Mystery's Mark

Twilight was getting frustrated. Everything she thought would, at worst, result in Mystery not getting a mark, ended up turning into a complete disaster. Every one of her friends had tried to help, and not one succeeded. “One more chance,” She said with her head and ears lowered. Her teeth gritted and her eyes in a leer. “There’s only one more thing I can possibly think of that you might be able to do, and I’m prepared for the worst of the worst to come up when you fail it.”

“I’m so glad you’re confident in my skills,” Mystery replied to her casually as the pair traveled in town. Mystery had his robe on again to prevent being noticed by the local ponies too.

“I’d be MORE confident if-“ Twilight paused as she approached the large tree that was her home. “You know what, we’ve already went through that. There’s nothing you have done today that hasn’t resulted in a complete disaster in one form or another.” Twilight opened the door to the vast amount of books on the shelves and Spike waiting for her.

“Hey Twilight,” Spike said with a smile. He was in the middle of some dusting as she came in, thankfully Applejack didn’t keep him all day. “How did Rainbow Dash go?” before he got an answer though; he noticed the other pony that accompanied her. He recalled who wore the robe earlier, and it could only have been the same pony. “That bad, huh?”

“Rainbow Dash got struck with lightning so many times that she can provide power to Ponyville for most of the day,” Twilight responded with a huff. “Mystery is getting one more chance here. I’m giving him a very simple task, one so simple that a rock could do it.”

“What is it?” Spike had to ask.

“He’s going to watch you. Dragon sit.”

“What?!” Spike’s jaw dropped. He had to reach down under his jaw and lift it back into place. “You’re kidding! You’ve seen everything that he’s done; you’ve told me everything he’s done. I don’t want to become Spike, the late dragon, because of him!”

“I’m going to be upstairs if you need me.” Twilight spoke as if Spike hadn’t said a word. She suddenly turned and made her way up the staircase, leaving Spike alone with Mystery.

Mystery eyed Spike momentarily. He remembered this dragon, but not as well as the other ponies for a reason he just couldn’t place. “I used to watch my brother all the time. It shouldn’t be difficult at all.” He turned away and glanced briefly at the door. “Although.” He glanced back at Spike. “He never spoke up if he was hungry. I could only take a guess when he was. Perhaps we should get food out of the way now, so we don’t have to worry about it later.”

Spike gulped as he backed against a bookshelf. “N-No really, I’m fine. I don’t need any food or anything. I can tell you when I’m hungry or need something.” Spike feared for the worst from this pony. What would he do to him? Why was Twilight insane enough to leave the two alone?!

“Nonsense.” Mystery’s horn glowed as Spike started to rise up off of the floor. His body floated into Twilight’s kitchen with Mystery casually strolling along behind it.

Twilight, in the meantime, was upstairs. She was reviewing logs she had written about that fateful day with Mystery, and about how today was going. She was starting to loathe the idea of spending any more time with this pony. “The minute he gets that mark,” she grumbled as she lied on the bed, writing down with a feathered pen using her magic. “He is out of here.”

As Twilight wrote down her notes, suddenly a loud crash was heard from downstairs, causing her pen to suddenly shift up and down rapidly as it wrote. Twilight dropped the pen and gave an angry shout. “What now?!” she ran down stairs just in time to see Spike running out of the kitchen. Spike was wearing, what looked like, a pink baby bonnet and a diaper with a hole just large enough for his tail. A pacifier stuck in his mouth as it looked like he was running for his life.

“I don’t eat salad! I don’t need a highchair, and I don’t wear baby clothes!” Spike shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran into a different room downstairs.

Mystery wasn’t far behind him, chasing the dragon with his horn glowing and a highchair floating just behind him as he followed him into the next room.

Twilight’s ears lowered as her eyes glared at the front door. She heard another crash just in time for her head to lower and to see Spike running again, wearing the exact same humiliating outfit as before.

"I don’t need a diaper change!” Spike cried out, running into another room as Mystery chased him. Mystery’s horn continued to glow as baby powder floated with him this time.

Twilight was saying absolutely nothing. She was doing absolutely nothing. She continued to stand on the staircase glaring at the door. What was Mystery doing to poor Spike?! She hesitated to get between the pair; just in case things, at least somehow, went better.

