The Late Cutie Marks (Sign up)

[MinorityBat]

"I know what you mean. I have a lot of interests myself, but to be honest... I think I'll stick to drawing. Like I said before, that's what I'm best at." Zakona looked at Razor and Electric. "Um... did you guys find anything about late cutiemarks in the books Twilight gave us?"

[zendayafan111]

Electric shook her head. Nope.

[MinorityBat]

Zakona groaned. "And I just checked mine out, too..."

Still, she wanted to take a quick look through it. Maybe there was something Electric had missed.

"Oh! Uh, you guys are still here?" Zakona turned around just in time to see Twilight Sparkle coming into the room. "Yes. Is that a problem, princess?" Zakona replied. "No, not at all. Stay as long as you want." Twilight smiled. "I'm just surprised you'd stick around. Most of the ponies who come here leave after they check out their books."

Zakona usually left it to other (braver) ponies, but right now, the capony felt too calm to be socially awkward. So she took it upon herself to ask another question. "Um... Twilight?"

"Yes?" Twilight inquired. "Are you sure this book talks about getting your cutiemark late? Electric Gamer said she read it and she didn't find anything about that," Zakona said, holding up her copy for emphasis.

"Oh... well, I haven't read it, so I wouldn't know. I thought it would address that, though." The alicorn glanced at the bookshelves around her. "To be honest, there's not a whole lot here that I think would answer your questions... oh!" She gasped, posture contorted in surprise. "I just remembered something!"

Zakona jumped a little. She hadn't expected Twilight's little outbursts, but they startled her everytime. "What is it?"

"There's a story in Treasure Trove that might help you. I think it's called Hearts Desire, though I don't really remember. It's been a long time since I read it." Twilight explained. "Really?" Zakona asked, examining her book again. "What's it about?"

"I'll tell you. But keep in mind that, again, I haven't read Treasure Trove in quite some time, so I might get things wrong. Alright?"

Zakona nodded and waited for the princess to begin.

[zendayafan111]

Wait theres something that might help us? said Electric

[MinorityBat]

Twilight nodded, looking like she was attempting to recall the tale. Zakona found it a little strange that one of the smartest ponies in Equestria was struggling to remember something straight out of an object that was her forte.

"Well... I remember that it was one of Shieldred's stories. He'd gone searching for a legendary artifact called the Heart's Desire, which was said to grant the desires of whoever owned it. He went with a group of ponies for safety reasons, but he was one of the few who made it back. I don't think he found the artifact, though."

"So... the Heart's Desire grants wishes? Like a genie?" Zakona inquired. "Yeah, pretty much," The alicorn mare said, shrugging. "That's all I can tell you. If you'd like, I could read Heart's Desire again to obtain more information."

"No, that's okay. I think you summed it up pretty well," the capony said. "How is it supposed to help us, though? Isn't it just a myth?" Twilight gazed at her in a matter-of-factually way. "Yes, I know it sounds like it was made up. But here's the kicker: I once thought Daring Do wasn't real, but she turned out to be just that, and so were her stories!"

Zakona remembered once seeing a newspaper headline about that, and her eyes lit up. "So... maybe Shieldred and the Heart's Desire are real too? Oh, I get it now! If the artifact exists, then Electric, Razor, and I could use it to wish for our cutiemarks!"

"Now you're catching on." The princess winked.

"CUTIEMARK CRUSADERS ARCHAEOLOGISTS AND MUSEUM CURATORS! WELL, MAYBE NOT THE LATTER, BUT YAY!" Zakona sang, prancing about. Needless to say, she was still a little skeptical about Heart's Desire being factual, but it had been proven that one of her favorite adventurers existed. Who's to say she couldn't believe in something else just as seemingly impossible?

Zakona snapped out of her elated reverie and grinned sheepishly. "Eheh... sorry. Just trying to get into character." She turned to Twilight. "Um... did the story say where Shieldred had to go to find the artifact?"

[zendayafan111]

Electric giggled at Zakona being like the 3 neighborly fillies who called themselves the cutie mark crusaders.

[Dark Hooves]

"I know what you mean. I have a lot of interests myself, but to be honest... I think I'll stick to drawing. Like I said before, that's what I'm best at." Zakona looked at Razor and Electric. "Um... did you guys find anything about late cutiemarks in the books Twilight gave us?"

Nothing useful here. Places the book back with his magic.

[MinorityBat]

"Um... I just... told you guys that there was something useful in... Treasure Trove..." Twilight replied, raising an eyebrow in Razor's general direction. "You know what? Nevermind. Whether Shieldred's tales are real or not, they're worth looking into."

