Accursed Mark.

Getting to Vanhoover High School required no great amount of time or effort for the four ponies. Classes for the day had ended by the time Starlight and the Cutie Mark Crusaders departed from Sour Grapes' home, so they simply needed to follow in the opposite direction of passing students until they eventually arrived at the high school. Vanhoover High School reminded Starlight a little of Canterlot High School, only minus the friendly atmosphere and vibrant colors. One thing that caught the unicorn's eye was the sign which held the school motto in bold, capitalized letters which read "ALWAYS STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE, NO MATTER THE COST".

As soon as the four ponies set hoof inside this school, the sight of the bleak and bare bones interior gave Starlight reason to suspect that this school must be run by a staff that don't practice what they preach; she even wonders if Chancellor Neighsay even bothered to perform an inspection to see if this school even satisfies the standards of the E.E.A. In spite of these lingering doubts, the pale pink unicorn was still willing to give the school staff the benefit of a doubt. Utilizing her instincts from wandering around the School of Friendship, Starlight managed to lead the way to the main office where a bespectacled secretary mare with a short red mane and a pale-yellow coat was nonchalantly reading a magazine when the unicorn and three fillies approached her desk.

"Excuse me, but could we speak to the principal?" Starlight requested.

"That depends on who's asking." The secretary responded with a dry tone.

"We've been sent by Princess Twilight to help a student at this school, and we were hoping that the principal may have some useful information."

Not in the mood to run the risk of dealing with four ponies who may refuse to leave until they got what they wanted, the secretary placed her magazine down and pressed a button on her intercom. "Principal Schulz?"

"What is it, Janine?"

"There are four ponies sent by Princess Twilight who wish to ask you for information about a student."

"A princess has an interest in our school? Then by all means, let the ponies she sent come in."

"Please step in his office." Getting that taken care of, Janine was about to pick up where she left off with her magazine, until a sudden ring from her phone made her elicit an exasperated sigh before picking up the phone and saying, "Vanhoover High School, what do ya want?!"

Upon entering the principal's office, the four ponies found themselves on the receiving end of a jovial greeting from the principal. "It is an absolute pleasure to welcome you four to Vanhoover." Getting off his desk, Starlight and the girls finally got a good look at this plump stallion with blue fur and short patches of white hair that was the closest thing to a mane that's on his head; in spite of the gleaming grin that was adorning his face, the wrinkles around his mouth suggested that he probably has a habit of frowning. Upon shaking Starlight's hoof, the principal properly introduced himself. "I am Principal Schulz, though many of my friends refer to me as The Capitan on account of my distinguish service in the Royal Guard. And what might your names be?"

"I am Starlight Glimmer, and these are Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle."

"I must confess, when I was told four ponies who were sent by Princess Twilight wanted to speak with me, I was not expecting a couple of fillies to be part of said group. Are you three in second grade?"

"Third grade, actually." Scootaloo corrected him.

"In any case, please have a seat." Situating themselves upon their respective chairs, Principal Schulz wasted no time in obliging the four ponies' request. "Now, I understand that you're wanting information about a student in this school. I'm always eager to help out in any way that I can, so just tell me the student's name and I'll divulge as much knowledge I possess concerning him or her."

Starlight in turn delivered the name of said student. "How much do you know about a unicorn colt named Sour Grapes?"

The very mention of that name caused Schulz's beaming smile to melt away into a bereaved frown. "Ah yes, I'm quite familiar with Sea Worthy's son. I unfortunately had no choice but to expel him after he had gotten into a fierce fight with three of his classmates."

"Was this a fight that he started?" Starlight inquired.

"Unfortunately, I was not present at the time the altercation took place," the principal nervously admitted, "I was in the office when one of the hall monitors burst through and alerted me of what was transpiring. By the time I finally arrived at the scene, Sour had already seriously injured the three classmates that he was clashing with; and the sight of the three ponies he injured is too graphic to describe in front of three fillies."

"The cutie map never would've sent us if it thought we couldn't handle hearin' the more gruesome details." Apple Bloom responded. "Just how serious were these injuries anyway?"

