Rainbow is Magic: The Cutie Mark Crusaders

by aceotaku

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sweetie Belle, Silver Spoon, Twist, Diamond Tiara, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Snips, Alternate Universe
Length: 12976

Diamond Tiara and her friends need to learn more about cutie marks!

Diamond Tiara used to think she was special, until her best friend turned on her and called her special talent "worthless". Friendless, Diamond Tiara must make amends for her past ways while trying to figure out the truth behind her special talent, while finding true friends to help her and stand by her.

Published 2014-12-30 20:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2017-06-26 18:26:48 UTC

Chapter 2

Diamond Tiara returned late for class after finally repairing her beloved tiara as best she and her new friend Twist could. Her tiara looked more mangled and messed up than before, but it was at least better than a shattered mess, and she was at least happy enough with it. She sat in her usual seat beside Silver Spoon, regretting the instinctive action almost immediately.

Silver Spoon sneered at her former friend but Spitfire’s unamused glare made her stop herself before she said anything. The teacher made a more relaxed, friendly expression before she started to speak.

“Now, Diamond Tiara, Twist, you’re just in time for the last lesson of the day. Now, all you fillies and colts are aware of Cutie Marks, right?” she rolled her eyes at a chorus of annoyed groans. “Yes, yes, I know it’s pretty much common knowledge, but it’s what I’m supposed to teach regardless. But, hey, you might learn something new! Now, we all know Cutie Marks manifest themselves on our bodies, but do you know how or why?” She frowned as several hooves shot up. “That was a rhetorical question. Which means, SNAILS, that I didn’t want any of you to actually raise your hooves and ask!”

She started drawing a simple drawing of pony with blank flank and copy of the image beside with a mark on the flank as she continued. “Cutie Marks appear ONLY when we realise or adequately achieve our special talent, the one thing we’re all especially good at. A cutie mark can look like anything, and you can never predict when you will get one, only that you will one day.” She turned to the class, smiling. “I have some homework for you, children. I want you to talk to at least three ponies, though you can add more if you feel you’re up to it, and I want you to learn about their special talents and what they did to earn their cutie marks. Who knows? You might learn more than most of you think. Oh, and before I forget, I want you all to go in groups of at least three. You’re free to choose who you want to study with.”

At that the moment, the bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. “Alright everypony, time to go home, don’t forget to do your homework for the rest of the day!” Spitfire frowned at Silver Spoon and Snips. “You two will stay here for detention, you need to learn to be better behaved.”

Diamond Tiara got up and smirked snootily at her former friend, the other filly simply glaring back, unamused. Diamond ignored her, quickly leaving the classroom as Twist ran up to her side, dragging a white unicorn filly with her.

“Hey Diamond Tiara I got our third partner for our homework!” Twist proclaimed, practically shoving the newcomer into the other earth pony’s face.

“Hey...you look familiar.” Diamond Tiara said to the unicorn, blinking.

“Yeah I should.” The unicorn retorted, deadpan. “You bullied me for being poor and a blankflank after you got your cutie mark.”

“Oh...” The earth pony filly, winced. “I...I’m sorry...”

The unicorn blinked. “Did you...just apologise?”” She then narrowed her eyes. “What are you up to?”

“She apologithed cauthe the’th thorry, Thweetie Belle!” Twist interjected before Diamond Tiara could say anything, pulling the other filly into a tight hug as she dragged them both out of the classroom. “Now, we need to do our homework!”

Diamond Tiara struggled. “I-I usually have somepony else do the homework for me!”

Twist frowned at that, giving the former bully puppy dog eyes. “But we jutht became friendth, we need to hang out more, and then Thweetie Belle can be your friend too! And we might although get help earning our cutie markth if we do thith!”

“....In case you didn’t notice, I’m not a blankflank.”

“That’th good! We’re one third of the way there already!” Twist giggled happily and dragged her two friends down the street with her.
“OH hey Sweetie Belle! Are those your new friends? I told you you’d meet some nice fillies!”

Twist stopped as Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara twisted out of her grasp, Sweetie Belle looking up at the white, blank flank unicorn with a short, messy purple mane standing on the roof of a nearby house. Diamond Tiara looked very confused while Twist grinned, Sweetie Belle however looked nonplussed.

“Rarity, you tried this method before. It didn’t work.” The unicorn filly called out.

“Ah, but this time I figured out what went wrong!’ The older unicorn, Rarity, proclaimed, a pair of wings made of crudely nailed together planks of wood affixed to her back. “I merely thought flapping my legs could do it, but now I know better! I have been studying...AERODYNAMICS!” She stood dramatically as she said this.

Sweetie Belle simply gave her a half-lidded stare. “Rarity, you’re not gonna fly.”

“You don’t know that! I can do whatever I want!” With that, Rarity jumped...and her wing promptly fell to pieces as he fell to the ground with a hard thud.

Diamond Tiara blinked in surprise, looking at her two friends. “Uh...should we...do something?”

“Oh Rarity doeth thith all the time!” Twist responded as Sweetie Belle slowly trotted forward and lifted her sister up. “The’th alwath jumping from high platheth and getting herthelf hurt! But the’th alwayth at it again tomorrow!”

Sweetie looked at them with a frown, applying a bandaid to her sister’s newest bruise. “I just wish my sister here would come to her senses and act normal.”

Diamond Tiara looked between the two of them. “You’re sisters? I’ll be honest, apart from your coat colours, and your horns, you’re nothing alike.”

“I know...”

Rarity grinned. “Ah but there is ONE other thing we have in common!” She turned her flank to show the three fillies and Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened.

“You’re a blank flank!?” She gasped in disbelief. “But you’re a grown up!”

The older unicorn glowered. “Don’t say it like it’s an insult. That’s rude. Anyway, yes, I’m a blank flank, and yes, I really shouldn’t be at my age, but I mean, who cares?”

“You mean besides everypony?” Sweetie Belle said softly.

“A cutie mark is the most important part of a pony!” Diamond Tiara persisted. “It defines a pony, tells the world who they are and what they can do!”

“Oh yes, and I’m SOOOOO gonna let a picture on my butt dictate my life.” Rarity replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “A cutie mark is not the end all and be all of a pony’s life. When I was a filly, I was OBSESSED with getting one, and it got me no closer to getting one anyway.”

“How come?” Twist asked, smiling in curiosity.

“Well, I did use a spell to help me get my cutie mark once, thinking it had to do with me making some costumes for a school play. However, it brought me someplace to see something completely different: the wonderbolts in action, using their flying skills so expertly! It was so amazing, so completely unlike anything I saw before, I decided I wanted to become a wonderbolt instead, and in order to do that, I needed to fly!”

“But...you still don’t have a cutie mark.” Diamond Tiara pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but as I said, who cares? Just because I don’t have it yet doesn’t mean I won’t ever have one, and even if I don’t, it’s not gonna change my dreams and ambitions either way. Cutie marks are too limiting to most ponies anyway!”

“Cutie marks are so important!” Diamond Tiara argued.

“Are not!” Rarity countered.

“Are too!”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

“Okay, you both can settle down.” Sweetie Belle interrupted, using her magic to push the two apart. “Look, we need to talk to a few ponies around town as part of our homework on cutie marks, so just bring us to your friends and we can get it done by the end of the day.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “You’re doing schoolwork on cutie marks.”

“I think it’th fun!”Twist offered.

“Well, if you need to speak to my friends, I don’t see why not! Come, we’ll go see Rainbow Dash, she probably knows a thing or two about cutie marks!”

“Wait, THE Rainbow Dash!?” Diamond Tiara exclaimed as she and her friends followed the bruised unicorn.

Unbeknownst to them, three foals followed.

Earlier that day...

Babs Seed read through a letter that Silver Spoon had discreetly passed her in class, looking sternly as she approached an orange pegasus and a yellow unicorn.

“Alright you mugs!” the earth pony yelled out. “Get over here!”

The unicorn colt smiled stupidly. “Whatcha need, Babs?”

Babs Seed glared. “That Diamond Tiara filly caused some trouble for Silver, so she wants us to make sure she pays for getting Silver in detention!”

“B-but...” the purple-haired pegasus nervously said, “Diamond Tiara didn’t do anything, the teacher just got mad for some reason...a-and isn’t she Silver Spoon’s friend?”

“Silver says it’s her fault and that’s all that matters, got it!?” Babs growled, narrowing her eyes at Scootaloo. “You want Silver to be happy, don’t you? Isn’t she your friend?”

“W-well, yes, I-I think so, but...”

“NOONE TOLD YOU TO THINK, SCOOT! Just be like Snails there and do what the smarter ponies say!” Babs suddenly smiled smugly. “Don’t worry, we’re not gonna hurt anypony, just prank them a little.”

