Making a Mark

by Amerabeat Brony

Rating: everyone
Tags: Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Rainbow Dash, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Adventure
Length: 6115

In an effort to outdo Applejack, Rainbow Dash takes a step too far in getting Apple Bloom her mark.

They say that no amount of hoping, wishing, or begging will make a cutie mark appear before it's time. They say that a cutie mark doesn't just appear overnight. But like most forms of art in Equestria, body art is a thriving industry. To what efforts will fillies and colts rebel against the unchangeable institution of Cutie Marks?

In one of her many efforts to outdo Applejack, Rainbow Dash accepts the challenge of getting Apple Bloom her cutie mark. When Dash takes a step too far, everypony involved learns a lesson about responsibility.

Thanks go out to Fenwolf2003 for letting me bounce a million ideas off of him. Eh's a pretty cool guy.

Published 2012-01-11 06:41:52 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-23 00:53:37 UTC

Chapter 1

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!"

The pegasus's ear twitched. She tried not to move on her napping branch.

"Rainbow Dash, wake up!" the young voice yelled again.

No movement. Stay perfectly still and maybe-

"Rainbow Dash, wake up!" The inflection was remarkably similar.

The voice apparently wasn't taking any hints. The cyan mare rolled over on the branch, shedding the pink blanket to the ground. She lowered her head closer to the ground, not caring to register who she was staring at before responding. She had a pretty good guess already. "What?"

"I wanted to invite you to the clubhouse. We're trying to earn our Cutie Marks the cool way today!"

The pegasi stared at each other. Dash, still through bleary eyes, made out a close cropped purple mane on the orange filly. At least it's not rainbow.

"Sorry," Dash began, "I'm a bit too busy to help you get your Cutie Mark right now."

"But you're the coolest pony in Ponyville. You're the most super ultra extra..." Scootaloo trailed off, looking for the words of praise discussed at the last fan club meeting.

"Extremawesomazing?" The fastest filly flier in Equestria completed the compliment without stumbling over her recent addition to the dictionary. She examined her admirer. The young pegasus's mouth was ear to ear with a white grin. Her diminutive wings were open to full mast, doing nothing to hide her flanks.

"Yeah! And Apple Bloom was saying how you went hangliding and did karate and stuff. That sounds wicked fun!"

Still perched on the apple branch, Rainbow weighed her options. Scootaloo was young, fast, full of potential, energetic, loyal, eager...

And way too annoying for today.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll help you girls out later. Just as soon as I settle some of my own stuff."

"Oh." The filly's voice lost its abrasive tone. "Okay. See you later then, Rainbow Dash."

From her regained position lying down on the tree limb, Dash heard a helmet buckle click and the engine-like sound of a filly’s wings. The sound diminished in pitch and volume as it sped off towards the site of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

She laid under the canopy's shade for a few minutes longer, now and again reaching up for an apple and tossing it into a collection bucket under a nearby tree. The last shot bounced off of the rim twice before dropping to the ground. The rainbow mare hovered down to the ground, flinging the blanket she dropped back on the branch. She picked the stray apple off the ground and, noticing the bucket to be full, bit into the crisp fruit.

Dash looked at her surroundings, listening to the late summer wind and occasional chirp of birds. The apple crunched again under her teeth. "Maybe I should actually get something done today."

She walked over to a pair of full baskets teeming with braeburns and harnessed up, buckets still on the ground. She tried to lift herself and the apples, but her momentum was stopped suddenly by the weight of the bushels of fruit and their containers. "Heh. I just... wasn't expecting it, that's all." Her excuse fell on no ears at all. With a greater heave, she hoisted herself and the apples off the rich soil and her legs locked under what must have been at least a hundred pounds of extra weight. Dash tried to spread her wings, but the path was blocked by bushels of braeburns.

She kicked into the ground with a foreleg. "Guess I have to walk back." She began the long march through scenic Sweet Apple Acres. Her walk grew to a trot, and her legs accepted the faster gait by regaining the natural bend.

"I still can't believe Applejack thought she could take care of this on her own." Rainbow chuckled as she passed through a well fenced path in the middle of an orchard. Each acre would need hours of work from most stallions just to get the apples, let alone make anything useful out of them. Applebuck Season would be starting soon – maybe everypony could help out the poor earth mare this year.