"Well for starters, Firecracker had all four of his legs broken, Cherry Bomb's entire body was embedded with shards of glass, and poor Peony was almost burned to death. I apologize if I was unable to explain this to you all in more gentler terms."

"It's not your manner of communicating these series of unfortunate events that worries us." Starlight replied. "What worries us is the idea that many teachers in this school were aware that Sour Grapes was being bullied for being a blank flank and did nothing to deescalate the conflict until it was too late."

Feeling himself pushed into a corner, Schulz's eyes bulged out, his face became drenched with perspiration, and his voice had a noticeable shaky tone as he attempted to explain everything. "It's always been a fundamental belief in Vanhoover that suffering builds character; it's honestly no different from how the Wonderbolts will label new recruits with disparaging nicknames as a means of encouragement."

"Except we're not discussing a grown pony who's being subjugated to military hazing rituals," Starlight countered, "we're talking about a young colt who has spent most of his life being harassed just for being a blank flank, and has become convinced that he can't rely on any of his teachers to help him when he needs it the most. And there isn't even a part of you that feels just a little remorse for not stepping in to hold his bullies accountable whenever it transpired in your school?"

"Look, literally everypony in Vanhoover was bullied for being blank flanks the same way Sour Grapes had experienced, and none of those same ponies reacted to it by seriously injuring their tormentors. Hay, I used to bully Sea Worthy until he got his cutie mark, and he never held a grudge against me; I myself was bullied when I was a blank flank, and I've become friends with bullies after I earned my cutie mark. I was even willing to lift Sour Grapes' expulsion if he simply apologized for what he did, but he instead chose to squander it by trying to direct the blame onto I and the other school staff. I mean, it's like not we did anything."

"You not doing anything while Sour Grapes was being bullied is kind of the point." Starlight pointed out. "We at the School of Friendship would never hesitate to step in to help somepony like Sour Grapes who gets bullied on school grounds, and we especially do not encourage students to harass one another."

"Well not every school can be like the School of Friendship, and I can assure you that other schools in other parts of Equestria carry the same fundamental traditions of Vanhoover."

"If that's true, then I'm truly sorry that you and other ponies never had a loving family or loyal friends to comfort you when you were bullied." Sweetie Belle extended her pity to the principal.

"Look, we can spend all day debating on whether or not picking on blank flanks is right, but none of that will change the fact that three ponies are in the hospital right now. I admit that this situation could've been averted had I stepped in before things got out of hoof; I'm a knucklehead at times who does not always do the right thing, but I do care about my students. I was at Yakyakistan with students for a field trip at the same time the dragons had their brief conflict with the yaks, and I guarded my students with my life by using all the fundamental training I learned while serving in the Royal Guard. So I understand just how fundamental it is to protect students from danger.

"And if my word alone is not enough, then I beseech the four of you to speak with Firecracker, Cherry Bomb, and Peony at the hospital and listen to their side of the story. Of course, hospital policy typically only permits family and close friends to visit patients, but fortunately for the four of you I'm a respected figure in Vanhoover; so simply present this note with my signature on it to any of the hospital staff when you request to see the three students, and you'll be permitted to speak with them."

True to his word, Principal Schulz proceeded to jot down a permission slip which he bestowed upon Starlight Glimmer. Keeping the permission slip safe in her saddlebag, Starlight ended the conversation with a final inquiry. "Incidentally, Sour Grapes' parents informed us that he used to be friends with three ponies called Lovely Smooch, Violet Pride, and Blitz. You wouldn't happen to know where we can find these three?"

"From what I know about those three, they typically hang out at Hoover Park after school. So you probably should check there for them, although I would advise you four to speak with the students at the hospital first before visiting hours are over. If you no longer have any further questions, then I bid the four of you good evening and wish you luck in helping out Sour Grapes any way that you can."

After giving the bumbling principal a courteous farewell, the four ponies made their way to the hospital; or at least they would be heading straight to the hospital if Sweetie Belle hadn't had the sudden urge to use the bathroom. Fortunately, they happened to be next to a bathroom for the white filly to use. The delay lasted for about five minutes until Sweetie Belle finally trotted out the door.

