It was a rather mundane day in the Ponyvillle Schoolhouse where fillies and colts learn from their teacher, Miss Cheerliee, about anything little ponies need when they become older ponies and go out to make names for themselves. Inside the schoolhouse were rows of chairs and desks for students that sat while paying attention to Cheerliee. One of the ponies that sat on a chair is Donna Troy, the filly best known as Wonder Mare's biggest fan and the first pony she met in Ponyville when she arrived there to later defeat Nightmare Eclipso. In front of all of the students was Cheerliee as she was giving a lesson, a board next to her with pictures paperclipped to it.
"Today, class, we are going to talk about cutie marks," Cheerliee informed her students.
"Boring!" Rose Wilson moaned in boredom.
Rose Wilson's looks were best described as having orange fur that covered her body, white hair that most ponies think would belong to older ponies that stretched down to her neck and kept how she liked it, which wasn't exactly up to the highest standards of hair care. On her flank was her cutie mark, which featured a targeting symbol that was colored black and two swords going through the symbol, signifying her skills at swordsponyship and her remarkable aiming. Lastly, her eyes were colored blue like most other ponies.
But despite Rose Wilson being a little rude, Cheerliee continued with the lesson.
"You can all see my cutie mark, can't you?" Cheerliee pointed to her cutie mark, which featured three smiling flowers. "Like all ponies, I wasn't born with a cutie mark. My flank was blank."
Moving a white piece of paper on the board, Cheerliee revealed a picture of herself when she was but a foal, smiling and no cutie mark on her flank as she rested on a pillow.
"Aww! She's so cute!" A red Earth pony filly exclaimed as she looked at the picture.
"Then one day, when I was about your age, I woke up to find that a cutie mark had appeared." Cheerliee then pulled the baby picture off to reveal a picture of her when she was much older and having her cutie mark on her flank, while also wearing something that was much popular when she was younger.
"Look at her hair!" A filly had giggled.
"Yes, that's how everypony was wearing their mane back then." Cheerliee blushed. "I had decided to become a teacher, and the flowers symbolized my hope that I could help my future students bloom if I nurture them with knowledge. The smiles represented the cheer I hope to bring to my little ponies while they are learning. Now can anypony tell me when a pony gets his or her cutie mark?"
"When he or she discovers that certain something that makes her special." The red filly gave an answer.
"That's right, Mary. A cutie mark appears on a pony's flank when he or she finds that certain something that makes them different from every other pony." Cheerliee continued the lesson. "Discovering what makes you unique isn't something that happens overnight, and no amount of hoping, wishing, or begging, would make a cutie mark appear before its time."
During this lesson, Rose Wilson passed a note to Donna Troy that was just as small as her hooves that didn't show anything on the side.
"What is this?" Donna Troy asked Rose.
"Donna Troy, are you passing a note?" Cheerliee asked and went over to Donna's desk to pick up the note and found nothing on both sides of the paper. "It's blank."
"Remind you of anypony?" Rose Wilson scoffed and asked after Cheerliee had stated.
Donna looked down to her blank flank, hearing whispered laughter from Rose and most of the other students.
Only a couple hours later when the students were allowed to leave after the school day had ended and everypony either walked or ran out of the school as they were ready to get home or do whatever it is most young ponies like to do. One of the last ponies to leave the room was Donna as she was still sad over what had occurred earlier and just wanted to head home. Catching up to her was the red filly, Mary Champion, who carried a bag on her back that contained some school papers and supplies.
"Hey, Donna." Mary Champion had said to get Donna's attention.
"Hey, Mary." Donna Troy turned to speak to her.
"You want a piece of chocolate?" Mary Champion asked and pulled a piece from her bag.
"You know what? I might actually want that." Donna Troy said before she picked up the piece and put it in her mouth.
"I'm guessing you're having some trouble with the lack of a cutie mark?" Mary Champion asked the other student.
"Is it that obvious?" Donna Troy asked after she ate the chocolate.