“Yeah Scoots, it’ll be fun!” Snails chirped. “Silver wouldn’t tell us to do anything bad, she’s our friend! Besides, Diamond Tiara is a bad pony, everypony says so!”

“I...suppose so...” Scootaloo frowned and looked down. “W-what are we going to do, Babs?”

“Well first, we’re gonna follow Diamond Tiara and her little study group, then we’ll mess with them. Don’t worry, just follow my lead and everything’ll be fine.”

Diamond Tiara gazed up at the huge tree in the middle of the town, reading the sign plastered upon it. “This is a library? I just thought it was a big tree!”

“Well that does explain why anypony hardly uses it...” Rarity muttered, then spoke up as she knocked on the door. “Rainbow Daaash, I got visitors for you!”

The door opened, revealing the well known magical blue pegasus. “Hey Rares, how’s it hanging?”

“I’m fantastic! Just finished my latest flight test!”

Rainbow chuckled awkwardly, wincing at the newest bandaid on the unicorn’s face. “As I can see....you said something about visitors?”

“That’s us.” Sweetie Belle droned. “I’m Sweetie Belle and these are Diamond Tiara and Twist. Our teacher wants us to talk to a few ponies around town about...cutie marks.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow in incredulity. “Seriously? Cutie mark homework? I didn’t realise ponies still did that in this day and age.”
“I think it’ll be a good learning ekthperience!” Twist chimed in with a wide grin.

Rainbow looked at the third filly, who was staring up at her with wide, adoring eyes and completely frozen in place, her body shaking.
“Uh...You...okay there, sport?” The blue pegasus asked, concerned.

Diamond Tiara slowly nodded. “I’mfine,justfine,areyoufine? I’mfine. You’reRainbowDash.”

“I...I am...” Rainbow winced slowly, unnerved.

“Youmusthavealottotell, I bet you do. Rainbow Dash is so amazing, Ibetshehasalottotellus. Rainbowdashisthecoolestponywhoeverlived, Idonotdeserve tobeinher presence. Sheistooamazingforwords. Tooastonishing. Tooawesome. Too”

She was interrupted by Sweetie Belle slapping her with her tail. “Stop being crazy.”

Diamond growled irritably. “I wasn’t being crazy, I was just...” she gazed up at Rainbow Dash, paling. “Ohmygosh.”

Rainbow backed away an inch. “You...sure you’re okay?”

Diamond Tiara gasped and squeeked, squirming in embarrassment. “Y-yeah I’m fine, it’s just...I-I’m your biggest fan!”

“You are?” Rainbow said in surprise.

“You are!?” Sweetie Belle gasped, in a rare moment of emotion.

“W-Well Rainbow Dash is just...amazing!” the pink filly grinned wide, looking up at the pegasus with adoration. “She graduated the prestigious Canterlot Academy at a younger than normal age, and was the second top student of the acadamy’s history! She is the first pegasus in history to perform unicorn-like magic, and does so consistently, proving it’s not a hoax or a onetime fluke! She used the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon in our very own town, and has spoken to Princesses Celestia and Cadance personally! And to top it all off, her very first magical feat was an impossible task that she was not supposed to succeed at, and it got her a pet dragon! How is she not awesome!?”

“Hey I helped with the Nightmare Moon thing, too.” Rarity interjected. “Rainbow couldn’t use the elements without me or our other friends there!” She grinned. “But yeah, Rainbow is the awesomest pony I know!”

Diamond Tiara gasped and she took Rarity’s hooves in her own and the two started to dance in glee over their shared fandom, Rainbow and the other two fillies staring at them.

“Wow, Diamond Tiara is full of surprises!” Twist giggled.

“I thought she was supposed to be not crazy.” Sweetie deadpanned.

Rainbow Dash rubbed her temples with her wings, signing. “I’m never gonna get used to this...ANYWAY!” she shouted suddenly, catching Diamond Tiara and Rarity’s attention. “You three fillies wanted to talk to me about my cutie mark right?”

“We’re kinda supposed to.” Sweetie asserted.

Diamond Tiara however waved her hoof flippantly. “Pssh! Everyone knows how Rainbow Dash got her cutie mark: she used her heretofore unknown magical power and hatched a dragon egg in front of several students and teachers at Canterlot Academy, releasing a massive magical energy burst at the same time!”

Rainbow smiled wistfully. “Yeah, that was the greatest moment in my life, the culmination of my dreams, hopes and hard work and studying. I shudder to think how my life would be like if I had failed, I probably would just end up working in the weather like every pegasus.”

“That’s not true!” Diamond Tiara asserted. “You are an amazing pony, if you hadn’t performed magic, I am sure you would have been able to succeed eventually! You’re Rainbow Dash, you can do anything!”

“Heh, thanks sport, but I’m not THAT great.” The pegasus said with a blush and a smirk. “....Though I’m not saying you should stop the praise altogether!”

“Hey, what does your cutie mark mean anyway?” Twist blurted out.

The pegasus chuckled, moving around to display her flank. “Well, most consider it to simply mean my incredible magical prowess, but notice the other stars surrounding the big one? I think that represents my ability to form connections with ponies, namely my closest friends in years.”

“Why you figure that?” Sweetie asked.

“Because I was taught that magic is more than mere ‘tricks’: magic exists to excite and enrich our lives, to make ponies happier and to bring them together. So, I figured that’s my special talent: enriching ponies lives with my magic.” The pegasus smiled warmly.
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, unmoved by the speech, while Diamond Tiara stared up at the pegasus in awe and Twist wiped a small tear.

“And...yeah...that’s my story.” Rainbow Dash finished lamely. “Not the most compelling, I know, and aside from my own theories, my cutie mark is rather straightforward...”

“No, not at all!” Diamond Tiara cried out with a happy grin. “I can totally see where you’re coming from and I think it sounds amazing that your cutie mark could have such an awesome interpretation!”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Well thanks. Now, I told you three about my cutie mark, and I REALLY need to get back to tidying this place up, why don’t you girls go visit one of my other friends? I’m sure they’ll be happy to help! Applejack should just be over in Carousel Boutique, she’s the closest from here.”

“Alright, thankth mith dath!” Twist grinned and ran off, Sweetie dragging a reluctant Diamond Tiara after her.

Babs Seed smirked as she watched the three fillies run off, Scootaloo shivering nervously while Snails smiled vacuously as the two flanked the bully.

“Piece of cake.” Babs Seed spoke darkly.

Author's Note

sorry for the abrupt ending, I wanted to finish ti quickly and get it posted. >.<

Chapter 3

As the three fillies ran to the clothing store, a thought occurred to Diamond Tiara.

“Hey, why are you so dull and boring all the time?” Diamond asked, turning to Sweetie Belle.

“If you mean why I’m not all smiles and friendliness and excitement like my sister,” Sweetie replied, “I do have reasons. I used to be a lot different in the past, excited for everything and always in a playful mood...of course, I got taken in by my sister’s desire to fly and wanted to help her out. And then she got hurt, and I was so worried and scared everything froze. She got better and waved the whole thing off, and so she tried again. I tried to stop her, but she didn’t listen, and got hurt again, but it wasn’t as serious as the first time. And I was the only one around to bandage her up, and eventually that became my job, to take care of somepony who really should be old enough to care for me instead. We’ve been through the same routine for so long that...I just stopped caring about anything, better than worrying about some idiot with her head in the clouds, or even worse, ending up like her.”

The pink filly sweated nervously. “Ummm...”

The two of them tripped with a yelp over Twist, who had frozen in front of them with a big grin. “We’re here!”

The two of them got up beside her and looked up at the large building, to their young eyes appearing intimidating.

“Let’th head inthide!” Twist exclaimed, running into the store.

“Twist!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed, blanching. “At least knock first!” She ran after her.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and followed after them.

“Howdy!” the three fillies were greeted by another filly, a yellow earth pony with a red mane, sitting at the cash register. “Uhh...Welcome to Carousel Boutique where everythin’ is uh...”

“Chic, Unique and Fantastique.” A young female buffalo said, walking to the filly’s side. “Applebloom, please try to remember the motto, your sister says it helps the shop stand out.”

“Ah know but Ah just ain’t used to them fancy words.” The filly sighed, turning to the visitors. “Ya’ll here ta shop? We got plenty of clothes fer ya!”

“Uh no we’re here on a school project...” Diamond Tiara replied, unsure what to make of the sight. “Are either of you...Applejack?”

“Oh no that’s mah sister!” the fily grinned. “She’s the owner of this uh....eee-stab-lish-ment...Name’s Applebloom by the way!”