"Sorry that I took so long everypony, I got a little sidetracked by the soda machine that's in the bathroom."

Finding themselves compelled by curiosities sake, the other ponies took a quick peek inside and were immediately dumbfounded by the sight of a soda machine that truly did stand inside this bathroom. Starlight found herself mentally wondering on what kind of knucklehead would possibly think that a bathroom would serve as an appropriate location for a soda machine, only to quickly deduce that she had just finished conversing with said knucklehead.

...

Starlight and the Cutie Mark Crusaders eventually reached the hospital without any further delays. Upon trotting inside, the four ponies approached a nurse pony with gray fur and a grayish-green mane with a faded happy face for a cutie mark as Starlight asked, "Excuse me Nurse..." The pale pink pony checked the nurses' name tag, "...Mirage. Can we see Firecracker, Cherry Bomb, and Peony please?"

"Are you friends or family?" Asked the nurse with a plastic smile on her face.

"We're neither," Starlight admitted, "but we were given a permission slip from their principal."

Giving the sheet of paper to the nurse, her smile promptly dissolved into a frown upon reading the form over. "Ah, you got permission from Sodapop Schulz himself. Follow me."

As the four ponies followed Nurse Mirage throughout the vast hallways that made this hospital feel like a maze, Scootaloo was the first to ask, "That nickname you gave the principal, does it have anything to do with that soda machine we found in a school bathroom?"

"So you've gotten to see what our taxes helped pay for our kids' education? You shouldn't be too surprised to find such a frivolous expense in a school that's run by a self-confessed knucklehead; of course, when he says knucklehead, he really means liar."

"You mean everything he told us isn't true?" Sweetie Belle wondered.

"Absolutely." Nurse Mirage affirmed. "Did he tell you about his illustrious career in the Royal Guard?" The nurse received a confirming nod from all four. "Well knowing Sodapop Schulz, he more than likely left out the fact that he never experienced real combat. He spent ten years of his military career on reserve until he and his unit will actually be deployed into combat. Then when Equestria experienced that brief conflict with the changelings, that coward chose to retire around the time his unit was meant to be deployed, and he got himself hired to be Vanhoover's High School principal by stealing credit for the valorous deeds my husband and the other members of his unit performed in the line of duty."

"Does this mean he also lied about protectin' his students during the dragons' and yaks' conflict in Yakyakistan?" Apple Bloom inquired.

"Not only did he never protect anypony at Yakyakistan," Mirage continued, "he also was never at Yakyakistan at that time; he was at the high school, attending a hoofball game. If I can offer the four of you any free advice, it's to take anything that Sodapop Schulz says with a grain of salt. But enough about that knucklehead, what exactly brings you all to Vanhoover? I know the four of you are not local residents around here."

"You're right, we're not." Starlight concurred. "We traveled all the way from Ponyville to help out a young stallion named Sour Grapes with his friendship problem."

Hearing that name made Nurse Mirage stop dead in her tracks to perform a doubletake before saying, "Ah, so you've come to help the pony formerly known as Happy Grapes, and you'd figured talking with his tormentors would help you four understand his dilemma better. If that is indeed your purpose, then bless your hearts. Truth be told, I'm quite possibly the only pony in Vanhoover who sympathizes with that poor kid; I was at the PTA meeting where he called out the entire schoolboard for never keeping ponies like him safe from bullies. Even though many ponies in the audience were cursing him as a malcontent who disrespects Vanhoover's traditions, all I could think about was how brave that kid was to say the things that I never had the courage to say myself when I was his age.

"That's right, I was bullied for being a blank flank too; and yes, Schulz was my bully. I had the same anger that kid let out throughout my fillyhood, only I was too afraid of everypony treating me like a problem filly for holding a grudge against my tormentors. So I hid my anxiety behind a smile, which is ironically how I earned my cutie mark, and I simply lived out my days keeping my true feelings bottled up. But enough about my sob story, the ponies you're looking for are in this room."

