Accursed Mark.

In spite of the daunting amount of homework the Cutie Mark Crusaders had received to complete, they were fortunate to have Starlight among them--who was more than willing to assist them. With their assignments finished, all four ponies drifted off to sleep. As Starlight Glimmer found herself entering the dream realm, she found herself surrounded by darkness, until her eyes spotted a large light from a vast distance.

Galloping with all her speed towards the light, the pale pink unicorn soon found herself entering a rather peculiar location. Permitting her eyes a couple of seconds to adjust to these new surroundings, Starlight felt a sense of DeJa'Vu wash over her once she found herself standing in the halls of Vanhoover High School, which are now bustling with the entire student body. In spite of the cacophony which echoed in every direction, Starlight's ears were able to pick up the unmistakable cry for help. Steering her head towards the sound, Starlight's eyes pinpointed what appeared to be Happy Grapes being ganged up on by his three tormentors. Feeling her maternal instincts kicking in, Starlight galloped at full sprint to break up this school brawl, only to be pushed back by an invisible barrier which she could not penetrate no matter how hard she tried.

Utterly powerless to prevent this altercation, Starlight could only standby and witness a helpless teenage colt feebly beg for a swift end to the cruelty that he's being subjugated to.

"And who's gonna make me stop?" Firecracker briefly ceased his inflicted abuse to respond to a battered Happy Grapes. "You honestly think anypony around here would want to help a worthless blank flank like you? Not even your own friends want to be seen with you; because blank flanks are not worth sacrificing over!"

As the callous bully was about to deliver another blow with his hoof, Cherry Bomb intercepted it with her hoof. "He's had enough Firecracker. We're gonna be late for class if you keep wasting your time on him."

"You two can go to class if you're so worried about being absent!" Firecracker swiped his hoof out of hers'. "As for me, I'm going to enjoy every second I get to pound this blank flank to a pulp that I can."

Watching the assault on Happy Grapes resume, Starlight could do nothing but bang upon the invisible barrier while desperately letting out cries for help that nopony could hear. What followed next was a truly unimaginable phenomenon; first, there was a blood curdling scream that echoed throughout the school, then followed a shockwave of red electricity which sent the three bullies careening to the wall. Everypony halted to have a look at the three ponies who are currently writhing in agony, but were immediately drawn to a bright flash which directed their sight to a now standing Happy Grapes who finally possesses a cutie mark of his own.

In addition to his flank no longer being blank, Happy Grapes' forlorn expression of constant suffering has been replaced with a look of pure hatred matched with a death glare that could melt steel. It was at this moment that Starlight figured out that she was witnessing the death of Happy Grapes and the birth of Sour Grapes; a change that everypony was about to experience the hard way, starting with his former friends who approached this sullen teenager.

"All right, Happy! Ya finally got your cutie mark!" Blitz offered his congratulations. "It took ya longer than the rest of us, but you finally caught up! Congrats!"

The second Blitz placed his hoof upon Sour Grapes, the furious colt let out years of bottled-up hatred as he shouted, "Don't you dare touch me!"

Retracting his friendly hoof as if he had been bitten by a snake, Blitz looked with genuine astonishment over having his attempt at inviting his former friend to his circle of friendship be severely rebutted. Wrapping a comforting wing around her boyfriend, Violet Pride spoke on his behalf. "Ease up Happy, he was just welcoming you back as our friend."

"Oh buck off!" Sour shouted back. "You backstabbers turn your backs on me and avoided me like a plague for years and you now decide I'm worth talking to just because I have a mark on my flank? Well buck you all!"

"Happy, please." Lovely meekly attempted to calm things down. "None of us meant to hurt you, we just didn't want to be bullied anymore."

"Oh sure, try to make up excuses for breaking our promise to never forsake each other even when we got our cutie marks that we made to one another back at kindergarten!"

"That was ten years ago, and we were only foals when we made that promise!" Blitz attempted to justify his--and his friends'--actions. "We grew up and understood that getting flack for being a blank flank is simply how the world works; frankly, you're just being immature by holding a grudge against us for doing exactly what you would've done if you had gotten your cutie mark first!"

