The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Chapter 103 - Not Every Fate the Same

“Good morning Crusaders! Alright everypony, let’s get together this morning!” Sweetie Belle called out as a rush of little colts and fillies gathered near the main building at the campgrounds. “I hope that you’re all rested because we’ve planned a full day for you as the last camp meeting of the summer!”

Scootaloo joined her friend beside a short podium. “After breakfast we’ve got lots of exciting events planned! There is a Jr. Aerial Course for our starting fliers out there, an obstacle course for our sprouting unicorns, and good old fashioned a race for the earth ponies!”

Applebloom then stood beside them to conclude the announcements. “Now I know that we’ve all had a lot of fun here this summer. But it’s also important to take some time and look back at what we’ve accomplished. There's been many of you who have earned your cutie marks this season and there’s still plenty of you who haven’t. And we’re here to tell you that that’s okay.” Down in the crowd three blank flanks in particular seem to stand around with anxiety on their faces. “There will also be a surprise event later today after lunch. Everypony is invited whether you have a cutie mark or not.” Applebloom added in.

That news drew a murmur of excitement from the group. Each of the excited youngsters began to chat with each other as to what the surprise event could be. Several ponies did notice however that off to the side of the campgrounds there had been a wagon loaded with supplies that was tied down with a tarp. It had appeared mysteriously in the night and no pony knew what it was about. But many suspected that it had to have something to do with the big surprise.

“Alright everypony! Will all the young unicorns please make your way over here?!” Sweetie Belle called.

“And all pegasi follow me!” Scootaloo yelled.

“This way earth ponies!” Applebloom shouted out to rally them together.

• -

As each event went by the Crusaders were pleased to see that most of the ponies were having a really great time. So far their camp had proved to be a big success. Not only were they able to help ponies find their cutie marks but they were also able to help younger ponies learn to make friends. “Well would you look at that." Applebloom stated as Sweetie Belle looked over after levitating out some drinks around the lunch tables.

Off in the distance were their three problem campers from this summer. Each one was different being a unicorn, earth pony, and pegasi but they all seemed to be showing similar traits. Even though they hadn’t gotten their cutie marks yet they were still always surrounded by friends.

The colt Meadow Bolt was a pegasus who was standing at the end of the aerial course and giving high fives to the other fliers who were coming in behind him. “Hey there! Great job! Look you made it! Congratulations, I knew you could do it!” He cheered to each pegasi separately as they flew by him.

Hazelblossom was over at the unicorn obstacle course and she seemed to be trying to coach some of the other participants through the course. “Hey there... are you okay? It’s alright if you’re nervous but I'm sure that you can do this if you give it a try.” She spoke to a small mare who seemed to be afraid of levitating a tire onto a pole as part of the challenge.

“N-, no it won’t be okay. The tire is too big! I’m not going to be able to lift it and everypony is going to laugh at me.” The mare whimpered about making the attempt.

Hazelblossom placed a hoof tenderly upon the other mare’s shoulder. “You know what, it really is a big tire. You’re right about that. And yes it’s true, bigger things can be harder to control through levitation. It takes a lot of focus to be able to move something like that.” The smaller mare sniffled and nodded her head. “But you know what? I’ll tell you a secret.” Hazelblossom whispered. “I think that whether you can lift that tire or not, at least you’re showing that you are a very smart pony and that is something to be proud of.”

“I-... I am? What do you mean? I’m just being afraid. There’s nothing smart about that.” The little unicorn laid down on the ground feeling defeated.

“Oh but you see, you’re wrong. You’re smart enough to be able to think of things ahead of time.” Hazelblossom pointed out. “Yeah, it’s not a very nice thing to imagine ponies making fun of you. But every other unicorn I’ve seen doing this test just seemed to be focusing on only one thing at a time. But here you are thinking about this test and what might happen after. I’ll bet you already have thoughts about lots of other challenges in this course too, don’t you?”