"Everypony knows it when you look at yourself and look like you are about to cry," Rose Wilson said as she caught up to them with her friend/minion, Jinx Whammy.
Jinx Whammy was best known for her unicorn horn that she used to practice her tricks that she would use on ponies who would receive bad luck afterward, her pink bunned mane, twirly tail, gray fur, pink eyes, and a cutie mark that featured a black cat on top of a broken mirror. While next to Rose, Jinx had an evil grin on her face.
"In all seriousness, that lesson was really lame for me when I just my cutie mark while Jinx got hers last week and everypony else has theirs." Rose gloated before she gasped at Donna and Mary's flanks. "Except for you two! Don't worry, though, you're still invited to my cute-ceañera this weekend."
"it is going to be totally awesome," Jinx smirked.
"It's all about me, how could it not be?" Rose asked and hoove bumped Jinx.
"Give me a break," Donna whispered.
"See you this weekend," Jinx told Donna and Mary.
"Blank Flanks!" Rose mocked them before laughing.
"Don't let them get to you, you'll get your cutie mark eventually." Mary comforted Donna.
But all Donna could do was still be sad at the lack of her cutie mark and walking for miles across Ponyville where she looked down at the ground and didn't watch she was going or who she would bump into. While she looked down, she bumped into an older pony that fell to the ground while Donna did so as well.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Donna apologized. "I didn't watch where I was..."
But she didn't finish when she noticed the pony she bumped into was none other than Princess Diana, better known as Wonder Mare to the ponies she had saved from whatever she had recently faced alongside the other members of the Super Six. What was most evident was the fact Diana wasn't in her usual red, blue, and gold armor that she wears in battle every single time, except her bracelets were still on her front hooves.
"Wonder Mare!" Donna screamed and smiled at the sight of the pony she admires the most.
"Oh, Donna, it's you," Diana said before she got back on her hooves and helped Donna up as well. "I haven't seen you since I first arrived in Ponyville."
Donna giggled out of embarrassment before she continued to speak. "Don't worry, I've been watching everything you do since you started stopping bad ponies here."
"So how have you been since we last spoke to each other?" Diana asked the filly.
"Well, things in school and at the orphanage are going alright. Except that I don't have my cutie mark while everypony else does." Donna said before she started to feel sad again.
"Your cutie mark?" Diana asked before she sat next to Donna. "When I was a filly, I was pretty much the only one on my home while a large majority were much older than me, so I didn't have my cutie mark until I proved myself a capable warrior and this appeared." She pointed to her cutie mark featuring a red star like the one on her tiara.
"You're telling me this, why?" Donna asked out of confusion.
"What I am saying is you have to wait until you find what you are really good at and see if it is your destiny," Diana explained.
"You might have just given me an idea. You can teach me how to fight like you and maybe I can get my cutie mark in the fighting." Donna suggested with an adorable smile.
"You want to learn the ways of the Amazon?" Diana asked her. "I must warn you that it is very difficult and might take years of training in order to complete."
"I want to get my cutie mark soon and I know you are one of the best fighters in Equestria." Donna continued to convince her.
"Okay, I'll let you get back to your home and you tell your guardians that you will spend time with me, then meet me by the lake," Diana told her.
"Thank you!" Donna squealed before she gave Diana a hug. "I promise I won't let you down."
Later, the two ponies arrive at the lake near Ponyville known as Saddle Lake, where ponies swim or fish in the lake either for enjoyment after a long day at work or because it is part of a job they are in. For Diana and Donna Troy, it is where they are both standing at the edge of land before ponies would fall into the cold and relaxing water.
With Diana was her usual tools in battle like her Lasso of Truth, sword, and shield. But while she had all her weapons with her, Diana wasn't in her usual armor she wears and everypony would recognize her as Wonder Mare while she wears it. For Donna, Diana gave her a bo-staff made from wood.
"You sure this staff is gonna stand up to your sword?" Donna asked while staring at the wooden object.