Dash arrived in the clearing outside Applejack's house well behind her already lenient schedule. She looked around cautiously and, noticing nobody around, set the bushels down on the ground and squirmed out the harness. She didn't feel winded, but her legs felt like lead weights. The Wonderbolt-in-training spread her restless wings and started to stretch out her stiff back and limbs. She rejoiced in the soreness, a sensation she hadn't felt in her body for the past few months aside from in her wings.

She took to the air to continue the calisthenics, flying every which way in forward, backward, strafing, looping, and all other configurations. She finished her exercises with her head in the clouds, looking down on the orchards. Concluding that she'd done an excellent job of conditioning for the short time she took, Rainbow dove back down to the ground, stopping face to face with her enemy of the day: apples. She lifted them up on her body once more, ready for the sudden weight.

Dash hadn't even taken a step when Applejack emerged from her home. Without missing a beat, the orange mare's face brightened. "Rainbow! Ya came ta help out with th'apples! How..." The farmer looked at the scene again, walking towards the pegasus. "... nice?"

"What?" the athlete managed to stammer out. "I was just around and saw that some of these were full. So I figured I'd take a few and run back here." Dash nodded in agreement with her own technical truth.

"And by 'around', ya mean sleepin'." Applejack nudged her friend in the side with a knee. "Well shucks, Rainbow, ah didn't think y'were the kind ta do that. Last time I asked fer help, y'were busy. Sleepin'." She began reminiscing innocently. "Come ta think of it, y'were busy sleepin' last time, too. And the time before that..." Dash sank into her apple-based armor at the accusations.

"Hey!" Rainbow piped up indignantly. "Are you saying I don't help ponies when they need it?"

Applejack mulled over the question. "Well, yer always makin' a big show of it when ya do. Buckin' apples seems a bit slow for ya."

"Excuse me for trying to help a friend, Applejack," Dash joked. "Where can I put these things?" She bounced her body up to make the fruit shake.

"Tha braeburns can go with tha rest of 'em, in the shed. Lemme open it up for ya." The two walked side by side, the pegasus making her best effort to not let the weight and fatigue show. The orange pony casually kicked the door open, revealing huge piles of apples. They were all organized by type.

"Now y'all can just put those there on tha pile with tha rest o' their kin." Applejack stepped back with a confident smirk on her face. The cyan mare paced around the shed, trying to compare her own red apples to some other red apples. She thought she found a match and turned expectantly to Applejack, who just stared back with a knowing smile. Taking this as a bad sign, Rainbow moved on to the next pile of apples that looked exactly the same. She got the same reaction.

Not about to admit defeat, she took out one of the apples and threw it on the granny smith pile.

"What in the hay are ya doin'?" Applejack asked flatly.

"Oh, just putting them on their pile."

"Rainbow, are ya blind?" The farmer trotted over to the pile of green fruit, walking up a small hill of harvest to reach the offending apple. She picked it up in her teeth and tossed it to the appropriate grouping. "These here apples ar-"

"Hah!" Dash ran over to the correct mountain of products and dumped her bushels on the pile. She turned to face her orange adversary and, feeling a huge weight off her shoulders, began a high skip as if she were actually using her wings.

Applejack opened her mouth to say something belligerent, but just looked at the blissfully objectiveless pony in front of her and smiled a sincere but subdued expression. She galloped up next to the pegasus and grabbed her, tousling the multicolored mane. "Yer a silly little hayseed, ya know that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow asked from her disadvantageous position.

"Oh, don't go worryin' about that, sugarcube." Applejack tried to shrug off her sudden comment from her and her friend's minds. "So now that yer done here, what's on yer plate?"

"Not much," the cyan pegasus replied, as nonchalant as ever. "Scootaloo asked me to help out the Cutie Mark Crusaders today, so maybe I'll surprise them by showing up."

"Ah should probably go survey trees out there 'ventually. Ya wanna head on out?"

"Sure, as long as I don't need to carry this thing around." Dash bucked the bushels off of her body, and the two ponies, side by side, galloped out towards the CMC clubhouse.

