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                  Hitting the Cutie Mark                   
                  -by TheTalentlessPony-                   
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                        Apple Bloom                        
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Apple Bloom
A pair of yellow hooves prodded at a plate in front of them, uncaringly poking and disturbing a slice of apple pie that rested on top of the round white object called a 'plate'. The owner of these nervous hooves was Apple Bloom who, lately, seemed more rotten than ripe to the rest of her family.
Applejack, who was sitting across from her at the time, while not saying anything, raised a brow at her younger sister, wondering what was wrong.
"Mmm..." Apple Bloom mumbled, completely out of it and not even seeming to acknowledge the rest of her family. "Maybe my cutie mark will be an apple pie..."
Applejack's gaze sharpened. Was she still on that? She had assumed that Apple Bloom's 'ah-gotta-get-mah-cutie-mark' phase had passed by now. It had been months upon months of the filly doing all sorts of things in an attempt to get just about any image on her flank. Applejack wondered when her sister would finally realize the error of her ways.
After watching the younger tamper with the dessert a bit longer, Applejack lightly tapped her hoof on the wooden table, gaining everyone's attention; even Apple Bloom's.
"Apple Bloom. Stop it. Ya can't be gettin' all gloomy like that if ya ain't got a good reason," she said. Granny Smith and Big Macintosh turned their heads to the depressed-looking filly, who only seemed slightly engaged in what her sister was saying.
"Ah got a perfect reason..." came her voice in a mutter.
"Is that right?" Applejack asked, raising her tone somewhat as her other hoof came down to hit the table.
"Applejack..." Granny Smith murmured in a strict tone, hoping that the orange mare wouldn't lose her temper.
"No, Granny!" Applejack said sharply, turning to her grandmother and directing a hoof at Apple Bloom. "She's been like this for Celestia knows how long and it needs to stop here!"
"Applejack," Big Macintosh called, earning the orange mare's attention; though it wasn't the 'fine, I'll calm down' attention that he was hoping for.
"No, Big Mac. I ain't gonna watch Apple Bloom act like this anymore! She needs to straighten up, right quick!"
"Why!?" Apple Bloom yelled, standing up on her hind legs as her front hooves came crashing down on the table, slightly shaking the plate in front of her. "Can't Ah feel bad that Ah STILL don't have mah cutie mark? Besides Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, Ah don't think Ah've ever seen a filly mah age who doesn't have something on their flank!"
Applejack huffed. "You three are just late bloomers. That's all-"
"That's what you ALWAYS say!" Apple Bloom interrupted. "But it's been forever; even late bloomers wouldn't take this long!"
Applejack paused for a moment to consider Apple Bloom's words. It was true; her. Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith were all late bloomers for their cutie marks as well, but they never had to wait this long.
"...You're just... special," she tried. Apple Bloom wasn't buying it for a second, and Applejack knew it. "L-look, Apple Bloom. We just want ya too be happy. It's not like yer cutie mark is a huge deal or something-" The orange mare bit her bottom lip; she hadn't meant to say it like that.
Apple Bloom's expression softened back into sadness. "It's a huge deal to me."
"A-ah didn't mean it like-"
Apple Bloom didn't want to hear anymore; she removed her hooves from the tables and headed out the door.
"Tellin' me what to do like that. Hmph!" the filly huffed. She stretched one of her hind legs back, slamming the door behind her before running away as fast as she could. She didn't know exactly where she planned on going; she just knew that it had to be 'not here'.
She traveled swiftly along the dirt path, as if in a race with herself and trying to pick up an impossible amount of speed, then finally slowed down as she made her way into Ponyville. There was a decently huge crowd, and she was a bit on the short side, so she felt confident that she wouldn't be found if her family had chased after her. Obviously, that didn't stop her sadness, but it was almost comforting to know that she could have some time to herself without her sister hounding over her about what the big deal was about her nonexistent cutie mark.
Maybe Ah'll turn around and go to the clubhouse? Nah, they'd find me there fer sure.
Apple Bloom thought a bit more, her snout scrunching up slightly as she tried to imagine a place that her family wouldn't expect her to go. She considered the Everfree Forest, but nope; Zecora was there, and Apple Bloom visited her far too often. She'd been found out in less than 24 hours.