“And I am Little Strongheart,” the buffalo added, “I am here to experience how ponies live to better understand them and to foster better relations with our peoples.”

“Okayyyy and why are a filly and a buffalo manning the main register?” Sweetie Belle asked with a raised brow.

“Cauthe they work here, thilly!” Twist answered with a goofy grin.

“’Sactly!” Applebloom said, pumping her foreleg up. “Ah wanted ta help mah sister a lot after Ah treated her so badly, and she made dress makin’ look so cool an’ effortless like yah wouldn’t believe, so I thought Ah’d make up fer it all by workin’ here!”

“She disagreed.” Strongheart added with a chuckle. “It seems ponies are far stricter on when their children can work than my own kind, but she did relent after the 20th time my friend begged her, and only after I had started working here to replay my own debt to her.”

Sweetie Belle narrowed her eyes. ‘Everypony is just handing out their life stories today for some reason.”

“Yeah that is kinda weird.” Diamond admitted.

“So what kinda project ya’ll are doin’ anyway?” Applebloom asked. “Why ya gotta see mah big sis so bad anyhow?”

Twist grinned excitedly. “We’re trying to learn about cutie markth!”

Strongheart tilted her head. “What is a Cutie Mark?”

“They’re the little pictures on our flanks!” Apple Bloom remarked.

“I’ve seen some ponies that don’t have them, however.” The buffalo added.

“Well that’s because they didn’t get their marks yet.” Diamond Tiara answered. “You only get them when you find your special talent, the one thing you’re better at than anypony else!”

Strongheart frowned in thought. “I don’t see why you ponies get have such things, I know of no other race in Equestria that has something like that. We buffalo are perfectly fine figuring out our ‘special talents’ ourselves, we don’t need magic butt pictures.”

Diamond Tiara glared. “Cutie Marks are SO important!”

“I disagree.” Strongheart shook her head. “They are not.”

“Are too!”

“Are not.”

“Are too!”

“Are not.”

“Are”

“Strongheart will you please stop arguing with potential customers!” a voice interrupted, laced with a light, sophisticated southern accent.

Strongheart blushed shamefully as she turned to the orange mare approaching from the back, who wore a stylish orange dress and had her blonde mane styled in an equally stylish, elegant braid. “My apologies, Miss Applejack, I got distracted by commenting on an aspect of your people’s culture. These three mentioned Cutie Marks and I found myself becoming curious.”
Applejack squeed. “You fillies want to learn about Cutie Marks? That’s adooooorable!”

Twist smiled cutely. “Yeah! We gotta athk as many ponieth we can about how they got their cutie markth!”

“Ohhhh such an adorable lisp! OH I simply MUST make you girls lovely dresses!” Applejack twirled around as she squeed.

“No, please don’t.” Sweetie Belle drawled. “We just need to get this done.”

“Yeah, please tell us!” Diamond Tiara said. “I’m sure you got an interesting story about how you gained yours!”

“Ah’m mighty curious mahself...” Apple Bloom added.

“I would like to know more about this phenomenon too.” Strongheart said with a light nod.

Applejack lifted the hem of the orange, frilled dress she wore, revealing her Cutie Mark: a pink set of fabric with stitching along its side, in the shape of an apple with a needle in place where the stem would be and some thread leading from the needle to the stitching. “Very well darlings, it’s a fairly simple tale all told: as a filly, I went to live in Manehatten with my relatives and...well, long story short, I gained an acute awe for fashion and how it can help ponies feel special. However, just feeling that wasn’t enough for my Cutie Mark to appear, no, for you see I had to TRULY discover, first hoof, my skill at dress making. So, as a special gift for a new set of friends who helped me discover this new passion, I decided to try hoof-make some dresses. I worked hard and long into the night, trying to remember anything about them I could incorporate into the dresses, for I was more concerned with making something unique and meaningful rather than something actually good...and to my surprise, the fillies LOVED what I made for them, and their praise filled me with so much joy, which only grew more as I spied my cutie mark had appeared! I knew then where my talents lay and what I wanted to do with my life.” She smiled wide. “And thus, I returned to my childhood home to begin spreading my joy and passion to others.”

Diamond Tiara tilted her head. “Okay but...what exactly IS your special talent?”

Applejack tittered, holding a hoof in front of her mouth. “Oh darling, it’s quite simple really: my talent is creating clothes that symbolise a pony’s inner qualities, allowing a pony to express themselves perfectly and bring out their inner beauty for others to see.” She looked at the fillies before with a sudden gasp, stars in her eyes. “Oh! Wait right there, I just got an idea!” The earth pony quickly darted back into her room, leaving the fillies and buffalo where they stood.

“Is she....always like this?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“Yeah, she’s a little weird.” Apple Bloom noted in agreement. “But she’s honestly really pretty awesome and she’s REALLY good with clothes! Not that Ah’m much for ‘em mahself, but Ah’m willin’ ta try.”

“You’d look good in anything...” Strongheart muttered with a blush.

“What was that?” Apple Bloom turned to her co-worker.

“Nothing!” Strongheart shook her hooves wildly in the air, flustered. “I...I was just...coughing!”

“Coughing.” Sweetie Belle stated with a disbelieving gaze.

“Y-yes!” the buffalo replied, sweating with a nervous grin on her features.

“TA-DAAAAAA!” Applejack sang out, interrupting proceedings as she daintily glided over to the fillies, placing a bright blue cape on each girl’s back. “Behold! I just got struck by how ADORABLE you three would look in these!”

Diamond Tiara looked over the cape adorning her back. It was bright blue and the edges had a gold trim stitching, an image of her cutie mark stitched into the middle of the cape. She looked at her two acquaintances whose capes matched hers except they were largely blank.

“I’ll stitch your Cutie Marks onto your friends’ set when they get them.” Applejack exclaimed, clapping her hoofs together as she cooed. “Don’t you three look simply adorable!?”

Sweetie shrugged noncommittally, while Twist grinned wide. “Ooooh! Now we got thomething to look forward to!”

“Exactly!” The fashionista replied, her ear twitching. “Now why don’t you girls run along, I have some business to attend to.”

Diamond Tiara nodded. “Sure...are you sure with just...making these for us?”

“Oh certainly! All that matters to me is that they look stunning on you girls!” She smiled and twirled around, heading to the backroom of the building.

Diamond Tiara shook her head as suddenly Twist yanked on her and Sweetie Belle’s capes, dragging the pair along, Diamond Tiara struggling in surprise.

“W-what they hay!?”

“I jutht had the betht idea who to talk to nektht!” Twist grinned. “She’th thuper fun and nithe!”

Apple Bloom and Strongheart watched the trio run off. “So...why do you not go to this ‘school’?” Strongheart asked.

Apple Bloom shrugged. “Ma an’ Pa didn’t think Ah need a fancy education, an’ well it’s too late fer me to start now, so Ah might as well just help out mah sis.”

“That is fair.” Strongheart said.

“A-a-are you s-s-sure we should be d-doing this...?” Scootaloo asked nervously looking around herself as the three of them had snuck into the backroom of the Boutique.

“You implyin’ somethin’, Buttaloo?” Babs replied in a dangerous tone as she tried to force a drawer open. “Look, we’re just gonna grab somethin’ and scare ‘em a bit, we ain’t gonna hurt ‘em at all.” She smirked as she whispered. “Much.”

“B-b-but w-won’t Applejack be mad...?”

“I’m sure she won’t mind if we give what we borrowed back!” Snails crowed obliviously.

“And just WHAT are you three doing?”

Scootaloo yelped fearfully and fell to the floor, hooves over head as Babs screamed in surprise and pulled the drawer open, accidentally striking herself across the face with the hard wood.

“Oh hi there Miss Applejack!” Snails waved cheerfully, grinning wide.

Applejack however was not amused. “Get out of my house!”

“Okay!” Snails cheered and ran out as Scootaloo fearfully ran after him, leaving Babs behind, who was trying to reach into the drawer she opened.

“You just broke that drawer’s lock.” Applejack looked furious. “Those are QUITE expensive to fix. I hope you are prepared to make up for that.”
Babs shivered, gulping. “W-what do ya mean.”

Applejack suddenly brightened, smiling cheerfully. “MAKEOVERRRRR~! Honestly you look ATROCIOUS, but worry not, we shall have you sparkling like a gem!”

Babs gasped as she inched back, raising her hooves to her face as Applejack approached. “No...no....NOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Diamond Tiara squirmed and struggled as she pulled herself out of Twist’s grip. For her part, Sweetie Belle merely glumly accepted her position and simply hung stiffly.

“Where the HAY are you taking us, Twist!?” Diamond Tiara demanded.