"Are you sure about this, Apple Bloom?" Sweetie Belle asked, a huge doctor's head mirror pushing her mane up.

"Ah'm positive!" the youngest Apple announced with a stethoscope around her neck. "This is sure to get us our Cutie Marks!" The two fillies peered into a cast-iron kettle as big as the two of them combined.

"Cutie Mark Crusader Potion Makers! Yay!" The cheer lacked a certain cut through the air, and the two young ponies stood next to each other for a brief silence.

"Maybe we should wait for Scootaloo first," Apple Bloom said nervously.

The increasing pitch of an approaching scooter rang through the orchards of the Apple estate, and the two crusaders ran to the window to see their friend burst through a bush into the clearing.

"Hey, Scootaloo!" Both treehouse-dwellers shouted downwards with wide grins.

"Hey, girls," the pegasus of the group replied as a matter of course. She unbuckled her helmet and draped it over the handlebars, keeping eyes set firm on the base of the scooter.

"We're gonna be Cutie Mark Crusader Potion Makers!" Sweetie Belle's voice cracked in anticipation out the window.

"Oh. Alright," Scootaloo responded with hesitation. She trotted up the ramp, her body low in a weak posture.

"Are you alright, Scoots?" Apple Bloom inquired, walking slowly towards her friend.

The pegasus entered the clubhouse proper, stopping in front of Apple Bloom. She looked at the various maps, charts, and lists on the wall, then to the giant alchemy pot set up in the middle of the room. A hoof placed lightly on top of her torso brought her attention to the crimson-maned pony in front of her. "Yeah, sorry Apple Bloom." She shook her head clear. "I asked Rainbow Dash to help us today, but she was busy." Scootaloo walked up to the black cauldron. "So we're making potions today, huh, Apple Bloom?"

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle jumped in excitement.

"Don't worry about Rainbow Dash. We should be able to find our Cutie Marks together!" Apple Bloom boasted. "I asked Zecora about it, and she gave me some herbs and flowers."

"What are we making?" the orange and purple filly asked. "Something awesome that'll explode?" Her head managed to hold itself up to a normal level, but her voice still lagged behind in energy.

"Nah," Apple Bloom responded, "it's just some medicine for a cough. We can't go hurtin' ourselves yet."

"Aren't you excited, Scootaloo?" The unicorn of the crusaders had had a grin plastered on her face since the pegasus arrived.

"A little bit. But I wanted Rai-"

"You need ta stop worryin' about Rainbow Dash so much," Apple Bloom lectured in interruption. Scootaloo lowered her eyebrows at the remark. "Phooey, she couldn't help me find mah Cutie Mark when she tried. She'd get all bored mixin' oils and leaves." She shook her head at her fellow crusader.

"Has Applejack helped you find your Cutie Mark?" Scootaloo poked sharply.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stood in silence for a long beat. The continually energetic unicorn stopped her metaphorical bouncing off the walls. The ribboned filly put out a hoof again to calm her friend.

"S-sorry," Scootaloo stammered in a rare bout of unconfidence, "that was not cool of me." She struggled to find words to rationalize her actions. After a few failed utterances, she sighed and hung her head. The yellow earth filly breathed in to speak.

"Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, please don't start another one of your arguments. We already said we can't get an arguing Cutie Mark." Sweetie Belle took a step back from her position between the other crusaders, timidly sinking to the ground.

Apple Bloom was the only member of the group still in a confident posture. "Sorry, Scootaloo. Ah guess ah didn't think of how important Rainbow Dash might be to ya." She backed off, leaving the clubhouse devoid of any conversational or active impetus.

"...Everything's cool, right?" Scootaloo asked hopefully, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. I forgive ya, Scootaloo." The two young ponies embraced tightly. Sweetie Belle watched, smiling, and began to sing.

"We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders," the gifted pegasus began tentatively, "on a quest to find out who we are." She paused and looked to her companions. They broke the hug and stood flanking Sweetie Belle.

"And we will never stop the journey," all of the crusaders joined in loudly, "not until we have our cutie marks!" The fillies laughed together, the sounds echoing through the apple orchards all around them for acres.

"Now, then, crusaders!" Apple Bloom called attention. "What are we today?"