She sighed, doing her best to focus on where she was going so not to get in anypony's way. She was probably making too big a deal out of this, but she couldn't help it; she simply did not want to speak to her family at the moment.
Too bad Ah'm not a pegasus. I could go to Cloudsdale and just-
"OOF!"
Instantly, Apple Bloom wondered where all of her concentration had gone. She thought she had been paying a decent amount of attention, but apparently not, as she had just crashed into a plethora of pink.
"S-sorry, uh-" The filly glanced upwards at the face. Pinkie Pie, of course. How could she not recognize that fur coat?
"Hiya, Apple Bloom!" The pink pony greeted, seeming to have ignored the whole 'bumping-into-each-other' thing. Either that, or just forgotten. Apple Bloom never could be quite sure.
"Heya, Pinkie Pie," the yellow filly muttered sheepishly, giving a small wave of her hoof.
Be cautious, Bloom. She's friends with Applejack, so she might rat ya out...
Pinkie Pie's face fell slightly. "Aw, hey now~! What's with the frowny face?" she asked, her forelegs bending her downwards until her head was level with Apple Bloom.
"I-it's nothing. Just had a fight with mah sister is all... sorta," the filly replied, her frown growing more sour now that her personal issues were being pried into.
"Ohhhh~" Pinkie Pie said understandingly. "So, you're lookin' for a place to hide then, huh?"
Apple Bloom paused, wondering how one of the densest ponies in Equestria could see right through her, then nodded. "Ahuh."
"Hmmmmmmm~" Pinkie Pie sing-songed, putting a hoof to her snout as she looked around. "How abooooout... follow me!" she exclaimed, taking off into one of the alleyways.
"U-uh! Wait, wait up!" Apple Bloom called, giving chase. She worried about losing Pinkie Pie at first, but quickly realized; it'd be extremely hard to miss a bright-colored pony in such a dark alley.
Having apparently followed her through a shortcut, Apple Bloom drew her eyes to Sugarcube Corner, which stood proudly as probably the most disgustingly-bright building in all of Ponyville; then again, it was appropriate for someone like Pinkie Pie.
"Come on iiin~!" the party pony exclaimed, opening the door and bounding inside. Apple Bloom followed, though hesitantly.
Naturally, she suspected Pinkie Pie of leading her into a 'trap', but at the same time, the Element of Laughter didn't seem to be capable of such a trick. She also considered that Pinkie Pie was one of Applejack's best friends, but she could always hide somewhere if her older sister ever came by.
"Sooo... am Ah botherin' you at all?" Apple Bloom asked, taking a seat on the floor. The shop was empty, but the huge bag around Pinkie Pie's waist implied that she was probably doing - or planning - something important.
"Nope nope! Not a bit!" the mare replied, turning to Apple Bloom with a huge grin. She stared a bit longer, then frowned as she noticed that her smile wasn't returned.
"...Speaking of bits!" she suddenly said, putting a hoof to her chin almost thoughtfully. "I just remembered! I've got an order to cook up! Be right baaack~!"
Pinkie Pie jumped up in a panic, then ran towards the door to the kitchen, passing it by and closing it as fast as she could.
...Maybe a bit too fast though.
"UUUAAAAH!"
Apple Bloom jerked her head up just in time to see Pinkie Pie crumbled to the floor, curling herself up as she gripped one hoof with the other.
"Pinkie! What happened?" the filly asked, dashing over and looking worriedly at the wounded party pony.
"Ow ow owwwww!" Pinkie Pie whined. "Meanie door!"
Apple Bloom raised a brow. "The door?"
Her eyes rose to look. The door didn't seem demonic in the slightest. How could it have hurt Pinkie Pie?
But then it occurred to her. "Oh! Ya slammed the door and didn't get yer hoof away fast enough, huh?"
Apple Bloom accepted Pinkie Pie's whimper as a 'yes'.
"Aaangh, now who's gonna decorate for the party? I can't do it all with one hoof!"
Apple Bloom nodded in agreement, though slightly concerned about the usually-cheery mare's pessimism. While she was a great party pony, doing it by herself with only one free foreleg seemed impossible.