Now the smaller unicorn nodded. “Yeah, after this one is the rope bridge. It’s not very long, but you need to hold the floor panels still with magic or you’ll get your hooves into the mud below. Then they could get all dirty right before we have lunch. And after the rope bridge there is the tic-tack-toe game where you have to paint your move on a wall with different colors. But you need to remember to levitate the same color each time and not levitate a different color on accident.”

Now Hazelblossom smiled as she rubbed the other ponies back. “Wow! Look at you! You were thinking about all of that and all that the same time, weren't you?” She asked and the smaller mare nodded. “Well no wonder you are feeling overwhelmed. You’re trying to take on the entire course at once like some kind of super pony or something!” The other mare laughed as Hazelblossom poked her in her side. “But you know what I think? I think it takes an amazing amount of focus to pay attention to that many things at once... probably even a lot more focus than it would take to lift just one dirty ol’ tire. What do you think?”

Slowly the other mare began to pick herself up. “Yeah I guess you’re right. I mean that was many things... and the tire is just one thing. If I stop worrying about everything else until I get to it and just focus on one thing at a time-” With that the unicorn looked up and floated the tire onto the hook that was built to hold it. “Oh my gosh! Look at me! I DID IT! I really did it!”

“And on your first try too! Good job!” Hazelblossom cheered. “Now do you think that you can believe in yourself enough to get through the rest of this course on your own?”

“Yes I do! Thank you Hazelblossom!” The smaller unicorn cheered and rushed off.

• -

Later on during lunch Meadow Bolt, Hazelblossom, and the earth pony Moonshadow Trail all happened to be sitting down at the same table together. None of them had managed to get their cutie marks yet but each of them had made more friends this summer than anypony else at camp. To their surprise Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle came over to sit down and have their lunch with them. “Hiya.” Applebloom smiled. The younger three looked to each other nervously, seeming to wonder if they had somehow gotten into trouble.

Sweetie Belle gave them each a smile as she announced, “We wanted to take a moment to thank you for how helpful you three have been to the other campers here this summer. We three of course try to help every pony we can but when we’re not quite fast enough we’ve noticed that it’s always been one of you who are stepping in to help.”

Moonshadow Trail spoke first as he rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof. “Oh… sorry if we’ve been overstepping our bounds or anything like that.”

“Sorry?!” Scootaloo exclaimed “We’re happy that you’ve grown to care so much for the other campers! You’ve even made some real friends! We sat over here because we wanted to thank you! You three have shown the teamwork and support that our camp is all about.”

The three younger ponies nodded that they appreciated the praise but the Crusaders looked concerned that none of them had smiled. Again it was Moonshadow who spoke up as he crossed his arms and leaned away from the table. “Yeah, we can be nice and all. You don’t need a special skill to be kind to others. But we still haven’t found our talents that will give us our cutie marks. That’s the real problem.”

“But we’re not upset because we’ve come to grips with the fact that we probably never will.” Hazelblossom added.

Meadow Bolt looked up asking the three camp leaders, “What do you do when you’ve already done it all and haven’t found your special purpose yet? It’s not like we haven’t been applying ourselves to each activity. And yeah, maybe the three of us are good at kindness to others… but kindness isn’t a purpose in life. It’s just… good manners, or something.”

The three Crusaders frowned while wanting to help but not knowing exactly how to answer the questions these ponies were facing. “It’s okay, really it is.” Moonshadow followed up. “The three of us just won’t be getting cutie marks. We’ve accepted that. We’ll still stick around until the end and help the others as best we can but after this summer I think Meadow Bolt, Hazelblossom, and I are done. It’s not a matter of time, it’s just a matter of it won’t be happening for us.” The three fillies then picked up their half eaten trays and carried them off as they no longer had their appetites.

“Oh no! Girls, I think we’re failing them! What are we going to do?!” Sweetie Belle worried.

Applebloom just held her shoulder and reassured her. “Don’t you worry. We aren’t finished yet. We still have our secret weapon. And it looks like we’re going to have to use it!” The three girls nodded together.