"The weapon of a warrior will only withstand another if the warrior who holds it knows what to do with the weapon they hold," Diana explained to the younger pony.
"But it is just a stick." Donna pointed out.
"What you must know is that anything you see in the area you are in is a weapon, you just need to think of how you are gonna use it," Diana said to Donna.
"Okay, I'll take your word for it," Donna said as she readied her staff.
With much confidence in herself, Donna swung her staff at Diana's sword as she hoped it would knock it down from her horn's magical hold over it, but she had failed when she noticed that even with the amount of force she put into the swing, the sword barely flinched.
"You can try again, Donna," Diana told her.
Trying again, Donna put more force into her swing and nearly made the sword flinch from Diana's magical hold over it.
"Very good," Diana stated. "But we will now test you with other skills."
So they did just about everything Diana could think of and all that came out of it was Donna failing at just about every single task she had and ending on the ground in shame as she looked at her still blank flank. Standing over her, Diana helped Donna back on her hooves.
"This is no use, I'm never getting my cutie mark," Donna said disappointed.
"It took me a long time to get my cutie mark when I was a filly, I know what it was like waiting and doing everything possible to get mine." Diana put a hoof on Donna's back. "So I know you will earn yours when the time is right."
"She has a point, kiddo. You can't just rush things." A voice had said and the two ponies looked up to find Supermare flying above them.
"Supermare?" Donna asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I was flying around here when I saw both of you practicing whatever it was and decided to listen in," Supermare explained as she landed on the ground. "While I won't tell you my real name, I will tell you it took me a long time to find my cutie mark when I was a filly, but I earned it when I decided to do what I love doing for the rest of my life."
"Fighting bad guys and saving ponies?" Donna asked.
"Sure," Supermare answered with a smile.
"You think you can help me with my cutie mark?" Donna asked the Mare of Steel.
"Donna, maybe you should take a break," Diana suggested to the filly.
"No, it's fine with me. We can just do some flying and talking." Supermare stepped down to Donna. "You can fly, can you?"
"Just as well as any pegasus," Donna told her and got off from the ground with the flapping of her wings.
"Then let's fly together," Supermare said as she started to fly alongside Donna, Diana sticking the ground as she had to get everything she brought back to her house.
When they were high enough to touch the rooftops of Ponyville, Supermare and Donna just flew around with no real destination in mind. While flying, Supermare turned her head to Donna, who looked at the city and watched all the ponies beneath them.
"You know that you don't have to spend your time as a filly just looking for the chance to earn her cutie mark, you can spend part of your time going to school and hanging out with any friends you have." Supermare brought up an idea.
"What makes you think I plan on doing that?" Donna asked with confusion.
"Because I know a pony who nearly did that and it almost stopped her from learning what she wanted to do when she grew up," Supermare told her.
"Did she stay in school?" Donna asked.
"She did," Supermare said to her. "Back to the whole "hanging out with any friends you have" thing, are there any friends in school?"
"I have a pony I talk with on occasions named Mary Champion. She's a blank flank like me and she is nice to me." Donna admitted when she remembered. "Honestly, she is the only pony besides Cheerliee who will be nice to me."
"Maybe you can go to her and ask her to hang out with you," Supermare suggested.
"I could that." Donna realized. "Thank you for bringing that up, Supermare."
"Do you know where she lives?" Supermare asked.
"She gave me her address last week if I ever wanted to hang out there," Donna answered.
"I'll make sure you get there and you can go to her after I lift off," Supermare informed Donna.
"Thank you," Donna told her.
After another minute of flying, Supermare escorted Donna to the address she remembered and left Donna on the ground before she flew away. The house was an average white, two-floor house with a bent rooftop that could fit several ponies inside of it. Walking up the steps to the door, Donna knocked on the door.
The pony who opened the door was a violet pony with both a black and yellow mane and tail, both of them being braided in curls that went great with her yellow eyes. and had the image of a foal as her cutie mark, symbolizing her expertize at childcare.
"Hello, how may I help you, little miss?" The mare answered.
