Obligation to the World

by Tranquil Stone

Rating: everyone
Tags: Gabby, Slice of Life, Autumn Blaze, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Other
Length: 3950

"After meeting Applejack and Fluttershy, I realised I missed something. I needed something they had. A cutie mark"

"I needed one of those. Those amazing marks that told the ponies what their life's calling is. Yes I can do so much. But I want to know the one thing I can do. Not just help people or whatever" I said, rolling my eyes. Fern Flare looked at me with puzzle. She still wasn't as used to talking as I was.

"It's okay Autumn, you're a great friend, at that's all that matters to us" Fern Fare whispered, getting off the flower bed and walking away. I furrowed my eyebrows. But it wasn't okay. I needed answers. But how?

***

Art not by me. And before anyone says anything, NO! This ending is very different from the one with Gabby and stuff. Thank you :pinkiesmile:

Published 2018-11-04 05:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-09-18 09:31:34 UTC

Purpose

"Woo hoo! I'm flying!!" I yelled, suspended midair, flailing my hooves around desperately. And if you're wondering, yes, as Kirin like me is trying to fly. And not succeeding. But wasn't going to stop anytime soon. I was almost there- people can take the easy way, but I'm determined. Fern Fare stared at me, wincing every time I fell.

"Um, Autumn Blaze? Maybe you should TAKE A BREAK?" she suggested, yelling the last part. Realising, she covered her mouth, blushing. I giggled, climbing off the tree. Us Kirin were getting used to using our voices, and it was a little tough. The occasional outburst or whisper was common these days.

"Sorry. But you should focus on other less dangerous things" advised Fern, "Like knitting"

She pulled out a red and blue coloured scarf with a heart in the centre and bits of fray sticking out. I rolled my eyes. Typical Kern- just looking for happiness in simplicity. But that wasn't me. I want more than I have, more than this small town.

"Thanks for the advice. But I'll just stick to other stuff, like..." I thought for a moment. Huh, I really don't have much to occupy myself with, "Um something"

I trotted towards my home, feeling little curious. Hah, who am I kidding? I'm always curious! I arrived in front of my house, and I know it sounded like a bit of a walk, but honestly, our whole town is very small. And cosy. My house is probably the most...outgoing. It has the same structure as the others, made out of a tree and everything. But it does have its modifications.

For example, I have a balcony at the second floor, decorated with roses and daisies, my favourite. Instead of just staying down near the stump, my home reaches up into the canopies. Of course, all this cost a lot. No Kirin wants to do anything out the ordinary, so I had to hire Griffin workers, but they weren't nice, and wanted bits for everything. Seriously- everything.

I walked inside, and took a seat on my couch. Yeah, the one that didn't fit through the door because it was too big. But it is super comfy. I lazily sank into my seat, pulling my favourite book from the stands, 'Out of the Woods' It's about a pony who always feels incomplete, and gets her cutie mark and bam! All her problems were solved. I heard a cough from behind me. Two Kirin stood behind me- Mom and Dad. My mom's was similar looking to me, except she has a bright neon green mane. My dad on the other hoof, had the same auburn hair as me, but had a chocolate brown coat.

"Mom? Dad? So...good to see you too" I said, pausing to think for an appropriate word. My dad's eyes narrowed, while my mom's softened with concern.

"Look honey, we want you to be happy. But sometimes, standing out isn't the way to do that" said my mom, giving a look to my dad.

"What we mean is, that you shouldn't try all that new stuff. Take over our family import-export business and live a peaceful life. Look at your brother- he tried new stuff, and look what happened to him"

My heart sank at mention of my bother. Hayseed Blaze was a kirin like no other, but he always wanted to explore, and venture out. One day, he declared he was going to a place I had never heard of. Ponyville, I think off the top the top of my head? Anyhow, he went out, and was never heard from again. All these years I've tried to hear from him, but it's like he vanished, without a trace. I guess my parents couldn't bare with loosing their second child to passion and drive as well.

"I know you're worried, but I want to find my own place in the world guys. Have fun, and enjoy life! When I get old and boring like you too, then I'll think about settling down" I chuckled, light-hearted.