• -

On the far edge of the camp there was a small shack that was just a bit off the road. Inside were the usual assortment of spare equipment, cleaning supplies, and repair tools. However on this particular afternoon there were also four sleeping bags messily spread about on the scrunched up floor space. By the time it was half past noon a canine skull of dark obsidian suddenly rose up and looked around at the motionless sleeping bags.

Four adult pony bodies shifted uncomfortably as stone teeth began to tug at the base of each sleeping bag. Quickly an orange pegasus shot upright groggily yelling, “Wait, what time is it?” She looked around and saw that the others had not yet risen and she used her hooves to shake the others awake. “Hey, I think we overslept. Come on you lazy boys, get up! Do you want to help those little fillies or not?”

From around her there were several groans and a blue hoof eventually raised into the air. “I’m up… I’m up...” Then a different pony somehow turned around from within their sleeping sack and started crawling out hind-end first.

Lastly a zipper was pulled down and a mop of hair sat upright from the ground. “Alright… we got our power nap. Time to get to work.” His yawning voice said.

• -

When lunch time ended the fillies in the camp were all looking around curiously because they had not yet been given any direction from their leaders. The campground was large. There was the main cabin where ponies could go in case it rained or if there became a danger from the woods. There was a large lake with a pier that the Crusaders had used for many of their activities. There was an open field to the south and east ends of the campgrounds. Then lastly there was a hiking trail that led up north toward a hillside. Nopony had strayed very far from the main encampment but several of the youngsters had started poking around trying to get a hint as to what the big surprise could be.

Moonshadow Trail was a gray little colt. He had a dark coat with an ashy mane which was cut short. He had just left the docks and was now walking around the main building to where a small stage area was held for the campers to put on group performances together. What surprised him though was when he thought he heard noises coming from that area and then saw a guitar case and a drum set sitting around that he knew did not belong there. “Hey, what is going on over h-”

The little stallion stopped dead in his tracks when he walked around a large crate and came eye to eye with an adult stallion. The stranger was a blue unicorn and he was carrying a leather case in his hooves. He wore a ripped leather vest and one side of his head was shaved. Furthermore on that part where his mane was shaved was a frighteningly designed skull tattooed across the entire side of his head.

Moonshadow stepped back away as his throat ran dry. His legs started to wobble as he turned to the side and saw another another stranger walk by. This was another unicorn whose coat was a grayish pink color. His mane was dyed a toxic green and was also half shaven, but this stallion had no tattoo. Then as soon as Moonshadow heard a third stranger around the far corner he did what any sensible young colt would do in this situation. “AHH! BANDITS!!!!” He screamed as he turned tail and ran back toward the main group.

By this time Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had returned with a dark stallion at their side. They were standing in front of most of the campers and were making introductions. “So thank you all for gathering so quickly. It looks like we’re just waiting for a few more campers to return from lunch.” Sweetie Belle spoke out.

“Well anyways, since most of you are here we wanted to introduce you to this here stallion. His name is Rayne and he is a friend of ours from our hometown in Ponyville.” Applebloom explained. “We know that some of you have been having concerns about your cutie marks because not everypony gets them as fast as others. But our friend has traveled all the way here to provide you with a musical performance that he thinks might do you all some good.”

At that moment Scootaloo looked a little concerned as she tapped Applebloom on the shoulder and spoke in a hushed tone. “Wait, a musical performance? That’s what Rayne came here to do? Applebloom, why didn’t you talk to us about what he was planning before we got here? We don’t have anything setup for something like that!"

The little country mare smiled sheepishly while saying, “Well to be honest, I didn’t actually know what he was plannin' to do until he just told me a few minutes ago.”

“APPLEBLOOM!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shouted at her.

“What?! I’m sorry, okay?! When Rayne said he’d be happy to come over to help I just figured that he already had his own idea and didn’t really give it any thought to askin' what that might be.” She looked a little nervous as her two friends gave her a scowl. But they were all distracted when a small gray colt came running and screaming up to the group.