"Then you don't know me at all!" Sour roared back. "I went out of my way to help each of you find your hidden talents like any true friend would've done, but you all chose to take my friendship for granted when it no longer benefited you! None of you deserve to call yourselves my friends, and I can say from the absolute bottom of my heart that I hate you!"

Before Sour could lash out at his former friends any further, his attention had caught the shrill battle cry of a charging Firecracker, who was inches away from goring Sour Grapes with his horn until the enraged unicorn lifted him high to the ceiling with his magic. Having somepony new to vent his pent-up frustration upon, Sour gripped all four of Firecrackers legs with a red aura as he slowly pulled them with enough force to make his bully wince in pain.

"Please don't hurt me!" Firecracker begged for mercy from the same pony he had tormented since kindergarten. "I don't deserve this!"

"How many times have I pleaded for you and your friends to stop hurting me only to keep on doing so?!" Sour shot back. "Would you have even considered showing mercy to me if our roles were reversed? Of course not! Because you're nothing but a sick sociopath who gets pleasure out of hurting ponies the same way a normal gets pleasure from a hug! For years you've made me suffer, now you'll get what you bucking deserve!"

With the help of his unicorn magic, Sour Grapes snapped each of Firecrackers' legs one by one and soon twisted all four of the already shattered legs to elicit deafening screams of anguish out of the red colt. Lacking the commonsense to run away the second Cherry Bomb risen to her hooves, the pink pegasus rushed toward Sour Grapes in hopes of tackling him, a plan that will later prove to work better in theory rather than practice. Releasing his magical grip on Firecracker resulting in him plummeting to the concrete floor on his back, Sour snatched Cherry Bomb in a red aura and sent her flying into a nearby glass window, leaving her lying back on the ground but embedded with a plethora of shards.

With two of his bullies subdued, Sour Grapes turned his gaze upon the third pony, Peony (whose appearance was similar to that of Pinkie Pie's sister, Marble). Although Peony was more of a silent follower than an active participant in the harassment her two friends inflicted upon Sour every day, Sour still deemed her to be fair game for his vengeance. Keeping her pinned to the ground with his magic the second Peony attempted to escape, Sour Grapes utilized his magic to draw out an assortment of firecrackers and cherry bombs that were stashed in the pockets of Firecracker's jacket, and the vindictive unicorn wasted no time in planting every firework upon Peony's body.

Sensing what he was intending to do next, Lovely Smooch rushed up to Sour as she tried reasoning with him. "No Happy, don't allow yourself to become an even worse pony than those three!"

Sharply turning his head to look at her, Sour smacked his former friend away with a firm slap from his hoof before using his magic to ignite every firework which exploded upon Peony. Screaming in sheer agony, Peony frantically rolled her entire body all over the floor in attempt to damp out the blanket of fire that engulfed her body. Sour Grapes was so enraptured by this horrific sight that he never noticed that he was being caried off in a magic bubble concocted by the combined efforts of police unicorns who were called in to respond to this transgression. Sour Grapes' stoic expression of malice never faltered as the police lifted him out of the school, while his classmates did nothing but stare upon him with looks of terror and hatred.

...

Catapulting her upper body away from the bed, Starlight awoken herself back to the hotel suite along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders (who were just as equally aghast as she was). "Did you three dream about seeing Sour Grapes injuring his bullies at school too?"

Sweetie Belle nodded, whereas Apple Bloom said, "I actually dreamt about seein' Sour bein' taken out of jail by his parents and gettin' inta a fierce argument when they got home."

"That's what I dreamt about too!" Scootaloo shared in astonishment.

"Do you suppose this could be a bad sign for Sour?" Sweetie wondered.

"We won't know for sure until we see Sour Grapes for ourselves." Starlight declared while making preparations for their visit.

...

The return to Sour Grapes' abode is a reunion that's simultaneously anticipated and dreaded; anticipated in the sense that the four ponies were eager to check up on his progress, and dreaded in the sense that the four ponies carried a foreboding hunch on the prospect that he might be worse off than we had his toxic cutie mark on his flank. But nonetheless, the four ponies understood that until their cutie marks began to flash, they cannot bid Sour Grapes and Vanhoover farewell just yet.

Delivering four knocks to the door, the four ponies stood patiently until they were eventually greeted by Sea Worthy. "You've come back to check on Sour Grapes, I reckon?"