“We’re here!” Twist exclaimed, Dropping Sweetie Belle to the ground as she held her hooves up high.

Diamond Tiara looked ahead of her as Sweetie Belle got up to her hooves. At the very edge of Ponyville, about as close to Everfree a part of the town could be without being in danger, was a grassy little clearing full of flowers with a large, cosy looking cottage standing before them, its walls painted bright pink with balloons attached to the roof.

The door swung open suddenly, revealing a yellow pegasus with a long, light pink mane and tail, a wide grin on her face and excitement in her eyes, her flank bearing a Cutie Mark in the form of a smiling bird surrounded by in a circle by music nights. “Hello Twist! What brings you here? Oh, and are those new friends!? That is AWESOME!”

The Pegasus quickly began to sing.

“Howdy doody
Pleased to meetcha
I’d love to give you cake
Or handy dandy back scratcha!
I am Fluttershy
And it’s so great to see you!
If it’s fun you want I’m your guy!
All I want to do is sing
and of course make you smile!
So don’t forget to give me a ring!
But I think that’s enough about me
Please tell me all about you!”
Diamond Tiara blinked. “Um.”
Fluttershy grinned manically, staring deep into Diamond’s soul with empty, glass-like, soulless eyes.

Or at least, that’s how it looked to Diamond.

Twist simply giggled. “We’re doing a report on Cutie Markth, and we wanted you to tell uth all about yours!”

“Oh!?” Fluttershy gasped and giggled. “I’d love to!” She inhaled some air.

“No!” Diamond protested, waving her hooves in the air. “Don’t sing it, please!”

“Aw, poopie.” Fluttershy pouted, then brightened up. “Oh well! Well a long time ago, I wasn’t the happy mare you see before you. OH no sirree bob, I was really miserable and depressed and really shy, which only made me more miserable cause it made me an easy target for bullies! But, one day, whe I was at my saddest and felt so alone...a mare visited me! She was an earth pony with a purple mane as fluffy as clouds, and had the widest, most beautiful smile in the world! Her name was Maud Pie and she cheered me up with songs, funny antics and general friendliness! She convinced me that instead of being sad and alone, I should go out and SING and convince ponies to befriend me and not bully me, cause they just need a good reason to smile instead of a bad one!” She stood, pointing at her cutie mark. “And, on the day I first tried that, I found it worked and I became more and more happy and comfortable around ponies as they started to like me and I liked making them smile with my song! And the moment I realised that, this appeared! This cutie mark is proof my special talent is making others smile through song!”

Twist clapped as Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. Diamond Tiara raised her brow at the odd pony, but couldn’t help but feel....sympathy and a little happiness at the mare’s tale.

Fluttershy clapped her hooves. “Oh I know! We should get you to talk to my friends, then you can learn THE MOST about Cutie Marks!”

“We already talked to Rainbow Dath, Rarity an Applejack.” Twist helpfully pointed out.

“Oh that’s good!” Fluttershy grinned. “That means we got two more left! Don’t worry, I’ll show you girls the way!”

“That’s not necessa” Sweetie Belle began, eager to just be done with the silly project, but was interrupted as the manic Pegasus grabbed all three fillies in a tight hug.

“Come along now, we’re not too far away!” Fluttershy hollered excitedly. “Next stop...THE FARM!”

Author's Note

SO ummm....that took a while huh?

My apologies for the long wait, lack of motivation, inspiration and real life matters (including the loss of my computer) got in the way.

Not much I can say here except...I hope you enjoyed, and please comment.

Chapter 4

Golden Rule looked through the accounting reports for the many businesses he owned, her white mane cut in a manageable buzz-cut, his gold coat pristine and unblemished, is cutie mark bearing a piggy bank on his flanks. He imperceptibly looked up from his work as a stallion familiar to him was lead into the room.

“I assume you have something important to discuss with me, Filthy Rich.” The businesspony said.

Filthy Rich coughed into his hoof, feeling discomfort as he took a seat. “It’s about your daughter.”

Golden Rule didn’t even react, continuing his work as he spoke. “Go on, Filthy Rich, time is money.”

“Well, she’s been bullying my daughter and so I thought I needed to speak about this with you.”

“No. If that is all you wish to discuss, then kindly leave.”

Filthy sighed. “Look I know it’s hard for a parent to believe their child capable of bad behaviour, but I and several ponies have seen her bullying not just my daughter, but other ponies as well, so...””

“No, I believe fully in what you’re saying, as it corroborates with what Spitfire informed me earlier, as she was explaining why my daughter had to remain after class. He peeked up from his papers to look at Filthy Rich. “My meaning was that I am not bothered by this. Despite what some ponies think, what my daughter chooses to do has no bearing on me or my business.”

Filthy sputtered in disbelief at his words. “What, you can’t be serious...!”

The richest pony in ponyville simply gazed stone faced. “I am dead serious, Filthy Rich, as I always am. I am well aware of my child’s behaviour, but I simply choose not to do anything about as 1) she hasn’t broken any actual laws and 2) it literally affects me not one bit. Even if her behaviour became well known and subject of rumours and backtalk regarding my skills as a parent, it would not affect either my wealth or the businesses I am shareholder with. Do you know how I got to be the wealthiest pony in this small town?”

“I don’t see how that’s relevant...”

“I refuse to perform any action that is wasteful. Waste of time, waste of effort, most of all waste of money. Ponyville was the cheapest place to live with decent schooling, and thus I moved here with my daughter. That is why I buy affordable, decent meals rather than flaunt my wealth with needlessly expensive dinners. That is why I do not buy gifts for my daughter unless I absolutely need to. I simply do not need to do so, and so I don’t. My daughter chooses to waste her time asserting her dominance over others, but it ultimately matters little in the long run, and thus I will not waste effort trying to scold her or punish her.”

“A parent must step in to teach their children right from wrong!” Filthy argued.

Golden Rule placed his hooves together, looking thoughtful. “Like you did with your own child? You do realise she has done the exact same things my own daughter has done, correct? And yet, what do you do? You lavish gifts upon her and pay no mind to anything negative a pony says about her.”

“W-what!? What are you talking about!? MY Diamond wouldn’t...”

“Ask anypony in town, or even her teacher Spitfire, they will corroborate what I say. And yet, here you are, wasting my time and yours attempting to moralise and scold me for how I approach raising my daughter, acting outraged merely because your own daughter was mistreated while ignoring what she did to other children, ignoring your hypocrisy and pretending to have the moral high ground.” Golden Rule clapped his hooves on his desk, his nonplussed expression not changing even once. “Now, do you wish to continue this pointless conversation, or shall you CONTINUE to waste my time? Remember, Filthy Rich, I own a significant portion of your own business, you have no authority over me whatsoever, while I hold everything over you. Return home and think on things, and don’t bother me unless it is something truly important.”

Filthy looked down at the table, pale and breathing heavily, nodding slowly as he got to his hooves and slowly turned to trot away. “Y...yes, Mr. Golden Rule.”

He had many things to think about.

Snails and Scootaloo sat at a table in the local milk bar, drinking milkshakes, Scootaloo timidly sipping through a straw while Snails drank messily, getting most of his drink onto his face. A hoof slammed on the table, scaring Scootaloo and making her drop her drink to the ground while Snails turned to see who it was, nonplussed. “Oh, hey there, Babs!”

Babs fumed, tatters of a dress she had torn off on the floor, wiping a thick layer of makeup off her face. “Stupid weirdo pony, dressin’ me up like that...and youse! Youse left me hung and dry, I oughta smack the both of ya for that! But...I ain’t, cause we still got a job to do! For Silver!”

Scootaloo whimpered quiet. “D-do we have to...?”

“Yes! You do!” Babs yelled, slamming her hoof on the table. “Come on, I managed to see where the brats are heading, we can catch up to them and REALLY make them pay!”

“B-but I don’t understand why y-y-you’re so invested...” Scootaloo lowered her head, hiding her face behind her hooves. “U-ummm n-n-no offence...”

Snails put a hoof to his chin in thought. “Yeah that is weird, eh?”

“That’s none of your beeswax!” Babs Seed shouted. “Now hop to it or I’ll clobber the both of ya!”

Fluttershy lead the trio of fillies past the outskirts of the town into the mountains, leading them up a small mountain path, singing a happy tune obliviously as the three fillies trailed behind her.

“I’m so tired...” Diamond Tiara whined. “Where are we even going? This isn’t even considered a part of town...At the very least she could’ve flown us the entire way...”

“But thith way ith MUCH more fun!” Twist said cheerfully. “You don’t get too many chanceth to explore the mountainthide!”

Sweetie Belle shrugged. “Eh. Walking builds character they say.”

Diamond fumed, muttering under her breath. “You two are so weird...no wonder I bullied you so much...”

