Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Young Sunny Starscout loved to hear stories told by her father, Argyle. One story especially was her favorite and she requested to hear it over and over again. That day was no different.
"Dad, can you tell me that story?"
Sunny asked as they once again were at the top floor of the lighthouse, looking at the countless stars high above their heads.
"Again?"
Argyle asked with a warm smile on his face.
"Please?"
Sunny looked up at him with endless wonder in her eyes.
"Alright, then. Many, many moons ago, in ancient Equestria lived one very special pony.."
"A unicorn!"
Sunny interrupted her dad with excitement in her voice. She had heard this story so often that she knew exactly how it went, but it didn't make her love it any less.
"A very gifted unicorn who was sent on an important quest by her mentor, the ruler of Equestria,"
Argyle continued. And again, Sunny took over:
"Princess Celestia!"
"That's right, my little pony. The princess sent the unicorn to the town of Ponyville where she was to make some friends and learn about friendship in the process. The unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, saw making friends as nothing but a waste of time. She would much rather be studying independently and spend her time reading books. But she respected the princess and set on her way to new adventures."
Argyle looked up at the starry sky, with Sunny following his example. She loved to look at the stars. There were so many of them, way too many for her to count. She also loved learning about stars. It was something that really fascinated the young filly.
"And then Twilight made friends! She became close friends with earth ponies, pegasuses and unicorns! Just like I hope to do one day.."
Sunny sighed longingly. But soon her face lit up once more.
"Dad? Can we send the lantern now?"
she asked, referring to something she had made earlier with her dad.
"I think that's our duty,"
he told her. He then stepped inside to get the lantern. Attached to it was a message.
"Dear unicorns and pegasi, you have friends in Maretime Bay. Come visit us,"
Argyle read the message written on the paper next to a drawing Sunny had made. Together they sent the lantern on its way, watching as it rose higher into the night sky before eventually drifting far enough to disappear from view.
"Dad?"
Sunny said.
"Can I stay up here a while longer?"
"Of course,"
Argyle promised.
"But don't stay too long, it's almost time for bed."

As Argyle walked back in and took the elevator downstairs, Sunny stayed out on the balcony. Sitting down, she continued to admire the stars.
"The stars are never alone, so why do we have to be?"
she asked. She wasn't quite sure who she was talking to, the filly just felt like it was a question she had to speak out loud for it to mean something. After a few minutes of tranquil silence something caught Sunny's attention and sharpened her senses.
"A shooting star!"
she breathed out, jumping back up on her hooves.
"Quick, Sunny, you have to wish on the star!"
she then reminded herself. Luckily she didn't have to think about her deepest desire because that was already kept safe deep in her heart.
"I wish for all three ponykinds to be reunited. I know we're not meant to be separated like this. Twilight made the impossible happen as she made friends. That's enough proof that ponies can all live in harmony. I just know it. And I'm going to make it my mission to bring the pegasi, unicorns and us earth ponies back together. One day it'll become reality!"
Having spoken these words, Sunny realized that something was happening. Looking at her flank she saw it.
"My cutie mark..!"
she gasped, lifting up her hind leg a little so that she could take a better look.
"Three stars.. three ponykinds!"
she gasped, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"And.. one of these is a shooting star! But what does its tail represent..?"
Sunny wondered. And then she understood.
"It's me..! I'm on a journey to bring all the ponies back together, just like shooting stars journey across the sky!"

Excited about her cutie mark and her destiny, which was now written in the stars, the filly ran back inside and took the elevator back down.
"Dad! Dad, look!"
Sunny couldn't contain the happiness in her voice.
"What's that, Sunny?"
Argyle asked, turning to look at his daughter.
"I wished on a shooting star that we could be reunited with the unicorns and pegasi. And look, I got my cutie mark!"
The little filly was jumping around the kitchen table, overjoyed. She knew that it was a sign. Her dream wasn't just a waste of time. And one day she would make her dream a reality at last.