My mother sighed, "I know you Autumn. Just...do whatever you want. But be careful, alright? We don't want anything to happen to you"

She gave me a faded smile, before heading out the door. My father stayed, giving me a stern look. As always. It quickly melted away, and he looked at me, worry built up in his eyes.

"We both love you Autumn. I was like you, always wanted adventure, and more than this small town could offer. And you know how that turned out for me" Dad looked down at the wooden flooring of my house, "Just promise me you'll stay safe? Away from trouble?"

I nodded, smiling slowly. My dad extended his hoof. I hesitated a little, before taking it, and shaking hooves with him. My dad embraced me, before trotting out the door, closing the door behind him. The loud door banged, re-emphasising the loneness in my home. I promised dad I would stay out of trouble, but our definitions of 'trouble' varied. Largely. I took a deep breath in. Part of me wanted to agree with them. Be like my ancestors and continue the family traditions.

But that's not what my heart tells me. I want to try everything until I find what I really love. I'll search and search until I do everything I can to find my purpose in life. I do know why Dad stopped me. When he was young, he and his friend ventured out into the Dragonlands for fun. His best friend was killed by the dragons, while he watched helplessly. There's still a scar on his right eye, reminding the town how important it is to stay in formation and not explore.

I want to be that obedient kid. The child every parent wants- but that's just now who I am. Something in me wants to go out there, and explore. I heard a knock at the door, and unwillingly got up. I lazily trotted to the door, and opened it to see and overly energetic griffin right in my face.

"Oh my gosh! My first Kirin delivery!" squealed the griffin. She had dark grey large wings, and her coat's shade lightened up to her excited face. She had these huge turquoise eyes that just gleamed with hope, happiness and heart. She had a small tie binding her excess feathers neatly.

"Nice to meet ya! I'm Gabby" she said bouncing around, extending a claw. I didn't hesitiate and shook it happily.

"Hi Gabby! I'm Autumn Blaze! Is that letter for me?" I asked, craning my next to peer at the letter in her claw.

Gabby nodded, "Yep, it's from Applejack. Something about inviting you over this Thursday to Ponyville. I can't wait for you to meet all the nice ponies there"

"You've been to Ponyville? That is awesome!"

"Yeah! That's where I got this here cutie mark" Gabby said, face softening to admire the sparkling badge on her bag. I thought to myself. Cutie mark...isn't that the mark thing AJ and Fluttershy had? Telling them what their purpose in life was? Something in my snapped, as I hopped around, and Gabby stared at me in confusion.

"I'M GOING TO GET A CUTIE MARK!" I exclaimed, jumping. Gabby lit up in excitement, and joined in on the fun, jumping with me.

"I love jumping around!!" she said, grinning a bright smile. I stopped jumping around. Finally, I would find out what I'm meant to do. Someone in Ponyville had to know about those marks. After meeting Applejack and Fluttershy, I realised I missed something. I needed something they had. A cutie mark. Those incredible marks...the things that would end all my questions. Make me feel satisfied. The voice inside finally silenced. This was it. The chance to give life a purpose.

Author's Note

Hi everyone! This story here will be four chapters- Purpose, Courage, Motivation, and Talent, so short and sweet! And like I've mentioned, NO this story will NOT be like the ending with Gabby. That's the reason she's in this story :raritywink: I hope you enjoy, and have fun on this journey with the adorable Autumn Blaze :heart:

~Tranquil Stone

Courage

"So Gabby, would you mind coming along with me?" Gabby titled her head in confusion to my remark.

"Sure, but why me?" she asked.

"Well, you're the only non-pony to have a Cutie Mark, you have experience and stuff" I explained, pointing at her mark. Gabby sighed, brightness in her eyes dulling.

"I mean, I would have liked the real deal, but this is as good as it gets, right?" Gabby said, eyes slowly regaining colour, "But of course I can help!"

I grinned in excitement. This was perfect. I'd take Gabby with me, ask AJ and Fluttershy about those cutie marks, and bamn! It'll all work out! I gave a quick nod towards Gabby, "Let's do this!"

