Cameo sat in the dirt, leaning up against a bail of hay. She was a unicorn, and a blank flank. All her life, ponies had made fun of her. She was the oldest pony in town who still didn't have a cutie mark. Well, except for Mr. Greenhooves. But even he laughed at her.
She was a somewhat dark shade of teal, and she had a dark blue mane and tail that complimented her coat beautifully. And running down the middle of her mane and tail was a neon blue streak; the same color as her eyes. On her nose were many white freckles. She was a very beautiful unicorn; she just didn't have a cutie mark. But beauty wasn't enough to make everypony stop laughing.
And if beauty wasn't enough, then well, I guess her optimistic attitude wasn't enough either. Cameo was, in fact, one of if not the nicest and most understanding pony in all of Ponyville.
"Then why don't they stop laughing?" she whispered to herself. She loved to talk to herself. She assumed that that was another reason for all the teasing. "Because they don't think you're special, Cameo," she said. "I am too special!" she shot back at herself. "I'll prove it!" She hopped up onto her feet as she said this when she noticed another pony staring at her.
"Who are you talking to?" the pony said.
"Um, myself...?" Cameo said as if she were asking a question.
"Lemon was right," the pony said as she shook her head. "You are strange." The pony trotted away, leaving Cameo behind.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She sighed and began to walk back towards her house.
...
Cameo pushed open to door to her house. She had kept her head down the entire way home, but she could still feel the stares of the other "normal" ponies. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
"Oh, Cameo, how am I going to prove I'm special, even if I don't have a cutie mark?" she asked herself. She flopped over onto her couch and sighed again. She was tired of everypony ignoring her. She was tired of being called strange. And most of all, she was tired of being the oldest pony without a cutie mark. So, on that afternoon, she decided what she was going to do about it, and when she went to bed, she dreamed of gaining the attention and respect of everypony in Equestria, earning her cutie mark, and gaining the one and only thing she had truly longed for all her life; a family.
...
Cameo awoke early the next morning and leaped out of bed. She galloped to her calender, encased the pen hanging from it in her neon blue magic, and crossed off one more day.
"Today's a new day, Cameo," she said to herself. She looked out the window and saw morning dew making all the grass shimmer. She also saw the pony from yesterday staring at her. The pony said something the the foal who was with her and nudged her along. Cameo was very good at reading lips and was able to tell (for a fact) that the pony had told the foal to stay away from crazy pony's houses. Cameo grit her teeth at that remark.
"Don't let it get to you," she told herself.
She went into the kitchen and took a covered bowl out of the refrigerator. She set the bowl on the table and used her magic to uncover it, revealing a serving of golden hay.
"That looks good," she said before gobbling it up. She levitated the bowl and set it on the counter, then went skipping to the bathroom.
Cameo looked into the mirror above the sink. She examined her straight mane and tail. It didn't look too bad, but she brushed it out anyway. She happily trotted to her front door, and went outside.
She smiled widely at the world, even though it rejected her.
"Ok, Cameo, ready to do something crazy?" she asked herself. "Yeah!" she replied.
She galloped along Mane Street and stopped in front of town hall. She took a deep breath. What she was about to do was going to take all the strength she could muster. Her horn began to glow that neon blue she knew and loved. Then, Cameo herself was encased in the magic, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she began to float up. Higher and higher until she was at level with the high balcony of town hall; the one only pegasi ever got to. There were no doors leading inside, it was simply a ledge with a railing used to spruce the place up a bit. And Cameo was at level with it. She maneuvered herself until she was hovering just above it, and then placed herself gently down.
Cameo looked across the crowd that had formed since her hooves left the ground. Most of Ponyville was there. Even Mayor Mare herself was staring up at Cameo.
"Everypony," she yelled as loud as she could so that the entirety of the crowd could hear her. "My name is Cameo. Most of you think that I am just that strange pony who doesn't have a cutie mark. Well, I am here today to tell you that I am more than just that. I am special, and I am equal to all of you. It doesn't matter that I don't know what my talent is; what matters is that I try my best at everything I do.
"I am sure that most of you, if not all of you have been bullied when you were foals because maybe you didn't get your cutie mark right away. Well, I was bullied in school. The sad thing is, that even now that we are all grown up, I am still being bullied. I thought you all were better than this!
"So, come on! Stop this right now! It's not fair to me! I am not any different than any of you, and I would like to be treated equally." Cameo intended on continuing her speech, but a sharp cracking sound caught her by surprise.
The railing she had been leaning on was cracking. Then, in one split second, the railing snapped in half and fell. It landed on the ground with a dull thud as it broke into many other pieces. Cameo slid her hooves back and fourth as she tried to keep her balance, but her efforts were for nothing. The unicorn fell.
The world seemed to go in slow motion as she fell. She could feel the wind rushing past her, she could hear the screams of the ponies, and she could see the ground getting closer and closer until she landed. A loud cracking sound echoed through the field. Cameo didn't move, so the ponies began to whisper apologies, or cry, or various other things.
Then, something miraculous happened. Cameo sat up. Her eyes were closed, but she faced the crowd anyway. She didn't speak. The audience gasped as she finally opened her eyes. Her irises were small, and were moving very quickly until they stopped in the dead center of her eye.
The crowd, however, was screaming now, and it wasn't because of Cameo's eyes. It was because of her horn. Half of it was missing, and all that was left was a jagged piece that glowed slightly, then dimmed. Cameo looked down and saw her horn lying in the dust. She buried it, to the surprise of the ponies who were still staring. Then she looked around, but instead of seeing messy old Ponyville, Cameo saw something beautiful. She saw the world how it should be. Flowers invaded all the fields, and all the trees bore fruit. The storm clouds that were forming turned white and puffy, and smiles spread on everypony's faces. But the largest smile spread on Cameo's.
The unicorn trotted happily to her house and disappeared inside.
...
Most ponies still think Cameo is strange, but that is understandable. Nopony ever made fun of her for being a blank flank again. However, nopony really knows what happened that day. All they know is that Cameo fell, her horn broke off, and the entire experience did something terrible to her head. But we know the truth. We know that Cameo sees beautiful things now, and she never sees hatred. Cameo never speaks, so nopony can ask her what she sees, but the last words anypony ever heard her say were engraved in a plaque that now hangs in town hall.
"I am not any different than any of you, and I would like to be treated equally."
-Cameo