Argyle allowed Sunny to stay up for some time longer because it was a special occasion. He was telling her some more stories. Until, at last the filly grew tired and was barely able to keep her eyes open. It was way past her bedtime, after all.
"Alright. Come on, my little filly, it's time for you to go to bed,"
the stallion said as he knelt down so Sunny could climb up and hitch a ride on his back. She held on tightly as her dad carried her to the elevator and up to her bedroom. She yawned as Argyle set her down on the bed and watched as she settled down under the blanket.
"Good night, my little Sunny,"
Argyle said as he nuzzled her cheek. She did the same to him.
"Good night, dad,"
Sunny said back with a tired but happy smile on her face as she placed her head on the pillow. Argyle then turned off the lights and gently closed the door.
"Good night, friends,"
Sunny then whispered as she turned on her side, looking at the hoof-made pony figurines placed neatly on the shelf.
"I'll meet you one day."

Chapter Text

Hitch Trailblazer was at a summer camp with Sprout and the rest of Maretime Bay's junior scouts. They were camping at Palomino Pond which was a location none of the little colts and fillies had visited before.
They still had quite a bit of daylight left, so after pitching their tents Sprout suggested that they should go check out the nearby forested area to see what they could find. He almost immediately succeeded in rallying the rest of the foals to follow him. Hitch was the only one that hesitated, and for a good reason.
"But, we haven't been here before! We're not familiar with the area, and so we shouldn't just walk right off, especially not telling any of the adults.."
he protested, trying to talk some sense into Sprout and the others, but to no avail. The red colt had already turned around and was leading the group into the woods a short distance from the pond.
"Hey, you can't..!"
Hitch yelled after them, looking over his shoulder to where the adults were. Nopony had even noticed that most the scouts had just wandered off. Hitch hesitated for a while, looking back and forth. One side of him wanted to run to the adults and tell them what had happened, but in the end he ended up running after the others, not wanting for them to just leave like that. There was no telling what trouble they might be getting into.

Luckily Hitch was able to catch up to the group only a few minutes later.
"Sprout, that was really dumb!"
he scolded his colt friend.
"We don't know the area, what if something happens?"
he continued, but Sprout only shrugged, clearly not taking him seriously.
"Come on, Hitch, nothing's going to happen. We're just going to look around a little, do some exploring and then head right back before any of the adults even realize that we're gone! You should try to relax a little."
Having said that, Sprout turned his back on Hitch and trotted off with his head held high, prancing proudly like some show pony. Again, the others followed him, leaving Hitch no other option but to do the same. The only difference was that he wasn't prancing. He was walking with his head held down and ears pressed tightly against his skull, a pouty expression on his face.

Less than fifteen minutes later they were lost. Panic was slowly but surely starting to raise its ugly head in the group. Sprout, still in the lead, had lost all of his confidence. He'd slowed down and was constantly looking around, trying to figure out where exactly they were and which way they should go next. But they had one very big and obvious problem: everything looked the same, no matter where they looked. They were surrounded by an endless sea of trees.
"I told you this was a mistake!"
Hitch said as he angrily trotted to Sprout.
"Now we're lost in a forest we've never been to before, and we don't know heads or tails about anything!"
Hitch took their predicament very seriously, but before he was able to continue, he was alerted to the sound of somepony crying. Turning to look back, he saw one of the fillies sitting in the middle of the forested trail. Feeling worried, Hitch immediately turned around and trotted away from Sprout to talk with the filly instead. She looked up at Hitch as she heard him approach. Tears were flowing down her cheeks.
"We're never finding our way back!"
she was wailing.
"Of course we are,"
Hitch said calmly as he sat down right next to her.
"It's okay to cry and be afraid. But don't worry, we'll get out of here and back to camp in no time,"
he continued, placing his hoof on the filly's shoulder, doing his best to comfort her and keep her as calm as was possible in their situation.
"You promise?"
she asked, sniffling as she maintained eye contact with him. Hitch nodded with no hesitation.
"I promise,"
he told her. He wasn't being entirely honest with himself, because he, too, was feeling worried. But he knew that the most important thing right then was to remain calm as the others around him were starting to freak out. In a situation like that he needed to be somepony the others could trust and rely on.
"You can stay close to me until we get back to the campgrounds, how's that?"
Hitch then suggested. The filly nodded right away.
"Okay.. I will, Hitch.. thank you."

