Choose Your Own Destiny

Choose your own Destiny

By Jayesixx

Pre read by Metool Bard

Prologue

The Beginning

Life is what you make it. That's one lesson you never get taught. All through your school life you're taught that your life is laid out for you. Controlled by the cutie mark blazoned on your flank. This, cutie mark gives detail of everything you've done and ever going to do in life. It is the dictator. The ruler. It is neither Princess Celestia, nor Luna. It's the stupid picture that sits on your butt.

Cutie marks depict the talent that you were born with. Whether that be singing, flying, magic, anything. There are even cutie marks for eating, for pony’s sake. They show your character through a simple picture. If that sounds crazy, then you've clearly never been to Equestria. They rule your life with the simple lesson of destiny and how everything revolves around the cutie mark. Trapping you in a cage of order.

But, what if you never had a cutie mark? What if you never discovered what this "special talent" was? You'd be free. Free to do whatever you pleased without the constant nagging in your mind that it isn't your destiny. This was a choice in life that no-pony ever gets to experience. From a young age, most fillies and colts gain their cutie marks, based on their interests and talents. No-pony ever gets a taste of freedom. Though they may think that freedom is what they have, they are very, very wrong.

I've tasted freedom, basked in the warmth that comes with it. Though finding it, wasn't easy. I endured years of traveling, walking endless roads in search of civilization. I walked through freezing blizzards and scorching heat-wave. I journeyed on with bleeding hooves and knackered joints. And that was only half of it. I'm going to tell you a story. A story of my life and how I came to experience the pleasure of being free. I'm going to explain to every single one of you how you too can go where I've been. How you can walk in my hoofsteps and build a place where every-pony can choose their own destiny.

My name is Clover Leaf, and this, is my story

***

When younger, I yearned for my cutie mark. I wanted to learn what my place in life was. To fit in with society. Being the only colt in your class that's a "Blank Flank" gets pretty rough. I never had friends. No-pony would hold conversation with me for more than five minutes once they gained their cutie mark. I simply wasn't good enough. I was mocked and taunted everyday. Fillies and colts would crowd me into a corner, jeering and calling, the bigger ones would push me; hard shoves that left blackened bruises. It soon progressed to full on punches and kicks. I had black eyes, deep cuts and even a broken nose. There was one occasion that I can remember as bright as day.

It was a usual school day, I was sitting alone in the corner of the playground, no-pony was talking to me, ignoring me as usual. Until…

“Oi, Blank Flank”

I turned my head to find Red Brick, an Earth Pony colt like me though with a dark red coat and grey mane and tail. His father was a builder, a career that Red would be pursuing once he was old enough, his cutie mark showed the picture of a stack of bricks, showing his future clearly. He was often the leader of this little gang, the ones who taunted me every day. Today it seemed wouldn’t be any different.

“What do you want Red? Why can’t you just leave me alone for once?” My voice was breaking, I wouldn’t deny it, I was scared. This colt was a lot bigger and stronger than me, he also had at least five ponies behind him. I could never escape him.

Red chuckled, a deep evil laugh that came with a menacing grin.

“Aww the little baby is scared, how sweet” The gang behind him laughed too. My ears flattened against my skull and I took a step back. My eyes were wide, constantly watching the bigger colt.

“J-just go away!” I choked out. My throat tightened and tears were threatening to fall. I held them back, tears would only make Red worse.

Red advanced. Closing the gap between us, taking away my safety space. I gulped, slowly backing away, each step shaky and uncertain. Suddenly something blocked my path. The wall at the edge of the playground. Of course it would be there. I pushed my back against the rough bricks, attempting to get as far away as possible. Red quickly closed the gap, an evil grin spread across his lips, his angry orange eyes focused and frightening.

“Maybe you’ll get your cutie mark in cowardice” he sneered, raising a hoof, “but then again, you would have got it by now if it was”

I couldn’t even reply, I simply squeaked a response before Red’s heavy hoof came crashing down on my cheek. Pain burst at the place of contact. It burned against my cold skin. His hooves carried on hitting me. Each blow more painful than the last. His gang shortly joined in. Kicking me with strong hind legs and punching me with powerful hooves. Dark bruises were already forming on my body, spreading and fading into my pale grey fur. Hot blood was dripping from my nose after a sickening crack had sounded. I struggled and curled up into a tight ball. The hits kept coming, pain was all I could feel. I could hear them laughing and calling. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, wishing silently for it all to stop. My wish shortly came true as I blacked out.

To this day, I still wince at the memory. The pain I felt that day was worse than anything I’d ever felt.

My parents would tell that everything would turn out fine. I would one day earn my cutie mark and finally fit in. In the end I stopped telling them about the bullying, and I would hide the wounds. They never understood what I was going through. When they were younger, they were early bloomers. Being some of the first to get their marks, they were relatively popular. Since they were loved by every-pony, they never endured the pain and the misery that I went through.

I guess my parents got sick of me though. They left on a business trip to Manehatten, a week-long conference with the mayor. My parents were politicians, they often went away to talk to the important figures in Equestria, but I don't know what happened to them on this particular trip because they never returned. It seemed my own Mother and Father felt like I was an embarrassment. Whether an accident took them, or they simply decided to leave me, I don't care. They never really acted like my parents anyway. They would ignore me most of the time, and when they did take notice, it was because I was in trouble. Useless parents for a useless colt. Seems to fit, doesn't it?

I never had a family after that. The stupid government never thought to look after an orphaned fourteen year old colt. So, I was left to fend for myself. I would receive packets of bits in the post every month, it seemed like the only thing that the rulers of this god forsaken land were willing to do. I kept going to school, as I needed some form of education if I was planning to get anywhere in life. I still endured the torture of not having a cutie mark. I just ignored them. If I even tried to fight back, there would be five times the amount of me.

I eventually graduated from the educational system at the age of sixteen. I needed to find work somewhere as the money stopped coming. I guess they thought that I could support myself, now that I was of age. Work, however, was difficult to find. Most employers looked for ponies that had skills in the workforce. No-pony would employ a cutie mark-less colt, that had no set of skills. When I approached somewhere that I was interested in, I was instantly turned away. Even after school, society doesn't accept you if you don't have the demon mark.

In the end, I gave up trying. I wasn't going to find work where I lived. That had proven impossible. I'd been saving bits since I was fourteen. Using only what I needed for food, as the government were paying for my rent, I had plenty to spare. I decided when I was younger that when I was old enough, I was going to leave this village, and travel the vast lands that the kingdom ruled. I would search for a place where I could be accepted, and possibly even find my cutie mark.

I planned out my journey to travel to open plains that Equestria conquered. I wouldn't use public transport; too much money to waste when I'm quite capable of walking. I would ration food, as I never knew when I would acquire more bits, money needed to be saved. My journey would span majority of my life. I would go where no-pony had ever been.

That night, I left. Packing what little belongings I owned into a saddlebag, I traveled into the night. I swore to myself that day that I would find out who I was. I would earn my cutie mark. I would finally fit in. Little did I know that day. I had a long way to go.