“AHHHH! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! BANDITS ARE ATTACKING THE CAMP!” Moonshadow Trail yelled which caused every pony in the area to freeze. However to his dismay, all the other fillies and colts just started to laugh at the thought. “No, really I mean it! There’s a whole bunch of ‘em right over there by the stage! They’re carrying around large cases! I think they might be robbing the campgrounds! Or worse maybe they’re going to kidnap us!”

“Wait, are you serious? Are there really adult ponies over there? And how do you know they’re bandits?!” Hazelblossom asked him.

“Because!” Moonshadow yelled. “One of them had half of his mane’s shaven off with a big skull tattoo on the side of his head! I’m telling you they’re for real!” They all looked around noticing that Moonshadow was really panicking and suddenly all of the younger ponies began running around in circles screaming at the top of their lungs.

Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all frowned and rushed over to calm the campers down. “Everypony! Relax! LISTEN TO US!” They yelled out until the screaming circles of little youngsters had stopped.

Applebloom spoke up saying, “If there really are other ponies here then there has to be a better reason than being bandits and robbing things from a little fillies summer camp! Our friend Rayne here will go with us to check things out and the rest of you will stay here and remain calm!” She ordered and all the youngsters promptly sat still and nodded.

Over around the main building by the stage the three Crusaders along with the dark stallion investigated to see three unannounced guests. One stallion was holding a cup against the other stallion’s face while holding a spray can in his other hoof. In an instant the skull tattoo was covered up by a bright purple coating of paint which dripped down a little through the blue unicorn’s fur. But once the cup was removed the stallion's eye was left free of the spray paint.

Beside them was an orange pegasus mare but she was biting her lip and clenching her hoof in anger. “Didn’t I tell you to do that earlier BEFORE we came out here to get things setup?!” She yelled and almost made the blue unicorn fall off the box he was sitting on when she suddenly started smacking him. “What did I say, huh?! One pony! I warned you that if you frightened even a single little pony at this camp that I was going to let you have it! Didn’t I?! Huh?! You idiot?!” She shouted, smacking his back over and over again.

“What in the name of summertime is going on over here?!” Applebloom yelled which caused the three adults to look over.

Instantly the orange mare gave one final kick to the blue unicorn and then knelt down in front of the Crusaders. “Oh, we are SO sorry about this! You must be Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, am I right? Please forgive us, we didn’t mean to scare anypony. But we thought we could get set up before any of the youngsters noticed we were here.”

As the three camp leaders looked around confused, Rayne smiled and stepped forward to speak. However he became just as confused as the rest of them when a young filly spoke out first from behind them. “Hey wait a minute, I know you!” Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Rayne all turned around to see Hazelblossom standing there with the entire rest of the camp trying to sneak along behind her.

“Hey, didn’t we tell you all to wait for us over there?” Applebloom frowned but Hazelblossom just walked closer, not paying her any attention at all.

“It’s you! It’s really you! You’re Madness Magpie, the Winged Queen of Rock!” Hazelblossom shouted while looking up to the orange pegasus on the stage.

Immediately the two adult unicorns fell onto their backs in laughter as the grayish pink stallion shouted out, “Oh my gosh, ahahaha! You mean you actually got that moniker to stick?! I thought you came up with that as a joke Mage! Look, you found your only fan!” He teased but she just hissed back at him not really paying him much attention.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Scootaloo stepped up and walked over to the orange mare. “You’re not saying you are THE Magpie, right? The drummer? If you were really her then wouldn’t you have-” She began but the older pegasus just raised her hoof.

“-Twenty different face piercings and counting? Is that what you were going to ask? Hehe, I took them all out earlier this morning so that they wouldn’t scare the younger ones… Just like that doofus over there with the face paint is our base guitarist aptly named Base, for the level of intelligence in his head. He was supposed to have covered up his tattoo already and if he had then maybe we wouldn’t have given your little friend back there such a fright.” She said while waving to where she spotted Moonshadow cowering in the back.