In the meantime, one of the few colts who still weren't panicking, had decided to go see what was hiding behind the dense bushes which grew on both sides of the trail. A short while later he came back to the others, limping as he was holding one of his front legs in the ear, hesitant to put any of his weight on it. Hitch sighed.
"Wait right here, okay?"
he said to the filly.
"I'll be right back."
Then he hurried to the colt.
"What happened?"
Hitch asked as he saw some blood trickling down the other colt's knee.
"I wanted to explore what's in those bushes over there.."
He pointed in the direction he'd come from.
"I guess I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, so.. I stumbled on some rocks and fell."
"Alright, hold still for just a bit,"
Hitch instructed and took off his scarf, promptly tying it around the colt's knee. Luckily it was just a minor scratch.
"Does it hurt?"
he then asked, to which the other pony said:
"It's stinging a little.. But nothing more than that."
"Good. You'll be okay. Just, don't run off on your own anymore, okay?"
Hitch said with a serious look on his face. The other colt nodded.
"I won't, Hitch. I promise."

Looking up, Hitch realized that the light was fading on them. It might have been because the trees and other greenery around them were so dense and let very little light in. Either way, they needed to find a way out of the woods, quickly, while they still had enough daylight left. Suddenly the group of ponies heard some rustling coming from the bushes to their right. Looking around, Hitch realized that nopony else wanted to take on the leadership role, not even Sprout.
"Everypony stay together. Don't go anywhere,"
Hitch gave the order and approached the rustling bushes cautiously. He wasn't even able to get close enough two seagulls and one crab walked out, stopping a short distance away from Hitch.
"Woah, hey. Who are you guys? And where did you come from?"
he asked and leaned in closer to look at them. And as he did, the little seagulls walked closer and immediately nuzzled his cheek.
"Oh, hi. Yeah, you're.. you're very cute,"
Hitch said to the birds, a little confused about what was going on.
"Look, is there any way you could help us?"
Having asked this, he realized that he should probably start from the beginning.
"My name is Hitch Trailblazer, and I'm a junior scout. We're camping out by Palomino Pond. Do you know where that is?"
The birds were cawing while the crab also inched closer.
"What's that? Your name is Kenneth? And you are Birdzilla?"
Then he looked at the crab.
"And your name is McSnipps Alot? Well, it's really great to meet you all."
Then one of the seagulls, Kenneth, pointed in one direction with his tiny wing, making more bird noises. Hitch moved his ear just a little bit closer to the bird's tiny body.
"What? Palomino Pond in that direction? Could you take us back there? This is our first time in these woods and we're lost.."
Then Hitch suddenly realized what was happening, as strange as it was.
"Wait.. You really understand what I'm saying? I've never talked to animals like this before."
The animal trio was nodding in unison.
"And, I can understand you, too! I don't really know how that's possible, but.. Hold on a little."
He then turned to the group of scouts behind him.
"Listen up, everypony! These little critters are saying that they can lead us out of these woods."
"Yeah, right."
Sprout laughed and rolled his eyes.
"You drank from the pond, didn't you?"
Hitch didn't even dignify that with a response and instead turned back to the little animals.
"Don't listen to him, alright? I don't think he knows what you're saying. Are you ready to take us back to the pond now? Yeah? Alright, hang on."