"Cutie Mark Crusader Potion Makers! Yay!"

Rainbow Dash pulled her head out from a tree teeming with ripening fruit. “Cutie Mark Crusader whats?”

Applejack released the branch from her mouth, sending immature apples bouncing through rustling leaves on the rebounding limb. She looked up to the pegasus examining the tops of the orchard’s individuals. “Sorry, what now?”

“I think I heard the girls yelling about something.” Rainbow casually hovered down to the ground. Her back knees gave inwards the moment they hit dry earth, and she rocked forward quickly, her eyes focused on Applejack during the swift process. “Applejack,” Dash quickly offered, “do you ever feel worried about the Crusaders?”

“Sure ah do,” the farm pony nodded. “Ah mean, you’d feel mighty worried if yer sister was-” The orange-colored pony’s body rebounded back for a moment as her cadence broke. “If she was…” She looked to Dash for support. “You know what ah mean, don’tcha?”

“Uh, not really, Applejack,” Rainbow answered with a bouncy voice. “Apple Bloom’s just trying to get her Cutie Mark, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is, but I-” She stomped her strong forehooves down on the dirt path. “I really want this fer her, but it ain’t fair, plain an’ simple.”

“What do you mean?” Dash took a step forward and cocked her head a few degrees. “She’s just trying stuff out. You know they’re always bugging somepony for a Cutie Mark story.”

“Ah know that, Rainbow! She gets to be a little filly!” Her tones got angrier as her signature hat seemed to sink further back on her head. “But she could hurt herself doin’ all these silly games with girls that know less about a Cutie Mark than a snake knows how ta paint a barn! An’ Apple Bloom ain’t even gonna-” The frustrated farmer reared up and let out an annoyed groan at her continued inability to express herself.

The pegasus spread her wings out to be parallel with the ground, refusing to step back. “Calm down, Applejack.” Her eyebrows lowered to a more serious expression. “Apple Bloom’s just being a filly,” Dash insisted. “She can be anything she wants to be in the future.”

“Can she, now?” Applejack questioned to herself and her friend.

“Well…” Rainbow’s wings drooped a hint. “Well, yes, of course she can!” She held herself high for a moment, expectant of Applejack’s response. “And,” she continued, “she should try everything so she knows what she likes.”

Applejack took her hat off of her head, clutching it to her chest. “Rainbow, I… she’s gettin’ older. She’s gonna get her Cutie Mark soon and…” She gritted her teeth. “She’s gonna get an Apple Cutie Mark.”

“W-well, what if she doesn’t?” Dash’s eyes were fixed on the vacant top of Applejack’s head.

“Rainbow, yer gonna need ta trust me on this. Ah could go on ‘til the sun set and came back up three times about this. She means a lot ta me. Ah know what ah’m sayin’.”

The pegasus looked her friend over again and smiled. Back to her usual high trot, she marched forwards and snatched the hat from Applejack and tried to flourish it onto her own head. The result was the hat hanging lopsided by one of her perky blue ears. “Applejack,” she laughed with assurance, “I’m a hundred percent confident that if she set her mind to it, she could get any Mark when it’s time.”

“Ah really want that ta be true, Rainbow, I just don’t know if that’s tha whole truth o’ tha matter.” It was now Applejack’s turn to look at Rainbow’s head. She saw the off-kilter hat had accidentally mixed together a few of the red and orange strands and hair, both elements contributing to a suddenly disheveled looking pegasus.

Dash gave a closed-eye grin and another surprisingly controlled laugh. “Why don’t we go over to the Crusaders? I bet they have something to say about this. Maybe I could try to help Apple Bloom get her Cutie Mark some time.” She stepped forwards with a grin, flipping off the hat and placing it hard on Applejack’s head with two hooves. “Maybe I’ll even try some apple stuff, if you want.”

The mares stood still, a few hooves away from each other. “Sure,” the earth pony began after a prolonged pause, “we can talk ta them today.”

Chapter 2

Ducking through the bushes and branches, Applejack led the way to the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse for a low-flying Rainbow Dash. A thin smog dissipated out the door and windows into the normally crisp air of Sweet Apple Acres. “Well that don’t seem like a good sign,” Applejack remarked. “Ah knew ah shouldn’t’a trusted Zecora.”

