What My Cutie Mark Is Meant To Be

Chapters

The New Filly
Where To Start
Cutie Mark Stories
The Shortest Epilogue Ever

The New Filly

"Alright everyone," a magenta pony called out. "It's time to go back inside!"

All of the fillies and colts that were playing out in the schoolyard looked up, surprised.

"I know that we're ending recess a little early today, but I have a surprise for you."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at each other. A surprise? They fallowed the rest of their class back up to the schoolhouse.

"This better be good," huffed a little orange Pegasus to the others, looking up at the sky. "It's a perfect day out! I can't believe we have to cut it short." She was right. The sun shown bright and there were only a few clouds in the sky.

"Well, I'm exited to see what the surprise is, Scootaloo" stated a small white Unicorn.

"I guess," grumbled a short, yellow Earth Pony. "But Sweetie Belle what if . . ."

"Apple Bloom," The magenta pony said, "No talking please."

"Sorry Miss Cherrilee."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders stepped inside and took their seats. Nothing seemed surprise worthy. Same old schoolhouse. Not to say that the schoolhouse was boring. A large, green chalk board, which was right behind Miss Cheerilee's desk, was at the front of the classroom. To the left and right were a bunch of drawers, full of fun supplies like markers, crayons, popsicle sticks, pom-poms, you name it. On top of the structures there were books of all colors and sizes. There was even a telescope and a globe! But nothing looked out of the ordinary. All of the students were confused, and chatter buzzed throughout the room.

"I know this is exiting, but please quiet down," instructed Miss Cheerilee.

The room went quiet. Everypony was looking at their teacher, waiting for her to reveal what the surprise was.

"I'd like you to give a warm welcome to our new student, Scratches!"

A filly stepped through the doorway. She had a lovely green coat, like freshly cut grass, with just a touch of gray so as to give a calming feel. Her mane was a delightful cream color that looked silky to the touch. She was wearing a plain brown dress that matched her eyes, obscuring her cutie mark. Even Diamond Tiara was memorized by her beauty.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?"

"Um, okay. Well, um, my name is Scratches, and, I . . . I just moved to Ponyville from Fillydelphia. Th-Thank you for letting me join this wonderful class, and, um, . . . yah, thanks." Everyone stomped their hooves until Miss Cheerilee held her own up.

"You can go take your seat, Scratches. Why don't you sit next to Applebloom? She's an Earth Pony, just like you! She's the one that has the yellow coat and a red mane. Alright everyone, let's review our vocabulary words from yesterday . . ."

Scratches took her seat, and started taking notes in a small notebook she had. But it wasn't long before Applebloom started up a conversation with her.

"So you're from Fillydelphia," Applebloom whispered. "What was it like?" Scratches smiled.

"Well, it's a lot more crowded that around here, and the buildings are a bit bigger."

"Cool, so how-"

Cheerilee looked up from the chalkboard. "Applebloom, no talking please."

Applebloom groaned, but wrapped up the conversation. "Let's chat later, I want to show you something special."

"Ta-da," Sweetie Belle announced. "Our Clubhouse!"

"Wow, this is amazing," said Scratches. "What do you do up here?" She took out her note book, ready to write down information.

"This is where we help ponies figure out what their special talent is," Scootaloo said. "We help others figure out there purpose. Like what their cutie mark means, stuff like that."

Scratches eyes grew wide.

"Then maybe you'll be able to help me," she said, taking off her dress.

Where To Start

The Cutie Mark Crusaders gasped. They had never seen anything like it. Scratches' cutie mark was a . . . well, they didn't really know what it was. There, before their eyes, was a gray curlicue. Scratches looked down sadly at it.

"Can you help me figure out my special purpose," pleaded Scratches. "I just don't know what to do with a cutie mark like this!"

"Wow, your cutie mark looks so cool!" Scootaloo dashed over to Scratches. The others followed.

Scratches blushed. "Wow, thanks."

"I bet you're cutie mark means something amazing," the Pegasus continued. "And I know just how we can figure out what it means."

Scratches smiled really big.

"All we need to do is think of a few things it could be, then see if your good at the things that object relates to. For example, I think it looks like one of those curly light bulbs."

"Or a pig's tail," offered Applebloom.

"Too me, it looks like the motion you use when sewing," mentioned Sweetie Belle.

With so many options, Scratches didn't know where to start.

"Well, Sweet Apple Acres nearby, and we have pigs there, so I'm sure we can see how well you can care for one."

Scratches looked skeptical.

"Oh, don't worry," Started Sweetie Belle. "Applebloom has to help take care of them anyway. Her brother and sister help run the place too, not to mention Granny Smith, Applebloom's, well, granny."

So they headed off down the hill, and then towards the pig pens. Mud was everywhere, along with hay, potatoes, and other scraps meant for the pigs.

"What do I do, where do I start?" Scratches said, pulling out her notebook. Applebloom explained some of the basics, and Scratches got right to it.

"Okay, feed the pigs," Scratches repeated. "Get the bucket, pour it in the trough. Got it."

She carefully took hold of the bucket, clamping her mouth down around the handle, tight. "Uhff, dish bushet is show heffy!" Scratches tottered around, eventually slipping on the mud. The bucket slipped and rotting fruit, as well as other smelly goop, went everywhere.