Without wasting any more time Hitch gathered up the ponies and told them to stay together and follow him.
"Alright, little guys, we're ready. Lead the way."
Kenneth, Birdzilla and McSnipps Alot nodded and took the lead. Hitch followed right behind them, often looking over his shoulder to make sure that everypony was still following. They all stayed close like he had told them to. As they'd been lost in the forest, Hitch had proven to have some leadership skills. By looking after the others, taking care of them and reassuring them, he had started building up great trust between the others and himself. Likewise, he had also chosen to trust these three animals he'd never met before. They seemed to know their way around, and sure enough, after leading the junior scouts for a while, they did indeed emerge from the woods and find their way back to the clearing. By that time the adults had already noticed how the entire group of little ponies had gone missing. And as soon as they got back, the little scouts all ran past Hitch and his critter friends, all telling the leaders how Hitch looked after them and kept them all together.
Hitch, however, was focusing on the little trio of animals. He knelt down to talk with them in a more personal way.
"I really don't know how you guys managed to do all that. And.. I also don't quite understand how I'm able to communicate with you like this, it's a first for me. But, I'm really grateful to you all. Without you we might still be stuck in the woods. So.. thank you for showing up and helping us."
Then, Birdzilla started jumping up and down as he noticed something. He pointed at Hitch with his tiny wing. At first the colt didn't understand what was going on, but as the animals kept gesturing at him, he took a look at his flank, noticing he had earned his cutie mark.
"Oh, wow.. Look at that..!"
The animals jumped up and down cheerfully as Hitch was admiring his cutie mark. The golden shield must've had something to do with how he had kept a cool head when faced with uncertainties and made sure that nopony got separated from the group, effectively taking care of and even protecting them. He could only explain the two teal hearts as him having shown kindness to his fellow scouts and also the critters in front of him. He had always believed that being kind to everypony was the only way to go. As for the horseshoe, it was widely known as a symbol of good luck and for granting protective qualities to its wearer.
After admiring his cutie mark for a little while he knelt down to allow the three animals to climb up and take a ride on his back. He carried them very carefully to the others. The adults all praised him for the action he had taken in keeping everypony safe.

From that day onward, Hitch swore to keep following the path his cutie mark had revealed for him. The path of leadership and kindness.

Chapter Text

Growing up in Bridlewood, young Izzy Moonbow wasn't always happy with how life was in the forest. Nopony, other than her, ever smiled. Even when they were having a pleasant conversation, their expressions were near lifeless and their voices dull. It just didn't sit right with the little filly. Surely there was more to life than just surviving, day after day.
And as time went on, she started to take notice on how the other unicorns started throwing away things they no longer needed or wanted. They just abandoned everything in the middle of the walkway. With each passing day the pile of things grew bigger. Izzy soon grew curious about the discarded items. Every day she went to check it out, circling around the pile and wondering what would she be able to do with the items. Surely they were meant for something more than just to be thrown out and forgotten about like they were now. Izzy was different than the other unicorns in more ways than just one. Because she didn't see the items as junk. Instead, in her eyes they were things that just needed some love.

One day, after a week had passed, she yet again trotted down the path to check out the pile of miscellaneous items, knowing that she had made her decision: she would gather all the items, bring them to her home and turn them into something that would be a joy to look at. Without wasting any more time, she put her plan in motion. Dragging the items away from the path took quite some time. Surely it would have been at least a little easier if she would have been able to use magic. But Izzy never complained. Instead she kept traversing back and forth, until at last she had all the items piled up in her home, right by the door. Izzy sat down next to them, face in slight frown as she thought what she'd be able to turn the items into.

The answer didn't come to her right away. Instead it took some thinking. But later that same day she finally knew just what to do. She ran off into another room to find a hammer and some other tools. For a little pony she was very resourceful. After some crafting and a couple short thinking breaks she was looking at the finished product. She placed the hammer on the floor and took another look at what she had made.
"It's a.."
She gasped in excitement as the answer came to her.
"It's a teapot statue!"
she said to herself, triumphantly. Now there was only one more thing she needed to do.
"The others need to see this!"