"Uh, Ah dunno. Maybe Rarity could come by and-"
"OHHH! I KNOW!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed suddenly, getting right in Apple Bloom's face, though only sitting so not to put pressure on her 'bad hoof'.
"Y-ya do?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Yes! YOU can do it!"
"M-me!?"
"Yes, you!"
"Really? Me?"
"Y. O. U. YES!"
Apple Bloom instantly wondered what kind of crazy influence Pinkie Pie must've been under. Did that injury mess with her mind too? Did she slam the door on her head by accident?
"That's crazy! Ah-"
"-Owww! Ow ow ow-"
"A-alright! Ah'll do it!" Apple Bloom blurted out; mostly from guilt. She hadn't meant to say it, but it was too late to go back now.
"Great!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, managing to unhook her bag. She handed the object over to Apple Bloom, who surveyed the contents cautiously.
"Everything you need is in there! Pinkie Promise~!"
Apple Bloom nodded, biting her bottom lip slightly. "O-okay..." She glanced over to the pink mare, only to stare in shock as she noticed that she was walking away! "W-wait! Where are ya goin'? Don't cha need to supervise me or somethin'?"
Pinkie Pie giggled, her injured hoof held tightly to her chest as she walked on her better hooves. "You'll do amazing! Besides, my poor little hoof needs rest, y'know?"
Apple Bloom looked back at the supplies, not wanting to make eye contact. She knew that Pinkie Pie was right, but didn't quite want to accept the fact that she'd have to do it without the best authority on parties keeping watch. She did need to rest though, and just having her sit around doing nothing might make her a bit antsy.
"...Alrighty then. Ah'll-" Apple Bloom stopped, noticing that Pinkie Pie was already gone.
She frowned doubtfully.
Geez. She's already gone...
Any confidence that she had shown before with Pinkie Pie was slowly dissipating, but that wasn't an excuse to walk out on her promise. Granted, she could always ask for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo's help, but she felt like that'd be cheating.
So, she reached into the bag and grabbed the first thing her hooves touched; paintbrushes. Obviously, they'd do nothing on their own, so she also pulled out paper and paint, the latter of which were in deceivingly cute containers that were a pain in the flank to open.
After much struggling, Apple Bloom let out a heavy sigh and rolled the the paper out onto the floor. If just getting the containers open was a chore, she couldn't imagine having too much fun with the rest of the decorating.
Still though, she put on a brave face and tried to do her best; this party had Pinkie Pie's name on it after all, and she didn't want to tarnish the party pony's good name.
Upon reading a note in the bag and realizing that the party was just a regular Ponyville party for 'anypony-who-has-the-time-to-come', she decided to try and keep things vague, but still somewhat unique.
"Okay, so... since it's a Ponyville party, maybe an Earth Pony silhouette?" Apple Bloom suggested to herself. "Or... maybe just the head and... huh..."
The yellow filly tapped her hooves on the ground in thought, ideas racing through her mind, despite the paintbrush not even being in her mouth yet. Was she overthinking things? Maybe, but still...
It was kinda fun just to picture the end result in her head.
Applejack'll probably come. Ah'll show 'er that I can do a whole lot more than just mope around about my cutie mark...
Hanging onto that determination, Apple Bloom took the paintbrush in her mouth, dipped the bristles into the paint, and got to work.
"Tick Tock Tick..."
Apple Bloom sighed, eyeing the clock warily. When did the party start? 6? She guessed that she made good time, considering it was 5:43, but she was such a mess that she wasn't sure if she did a good job. A great party pony did all the work without getting too dirty, right? And yet, here was Apple Bloom, blotches of pain seeping into her fur coat while confetti hung loosely in her hair. The latter only needed some light pulling to remove, but she was too exhausted to care.
Pushing herself up, she put the leftovers supplies in the kitchen, where nopony was likely to go during the party. She then went back out and hopped onto the counter, taking a moment to survey her work.
The paper banner was hung up over the entrance, an stallion and mare silhouette having been drawn on it. It had a light bit of shading added on as well, and Apple Bloom would've been lying if she said that she wasn't proud of how she used the colors.