“No! NO!” Spike shouted and ran from the other room again. The sound of a drill could be heard as Mystery chased spike with a large yellow drill, carried and activated with his magic. Mystery himself was wearing a hockey mask now too, for some strange reason.

Now Twilight had enough. She used her own magic to teleport directly from the staircase in front of the masked Mystery, causing the pony to come to a halt. “What in Celestia’s name are you DOING?!” Twilight yelled at the top of her lungs. “What’s with the baby outfit? What’s with the drill? What is with the hockey mask?!”
Mystery’s hockey mask lifted up as the drill continued whirring. “It looked like Spike had…a cavity.” Mystery admitted sheepishly. “I was trying to get it out. The mask was to try to prevent him from being so afraid. I hear toys and masks can calm kids down.”

Twilight’s eyes burned with anger. “That is IT! I’ve HAD it with you! I don’t know where you got the drill from, but I know a place where you can stick it!”

Mystery tilted his head, confused by her tone. “You have a cavity too?” he had to ask.

“NO!” Twilight said as she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Just forget it! Forget watching Spike, forget me helping you, and forget a cutie mark! Everything we’ve done today has ended up becoming nothing short of a complete and total disaster because of you! I don’t care what the princess says. I! GIVE! UP!”

Mystery was quiet for a moment. The drill and mask vanished in a puff of gray smoke. He looked down briefly before glancing back at her. “You know everything on the list ended up turning into something like this. I can’t count how many enemies I’ve made by trying to get my mark. As it stands, angry mobs wait for me in nearly every town I’ve been in. I understand though, I’ll go pack my bags and head out.” With that, the pony turned and left Twilight’s home.

Twilight gave a frustrated sigh. Her eyes turned only briefly to see Spike come back to her side wearing the same humiliating outfit as before. “Is he gone?” the dragon had to ask.

“Yes. He’s gone, just like my chances of making Celestia happy are.” Twilight responded. She didn’t bother helping Spike out of his baby clothes; instead she immediately used her magic to get a blank parchment and a pen. “Dear Princess Celestia, it is with great regret that I write you this letter. I have been unable to assist Mystery getting his cutie mark. All of my friends have tried their hardest, only for Mystery to leave catastrophe as a result. From what it looks like, he intends to leave Ponyville on his own. I’m sorry I could not have been any help with earning his mark. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” She spoke as she wrote the letter. The parchment then folded up and was put in front of Spike. “Send it.” She said, trying not to hold any regrets.

Spike scratched the top of his head for a moment before he agreed and sent the letter, blowing on it causing it to vanish in his hands. “I’m sorry, Twilight. You did your best, and I know that’s what Celestia wants.”

“I know Spike. Still, I wish I could have made her proud.” She looked up to the ceiling and then down at him. She suddenly broke into a small smile. “Let’s get those baby clothes off of you.”

“Finally!” Spike shouted happily. Before Twilight got a chance to get close though, his mouth suddenly became full as he belched up a parchment only moments after Twilight had sent her own.

“That was fast.” Twilight had to admit as she took the letter and unfolded it, reading it aloud. “To my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, I believe you misunderstood the letter I sent earlier today. I didn’t ask you to help him with his cutie mark, I simply asked you to be his friend. You can likely already tell as to why he has no friends, and I want you to be the one to change that.”

Twilight was baffled. Being…friends with Mystery? That’s all she wanted? Could Twilight even do that? She had heard of all of the things Mystery had done, she had SEEN all of the things Mystery had done. Thinking back on it though, it was all in an attempt to earn a cutie mark. He didn’t harm anypony in the process, except maybe Rainbow Dash. Even Twilight could point out that the incident was nothing short of an accident. “His…friend. I have to get to him before it’s too late.” Twilight said and suddenly ran as fast as her hooves could take her, forcing the front door open. She had to get to Mystery.

“What about me?!” Spike shouted as Twilight left him alone once again. He stood still with his legs spread as suddenly the diaper he wore dropped down to his feet.

It took some time before Twilight reached Mystery’s house. She knocked on it as hard as her hooves could as her tongue hung out and she panted like an exhausted dog. She had never run that fast before in her life! “Mystery, open up!”