Dragging the statue back to where she'd found the items proved to be even trickier and more time-consuming than carrying everything one or two things at a time. But with enough perseverance she succeeded. Once she was happy with how the statue looked, she called out:
"Look, everypony! I made a teapot statue using all the things you had thrown away!"
A couple other unicorns approached Izzy, looking at what she had made.
"Isn't it great?"
the filly asked, eyes sparkling. She had been into arts and crafts most of her fillyhood, but she'd never had anypony who really would have appreciated the things she'd made.
"I even added some glitter in the water to make the statue more sparkly and happy! What do you think?"
The two unicorns turned to look at each other.
"You know, maybe that thing's not so bad.."
one of them said and even smiled. The smile might have been small and not reaching the pony's eyes, but it was a start. The other unicorn nodded in agreement.
"Maybe we judged all this junk a little too harshly.."
she said. This brought the brightest smile on young Izzy's face.
"Hey, thanks!"
She was bouncing around happily.
"I'm just a unicorn that loves recycling."
Then she stopped in her tracks and gasped.
"Uni.. Cycling.. Unicycling!"
She had never experienced a wonder like that before. And then, like proving just how right she was, a shiny new cutie mark appeared on her flank.
"I'm going to unicycle more things and show that unwanted items can be used in so many new ways!"

From that day onward, Bridlewood was at least a little bit brighter place to live in, thanks to Izzy and her passion for crafting and giving items a new life.

Chapter Text

Zipp Storm had always been headstrong, even when growing up. She was the firstborn of the two sisters. This meant that one day she would be the Queen of Zephyr Heights. But she wanted more from life than just being royalty. Her mother, Queen Haven would occasionally tell her some tales about the pegasi of ancient Equestria. One of these stories was her favorite: the one telling about a confident pegasus called Rainbow Dash. She had been a great flyer ever since she was just a filly. She had even gone and become a Wonderbolt. The story always left Zipp feeling inspired. She, too, dreamed of one day soaring up in the sky. But her inability to fly left her feeling tied down. Trapped. Over time, she started thinking of new ways to fly, slipping away and doing her own thing behind her mother's back. Whenever she had free time, she would make her way down to the old station, trying to figure out just how she'd be able to fly, or at least get as close to flying as possible.

One day, after her princess lesson, she was climbing one of the statues inside the palace. She'd just made it to the very top when she was caught red-hoofed by her mother.
"Zephyrina, what are you doing? Get back down here at once!"
Queen Haven ordered. But Zipp shook her head.
"Mom! I want to show you something!"
she yelled back. But Haven wouldn't listen.
"Get down, you're going to hurt yourself!"
she just continued. Zipp started growing frustrated, realizing that it was the same thing once again. This always happened. The views of her and her mom were so different that they often clashed with each other. This led to the mother and daughter arguing.
"No!"
Zipp continued fighting against Haven, desperate to have her own voice heard the way she wanted it to.
"Mom, you're still not listening! I don't just want to be a princess, I want to be me! I want to do what makes me happy, not just sit on a throne and... smile and wave! I want to fly and see the world, not just be stuck in here all the time!"
As she once again was caught in an argument, she suddenly lost her footing and fell off of the statue's head. For a split second she panicked, but then instinctively spread her wings even though she knew that she wasn't able to fly. Soon she closed her eyes, wanting to be brave and choosing to trust herself, hopefully to even prove to her mother that there was more to her than just the future obligations.

She was half expecting to hit the floor any minute, but it didn't happen. Instead she kept on soaring and descending slowly, with much more control than she had ever expected to be possible. Of course it still couldn't exactly be called proper flying. Maybe Zipp really was just falling with style. But she sure felt like she was flying. She learned to control her wings better that day, and she felt absolutely awesome because of it. And it was much more than any other pegasus had been able to do in ages.
Zipp finally opened her eyes shortly before her hooves touched the floor. She had kept a cool head and showed bravery. And when she landed and folded up her wings, she realized that her persistence to make some difference had earned her a cutie mark.

Chapter Text

Growing up, young Pipp Petals wasn't always the pony in the spotlight and at times felt overshadowed by her older sister who was to be a queen one day. Still, there was never any bad blood between the siblings. Pipp spent time playing by herself and wandering around the palace whenever Haven was giving Zipp princess lessons. The little filly was often singing to entertain herself, and she enjoyed it.
One day she once again overheard her mother and sister arguing. They had been at odds more and more often, and the issue was always the same. Zipp wanted to be something more than just a future queen. Pipp always felt bad about their arguments. While listening to them, she suddenly got an idea and sneaked away, towards the throne room. It was almost time for Zipp's next lesson and their mom always coached her in the big, empty space because that's where they were less likely to be disturbed without a good reason.

