And Suddenly, I'm Fluttershy

Cutie Marks

Bartholomew

I turned to see what all the fuss was about, and then it hit me. When I say it, I mean an orange ball of fuzz moving at speeds previously unthinkable to orange fuzzballs everywhere.

The impact knocked me off of my hooves, and into the gravel of the pathway.

"What the hell?" I asked no one in particular, still too dazed to sit up.

"Did ya get 'er, Scoots?" said a southern accented voice.

"Hay yeah! She never saw me coming!" another voiced boasted.

I opened my eyes and saw three small ponies standing nearby.

One of them was yellow with bright red hair with a rather large bow. The other two were the aforementioned orange fuzzball, which upon closer inspection was actually a pegasus with purple hair, and an off white unicorn with a pink and lavender mane.

I looked around. The other ponies seemed to be trying to keep out of the way of the four of us. Interesting. I turned back to the foals and stood up. They didn't appear to notice me.

I cleared my throat and did my best to look at them sternly when they turned around.

"Anyone want to tell me why I've been assaulted on my way to the music store?" I asked them.

"We're tryin' ta get our cutie marks!" answered the yellow one. She was clearly the southern girl.

Cutie marks? What were those? I thought for a moment. The only thing that they could possibly be were the symbols on everyone's flank. I looked at them and, sure enough, they didn't have any marks.

One thing I couldn't figure out was their function.

"Define," I said.

"Define what?" asked the orange one.

"Cutie mark,"  said.

"A cutie mark is a picture like symbol on a pony's flanks or haunches, signifying the personality, proclivity, or talent of a pony," chirped the third one, who I hadn't heard a word out of so far.

I thought on that. These ponies had magical marks on their flanks denoting what they would do in life? That's... Sad. Really really sad.

"What? I read a dictionary," she said, blushing.

I realized that I had been staring at her.

"Terribly sorry, I was just thinking," I replied.

"We thought we could get our cutie marks in alien catching," said the southern one, who I shall now call Ribbon for simplicity's sake.

"Well, that's clearly not the case. So if you'll excuse me, I've got to get to the store," I said.

"Wait!" said Fuzzball, "What's your cutie mark?"

"Well, Fluttershy's appears to-"

"No, what was your cutie mark?"

"Oh, I didn't have one," I said.

"Did you not find your special talent?"

"My what?"

Dictionary (I'm a jerk) spoke up again, "You know, what you're better at than anypony else?"

"Well, I was studying neuroscience, but I'm hardly a savant," I replied.

"Wait, do aliens not have cutie marks?" asked Ribbon.

"Not to my knowledge, no," I replied.

"Then how do ya know what your special talent is?"

"Through experimentation, if you have one at all," I replied.

"Ya mean ya maht not have a special talent?" asked Ribbon.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"That's... really sad," said Fuzzball.

"I think that it's sad that your whole life is laid out in front of you," I countered.

"We have to find our marks first!" said Fuzzball defensively.

"And then what? You'll be stuck doing that the rest of your life. Let me tell you, as much as I want to know everything, if I did, that would take all the fun out of my life. And what is life good for without any fun?"

They sat there thinking about this for several minutes.

"If you'll excuse me, I've a few things to buy," I said.

"Wait!" called Dictionary.

I turned to her. "What?"

"You didn't tell us your name."

I smiled.These kids are awfully thoughtful.

"Bartholomew. And yours?"

"Sweetie Belle," she replied.

"Applebloom," said the yellow one.

"Scootaloo," chirped the fuzzball.

"It's been a pleasure, but I really must be going now," I said.

"Bye!" the called.

"Goodbye," I said, turning towards the center of the town.