“So, Sandbar, how did you get your cutie mark?” Ocellus asked. “You’ve never actually told us.” Their group of friends was standing in a hallway in the School of Friendship, having just left a class taught by Twilight, in which she had explained (among other things) that while ponies were the only species with cutie marks, creatures of all species still had their own special talents. They hadn’t really thought much about Sandbar’s cutie mark before - it was just something that was there - but now they were curious.
“What?” Sandbar asked. He had been lost in thought for a moment and hadn’t fully processed the question.
“Your cutie mark,” Gallus said. “Three turtles? What does it mean?”
“Ooh...tell us! Tell us! Tell us!” Silverstream said, hovering in the air and clapping.
“Yona wants to know!” Yona shouted.
“What, do you like eating turtles or something?” Smolder asked.
“What? No!” Sandbar said. “It’s kind of a long story.”
“We’ve got time,” Gallus said. “In fact, this could probably cover your ‘share something about yourself with somecreature else’ homework, anyway.”
“Alright, if you want to know...” Sandbar started.
“We want to know!” Silverstream said excitedly.
“...then sure, I can tell you on the way to the treehouse,” Sandbar said.
“Yay!” Ocellus said. They started walking.
“Well, not many creatures know this, but my cutie mark is actually kind of special, even for a cutie mark,” Sandbar said. “Usually you get your whole cutie mark once and it’s done, but I didn’t get all three turtles at once. They showed up one at a time, each under different circumstances.” He paused as if for dramatic effect.
“Go on…” Smolder said.
“Ooh, could we play three truths and a lie?” Silverstream asked.
“You mean telling four stories where one of them isn’t true?” Sandbar asked. Silverstream nodded. “Sure, that could be fun. Just let me think for a second...Okay, where was I? Right.
“So the first time I got a turtle was a few years ago. My parents had taken some time off work and we were going on a vacation to the beach. The train ride there was pretty long, but I had brought some books along so I’d have something to do. The first Daring Do book had just come out around that time, so I finished that first. Then I moved on to the next book - a nonfiction one about the animals that lived on the beach.”
“Like turtles?” Ocellus interjected.
“Exactly!” Sandbar said. “I thought it might be interesting to learn a little about the ecosystem of the area we were going to. I didn’t have time to read the whole book, but one part that stood out to me was in a chapter about sea turtles. Adult sea turtles lay their eggs in the sand on the beach above the highest point where the tide comes in, and a couple months later, they all hatch at around the same time and try to make their way to the ocean. Our trip to the beach happened to be at just the right time of year that we might see it happening!
“When the train got to our stop, a small town by the beach, I wanted to head down right away and take a look, but my parents said we had to check in at the inn first. As soon as we had all our things in the room, I was hopping at the door, ready to go. Kind of like that!” Silverstream smiled and kept hopping. The group had left the School of Friendship by this point.
“A little while later and we were finally down at the beach. I had some fun splashing around in the water, looking at the small fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, and building sand castles - digging below the high tide margin in case there might be any eggs higher up - but otherwise not much really happened.”
“What? I thought this was going to be exciting,” Gallus said. “Where’s the action?”
“I’m getting to that,” Sandbar said. “Not much really happened that day. The next day was different.
“It started out seeming like it would be all relaxation and recreation again and not much else, but then, in the middle of a beach buckball game I was watching, the sand just ten, maybe twenty yards down the way started to shift around a lot. Think a pot of boiling water, but with sand. It was that intense. And then the turtles started coming.”
“Were they cute?” Smolder asked, then turned her face away in a vain attempt to hide her blush. “Um...not that I care or anything.”
“The cutest!” Sandbar said. “The game broke up after that as everypony went to watch the turtles instead. Some of them took pictures - in fact, I think my parents got a few pictures themselves. I’ll have to try to find them to show you sometime.
“But as the turtles came, so did the birds. Some of the birds on the beach eat sea turtles! They don’t have to eat them; they get by fine on other food sources during the rest of the year, but when they get the chance, they do. And not only were the birds swooping down to try to get them, but the crowd was forming into too much of a circle. They were blocking off the turtles’ path to the ocean!
“I quickly went from excited to concerned as I saw what was going on, and as a bird swooped down right in front of me and snatched a turtle, I knew I had to do something.