Pipp entered the throne room via the back entrance and hid behind her throne. She didn't have to wait very long before she heard the door open. Peeking from behind her hiding place she saw Queen Haven walk in first, with Zipp skulking behind her, with ears pressed back. She was far from happy and would much rather have been anywhere else.
"Alright, Pipp, you got this,"
the filly gave herself a little pep talk and then revealed her presence, stepping into the light.
"Pipp?"
their mother sounded surprised.
"What are you doing here?"

Pipp didn't waste time by trying to explain it. Instead she proceeded with her plan right away. She had already warmed up her voice so she was ready to sing.

We are, we are
Not your ordinary fami-mily
But we can all agree that
We are, we are
Close as close can be

Queen Haven and Zipp turned to look at each other in some apparent confusion, having forgotten about their disagreement for the time being. They both had their eyes on Pipp who was swiftly prancing around the room, her fluffy wings no longer resting against her sides. She'd spread her wings and was occasionally fluttering them as she moved from one spot to another.

So it don't matter what it looks like
We look perfect to me
We got every kind of love
I feel so lucky indeed
They can keep on talking
It don't matter to me cause
We are, we are family
Family

Pipp didn't stop to try and see the looks on her family members' faces. In fact it didn't even cross her mind. More than anything, she was focusing on her song, allowing it to take her away and lift to new heights. Her voice wasn't perfect but it was clear and bright, and she certainly was giving her everything to her performance.

Ok, so the links in our chain makes us strange
But really they make us stronger
And I wouldn't replace not a thing
Mother or sister
'Cause we are family

Her final note was long, high and full of passion and love for performing. Zipp and Haven turned to look at one another once more, some awe in their eyes while Pipp waited for them to say something.
"Pipp, that was..-"
Zipp was the first one to talk, but she didn't get very far when Haven stepped closer to her youngest daughter.
"How did you come up with something like this?"
the queen asked.
"Well, I.. I don't want for you two to keep fighting,"
Pipp began to explain as she moved closer to the other ponies in the room.
"I wanted to lift your spirits and to help you forget about the arguing, at least for a bit."
Looking at each other, both Haven and Zipp understood that they indeed had let go of their frustrations as Pipp's surprise performance had captured their attention.

As Pipp got next to them and they all shared a long hug, the little pegasus earned her cutie mark which symbolized not only her love for music and performing, but also bringing ponies together through her songs.

Chapter Text

Misty had expected to get her cutie mark at a young age, just like she'd heard all the other ponies did. But it never happened, and she didn't quite understand why. Then again, for the longest time she didn't remember anything about her fillyhood prior to running into Opaline. The alicorn had taken her in and been a mother figure to her. As Misty grew up, she never had any real idea about who she was. When she was just a filly, Opaline drained all of Misty's magic for herself which only contributed to why Misty was having such a hard time figuring out who she actually was meant to be. All the belittling and neglect from Opaline's part didn't help, either. As Misty grew up to be an adult mare, she slowly began to suspect that maybe Opaline didn't really care about her, after all, and was only using her as a way to get what she was after. But Misty was always too scared of her to speak up, so she'd learned to keep her thoughts to herself.

For as long as she could remember, she'd never had a chance to have any friends, either, because she was always with Opaline. And the alicorn mare certainly didn't have a lot of voluntary visitors.
And even when Sunny and her friends started making their appearances in her life, she never could even dream of ever becoming close with them. Misty was simply keeping an eye on them because Opaline told her to. A true friend would never do any of the things she was forced to do.

It took a great act of bravery to first start doing things behind Opaline's back and then, at last, change sides completely by choosing to free Sunny and the others from the alicorn's clutches, giving the group of friends the upper hoof against their enemy. Misty, as she was given a chance to start over, was ready to say goodbye to years of neglect and abuse, and chose to stand by her new friends. The first real friends she'd ever had. With them by her side she was ready to start really living her life. She had so much to do, see and learn after being stuck in one place for so long. Her social anxieties were proven to have quite a hold on her, but her friends chose to be by her side through thick and thin. It was a new kind of experience for Misty; to always have somepony to really stay with her and help her with whatever she needed. In return, she learned to trust them and rely on them without feeling like she was being a burden.

And as she was starting over, she finally earned her cutie mark after choosing real friendship. The butterfly represented recovery and new beginnings, proving how Misty now was ready to truly get out of her cocoon and show her growth to everypony around her. And whenever she struggled or something was otherwise bringing her down, she had friends who were always ready to listen to her and help lift her back up. She would never have to be alone again.

One day, shortly after Misty had earned her cutie mark, the six ponies were spending time at the Crystal Brighthouse.
"Hey Misty, what kind of smoothies do you like?"
Sunny asked as she was in the process of making some smoothies to everypony. She already knew what the others preferred, but Misty was still a mystery.
"I.. I'm not sure.."
the unicorn mumbled, staring down at her hooves. Her voice was a little more than a whisper. Of course she knew that she could be herself now, but the old habits had deep roots.
"I've never had that many smoothies, so I.. I guess I don't really have a preference.."
Her undecided response didn't keep Sunny down.
"Well, that's okay! I'll choose something for you, I'm sure you'll like it!"
she announced brightly and started gathering the ingredients like a banana, some lemon juice and even blueberries in addition to everything else she needed.
"Oooh, Sunny!"
Izzy called out as she was sitting next to Misty.
"Don't forget to add a lot of glitter!"
"Glitter?"
Misty repeated, mild confusion written all over her face.
"Edible glitter!"
the other unicorn specified and continued to explain:
"So that your sparkle shines extra bright!"
Misty felt her cheeks flush light pink as she heard the encouraging words and the honest excitement in Izzy's voice.

"Alright, tell me what you think,"
Sunny said a while later as she placed the smoothie cup in front of Misty. She picked it up and took a careful sip. However, it didn't take very long for her eyes to start shining like never before.
"I've.. I've never had anything this good in my life,"
she admitted carefully but honestly.
"To Misty Brightdawn!"
the others said in unison and clinked their smoothie cups together, toasting their lasting friendship. Misty joined in with a happy smile on her face.

She had never before felt like she truly belonged somewhere. But now, as she stood there and looked at the ponies around her and listened to their laughter, she knew that she had at long last found what she had been longing for: friends and family. With them part of her life and always in her heart she would never be alone again.

Chapter Text

Ever since he was a young colt, Sprout had always been told how things were supposed to be. Because of this he became rooted in the ways he'd learned from his mother. And all the while he was still searching for himself.

One day, when Sprout again was home alone, he ventured outside and into his mother's garden. Every single vegetable in there was either dead or dying. Despite Phyllis' best efforts she really wasn't much of a gardener. It wasn't something she was into, either. More than anything it was just for looks. Or it would have been, had the plants actually survived. Young Sprout was looking at the sad excuse of a garden, and soon spotted some bags of seeds just sitting forgotten next to a watering can. This led into him pulling the dead plants and weeds out and replanting everything.

His mother barely ever visited the garden, having given up on it, and Sprout never talked about it, either, wanting to keep it a surprise in case something actually was to grow.
Over the next days he tended to the garden, making sure that the tiny seeds got enough sunlight, water and nutrients. He started to realize how much he actually enjoyed it. And some weeks later, when Sprout again walked into the garden, he saw how the little seedlings push through the soil.
"They are actually growing..!"
he breathed out, almost in disbelief, and knelt down to closer look at the little plants. He realized just how overjoyed he felt to finally see the fruits of his labor. And that moment was when he earned his cutie mark. This left him happily jumping around the backyard, still being careful not to trample the seedlings.