The group walked along, dust and pebbles flying around as they step, reaching the end of the trail...and facing an empty plain filled with dirt, large boulders and a small cottage at the centre of the plain.

“We’re heeeeere!” Fluttershy called out, spreading her forelegs widely.

The fillies looked around, wide eyed. “Where the hay are we?”

“We’re at Pinkie’s farm silly!” Fluttershy giggled. “Where else would we go all the way out here? Pinkie lives her all by her lonesome and I think you girls could give her company!”

Sweetie looked around dully. “Oh I heard of this place. Some mean mare lives here. She doesn’t visit the town much and makes everypony unwelcome.”

Twist frowned. “Why would we come to vithit thomeone like that?”

“Oh she’s just a little grumpy!” Fluttershy said flippantly. “She just needs some good ponies to get her to smile! You wait here, I’ll be right back with her!” The yellow pegasus then flew off to the cottage.

Diamond Tiara sighed. “And she leaves us unsupervised...doesn’t she realise we’re kids!? We could get into all kinds of trouble without a grown-up watching us!”

Sweetie Belle looked around the plain. “The fact you care about that aside...what trouble would we get into here?”

“I-I dunno! Attacked by a wild scorpion o-or crushed under a boulder while playing with it, or falling off the edge of the cliff here!”

Twist pondered that, hoof to her chin. “But why would thothe happen anyway? Thurely we’re thmart enough to be careful.”

“It’s the principle of the matter! She’s the adult and we’re the foals, she’s supposed to be here watching us, not leaving us to our own devices!”

Babs Seed’s mocking voice suddenly interrupted the discussion. “I dunno, I can appreciate some alone time without some dumb grown-up butting in.”

Twist eeped, hiding behind Diamond’s back. “B-Babth...”

Diamond Tiara blinked, surprised by the filly’s sudden behaviour. “Are...are you SCARED? YOU!?”

Babs smirked proudly while Twist merely tried harder to hide behind Diamond. “What can I say? The filly’s not as dumb as how she talks. Name’s Babs Seed, you might remember from your cutiecenara? Silver invited me along and well...seeing the look on your face when we humiliated you was worth getting yelled at by my parents.”

Diamond’s lips thinned. “So you’re...Silver Spoon’s ‘friend’? Why are you all the way out here?”

“Silver wanted us to follow you!” Snails answered cheerfully.

Babs glared at the simple minded colt. “Shush! I’M doing the talkin’ here, you simpleton!” She turned her attention back to the group before her. “SO what, without Silver around, you have to spend time with the loser patrol, DT? The idiot who can’t talk right and the braindead statue? Is THAT what you call ‘friends’ nowadays?”

“Why does it matter to you!?” Diamond responded. “It’s not like you or Silver care about me anymore! Not with my ‘useless’ cutie mark!”

Twist whimpered softly, speaking quietly into Diamond’s ear. “DT please...don’t make her mad...”

Babs trotted over smirked dangerously. “Well, see D, I can call youse D right, well it seems youse got Silver in trouble with the teach, and that’s gonna start looking bad for her, and what’s bad for Silver Spoon is bad for me and my friends here, right? Plus, we can’t just let ya get away with what youse did, can we?” She lifted her hoof, a grin forming on her features.

“W-wait!” Scootaloo whimpered softly. “I-I-Isn’t going a bit t-t-t-too f-far...?”

Babs gave the filly a harsh glare, who eeped and jumped back, before pulling her hoof back and tossing around a bunch of large rocks she had picked up at some point. “at least this place is good for one thing.” She sneered, throwing them all at once towards Diamond Tiara...only for the rocks to halt in mid-air, suspended by magic.

Sweetie Belle shrugged, her horn glowing as she let the rocks fall harmlessly to the ground. “Hey just because I don’t care and I have no reason to really like her, doesn’t mean I’m about to let you hurt a...pony I know.”

Babs growled and trotted threateningly towards the unicorn, hoof raised in anger...only to freeze as she heard somepony clearing her throat. All the fillies turned to look at Fluttershy and Pinkamena Pie.

“Oh that’s not very nice to look at your friends, little filly.” Fluttershy said, looking disappointed.

“Fluttershy.” Pinkamena droned. “What did you bring to my farm?”

Babs blinked and smiled nervously. “U-ummm we weren’t doing nothin’, right girls?”

“I thought you were about to hit Sweetie Belle for stopping some rocks you threw at Diamond Tiara?” Snails said, earning a glare. “Oh I’m sorry you asked the girls to answer!”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “Indeed, Babs was being quite violent.”

“SHUT THE HAY UP!” Babs snapped, raising her hoof angrily.

“Oh that’s no good!” Fluttershy said with a frown, flitting over in front of the filly. “Hitting ponies isn’t very nice at all....well, depending on the context, but still!”

Babs gazed up at the adults...tears soon falling down her cheeks as she began to bawl. “I-I’m sorry! I was bullied all ym life and ever since I got here I only knew how to relate to ponies by being mean...I-It’s not my fault, I’m just a victim!”

Fluttershy held her hooves to chest as she gazed at the filly in sympathy...however Pinkamena was unimpressed. “That’s a load of horseapples.”

Babs froze, turning her neck with a loud screeching noise as she looked at the rock farmer. “Ex-CUUUUUSE me!?”

“Oh I’m sure you were bullied and had a hard time before you lived here and all that nonsense,” Pinkamena admitted before continuing, “but you and I both know that that’s not why you’re violent. You came all the way up here to harass three fillies, you WENT OUT OF YOUR WAY to do so. This implies to me that no, you don’t have an excuse, you’re just mean and possibly enjoy hurting other ponies, but I’m not one to make that call, I’m not a psychiatrist.”

Babs glared, furious. “H-how dare you!? Th-that line ALWAYS works on everypony! Who are you to say that to me!?” She tried to deck PInkamena, who merely stepped out of the way, causing the filly to lose her balance and step onto a portion of earth that immediately gave way and dropped her into a pit, out of which said filly was sent screaming and flying through the air as a catapult launched her.

“Oh no! Don’t worry, I’ll save you grumpy filly!” Fluttershy flew off to save Babs, causing Pinkamena to sigh in annoyance, turning to look at the other fillies.

Scootaloo screamed and ran off in fear while Snails looked around in confusion and shrugged.

“Get off my farm.” Pinkamena said.

Snails nodded and calmly walked off, whistling to himself.

Pinkamena turned to the last three remaining fillies. “I meant for you to go too. I can’t stand other ponies traipsing into my farm without good reason, and foals even less so.”

“B-but we came all this way!” Diamond Tiara cried out. “W-we came here to learn how you got your cutie mark! Please just tell us and well go, promise!”

Pinkamena thought about this. “Only if you buy something from my farm.”

“Like...rockth and thtuff?” Twist hesitantly asked, still somewhat shaken from the earlier encounter.

“Yes. I sell many rocks and rock related things. Gemstones, crystals, metals, minerals, rock farming is quite important and lucrative.” She looked at the poorly repaired tiara sitting on Diamond’s head. “Like that. Filthy Rich ordered that from me, it cost him a fair bit. I assume you’re the one he had it made for.”

Diamond nodded slowly. “Y-yeah, I am.”

“Fine then.” The mare dug up some earth, pulling out several gemstones. “Pick something from this pile, I’ll tell you my story, and you can leave.”

Diamond thought, looking over what was held in the mare’s hooves. She pointed at a jasper, a rose quartz and a opal. “Those, one for me and my friends here.”

Pinkamena nodded and handed the gems to the filly. “Very well, that will be on Filthy Rich’s tab. Now I shall tell you my story,” she frowned in annoyance, “though it’s not an enjoyable story.”

“What?” Twist tilted her head. “But everypony elthe we athked all had great, happy memorieth!”

“Not me. The day I got my cutie mark was the worst day of my life.” PInkamena gazed gravely over the fillies as she spoke. “A long time ago, I wasn’t the mare you see before yourselves. I was once frivolous, stupid, annoying and found rock farming tedious, boring and soul crushing. However, my father made the rules and I obeyed, along with my sisters and my mother. Eventually, I stopped worrying about silly things and just focused on doing good work, pushing all frivolous thoughts aside. One day, while exploring our mine, digging deeper to expand it, I heard a loud noise but ignored it in favour of finishing my work. Once I got back topside, a horrendous sight greeted me.”

“Nightmare Moon?” Twisted asked.

“A storm?” Diamond put forth.

“Just let her tell us.” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“What greeted me was literally that, a greeting: my family called me over to have...a party, with cake, balloons and streamers and confetti.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Sweetie Belle said.