"Hi, you must be Mary's adoptive mom." Donna guessed.
"Yes, I'm Rosa Care. I'm guessing you are a friend of Mary's at school?" Rosa asked the filly outside her home.
"I'm a friend of hers, yes. I was wondering if she's around and wanted to come with me to this cute-ceañera somepony at our school invited us to so I won't be embarrassed by some bullies." Donna gave an explanation of why she is at the house.
But Rosa's expression turned disheartened. "I'm sad to say that Mary isn't home and won't be for several hours at the most, she had to leave and do some chores somewhere else," Rosa said to Donna. "But I can tell her you asked."
"No, that's fine," Donna said with sadness. "I'll just go by myself if I have to."
"I'm sure I can tell her that..." Rosa started to say to Donna.
"Thank you for telling me anyway," Donna said to her.
When Donna started to walk down the porch stairs, Rosa looked at the bright red filly with guilt and felt terrible for making Donna sad. But things looked to be even worse for Donna when she walked down the stairs and saw both Rose Wilson and Jinx Whammy walking nearby, Donna jumping into a bush in order to hide from them. Barely putting out from the bush, Donna listened in on what they were saying.
"Out of all the blank flanks in school, I'm sure that Donna Troy will be the one most humiliated when she shows up and everypony laughs at her because she doesn't have her cutie mark." Rose Wilson laughed at the idea.
"I know right? Maybe if she stopped obsessing over Wonder Mare and focused on getting her cutie mark, she would have it by now." Jinx Whammy giggled as well.
"I bet five bits that even she if does get her cutie mark, it will be something incredibly lame like being a janitor." Rose Wilson joked.
"You're on!" Jinx agreed to the deal.
With dread building up in her, Donna felt like crying in the bush she hid in and just wanted to lay down. But the universe wouldn't allow her to cry in defeat as somepony rustled in the bushes and found Donna, that pony was Princess Diana once again as she was still not in her armor.
"Donna, what are you doing in this bush?" Diana asked as she helped her out.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Donna told her.
"It isn't that hard to tell you are saddened by something," Diana informed her. "You can tell me anything."
Drying up some tears, Donna regained composure. "There are these two ponies at my school that bully me because I don't have my cutie mark and I overheard them earlier, saying they will make fun of me at this cute-ceañera one of them is having this weekend," Donna explained everything.
"There are ponies bullying you?" Diana asked with shock on her face.
"Yes," Donna confirmed.
"If you want me to, I can go with you to this cute-ceañera and help deal with these bullies." Diana brought up. "Think of me as your older sister."
"Yeah, that would be nice." Donna started to smile again.
"Then we shall go when the time is right," Diana said as the cute-ceañera wasn't for two more days.
Two days later, Donna Troy shows up to the house of Rose Wilson's family, which would look like any other building in Ponyville if it weren't for the fact that it was huge enough to contain about 20 rooms suited for anything a pony wants if they so desire. Walking close to the white exterior of the building, Donna knocked on the front door and ringed the doorbell, which made the standard sound of any doorbell. The green-coated pony with a blonde mane who opened the door looked to be a servant with his cutie mark featuring a washcloth and cooking pot as evidence of that.
"I assume you are another of young Rose's classmates?" The butler asked.
"You can say that, sir," Donna informed him.
Flying down to the ground gently as a bird, Diana landed in her Wonder Mare armor with her Lasso of Truth on her hip and she landed next to Donna Troy.
"I'm her plus one." Wonder Mare introduced herself. "I hope it isn't too much trouble."
"Not at all, Mistress Wonder Mare." The butler moved to the side and allowed the two ponies to enter the huge mansion.
When the two ponies walked inside, they saw fillies and colts partying in a massive brown room where there was a staircase leading upstairs where Rose Wilson was the center of attention. Rose was in her newest gown that covered her flank that went well with her white mane and complimented her eyes. Alongside Rose was Jinx as they walked down the stairs to meet up with the newly arrived guests.