Base just waved from where he was still sitting and Magpie smiled to the Crusaders warmly. “And you?” Applebloom asked to the gray pink stallion.

“Oh, I haven’t got a fancy name. They just call me Stan.” He answered, using Base as a shoulder rest as he leaned over on him.

“Stan?” Applebloom asked.

“Yup, just Stan.” He answered.

At that point Magpie leaned down and whispered, “We actually like to call him ‘Stand’ as in that’s all he does for our group. Nothing but to stand around the whole time while we play.” The stallion gave her a scowl but didn’t argue the point.

However that was when Sweetie Belle raised her voice with an annoyed tone yelling, “Well that’s just great! We all know your names now, but will you kindly explain what you all are doing here?! This is a summer camp for fillies and colts to get their cutie marks! You three are grown and I can clearly see you already have yours!”

“I invited them.” Rayne finally spoke up which caused all the younger ponies to look at him. “You see, these three are my friends just like I am your friend. When Applebloom asked me for help I thought about it for awhile and decided that maybe having these jokers play a song or two for the camp might help some of them find the inspiration that they’re lacking.”

“So you’re saying that they’re musicians?” Sweetie Belle asked, not having fully caught on to their identities yet.

That was when Scootaloo darted over and grabbed Sweetie Belle by the face. “Musicians?! MUSICIANS?! Come on Sweetie Belle! Magpie, Base, Stan… You know these ponies! They are the guitarist, drummer, and synthesizer for Bab Seed’s favorite band! Remember?!”

That was when another voice spoke out and a dark stallion with a mop of a mane covering his head walked onto the stage. “Technically I am the lead guitarist for this group.”

All three Crusaders dropped their jaws as their eyes spread wide. As disappointing as it was for Rayne to know that these fillies knew about his band, he was even more aggravated to see that some of the younger campers seemed to recognize him as well.

“FACELESS!!!” The three camp leaders screamed. “RAYNE GOT US FACELESS! RAYNE GOT US FACELESS! WE CAN’T BELIEVE RAYNE GOT FACELESS TO PLAY FOR OUR CAMP!” The three danced around in a circle while holding hooves. Then they all rushed to his side and hugged his legs thankfully.

“We can’t believe this! How ever did you manage it?!” Sweetie Belle asked.

Rayne just scoffed and said, “As I told you, these ponies are all friends of mine. Now do you want to stand around listening to me talk or do you want to hear these rockers play?” The stallion asked and the three quickly ushered the campers together to sit down in a group in front of the stage.

• -

The band made quick work of unveiling their instruments from the crates while getting set up. Each member of the band performed a quick solo in the midst of tuning their instruments. But in actuality, they were just showing off because they enjoyed seeing the smiling faces on each of the younger ponies below. Rayne sat down off to the side against a tree to look out over the entire group while the Crusaders stayed in front to keep the little one’s in their seats.

The mop-topped stallion stepped up to a microphone with his guitar upon his back. “Uh, hello. I am a musician from Manehattan and we are Faceless.” He said calmly, but chuckled as the ponies screamed and cheered. “So I heard that this camp helps little ponies like you find your places in life, is that right?” He asked and got a positive cheer from the campers.

“I got my cutie mark at sailing!” One pony called.

“I got mine at improvisational puppetry!” Called another.

The musician chuckled on stage. “Well I think that’s amazing. It’s important to be true to yourself and do what makes you happy in life. But I’m here to tell you that sometimes it’s not always about being good at something. You might try and you try to find something for yourself… but some ponies out there find their purpose when doing work for others.”

“What does that mean?” Moonshadow shouted out.

“That sounds… really confusing.” Hazelblossom also replied.

“Yeah, that’s true. It can be confusing at first.” Faceless told them. “Finding your purpose in life can sometimes be challenging. Not everypony is destined for something that is so straight forward. It’s only natural that you’d feel a little unsure while there is still such mystery ahead of you. But those three did it. And you believe in them, don’t you?” He asked while pointing over to Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo.