“I’m sure everything is fine!” Rainbow reassured. The two walked up the ramp to the clubhouse, starting to hear a chorus of panic from inside.

“Where’s the fire bucket?”
“The rug is getting all messed up!”
“This potion looks blue! Shouldn’t it be green?”
“It smells like tree sap!”
“What happened to the cherry blossoms?”

Dash laughed nervously. “Everything is…not terrible?”

“Yeah, sure. And ah’m a three-legged unicorn.” Applejack stepped into the doorway to take a better look at the clubhouse.

“A-Applejack! Wait! Ah can explain!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders slid in front of Applejack, failing to hide the scene behind them. Alchemical ingredients of all colors and origins had fallen out of their semi-organized piles.

The earth mare strode past the fillies into and around the clubhouse, examining the chaos as she went. “Oh, ah don’t need one o’yer excuses. Just tell me what happened.” She stomped on a glowing part of the rug, and a wisp of smoke came up.

The Crusaders looked to Apple Bloom. “Well we were just puttin’ stuff into tha cauldron, an’ all of a sudden it started bubbling really fast! So we tried to stop it, an’ I think maybe we put in s’more herbs and then the bottom of the pot caught on fire.”

Applejack shook her head and sighed. “Did ya ask Zecora exactly how ta do this?”

“Well, no, but-“

“No buts, Apple Bloom. Y’all coulda gotten yerselves hurt!” Applejack peered into the cauldron, which now just contained a gray, viscous liquid. “That’s tha last thing any of us would want.”

Rainbow Dash walked in behind Applejack. “Besides, who wants a dumb old potion Cutie Mark?” Apple Bloom huffed at the comment. Scootaloo’s eyes lit up as Dash walks into the room.

“Rainbow Dash, you came!” She rushed in front of the mare, immediately in a state of admiration. “Did you come to see us get our Cutie Marks?”

“I guess you could say that. Is this what you girls do when we’re not looking?” She took a look at the room she stood in, feeling proud but also unnerved by the amount of Rainbow Dash fan art painted one corner of the house. There was also a balloon pony and… stacks of paper? She shook her head and looked at Scootaloo. “Seems kinda cool, if you meant to make that explosion.” She laughed.

The orange filly turned expectantly with a wide grin to the other members of the group. “Hey Apple Bloom, can we-”

“No. If we’re gonna make potions, they’re gonna be for tha good.”

“Aww,” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo whined in chorus.

“We’re not in trouble, are we, Applejack?” Apple Bloom looked up to her sister hopefully.

The elder mare could only shake her head. “Since y’all weren’t tryin’ ta do nothin’ wrong, Ah forgive ya. But maybe y’all could tell us? There ain’t nothin’ bad about gettin’ help.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow affirmed. “In fact, Apple Bloom, I was thinking that I could try to help you get your Cutie Mark again. Your sister was just begging me to take you out again.”

“Ah was not!” Applejack turned her nose up indignantly. “Ah just thought, maybe it’d be a good idea.”

Scootaloo stood still in shock, and Apple Bloom shot her a glance. “Ah dunno. Ah mean, we normally do everything together…”

“But you don’t spend every minute together, do you? You never know when a Cutie Mark could show up!” Dash shot the ribboned filly a bright smile. Bloom looked at her sister, who gave a reassuring nod.

“Alright,” she agreed, embracing her opportunity. “Ah’ll see you girls same time tomorrow, okay?” Rainbow put a hoof behind her, guiding her out the door.

“Okay!” Sweetie Belle concurred enthusiastically. The two exited the clubhouse and started the ramp downwards. The unicorn looked to the remaining crusader. She seemed nearly catatonic in her shock. “Scootaloo, are you there?”

She nodded, her eyes staying vacant and her posture static. “Rainbow Dash asked Apple Bloom to let her help…” the filly murmured to nopony specific.

Applejack walked in front of Scootaloo. “It’s fine. Rainbow doesn’t always think everythin’ through. Here, do y’all want to try a hoof at workin’ the apple orchards?”

