“Check this out, check this out!”
An ecstatic Sweetie Bell burst through the clubhouse door, then jumped up and down excitedly before her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders, a brightly-colored piece of paper held within her mouth. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom continued to stare at their unicorn friend, the clopping of her hooves hitting the wooden boards over and over being the only sound filling the confused silence.
“Uh, well, we can’t with you jumping up and down like that… Duh.” Scootaloo finally spoke up, speaking in a manner as if it were obvious.
Suddenly, Sweetie Bell’s body came to a stop as she spit the paper out on the ground before the two other fillies. They finally got a full view of the unnecessarily bright paper.
“Ponyville Art Contest: Now accepting applications and admissions,” Apple Bloom read out loud, much to Sweetie’s pleasure.
“Art contest?” Scootaloo scoffed, shoving the paper back toward Sweetie Bell, “As if. Art is so boring!”
The earth pony looked to Scootaloo who was very obviously already done with the idea as she stuck her tongue out at the paper. Apple Bloom then pulled the paper closer to her to continue reading.
“There’s a prize for first place, too!” Sweetie Bell’s excitement hadn’t diminished even though Scootaloo shot it down, “Like, money prizes! Besides, it could be a chance for us to get our cutie marks!”
Apple Bloom’s smile began widening, nearly matching that of Sweetie’s.
“This is a great idea, Sweetie Bell! I love art!”
“Me too!” Sweetie Bell agreed, her voice making its usual cracks and peaks.
“I don’t.” Scootaloo cut in, her tone already completely bored by the idea.
Sweetie Bell sighed quietly, picking up the paper once more and moving closer to the pegasus filly. Apple Bloom sided up next to her, both of their faces pleading. Scootaloo blinked, her face momentarily changing from bored to confused once more.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell begged in unison, almost as if they had this routine planned, “Please, Scootaloo!”
Scootaloo sighed and sat, her forelegs crossing in an outwardly stubborn way. She looked away from their stare for a moment, but her curiosity to see if they were still going to keep this up got the better of her. She looked back to their faces, even starting to see the cheesy flier for the contest begging her. She rolled her eyes, giving in, “Fine…”
“Yay!” Sweetie Bell yelled in triumph, spitting the paper back out.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders professional artists!” Apple Bloom shouted excitedly, signaling the whole group to participate in a group high hoof. Even though Scootaloo was the least enthusiastic of the group, she still participated in the group high hoof.
“Yeah!” All three yelled, some more ecstatic than others.
Today was going to be a long one for Scootaloo.
“How’s yours coming along, Scootaloo?!” Apple Bloom tried her best to look over the pegasus’s shoulder at her work, but the pegasus in question quickly covered the art with her body.
“Don’t look! It’s bad…” Scootaloo said embarrassed.
Apple Bloom laughed lightly before looking over to her own crudely made painting that had just a little too much glitter and way more sequins than should ever be allowed on a piece of paper. She rolled her eyes and tried to get at another angle to see Scootaloo’s art.
“Come on, Scootaloo! It can’t be that bad.”
Scootaloo shook her head quickly, not letting an inch of her body go to waste in covering her art.
“I wanna see!” Sweetie Bell suddenly cut in, her presence now felt poking and prodding around Scootaloo’s body to try and see what it was covering. It was surprising how well Scootaloo was able to cover her art.
“I-I’m not done!” The pegasus Crusader tried to make an excuse. She knew it was a fake one, but hoped her friends would buy it.
“Ah still would like to see it so far!” Apple Bloom said dejectedly, still trying to find an angle where she could see the art.
Scootaloo tried looking for other reasons to not remove her body from her art, “I, um… I don’t want to.”
“Come on--!” Sweetie Bell groaned as she then decided to begin using force to try and see the paper Scootaloo was covering. She grabbed Scootaloo’s tail between her teeth, and began to lightly pull, trying to get Scootaloo to let go. However, Scootaloo held onto the table as well as the paper with her dear life, not wanting to give an inch to Sweetie’s pulling.
“I said, no!” The pegasus began flapping her small wings to fight against Sweetie Bell’s pulling which was now coupled with Apple Bloom’s.
“Come on… Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom grunted as she pulled Sweetie Bell’s tail, their combined efforts nearly enough to pull her from covering her art.
Scootaloo continued to protest and hold on with all her might, “N-no!”
With one final pull, Scootaloo’s hooves finally lost their grip on the wooden table, causing the group of fillies to fly to the other side of the small tree house, hitting the wall with a thud. Groans of slight pain and impact filled the room. Within moments, Scootaloo’s art floated off the table and onto the floor for all to see.
Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom jumped up excitedly before rushing over to the paper on the floor. Scootaloo stood up from where she had landed and looked over to see her friends’ eyes glued to her art. They had not spoken a word, nor turned away from the paper.
“There, see?!” the pegasus said dejectedly, her ears folding downward, “It’s terrible.”
After a few more moments without a word from her two friends, she looked back over to see that they hadn’t moved an inch. Their eyes were still heavily glued to Scootaloo’s art.
“Um… You guys okay?” Scootaloo finally said, making her way over to where her friends motionlessly stood.
“I know it’s bad, but you guys don’t-“
“Bad?!” Sweetie Bell yelled, her voice cracking sharply, “It’s… It’s…!”
Apple Bloom suddenly tackled Scootaloo in a tight hug, “It’s amazing! Ah ain’t never seen art so good!”
Scootaloo shook her head, looking over to see her art – a picture of her role model, Rainbow Dash, completing a Sonic Rainboom high within the air – being picked up by Sweetie Bell. Sweetie put it back onto the table where it originally sat, staring at it for a moment longer.
“Scootaloo, you’ll win for sure!”
“No I won’t. It’s terrible.” Scootaloo rebuked, thoroughly convinced her art was bad. She pushed Apple Bloom off of her and made her way back over to the table where her art lay. However, her art really was as Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom said. It was beyond what should have been capable of a filly her age.
“Ah thought you said you weren’t done… It looks pretty done ta me.” Apple Bloom said, her tone genuinely confused.
“I just didn’t want to show it.” Scootaloo admitted sheepishly.
“You’re going to win, Scootaloo! Honestly, out of all three of ours, yours is by far the best. Rainbow Dash looks so realistic!” The unicorn continued to gush over the piece of art, the colors being vividly reflected back in her big eyes.
Scootaloo laughed in disbelief as she nonchalantly moved the paper around on the table, “If you say so.”
“And the winner of the fifth annual Ponyville Art Contest is…”
The tension within the small rec room could be cut with a knife as the announcer took a dramatic pause in his announcement. It had taken several rounds of the judges to narrow down the playing field for many different art submissions. It was nothing short of amazing that they were able to narrow down so many entries in only a few hours. Although Scootaloo acted and looked bored by it all, she was internally amazed that her art had made it into the finalist round. In fact, it was now down to her piece of art and another stallion’s. The thing that amazed Scootaloo more than anything was that they were comparing her art to that of a dedicated adult artist. Here she was just a young filly and already giving a tough competition to an adult stallion.
Scootaloo could feel her two supportive friends huddle up next to her in the crowd, just waiting to hear the final say. They both knew she would at least get a prize for being a runner-up, but still hoped for the top prize.
“Scootaloo! With her beautiful depiction of Ponyville’s own Rainbow Dash!”
Scootaloo’s jaw dropped in utter surprise. Her body became stiff as those around her began stomping their legs against the ground. She could even hear cheers hitting her ears. However, her body had gone numb. She had just won a contest she never wanted to enter in the first place.
“Come on, Scootaloo! Go up there!”
Scootaloo suddenly came back to reality as she felt her two friends nudging her to go up onto the small stage in front of the group of ponies. Her legs automatically began carrying her up to the stage.
“There she is, our little artist! Give her another stomp!” The unicorn announcer said, his microphone floating before him enshrouded in a blue aura. The audience then began stomping their hooves once again, cheering as they did so. She looked up to see her Rainbow Dash art piece being held up on a canvas board then looked to the announcer once more.
“Young filly! You certainly have a talent for this! Have you ever taken any art classes?”
Scootaloo silently shook her head, still in disbelief at the whole situation.
The announcer laughed lightly, “You certainly look surprised! You sure surprised everyone here. This truly is a beautiful piece of art! Definitely worthy of this here blue ribbon and this monetary award!”
Just as the announcer floated a big blue ribbon to hook onto the canvas where Scootaloo’s art stood, gasps could be heard from within the crowd. A moment of silence occurred. Even the announcer had gone silent, his magic holding the ribbon in mid-air. Scootaloo was suddenly confused as she looked about the room.
“What? What?” She instinctively said, trying to look about her immediate area for something out of the ordinary. She then realized everyone was staring at her.
“Scootaloo!” a voice that was very obviously Sweetie Bell’s yelled from the crowd, “You got your cutie mark!”
Scootaloo’s eyes went wide before darting to her flank that was no longer blank. There on her flank was the picture of a paint brush painting a small streak of red. Her special talent was, indeed, art.