“‘Stop!’ I yelled at the bird. ‘Put it down!’ Surprised, the bird dropped the turtle, and I carefully caught it and put it back on the ground. As other birds continued to swoop, the crowd turned to look at me.
“I had never been one to talk much to other ponies, but at that moment I had no other choice. I stuttered a bit, rather nervous, but I told the crowd about the book I read and how they needed to get out of the way to let the turtles through. And they did! The part of the crowd which was in the way parted, and after that, everypony even helped to shoo the birds away until the turtles had made it to the water. Not a single one was left behind or captured for food.
“As the crowd dispersed, my parents told me how proud they were of me, and my mom pointed at my flank. I couldn’t quite see, but she took a picture and showed it to me. I was ecstatic! I had gotten my cutie mark, and I now I just knew that I wanted to learn more about beach life and help to protect it whenever I got the chance. I haven’t gotten a whole lot of chances yet, since I don’t live by the beach, but I’ve still done what I can. For example, I got my parents to ask the caretakers of the beach to put up signs telling visitors about the beach life - the sea turtles in particular - and I got them to ask the train stations to make pamphlets with the information available to beach visitors. I hope it’s helped! And I’ve done a lot more reading about beach life to expand my own knowledge, too. It’s one of my favorite things to read about!”
Sandbar paused. “And, um...well, that’s the story of my first turtle. It’s the biggest one in the mark, the one at the top.”
“Yona liked that story!” Yona said.
“It seems true to me,” Ocellus said. The others murmured or nodded in agreement. “Is it?”
“Well, I can’t tell you that yet, can I?” Sandbar said with a wink. “Hey, does anycreature want a snack?” They were passing by the market district of Ponyville, where stands were set up with all sorts of wares - apples and strawberries and much more besides.
“Sure, I could go for a snack,” Gallus said. The others agreed.
“Split an apple pie?” Sandbar asked. The group murmured in approval, so Sandbar bought the pie and a few recyclable paper plates and they began to eat while they walked.
“So the second turtle...mm...mmfh...the second...sorry, just a minute.” Sandbar said, finding it a bit awkward to try to keep telling the story while eating a piece of pie. A couple minutes passed as they ate, with him finishing his piece especially quickly so that he could get back to it.
“Ahem...so the second turtle was a surprise. It came about a year after the first one, and I had never expected to get another one. Ponies get one cutie mark and that’s it, right?” Sandbar said.
The group shrugged. “I think so?” Smolder said.
“Right, well...do you know the old tortoise and the hare story?” Sandbar asked. Most of the group nodded, but Ocellus didn’t.
“Chrysalis didn’t really tell us many stories when we were growing up,” she said sadly. “And most of the ones she did tell us were just fantasies about herself conquering Equestria.”
“That’s so sad,” Yona said. She gave Ocellus a hug.
“It’s okay!” Ocellus said, perking back up. “Thorax tells us lots of good stories now. I guess we just haven’t heard that one yet.” There was a pause. “Oh, please go on,” she said to Sandbar.
“Well, basically, the tortoise wins a race against the hare because it goes slow and steady the whole time, while the hare races ahead at the beginning and then gets lazy and takes a break, which lets the tortoise pass it,” Sandbar said. “But the analogy isn’t very important.
“Anyway, the second turtle showed up during the Applewood Derby. It’s a cart race that Ponyville holds every year where colts and fillies partner with adults who volunteer to help. They build the carts together, and then they race them. My partner for the event was Dr. Hooves, and we built a small, practical cart, not too flashy but still pretty nice. We painted it green to match my cutie mark. I wasn’t concerned with winning anything so much as I was with making sure our cart was sturdy and safe - the races were known to have multi-cart pileups caused by overeager or underprepared racers - and luckily Dr. Hooves was willing to accept that. Outside the beach incident where I had felt obligated to speak, I was still pretty shy, and I didn’t want to argue. I wasn’t particularly concerned with winning; I just wanted to have fun, and racing a cart would be fun so matter how well we did.
“There were a few different times when other racers came by while we were building the cart and taunted us - one of my classmates said something like, ‘Look, it’s Turtle Colt and his Turtle Cart! You know you’re supposed to be fast, right?' Dr. Hooves told them off, but even he asked if I was sure I didn’t want to make any modifications to try to increase the speed.a little. I shook my head, and he seemed to let it go.”
“Dr. Hooves is the one with the bowtie, right?” Gallus said. “I just want to make sure I’m picturing this right.” The group put their plates in a recycling bin.
“Yep!” Sandbar said. “Anyway, when the day of the race came, we all lined up at the starting line, Miss Cheerilee signaled the beginning of the race, and we were off! Most of the racers were trying for the ‘fastest cart’ prize, which meant you had to win the race, so they were off quickly, with us following pretty far back in their wake. In fact, the only carts behind us belonged to two of my classmates who were trying for the ‘most traditional’ prize instead - that prize only required the best replica of an original Applewood cart, so it didn’t matter how fast you went for that one. They were pretty good replicas.
“As we rounded the first bend, Dr. Hooves turned to me and told me something I didn’t expect - he’d added some kind of fire-based propulsion system under the cart that should give us ‘exceptional speed.’ Those were his words. He showed me a hidden button and claimed that he was sure it would be safe, but said it was up to me whether to use it.”
“Fire-based, huh?” Smolder said. “Did you use it?”
“You’ll see,” Sandbar said. “When he first told me about it, I just shook my head again. We were making steady progress even if we were far behind, and I wanted to keep it that way. That turned out to be a good choice, because before long we reached a point where several other carts had already piled up. From what I heard after the race was over, I think one of them had tried to go too quickly around a turn and veered out of control, taking another one with it and creating a barricade that the others didn’t have time or the ability to avoid.”
“Was anycreature hurt?” Ocellus asked.
“Nocreature was hurt, but the carts were in bad shape. Based on how many were involved, it seemed like only one had avoided it. Well, aside from the ‘most traditional’ carts, of course; those were still far behind us. Our cart was built for maneuverability, so we made it carefully around the pileup and continued on our way.
“As we were nearing the home stretch, we saw the last cart in the distance ahead of us. The adult pony of the pair seemed to have just finished putting a tire back on, and she waved as she climbed back in the car. The other pony looked surprised to see us there - she was the classmate who had called me ‘Turtle Colt’ before.
“They zoomed ahead just as we were about to catch up, and as we crested a hill, we could see that it was a straight shot to the finish line. I thought for a moment, then tentatively reached for the button.
“‘You’re sure this is safe?’ I finally asked aloud.
“‘Absolutely. I’ve tested it dozens of times,’ Dr. Hooves said. ‘Just push once to go and once to shut it down.’
“I steered us to a position where I was sure we wouldn’t hit the car ahead of us and then took a deep breath and pushed the button. For a second, nothing seemed to happen.
“‘Get ready,” Dr. Hooves told me, and immediately leaned back against his seat. I wasn’t sure why he had done it, but I followed his lead.
“There was a sudden burst of speed and we were practically flying down the track! If I hadn’t leaned back, I would have been pushed back, anyway. We passed my classmate, who was staring in shock, and as we neared the finish line, I pushed the button again. We coasted right through and then stopped. We had won!”
“Yay, Sandbar!” Yona said.
“Thanks!” Sandbar said. “As the crowd closed in to congratulate us and the judges hoofed us our trophies, my rude classmate came over and apologized. I smiled, she smiled back, and then she looked at my flank and seemed confused.
“It wasn’t until my parents showed me a picture again that I saw that I had somehow gotten another turtle, this one a little smaller, and down toward the right. We went to a doctor to see if I had gotten the cutie pox, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with me. It was a strange situation, but the mark seemed to be both real and permanent.”
“Did you ever find out why it happened?” Silverstream asked. They had reached the outskirts of Ponyville, but paused as they were about to enter the Everfree Forest.
“Nope. Maybe it’s because I hadn’t been using my first talent much or maybe it’s just unexplainable. My own weird cutie mark quirk, sort of like the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ unusual cutie mark trio. I’ve thought about asking Twilight about it, but I haven’t yet,” Sandbar said.
“What do you think it means?” Gallus asked.
“Well, the first one seemed obvious. I’m sure it represents the fact that I want to learn about and help marine life. The second must be more symbolic. I mentioned the tortoise and the hare story earlier, and while I don’t think the second turtle in my cutie mark is about being ‘slow and steady’, exactly, I do think it must represent my ability to be calm and cautious when I need to. Like a turtle making its slow and careful way along and bringing a shell with it to help stay safe.”
