Thankfully she was correct as the trio of fillies were more than happy to have a couple of new faces join them. It only took a few minutes, but it felt like a lot longer as I was besieged by question after question, though thanks to Dinky they were able to keep them somewhat manageable. I answered as many of their questions as I could, while also able to ask a few of my own about their Crusader group. It seems that they made their group after some sort of party, I think Applebloom said it was a Cute-ceanera party...I think? Anyways, they all met each other during it and realized that none of them have their cutie marks yet, making them all determined to figure out just what their cutie marks are.

Of course, this was a couple of years ago, and they have yet to figure out any of their cutie marks yet since then. Even with such a long time searching, they haven't stopped trying to find their special talent that would give them their cutie marks. Honestly it is rather admirable to hear how determined they are, even with the few stories of mistakes that they had.

Ok...more than a few stories.

In any case, I smiled and listened to them all chat to each other, their talk soon going from me to what they are gonna be doing today to find their cutie marks. Thankfully this made it easier for me to follow along, as I didn't need to really think about answering any of their questions. It takes a good while but soon we were at what I could only assume is Sweet Apple Acres, going across the rather empty apple fields and into a treehouse. At first they tried to get me inside, but after a few tries I realized that it was gonna be very difficult for me to fit. Plus if I did manage to get in, we would all be crowding for space. Instead I just stayed on the balcony of the tree house, poking my head inside as I listened in, and thankful for my warm clothes that Rarity made for me.

Applebloom paced around the front of the room by the podium, looking at the other three fillies who were all sitting down on soft cushions. "Ok, so let's go over the list for today." She says, to which she reaches behind her and unrolls a scroll hanging on the wall, which goes all the way down to the floor...and across the floor and around a few cushions before stopping by the other side of the wall.

I blinked in surprise at the sight of the large list, rather quickly starting to rethink my choice of coming when Sweetie Belle, who noticed my worried expression, says, "Don't worry, that's just our general list. We pick a few things to try a day and just do those ones we picked."

"Yea, even we can't do everything at once. Trust me, we tried" Scootaloo adds. I take a closer look and soon realize that quite a few of them were already crossed out and that there were a lot of rather out there jobs or things that one can do, ranging from statue sculpting to...alligator rodeo riding?

Shaking my head, I could feel myself relax a bit as I nod my understanding. "Thank Celestia for that, I was starting to think I bit off more than I could chew." I say, getting a giggle from all of them.

"Ok, let's focus now girls!" Applebloom says, clapping her hooves on the floor and getting the rest of our attention back to her. "We usually pick out five things to try out each day, but seeing how we have two newcomers." She adds, motioning to Dinky and I. "I suggest that we just do two things for now."

The two other fillies remain silent as they look at each other for a few moments, almost like a mental debate was going on between them. Suddenly they look back and nod vigorously, getting a smile from the yellow filly. "Great! And I will also suggest that we let the two newcomers suggest what we do today."

"Aaawww, I was hoping that we could do the shark tamer one." Scootaloo complains, giving a small pout.

I blink, but before I can say anything, Dinky is already speaking up, "Oh, can we do three things then? That way we can do the shark tamer as well as what me and Drak want." She says.

Applebloom shakes her head at this. "I thought about it, but I figured that it would be easier to just do two, seeing how Drak here most likely can't get a cutie mark, so it will just be mostly focused on us four." She says.

"Wait, can humans get cutie marks?" Sweetie Belle asks.

As one, they all turned to face me, their large eyes filled with that one question. I just gave a small shrug and said, "As far as I know, no human can or has ever gotten a cutie mark."

"That's if we can even trust his memory." The orange filly suddenly says, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"Hey, if Applejack says that his memory is mostly back, then I think we should trust him in that case." The yellow pony adds. The two fillies start to butt heads with each other for a few moments before their unicorn friend forcefully pushes them apart.

"Either way I think it's fine if we just stick with the original plan, just doing two things today for us four." Sweetie says.

The other two look at each other before nodding in agreement, Applebloom walking over and lifting the list over so that Dinky and I could read it. "So with that decided, go ahead and pick whichever one you wish to do."