The door opened in only a short time as Mystery stood on the other side. Behind him, boxes were already packed and the living room looked bare of anything except a small couch. “What? I’m leaving. You don’t need to worry about me anymore.”

“Mystery,” Twilight spoke. “You…I…Celestia…” she decided it was best to give herself a moment to recover and regain her posture. “Look, I know we’ve had our differences, but I know that you’re trying your hardest to be the best pony you can be in Ponyville. I think we should take a break on the cutie marks and just be…you know…f…fri…” Twilight could hardly get the word out of her mouth. It wasn’t that she was out of breath; it was just hard for her to ever call this pony, the one that wrecked Canterlot, by that word.

“Friend?” Mystery finished her sentence. “Celestia is ordering you to, isn’t she?” he rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to be anyone’s friend when they’re forced to. I’ve got packing to do.”

“N-n…yes,” Twilight admitted. She couldn’t lie to him; it would only make the situation worse. “Celestia wants me to be your friend. After all you’ve done today; I was ready to have nothing to do with you too. I know you were only trying to get your cutie mark though. I know your intentions are at least in the right place. I want to try one more thing with you, one more thing that is not about a cutie mark.”

Mystery hesitated for a moment before giving a small nod. “Fine…” he said quietly.

Twilight gave a soft smile. “Good, wait here. I’m going to go gather up some ponies. I’ll be back.” Twilight got an idea in her head for him. She ran off just as quickly as she had arrived at his house, leaving the gray pony alone.

Some time later…

A large picnic table was set up just behind Mystery’s house with a red and white checkered sheet covering it. Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike, were all sitting there with Mystery at the far end. Most of the ponies were talking to each other and eating out of the three picnic baskets there while Mystery was mostly quiet.

Pinkie suddenly nudged Mystery. “What’s with all the silence down here?” she said, encouraging the pony to speak. The rest of the ponies quieted down a bit as they heard Pinkie speaking to Mystery.

Mystery looked to Pinkie. A smile didn’t even cross his face. “How can you all be so…happy? You don’t remember what I’ve done to all of you? Especially what I’ve done today?”

“Yeah, but we know you’re a different pony now!” Pinkie said and suddenly hugged Mystery from behind. “You’re MY friend for being so funny! I still remember all of that pie goo!”

“And…I guess it takes a…unique pony to make such an outfit.” Rarity added as she looked to Mystery. She didn’t even want to recall what it looked like. “Anypony that unique has to have some qualities about him that I want to learn more of.”

“And, even though you wrecked so many of my trees, you clearly have a lot of strength in your hooves. I can respect that!” Applejack spoke up.

“Not to mention, being able to get all the bunnies to work together like that. It’s so hard to get them to cooperate at times,” Fluttershy said quietly.

Rainbow Dash was quiet at first, at least until Pinkie rushed over and nudged her lightly. “And…I guess the lightning was pretty cool. Just try to avoid striking me with it, I can’t touch a pony without a static shock.”

“And…I think you just need some lessons about babysitting,” Spike finally said at the end. Thankfully, he was free from his baby clothes Mystery had put on him earlier.

“See, Mystery? You have friends here. It’s hard to get away from past mistakes, but I think with time, you’ll make a lot more friends if you stay in Ponyville.”

Mystery felt like he could hardly breathe. He used his magic to get Pinkie off of him before taking a deep breath. “I don’t know what to say. I…suppose I can give Ponyville another chance.” Though he never did say why, and he likely wouldn’t admit it either.

“YAY!” Pinkie jumped onto the picnic table and performed a cartwheel. “A new friend! I want to know EVERYTHING about you now! Where are you from? What’s your favorite fruit? What’s your mother’s maiden name?!” What is-“ A zipper suddenly appeared from one end of Pinkies mouth and ran across it, sealing her mouth shut.

“Don’t push it, Pinkie.” Mystery closed his eyes.

Pinkie glared at him briefly before responding with another huge hug. Her zipped up lips could still form a grin on her face. She reached behind her and suddenly smacked Mystery with brown pie goop that she had been saving from earlier.

The rest of the ponies couldn’t help but laugh as they watched. Mystery’s face was nothing short of a grimace at first, but soon, cracked a small smile.