In Which Blank Arrives In Ponyville
This here will be a little side project. Adventures will take precedence, but this was a nagging little idea that wouldn’t shut up especially after One Bad Apple. It’s just something to get the creative juices flowing when I have issues coming up with something for Spike. I don’t know how well it will go over, as I personally don’t like OC stories that much. But here it is ladies and gents: BLANK.
A pony’s Cutie Mark is definitive. It marks their talents, what they’re best at. They define a pony but at the same time, they don’t. Take Cherilee, for instance. Her cutie mark is three smiling flowers. You’d think that would mean an expressed talent at gardening, but her talents lie in teaching, to help young ponies grow. Rarity, the dressmaker, has a special talent: she can locate gems easily. She uses that to make some of the most magnificent clothing in all of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle is talented in pure magic but is a great singer, and Applejack is an apple farmer who is a skilled athlete.
They define who ponies are, and they don’t.
During childhood, gaining your Cutie Mark is a badge of honor, a race, cause for bragging rights, a rite of passage into adulthood and so on and so forth. Your peers could express admiration for your talents or ridicule you for them. If you were one of the unfortunate ones, a late bloomer who didn’t get their cutie mark as quickly as others, often times you could get made fun of. Actually. You do get made fun of. A lot.
Trust me. I know this for a fact.
And as odd as it sounds, there are some ponies that take a long time to discover their talents. A Cutie Mark is a mark of destiny, and some ponies have to struggle finding out who they are and who they’re meant to be. There are some ponies that get up into the late stages of adolescence before they figure it out.
Even still, there are some ponies that grow into adults before they get it together and figure out what they’re good at. Usually it'll hit them at some odd job they're working or an apprenticeship under a skilled master.
My name is… well, that’s not important. My friends call me Blank. I’m an adult male unicorn with a special talent in jack diddly squat. And where most ponies think that hinders me? I’m out to prove them wrong. A cutie mark, a special talent, a call of destiny… they’re great to have, sure. But I’m in charge of my own destiny.
Or at least… that was until I got to Ponyville…
It was a nice day in Ponyville. Birds were chirping and flying around with the pegasus population, while the earth ponies and the unicorns walked around town, going about their day. The marketplace was busy with ponies buying their groceries for the week. The smell of the fresh fruits and vegetables wafted through the air and mingled with the smells of the restaurants and bakeries, producing a wonderful odor that was unique to Ponyville.
It was in the marketplace where a white unicorn and a much larger red earth pony stood, carts attached to them. They were loaded down with furniture, strapped down tight. The two ponies made small talk as they made way to a simple looking one story house, right on the edge of the market. It wasn’t much, a few round windows and a red door surrounded by white planks for siding. A simple brick foundation supported the house. The two stopped, the smaller unicorn using his magic to detach his harness.
The unicorn had wild looking short hair for a mane that was a dark blue, highlighted with white streaks, his tail long and streaked in the same manner. He was slender and almost of an effeminate build especially when put beside his red companion.
With another glow of his horn, the unicorn manipulated a key out of the pockets of the simple brown cloak he wore over his body. The key went into the lock and the door opened. He turned to his companion with a grateful smile on his lips.
“Thanks Mac! I’m glad I could get a hold of you; I would have hated carrying all this stuff by myself.”
The red stallion nodded his head silently while taking his own burden off, before asking a question.
“You sure yer gonna be okay, here, Blank? You and your yer were pretty close, weren’t ya?”
The unicorn nodded, before looking at the open door.
“Well, it’ll take some getting used to, but it’s nice having my own place now. That apartment in Manehatten was just… well, Manehatten in general was just unpleasant. Too many ponies. Way, way too many ponies. It’s nice to be back here, where it’s quiet.”
Big Macintosh almost laughed at his friend’s ignorance. Back in his childhood, Ponyville had been a quiet place, but ever since the return of Princess Luna a couple years ago, Ponyville had become a focal point for just about anything weird. Given that his friend hadn’t been here since they were children, he was sure to be surprised.
“Well, Blank, if ya happen ta need me, I’ll be at the farm. Gotta get ready to plant some new trees. Come on by for dinner, Granny’s expectin’ ya.”
Blank grinned at his friend and waved as Mac walked away.
“Tell Granny and ‘Jackie I said hi! I’ll swing by when I get all this stuff unpacked, okay?” Big Mac nodded his head in approval while the unicorn entered his new home.
