The Cutie Mark Chronicles Continue - S

[The Jolly Victini]

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Ponyville's own team of young fillies who's goals are to find theur special talent thus gaining their cutie mark, were riding through town in the red wagon pulled by the orange pegasus filly known as Scootaloo by her very own scooter invention. The three wore depressed expressions as they rode through town.

"Ugh! Wer're never gonna find our special talents at this rate!" Sweetie Belle broke the silence with what the other two were thinking.

"Well what else can we do?" Scootaloo began, "We've already blown through the list that I had for today and still no cutie marks!"

"What if we go an' ask some more ponies how they got their cutie marks?" Applebloom suggested.

Scootaloo looked to Applebloom incredilously. "Why? We already asked Rainbow Dash and she's the coolest pony out there!"

"Maybe asking Rainbow Dash wasn't enough!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "What if we go and ask the other three ponies that hang out with Twilight and the others?"

"You mean Bonfire, Snowflake 'n Tempest?"

"Exactly!"

"That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea. Besides, Bonfire's pretty cool too. So, why not?"

And with that, the CMC took off for their first target: Snowflake. They drove all around Ponyville until they found Snowflake walking around doing nothing in particular. Scootaloo parked the scooter and the CMC ran over to Snowflake.

"Hello, miss Snowflake!" Sweetie Belle greeted.  

[Uncle Sciz]

((if this ends with scootaloo getting a cutie mark, i demand it be a chicken.))  

[Fenrir Shade]

((I agree sevenfold with this. XD ))  

[X_HeartofRoses_X]

Snowflake's ears pricked and she turned, looking down at the three fillies. "Oh, hello Sweetie Belle. And you too, Applebloom and Scootaloo. What can I do for you three?" She asked with a kind smile and her usual soft voice.  

[The Jolly Victini]

"We wan' ta know how ya got yer cutie mark! If'n ya don' mind." "Applebloom blurted out.  

[X_HeartofRoses_X]

"My cutie mark?" Snowflake asked, looking back at her flank. When she turned her head back she had a big smile. "Well, I was a young filly like you all...It was winter, and I was the only one in my class that didn't have my cutie mark yet. I'd kept it hidden by drawing on my flank, but one day I accidently got water on it. The two most popular girls in my school were walking by and saw the paint wash off. They started teasing me, but thankfully the bell rang for recess. I was so frustrated with myself that once I was out in the snow I began to gallop around. I didn't realize the snow never touched my feet; it cleared away. I also didn't know it wasn't landing on my coat. After we'd all gone inside I slumped over at my desk, but the two girls walked right up to me and poured water on my flank. "Trying to fool us again, Snowdork?" They teased, then gasped once they realized it wasn't paint. I looked down at my flank and gasped too, once I saw that I had my cutie mark. I skipped all the way hone that day, the snowflakes clearing from my feet." Snowflake finished with a big smile. "And those two got in trouble for their mean act. A 5,000 word essay on the history of cutie marks."

((Mine sucks. -_-))  

[The Jolly Victini]

((It's fine. Though I'm not sure of Snowflake's talent.))

The three fillies looked confused. "So... what does your cutie mark stand for?" Sweetie Belle asked.  

[X_HeartofRoses_X]

((Yeah, sorry. Had to come up with it on the spot....))

Snowflake chuckled. "I excell in cold weather. Snow, hail, things like that. I can clear snow faster than anypony, and I can control cold weather better. Sorry, my story is a bit confusing. I didn't fully understand it either 'til a few years later."  

[The Jolly Victini]

Scootaloo giggled. "I bet you aren't better than Rainbow Dash!" She said.  

[X_HeartofRoses_X]

Snowflake giggled. "Bet'cha I am!" She retorted with a playful smile.  

[The Jolly Victini]

"I'll believe that when I see it!" Scootaloo competitively responded.

"Well, we're gonna go find out how Bonfire got his cutie mark! Good bye Miss Snowflake!"  

[X_HeartofRoses_X]

Snowflake waved a hoof in farewell. "Bye, girls!"  

[The Jolly Victini]

The CMCs rode around Ponyville until they got to the fire station. Applebloom rapped on the door with her hoof until Bonfire opened it with a wrap of magic. He was also holding a few cards in his magic. Upon further observing, they noticed that Tempest was also over and he was holding a hoof of cards as well, with other cards strewn about on the table in front of him. "Um, what're you two doin'?" the farm pony asked.

"We're playing 'Po-Ni-Oh.' Here, come on inside." Bonfire replied.

((I'll continue this later, I'm out of time right now.))  