"A cutie mark?" Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. We had arrived over in the heart of Ponyville. I spun around to marvel the view. So many ponies of different colour, hair, different jobs. Most of all...different cutie marks. From gaming consoles to feathers, this town had cutie marks of all different types.

I nodded, "I really need one"

I laughed to myself in my head. It sounded like I was shopping for cutie marks or something. Is that how it works? You purchase them...? Applejack chuckled.

"It's not really something you just get randomly. It's when ya find yer calling, like my apples here" Applejack dusted off her cutie mark with her tail to show three sparkling apples on her flank.

"So when will I find my calling? I'm old enough, right?" I asked. Fluttershy and Applejack shared a look. It didn't look very positive.

Fluttershy spoke up, "The thing is; no other creature except ponies have ever got a mark"

Gabby nodded, "But we could go to three little fillies with your case"

"Who?"

"Us!" I heard a loud buzz behind me and saw three fillies speeding down the hill. In the center was an orange pegasus, with rough purple mane and a determined look. A sweet faced filly was behind her, with purple and pink curly hair, and finally, a filly very similar looking to Applejack, with gleaming orange eyes.

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders" The orange pegasus grinned proudly. The other two took off their helmets, and the orange eyed one ran over to Applejack.

"Autumn Blaze, this here is Applebloom, my little sis" Applejack ruffled her sisters hair, "And that's Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo"

I shook Sweetie's hoof, and gave a warm smile to Scootaloo. I coughed, "Not to be rude or anything, but how are these kids gonna help me?"

Scootaloo frowned, "Excuse me- we help ponies get their cutie marks, but if you're not interested..."

Scootaloo turned to leave, and I quickly extended my hoof to call her, "Wait!"

"Uh, sorry about that. Would you three help me? I'm looking for a cutie mark" I explained, blushing. The girls all shared a look.

"Autumn Blaze, the CMC are on your case" Applebloom said, then sharing a high hoof with her friends.

"Woo hoo!" I yelled, to join their excitement. Silence dawned on us, and I blushed, “Uh, sorry”

Sweetie giggled, “No problem. How about you join us in our clubhouse and we can go from there?”

This is was perfect. This girls worked for Gabby, so why wouldn’t they work for me? But a question still pondered in my mind...what happened to Hayseed? Did he still live in Ponyville? I had to ask about my brother, so my mustered up some courage and asked.

“Has anyone here heard of Hayseed Blaze?”

Applejack scratched her head, “The name doesn’t really ring a bell. Why?”

“He’s my brother. He came to Ponyville for adventure, and he’s never returned home after that” I felt my eyes sting with tears. Hayseed and I were so close, and it pained me that I didn’t know whether he was alive or dead. And I do see where my parents are coming from- loosing both their children would be a nightmare. But something in me told me Hayseed was still alive. I just knew it. I quickly blinked back my tears, and looked up again.

“Oh. I’m so sorry” Fluttershy said. I gave a small smile.

“Okay, I’m gonna go with the CMC now” I bid Applejack and Fluttershy goodbye. As I went towards Gabby for a hug, she whispered in my ear, “Answers will be revealed in time. Don’t worry”

I brushed off the cryptic remark from my new friend and went with the three fillies.

“So, Autumn, what are you good at already?” Scootaloo asked, grabbing a checklist.

“Not that many things to be honest” I replied, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Not a problem. It makes our job easier to be honest” sighed Scootaloo, scribbling onto the clipboard.

Applebloom threw aside her drink, “Why do you want a Cutie Mark in the first place?”

I shrugged, “I guess I don’t feel content with life at this point. And really don’t have much to look forward to in the morning. I don’t feel like going back to my old village and just staying in there. I believe there is so much more to me than taking over my family’s farm”

“I understand that” Applebloom nodded, “Any interests?”

I hurriedly bounced up in my seat, “Yeah! I love theatre!”

The three shared a grin, “Perfect”

In what felt like a flash, I found myself in a theater hall with hundreds of ponies looking at me as I was standing on stage. I anxiously looked towards the CMC who were backstage. Sweetie moved her hoof as to say, ‘Go on’

I took a deep breath in, “Hey everyone...?"