We both start looking over the list silently for a few minutes, both of us reading the list and searching for something that caught our interest. It was no surprise when Dinky finally said, "How about being mail mares?"

Scootaloo shook her head at this. "We can't, the mail house is destroyed, so all mail is currently being sent through Canterlot before being sent here." She says.

"Yea, in fact all of the mail mares from Ponyville even got temporary jobs there till the new building is built." Applebloom added before realizing what she said, giving a sheepish look to the grayish pink unicorn filly. "Oh...I mean..."

Dinky just shakes her head. "it's ok Applebloom, I know you didn't mean it like that." She says.

I can't help but to narrow my eyes upon hear this. From what it seems, all but Ditzy were allowed to join the Canterlot mail group, which made it even more curious as to why she wasn't allowed to join. Before I could dwell on it too much, Dinky is already pointing out at another on the list. "How about this one?" She says.

We all look at the one she is pointing to. "Painters? But didn't we already do something like that for the school project?" Scootaloo says.

"Not all of us did paintings for it you know." Sweetie quickly tells her. "Some of us did posters like Dinky. By the way." She adds, turning to face the pinkish filly. "I really loved your poster that you made of Drak saving you from the fire. It was very well made!"

Dinky smiles at this. "Oh, thanks Sweetie! I really liked yours as well about Rarity helping the others put out the fire." She replies.

As they continued to talk and discuss their ideas, I was still looking over the choices that I could make. While a lot of them seem rather out there, there was one that seemed to take me by surprise as I said it out loud.

"Wait, martial arts? There's a martial arts place here?" I asked, looking up at them.

The four fillies blinked in confusion before looking at the list in hand. "No there isn't, but Rainbow does know martial arts and even taught me when I was first trying to get a cutie mark before we made the Crusaders." Applebloom says, before adding sheepishly, "Although I wasn't too good at it when I started."

I gave her a curious look, putting that bit of information to the side to ask Rainbow about later before speaking again. "Well, did the other's try it out?"

I looked at the other three as they responded with their own answers. "I have from Rainbow as well, but as of late we haven't been doing it as much. I'm only what would be considered a yellow belt, while she's a full on black belt." Scootaloo says.

Sweetie and Dinky both shake their heads. "I haven't had a chance to try it out, never really thought about it really, but I'm down to give it a try if possible." The white unicorn filly says.

"Same here! Though I never got a chance to try it either." Dinky adds.

I think it over for a few moments, rubbing my chin in thought as I finally come to a decision. "Well then, I think I'll choose that one then." I say.

They all look at each other for a few moments, nodding to one another. It seems that we have at least one selected at the very least, but then Scootaloo sighs as she says, "Wait, we can't ask Rainbow to help though, she's busy helping overtime at the weather factory right now to make sure Winter Wrap Up gets done."

They all sigh as they realize she is right, and look back at the list a bit saddened by this. I just look back at them curiously as I say, "We don't need to ask Rainbow to teach you girls."

They look at me in confusion, all four fillies with raised eyebrows and scrunched muzzles of bewilderment. "You? Do you know any martial arts?" Asks Scootaloo.

I can't help but to give a small smile at this as I answer, "As a matter of fact, I do." It is true that while I don't have all of my memory still, what feels like a good portion of it has come back thanks to my time with the Mind Mage, mostly involving my time with the Dux and the Order army, though it then got a bit fuzzy before and after that. But during that time I did remember about my training with Dux and the other troops there, along with my time with Aryas and our training together, so I felt confident enough that I could at least show these fillies the basics. I remember when I first learned from them, I was surprised that despite the difference in body structure, the forms that were taught were almost all basically the same, though with soldiers like Dux and Aryas they used mostly kicks instead of punches. Of course there is also the fact that since it was well over several centuries ago, the skills and moves that I learned might be outdated.

Again I made a mental note to talk to Rainbow about this before bringing my attention back to the girls. "Thanks to the Mind Mage back at Canterlot, I was able to get a good deal of my memories back, and part of those memories was training in the army, as well as other combat learning, so I'm fairly certain I can teach you girls at least the basics." I tell them.

