The Very Rare Cutie Mark of Mara Dust

Chapter 2

A Pale Pony and a Blank Flank

Only a minute later there was another knock at the door. When Mara opened, the orange pony from the town square was standing in front of her.

"Hi, I'm Applejack, a friend of Pinkie's. Well, who isn't... But anyway, I'm here to take you to the party."

"So she did start a party for me?", Mara asked. "I asked her not to but--"

"Nice try, sugarcube, but trust me, when Pinkie wants a party, a party is what you get."

"So did she send you to make sure I actually come?"

"Nah, not really", Applejack answered. "She realized that you haven't been to Sugarcube corner yet, since you're new and all..."

"That makes sense. Well, I suppose it won't hurt to get to know some ponies.

"I noticed you in the town square selling apples. Were those from the apple trees I saw on my way here? They looked really delicious!"

"They don't just look delicious, just wait until you taste one. You know what? When the party's over, I'll give you a basket full of some. The Apple family is Ponyville's No. 1 apple provider after all!", Applejack said, smiling proudly.

"If you haven't eaten any of our apples yet you haven't eaten any real apples at all!"

"Mara! I'm so glad you came! I talked to my best friends right away and they all promised to come so here we are! Even though you said that you don't want a party but come on, everybody likes parties! And Fluttershy-" Pinkie dragged Mara closer to a graceful pony with a light pink mane "-said if you don't want one then maybe we could just invite less guests so you don't get too...uh,..."

"Overwhelmed.", Fluttershy completed Pinkie's sentence with a very small voice.

"But Pinkie", a purple unicorn made her way through the crowd, "that doesn't sound like you at all. Didn't you say the more ponies, the better the party? Plus, I counted at least twenty ponies..."

"Well, duh. I had to do sooo much work and stuff today that it's okay. There's still a cake and everything, aaand since it's dark, I started a corn barbecue! Come on, Twilight will take you to the back of the house!"

"And this is Rainbow Dash! She's the most amazing flier in all of Equestria, you should see her Sonic Rainboom, it's incredible", Pinkie Pie concluded the introductions. Mara's head buzzed from all the names. At least she would be able to remember this one, Rainbow Dash's mane was a real giveaway.

Mara had already taken some cake and grilled corn and had to admit that all of it tasted really good. They had played Pin the Tail on the Pony, maybe not the kind of game Mara was used to, but despite her expectation it had turned out to be a lot of fun. Nopony could beat Pinkie Pie, though. She kept bouncing around, constantly talking about why all the ponies she had invited were so much fun to be with. She had even sung a welcome song for Mara which had embarrassed her a little.

Now that most of the ponies were dancing and talking to each other, Mara was not in the main focus of attention anymore and started to relax a bit.

That was when she noticed that Pinkie had not actually introduced her to all the ponies present.

There was a very strange pony standing right next to Derpy. She was a pegasus as well but something about her seemed to be... off. Her mane was moving as if in a breeze even though there was no wind and it was a very pale blue just like her coat. But it was not the pony's general appearence that striked Mara as odd, not even the watery grey eyes or the blurry Cutie Mark.

What really shocked Mara was that she could see right through her. Everypony else, including Derpy, completely ignored the see-through pegasus, who stared back at Mara with a frown.

Mara felt reminded of herself when she saw the pegasus standing in the crowd but completely ignored by it. So she went over to her.

"Hi, what's your name?"

"Huh? I'm Derpy, I brought you the mail earlier. Don't you remember?" The mail mare looked a bit disappointed.

"Ah, of course I do, I actually meant - "

"Who? Everypony else is talking and stuff." Derpy did not show the least sign of noticing the other pegasus, who kept staring at Mara but did not reply.

"N-nevermind", Mara stuttered. "So, how are you? Do you deliver the mail in all of Ponyville?"

As the conversation went on Mara kept trying to include the pale blue pony now and then but everytime she mentioned her or tried to talk to her directly, Derpy shot an irritated glance at her as if she was wondering who Mara was talking to. Eventually she gave up and ignored the pegasus like everypony else.

When the party was over and most of the guests had left, Pinkie's five best friends, along with Derpy, Morning Dusk and three exited but slightly tired-looking fillies, helped to clean up the mess. Applejack was dragging a bucket of water to the fire and lifted it to extinguish the remaining flames.

"Watch out, Applebloom!" One of the fillies had started to run around, followed by the other two, and bumped into the grill. It fell over and spilled the amber right over Mara's vest which started to glow and then burn.

"Oh no!" Mara tried to extinguish the starting fire on her vest by hitting it with her hooves but it did not work, the fire just kept getting bigger. She started to feel the heat advance to her fur and began to panic, running around the room and looking for something wet to dive into.

Applejack tried to catch up with her, shouting: "Wait, I still got the bucket!", but Mara didn't stop. Her vest was on fire, why should she stop running!

She was stopped by Rainbow Dash who jumped into her way and gave Twilight the chance to use her magic. The unicorn's horn started to glow: the magic ripped the vest off Mara's body just in time.

The sighs of relief were followed by a gasp of surprise when everypony noticed Mara's blank flank.

"Errr, Mara", Rainbow Dash asked nervously, "what... happened to your Cutie Mark?"