Stepping through the open door, Starlight and the Cutie Mark Crusaders found three ponies lying upon separate beds. On the left side lied a pink coated pegasus teenage filly with a frazzled red mane whose body is covered from head to hoof in stitches, and on the right side lied an earth pony teenage filly completely enveloped by a full body cast with only her eyes and mouth exposed, and right in the middle lied a fiery red coated unicorn teenage colt with a spiky black mane whose legs are encased by casts which are held up by a pulley system attached to his bed.

While the four ponies looked over the name cards at the foot of each bed to discern the three patients, the colt known as Firecracker was the first to notice their presence. "Do we know you?"

"No you don't," Starlight clarified, "but we know that your names are Firecracker, Cherry Bomb, and Peony; we also know that the three of you have been bullying young colt named Happy Grapes."

The very utterance of that name triggered a PTSD outburst out of the seemingly quiet filly known as Peony, who began to jerk her cast body all about from her bed while letting out a primal shriek of pure terror. The alarmed filly would've likely collapsed onto the tiled floor had Nurse Mirage not galloped in to administer a sedative to calm Peony's nerves. "Shh, there, there, hon. Everything's all right."

Once Nurse Mirage made her departure from the room, Sweetie Belle was the first to speak. "What gotten into her?"

"It was that name your grownup friend mentioned." Cherry Bomb explained. "Ever since that pony went berserk on us, Peony will experience panic attacks just from hearing his name. As for me, I can't even sleep without hearing Peony's agonizing screams as she was being set on fire while I lied covered in glass after You-Know-Who flung me through a window."

"And that little bucker also shattered my legs!" Firecracker cried out. "I may end up having to wear a wheelchair cart just to move around; and if that does end up being the case, then I can't wait to find that motherbucker and make him wish that he was never born!"

"Well maybe if y'all didn't bully You-Know-Who some many times he never would've inured any of y'all!" Apple Bloom shot back.

"So you're on that freaks' side?!" Firecracker felt appalled that anypony would side against him in favor of one of his victims. "Just who even are you ponies anyway?!"

"I'm Starlight Glimmer, and this is Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. We were summoned to Vanhoover by Twilight Sparkle's Cutie Map to aid somepony with a friendship problem; and You-Know-Who happens to be that very pony who needs our help. You-Know-Who told us his side of the story of how the three of you have harassed him and his friends since kindergarten just for not having cutie marks. What I want to know is what did he possibly do to deserve such ignominious treatment from you three?"

"Nothing," Cherry Bomb answered, "we simply followed the same tradition of teasing and bugging blank flanks as a way of coaxing them to discover their cutie marks the same way that our parents and grandparents have been doing long before we were ever born. But after seeing what pushing You-Know-Who to find his cutie mark got us into, I just wish I could go back to that day and stop myself from partaking with my friends' hazing."

"So now you're on their side?!" Firecracker felt betrayed by Cherry Bomb's remorse.

"I didn't make you push You-Know-Who beyond his breaking point, I was specifically telling you to ease off when you were taking things too far! And thanks to you a sensitive, quiet pony got turned into a raging monster, and we're having to spend weeks--if not months--in a bucking hospital!"

"Hey, I may have stuffed his head in toilets, shoot spitballs at him, shoved him downstairs, plant lit matches in his mane, plant firecrackers in his saddlebag, dump him in the ocean and made him suffer a rash for a year, smacked a tree branch against his face, spit in his lunch, and carved my initials onto his body, but I never broke a bone in his body! And if that crybaby thought I was rough on him before, then he's in for a whole new world of pain if I ever see him again!"

"Do you even hear yourself talking?!" Sweetie Belle stamped her hoof to the tile floor. "A nice colt who used to help anypony in need has been turned into an angry resenter because of all the horrible things you've done to him, and you don't even feel an ounce of remorse for it?! Has it never once occurred to you that you and your friends could've easily avoided the situation you're all in by simply being friendly to ponies like You-Know-Who the way decent ponies would've done?!"