“My, oh, my! What a special day for you, Miss Scootaloo! Not only did this young filly win this contest, she’s received her cutie mark!” The announcer genuinely happily said, causing the small crowd of ponies to cheer even more for her. Suddenly Scootaloo was surrounded by her two friends, each of them ecstatically happy for her.
They each hugged her happily, saying over and over how glad they were she got her cutie mark. In the mixture of happiness, Sweetie Bell told her that she knew it was good idea to enter the contest, and Apple Bloom agreed, going on to say other happy things that Scootaloo began muting out. She knew she should have been happy that she not only got recognized for her talent, but receive her cutie mark. The very thing that she’d been trying for, for what seemed like years was finally hers. Yet even as Rainbow Dash herself came to meet her after the crowd had dispersed and congratulate her, she felt a certain emptiness that not even her hero could replace.
It had been an entire week since she won the art contest, yet it had seemed like it was the longest week of her life. Immediately after the contest, some art contractor had approached her and asked if she’d like to sell the winning piece. She agreed, although she hadn’t known what good it was. She didn’t even really like the piece of art and still didn’t know how she won. She knew she must have had the talent for the arts; she wouldn’t have her cutie mark if that weren’t true. However, she couldn’t bring herself to find the arts any less boring. In fact she still hated art.
“Scootaloo! Can you draw me?”
Scootaloo looked up from the art she was currently working on to see her friend Apple Bloom with a big smile on her face. This request was starting to become a daily occurrence for the filly pegasus. Now that all of Ponyville had learned of her talent, they were asking for art nonstop.
“Not you too, Apple Bloom…!” She groaned, falling back onto her back in frustration.
Apple Bloom’s smile suddenly faded as she tilted her head at her friend, “What?”
Scootaloo moved her hands in the air as she spoke, “Everyone keeps asking me to draw them. I don’t want to!”
“But…” the earth pony said confusedly, “Ain’t it your special talent?”
It was true. Art was definitely her skill and talent. Her cutie mark couldn’t lie. However, she hated it and wished she never got that talent. Even if it was her lifetime special talent, she found it boring. All she wanted to do was ride her scooter and come up with faster and new tricks. Art was too slow for her to ever like.
“That’s just the thing…” Scootaloo replied as she sat up, looking depressed as she did so, “I hate art…”
“You’re so good at it, though!”
Scootaloo groaned before flicking the art she was currently working on to the side, not even caring that some paint had splashed in unwanted places. Apple Bloom was surprised at her friend’s sudden outburst.
“Just because I’m good at it doesn’t mean I like it!”
Scootaloo began pacing, speaking in a mocking tone, “’Draw me next, Scootaloo! You’re so good, Scootaloo! Can I buy your art, Scootaloo!’ All week!”
Apple Bloom suddenly began feeling bad about asking, seeing how stressed Scootaloo already was.
“Ah-ah’m sorry, Scoot. I didn’t mean to upset ya.”
The pegasus sighed lightly before looking at her hated flank once again.
“I don’t blame you. It is my special talent, after all…”
Silence greeted the two as they hadn’t known where to bring the conversation next. With Scootaloo’s new painting ruined, she had nothing to busy herself with through the strange silence. In a few ways, this whole experience had seemed to age the young pegasus. With her new talent, she was meeting other talented artists, some who were known all across Equestria. She even met the artist who had provided the stained paintings within Canterlot’s Castle.
“I’m just gonna go get some fresh air or something, Apple Bloom. I’ll see you later.” Scootaloo said as she exited their clubhouse, grabbing her blue and white-striped helmet. She strapped the helmet onto her head, flattening her dark pink hair beneath its inner cushions. Within moments, she was on her scooter, her wings flapping rapidly and sending her into a high speed toward a certain pegasus’s home.
---
“What’s up, squirt?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking down from her cloud home to see Scootaloo on her scooter.
Scootaloo took her helmet off, shaking her head lightly to unflatten her hair before looking up to Rainbow Dash, “Can we talk?”
“What do you need, kid?” Rainbow asked as she flew down to the ground level with Scootaloo. Scootaloo took a deep breath, setting her helmet on the handles of her scooter.
“I thought that when you got your cutie mark it was supposed to be something you were good at and liked, but I don’t like art, in fact, I hate art and people keep asking me to make art for them and I really don’t want to! All I want to do is ride my scooter and come up with fast and awesome tricks and practice my flying so I can someday be like you, Rainbow but I can’t because people keep asking me to make art and-“
“Woah! Slow down, Scoots.” Rainbow put her hoof over Scootaloo’s mouth, plugging the flow of words that were coming from her mouth seemingly nonstop.