I heard a hoof-palm from backstage. As I looked awkwardly at the tons of staring eyeballs, an actor walked on stage. He wore a freaky half mask thing, and was playing the organ a lot from time to time and as the play went on, and he got all broody 'cause the singer was in love with another dude, so he took her away on this underground gondola. I mean, who doesn't love musical theater?!

Anyway, while that all played out, I stood on the side of the stage, just grinning creepily at everypony. I bit my lip, and turned around to see the actors belting out a song. Since I didn't have much to do, I took my opportunity and climbed up to the top backstage area where a bunch of lights and stuff were. The large spotlights caught my attention among the thousands of cables surround it. I tried to carefully walk towards spotlights, but all of a sudden, I felt a tug at my hoof. Glancing down at my foreleg, I saw a wire caught around it. There wasn't enough time to untangle it, so I just lunged forward to reach the spotlights, falling onto the large lights. I stumbled forward, and heard a loud thud behind me.

Scared not to look, I closed my eyes shut, and hoped for the best. Silence. A loud yell erupted from the crowd as several angry scream and shouts came from below me. I slowly poked my head below, and saw a huge boulder lying in the middle of the stage, destroying the wooden creation. People were yelling and screaming at each other, some even getting into fist fights. Hair and makeup and mess of the ponies, I slowly tried to escape from the mess. A teal stallion pointed his hoof at me.

"Hey! That Kirin ruined the show!" I let out a small yelp and ran for it as the hundreds of ponies scurried after me as I ran across town for my life.

Yep. This turned out just perfect.

Author's Note

I'd been slowly working on this for a while, but I'm finally done with this chapter, yay! Things aren't turning out so well for Autumn, but hopefully it gets better...or perhaps worse :unsuresweetie:

He wore a freaky half mask thing, and was playing the organ a lot from time to time and as the play went on, and he got all broody 'cause the singer was in love with another dude, so he took her away on this underground gondola. I mean, who doesn't love musical theater?!

Got the reference?? :raritywink:
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that chapter, be sure to give a like and comment, because I really appreciate those comments people leave, they really help :pinkiehappy:

~Tranquil Stone :heart:

Motivation

Sweetie Belle sighed, slapping her hoof onto her face. I smiled sheepishly, "It wasn't that bad...?"

"Oh trust me. It was that bad" Gabby chirped in. She turned around to look at Twilight and her friends and the Cutie Mark Crusaders for agreement. Receiving none, she shrugged, "Honesty's the best policy"

I groaned, burying my face in my hooves. I never should have thought I could do this. I don't have any kind of talent. There's a reason why the Kirin got rid of me; because I was useless.

"I'm going to go home" I muttered, turning around to leave, slowly trudging away from the gathering of ponies and a griffin. I heard a few whispered and hushed talk until I was a good distance away, and I finally heard a call behind me.

"Autumn! You have to keep trying! Look at us, it took us so long, but we kept on trying" Scootaloo said, trying to reassure me.

I didn't turn around and simply shook my head, "No, you wouldn't get it. I'm just not destined to get a Cutie Mark. Like, at all"

"Well, look at Gabbie. She got her Cutie Mark about helping people"

"That's not like, a proper thing, you know!" I said, fully turning around this time, frustration rising into my voice.

No one said anything, as I walked away towards the Everfree forest, tired and exhausted. The dark forest loomed above me, the branched and vines thickening and closing in on me, it felt like. Eventually, I found a tree that seemed to branch out in a form which seemed more comfortable than sleeping on a bed or a rock.

Taking my chances, I lay in the bed, squirming around a little before finding a position that didn't poke my back quite so harshly, and slowly closed my eyes. After just a few minutes, my paranoid self heard a noise. And the tree shook lightly. By now, I was trembling, so deciding to make my way back to Ponyville seemed like the logical thing to do.