“But you did push the button…” Smolder said. “So you weren’t all that cautious in the end.”
“Right!” Sandbar said. “I’ve thought about that. And, yeah, I did push the button, but not until we were on a straight path near the finish line, where I knew it would help the most and be the least dangerous. So more specifically, I think it’s about being cautious and holding back until it’s time to make my move.”
“Like a snapping turtle!” Ocellus said. “You hold back and then you strike hard!”
“Maybe!” Sandbar said, and he laughed. “I like that.” There was a pause, and the group headed into the forest.
“This story seems true, too,” Smolder said.
“I will neither confirm nor deny that,” Sandbar said. Smolder groaned.
“Next story?” Yona asked.
“You’ve got it. So when I got my third turtle, I was a member of Celestia’s Royal Guard…” Sandbar said.
“This is the lie.” Smolder said.
“What?” Sandbar said.
“You’re supposed to make up something that sounds like it could be true, so it’s harder to guess,” Ocellus said.
“There’s no way you were in the Royal Guard,” Smolder said. “You’re not even old enough.”
“Well, I...um…” Sandbar said, but he figured there was no point trying to argue. “Sorry, I guess I haven’t actually played this before. You guys are my first real friends.”
“Don’t worry about it!” Silverstream said. “If this is the lie, then you kind of gave away that the other two were true, but it’s fun just to hear these stories. I love learning more about my friends!”
“Go ahead and tell the story, anyway, if you want. I’ve always thought being a Royal Guard would be exciting,” Gallus said.
Sandbar smiled, then continued, doing his best to sound dramatic. “Well...when I got my third turtle, the one farthest down on my cutie mark, I was a member of Celestia’s Royal Guard. She had sent us on a mission to protect the Turtle King, who thought that one of his advisors might be secretly plotting against him!
“But by the time we got there, it was almost too late! His advisor...um...Ludwig...or Leonardo...I’ll go with Ludwig...had already opened the mountain behind the Turtle King’s castle, which was partially - and intentionally - submerged in the ocean, revealing the giant mechanical turtle that he had constructed in secret to destroy the kingdom. It was at least five times taller than the castle! A unicorn member of the Guard cast a butterfly-wings spell on those of us who couldn’t normally fly, and we all flew up to its head, trying to find a way in.
“Before long, I found a weak spot in the armor. ‘Over here!’ I shouted to my fellow guardsponies, and we broke our way through. Luckily, the turtle hadn’t started moving yet.
“‘Ah, if it isn’t Celestia’s Royal Guard,’ Ludwig said. ‘I’ve been expecting you.’ He must have heard about the message the king had sent. Like most in his kingdom, Ludwig was an anthropomorphic turtle that walked on its hind legs, though still entirely turtle-like in form. Behind him, I saw that he had already captured and tied up...Daring Do!”
“What?” Ocellus asked. “Why was she there?”
“I like Daring Do…” Sandbar said sheepishly. “And um...Ludwig was trying to destroy the kingdom...so he could find an ancient treasure underneath it! She had come to stop him, too.”
“Oh!” Ocellus said. “That makes sense.”
“So anyway, the unicorn ended the butterfly-wings spell so that we could maneuver more easily in the tight grey hallway within the mechanical turtle’s neck. Ludwig didn’t seem to have a weapon, so without warning, I ran forward at him, pulling a sword from the scabbard attached to my armor. He dodged, but I was able to slice the ropes holding Daring Do in place. She thanked me and joined me behind Ludwig, who was now fenced in on both sides! Daring Do and I blocked his way to the controls of the turtle, and the other Guards blocked his way to...well, anywhere else. It was a tight hallway.
“‘You think you’ve won, don’t you?’ Ludwig said. ‘But I have this!’ He laughed evilly and took out some kind of handheld device - think something Dr. Hooves would make - and pressed a button. The turtle began to walk forward toward the castle!”
“Oh, no!” Silverstream said, raising her hands to her mouth and hovering just off the ground.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a story,” Smolder said. “Wait...does anycreature else see that?” She pointed, and the group saw a timberwolf mostly camouflaged in the distance.
