Nightfall looked up at the moon lost in thought. She couldn’t believe that she had spent the past week with Bonbon and her friends. It surprised her with all things considered, since Nightfall was usually shunned by everypony. She remembered going to school only to be treated badly by her fellow peers. Sure, it was like that at any elementary anyplace else. There were always those cliques that looked at you differently from the rest and it was usually for something as little as your mane style or the color of your eyes, wings, or horn; each depending on what you were. And in Nightfall’s case, she was an alicorn, so of course she was seen in a dim light and automatically picked on.

Did it hurt when ponies made fun of her hues of purple or magenta in her wings or coat? Of course it did. And did it wound her further when they laughed at how she had no friends while the rest of them did? Of course, but even through all of that, it never hurt any worse than when she’d return to her home and stand in her mother’s shadow. While her classmates knew how to hurt her with remarks about how she wore her mane or the colors in her coat, nothing hurt worse than her mother’s hateful comments or the look of loathing she’d get anytime she walked past.

While Nightfall gazed at the moon and its beauty, she remembered one time in school when she tried to make friends with a pony by the name of Silver Spoon. Things had been going well for the first week, at least she had thought so. In the end it turned out to be a ruse, and it ended up with Nightfall crying herself to sleep alone beneath the moon.

She didn’t know why she was looking back on painful memories, but it always seemed to happen whenever she tried to find solace beneath the moon that reigned over everything day in and day out. As a filly, Nightfall had so many questions about the world around her, so maybe she thought that the moon would give her some answers, or maybe she always thought of her bad experiences because it reminded her of her mother. After all, the moon was part of her mother’s Cutie Mark.

Cutie Mark. There was another bad memory that haunted her as well. Retreating back to her horrible school days, Nightfall remembered being ostracized for being the only blank flank among the class. She soon found herself staring at her barren flank with a frown.

“Is that why Momma hates me?” Nightfall wondered. “Is it because I don’t have my Cutie Mark yet?”

She then heard a rustling behind her and looked up. Bonbon came into view wearing a smile and carrying her saddlebags on her back.

“There you are, Nightfall,” she spoke to the filly as she joined her company and sat beside her.

Nightfall didn’t answer back but instead returned her view to the moon. Understanding her silence, Bonbon smiled and sat down next to Nightfall and looked up at the moon with her.

“You like stargazing, don’t you?” Bonbon asked her, and Nightfall nodded back silently. “I do too. I find myself spending time outside at least a few times a week. I thought you might too since I’ve seen you sneaking out of the bedroom through the window these past three nights.”

Nightfall straightened up and gulped. Bonbon knew about her sneaking out when everypony else was fast asleep? Was she in trouble now? Nightfall wanted to run away out of fear that she would get yelled at, but when she heard Bonbon laughing, she looked at the mare in confusion.

“It’s all right, Nightfall. As long as I know you’re not going to run away, I don’t mind you coming outside when the rest of us are asleep,” Bonbon told her with a kind smile. “Does it help you relax at all?”

“A little,” Nightfall spoke in answer, then returned to looking up at the sky and stars. “Sometimes it does, but it mostly reminds me of how worthless I am.”

“You’re not worthless, Nightfall, so don’t say that again, okay?”

“I feel like I am though,” the filly argued back.

“How so? Because you don’t yet have your Cutie Mark?”

How did she know? Nightfall thought to herself. “Yes…” she mumbled and dropped her head down in shame, “...I was always made fun of for being a blank flank back in school.”

“Oh Nightfall, you can stop thinking like that then if that’s the only reason,” Bonbon replied. “We’ve all been there before. I didn’t have my mark while I was in elementary.”

“Really?” Nightfall’s head perked up and she found herself intently looking back at Bonbon.

“Really. I remember being a blank flank too. Everypony goes through that when they’re young, Nightfall. It’s just a way of life. Some find their talent early on and some don’t. I remember when Lyra got her Cutie Mark before I did. I felt all sorts of emotions. I was sad, disappointed in myself, and I was angry too. She’s a dear friend of mine but that didn’t stop me from disliking her for getting her mark before me,” Bonbon told Nightfall, then laughed and shook her head.

“Did you ever feel worthless?” Nightfall asked Bonbon.

“Yes,” Bonbon answered curtly, “there are times I still do though. Again, it’s how life is, Nightfall. So trust me when I tell you that it will get better. You’re not alone in feeling sad or hurt for one thing or another.”

Nightfall was astonished that Bonbon had once been a blank flank, and Lyra too. For the longest time Nightfall had thought that she was meant to be a mistake solely because she did not have her Cutie Mark yet, or at least that’s what her mother led her to believe when she finally had taken notice that she was the only markless filly (combined with some slurs from her so-called classmates).

“As you know from the three other fillies living with us, they were blank flanks once too,” Bonbon went on to say to Nightfall. “They call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders because they wanted to have Cutie Marks just like their classmates did, so they made it their goal to find them. The stories they’ve told you really happened, and in the end, they discovered their special talents. So don’t worry, okay? You will find your talent too.”

“What if I don’t have a talent?” Nightfall questioned with haste.

“Everypony has a talent, little one. It’s what makes us all special in our own way. I’m sure yours will be special too when you find it. But you can’t do that if you keep feeling like you’re ‘worthless’, now can you?” Bonbon looked down at Nightfall and their eyes met.

“No, I guess not.”

“So what will you do then?”

“I’ll find my talent and get my Cutie Mark, right?”

Bonbon nodded once to Nightfall, then pulled the filly against her and rested her head on top of Nightfall’s own before whispering to her, “You’ll find it, Nightfall. Just don’t be afraid to ask for help or make friends, okay? The Cutie Mark Crusaders will gladly help you if you ask.”

“Bons, can I ask you something?”

“Anything, Nightfall. Don’t be shy.”

“Do you want me?”

Bonbon blinked at Nightfall’s question and wanted to ask her why she would ask such a thing in the first place, but something inside her told her not to, and she obliged. But that wouldn’t mean she’d let it be and pretend it never happened.

“Yes.”

It was a simple answer to a simple question, but even so, Bonbon wanted to know the reason behind Nightfall asking it. Even though she had started to warm up to everypony, Nightfall was still quite a mystery and very, very tight-lipped when it came to topics about her mother and father, one being painful for her to speak of and the other, a sign of comfort, in their own respects.

Whatever your mother has done to you, I swear I will beat some sense into her. Bonbon thought to herself as she cradled Nightfall and started to sing a lullaby to her.

After Nightfall had fallen asleep with a gentle smile on her face, Bonbon delicately lifted her up onto her back and carried her back into the house where she tucked Nightfall in once she reached the upstairs bedroom.

“Sleep peacefully now, Nightfall,” Bonbon whispered, then placed a kiss on the filly’s forehead before exiting the room.

Now that the last filly had been put to bed Bonbon quietly returned downstairs and into the living room where she found Lyra, awake and bearing a cheesy smile toward her.

“What?” Bonbon squeaked at Lyra.

“Oh nothing, Bons.” Lyra played it off and quickly turned back around. “Never thought you had a sweet side,” she giggled.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this little SoL chapter as much as I did writing it and that you will continue to read as each chapter arrives to see what is to become of Nightfall and this world she lives in.

Feel free to leave a comment and a like too! I'm always open to feedback--it helps me to know how I'm doing!