"Oh cry me a river you little bleeding heart!" Firecracker refused to concede his outlook on life. "A little pansy like you wouldn't know anything how satisfying it is to put a loser like You-Know-Who in his place; and I'll sooner die before ever apologizing to an oversensitive wimp who could never ponyup and take Vanhoover's traditions in stride like the rest of us!"

The room fell silent for a minute that somehow felt like an eternity. Starlight Glimmer calmly approached Firecracker while piercing him with a stern gaze that only a disappointed teacher could give before opening her muzzle. "When You-Know-Who told us how certain ponies had hurt him for being a blank flank, I was hoping it was all embellishment brought on by trauma; but your words have ended up proving him right. If you had been a student in the School of Friendship, you would be expelled in a heartbeat if you did just one of the cruel acts you listed to any of your classmates. Nopony as callous and toxic as you deserves any of these well wishes written on your casts any more than a pony as sweet and innocent as You-Know-Who deserves to be tortured for not having a cutie mark. I would say that I pity such a wretched pony as you for being misled into believing that treating anypony as less than you for being a blank flank by parents and teachers who clearly should've set a better example for ponies like you, but you don't even deserve to be pitied. Instead I'll leave you here in hopes that you'll eventually feel guilt for what you've done, and may Celestia have mercy on your soul."

Once Starlight Glimmer swiveled her body to depart the hospital along with the girls, it was at this moment that Firecracker noticed that Scootaloo was standing in place at the foot of his bed next to the lever which operated the pulley system that held his legs in the air. Maintaining the same stern expression that was plastered on Starlight's face, the orange filly swiftly pulled the lever down which caused his legs to collapse with enough force to elicit excruciating screams from the unrepentant bully. "Oops, my bad." The pegasus filly spoke a tone that suggested that her actions were not entirely accidental.

...

The sky turned to dusk by the time the four ponies arrived at Hoover Park. It was a typical public park with green grass, plenty of trees, a cement sidewalk for joggers to run on, a playground for foals, a basketball court, some water fountains, and a nearby bathroom station. The ponies assumed the search for Sour Grapes' old friends may end up taking all night, but luck was once again on their side when their eyes picked up the sight of three teenage ponies trotting their way.

One was a white pegasus filly with a violet mane tied in a ponytail, the other with his hoof wrapped around her shoulder was a blue earth pony colt with a golden buzzcut, and the one was a pink earth pony filly with a curly magenta mane that the Cutie Mark Crusaders noticed bared a strong resemblance to that of Sugar Belle (with the one minor difference being this filly wraps her mane in pigtails).

Feeling as if they were on a tight schedule, the four ponies galloped towards the three unsuspecting ponies with Starlight being the one to start things off. "Excuse me, but are you Violet Pride, Lovely Smooch, and Blitz?"

"Yes, but who are you?" The coy filly known as Lovely Smooch timidly asked.

"I'm Starlight Glimmer, and this is Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. We were sent here by Princess Twilight to help out a pony you know as Happy Grapes."

"Help Happy?" Lovely said with fright in her voice. "Did he get hurt?"

"Not exactly." Starlight explained. "When we first met him, he had displayed an intense hatred towards cutie marks; his animosity for cutie marks was so severe that he specifically asked me to remove his own for him."

"Now that's a bunch of baloney," Blitz dismissed her claim, "nopony can remove a cutie mark." His confidence immediately dissipated the second Starlight showed off the very jar that held his former friends' cutie mark.

"Wait, I remember you now." Velvet Pride felt a jog in her memory. "You're the pony who stole the cutie marks of an entire village until Twilight Sparkle reformed you. How could you go back to your villainous ways after saving Equestria from the changeling invasion?"

"I haven't." Starlight affirmed. "I didn't want to go through with stripping him of his cutie mark, but his parents insisted that doing so could turn him back to the nice pony he was before he had earned it. So far, we've heard his side, his parents' side, his principals' side, and his bullies' side of this same story; the only side we have yet to hear from is yours. So tell us with one hundred percent honesty, did you three really forsake him after you earned your cutie marks?"