A mosaic of fabrics also layered the walls; she had needed a ladder to do it, but in her mind, it was entirely worth the effort. She liked how it looked, and it was even fun.
A lot of fun, actually...
Now though, she was too worn to really reap the benefits. She just wanted to head home and get a hot bath before tumbling into bed.
She got down from the counter, then started to leave...
...only to bump into an entering pony.
"U-uh-!" Apple Bloom stuttered. This was the second time today, so she felt a little silly for doing it again.
"Oh! Sorry about that, kid," the stallion muttered, trying to be polite. "I was just... uh..."
Apple Bloom quickly became nervous. The male was looking around at her banner and mosaic.
He hates it, doesn't he? He totally hates it, awww geez!
"Who... did these crafts over here?" he asked inquisitively.
The yellow filly opened her mouth to speak, but closed it back up as she saw Pinkie Pie rushing downstairs.
"She did! That talented little filly right there!" she exclaimed.
Apple Bloom blushed slightly. Talented, her? That was stretching it a bit, wasn't it? She didn't even know if the stallion liked her things, so such a statement made her edgy.
"I love it!" the stallion cheered, looking down at the filly. "It brings a whole new spin on the Pinkie-Pie-Party formula! It looks great!"
Apple Bloom's mouth dropped. This stranger really like her crafts that much? She liked it obviously, but to hear it from someone else was such a honor to her. "U-uh... t-thank ya, mister..."
Not only that, but as more ponies came in, she got more and more compliments on what she had done. Pinkie Pie even seemed a little jealous of all her attention! Apple Bloom had expected to get a lot of ponies laughing because she wasn't cleaned up, but instead, she got ponies praising her!
Obviously, the compliments couldn't last forever though, and the party ended 'officially' once all the guests had vanished from the room. At that time, the two remaining ponies cleaned up the mess and went up to the showers, with Pinkie Pie heating the water somewhere between warm and hot. Apple Bloom was thankful for it, as she was still covered in paint; the party pony even offered to help scrub her down.
"Thanks, Pinkie Pie," the filly murmured, holding a scrubber against her foreleg and vigorously trying to remove the paint.
"No problem, Apple Bloom~!" Pinkie Pie cheered, scrubbing Apple Bloom's back and slowly making her way down.
"Ah didn't expect everyone to like my artsy stuff so much. Ah mean, it was pretty fun, but-"
"-isn't that the whole point then? Having fun with it and enjoyin' the fact that ponies enjoyed it too?"
Apple Bloom paused, thinking it over, then nodded with a smile. "Ah guess so! It was pretty fun to help ya out too."
"Mmhm! And don't forget the best part!"
"...Best part?"
Pinkie Pie giggled slightly at Apple Bloom's obliviousness, then directed her hood downwards. The filly didn't understand what Pinkie Pie was trying to imply, but quickly realized where the party pony was pointing, instantly causing her to cast her gaze down at her flank.
"...O-oh mah gosh..."
The paint removed completely, Apple Bloom was just now noticing that there was a mark planted onto it; a paintbrush, the tip of the bristles a cool red that seemed to be painting an apple. The yellow filly grinned wide, jumping up and suddenly splashing water around without a care in the world.
"Mah cutie mark! It's mah cutie mark! Finally!"
Pinkie Pie chuckled, watching Apple Bloom run around the room like her hooves were on fire. "Ah can't believe it! YES!"
After taking a moment to calm down, Apple Bloom sat down, staring at her newly-achieved mark. She was quiet for a few seconds, then looked over at Pinkie Pie. "Ah got a question though..."
"Yeah?" the pink mare asked in reply, wondering curiously what could possibly be wrong.
"...What do apples have tah to with arts n' crafts?"
Pinkie Pie didn't respond for a moment, then suddenly began to laugh. She didn't really have a proper response to the filly's question, so that made it all the more funny when Apple Bloom was jumping around her shouting, "H-hey! What's so funny? What'd I do?"
Pinkie Pie just kept laughing though, happy that the little filly had finally earned what she had been longing for all this time.
Although, she was even happier about the fact the she helped; it was just a good thing that Apple Bloom didn't know how good she was at faking.