“Well, I mean yeah. Of course. They're our camp leaders.” Meadow Bolt replied.

He wasn’t alone when Hazelblossom added in. “They’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The only reason why we’re all here is because of what they do to help other ponies get their cutie marks.”

Then Meadow said, “They work so hard to help all of us blank flanks to find our purpose in life. But that’s because that is THEIR purpose in life. It’s to help others.”

“Exactly.” Faceless told them but the campers and the Crusaders both still looked confused. “These three tried everything, and I mean everything, to try and get their cutie marks. But it wasn’t until they stopped trying to force it and instead just listened to their hearts that they were able to find their true calling.” The dark stallion pulled his guitar out in front of him and his band mates readied their own instruments as well. “Here, let’s go ahead and play a little song for all of you and then we’ll see if things can become clearer once we’re done.”

-Redacted Content- (So the lyrics still had to be removed from this otherwise inspiring scene. But because this is a MLP fan song, I left the video link)

With a few strums of his guitar and Stan kicking things up a notch on his synthesizer, an upbeat rhythm quickly began to play. All of the ponies gathered in together as they sat with the Crusaders watching and listening to the band play.

He sang pointing to the Crusaders. He sang to the three campers who were still looking anxious.

Now nearly all of the other campers in the group were up on their hooves either jumping or dancing in excitement to the song.

Meadow Bolt, Hazelblossom, and Moonshadow Trail looked to each other and nodded as that did sound a bit like what they were feeling.

Faceless allowed his voice to pick up, sweeping the spirits of the colts and fillies up into his song.

Now the three campers sitting down in front were looking up at Faceless in wonder while the rest of the camp were on their hooves and dancing.

The three nodded. Finally they smiled and nodded up to him. The crusaders smiled seeing their three problem campers finally getting up and dancing with the others.

Suddenly the music seemed to cut away for a moment as Faceless raised up his hoof and his other band mates stopped playing. All the little ponies looked up and listened as Faceless asked, “You three there, your names are Meadow Bolt, Hazelblossom, and Moonshadow Trail?” He asked and had to hold back a chuckle when their eyes went wide.

“Wow... a big city rock star knows our names!” Hazelblossom gushed but the three little ponies nodded quickly together.

With just a lightly chastising tone Faceless asked them, “So what’s this nonsense I hear that you think you three won’t ’ever’ get your cutie marks?”

The three stiffened up a bit as all eyes were on them now. Moonshadow twirled his hoof on the ground and said, “Oh well, you see it’s just that we’ve all tried doing so many things.”

Without any delay Faceless replied, “I see. Then for the ponies who can do it all, have you ever thought that maybe your destiny is to do something for others instead of for yourselves?” With that Rayne began vocalizing back into the song as his band mates set back into their instruments. But around the camp Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all sat up straight with surprised looks on their faces as if they just had an idea.

After some quick signaling to each other the crusaders bent down and started whispering to the other campers who each nodded in turn.

Faceless started vocalizing down through the end of the song but once he had the three little campers looked around realizing that every other pony was now circled around them.

Applebloom spoke up first saying, “I want you three to take a look around at all of the friends you have made this summer.” Several of the other little campers nodded and waved to them. “Do you really think that you woulda gotten all these here ponies to like you if you weren’t someponies special?”

Sweetie Belle went next saying, “Think about everything that you have done for your fellow campers. How you helped them and supported them when they needed it. It wasn’t during the races or the obstacle courses that you really shined, it was when you were helping your friends when they didn’t think they could help themselves!”

Now Scootaloo walked up and placed a hoof on Moonshadow's shoulder. “Listen to me, we get it. You’re scared. Maybe you’re even angry that you haven’t gotten your cutiemarks yet. But you know who else feels that same way?” She asked while pointing off to the crowd. “Them. They all do too.” Meadow Bolt, Hazelblossom, and Moonshadow Trail all stood together now watching the others nod.

