The Very Rare Cutie Mark of Mara Dust

Prologue

Everypony knows that, given time, each pony discovers their special talent. Sometimes a pony has more than one gift, but there is always that one thing that he or she is best at, the talent which leads them to their destiny and is symbolized by the Cutie Mark on their flanks.

Many stories have been told about the famous ponies' Cutie Marks - but there was one pony that had the most peculiar talent. It was so rare that it took her way longer than most ponies to figure it out.

The most important reason for this was the fact that Ponyville was one of the most peaceful, quiet places in all of Equestria.... well, that is if you overlooked the weird incidents that were usually taken care of (and sometimes caused) by the six most famous ponies in town. But those were usually resolved so quickly that the time of real danger was short and very few ponies got harmed. Quite often the events did not even take place in Ponyville itself.

Our certain pony had already given up upon her quest to find her special talent. She had been living in Fillydelphia for quite a while now but her missing Cutie mark had made her most uncomfortable amongst other ponies. It always got her into the center of attention – who had ever heard of a fully grown-up pony without a Cutie Mark? It was the most embarrassing thing imaginable!

At first she hid away from the public, then, when she could not bear the loneliness anymore, she crafted a vest that hid her blank flank and finally gathered enough courage to mingle with the city's ponies again. But she had not anticipated her reputation so in the end the vest did not help at all.

Even her family was embarrassed being seen with her. Her brother used to pretend that she did not exist. He was still just a colt but had already gotten his Cutie Mark and her parents constantly kept reminding her of that, desperately trying to encourage her to try new things in order to earn her own.

Our pony did have some talents, of course. She could sing well, she could draw well - and she was even better at fixing old machines and objects. Still she had no Cutie Mark, though. It was very frustrating and made her really angry sometimes. It was no use, so she tried to forget about it.

So she hid, and after that did not work, she left the city to start a new life somewhere else, at a place where nopony knew about her blank flank. Maybe when she got accepted there, she would live in peace despite her not having any special talent that was worth a Cutie Mark.

Eventually that certain pony was bound to find out the truth – a truth which was both scary and reassuring, a truth that changed her life and that of everypony around her forever.

This is the story of the Earth Pony called Mara Dust.