Pinkamena glared at her, gritting her teeth. “It was AWFUL. It was stupid and pointless and they just wouldn’t shut UP. They kept bothering me with pointless, nonsensical songs and acting so childish! They weren’t like that before! Whatever happened while I was underground, it changed them! Changed them into something ridiculous! They soon suggested we quit rock farming in favour of...of...of ‘spreading laughter’ throughout Equestria! That’s not a plan, not a source of income, that’s just...DUMB! I couldn’t abandon the farm, our family liveblood, for something so thoughtless! So, I cut my ties with them and let them leave, and took on the farm myself, eventually moving everything here near Ponyville as they had untapped earth rich with crystals, gemstones and metals, particularly ones rich with magical properties.” She pointed to her cutie mark, a jagged boulder shaped like a frowning or angry face, depending on how you looked at it.. “This appeared after I took control of the farm. It represents my talent for rock farming and how other ponies let you down and you’re better off alone. Now get off my farm, I have work to do.”

The three filles walked back to Ponyville from Pinkamena’s.

“That was depressing.” Diamond Tiara said. “That was probably the worst cutie mark story we heard.”

“Oh it could’ve been way worthe!” Twist said.

“True, but that doesn’t stop it from being pretty bad anyway.” Sweetie Belle countered.

As they trotted, the trio neared one of the two farms of Ponyville, though this one was closer to the far outskirts than the more famous Apple farm. A purple mare was plucking several bushels of apples from the trees and dumping them into a large, wheeled container, stopping her work as she turned to look at the girls. “Oh hey there!” The mare trotted over to the fillies smiling, only to slowly start frowning. “Wait...where do you girls come from?”

“Umm PInkamena’s place?” Diamond offered helpfully.

The farmer frowned sympathetically. “Oh I hope she upset you three...”

Diamond shrugged. “Well...kinda, not really? Honestly I’m just more confused than anything...”

Twist thougth about it herself. “Yeah, it kinda ith a little confuthing...”

Sweetie Belle shrugged noncommittally.

“What is it you’re confused about?” Twilight asked. “Maybe I can help?”

Diamond Tiara frowned. “Well...we’ve been going around town trying to learn more about cutie marks for school but..it’s all so confusing and doesn’t make it easier to figure out what my mark means.”

“And we don’t know how to get our cutie markth either.” Twist added. “Every thtory we heard wath different...”

“Some stories even made it sound like cutie marks could be bad or not important...” Diamond said in disbelief.

“Well, yeah.” Twilight chuckled, earning a look from the fillies. “Everypony is different, not all of them will have the exact same story or reasoning behind their mark. How they treat that mark is highly dependent on their personality and experiences.” She frowned softly. “Some even outright reject their cutie marks, leading to a mental illness called Cutie Mark Rejection Insanity. Part of growing up is learning to accept your special talent, otherwise you’ll just hurt yourself, but that acceptance doesn’t always mean the same thing. Some ponies can still aim for careers and interests outside of their special talent, and some just let their talent run their whole lives, some just live without worrying one way the other. Someponies have good experiences with their mark, some...don’t.” Twilight smiled. “How about I tell you MY story, maybe that will help you?”

Diamond shrugged. “Sure, go ahead, might as well since we’re here and the day’s almost over with.”

Twilight nodded and turned to show off her flank, which bore an old fashioned soda pop bottle spraying out foam in the shape of a lightbulb. “A long time ago, I wasn’t a farmer, nor had any interest anything beyond studying, books and magic. I believed magic could solve every problem...until well...we had to leave everything behind. I couldn’t apply to the magic academy and we ended up moving here where Dad bought an unused building and he and Mom set to work building a farm. I...wasn’t happy. This wasn’t our home; farming had nothing to do with magic. I kept up this attitude for a while, even after Dad got everything set up, however...we still had no luck actually selling anything. We grew a modest set of fruits and vegetables, but we simply couldn’t compete with the other local farm here which had been here longer and had garnered the trust of the town while we...we were outsiders, essentially. Mom and Dad were still hopeful we’ll turn things around but we weren’t exactly rolling in it and actually had to sell a fair bit of our old stuff just to pay for everything..including some of my cherished books...left with only a book on agriculture and a book on mechanical engineering, I decided I NEEDED to help my family, so while my parents slept one night, I set to work on something.”

“Something?” Sweetie Belle asked, curious.

“Hehe yeah, I didn’t even know what it was going to be myself, I just sorta read my books and winged it...I tried building a machine by mixing various schematics together and then set to work on gathering together ingredients. I wanted to make something only our family could make, no Apples or anypony else. By morning my parents caught me sleeping near my invention, and when I turned it on, it mixed the ingredients I gathered together and filled a chilled glass with a special liquid.”

Twist gasped. “The Thparkle Family Thodie Pop!”

Twilight nodded. “Mhm! The drink was my invention as I had an idea to carbonate a special liquid via some magic theory I heard of once, applying it to the liquid via a machine I built powered by my magic! When Dad tried it, he was so amazed at how different it was, not too mention how tasty! As he smiled at me, asking me how I thought of it all, we saw a bright flash come from my body and we saw...my cutie mark! As a symbol of my inventiveness, it made me realise how much more I could do for ponies beyond study magic, I could create something to help ponies, whether it be my family so we can supply ponies with something, or create something somepony else may need! And it all began with a machine and a drink, which proved to be so popular we began to supply it regularly to the town and eventually to other cities, and so we gained enough income to branch out and expand our farm and our business!” Twilight smiled. “And realising my special talent only came about because I tried to help my parents...I decided to accept farmlife so I could help them even more, and I’ve been happy ever since.”

Twist grinned wide. “That’th a great thtory!”

Diamond huffed. “yeah, yeah, it’s all fine and dandy for you, but that doesn’t help us! It just means we’ll have no idea about our own cutie marks!”

Twilight shook her head. “Okay, you girls, here’s the BIG secret to cutie marks: there is none. You’ll get your cutie mark just by doing what’s natural, not through some big grand event, though some stories make it sound that way. Just experiment a bit, see what you’re good at or enjoy, and you’ll get it.” She gazed at Diamond Tiara’s cutie mark. “But you already have yours, so I’m not sure why you’re confused...”

Diamond looked down, lips thinning. “It’s because I don’t even know what it’s for...all I know is I got it when I put on this tiara...”

“It means whatever you wish it to.”

The filly blinked. “huh?”

Twilight smiled warmly. “You don’t know what it means, which means you can decide. Does it mean just being very good at wearing an accessory, or is it something more? Only YOU can decide that, not anypony else.”

“But...Silver Spoon said it was useless...” The filly looked down, still hurt by her friend’s betrayal.

“No cutie mark is useless, as no skill is useless.” The farmer petted the filly’s head gently. “The only pony who gets to decide that either way...is you. Now, do you WANT to have a ‘useless’ mark?”

“of course not!” Diamond Tiara snapped.

“Then try and experiment, let your friends help you. Having somepony help you isn’t a bad thing, especially when you’re struggling.” Twilight suggested. “You’re not alone with your problems, after all.”

Diamond Tiara looked back at the two fillies behind her, feeling a knot in her stomach. “N-no...I...I don’t...I don’t have any friends...”

“Thure you do!” Twist grinned wide. “You got us!”

Diamond bit her lip as she remembered calling the filly in glasses names, making fun of her speech impediment, her lack of a cutie mark. She remembered how scared Twist was of Babs...was Twist afraid of HER too? Was she only pretending to be nice to her? Or did she feel like she had to, otherwise Diamond would pick on her more? Or...was Twist scared of Babs BECAUSE of the things Diamond had done?

She looked at Sweetie Belle and remembered how she mocked her for falling asleep in class, flaunting her wealth while Sweetie seemingly had nothing, remembering the happy filly who slowly became more and more disinterested in her classmates and everything else...was it because of Rarity...?

No, Tiara realised painfully. Sweetie Belle didn’t become apathetic purely because of her sibling. She became this way because of HER, because Diamond Tiara thought it was fun to pick on the ‘lazy’ filly, not realising it was because she tired herself worrying over her sister. Diamond Tiara’s constant mocking made her give up on happiness. She turned Sweetie into what she was now.

She remembered Silver, her current treatment of someone she once called friend, and Diamond bitterly remembered how alone she was. She wasn’t any different from that filly, she only stopped her bullying cause she was being bullied herself.

Diamond Tiara had no friends. She didn’t DESERVE them. She didn’t even deserve a cutie mark.

The filly ran off, crying, earning confused looks from Twilight and Twist.

Diamond trotted into town, sobbing. No wonder she couldn’t figure out what her cutie mark meant, she had been too busy focusing on having on and using it to make herself feel better than the other fillies and colts, used it to justify being mean to ponies who didn’t deserve it.

