Apple Bloom has been a wreck for a while now. Her fellow crusaders got their cutie marks, and at first, she was happy for them, really happy. Its been a few weeks since then and she finds herself alone and a broken filly. Diamond Tiara's teasing has gotten worse, now that she is the only one. She finds herself staring into a mirror and wondering what the point of trying anymore is. Sweetie was off to train in Canterlot for a professional music career. Scootaloo was leaving town with her dance troupe. They had to. It wasn't like they had a choice. They needed to get better. They needed to get somewhere. Yet, still here, was Apple Bloom, alone and with a blank flank. They didn't need her, nopony did, she was worthless. She knew, from her training on the apple farm, that rotten apples don't bloom, they don't grow, they aren't needed. She was a rotten apple. She would never get her cutie mark because she was worthless, and she knew it.