“No thanks! Rarity will want me back home soon, and I already got to try all kinds of farm stuff during the Sisterhooves Social. It was so fun!” Sweetie Belle started towards the doorway herself after shuffling around some herb piles in a futile cleaning attempt. “Same time tomorrow, Scootaloo! Have fun with Applejack!” The unicorn bounced her way out of the clubhouse, leaving the two ponies alone in the room.

Still seemingly out of touch with the real world, Scootaloo nodded again. “I guess I can help. Not like I have anything better to do…” Applejack looked down at the pegasus with worry.

“C’mon, Ah’ll show y’around. The apples right around here are Jonagolds, so that means…”

The path to Hoofington Beach was a pleasant and sandy one. The nearer the two walked to the boardwalks and beaches, the stronger the ocean breeze grew. It was only about a half hour’s trek at the pace of the red-ribboned filly. “This isn’t gonna be like the last time ya took me around ta get mah Cutie Mark, is it?” she asked skeptically.

“Oh, nonnono.” Dash shook her head without a care. “Think about it. I got my Cutie Mark at flight camp. Twilight went to Canterlot, Pinkie got hers on a rock farm, and who knows where Fluttershy landed during the race. See what I’m getting at?” Apple Bloom kept walking, looking up expectantly. “You get your mark when you find what you’re meant to do. That’s not always going to just swoop down into your hometown and show up on your flank. It’s a big day when a filly gets to go out searching for it!”

Apple Bloom nodded passively, thinking about her implications. “Hey Rainbow Dash, what does your Cutie Mark mean?”

“It means that I’m the fastest flier in all of Equestria!” Dash beamed.

She nodded again, looking at the bottom tip of the lightning bolt. “Yeah. But what does it mean for you? Are ya supposed ta be a Wonderbolt?”

“Hay yeah I am, Apple Bloom!”

“Then why’re you a weather pony?”

“Because, the Wonderbolts don’t have an open spot right now.” She picked up her pace.

“An’ what does the cloud mean? You do all yer super fast flying below the clouds,” Apple Bloom observed.

“Because clouds are cool? I dunno.” Her trot changed to a canter to get ahead of the filly, who followed suit.

“And why’s it a rainbow, anyway?”

“Because it’s awesome, alright?” She turned her head straight ahead, away from the younger pony. “It looks cool because I’m awesome and awesome ponies get awesome Cutie Marks.”

“Alright…” Apple Bloom stepped away from Dash, losing ground to the faster gait. She kept quiet for a few minutes.

“Do ya think Ah’ll get a cool Cutie Mark, Rainbow?”

She slowed down, waiting for her companion. In that time, she looked at her mark, admiring how cleanly the colored streaks ran together to a bottom. How the bolt perfectly matched the curves of the cloud, and how the pattern perfectly filled out her look. Apple Bloom stopped when she reached the pegasus. “I think,” Rainbow began, “that your mark is going to be as good as you make it. And if you want to do more than just what other ponies tell you, you’ll do it.”

“Wow.” Apple Bloom stepped in front of Dash, motioning to the approaching low skyline of boardwalk attractions. “Ah never thought of it like that. You an’ Applejack are both so smart!” The filly looked admiringly at the adult Pegasus.

Rainbow Dash started back up the canter to the beach. The hotter sand of the shore relaxed her hooves. “Yeah. I guess just because we disagree doesn’t mean we’re not alike.” The whole rest of the way, Apple Bloom tired to hold her questions, but looked at Dash like she was someone worth respect.

“No, we tried that one. And that one. And kiiinda that one, but not really?” Dash studied a list scrawled on a cheap notepad while occupying her other forehoof with multiple slices of daisy and sunflower pizza. “And we tried rainbows and dashing, but neither of those worked too well…”

“Maybe we just need to try it all again!” Apple Bloom gnawed away at her own piece of the pie. “Apple Bytes spent weeks before she found out her special talent! So did Berry Pinch! And Featherweight!”

“Maybe. We don’t have that much time left, though. I don’t think Applejack would like me if I got you home too late.” She pushed the notepad aside. “What was your favorite, Apple Bloom?”

“Ah really liked surfin’! Even though ah really didn’t do that well. But ah was good at the carnival games, right?” The filly held up a small plush Mare-do-Well and grinned. “Those balloons didn’t stand a chance!”