"Looks like my party drew the attention of a very special guest," Rose stated as she walked closer to Wonder Mare and Donna. "So what brings you here, Wonder Mare, did my dad pay you to come here?"
"Actually, I came with a friend of mine that goes to the same school as you." Wonder Mare said and turned her head towards Donna, who she knew hid behind her. "She says that you have been bullying her for the lack of a cutie mark."
"What?" Jinx clearly lied. "We would never do such a thing to her. We just think it's sad she doesn't have one."
"She must think we are bullying her because our way of talking is different." Rose lied and theorized. "Where is Donna, anyway?"
"She is right behind me." Wonder Mare turned around to find that Donna had disappeared and was nowhere in sight. "Donna?"
What Wonder Mare didn't know was that Donna was hiding underneath a food table covered by a sheet that hid her from everypony in the room, while everypony else was confused about where she went.
"She must've run outside." Wonder Mare theorized and started to look around. "I'll be looking for her outside. If anypony wants to help, please do so." She said before she exited the front door.
"Don't worry, we will definitely help you," Rose said as soon as Wonder Mare left the room and walked with Jinx to find her.
"I gotta get out of here," Donna said to herself and picked out a large napkin to cover her flank so no pony would still tell she has no cutie mark.
But it didn't help that as soon as she crawled out from under the table that Rose and Jinx spotted her.
"Well well, look who's here, Jinx." Rose pointed out.
"Nice skirt," Jinx said to her.
"Yeah, it really shows off your cutie mark." Rose chuckled. "Oh wait, you don't even have one at all."
"I do have a cutie mark, actually." Donna lied to save herself from the embarrassment.
"Oh really?" Jinx asked with a smirk. "Since when?"
"Well, Wonder Mare was teaching me to fight like an Amazon and I got my cutie mark by being so good at it." Donna continued to hide as she tried to suppress her blushing red cheeks.
"Can we see it?" Rose asked as she wanted to lift the napkin off Donna.
"I shouldn't show off." Donna moved backward. "The Amazon way says that I shouldn't show off what I have and I don't want you to be outshined at your own cute-ceañera."
"Forget it, I didn't want to see it anyway," Rose said to the nervous pegasus.
"Okay, I'm just gonna go hang around. Enjoy your party." Donna sighed and started to walk before she was tripped by Jinx's magic and fell to the brown floor where the napkin came off, revealing no cutie mark to the bullies and everypony else, who gasped at this.
"Oh no," Donna said as everypony stared at her.
"Wow, that is a nice cutie mark," Jinx said with sarcasm.
"Nice try...." Rose started before she and Jinx finished it with saying "blank flank" at the same time.
"You got a problem with blank flanks?" A young male voice had asked.
Everypony gasped at that question and turned around to see it came from a young blue Earth pony colt with brown curly hair, blue eyes, and crutches on his front hooves. Standing beside him was a unicorn filly with a yellow coat, blue eyes like the colt, and a blonde mane that was made into a ponytail that matched her tail.
"I'll ask again, do you have a problem with blank flanks?" The colt asked again.
"The problem is that she isn't special like the rest of us," Jinx explained to the two ponies.
"You're wrong about that, it means that she has plenty of potential to go around." The filly next to the colt spoke next.
"Plus, she doesn't have the disadvantage of being as much of a stick in the mud as you too." The colt said and everypony laughed at that.
"Why are you even on her side?" Rose asked the two of them.
Both the filly and colt turned around to show off their sides to reveal they didn't even have their cutie marks like either.
Donna gasped. "You don't have cutie marks either? I thought I was the only one."
"We thought we were the only two." The filly told her.
Just then, Wonder Mare walked through the doors and saw Donna standing near Rose and Jinx, running up to her and stopping when she got close.
"Donna, I thought I had lost you." Wonder Mare said with relief.
"It's okay, Wonder Mare, these two came to my rescue and they don't have cutie marks either." Donna pointed at the filly and the colt.
"Oh, what are your names, young ones?" Wonder Mare asked the two.