"Well of course we did," Blitz admitted, "it was either be one of the many ponies who have a cutie mark or be bullied for being friends with a blank flank."

The four ponies each shook their heads and let out groans of disappointment towards these teenagers. "Just who are you to judge us?" Violet asked with great offense in her tone. "I mean, do you even know what it's like to be bullied for being a blank flank?"

"Yes we do!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "My friends and I were teased relentlessly fer not havin' cutie marks, and we never once tried ta fersake each other just ta rub elbows with our own bullies! My own cousin did exactly what y'all did ta Happy ta us, and even she went on ta regret it!"

"It's not like we didn't try to welcome him into our circle of friendship again!" Blitz responded. "When he got his cutie mark, the three of us walked right up to him and treated him like a friend once again, but how does he repay our kind offer? By shoving me away when I tried to hug and telling us all to buck off! What else could we possibly have done?!"

"You could've just stayed loyal to him even when he didn't have a cutie mark like a true friend would've done in your situation." Scootaloo pointed out the simple solution.

"Maybe everypony is all nice and friendly from wherever you all came from," Violet retorted, "but everypony in school would've kept on making our lives miserable if we remained associated with blank flanks. So you'll have to excuse for wanting to save our skins over staying loyal to a friend with no benefits!"

"That's not true!" Lovely Smooch suddenly shouted. "Happy Grapes was the best friend we could've ever hoped for; it was thanks to him why we even earned our cutie marks. Blitz, don't you remember how it was Happy who gave you a hoofball for your birthday and encouraged you to practice kicking it at the playground which helped you discover your talent for playing hoofball? And Violet, have you forgotten that it was Happy who encouraged you to try out for the middle school cheerleading team which helped you discover your talent for cheerleading? And I especially haven't forgotten how Happy helped me find my hidden talent. One thing we did forget, however, was a promise we made after Firecracker, Cherry Bomb, and Peony first bullied us on the first day of kindergarten: we promised that we would stay together as friends, even when each of us gotten our cutie marks.

"But instead of keeping our promise, we each broke by abandoning Happy the moment each of us finally earned our cutie marks. And should you really be that surprised that Happy no longer saw us as his friends after all the abuse he had to endure alone, with nopony by his side? Maybe you two don't regret turning your backs on him, but now I wish I could've done the right thing instead of making the same mistakes you two made."

Her two friends remained silent while gazing upon her with how-dare-you expressions on their faces for ten seconds, until they each slowly approached her and Blitz said, "Lovely, we're gonna make this very simple. Are you prepared to end our friendship over one pony?"

"Let me ask you two," Lovely replied, "are you prepared to end our friendship over one pony?"

"It's been nice knowing you." Blitz ended the conversation while turning his back on his now former friend.

"I hope you enjoy not having anypony to sit with at lunch." Violet Pride told Lovely in a passive aggressive tone.

With the two teenagers out of sight, Lovely stood steadfast while desperately holding back tears that were welling up inside of her. With nothing better in mind, Sweetie Belle pulled a tissue out of her saddlebag and levitated it towards the pink filly. "You made a difficult decision," Sweetie told her, "but it was the right decision. You were brave to stick up for Happy; and since he no longer has the cutie mark that turned him into Sour Grapes, maybe he could be more open to an apology from you, if you're willing to pay him a visit tomorrow."

"Thank you for what you all doing for him," Lovely commended the four ponies on their noble mission. "And yes, I will visit him and give him the apology he deserves."

Once Lovely Smooch made her way back to her home, the four ponies were prepared to return to the hotel, until a pink earth pony filly--who was about the Cutie Mark Crusaders' age--with blonde curls that were somewhat similar to Cozy Glow's mane stood in their way. "Are you Happy's friends?" The filly asked.

"We just met him, but we are helping him." Starlight answered. "Who are you?"

"I'm Zuzu Petals, Happy would sometimes play with me or keep me safe from the mean ponies who hated me for being a blank flank. He once helped me find my special talent for making get well cards, and I made one for him to help cheer him up. Could you give this to him when you see him?"