So many ponies they talked to today got cutie marks for breaking the mould, or helping their families, or making others happy, or even for believing in their principles hard enough.

But Diamond didn’t HAVE any beliefs. She just wanted to understand her mark so she could feel better, like she always had. She only tagged along with Twist because she made her feel better when she was side, not because she ACTUALLY liked the filly, and she didn’t have an opinion on Sweetie Belle at all. She just wanted to benefit herself, nothing more.

She hadn’t changed at all.

“Well, well, well,” a snide, familiar voice said, “look who it is.”

Diamond glanced up, seeing Silver Spoon flanked by her boyfriend, Snips.

“We got out of detention.” Snips helpfully supplied.

“I think she can surmise that, snookums.” Silver smirked. “However I’ve been thinking...maybe I’ve been going about this all wrong? I mean, even if you don’t have a good cutie mark, there’s more I could do with you than make you my punching bag...after all, you’re pretty wealthy, if only not as much as I am. So, here’s the deal, DT: just do what I tell you to, give me hmmm about 90% of your weekly allowance and I MIGHT consider being friends with you again.”

Diamond looked down. Silver was never going to be her friend, she was just gonna use...and she deserved every inch of it. She opened her mouth to reply.

“Diamond!” A voice shouted out from behind.

Diamond Tiara looked up to see Sweetie Belle and Twist running up to her, their capes flying as they leapt in front of her.

Silver looked unimpressed. “Butt out; this is none of your business.”

Twist shook her head. “We are not letting you hurt our friend!”

Diamond’s eyes widened. “N..No...I’m not your friend, you’re just gonna make it harder on yourselves...just stay out of it and let me face my punishment...”

“Punishment?” Twist turned to the other filly, head tilted. “Diamond, what are you talking about?”

“I...I’m a bad filly!” Diamond insisted. “I...I hurt you! I hurt Sweetie Belle! I...I deserve to be bullied too!”

“Nuh-uh!” Twist argued. “You’re my friend, no matter what! I don’t care if you did bad thingth before, you’re thad and I won’t let you be thad! I promised to thtick with you, and I’m gonna hold to that!”

Diamond stared at the filly in disbelief, turning to look at Sweetie Belle. “What about you....didn’t I hurt you too...?”

Sweetie Belle was still for a moment, before nodding. “yes...however...it’s actually been pretty...fun today. And well...I...” She blushed. “I was worried about you after you ran off.”

Silver huffed as Snails rolled his eyes. “Okay, who the hay are you losers? Do you have any idea who you’re messing with here?”

Both fillies nodded, Twist adding, “Yeah, you’re both mean! And you don’t like Diamond Tiara even though you were betht buddieth before! But you know what!? We don’t care! We’re gonna thtick with her and help her learn her cutie mark!”

Silver Spoon scoffed. “Oh? So what, you think YOU know what her cutie mark means? Please! It’s just a stupid talent for wearing that ugly little crown!”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “We’ve learned a lot about cutie marks today, and we know they’re a lot more complicated than you make them sound. I ebt you don’t even know what your cutie mark means either and you’re just picking on Diamond cause you’re mad about it.”

Silver gasped, eyes wide in anger as she sputtered. “Why...you...how dare you! Who they hay do you think you are!?”

“We’re the Cutie Mark Cruthaderth!” Twist declared triumphantly. “We’re gonna help each other figure out our cutie markth, and we won’t let anypony bully uth! We got each otherth bacth no matter what!”

Diamond stared at the two filles...her friends, she supposed. Nopony had ever stood up for her like this aside from her daddy, and they did so without any real reason to. And they were gonna help her with her cutie mark, after everything she did?

Diamond Tiara began crying, smiling happily. She didn’t deserve this...but she was happy all the same.

Silver and Snails looked less than impressed. “Look we won’t...” They froze, staring behind the fillies before them, Snails trembling. “U-Uh we’ll settle this later!”

Silver nodded. “Y-yeah! But mark my words, Diamond Tiara, you’re not getting away with disrespecting me like this! Your or your...friends!” She spat the word as she and Snails ran off.

“Huh.” Twist grinned wide. “We thcared them off! How about that!”

“Ahem.”

The trio turned to the voice seeing Filthy Rich standing behind them.

“Who might you fillies be?” The stallion asked, looking over the two standing with his daughter.

“We’re the Cutie Mark Cruthaderth!” Twist replied proudly.

“We’re Diamond Tiara’s friends.” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Filthy asked.

“She came up with the name.” Sweetie clarified. “She thought it’d be cool if we had a ‘special club’, and well, I couldn’t think of a better name.”

Diamond Tiara stepped forward. “Nevermind that! Daddy, why are you out here, shouldn’t you be at home?”

“I...” Filthy sighed. “This isn’t easy for me to say but...it’s been brought to my attention that you...that you haven’t been on your best behaviour....that you’ve...well...that you’ve been...bullying other fillies...is this true...?” He looked at her hopefully.

Diamond Tiara opened her mouth, instinctively to deny everything....but then looked at her friends, realising what needed to be said. What had to change.

“I’m...I’m sorry daddy...I...” The pink filly began to cry. “I haven’t been a good filly at all...I’m...I’m a bad girl...”

Filthy gazed down at her, unsure how to react. “I think we need a private talk, Diamond.”

Diamond sat in her room, eating the meagre meal she had been given, confused to her room as she was grounded.

She was happy though, her daddy was happy she made new friends and she promised she was going to behave herself from now on, and she vowed to make her friends promise to watch in case she fell back into her old habits.

As she started working on her report for school, she realised she still didn’t really understand cutie marks, why ponies got them or what her own mark could mean. However, she knew with her friends at her side and a LOT of trial and error, they could at least take steps to figuring it out.

It was time for Diamond Tiara to start anew.

Author's Note

Yeah uh...sorry for the wait! Stuff happened...and I kinda lost ideas on how to progress too. But thankfully that’s all fixed now!

This story was largely a way for me to canonically address what the Mane Six’s cutie marks looked like and what they meant, as well as fully explore their backstories behind why they’re so different from canon. Hopefully, what I provided is considered good.

Chapter 1

Diamond Tiara had a wonderful life. She was rich, did well in school to a degree, she had her dad wrapped around her hooves and she had a best friend in her classmate Silver Spoon.

Sure, she may give other ponies a hard time, and she might be what is called a ‘bully’ but she didn’t care. She was better than all of them (except for her friend Silver Spoon, of course) so it didn’t matter to her what she did or how they felt about her.
Diamond Tiara had wonderful life....until she got her cutie mark.

Her dad had given her a tiara as a present. It looked beautiful on her and went well with her mane. As she admired herself in the mirror, she noticed something on her flanks, gasping as she realised she had gotten her cutie mark. She jumped for joy as she excitedly showed it off to her father who took the news with pride. Shortly afterwards, he had thrown her a cutie-cenera where several ponies she didn’t know too well attended, as well as her closest friend.

She quickly went over to Silver Spoon, showing off her cutie mark to her. “See? We’re the first ones to get a cutie mark in our class! Isn’t that exciting?”

Silver Spoon raised a brow, an unreadable expression on her face. “Yeah, that would be an accomplishment. Remember though I got mine before you.”

“Yeah I know, but still this just shows we’re top of the class like always.”

Silver Spoon shook her head. “I...don’t think so.” She smirked as her coltfriend used his magic to dump the nearby bowl of punch all over the pin filly.

Diamond Tiara shivered, staring at her friend in shock, only to be knocked to the ground as a brown earth pony with white freckles and an maroon mane pushed her to the ground. Diamond looked up at them both. “S-Silver...?”

Silver Spoon looked over her hoof nonchalantly as she handed a few bits to the earth pony that assaulted Diamond Tiara. “Oh Diamond, look at you getting so worked up and excited over nothing.”

“N-nothing...?” Diamond Tiara blinked, looking confused. “W-what do you mean...?”

“I mean, you’re getting so excited for....what, exactly? Getting a useless cutie mark?”

“U-useless....?”

Silver Spoon smirked coldly. “Yes. Useless. You got your cutie mark for wearing a tiara. I mean, what kind of talent is that, wearing a tiara of all things! So, tell me, why should I care?”

“Silver...y-you’re my friend...” Diamond Tiara whimpered, tears forming.

“Oh Diamond, you say the silliest things sometimes.” The filly laughed coldly. “You and I used to be friends, but with such a worthless talent, you’re no better than a blank flank so, really, why should I continue to be friends with a filly so beneath me?”

“B-beneath...?” Diamond Tiara growled angrily. “M-my daddy will--!”

