A Blooming Hope

September 18th, 10 years ago

I sat in my room watching the clock tick on the wall. I felt more lost than I ever had, looking back at my scarred flank I could only imagine what could’ve been had I never gone in that cave.

Maybe I’d be playing with Cella right now, maybe I’d even get my cutie mark, and as I imagined I began to form images in my head. Sewing the scenes together, creating the reality that could’ve been.
And suddenly it felt.

Real

***

“Tag!” I shout gently tapping my bestie on the shoulder and fluttering away.

“Oh, I’ll get you!” She shouted, trotting after me.

I smiled with joy, landing on the ground to make it fair and trotting away from her. I stuck my tongue out at her. “You won’t be able to!” I yell.

“Oh, you’ll see!” She shouted, her horn sparkling up, suddenly she disappeared and then she was right behind me. She tapped me with a hoof as I stepped back.

“How’d ya do that?!” I asked in amazement.

“I learned it in a spellbook!” She smiled.

“It’s so cool! I wish I was a unicorn! Then I could do all sorts of cool stuff like that!”

“Even without magic, you can still do a ton of cool things, Willow Bloom!”

“Yeah, but the things you can do are so much cooler!” I say, a little salty.

I sat down with a sigh and began to hum the tune of a song I was making on the go. I loved music, especially singing, and I was pretty good too.

I stood up and trotted over to Cella, “wanna go to Sugarcube corner and grab some cupcakes?” I asked her.

“Sure!”

We trotted to the center of town, waving as ponies passed us by. The streets were bustling, and it was no wonder, with how lovely the day was. We wandered into the large, desert-shaped shop and I fluttered up to the counter and set down a couple of bits.

“Two cupcakes please!” I said with a smile as Pinkie pie sprung to the counter.

“Comin’ right up!” She said with a bounce, trotting over and grabbing two from the display with her bouncy mane and setting them on the counter.

I grabbed them and walked over to the table Cella was sat at, setting down the two desserts. “So... how’s life at home.”

“Same old same old, padded corners, overly-concerned parents, ya know, the usual.”

“It makes no sense why they treat you the way they do! So what if you’re missing a leg!? You are just as capable as any other pony! You don’t need four legs to walk, and you more than prove that!”

“If I’m being honest, I don’t know how you don’t see me that way.”

“Because no one should, you’re no foal, you’re amazing!”

Cella blushed a little, “well, you may be the only one who thinks that except Miss Cheerilee of course.”

“I shouldn’t be. You are amazing, one of the most amazing ponies I’ve ever met in fact, and as these necklaces say, we’ll be friends forever.”

It was those words that broke the illusion I’d built. I lay in my bed, looking down at the small half heart. Tears dripping from my eyes and landing on the sheets on either side of it. “If only I was amazing too,” I sighed.

Lumius gently nudged my side, I’d been sitting here for a good three hours now, I needed to accept my fate, but I didn’t want to. I grabbed the saddle that Lumius rode on when he rode on my back and put it on. I needed some fresh air, I hoped that it might just help a little.

I trotted down the stairs and opened the door, stepping outside and taking a breath. I wandered around town aimlessly for a while before coming to the largest building in town.

The crystal castle. A place I’d never been inside, but I knew they accepted visitors. The Princess of friendship was a kind soul, and I thought maybe she could help me.

I gentle stepped in walking across the shiny floors and stepping through the castle. I went past each door until I found what I was looking for.

“Library” I read the sign quietly to myself. I peered in and not to my surprise, sat inside was the princess herself. I’d actually met Twilight before, she’d visited our school a while back. I stepped inside and took a deep breath. “Princess?”

Twilight turned her head, eyes shocked for a moment before softening, “Why hello Willow Bloom, I’ve heard quite a bit about you recently, you were attacked by an Ursa Minor if I’m not mistaken.”

My nerves began to fade as she spoke, I stepped closer and sat down, “Yeah. But even worse the Doctors said that this scar I have is my cutie mark.”

Twilight nodded, “I was aware of this as well, my friend Starlight actually helped with some of the tests, since she knows so much about cutie marks. It must be quite upsetting.”

“It is, but even worse, a filly at school made me realize something else. With no cutie mark, I have no talent.”

“Well that just isn’t true,” Twilight said setting her wing on my back to comfort me. “Every pony has talents, a lot of ponies have many, even if their cutie mark doesn’t represent all their talents.”

“I guess that makes sense,” I said, wiping tears from the corners of my eyes, “but cutie marks are a symbol of destiny too.”

“Not always,” twilight said, “in fact, many cutie marks are symbols that represent past events. Think about Rainbow Dash, her cutie mark is a symbol of her first rainboom, but she doesn’t do rainbooms often, her talent is going fast and busting clouds, and though her cutie mark represents that, it doesn’t show it exactly.”

“When I think about it that way I feel a lot better,” I say, looking at the princess with gratitude, “thank you, princess,”

“Any time,” she said with a smile, “And please, call me Twilight,”

“Well then thank you Miss Twilight. You really helped” I said trotting out the door, my spirits higher, but my heart still tugged at by the feeling that I was purposeless no matter what.