Dash laughed. “You did great, Apple Bloom! We need to come back here again. Get you to try out some more things, you know?” She took a drink of Red Manticore, her favorite high-sugar beverage. “It’s pretty different here than in Ponyville. Maybe you’ll fit in, if you’re careful.”

“Ah hope so! Ah really wanna fit in somewhere.” For just a moment, she had sounded serious. “There’s all sorts of things I saw! Ponies were playin’ volleyball, and diving, and eating tons of ice cream!” Apple Bloom abandoned the crusts of her pizza on the plate, using her forehooves to mimic what she was talking about. “And then they were doing magic tricks, too! And playin’ in arcades and makin’ music and sunbathing an-”

“Calm down, now. Do you think Applejack will let us out here again?”

“If it’ll help me get mah Cutie Mark, ah know she will! She always wants tha best for me.”

“You think so?” Dash took another gulp of the strongly flavored, even more strongly colored drink.

“Of course! She always lets me help around on the farm, and go explorin’ with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle! Ah get to try out all sorts’a stuff. She looks extra happy when ah’m workin’ the farm, though. Sellin’ apples, plantin’ apples, makin’ apple pie, you name it!”

Rainbow Dash took a long look at the filly across the table from her, and then glanced at the notepad full of failed ideas on the edge of the table. “It’s good that she lets you try a lot. I hope you get your Cutie Mark soon. And I know that when you come out here again, you’re going to have fun.”

“Thanks, Rainbow Dash. Can we go now? I think Applejack will want me home, but it looks like there’s lots going on outside!”

Leaving the restaurant, Rainbow noticed that the nightlife had turned on while they were eating. Frequent streetlights from the beach side and neon tubes and spotlights from the storefronts illuminated every square inch of plank. Candy stores on each block shouted to foals with old-fashioned fonts and bright pink advertisements. Displays of jewelry, beachwear, kites, street art, and a hundred other media of merchandise lined the walk, each backed by their store’s accompanying lights and sounds.

Apple Bloom’s precarious attention span was caught by three mares hawking the wares of their shop about a hundred feet down the stretch. The loudest pony was a slate black unicorn with an even darker mane filled out with streaks of a fluorescent blue. Her tail looked more like a cat’s than a pony’s, and her cutie mark was a blue-eyed Cheshire grin. Next to her, a tan-coated unicorn with an abnormally long horn and a flowing blue mane was making energetic conversation with a stallion whose gaze suggested more interest in the mare than the product. Apple Bloom’s attention was drawn to the tan salespony’s pocketwatch Cutie Mark. The chain of the watch spiraled down her leg, eventually disappearing behind low-cut socks.

“Hey Rainbow!” The filly bounced up and down next to Dash. “I bet she has a real interestin’ Cutie Mark story. I’ve never seen anythin’ like that before!”

“What are you talking about?” Before the pegasus even had time to react, Apple Bloom was on her way galloping towards the shop. Having no qualms about any possibility of making a scene, Rainbow Dash flew towards the crusader and picked her up off the ground. The two of them floated a yard or so higher than the boardwalk, and they faced the storefront. Its glass walls were covered with hundreds of colorful stickers, and they were all designs of Cutie Marks. The leftmost wall had cherries, linked horseshoes, hourglasses, flowers, and a plethora of other designs Apple Bloom had seen around Ponyville. On the opposite side was an assortment of much more elaborate marks: a joined bass and treble clef, islands, crowns, and even Celestia’s sun and Rainbow Dash’s lightning bolt.

The inside of the building was immaculately white in contrast to the rest of the blacks and neons of its surrounding world. It looked more like a salon than anything else. Modern, porcelain-toned furniture characterized the entrance area, where a few ponies in front of and behind the counter were holding a conversation. It seemed big enough to hold about a dozen ponies comfortably, and two doors set on the back wall looked like they could swing open to the next part of the store.
“Apple Bloom,” Dash scolded, interrupting the filly’s thoughts, “Don’t go running over to places like this. It could be dangerous for you.”

“Dangerous?” Apple Bloom asked. “What could be dangerous? Why, this looks like tha kinda place that could help me get my Cutie Mark!”