"We have sir," Starlight confirmed. "Has he shown a change in his overall personality?"

"Well, he doesn't have the temperament of a volcano anymore, but the anger that's preventin' him from lovin' us again is still present. See for yourselves."

Being permitted to step hoof inside once more, the four ponies were quick to notice the living room had been refurbished into a makeshift classroom, consisting of a single chalkboard and a school desk which Sour Grapes currently sat upon. Levitating his pencil upon his desk, Sour Grapes watched with indifference as his mother marked each of his responses before providing him with her final feedback.

"Another one hundred! You never fail to keep your grade point average high!"

"You can butter me up all that you'd like, Sea Breeze," Sour Grapes replied with a subdued let stinging response, "it'll never change the fact that you failed me as a mother."

While Sea Breeze lowered her head in shame, Sea Worthy brought his guests up to speed. "As you four can see, Sour still hasn't forgiven us despite no longer possessin' his toxic cutie mark."

"I was worried he might not change," Starlight admitted, "but we'll still like to chat with him, if that's all right?"

"Certainly." Sea Worthy permitted. "Sea Breeze and I needed to go gather groceries anyway."

Finally noticing the presence of the four ponies entrusted to help their son, Sea Breeze informed him, "Hon, those four ponies who visited us are back to check on you. Your father and I will be out in the market, and we should be back by noon, OK?" Receiving nothing but a vacant stare from her son, Sea Breeze accepted it as the closest thing to an answer before turning to her guests. "Help yourselves to any food and drinks in our fridge should any of you get hungry or thirsty, and please take all the time you need with our son."

Once Sea Breeze and Sea Worthy finally made their departure, the four ponies situated themselves upon a nearby couch while Sour Grapes remained on his seat as he looked upon the ponies without blinking. All four of them took notice of the absence of the suffocating hatred that coursed around the sullen colt from yesterday, even his eyes no longer carried a flame of anger from inside. Taking the initiative, Starlight said, "So Sour, you were awfully happy when I removed your cutie mark. Have you noticed some changes in you?"

"Honestly, stripping me of my cutie mark did not lead to what I was expecting." Sour voiced his disappointment. "I was happy at first to no longer feel the intense hatred that accursed mark brought out in me, but despite that, I still couldn't bring myself to forgive and forget all the bad things my parents, my so-called friends, and my bullies have done to me. I may not feel like shouting or physically harming anypony, but it's clear that I'll never get to be the pony I used to be."

"Since you brought it up," Scootaloo changed the topic, "Apple Bloom and I both dreamt about you having a fight with your parents the day you got expelled from school. Did you really hurt your own parents?"

"I didn't just hurt them, I tried to kill them. After they bailed me out of prison, we were all completely silent until we finally arrived home where we could privately argue with each other. They both got on my case on how I was throwing my future away and that I should've known better than to use violence against my bullies, but all I could think about is all of the times when they told me I had to put up with those flankholes' abuse over me until I got my cutie mark, and how much I hated them for it. So, like I did with my ex-friends, I let out my true feelings to the ponies I used to call mom and dad.

"Sea Breeze was brought to tears when I unleashed my anger upon her, but Sea Worthy acted as if I was disrespecting him for calling him out for the uncaring flankhole that he had always been to me; so he slapped me across my face and demanded that I apologize to both of them. If I had still been Happy Grapes, I would've meekly given into his demands. But I was no longer that feeble pony who seemed to exist to be this world's chew toy, and I would never allow anypony to hurt me again. So through the help of my magic and hatred, I encased a stranglehold around Sea Worthy and lifted him high in the air while Sea Breeze begged for his life, until I decided to strangle her as well.

"As much as part of me wanted to go through with killing them, I still understood that they're the reason I have a home to live in and food to eat. So I violently slammed them both to the ground and made it clear that the mercy I showed them does not mean that I'm forgiving them for never giving me the love and comfort that I required, and that I will never see them as my parents ever again. When I went to my room to go to sleep, I could hear the ponies I used to call my parents arguing with one another; I mostly heard Sea Breeze chewing out Sea Worthy for hurting me, but they both understood that they failed me as parents that day."

Hearing Sour Grapes relate his attempted murder on his own parents in such an unnervingly calm manner left the four ponies stunned in bewilderment. Suddenly remembering a certain request made by a certain filly, Sweetie Belle whispered a friendly reminder into Starlight's ear.