“Will what? My dad is richer, more successful and more powerful than your dad. The only reason we’re in this town to begin is because we didn’t want to waste money on an unnecessarily expensive school and this was the cheapest place available. Really, you’re totally worthless in every conceivable fashion. You’re not that rich, your daddy isn’t that influential and worse of all, you’re no better than a blank flank!”

Diamond started crying, staring at her former friend in betrayal as her dad stepped in, looking livid.

“The party is over! Get out of my house you vile little filly!” He glared at everyone else. “That goes for all of you who’d just stand there and watch! Get out!”

Silver Spoon merely sighed in exasperation as she and her entourage left, followed by the other guests at the party who looked more shameful and remorseful. Diamond Tiara’s father sighed and turned to his daughter sympathetically. Diamond Tiara looked had pulled off her tiara, staring at in her hooves with tear-filled eyes. She then growled in anger and threw her tiara to the ground in disgust and stomped on it with her hoof, shattering it.

“Worthless, useless, stupid thing!” She yelled between sobs. “M-making me lose my friend a-and r-ruining the best day of my life a-and...” She collapsed into despairing sobs as her dad ran his hoof gently along her back.

“We can repair it.” He said calmly.

“I don’t want it repaired!” The filly retorted. “And I don’t want a new one either! I-I want a new cutie mark! A-a better one! B-better than Silver Spoon’s and all the rest! I-I want the best cutie mark in the world!”

Her father sighed and looked at her with sympathetic but brutally honest eyes. “It’s not that simple, sweetie. Your cutie mark is with you for life; it shows the world your special talent. You can’t just replace it like some...some cheap item from a store.”

“B-but we’re the richest ponies in Ponyville, we can buy anything we want!”

He frowned sternly. “No, we cannot. Not everything can be bought, Diamond, and money can’t do everything. Once you earn your cutie mark, you have it, no ifs, ands or buts.”

“B-but...t-this one is defective...i-it made my best friend in the world hate me a-and say awful things to my face...”

“I know sweetheart, but if she was truly your friend, she wouldn’t do or say those things.” He growled. “That...filly is not your friend, and never was.”
Diamond Tiara fell to her knees, looking down. “Th-then what am I supposed to do...? N-nopony will like me f-for having a-a cutie mark in looking pretty o-or wearing tiaras o-or whatever....”

Filthy Rich smiled and wrapped a foreleg around her shoulder, smiling warmly. “Ah, but there’s more to earning a cutie mark than just earning it, you must also learn it.”

“H-huh?” she looked up at him, bewildered.

“You got your cutie mark, yes, but you don’t even know what it means, the most important part of earning your mark. For some it’s fairly obvious and simple, but for most it takes time and consideration and experimentation to discover what the actual meaning is and thus what your special talent is, in fact it could have multiple meanings.”

“S-so what does it mean?”

He shrugged. “That’s not something I can tell you, dearheart. To learn your special talent is wholly dependent on you, it’s something you and only you alone can discover for yourself. Now, dry your tears, it’s still your cutie-cenera.”

Diamond Tiara nodded and slowly got up onto her hooves. She looked at the shattered tiara beside her and scooped the pieces up. “C-could we get this fixed up...daddy?”

Her father smile and petted her head gently. “Of course, my little princess.”

She didn’t even complain about him messing up her mane.

The next day, Diamond Tiara had gone to school, wearing her repaired tiara on her head. It didn’t look as good as before, due to how damaged it had been by her tantrum, but it was serviceable. She smiled as she passed by several of her classmates, who pointedly ignored her for some reason.

She yelped in surprise as somepony grabbed her tiara off her head and she turned to take it back. The unicorn colt laughed and held it higher in the hair with his magic, out of her reach, no matter how high she tried to jump up to grab it.

“Give it back!” Diamond Tiara whined. “It’s mine! Daddy got that for me!”

The colt, a rather chubby light-blue unicorn, chuckled. “Why should I? You’re not the boss of me.”

“I said give it back! Put it down!”

“Well , if you say so!” He smirked and harshly threw the tiara into the ground, shattering it again, faster than the earth filly could react. She stared at her once again ruined tiara and started crying.

Silver Spoon walked over, standing beside the colt, who tiara finally dimly remember s being the same unicorn who dumped punch all over her. Silver Spoon nuzzled the colt’s neck gently before sneering at Diamond Tiara. Ponies walked passed, pointedly looking away as they headed for class as the pink filly sobbed, looking for somepony to help.

“Noone’s gonna help you anymore, DT.” Silver Spoon mocked. “You’ve pushed everypony around long enough, none of our school chums care about you, you’re a bully, you deserve everything you get.” She chuckled. “And even if they did want to help, they couldn’t try unless they wanted my daddy to make their parents lives miserable.”

“Why are you doing this to me!?” Diamond Tiara sobbed. “I didn’t do anything to you!”

“As I said at your cutie-cenera, you’re beneath me. The only reason I tolerated you was because your daddy knows my daddy, and I hoped to make a friend with somepony like me. But I was wrong. You’re stupid and you have worthless talent. But the main reason I’m doing this,” she leaned in close, her muzzle inches from Diamond Tiara’s, “is because I find it fun to put you in your place, and show you just how much better I am than you.”

“Silver Spoon, Snips, what do you two think you’re doing?”

The two bullies’ eyes widened nd they looked up nervously at the stern, disapproving look of a yellow Pegasus with an orange, flame-like mane.

“N-nothing Miss Spitfire!” Snips blustered out nervously.

The Pegasus raised a brow. “Doesn’t look like nothing to me. In fact, if I am not mistaken, it looks to me like you’re bullying one of your classmates.”

“Well, maybe to your eyes but...” Silver Spoon began.

“Save it.” Spitfire interrupted. “Both you, detention, after school, my office. Now, get to class.”

“Hey, my daddy won’t like you ordering me round like that!” Silver Spoon said snippily.

“Now!” The Pegasus snapped, her expression becoming furious, frightening the two bullies into running to class. “And no running in the halls!” She sighed and turned to a weeping Diamond Tiara, who was desperately trying to scoop up the shattered remains of her tiara. “Diamond Tiara, just leave it there, the janitor will clean it up later...”

“No!” The pink filly cried out. “I-I can fix it, I-I can!” She sobbed quietly. “P-please Miss Spitfire, th-this is important to me...”

Spitfire sighed and gently laid a wing on the filly’s back. “I can help you, if you want.”

“N-no...i-it’s fine, y-you have to go and start class...j-just mark me as being late. I-it’ll take me a while to pick up the pieces, they got all scattered, a-and I need to fix it....”

“Diamond, you can fix it later...”

“NO! I HAVE TO DO IT NOW!”

The teacher backed away from the outburst, frowning in concern. “....Alright, Diamond, but you know you can come to me if you have any further problems, alright?”

“Th...thank you...”

The Pegasus gave the filly one last concerned look before walking off to begin class, while Diamond tried to pick up the errant fragments of her destroyed tiara, sobbing as she did so.

“Need thome help?”

The filly blinked and looked up at a bespectacled white filly with an unruly red mane. “A-arent’t you...Twit, I think your name was?”

“Twitht, actually!” The filly grinned. “I think you need thome help though, so can I?”

“B-but I....b-bullied....you, I-I mocked you for being a blank flank when I got mine, a-and I-I said lots of other things....e-everypony else hates me...” She looed down to the ground in shame. “I-I’m a bad filly...I-I deserve to have my best friend treat me like this...l-like I treated everypony else...”

Twist shrugged and started searching the ground. “Nopony detherveth that! You’re not a bad pony, DT, you jutht didn’t have the right friend or learnt the right leththonth!”

“You’re...being awfully nice...” Diamond Tiara said, eyes narrowing. “Why?”

Twist grinned and hugged Diamond Tiara tightly, making the other filly gasp in surprise. “Cause I don’t like theeing anyone elthe thad, and you were thad, so I think I thould be friendth with you so you become unthad!”

Diamodn Tiara blinked. “You...want to be friends with me...?”

“thure!” She separated from Diamond Tiara and shook her hoof excitedly. “We’re gonna be thuper good friendth, you’ll thee, and then you won’t be thad anymore!”

Diamond Tiara looked down, scooping what they had managed to gather into a small pile she put into ehr carrying bag. “R-really? Just like that, and so suddenly?”

“Yeth!”

“A-Alright...then....can you help me fix my tiara...? My daddy just paid for it to be fixed and I don’t want to upset him by showing it got broken....again...?”

“Thure!” Twist grinned and hopped alongside Diamond Tiara as they walked to the school supply cabinet to get some glue and tape. “Wait...again?”

“I...don’t wanna talk about it...”

“Alright!”

And so they walked, together.