“Yep, I see it,” Gallus said.
Ocellus shapeshifted into a giant mechanical-looking turtle and snapped at the timberwolf, which yelped and ran away. When the group felt sure it was gone, she turned back to her usual form.
“Good one!” Sandbar said, and smiled.
“It was the first thing that popped into my head!” Ocellus said. She smiled back.
“Let’s all make sure to keep a close eye out in case there are any more,” Sandbar said. The group nodded and shifted positions to better survey the entire area around them.
“Alright, so back to the story,” Sandbar said. “The turtle had just begun to walk forward when I pulled out a turtle-shaped throwing star! A throwing...turtle. Except it wasn’t a turtle; it was metal. Anyway, I pulled it out and threw it at the device that Ludwig was holding, knocking it out of his grip. Before he could react, the unicorn guard levitated it away and hit the button again, shutting the turtle back off. While Ludwig was distracted, Daring Do caught him with a piece of the very same rope she’d been tied up in - one of the pieces was still long enough after the cut - and thus he was defeated!
“‘You saved the day, Sandbar! Maybe even the world!’ Daring Do said.”
“Really?” Smolder asked. She had stopped for a moment, her hand on her hip and her tone teasing.
“Um...yes…” Sandbar blushed. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound conceited or anything; I just thought it would be a good quote for the story.”
“It’s fine,” Smolder said with a smirk, and she rejoined the group.
“So, uh...she said that, and then, uh...she gave me a salute, did a flip, and left the turtle through the hole that the other Guards and I had created. Ludwig was turned in to the authorities, and after all of the parts that would let it do any damage were removed, the turtle became a new tourist attraction. The end.”
“Wait, what about the cutie mark?” Ocellus said.
“Oh, yeah. And after that, I got another turtle for being, uh...ambassador to the Turtle Kingdom. Because I saved it and everything,” Sandbar said.
“It sounded more like a team effort to me,” Gallus said.
“Well...yeah,” Sandbar said. “That’s true.”
“Did the other Guards get turtles added to their cutie marks for helping, too? And Daring Do?” Silverstream asked.
“Sure, why not?” Sandbar said.
“Yay!” Silverstream said, and clapped.
By this point, they had reached the treehouse, so they all went inside to the main room.
“So how did you really get the third turtle?” Ocellus asked.
“Honestly, that’s the one I’m the least sure about, and there’s not as much of a story to it,” Sandbar said.
“Please tell us anyway!” Silverstream said.
“Yona wants to know!” Yona said.
“Alright, well that one showed up about a year ago,” Sandbar said. “It had been a long time since the second one showed up, and I had figured it was a one-time thing. But one day, when I finally decided to start trying to talk to ponies a little more, it just...showed up. It didn’t seem like I had even done anything.”
“Huh,” Gallus said.
“Maybe…” Silverstream started, then paused. “Maybe it’s because you were coming out of your shell! Or...you could help other creatures come out of their own shells? There might be a shell involved. Maybe.”
“Maybe,” Sandbar agreed. “It still seems like it came a little prematurely if that was it, but maybe it was just a sign that I was on the right path. I had been quiet except when I had to be for a long time, but I’ve been trying to really make an effort for a while now. I started getting out more, and when I heard that Twilight was opening a 'School of Friendship', I knew I had to enroll. And I like it! I really do. If you had told me a year ago that I’d be opening up to somecreature else this much, I wouldn’t have believed it. But I like all of you, too. So much! You’re the best friends a guy could ask for!”
“We like you, too!” Ocellus said with a smile, and the whole group agreed.
“Yona likes Sandbar!” Yona shouted. “Sandbar is a good friend!”
“Thank you,” Sandbar said with a smile and just a hint of a tear.
“Hey, maybe you’ll get a fourth turtle sometime,” Smolder said. “You never know.”
“Maybe,” Sandbar said, and chuckled. He walked over to a mirror at the side of the room and looked at his flank. “Still three for now.”
“Well, I think that was more than enough for your ‘share something about yourself with somecreature else’ homework,” Gallus reminded him. “We’ll all sign for it.”
“Right!” Sandbar said, and he took the relevant paper out of his saddlebags. “But you know I would have told you guys anyway, right?”
“Of course!” Ocellus said.
And they all signed.
The End