A little brown stallion stepped forward saying, “Meadow Bolt, you're always a beacon of positivity for us. You have a real talent for uplifting our spirits when we think we can’t go on.” A green pegasus and a pink unicorn mare also shouted along their praise as well.

After that a blue earth pony stepped up to Hazelblossom and said, “You are the most understanding pony I have ever met who wasn’t already a grown up. The way that you speak when you see somepony struggling is so kind and gentle. And you help us to see a side of ourselves that we didn’t even see before. And we’re all grateful to you for that.”

Then a cute little mare made her way over to where Moonshadow was standing. She had a baby blue color coat with an equally light yellow mane. The little filly limped over with a pair of crutches but she looked him in the eye with determination to say, “Moonshadow Trail, we can all see that you get frustrated a lot. You try not to stand out yourself. But when one of us gets upset over something it’s always you who is the first one to come and help us. You know what it’s like to get angry and frustrated all the time. Sometimes I worry that you might even be a little depressed. But that doesn’t stop you from being the support pillar that stops the rest of us from feeling the same way.”

Now the three little campers were standing in silence as they thought about all that was said to them. Applebloom looked over to Rayne who was still sitting off to the sidelines but he shooed her on that she could handle this. “Listen you three, I think I understand the point that Faceless was trying to make. We tried it all trying to find our destiny and it turns out our cutie marks didn’t have anything to do with what we ourselves could do. We have a destiny that is about helping others. And seeing as how good you three have been about helping your fellow campers then I think your cuties marks will end up being something similar.”

Hazelblossom took a step forward and said, “Maybe you’re right. I really do enjoy helping others. When I see somepony else who’s sad then it’s like there’s a voice inside me that calls me to help them. And when I really pay attention to what’s bothering them, it’s like they give me they’re own answer for how to help them.”

“I can’t think of anything more exciting than helping to get other ponies pumped up.” Meadow Bolt chimed in. “Seeing all those excited faces as I cheer them on... It’s almost like helping others to succeed is just as fun for me as doing something myself."

Just then all of the campers gasped in surprise as both Meadow Bolt and Hazelblossom started shining with a brilliant light. There was a spark from each one and when the light faded both of them had their cutie marks. Meadow Bolt stood there with what looked like an upraised hoof in the air along with a whistle on his flank. Meanwhile Hazelblossom had a colorful swirl of six ponies in a circle, each one a different shade and holding each other’s hooves. “WE DID IT! WE DID IT!” The two of them shouted together.

“What... what is it?” Hazelblossom asked as she looked down at her flank and then to Meadow Bolt’s.

Applebloom walked up to the little stallion and said, “Well Meadow Bolt here is good at supporting other ponies. So maybe he’ll be an excellent coach to a sports team one day?”

Then Sweetie Belle walked up saying, “I don’t think there’s any doubt that Hazelblossom would make an excellent counselor one day. Or maybe a therapist. There are lots of different ways she could go with her talent.”

However that was when all eyes turned to a small grey colt who was kicking a little pebble back and forth with his hoof. “Figures...” He mumbled. What he didn’t expect though was when he was suddenly hoisted up into the air by Meadow Bolt and Hazelblossom.

“Ah come on now! Don’t be like that! Listen to what Faceless and the Crusaders have been telling us! Maybe what you can do for others is what you can't do for yourself! We know you love helping ponies and I’m sure that when you get your cutiemark it will be something special for helping everypony.” Hazelblossom encouraged as Moonshadow Trail thought about it for a moment.

“Hmm... Helping everypony... I do like the sound of th-” Just before he could finish there was another brilliant light as Moonshadow's flank flashed.

Rayne almost stumbled forward when he looked to the colt and saw five ponies flowing in the shape of a heart, all of which seemed to be pegasi. “Oh boy... that’s not good. The poor little guy.” Rayne sighed and nodded to Faceless for his band to start packing up.