Before I could even finish, they are already shouting with glee and nodding their heads rapidly. "Yes! Let's do it then!" Applebloom shouts, the other girls nodding as well.

Suddenly the three main Crusader fillies got together and placed their hooves in the middle, one over the other, as they shouted "CUTE MARK CRUSADER MARTIAL ARTS MASTERS YAY!" Causing my ears to ring from the shout. As I recovered from the ringing ears, I noticed they didn't leave the huddle and were looking over at Dinky, who was just staring at them with a bit of nervous tension.

It seems the others noticed as Sweetie says, "Dinky, you gonna join us?"

The blonde unicorn filly blinks in surprise as she points a hoof at herself. "Wait, you mean..." She starts to ask, only getting several nods from the others in return. Grinning, she quickly moves in with them and places her hoof on top of the pile as she also shouts, "Cutie Mark Crusader Martial Arts Masters!"

With another massive "YAY" from them all, they raised their hooves in the air and broke the huddle, rushing over to me where I was poking through the window. "So, what do we need to do first?" Scootaloo asks, all of them eagerly looking up at me.

I rubbed my ears as I tried to get the ringing down. "Well first, I need to get my hearing back. Then I'll get you girls set up out here after we clear some snow."

A few minutes later, we are all right outside of the tree house, all four fillies before me as they looked up eagerly at me, having cleared a good space of snow to do so. I stood before them, rubbing my chin as I thought over how to begin. It was at this point that I wish I brought my staff with me, but I left that and my sais at the library.

"Ok, so first let's start out with some simple stances." I say. I spread my legs apart till they were shoulder length apart and bent my knees to lower myself to the ground a bit. "Start with this one first. Stand on your rear legs at shoulder length apart and squat down a tad, so your knees are bent."

I watched as they all got to their back legs, rather quickly as I was pleasantly surprised, and soon they were all in the stance that I showed them, albeit in varying ways. I walked between them all, giving a gentle nudge here and lightly helping them adjust their stance there as I made sure that they were all correctly in the stance.

"Now, this stance won't be used for anything other than training, but it's a good way to learn how to get a strong, center of gravity and a firm balance." I tell them, grabbing Scootaloo's shoulders and gently pulling her back just a tad.

"Drak, what is this stance called? Does it have a name?" Dinky asks, looking over at me curiously.

I pause as I hear this, unsure how to answer that. The stance does have a name, that much I know, but what I don't know is if I could say it without it sounding like some sort of possible word that they should NOT learn from me. I remember hearing from Twilight that, while there are horses in the world, the world itself over the centuries has also been denoted as a bit of a slur for a certain pony of nightly activities, least in her words.

Thankfully Scootaloo saved me from needing to say it. "I think Rainbow called this the pony stance." She says.

Seeing a lifeline, I quickly nod and take it. "Yes, this is the pony stance, named for the strong stance that you ponies naturally have." I say, making sure I gave them the right info while not using the name that I know it to be called. "So now, I'm gonna go around and try to push you over, I want you to try to resist me and keep on your hooves, ok?"

"Ok Drak!" They all shout, getting a small smile at this. For some reason, them shouting that just cause something to stir in my mind, but I quickly shook that away as I walked over to them, checking each one with first a slow push of increasing strength behind it, then with sudden shoves and quick pushes. They did very well, and as I made sure not to push too hard to really hurt them, not a single one of them was knocked over.

I nodded in approval as I walked back to the front of the group. "Great! You are all doing amazing so far. Now, let's go with some exercises to make sure your balance stays strong." I tell them. Getting back into that stance, I throw a simple front punch with my left hand, then with my right. "Through your front hooves forward like this, as if you are kicking with them. Pull your front leg up, then extend it out before pulling it back in and placing it back on the ground."

They nod and start to do as I showed them, slowly at first, then with increasing speed. As they started focusing more on how fast they could punch, I quickly say, "Don't go too fast, just focus on your form. We can always work on your speed later. Right now we have to make sure you are at least doing it correctly. No point in doing it fast if it isn't correct." I tell them.