A seed-like object hit my head, cracking below my hooves and I stumbled backwards. Something white was poking out of the cracked shards. Knowing that touching an object that could possibly kill me, (given that it landed so suspiciously and this is the Everfree forest), I still picked up the...note, it seemed to be.

Dear Autumn Blaze,

Has it been so long? I have to see you
And we have to talk as well
You must be confused, but don't panic or anything
Stay low and meet me soon
Everfree forest, 11 pm
Explaining will happen later
Don't worry

Well. That was cryptic. Strangely, some of the wording sounded...extremely familiar. Then it struck me. Oh my gosh...could it be? I re-read the sentence saying, 'don't panic or anything'. The exact words Hayseed would say to me when I was worried. I still remembered him rolling his eyes, and sarcastically muttering it everywhere we went. That kind of banter had become a code language with us.

Wait...code language. Code language! I knew there was something odd with the phrasing of that note, and sure enough, reading down the first letter of each line, it spelt out, 'Hayseed' Impossible that it would mean he was still out there. I knew I shouldn't. It could be a murderer, thief, anyone- but something told me to go for it. After all, how many opportunities like this was I going to get?

And so I decided to do what was the most stupid and irrational thing- return back at 11. It was dark in Ponyville, as I crept back to where I was staying- a small cottage for hire. As I snuck into the covers, sinking deeper, I sighed in content. Maybe it was real? Hayseed was out there. And as my eyes stayed wide in excitement, I eventually noticed the clock had struck 11, and I barely got any rest.

Once again, I sped out into the Everfree Forest, 'staying low' as the note suggested. Arriving back at the same tree, I stopped to catch my breath. But something moved in the cold icy wind. A shadowy figure. I braced myself for impact as the rustling from the bush grew nearer and nearer. I closed my eyes, careful.

"Such a wimp, as usual"

I slowly opened my eyes to notice him. Nothing had changed in the way the wind carried his golden mane, and the cocky smile printed onto his tan face. As soon as I saw Hayseed, I tackled him in a massive hug, threatening to not let go. He felt warm yet cold. I couldn't quite place my hoof on it.

As he frowned, getting up from the dusty soil, he swept dust off his flank, showing me something I could only ever dream of. A dainty emerald green leaf sat on his flank, with a light blub hidden behind it. A cutie mark.

"I have so many questions" I mumbled, my eyes not leaving the sight of his cutie mark.

Hayseed let out a chuckle I had missed so much, "Long story. To shorten it- I came here. Got lost. Found Zecora. Got a cutie mark"

"Zecora?" The slightly dodgy zebra who rhymed 24/7?

"And no, she isn't dodgy. She's really nice" Hayseed interrupted my thoughts.

I nodded slowly, "So...cutie mark? She...gave you one?"

Hayseed rolled his eyes, "Duh. Still not very bright, huh Autumn?"

I didn't respond. Something felt...off about Hayseed, "So you wanted to meet me because...?"

Hayseed fake clutched his heart in 'pain', "So you didn't want to meet your brother?"

"Of course I did!"

"Exactly. You just answered your own question"

This wasn't Hayseed. It couldn't be Hayseed. He was sarcastic, sure. But never like this. He understood me, we made jokes together, and it always sounded like we cared. Now he's acting like it's just his obligation to meet me after so long. Feeling tired of the confusing banter, I pursed my lips, "I guess I'll leave"

"Say sky if you wanna meet again" Hayseed waved. And he pulled a vine, propelling himself up into the trees. That's definitely not right. But he mentioned Zecora. Hopefully, she had some sort of clue to what was up.

But what I knew so far: Hayseed was alive, but acting strange. Not like he ever was. I understand he could change, but he was someone else right now! I knew getting a cutie mark was possible. And I knew that maybe now, I had a chance. After all, it probably carries out in our genetics, right?

Author's Note

I'm trying to get this story finished, though it's going to be a little longer than I expected
:pinkiecrazy: Please comment, I'd appreciate every helpful or just positivity so I know where to go with this story kind of...hopefully I'll be able to push the next chapter out by two weeks, because I've already started it, and I don't have any exams for a while :pinkiehappy:

~Tranquil Stone :heart: