On Your Mark

Usually, when Apple Bloom was feeling down, she would go to Applejack.  Given the thorough chewing out she’d just received from her older sister, however, that wasn’t really an option this time.  Thus it was that she instead found herself with Zecora’s hut, sipping down a sweet little drink the zebra had kindly made to help soothe her nerves.

“I hope you’re feeling better, Apple Bloom,” Zecora said warmly, “Now tell me…what is the cause of your gloom?”

The young Earth Pony took a few short sips of her drink, letting the sweet taste brace herself to revisit the unhappy memories she was about to share.  Licking her lips briefly to buy herself just a bit more time, she finally answered.  ”Well…earlier today, me ‘n’ Scootaloo ‘n’ Sweetie Belle…well, we were tryin’ t’get Herding Cutie Marks.”
At that last word, Zecora nodded knowingly; Cutie Mark quests were a frequent source of trouble for her friend, she knew.  ”We decided t’try ‘n’ herd some cows over at Sweet Apple Acres,” Apple Bloom continued glumly, “but instead, we wound up spookin’ ‘em bad.  Real bad.”

She set her drink down with a sigh.  ”The cows went outta control, ‘n’ they almost wound up wreckin’ the new barn house Applejack ‘n’ Big Macintosh had been workin’ so hard to set up all week.  Thankfully my sis was able to get ‘em back in line, but…”

Tears began to well in the poor filly’s eyes.  ”But s-she was right furious with me after that.”

Zecora patted her shoulder gently.  ”I’m just glad no harm came to you,” she said, “and after she’s calmed down, your sister will be too.”

Apple Bloom sniffled.  ”I…I know.  I know Applejack don’t love me no less for what I did, it’s just….”

She poked gently at her cup.  ”Me ‘n’ the Crusaders…we’ve been tryin’ everything to get our Cutie Marks, and nothing’s worked.  What if…what if we never find our special talents?”

“To not have a Mark is hardly a crime,” Zecora said, “It will come to you when it is…”

“Time, yeah yeah I know!” Apple Bloom snapped, her tears sliding down her cheeks now.  ”That’s what everypony keeps tellin’ me, over ‘n’ over, and it don’t do me no good!”

She lockedeyes with Zecora, her anger quickly morphing into a pleading, but no less intense, look.  ”If I don’t know my Cutie Mark, I don’t know my destiny!  What if I have t’leave the Apple Farm?  What if I have t’leave Ponyville?  All my friends ‘n’ family?  I need t’know now, just so I don’t have t’be scared of not knowin’ anymore!”

The filly’s outburst left Zecora rubbing her chin thoughtfully.  Despite the silence the zebra answered her with, however, Apple Bloom’s gaze did not lose its intensity.  She wanted…she needed…some kind of answer.  Some kind of assurance.  After a few more moments of agonizing wait, however, a sage smile came to Zecora’s face.  She walked toward another room in the hut, and motioned for Apple Bloom to follow; the young Earth Pony did so without a moment’s hesitation.

The two were soon standing in front of a large black cauldron, jade mist softly emanating from its center.  It seemed to emit a low, ghostly moan, a strange sound not quite like anything Apple Bloom had ever heard before.  ”Zecora…?” she whispered anxiously, nose scrunching up at the cauldron’s bizarre scent.

The zebra put a reassuring hoof to Apple Bloom’s head.  ”I have here a special brew,” she said, warm but also solemn, “that is going to show the future to you.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened at that, her whole body going stiff.  ”You mean…you can show me what my Cutie Mark is gonna be?” she asked softly, almost afraid to let herself believe it.  

Zecora nodded.  ”But first, we must pay a price most fair:” she said, “a single strand of your crimson hair.”

Apple Bloom nodded vigorously and nervously.  With a quick, painless yank, Zecora took the promised strand, and let it slide into the cauldron’s bubbling juices.  She then stepped back, and tugged the almost-numb Apple Bloom back as well.

The cauldron began to tremble, and soon the entire floor joined in.  Its misty aura began to swirl around the room, faster and faster, until a pillar of light began to emerge from within the juices, bursting out like a shooting star and forcing the two ponies to shield their eyes from its sheer brilliance.  As quickly as the cauldron had come alive, however, it then fell dead again, the light vanishing, the tremble settling, the mists returning to their original flow.

“Did…did it work…?” Apple Bloom asked gently.

Zecora simply motioned for the filly to walk up to the cauldron, and without another word she obeyed.  ”Look inside the cauldron dark,” Zecora said, “and you will find your Cutie Mark.”

Apple Bloom nodded, but this time she hesitated.  All her fears…all the possibilities…they gripped her so tight it hurt.  What if…?  What if…?  What if…?  But that was the point.  She had to know, once and for all.  And so, welling up all her courage, she leaned over the cauldron’s edge.

Sure enough, there in the softly-shimmering water inside the cauldron, she saw it.

Or rather, she saw them.

Rather than just one Cutie Mark, there were dozens.  Hundreds.  Thousands.  Cutie Marks for racing, for juggling, for dancing, for farming…every shape and size imaginable, for every talent she could think of.

“I…I don’t understand,” she said as Zecora walked up next to her, “You said…”

“I said it would show the future to you,” the zebra replied warmly, “and when I did, I spoke quite true.”

She then gently guided Apple Bloom’s gaze to her own, and the filly could see her friend’s eyes shimmering with a loving conviction.  ”A Cutie Mark is only sent when a Pony discovers their special talent,” she said, “but it is never just how Fate arranges…for every day, a Pony changes.  Apple Bloom, your destiny…is whatever you choose to make it be.”

It was an idea Apple Bloom had never considered before.  Whenever her sister or her friends talked about Cutie Marks, it always sounded like they had simply found what was always meant to be.  But what if it was the other way around?  What if it wasn’t the mark that made the Pony…but the Pony who made the mark?

And as a smile came to her face, and she and Zecora shared as tight a hug as the filly’s little legs could muster, she felt the most wonderful thing.  For the first time, she felt so…free.