They nod again and soon slow down back to a steady pace, though I could see Scootaloo and even Applebloom every so often speeding up just a tad before slowing down when they realized they are going too fast. I couldn't help but smile as I see how diligent they are to practice properly, and continued giving them some notes on improving their stances and punches (or in this case front kicks)

As time went on, I continued to show them simple moves, from front punches to kicks, as well as a simple turn around and doing a sort of double kick, though it seems that Apple Bloom had that one down pat already, as she used that to work on the farm. While most of the styles and forms that I did show is easier to teach to another bipedal, I was still able to adjust them so that quadrupedal can still use them, all thanks to my training with Aryas and Dux.

This went on for a good couple of hours before, seeing as they were starting to get tired, I called out, "Ok, break!" With that the four of them nearly collapsed onto the ground, panting and exhausted, but a clear air of satisfaction coming from all of them.

After a few minutes of catching their breath, Sweetie Belle is the first to speak up. "So, did we get them?"

As one they all look behind themselves at their rears, but they just groan in disappointment as they see nothing there but a bare flank. "Still nothing." Scootaloo sighed.

I just give a raised eyebrow as I see their reactions, and unable to help myself, I asked, "So, why are you so eager to get your cutie marks? Is it really that big of a deal?"

As one they all looked at me in shock, the silence speaking for itself for a couple of seconds before the yellow filly spoke up. "A big deal? Of course it's a big deal! A cutie mark shows us what we are good at, what we our talent in life is. A cutie mark shows who we are as a pony!" She says, getting a nod from the other two. Dinky herself is nodding in agreement, but a bit less enthusiastically. "Not only that, but we are some of the ponies our age who don't even have a cutie mark yet! And we don't want to wait for it to just happen at some random time."

"Besides, all we are doing is speeding the process up." the white unicorn filly adds. "We're trying as many things as possible as quickly as possible, and surely one of them will spark something to cause us to get our cutie marks."

I nod as I think over what they said before asking, "Ok, but how will you know what you did is the right thing for you?"

They all look at me like I grew an extra head as Scootaloo says, "Cause...our cutie marks will show once we do it?"

Realizing that was a rather stupid question, I give a small face palm before continue. "Ok fair enough. But what if it's something that you don't like or want?"

This got them to pause as a worried look was shared between the three, but Dinky soon pipped in and says, "But I'm pretty sure that you can't get a cutie mark that you don't like, that whatever the cutie mark is it will be something that we like." This got the others to nod in agreement and relief as they look back at me, as if waiting to challenge them again with another question.

I sigh and shake my head, not wanting to turn this into a challenge of some sort as I say, "I'm not saying that you shouldn't be looking for your cutie mark, I just...I don't know..." I fall silent as I find myself a bit unsure on what to say, realizing that I might have turned the mood a bit sour now as I tried to think of some way to fix it.

Thankfully, the four fillies realize that I was just being curious as they smile and Sweetie says, "It's fine Drak, we're just really eager to get our cutie marks."

"Yea, and we just want to show that we can get our cutie marks." Adds Scootaloo.

I smile at this, nodding in understanding, "That's fair." I simply say. Then suddenly a thought pops in as I quickly add, "But maybe you are trying too hard?" They look at me confused as I continue. "I mean, it's all well and good to try all these things, such as martial arts, mail mares, rodeo...gator..." I pause before shaking my head. "Anyways, maybe the best way to find your cutie mark is to not try and find it, but have it find you?"

"But we've been waiting forever to try and find it, and it hasn't happened to us yet!" Apple Bloom says, giving an annoyed stomp on her hoof. "What else can we do but keep trying to search?"

"Well right now, you can come on back to the house and help do the rest of the chores." Called a familiar southern voice, getting us all to look over as Applejack walks to us.

This gets a surprised blink from the yellow mare. "Wait, I thought I did my chores for the day." She says, though the tone in her voice shows that she is worried she might have forgotten about one of them.

The orange mare shakes her head. "Nope, still got lots of other things to do, such as your homework and cleaning the dishes for starts." She says.