Memories flooded him as he used his magic to bring in his furniture, rebuilding it one piece at a time. It wasn’t much; Blank didn’t have the greatest income most times, he took whatever jobs came to him. Sometimes money would be tight, other times he could live fairly comfortably. The job he had just left in Manehatten had been a private security gig which had paid fairly well. He’d have stayed, but then…
Uncle Shoe Maker had come down with a debilitating disease that had finally taken his life. His funeral had fell on Hearts and Hooves Day a few months ago, and it had taken a while to get his affairs in order and his last wishes to be carried out. As Blank was his only living relative, he received a fair amount of money and the house that he had grown up in as a young colt before leaving Ponyville to find his destiny. A sad smile crossed his face as he began to go through a box filled with pictures of him and his beloved uncle.
He had barely gotten to see him before he had passed, and that had been his motivation to finally move back to Ponyville. Too long had he been wandering Equestria, and even parts of Griffondoria and Zebrica. With a determined stare, he looked at the last picture of his uncle and himself. The photo taken months before Shoe had gotten sick, at Blank's birthday two years ago.
“I’m gonna make you proud, Uncle Shoe.”
The unicorn turned his attentions to reassembling his bed.
With an exhausted sigh, the unicorn collapsed. He was mentally, physically, and magically exhausted. It was done. His furniture was all rebuilt and all of his boxes were unpacked. All it needed was a touch of organization, but looking at it all made him want to put it off until later. It was further reminder as to why he really needed to stop wandering. Blank usually traveled light when he left one place to go to another, but he couldn’t exactly do that with all this stuff. He laughed to himself. It was almost as if this had happened on purpose. Uncle Shoe had wanted him to stop being a wanderer, to stop taking up odd jobs and to settle down with a nice mare and give him grandchildren.
Realistically, Blank didn’t think he’d stay in Ponyville too long. While he was a bit tired of wandering, he was also incapable of sitting still. There was a whole world out there that most ponies never got to see, there were things out there to be learned that most ponies didn’t even know about. Realistically, he didn’t see himself being here next year. But it was nice being back.
Blank got up and smiled at his job well done, before looking at his clock. If memory served him, Granny Smith would have dinner ready in about an hour if she still operated on the schedule he’d grown up to learn. Granny had been something of a grandmother to him. Big Mac had been his best friend growing up and he’d often spend the night over there. He’d help with the housework and even a little on the farm, though his small frame made him quite ill suited to applebucking unlike his friend, but he did make it up with basic unicorn magic.
The unicorn magicked his cloak back around him. Most ponies would think this was weird, but it was a habit he had picked up. They’d pay more attention to his clothing choice, sure, but they wouldn’t be able to tell he lacked a Cutie Mark. The cloak also was good for keeping him warm on a cold night, had pockets for storing things, and kept him drier in the rain… It had its many usages, plus it added a whole coolness factor to his appearances. He walked out the door, and locked it, before heading towards Sweet Apple Acres.
Applebloom wasn’t used to visitors at this late of an hour. Usually, Granny or Applejack would cook a small meal for the four ponies that lived there and that would be that. Big Mac, taking his role as the stallion of the homestead (and because there weren't many ponies bigger than him so it made a great deterrent against trouble makers) would answer any callers that came by at odd hours. Usually, if there was company, it was one of Applejack’s friends, or her fellow Crusaders. But she usually knew about it beforehand.
So she was a bit surprised when there was a plate set for a fifth pony. She knew for a fact that both Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo were at their own homes tonight and Applejack always announced when one of her friends had come for dinner. But, Applejack and Granny were both busy cooking, and Big Mac was cleaning the house up. When there was a knock on the door, she was told to get it, and she was again surprised to see a totally unfamiliar unicorn with a bright smile on his face.
“Oh wow! You must be Applebloom! You’ve gotten so big; I haven’t seen you since you were a baby! What's for din-”
Applebloom panicked and slammed the door in his face.
Applejack, who had decided to investigate the loud slam after hearing a male's voice, happened to see the unicorn outside the window. The blonde maned Earth Pony walked into the entryway of her home, laughing. Her trademark Stetson was not on her head but an excited and mischievous look was in her eyes. She opened the door and laughed even harder as she saw the visitor rubbing his horn with his hoof, before tackling the visitor with a hug.
“It’s been a long time, Blanky!”
Well, guys, it ain’t much. Like I said, it’s mostly just a side thing to Adventures. Hopefully I can push past this writer’s block now. This hit me as I was watching one of the Crusader centric episodes and when Babs made her appearance I just couldn't put the idea down, so I got to thinking about how it kind of is weird that every pony in existence finds a special talent of their own before even being an adult, when us humans… well, sometimes, we go our entire lives just searching for our destinies, not to mention that we've actually seen a few adult minor background ponies without cutie marks. I kind of like to think that they're something of a minority that get pushed into jobs by a method similar to temporary agencies. Whether I actually continue this story to any major degree is largely dependent on your feedback, dear readers. This is my first OC story since I was literally about 13 and I’m actually pretty nervous.
I’ll see ya in the comments!
