How Did You Get Your Cutie Mark?

Tropical Spring

Sweetie Belle sat with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in their clubhouse, kicking her back hooves idly.

"I am so bored," Scootaloo groaned, rolling onto her back. "We haven't done anything!"

"We could always help our sisters," Apple Bloom pointed out. "Maybe we could get our talents in Apple bucking!" Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"I think that's an Apple thing, not a Scootaloo thing," she answered. The three fillies fell into silence again.

"We could listen to other ponies' cutie mark stories," Sweetie Belle suggested. "Wasn't it fun listening to Rarity and Applejack and Fluttershy and Twilight and Pinkie and Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo made a gagging noise.

"Not more of those namby-pamby stories!" She exclaimed. Apple Bloom giggled.

"They might not all be bad," she replied. "What if there's a great, adventurous story like Rainbow Dash's?"

"I'm in!" Scootaloo yelled, jumping up. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stood up as well.

"Who should we ask?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"The first pony we meet!" Scootaloo suggested. Apple Bloom nodded. Sweetie thought for a moment.

"Alright!" She exclaimed. The three fillies skipped out of their clubhouse.

They didn't have to go very far before they met an orange pony with shaggy pink hair. Her cutie mark was a blue flower and a lavender flower. Sweetie Belle remembered seeing her around at the market before.

"Who are you?" Apple Bloom asked. The mare looked up from the flowers she had been admiring.

"Oh, hi! I'm Tropical Spring!" She introduced herself. "You must be Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo!"

"How did you know?" Sweetie Belle asked. Tropical Spring laughed.

"Your sisters and their friends are some of the most well-known ponies in Ponyville! Of course I've heard of their little sisters!" She replied in a light, cheerful voice. Sweetie Belle blushed, and Scootaloo puffed her chest our with pride. Apple Bloom scratched her mane.

"Tropical Spring? Can we ask you a question?" She asked. Tropical Spring tilted her head, still smiling.

"Sure!" She replied.

"How did you get your cutie mark?" Apple Bloom asked. Tropical Spring looked surprised.

"Oh, of course I'll tell you about that!" She exclaimed. "Now, let's see...

"When I was a young filly, I lived in Tall Tale, a city on the coast. I had lots of friends, but I didn't have one good friend. The friends I had were nice, really fun, but they weren't ponies I could confide in, or anything like that.

"That changed when I met Jet Stream. She and her family were on vacation to Talk Tale for several months, so she had to go to my school for a short while. We were almost instantly friends. I kept my old friends, of course, but Jet Stream and I were almost inseparable.

"When she left, we continued to write letters to each other. It was around that time that I realized, while it's great to have loads of good friends, it's even better to have several close friends who you can trust with anything. And as soon as I realized that, I got my cutie mark. It represents that idea."

"That was great!" Sweetie Belle clapped her hooves when Tropical Spring had finished. Scootaloo yawned.

"Namby-pamby," she commented. Apple Bloom glared at her.

"Thank you for sharing with us, Tropical Spring," she said gratefully. Tropical Spring beamed.

"My pleasure, Apple Bloom. See you around!" The Crusaders waved as she trotted off on her way.