Rainbow groaned at the filly’s naivety. “What did I tell you before we came here? It’s different than Ponyville here. Why did you run over here, anyway?”

Apple Bloom pointed enthusiastically at the unicorn salespony. “Miss Cheerilee said Cutie Marks only appear on somepony’s flank. So how come that one keep goin’?”

Dash took a better look at the mare in question. It wasn’t a trick of the eye; the mark really continued past where it should have. Rainbow shook her head. “I dunno, Apple Bloom. I think she cheated a little bit.”

“Cheated?” Apple Bloom’s mind was now abuzz with questions. “How could anypony ‘cheat’ at gettin’ a Cutie Mark? Why would anyone cheat to get a Cutie Mark?”

Rainbow tried to read the filly’s expression. She sounded genuinely curious and a good bit angry. “I’ll explain it to you when you get your own Cutie Mark, okay?”

Dash, of course, had inadvertently greatly offended the filly beside her. Apple Bloom looked up to Rainbow, widening her eyes and growing a frown. “But ah’m not a little filly, Rainbow Dash.”

“When you’re old enough, I’ll tell you,” Dash replied stubbornly.

”But…” Apple Bloom reared back, drawing in a huge breath, before letting out a signature bout of fast speech. “Everypony in my class already has their Cutie Mark and ah’m just as old as all the rest of ‘em and they get to be big ponies now but ah still have to be little and ah’ve been trying so hard to get my Cutie Mark but ah still don’t have it and ah’m bein’ way more responsible than those other ponies and ah know ah’ll get it soon but if there’s some easier way to get my Cutie Mark, ah wanna know ‘cause,” she took one last breath, “ah want it now!”

Unable to resist the plea, Rainbow sighed and looked Apple Bloom in the eyes. They were wide open and her pupils were constricted. “Look, they basically drew on the Cutie Mark. It’s a bit more complicated, but that’s all it is.” Apple Bloom eyes shimmered with worry. “It’s not the same as a real Cutie Mark. Look closely at the chain.” The two switched their gaze back to the mysterious watch. “It looks like you have the plain old watch Cutie Mark on her flank, and then somepony else made the chain look like that. See, the watch looks less fancy.”

Apple Bloom squinted and tried to get her best look at what Rainbow meant, taking a few steps forward in the process. “But ah don’t get it,” said the blank flank. “That’s not her Cutie Mark. That’s not her. Cheerilee and Twilight said that’s not even possible! Why wouldn’t she be happy with what she got?”

Rainbow Dash glanced back at her own cutie mark before putting a hoof on the filly’s shoulder. “That’s probably something you and me should talk about later, when we have time. Some ponies just want to fit in. You’ll get it when you’re older.”

“But-“

“No buts, Apple Bloom. You’re not getting any more out of me. Now come on, we’ve done a lot today. Little fillies need their rest, right?” Dash poked at Apple Bloom, who gave a pouty expression. “Come on, there’s lots to do when we get home. We can work on getting your Cutie Mark again tomorrow.” Dash nudged Apple Bloom down the boardwalk in the direction of Ponyville. “Do me a favor, though?”

“Whaddya mean, Rainbow Dash?” Apple Bloom started walking alongside the older pegasus.

“You can tell Applejack about the surfing and the games and the ice cream and all. Just don’t mention this shop, alright? I can handle it with her.” She took deliberate, high steps, looking down at Apple Bloom during her request.

“Uh, sure, ah guess. Ah don’t really see what the big deal is, but okay.”

Rainbow smiled and looked forwards at the far away end of the boardwalk. “Thanks, Apple Bloom. Now let’s get you home.”

A high grunt accompanied the thud of wood and the rustling of leaves. Through branches, dozens of red fruit tumbled into bushels. “Wow, Scootaloo, that was great! Good job.”

“Heh. Thanks, Applejack! This is more fun than I thought!”

Only the sounds of rainbow waterfalls and a ticking clock played in the background of Dash’s thoughts. That filly’s gonna get it soon. I bet she’s way better then Applejack let’s on. All she needs is a little confidence. And I could beat Applejack. Good plan? She nodded.

Great plan.