"Oh..." Is all the younger pony could say before looking at her friends as she says, "Sorry guys, seems we have to call this early for today."

The others just smile and shake their heads. "That's ok Apple Bloom, we should get back home as well. I know Rarity is going to want me to help her with something soon." Sweetie says, while Scootaloo just nods.

I look up at the sky as I realize just how late it is getting, and add, "And we should head home as well Dinky, before your mom gets back and wonders where you went off to." Dinky for her part nods and with Applejack's help we lead the girls back to the main house, which I saw on the way onto the acre.

On the way, Applejack falls back to walk next to me, leaving the girls to chatter with each other as she says, "Don't feel too bad by the way sugar, they are all a rather stubborn group when it comes to finding their cutie marks."

I for my part give her a confused look. "Wait, feel bad about what? I don't-" I start to say.

She cuts me off with small shake of her head and says, "About trying to help them find their cutie marks. They are all set on what they are doing now, trying as many things as possible and seeing what sticks. Me and the others have tried many times before to tell them that rushing these things only brings trouble, but they just never listen."

I fall silent as I look at the fillies talking in front of us and realizing that Applejack is right. I did feel a bit bad about not being able to really help them. Letting out a small sigh, I say, "I guess you're right...but still, they can't keep on doing this forever, right?"

She shrugs as she says, "I agree with you, but what Granny told me, we all have our moments when looking for what is important to us. Perhaps they will find them, or maybe it will be another few years. Either way, we just got to do our best and support them." She falls silent as she too looks at the fillies, namely at her sister, and I soon realize that she is just as worried about her sister getting hurt with all of these silly adventures that they keep having.

Nodding in understanding, I look back at them too, namely at Dinky, wondering if perhaps she will end up trying too hard to find her cutie mark, and the thought...actually makes me worried.

After a bit more walking we soon arrive back at the house, to where Apple Bloom says bye to the rest of us, and then I take the other girls off of the acre and back into town, to which they soon go their separate ways, leaving me with Dinky on our trek back to her house.

Along the way, I watch as she bounces up and down into random snow piles, sometimes trying to scoop some of it with her magic before giving up as she jumps into them again, acting very much carefree and silly, the sight putting a smile on my face. As we walked, I can't help but to ask, "So Dinky, what do you think about all of that?"

She looks at me with a confused look, partially in a snow pile. "About all of what Drak?"

"You know, about the whole cutie mark thing. Do you want to try and find your cutie mark as well?"

She smiles and nods. "Of course I do! I don't want to be waiting for mine forever!" She says eager. I give a small smile and a nod, but it feels a bit forced, that worry coming back to me as we continue walking. We stay silent for a few minutes before she suddenly speaks up again, saying, "Though...I won't be upset if none of them do work in helping me find it."

I blink and look down at her. "Oh? What do you mean by that?"

She stays silent, thinking over her words before she speaks again. "Well, I don't want to wait forever, and trying a lot of things at once is a fun and quick way to try and find my cutie mark...but I also know that getting a cutie mark is a special thing. It only ever happens once after all. And mommy said that special things like that need proper time before they can happen, and that even if I do end up waiting longer than others, I'll still get mine eventually. So...I don't really mind waiting for the right moment, especially if it means that special moment gets to happen with mommy." She then looks up and smiles as she adds, "Plus, I just enjoy playing with the Crusaders, cutie marks or not."

As she spoke, I could feel a big weight get lifted off of my shoulders, and with a smile, I reach down and gently pet her head. "Have I ever said how clever your mom is?" I say.

She giggles and just nuzzles into the pets before, to my surprise, adding, "Besides, I don't want to make you or mommy upset by being so focused on getting my cutie mark." before she suddenly dashes on ahead, giggling like the silly filly she is.

I can only blink in surprise before shaking my head and chasing after her. It seems Ditzy passed some of the cleverness down to her daughter as well.

Author's Note

Yea, been having a lot of RL things going down, so...trying to get myself back into writing. Let's see how it goes!

And I'm gonna be focusing more on the romance side of things in future chapters, as I feel that we need to get that ball rolling as well. After all, I can only tease you folks so much.