"Name's Freddy Freeman." The light blue colt had introduced himself.
"I'm Jesse Quick." The yellow filly introduced herself.
"Well, I'm Donna Troy." Donna walked over to the two.
"I think you are three very lucky fillies." Wonder Mare said to the three.
"How the hay are they lucky?" Rose asked with confusion at what Wonder Mare said.
"They still get to experience the thrill of discovering who they are, and what they're meant to be." Wonder Mare explained and walked behind the three young ponies. "With the advantage of having all the time in the world to figure it out."
"Maybe I got my cutie mark too soon." One filly said.
"Maybe you can be a hero like Wonder Mare." Another filly said.
"I would prefer Green Lantern." One colt had said and walked with the other school ponies towards the three.
"Hey, what's everypony doing?" Rose asked them. "This is my party, I'm the one everypony should be paying attention to."
Jinx just looked toward the three and lightly pushed Rose away. "Whatever. We still think they are losers, right, Rose?" Jinx asked her friend.
"Not now, Jinx," Rose said to her.
About an hour later, everypony else played the games that were offered by Rose while Donna, Jesse, and Freddy sat at a table together, eating a plate of snacks offered to them. While at this table, the three talked about themselves and their lives.
"Wait, you are Mary's adoptive brother?" Donna asked Freddy.
"Yes. We don't look alike at all." Freddy said.
"What about your parents, Jesse?" Donna asked Jesse.
"My dad is a photographer and my mom used to compete in the Equestria Games before she married him," Jesse explained.
"That's awesome," Donna said to her. "So I was thinking, now that we're friends... I mean, we are friends, right?"
"How could we not be?" Freddy asked. "We're totally alike. We don't have cutie marks, and Rose Wilson and Jinx Whammy hate us."
"Well, now that we're friends, what if the three of us worked together to find out who we are what we are supposed to do?" Donna suggested to the other two.
"Oh, we could form our own team like the Super Six did," Jesse added in.
"I'm liking this idea more and more." Freddy smiled. "But we need a name."
"How about a name like Young Cutie Markers?" Jesse suggested.
"How about Cutie Mark Legion?" Freddy suggested his own idea.
"While I was training with Wonder Mare, she mentioned a time when her mother fought a creature called a titan, and I thought it sounded cool," Donna recalled. "How about we call ourselves the Cutie Mark Titans?"
"I like it!" Freddy exclaimed.
"This is gonna be great, you guys!" Jesse exclaimed as well.
"How about we celebrate with some juice?" Donna asked as she got up, the others following her.
During this entire conversation, Wonder Mare stood by and watched them, a smile on her face, and ready to see what the three will do.
Later that night, when everypony that doesn't live in the mansion has left, Rose Wilson is pacing back and forth in an office that is brightly lit with the aid of big candlelight that shined the light on weapons showcased in the office. Right behind a desk, a chair was turned towards a huge window that overlooks a field.
"So there are these three ponies in school that are now working together and Wonder Mare thought she could stand up to me and say that those are special because they still have time to get their marks whenever they want," Rose complained as she paced.
"So you are blaming Wonder Mare for everypony ignoring you?" The figure in the chair asked.
"Her and those friends of hers for getting a blank flank like Donna Troy to think she is better than me," Rose answered with more complaints.
"Maybe I can talk to Wonder Mare sometime and tell her to leave you alone, maybe keep her friends away from you." The figure said as he smoked on a pipe.
"Thank you, daddy!" Rose ran over and hugged the figure on the chair, who a hoof on her head.
"Don't worry, Rose." The figured assured her. "Daddy always protects and provides for his little filly."
Author's Note
Oh, I bet you guys might've already guessed who the figure on the office chair is, haven't you?
Anyway, thank you for reading this. I had a lot of writing this story as I got to write how a sisterly bond between Donna Troy and Wonder Mare starts, and the forming of this universe's CMC.
Stay tuned for the next story as it will be a Green Lantern story where she will meet the other pony lantern in Equestria.