Applebloom withheld her laughter. "Maybe you're better at cleaning up after the pigs."

Washing the pigs didn't go much better, and before you could say 'Unlucky,' Scratches was soaking wet, and the pig more dirty than before. It was time for the next option.

"Sewing," squealed Sweetie Belle. Rarity generously set up the sewing machine for them, and collected scraps of fabric for them to sew together. Scratches took notes once again, then tried to gently pull the fabric at an even pace. After multiple attempts, knots and loops still scattered the patches of cloth. On her last attempt, she'd even gotten her hair stuck in the machine. This wasn't working out. They headed over to Scootaloo's house.

"One of the light bulbs went out in my room, see?" Scoootaloo pointed to the darkened light. With an unsettling scrapping sound, Scratches dragged a ladder from down the hall to Scootaloo's room. With a light bulb in the filly's teeth, she stepped up the ladder. As she got higher, the ladder wobbled. Scratches body clenched up, including her mouth. With a 'crack,' the light bulb shattered. No one was hurt, and after a long cleanup, Scratches was ready to try again.

She got up the ladder successfully, but gave up when she realized she didn't know how to change the other light bulb while holding the new one. Defeated, the group headed back to the clubhouse.

"That didn't work out the way I thought I would," sighed Scootaloo. "Anyone else have an idea."

"I think I do," said Applebloom. "But we're gonna need to visit Twilight."

Cutie Mark Stories

"You personally know Twilight Sparkle!" asked Scratches, in shock.

"Yah," said Scootaloo. "We visit her a lot to learn stuff."

The group walked up to the large, tree-like castle, admiring the sparkle it had at this time of day. Soon they were at the tall, golden doors. The Cutie Mark Crusaders all knocked, and soon, a purple alicorn appeared in the doorway.

"Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, what a nice surprise! Who is this lovely filly? You didn't bring another 'guest' for our Twilight Time did you?"

"No! We learned our lesson, trust me," explained Scootaloo.

"She may think your great, but that's not why we're here," stated Sweetie Belle. "Go ahead and introduce yourself."

"I . . . I . . . I'm Scratches. Scratches Screw. It's s-such an honor to meet you! I can't believe it, the Princess of Friendship just called me lovely! Thank you so much!" Twilight simply chuckled as Scratches rambled on about how exited she was. "Oh, and, um, yes. We do need help. Well, I need help. Well, they need help to help me. We need some stuff on Gene Apology."

Applebloom laughed. "She means Genealogy, the stuff Pinkie Pie used to find out that she might be related to me. We're trying to help her figure out what her cutie mark means, and Sweetie though this might help."

Twilight smiled and brought them inside and led them to her library.

"Let's see," Twilight said, looking through some scrolls. "Screw . . . Screw . . . Scr-Ah ha! Hmm . . . I don't recognize a lot of these names. Oh, I looks like you might be related to a mare named Screw Loose. I think she lives in Ponyville. Does that help?"

"It sure does, Twilight! Thanks," said Applebloom, and they left the castle.

Scratches was bursting with excitement. "Have you heard of that mare, Screw Loose?"

"I think so," decided Sweetie Belle.

"Wasn't she the one that was recently left the hospital?" asked Scootaloo. "Let's go ask if they know where she is now!"

It took a while for them to arrive at the hospital, but it was worth it when they found out Screw Loose's address. After a bit more walking, the found the mare's house. It was a bit run down. Screw Loose must've been at the hospital for a fair amount of time, because unlike the other houses throughout Ponyville, the plants were dry and brown, and the windows were foggy. But lights were on inside the house, so somepony definitely living there. The group walked up to the house and knocked on the door.

"Oh, hello there, can I help you?"

After another introduction, she invited them all inside. They explained the Scratches was distantly related to her, and that they wanted to learn about how she got her cutie mark, to see if there were any similarities.

"Hmm . . . I was a while ago. Ah, I remember! When I was a little filly, a little younger than all of you, I didn't get a lot of sleep. I had a very busy life. I usually had to stay up late into the night, and get up early in the morning. I also didn't have many friends. The few friends I had only let me hang around so they could make fun of me, pick on me, stuff like that. They were always scaring me, by jumping out at me, or telling me scary stories. I started to have hallucinations. I sure was strange, and very scary. That's when this cutie mark of mine appeared. It used to be a bad thing. I had to be looked over at the hospital. After a while, I got better. Now I'm an out of the box thinker!"

Scratches looked are her odd cutie mark. "Do you think I'll go crazy too? Maybe I should tell you how I got mine. My life was very similar to yours. Fillydelphia was always so busy. It was hard to fall asleep at night and I had school early in the morning. My old friends weren't very nice to me either. I used to get very depressed at times. One night, I was writing down how I felt in my notebook as well as doodling, it was one of my coping mechanisms, and my cutie mark appeared."

Sweetie Belle thought for a minute. "Hey, I think I know what your cutie mark means! Your notebook, it's a spiral notebook! It represents your spiral notebook! I could also be a doodle, like you said. I think you're good at writing at taking notes." Scratches stared at her cutie mark.

"Sweetie Belle, I think you're right."

The Shortest Epilogue Ever

The next day, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Scratches meet in their clubhouse. They were going to discuss how to use what they learned this time around to help others. Applebloom gave Scratches a wink.

"We'll need someone to take notes."