Scootaloo removed the cyan hoof from her mouth, looking down as she did so, “What do I do? It’s not fair.”
Rainbow Dash mulled this problem over within her mind for a moment, trying to find any kind of angle that might help the filly. It was something that she’d never heard of herself; a pony that didn’t like what their cutie mark demanded.
“Kid, life’s not fair,” Rainbow finally said, still unsure how to make the filly pegasus feel better, “like… For example.”
Rainbow jumped up into the air, doing a few airborne flips and dives before landing back down in front of Scootaloo.
“There’s some days I don’t feel like I’m up to doing those kinds of things. But this baby,” Rainbow flashed her flank, rubbing it with her foreleg, “this baby tells me I’m good at it, so I just do it anyway. What good is having a cutie mark if it’s not something you can do and like?”
Rainbow Dash tried in her own way of trying to make Scootaloo feel better, but it only made her feel worse. Suddenly she missed her flank being bare. Even her role model wasn’t a help to her now. She supposed she couldn’t blame the cyan pegasus; Rainbow really did sound like she was trying to genuinely make her feel better… Just in all the wrong ways.
“Rainbow, I don’t think you’re helping.” Twilight Sparkle said as she approached the two pegasi. She gave Rainbow Dash a look of disapproval at her way of trying to explain to Scootaloo about cutie marks.
“How long were you there?” Rainbow asked, obviously surprised to see her purple unicorn friend. Twilight had a way of showing up just in time when a moral lesson was to be learned or to put Rainbow Dash back into place. Her valiant timing still never ceased to amaze.
“Long enough to know that you’re not helping Scootaloo feel better.”
Rainbow shrugged, a sheepish smile spreading her lips.
“I was just trying to-“ Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped, seeing Twilight’s look of disapproval becoming more concentrated.
“Just trying to…” Rainbow restated, “Show her some of my new moves!”
The unicorn rolled her eyes at Rainbow’s attempts to right her own wrong. She then looked to Scootaloo who was still evidently down about her situation. Twilight smiled sweetly at the young filly, her hoof moving to ruffle Scoot’s hair.
Her tone felt supportive and understanding, almost as if Twilight had been through the same thing, “Scootaloo, just because your cutie mark says you’re good at art, doesn’t mean you can’t do other things. Like, I may be good at magic, but I don’t do it all the time. I like reading a lot, too!”
The sadness in Scootaloo’s eyes began to wither away, hopefulness replacing their features, “Really, Twilight?”
Twilight laughed lightly, “Of course, my little pony. Even Rainbow Dash here likes other things besides racing.”
“No I don’t! Racing is my life-“
Twilight’s suddenly dull face at Rainbow caused her to stop mid-sentence, another sheepish smile created instead.
“I mean, yeah, squirt!” Rainbow Dash began, trying to appease Twilight, “I like other things like… Like reading, too! Daring Do especially! She’s all take this, and take that!”
Rainbow Dash began doing punches in the air and flips here and there as she got carried off in re-enacting her favorite fictional character.
“Anyway…” Twilight continued, “You shouldn’t let others tell you how to control your talent. Just do what you like to do, and you’ll find other ways to actually enjoy your special talent.”
Scootaloo smiled brightly, an idea forming within her mind quickly, “That gives me an awesome idea!”
“Alright, watch this one! I call it, the Twist and Splat!”
Twilight watched happily as Scootaloo ran her scooter off a ramp, and then used the tube of paint within her mouth to splatter the canvas before her as she went zooming past it. In turn, it created an abstract piece of art that all the other ponies watching cheered for. Just as Scootaloo landed on her scooter, her two friends had quickly surrounded her, telling her over and over just how amazing and cool she was. Even Scootaloo was smiling as she started telling those around her how she had come up with the trick and what her next trick was going to be about.
Twilight laughed lightly as the Cutie Mark Crusaders began getting into a paint fight, soon involving the whole group of ponies. Twilight quickly avoided the paint fight, and allowed herself off to the side where she produced a quill and parchment to report her latest findings to the Princess.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I’ve learned that receiving your cutie mark is one of the biggest things in a young pony’s life. However, that one special talent a pony has can’t always be the one that is their most favorite thing to do. Instead of allowing others to define how you are to use your special talent, you should instead focus on ways to make yourself most happy with how you use your special talent. In a way, this could only make your special talent even more special and bring you more fun than you could have thought at first. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”