"Oh, I almost forgot," the pale pink unicorn levitated the get-well card out of her saddlebag, "we met a sweet filly named Zuzu Petals who asked us to deliver this card she made for you."

Floating the card over to Sour Grapes, Starlight and the girls watched as the sullen colt read the inspirational message from inside, which elicited a single tear to slide down his cheek. Closing the card, Sour responded with, "I've been so caught up with all the bed memories I had over most of the ponies in my life, that I had completely forgotten about those fleeting good memories I got to share with Zuzu and the other foals she hangs out with. But after reading this card, it only saddens me more to realize that I'll never get to see her again."

"What's to stop you from spending time with a pony you legitimately enjoy being with?" Sweetie Belle wondered.

"I was still Happy Grapes the last time I got to see her, and I'd much rather she continues to remember me as Happy Grapes than forever live with the knowledge that I'm now Sour Grapes."

Finding herself feeling more and more depressed the further Sour spoke, Starlight took out the jar that contained his toxic cutie mark and shared an unexpected suggestion. "Look, it's clear that you're not improving after having your cutie mark removed. What if I open the jar and return it to you?"

Sour looked at the grown mare as if she suggested to ripe out half the population in Equestria to compensate for the scarcity of resources. "I just informed you how that cutie mark compelled me to almost kill my parents, and the first thing to pop into your head is to put that shame mark back on my flank?"

"We had a bully who gave us trouble fer bein' blank flanks until we helped her understand her own special talent." Apple Bloom elaborated her--and her friends'--greatest achievement. "Maybe that's the same case with you; why not give us a chance ta find out if there's more ta yer special talent than ya realize?"

"Do it and I'll kill myself." The four ponies felt as if their hearts briefly stopped beating upon hearing that sharp ultimatum. "That's right, if you put that blasted mark on my flank again, I will kill myself. My parents already live with the pain of failing their own son, do you honestly wish to hurt them further by driving their own son to end his life?"

"We just want to help you," Sweetie insisted.

"Help me? Where were you when Firecracker tossed me into the ocean resulting in me having a fungus infection for a year? Or when he shoved my head into a toilet in sixth grade? Or when he carved his initials on my belly in eighth grade? Why weren't any of you there to help me when it actually would've mattered?"

"We don't choose when the Cutie Map tells us to search for a friendship problem." Starlight explained. "We simply had to wait for the Cutie Map to summon us."

"Right, you had to wait. How much pain and suffering I had to endure simply because you had to wait for a magic map to tell you where to find me?" Feeling newfound shame wash over them, the four ponies silently contemplated over how to properly apologize to Sour for not coming to his aid under more convenient circumstances, but their train of thought was interrupted by abrupt knocking. Rising from his seat, Sour Grapes trotted to the door and twisted the knob with his magic, only to immediately have his mood be further soured by the appearance of his former friend, Lovely Smooch. "Just what the hay are you doing here?"

Taking a big gulp, Lovely timidly raised her lowered head to look her former friend in the eye as she said, "I heard that you had your cutie mark removed; I figured that you'd be more tolerant of my pressence without that mark of yours, so I can finally tell you how sorry I am for abandoning you back at eighth grade."

"You have no idea what sorry is."

"Maybe so, but I do know that I--and Blitz and Violet--caused you great pain simply because we were too afraid of continuing to get bullied for being friends with a blank flank to keep our promise to stay together. I can't undo what was already done, but I can still be the friend that you need and deserve if you will let me, Happy."

"Happy Grapes died a long time ago, and you helped kill him along with the other two false friends. I gave the three of you everything: my friendship, my loyalty, my kindness, everything that a true friend has to offer. And how did the three of you choose to repay me for helping each of you earn your cutie marks? By turning your backs on me when my friendship no longer benefitted you, and leaving me at the mercy of the very flankholes who made each of our lives a living Tartarus since kindergarten. You want sorry? This is what sorry looks like."

It made Lovely Smooch's heart ache just to look upon this empty shell of an embittered pony who used to be the nicest pony in Vanhoover, until he earned his cutie mark. "I will always regret breaking my promise to you, Happy. Blitz and Violet decided to cut ties with me after I made it clear that I want to seek your forgiveness. You have every right to hold a grudge against me, but can't you find it in your heart to give me the chance to earn your trust so we can be friends again?"