"That's alright, Razor. We've got an artifact to find!" Zakona said. She looked down at her books and another idea popped into her head. "How about you two go get any other books you want, and then we read The Heart's Desire? There's probably important stuff in it that Twilight didn't mention."

[zendayafan111]

Electric nodded, Good idea.

[Dark Hooves]

Alrighty then, let's get going.

[MinorityBat]

Zakona blinked. "...You got the books you wanted that fast?"

"Eh, nevermind. Gather round, and let's read!"

-

The capony opened Treasure Trove and paused at the contents section. She brought the novel in close to her face and squinted, scanning the chapters. "Let's see... chapter 1... chapter 3... chapter 10... ah, here we go!"

Each myth was listed underneath its designated section, and she'd found what she was looking for in chapter 20. Zakona flicked through the pages until she came across The Heart's Desire. On that page, there was a deco-style picture of what Zakona thought was a tomb. Upon a gray pedestal, glittering in the light of a torch was a heart-shaped object. It was an off-white, bluish color, and seemed to be made out of shiny stone. The heart reminded her of one of the crystal hearts she had seen while visiting the Crystal Empire awhile back.

"So this must be the artifact," Zakona mumbled, showing the picture to Electric and Razor. Twilight Sparkle moved close to the trio. "Would you three mind if I read with you? I'd like to see if there's anything I missed."

"Go right ahead, Princess." The earth mare began reading out loud.

It had been days since they had begun, and yet there was no sign of the temple Shieldred and his crew had been searching for. Ferocious monsters and foreboding scenery was all it took to put them on edge in this jungle, though the adventurer seemed just as brave as ever.

"What jungle are they searching in?" Zakona inquired, stopping, but Twilight said she couldn't remember. "Keep reading, Zakona. I think they say it later."

Shieldred did not wish to settle down, however, but the humidity and his aching limbs put up too much of an argument to protest. So the pegasus ordered the team to set up camp for the night.

"Sir, should we set up precautions?" his assistant asked, wiping sweat from her brow. A knowing grin spread across Shieldred's chiseled jaw. "Go right ahead, Catacombs. I'd say we should go all the way and have a lookout as well as a beacon. Who knows what might try to get us tonight?" The capony mare nodded and gave orders to the rest of the crew. Despite being ready to drop, everypony put in extra effort to construct a shelter and a fire, as well as what Shieldred had suggested.

"All that, and they have a capony too? Awesome!" Zakona exclaimed, delighted. While caponies such as herself were an existing race, they were a rarity in literature and other media. Twilight smiled again. "I knew you'd like her."

Zakona continued on. As night fell over the vast expanse of the jungle and the shadows stretched over the horizon, they couldn't help but look into the golden blaze of the fire and feel they were being encircled by darkness... or, perhaps... something they could not comprehend. This uneasiness did not dispel overtime. Instead, it wove its way into the minds of even the bravest members of the small group and made it difficult to drift off to dreamland.

Shieldred had opted to be the lookout, tired as he was. The others were huddled behind him in the tent they had pitched, and they had cobbled together sleeping bags out of their meager positions. Soon, his trusted assistant would take the archaeologist's place. But for now, he had to keep watch over the small clearing.

"Ooo, this is getting good!" Twilight squealed. "I'm starting to remember how it ends..."

[Dark Hooves]

Very interesting. What's next?

[MinorityBat]

(Sorry for taking so long I've just been really busy etc. etc.)

Zakona blinked. "Uh... how long is this? Think I should skip ahead, guys?"

[MidnightSparkleMLP]

I would like to join, oh and if anypony would like to help please tell me how to put a picture on my Adavtar.

[Renatan]

I would like to join, oh and if anypony would like to help please tell me how to put a picture on my Adavtar.

OOC:

What is this post
filled with so much out of character?
Breaking a rule
We all must follow

Mods on the forums
and the cute little artists
Authors writing free
and roleplayers with their OCs
Ooooooooccccccccs!

Oooh, what a magical board!
and I owe it all to the out of character thread
If I knew the forums had so much up their sleeve
I'd have wrote here sooner, and never leave
Yes I Love out of characteeeeeeeeeer!


Yea, your post actually belonged in the OOC thread  Don't feel bad, though: the whole Rp thread/Sign-up thread/OOC thread can be extremely confusing. It took me ages to figure it all out.