[The Jolly Victini]

Bonfire led the CMCs into his house and sat back down in front of the table on the opposite side of Tempest. "So, what do you girls want anyway?" the firepony asked. Before the three fillies responded, they watched curiously as Bonfire put down 2 cards and then picked up 2 more cards with strange artwork on them and put them into a stack of other assorted cards. He then placed a card with a unicorn pony in strange purple armor called "Dark Magician."

Once the CMCs were snapped out of their trance, Scootaloo piped up. "We wanna know how you got your cutie mark!"

"This again, huh?" Bonfire replied flatly with a smile. "Alright then." Bonfire turned back to Tempest and scanned over his field. His lack of face down cards told him it was safe to make his next move. "I attack your "Raging Flame Parasprite," you take 400 life point damage and I end my turn." he declared, a quill scribbling some new numbers on a nearby parchment.

Bonfire turned back to the girls and cleared his throat. "Okay, well. I got my cutie mark a week after my 12th birthday. It started out as a normal day in Canterlot and I was on my way to school when I heard somepony shouting, "Fire! Fire!"" Bonfire raised his hoofs to "re-enact" the scared pony. "I didn't know what to do, I was only a little colt, but... I felt a had to try and help somehow. I ran to the source of the fire and immediately recognized the house..."

((Once again, I'll finish later. Out of time.))  

[The Jolly Victini]

Bonfire set his cards down on the table and continued. "The house belonged to my closest friend, Starsong. I felt my heart sink. I didn't know what to do, so... I dropped my saddlebags and ran in. I bucked the door down and ran through the house to find my friend. I heard her screaming from upstairs, so I carefully went up the stairs and ran to her room. Her parents had already left for work, so she or something else must have started the fire, but I didn't care. I had to get my friend out. I bucked down the door to her room and saw her trapped behind a wall of fire. Her mane was smudged and blackened because of the fire. She looked at me like I was crazy, I didn't know why, so I continued to run for her. I braced myself and ran through the wall of fire expecting to be hit with a blast of heat, but it never came. I wondered about it for a minute before I heard a crack and a crash. I looked to Starsong and saw that a beam had fallen on her and she was knocked out. My magic wasn't very strong, but I managed to pull her out of the beam and get her outside. A crowd had gathered, and some of my other friends cheered and rushed over to me." Bonfire wiped a tear that came to his eye. "Ah... sorry, this part is... um... hard." Bonfire exhaled and continued."When I went to the hospital to see her after school, she didn't look too good. I asked the doctors what was wrong but... they only told me, "I'm sorry..." At first I wasn't sure what they meant, so I rushed to her side and she looked weakly over to me. Apparently, the beam had... um... broken something inside her. She wasn't going to make it through the night. I'll never forget the words she spoke to me before her parents rushed in to see her...

**
"Bonfire..." The pink pegasus filly spoke, "Don't be so sad. You saved me from that fire. You're a hero."

"But... you're gonna die...!" the colt Bonfire said. "I don't want you to go!" he sobbed.

"I have to, Bonfire... If Celestia takes all ponies away when it's their time, it's her choice when she takes me away."

"But it's not fair! Starsong... I love you...!"

Starsong nodded. "I know. And I love you too. But I'm not destined to be with you."

Bonfire looked down and spoke nothing more.

"Bonfire... your my closest friend ever. You got me from that fire in such a way that I'd never seen. Being sad isn't your thing. You've always been so happy and care-free. Don't beat yourself up about this. There's nothing you can do now." When Starsong realized Bonfire still wasn't moving, she spoke up once more. "Bonfire," she whispered, "c'mere." Bonfire looked up and hesitantly moved his head closer to his friend. "Closer." she whispered even more quietly. Before Bonfire could ask what she was doing, Starsong placed a kiss on Bonfire's muzzle. The look of shock captured Bonfire's face. "Don't stop smiling. Be happy. You'll find somepony else who loves you, I promise. Please? For me?" she whispered into his ear. Bonfire looked to her, smiled and nodded. He backed off when Starsong's parents walked in and she smiled to him and winked.

Bonfire weakly spoke before he turned around, "Goodbye... Starsong." he spoke with a sad smile.

"And, Bonfire," she quietly called out before her parents could bombard her with questions, "I love your cutie mark."

**

"...And sure enough, there it was." Bonfire stood up and showed off his cutie mark. "Standing proud 'til this very day!" he said, wiping off the tears that had escaped his eyes. "Apparently, my special talent was the ability to control fire!"

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were weeping in each others embrace. "That... that was so beautiful!" Sweetie Belle choked out.

Scootaloo bit back tears but completely denied any sappiness to come from her. "Gross! Another sap-story! Tempest, tell me your cutie mark story doesn't have crying and kissing and gross sappy stuff!" The tomboy filly said.