When Phyllis returned home much later that day, Sprout was still sitting in the garden, admiring the results of his work. Hearing his mother's voice, he got up and ran over to her.
"Mommy! Mommy, I got my cutie mark!"
he called out to her, with a lot of excitement in his voice.
"Oh, what were you doing, sugar cube?"
Phyllis asked her son.
"I was gardening!"
he explained.
"A few weeks ago I planted some carrots and beetroots and cucumbers. I found the seeds you had saved and I wanted to see if I could make something grow. And, come look, they're growing!"
Sprout started pulling Phyllis to the garden. And she followed him. Although she had yet to say anything else, which was something Sprout hadn't noticed.
"Look at them! Aren't they great?"
he asked. He sounded so proud. But as he looked up at Phyllis and saw her expression, his smile started to slowly fade and his ears drooped down. He had imagined she'd look at least a little more impressed or proud by her son's achievement. But instead she almost didn't seem to care.
"..You don't like it,"
he said, now just looking and sounding disappointed.
"Of course I do, sugar cube,"
Phyllis finally said, but managed to only sound incredibly fake.
"Yeah, right,"
Sprout huffed as he walked past her and into the house.

Later that night, as Sprout was lying in bed, he was still thinking about his mother's reaction. Everypony else's parents were over the moon when their fillies and colts got their cutie marks, so why was his mother so different?
"Is it because I once said that I'm going to be a sheriff when I grow up..?"
he asked himself, unable to hide how sad he felt.

Suddenly the happiness from before was slowly disappearing, and the thought of having earned his cutie mark just left Sprout feeling disheartened. Because all he wanted was for his mother to be proud of him.

The following day Sprout woke up in an empty house. His mother had already headed to the Canterlogic factory. Given yesterday's disappointment, Sprout didn't mind her absence one bit. He made his way to the front door, instinctively checked on his garden, watering the growing seedlings and then ran off to go see Hitch. The crimson red colt, a few months younger than Hitch, just wasn't quite sure where he'd be finding his friend. Because of this he simply decided to go check out the playground the two young ponies often spent time at. By some miracle Sprout saw Hitch there, sitting by himself by the swings. As soon as he saw Sprout walk closer, he jumped up and ran to greet his friend. However, Hitch soon noticed that something seemed to be off about Sprout.
"What's wrong?"
the colt asked.
"Nothing,"
Sprout only mumbled, with his ears pressed back loosely. He sat down and went to cover his cutie mark with his naturally wavy tail, but he was too just a little too slow.
"Hey, you've got your cutie mark!"
Hitch exclaimed happily.
"Yeah.. some good that did for me,"
Sprout said. The almost resentful tone of voice confused Hitch greatly.
"Well.. when did you get it? And how?"
he then asked carefully, sitting down next to Sprout. The red colt sighed and then started talking.
"Yesterday.. A few weeks ago I planted some seeds in the garden. Mom never could get anything to grow, and.. I don't know why I wanted to try. But, I did. And yesterday I finally saw little leaves pushing up from the soil,"
Sprout told his best friend, going over everything.
"I realized that seeing the veggies actually grow made me happy. And that's when I got my cutie mark.."
Hitch still wasn't quite understanding what the issue was.
"It made you happy, so.. why do you look so sad now?"
he asked as gently as he could.
"It's because mom didn't seem happy or interested at all. Or, I guess she was until I told her what I'd been doing.. After that she didn't even care. It.. made me feel like nothing."
Hearing this, Hitch pressed his ears down, as well. He was feeling bad for his friend and ended up putting a foreleg around Sprout, pulling him closer. And to Hitch's surprise Sprout threw himself to be embraced. Sprout had always been the so-called tough guy of the group, one who rarely showed any vulnerability in public. But there he now was, sobbing quietly against Hitch's chest. And the amber-colored colt continued to hold his friend, allowing him to experience true kindness, comforting Sprout to his best abilities.
"I wanted to show that I can actually do something right for once.."
Sprout continued sobbing, his tears getting absorbed in Hitch's white chest.
"And you did,"
he went on to remind Sprout.
"You found out what your talent is. Don't let anypony bring you down because it's something they didn't want for you to do."
Sprout nodded slightly, listening to Hitch. Suddenly he felt a little embarrassed to be held like that. Still, he didn't push his friend away. Because at that moment Hitch was the only one to have shown compassion and understood how he must be feeling.