her, snapping his teeth. "I have no business with you, but if you keep getting in my way, I will change my mind."
"Why are you doing this?!" Applebloom yelled, "What do you want to do to Twilight?"
"It's not your business, now get out of my way!" The Kuros swiped a clawed hand at Applebloom, but she dodged it and cried out, "No! I want you to tell me! What business do you have with Twilight Sparkle!"
The Kuros clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes, giving the filly an ire-filled glare. However, he still decided to answer to her question, if that made her leave.
"See this?" He pointed at his stubs of horns, "I lost my horns, and I cannot longer use magic without my horns to canalize it," Applebloom noted his tone had turned forlorn, "I need to absorb a bit of her magic to grow them back. Now move out of the way or I'll crush you."
Instead of dashing away, like he had hoped she would, Applebloom asked him casually, "What's your name?"
The Kuros frowned, "My name is Raven."
"How do you know absorbing Twilight's magic will give you your horns back? How can you be certain hurting some pony else will give you what you lost?"
Raven's frown softened up. The filly had brought up a question which made him think. He had heard Unicorn magic could restore his horns, but then again, those were only rumors. He could not be certain of it, but he was desperate. He could not use magic, and being a creature who literally lived off using black magic, it was a grave problem.
"Do you know what a Cutie Mark is, mr. Raven?" Applebloom inquired.
"Those are the marks you ponyfolk have on your flanks, right?"
"Please take a good look at me, Mr. Raven," Applebloom said while turning around so that the Kuros would be able to see her flank. "What is missing?"
Raven narrowed his eyes and examined the filly carefully, deciding to go along with her game. What was different with this filly? She looked like a regular pony for him, with hooves, mane, no Cutie Mark... Wait, no Cutie Mark? Upon closer inspection, he realized that this filly had a blank flank, there was no visible Cutie Mark.
By then, the citizens of Ponyville were peeking from their windows, watching in amazement as Applebloom spoke with the Kuros calmly, with no trace of fright upon her face. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, even though they could not hear what they were talking about, were astonished to find the black dragon, now calm, had laid down on the floor and stared at Applebloom's flank. When they recovered from their shock, they galloped towards Sweet Apple Acres.
"Where is your Cutie Mark, child?" Raven inquired a few seconds later.
"I don't have one, Mr. Raven," Applebloom replied. "I was like you, in a way. I was desperate on obtaining a Cutie Mark, like you're desperate to grow your horns back. I did very estupid things, I tried to accelerate the process, I tried to earn my Cutie Mark before it was time, but it never worked, no matter what I did. I even tried to use a plant from Everfree Forest, but all I got from that was the Cutie Pox." Applebloom looked down, turning to see the Kuros face to face once more. "I was so desperate that I didn't realize that I simply wanted to have a Cutie Mark so that the other ponies in my class would stop mocking at me, instead of wanting to discover who I was. Who I am. Like you, Mr. Raven. You simply want to avoid being mocked at by other dragons because you don't have horns anymore, but you don't need any horns to be you, just like I don't need a Cutie Mark to be me. You were Raven when you had your horns, and you can still be the same Raven."
Raven felt his eyes tearing up. In all these years, no pony had ever spoken to his like this. Wherever they saw him they ran away, screamed, called him monster and some even went as far to attack him. But this little filly, she was trying to talk sense into him, even comparing herself to him, which nopony had dared to do before.
"You mean to say that I don't need to have my horns back to be me? You're saying I can be myself without my horns as much as I was when I had them?" He asked, all hostility gone.
Applebloom nodded. "Yes, Mr. Raven. If you ask me, I think you look cooler without them. It makes you more unique among Kurosfolk."
What happened next shocked all the present ponies, who had finally walked out of their homes after realizing the Kuros would no longer attack them.
Crystalline tears started rolling down Raven's scaly hide, falling onto the ground, but there was a contradictory smile on his lips. He stood up, but his hazel eyes were still set on Applebloom.
"Filly..." He whispered. "You did something nopony had ever done to me," his smile grew slightly wider. "To prove me wrong."
Applebloom blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Before coming here, I thought ponies were merciless. When I first came to Equestria, I tried to make friends among your kind, but as soon as they saw me they all rejected me. I only had to poke my head from a corner to send anypony walking down the street scurrying out of sight before I had a chance to speak to them. One day, I finally included that everypony was alike, so I gave up at trying to make friends here."
Applebloom smiled and walked closer to the Kuros, making everypony around them gasp in anxiety, and placed a hoof on one of his claws. "Now you have one."
Before he could say anything else, he noticed a spark of light exploding softly on the filly's flank, but she didn't seem to notice. He decided not to say anything about it; if it was what he thought, he didn't want to spoil the surprise.
"Applebloom!"
Applebloom and Raven turned their heads towards the source if the voice, and they saw Applejack and BigMacintosh had come to a halt a few hoof steps from them, staring in shock at Applebloom, accompanied by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Applebloom froze when she felt Raven's nose nuzzling gingerly against her cheek.
"Thanks."
Then he took off into the air.
Applebloom stared up at him as he flew away, watching as he disappeared between clouds until he was nothing but a tiny black spot on the distance.
"Applebloom..."
Applejack walked closer to her little sister, staring at her flank with wide eyes. BigMac, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and all the ponies around her were staring at her flank, actually. Even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were staring at Applebloom's flank agape, until the pink filly stormed off in anger and jealously, followed by her friend.
"What is everypony looking at?!" Applebloom finally snapped, terrified at the way they stared at her.
"Applebloom..." Sweetie Belle whispered.
"Your..." Scootaloo pointed at her rear. "Flank..."
Confused, Applebloom twirled her head around to look at her blank flank, but what she saw made her freeze in place.
In her flank, there was a Kuros Cutie Mark.