Upon receiving said card, Starlight saw that the front contained a drawing of Happy Grapes with five different cutie marks encompassing him, and inside was a message written in green crayon which read "A BLANK FLANK SIMPLY MEANS THAT YOU HAVE LIMITLESS POTENTIAL FOR GREATNESS!"

Wiping a tear of joy that trickled down her cheek, Starlight carefully placed the card in her saddlebag and told Zuzu, "You're a very kind pony to have written this for Happy, and we'll make sure he receives it. Now you better go back home before your parents start to worry."

...

Back at the hotel, the four ponies treated themselves to a much-deserved room service supper before bed. While the Cutie Mark Crusaders left their plates entirely bereft of any crumbs, Starlight Glimmer had yet to even touch her food, as her eyes remained glued to the jar that contained Sour Grapes' accursed mark.

"Do you really think stripping him of his cutie mark will change him back to normal?" Sweetie Belle asked the pale pink unicorn.

"I'm not sure," Starlight confessed. "When I stripped cutie marks from the ponies in my village, all it did was tone down their talents while depleting the color from their bodies; for instance, Sugar Belle could still bake muffins without her cutie mark, but she could never bake other confectioneries or have them contain real flavor since she no longer had the very mark that amplified her special talent. So we need to open to the possibility that Sour may still hate cutie marks and be angry, but just not angry enough to want to physically harm anypony."

"Ya know, doesn't this kinda remind y'all when Rumble didn't want his cutie mark?" Apple Bloom brought up.

"I don't think so," Scootaloo respectfully disagreed. "He was against cutie marks because he felt they restrict ponies to one activity for the rest of their lives. Sour, on the other hoof, is completely convinced that cutie marks turn ponies' evil."

"Speakin' of which, why were you against cutie marks, Starlight?" Apple Bloom turned the subject on her.

"My dislike for cutie marks stemmed from the fact that my best friend, Sunburst, moved away from my life after he earned his. My hatred for cutie marks, however, pales in comparison to Sour Grapes' disdain for them. Which is why this cutie mark of his frightens me so much."

"When we first met Sour Grapes," Sweetie Belle chimed in, "I was feeling an overwhelming amount of hatred towards him the longer I stood near him. You all felt the same, right?" She received nods from the others. "As much as I felt hurt when he yelled at me, I can't help but just feel sorry that he couldn't have been born in Ponyville and become our fourth member. It honestly has me wondering if we could've easily have become as hateful as him if we never had one another as friends back when we were still blank flanks?"

"I know what ya mean." Apple Bloom responded. "Hearin' his ex-friends sayin' how they just up and ditched him reminded me of a series of nightmares I once had. There was one instant where I got my cutie mark before y'all, then y'all kicked me out of the Cutie Mark Crusaders since I wasn't a blank flank anymore. Then I saw an instant where you both got your cutie marks before me, and didn't want to be friends with me because I was a blank flank. I was so glad that Princess Luna had helped me get over it. I want you girls to know how glad I am that y'all never left me behind."

"We're all glad to have each other in our lives," Scootaloo concurred. "And you can bet that none of us will ever do what Blitz and Violet Pride did to Sour. We've all been through some tuff challenges, but I know we'll be able to help Sour as we've helped everypony and creature who needed us. Also, let's all look on the bright side: at least we won't have to worry about homework until we return to Ponyville."

No sooner had she said that did a puff of green smoke popped out of nowhere and dropped a stack of papers onto the table. Seeing a note attached to said stack, Scootaloo picked it up and read out loud:

Dear girls,

Cheerilee requested that I deliver your homework assignments so you don't fall behind. I hope you're all getting close to solving the friendship problem the Cutie Map sent you to fix.

Best of luck and wishes to you all, Spike.

Upon finishing said note, Scootaloo received annoyed glances at her two friends, while the orange filly could do nothing but sheepishly grin for committing the gravest mistake of speaking too soon, and while all three fillies also wondered whether they should be relived or peeved that Spike sent them homework on behalf of their teacher.