THE CUTIE MARK’S IN THE DETAILS
“What’s his story?” She stirred her drink, paying more attention to the light brown stallion trotting as if he had no place in particular to go. My eyes drifted to his cutie mark – three horseshoes.
“Master horseshoe player,” I said, taking a sip of my coffee. “But there’s no horseshoe tournaments for him to play in, so he takes odd jobs around town. Right now, he’s on his way to a brick-laying job. Not glamorous, but he does what he can get.”
Flitter made a low noise as she worked the straw into her mouth. Her legs kicked in an adorable fashion, making it look like she was trying to swim back down from her stool. I smiled, and as her eyes met mine she smiled as well. “It’s your turn.”
“Okay.” I turned towards the street, searching for a pony. A dark blue mare exited the radio shop, holding her saddlebags in her mouth. With a bit of effort she managed to get the bags on her back. “Her. The blue one.”
“I can’t see her cutie mark,” Flitter said, Los Pegasus accent slurring her words.
“Two glass bottles, green. No bottlecaps.”
“Hmm.” She continued to kick the air futilely, lower hooves unable to reach the patio floor. I watched her as she thought, entranced by the bobbing of the red bow on her head and how it complimented her powder blue coat and mane. “Okay got it. She’s making an alternative currency.”
“Really?” I raised an eyebrow. “That’s interesting. I really would like to hear about this.”
She smiled shyly, looking back from the street. “Bottlecaps. They’re lighter than bits and less expensive to make. She’s been working out the kinks in it ever since she was a filly. One day she’s going to work up the bravery to go present it to someone. Maybe Filthy Rich, maybe even somepony in Canterlot.” She sniffed. “Actually, that’s where she’s going. To the bank, to test her idea out on the manager.”
I clopped my hooves together. “Wonderful. I’m jealous actually. I am the writer here, after all.”
“Well what am I?”
“You’re here to make me look better than I actually am.” I winked.
A flush rose to her cheeks and she shifted her gaze to the street. After a few moments, she waggled a hoof in the direction of the street. “The white filly with the glasses and curly mane.”
I followed the pointing of her hoof. The filly she was pointing at was indeed white. Her glasses were purple and looked too big for her face. Her prodigious nose prevented it from slipping off. The curly mane was a nice shade of red, actually. She was a cute kid.
“Two candy canes in the shape of a heart. She makes candy canes and she’s good at it. Her family makes the best candy you’ve ever had in all of Equestria. She’s picked on in school, unfortunately. With glasses like that she’s an easy target. Right now, she’s on her way to the dentist with her mom. Too much candy makes for a lot of cavities.”
“I really like her mane,” Flitter said, a wistful tone in her voice. “Did I ever tell you I always envied the fillies with curly manes?”
“Not that I recall.” I did, but it was always nice to hear stories from her. My one weakness in this whole relationship: stories.
She nodded but didn’t say anything else. “Ball’s in your court.”
I frowned, looking out at the street. I needed somepony good to win the game. Somepony who’s cutie mark was odd enough to make her go over the time limit…
The clock struck ten, the ring of bells breaking the still morning. I tapped my hoof on the pavement, letting out some nervous energy as I searched.
“That guy, with the dark blue coat and frizzy white mane.” I smiled as she followed his canter with her eyes. She frowned in puzzlement.
Flitter sat there on her stool, deep in thought as the clock inched forward. Finally, she spoke.
“He…” She stretched the syllable out for what seemed an eternity. “Well, with that pin, he’s got to be a babysitter.” She flashed a feeble smile.
“Skating on the edge of disaster. I’ll allow it,” I added after a moment. “Your turn.”
She didn’t take as long this time. She flashed another award-winning smile. “We-e-ll… How about that pretty pegasus mare over there?”
“Oh? Which? I must have missed her.”
“Oh, I don’t think you did.”
“Hmm… Give me a moment.” I leaned back in my stool, rubbing a hoof under my chin. “Alright. She loves butterflies. Absolutely adores them. One day she went out on her own and found a great big meadow. It was full of butterflies, resting during their migration.
“Years passed, and her knack for finding butterflies didn’t go to much use, so she started working the cloud shift. She met a few nice ponies and a few not-so-nice ponies. Some of them went out to a party one day and invited her to go with them. She said yes.
“And there she met her special somepony.”
“And what’s this special somepony like?” she asked, stirring her drink with a hoof.
“Oh, he’s got some problems. Too wrapped up in his work for one. He also wasn’t the best of ponies when they met. She’s helped with that, though- a whole lot. But even still… He doesn’t deserve her, not one bit.”
I leaned forward. “Final round. There’s a handsome, brooding earth pony fella out on the patio. I’m interested in his story.”
She smiled. “Well, he’s got an inkbottle and quill as his cutie mark, and he likes to wear just a checkered shirt; always unbuttoned. He’s a little strange, always busy plotting his silly stories in his head.
“He was always creative. Playacted stories as a colt, doodled, and wrote terrible stories. It took a long time, but he finally got a story published. He got pretty popular. And a little carried away. He was pretty messed up for a while.
“Then he met a pretty mare at a party. She wasn’t exactly the best pony in the world, but then again neither was he. So they were kinda perfect for each other.
“He thinks he doesn’t deserve her. He’s wrong though.”
I whistled. “Why aren’t you writing my books?”
Flitter just smiled. “So, who won this time?”
“You did.” I nuzzled noses with her.
“What’s the prize?”
“I was thinking, maybe…”
“Yes?”
“How would you,” I said, leaning in with a conspiratorial glint in my eyes, “like to be coauthor for the next book by Leaky Inky?”
Flitter just sighed and rolled her eyes.