The whole camp was in cheer for the ponies who were once the trouble campers but who were now this summer’s greatest success stories. The little colts and fillies laughed together and the Crusaders gave their congratulations. However, Rayne made his way over and called Moonshadow over to whisper his own encouragement. “Yeah, what is it mister?” The little colt asked.

“You may not know it now, but eventually you’ll come to figure out that there cutie mark of yours is something special.” Rayne said while showing off his own similar cutie mark. “Listen to me, you don’t worry about gossip or any hearsay from other ponies as you grow older, you understand? You have a long hard road ahead of you with a cutie mark like that but in the end, it will all be worth it. I promise you.” Moonshadow nodded up to him feeling the weight of the message that the older stallion was conveying. “Oh and one more thing... whatever you do in life for your day to day job, pick something that brings you up to Cloudsdale even though you're not a pegasi. Just trust me on this... you’ll thank me when you’re older.” Moonshadow Trail nodded even though he didn’t quite understand.

• -

A grand celebration was held all afternoon for all of the campers whether they had their cutie marks or not. Once the sky turned orange from the setting sun, each of the parents showed up to take their little one’s home. Rayne stood talking to Moonshadow Trail’s parents after finding out that his family was from Baltimore. “That’s right, I’ll be sure to stop by from time to time and offer any advice and make sure that he's doing okay.”

Shaking his hoof Moonshadow's father said, “Thank you again Mr. Rayne for explaining to us what his cutie mark means. We’ll be sure to look after him and try to help work on his positive self image.”

After they left Rayne turned around and blushed seeing a smug looking Applebloom staring at him from behind. “So... there’s another pleasure pony in Equestria, huh?”

Swiping his mane back Rayne sighed and nodded. “Yeah, looks like I’m not the only one anymore. He’s a little young of course. But in another five or ten years I’m sure he’ll have pegasi dropping out of the sky for him up in Cloudsdale... assuming he makes it that long of course.”

Applebloom was quick to respond saying, “Don’t worry, the Crusaders will make a point of sending him letters from now on to make sure that he’s okay. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo already know all about it because our sister’s told us everything about the situation for you.”

Rayne nodded but then she raised a hoof to stop him. “Oh? Something else?”

Stomping her hoof on the floor she shouted, “Yer darn right there’s something else! Rayne! You brought a rock band to a summer camp?! Really?! I mean, yeah it worked and how! But when I asked you for help that isn’t what I had in mind!” She scolded him.

“Heh, but you see... you didn’t need any help Applebloom.” Rayne told her.

“What are you saying?” She asked after walked up to him.

“Yeah Faceless sure inspired the youngsters but all he really did was put them into a good mood. He didn’t actually say anything specific about those three you were having trouble with, now did he? That was all the Crusader's doing.” Rayne told her and patted Applebloom on the shoulder. “I’ll be waiting over by the main building to escort you and your two friends home to Ponyville when you’re ready. Thanks again for inviting me along Applebloom!” Rayne called out as Applebloom slowly walked back over to the other Crusaders not quite understanding how she turned out feeling proud of herself all of a sudden.

Author's Note

Hello all and thank you for making it through another chapter. This was a fun chapter to write and I thought that the CMC's we're overdue to get some more screen time in my story. Also I always enjoy creating new little minor characters for my story. Meadow Bolt, Hazelblossom, and Moonshadow Trail were all fun to come up with. I think I did a good job in their names. None of them will have a big impact on the story but Moonshadow might be mentioned a time or two later on.

Alright so it's been awhile since we got a look at Rayne's band. I felt this would be an appropriate time to get to know them better. I hope you didn't find the names too cheesy but rock band names aren't always all that original haha.

The song was Crusader (Are we There Yet) by BlackGryph0n and Baasik. I really like this group and it's possible that a song from them may be used again before this story ends.

Lastly, happy Nightmare Night everyone! Stay safe out there! There will be a Nightmare Night chapter in this story but unfortunately that is about nine chapters away.