[Grizzly]

A few hours before now, a very small blue mare was sitting in her room reading a book, in her own small two floored student house, in the majestic city of Canterlot. Her room had a few book shelves but all the books were in stockpiles around her bed. Her mane and tail were a mess, and her eyes were baggy, it was clear that this pony was awake a little too long. Two days ago when she woke up and prepared for school, when she was putting on her saddlebag and was just about to leave, she noticed something bizarre. Her cutie mark had vanished! In a panicked state she searched her house, thinking she left it somewhere. It took her some time to realize that the marks don't work that way. She stayed home, reading all her medical and magic books ever since, but none of them had the answer to her little crisis. She closed the last book and sighed. Oh... what am i going to do." She thought, whimpered and closed her eyes. Her mind racing with thoughts about cutie marks, she remembered something. Some time ago in the small village of Ponyville, where she spent her summer brakes ever since she was a little filly, there was an incident regarding the marks. "Maybe Twilight can help me..." she whispered for herself and put on her saddlebag, to cover her blank flank. Even if others would notice they would mistake her for a filly thanks to her size, she hoped. Mustering some courage she ran out of her house and headed for the train station, she didn't even lock her house. She jumped in the train to Ponyville and used the time it would take to get there to sleep at least a bit.

And now, here she stood, in front of Twilight's library. She tried to think of what to say, how to ask so it wouldn't sound as awkward and weird as the situation was. Hesitantly she knocked on the door and waited.

[Dyanitokala]

Brown was new in Ponyvile. At least decently. The unicorn hadn't come from that far away. Just a little place on the outskirts of Canterlot but it was still a distance. She had been in town at least a week and was exploring. Back where she lived it was found odd that she didn't have her mark yet. Outwardly it didn't seem to bother her that much. She did what she wanted and lived how she did. But inwardly it was a bit of a distress. Her classmates had long gotten theirs when they were fillies. Brown...? Not so much.

She wasn't much to look at. With all the pastels running around she was just... brown.  A soft brown coat, dark brown mane and tail, even her eyes were brown. She did attempt to add some color with a purple vest she'd crocheted but it really didn't help all that much. She rather liked brown anyway.  She trotted along with her supplies until a library caught her attention. She'd heard there was one around, shaped like a tree, they'd told her. They being others in town. And there was a tree and certainly a lot of ponies with books.

She smiled and turned herself to trot inside. She gave a small knock to the frame with her hoof. "Excuse me? Are you open? I was hoping to see if you have any pattern books? I'm trying to make a scarf for winter before it gets too chilly."

[MinorityBat]

"It's like you cast a Want-it Need-it spell on this place, Twilight!" Spike exclaimed, rushing to get the door. Twilight smiled, turning to face the new visitors. "Heh... you're right, Spike. It is a lot like that."

Two new unicorns were standing in the doorway. The blue mare looked quite apprehensive, although the other seemed to be in a good mood.  The princess addressed the brown one first. "Yes, we're open. And we have some. Feel free to look around... or you two can join Electric, Razor, and Zakona over there," she said jovially, waving a hoof in the trio's direction.

"You know, Twilight, I'm surprised you didn't mention Rarity. Doesn't she have a ton of books on patterns?" Spike asked. The alicorn nodded. "Yeah, Spike, but where do you think she got them from?"

"Ohhhh," he said, glancing at the bookshelves around them. "Point taken."

[Grizzly]

With slow, timid steps the blue mare walked in the library. "Um, hallo.  I have this little problem concerning cutie marks..." she whispered, trying not to be heard by anypony other than the princess.

[MinorityBat]

"I bet I can guess what that is," Spike chimed in. He had overheard a whisper Twilight had to strain to catch, and she grimaced. From the look of the tiny unicorn and the urgency of her statement, this was something that she was obviously not comfortable with sharing. But, since her assistant hadn't meant any harm by it, Twilight decided to let it go. She turned to the timid mare and smiled. "You've come to the right place."

"Don't worry. You're not alone here. The others don't have their cutiemarks yet, but we've been looking for a way to solve that. And we found one, if you can believe it!" She looked at Zakona and the gang. "In fact, they're reading up on that right now."

An apologetic grin crossed Spike's face. "Heh... sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable." He turned to the two newcomers, attempting to hold a conversation. "Uh, what're your names? I don't think we've seen you around town before."

-

There were two more ponies without cutiemarks.

Zakona noted this in silent awe. She had expected more customers, but not ones who arrived with the same goal she'd had in mind.

Is this fate, or am I just going crazy?

Probably the latter.

She didn't really know what was going on, or whether this would end once she left the library. But she realized that she wasn't as alone as she had originally thought.