"We? There is no we; there will never be a we that involves you and me again. I may no longer have the urge to belt out a storm of rage upon you, or even try to hurt you the same way I hurt our bullies, but I still feel nothing but hate towards you for what you did to me. So the only thing you can do now is get the buck out of my sight and spend the rest of your days exactly how you left me: utterly alone."

Upon making his disdain for the pink coated mare more than clear, Sour stomped his way to his room to brood in solitude, while Lovely was left standing upon his open doorway utterly dejected. Closing the door behind them as they took their leave, the four ponies looked upon Lovely with great sympathy over the placid--yet turbulent--scathing she just received.

"At least you made an attempt at patching things up." Sweetie tried to console the teenage filly. "Nopony can say you didn't try."

"There's something I'd like to show you ponies."

...

Lovely brought the four ponies back to Vanhoover park, but this time she led them to a tall hill that stood in the center of the park. The only thing lying atop of this hill was a single oak tree, which contained what Lovely wished to show the four ponies. Upon closer inspection, Starlight and the Cutie Mark Crusaders perceived a heart that was carved into the bark along with a H+L within the center.

Quickly forgetting Lovely's despondency, Sweetie gushed over this symbol of love as any romantic would do. "Oh my gosh, I didn't know you and Sour were special someponies!"

"He and I developed affection for one another when we only had each other for company; he and I even attended our eighth grade prom together. When we left the dance, he took me to this very spot just to show me the engraving he etched into the tree with his horn. I realized that I loved him as much as he loved me, and I made the choice of having my first kiss with him, which in turn resulted in me finally gaining my cutie mark for kissing." Her sad smile slowly dissolved into a frown the more she reminisced. "I assured Happy that I wouldn't do to him what Blitz and Violet had done to us, but I was not strong enough to resist peer pressure. This place used to be a safe spot for me to unwind from the stresses of each day, but when I look at that engraving, all I can think about is how I've lost both the best friend I could ever ask for and the only pony that I could ever love, and I have nopony to blame but myself for bringing this upon me."

Collapsing to all four of her legs Lovely could do nothing else but bury her face into the grass as she sobbed over losing Happy Grapes forever. As much as the four ponies desperately wanted to give her some words of assurance, they knew that sweet platitudes would not change the fact that this teenage filly no longer has a single friend in the world any more than her attempt at apologizing could have undo the damage that had been done to Sour Grapes. With nothing left to say or ask, the four ponies quietly retreated to the hotel and left Lovely Smooch to grieve by herself.

...

The ponies did not leave the suite for the rest of the day. While the Cutie Mark Crusaders were taking care of more homework assignments that were delivered by Spike, Starlight simply peered upon the accursed cutie mark that still resided in the glass jar while deeply contemplating on how such a cutie mark can even exist.

"What should we try doing tomorrow?" Scootaloo broached the subject of their friendship mission.

Letting out a defeated sigh, Starlight gave her answer to the filly's inquiry. "I honestly can't think of any possible ideas on how we could help Sour. I think we'll need to consider just returning to Ponyville and accept this mission as a lost cause."

All three of the fillies snapped the tip of their pencils when they heard the grown mare's self-defeating suggestion. "You can't really expect us ta just give up on Sour Grapes!" Apple Bloom refused to be so easily discouraged. "We were sent here ta help him, and gosh darn it, we can't just leave him at his current state!"

"The map sent us here too late!" Starlight retorted. "If it had sent us here before he got his cutie mark, we may have had a chance at actually patching things up between him and his friends and family, but we instead had to help him when he's clearly far beyond reasoning with!" Taking a second to let out a calm breath of air, Starlight resumed in a more collected tone. "I don't want to have to quit on Sour any more than you do, but the fact of the matter is that the damage this cutie mark has caused him has been more than done. The only thing we can do is take bring this cutie mark to Princess Celestia's attention and hopefully be able to learn from our failure if we ever have to help another pony like Sour Grapes. Let's all just sleep on it and we'll discuss the rest in the morning."

With that settled, the four ponies tucked themselves into their respective beds and lied down until their eyes could not remain open any longer.