It was the morning of just an average day for Sonny, a young unicorn colt from the land of Equestria. He woke up, yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with his hooves. Pushing himself up in his bed, he slowly stepped onto the cold hard wood floor of his home in the city of New Canterlot.

Outside, Sonny could see the twinkling lights of the casinos between the high rise apartments in the heart of New Canterlot. He rarely got a chance to sleep in because of the noise and light coming through the walls of his house, so he decided to just embrace it and get up early every morning.

Sleepily trotting to the bathroom, he sighed when he saw his mane was in a huge mess on the top of his head. Sonny hated the fact that he got bed head mane almost every morning, mainly because it was almost impossible to un-knot and detangle.

Sonny picked up a small brush that lay on the counter next to the sink, and slowly started to comb through the rat's nest mane.

"Stupid mane." He mumbled, holding the brush with his teeth. This was the only way for him to hold it, unfortunately, because he hasn't gained the ability to perform magic yet and use his magic to levitate it.

"Why can't I do magic like all the other unicorns?" Sonny asked his mother.

"You will someday," She replied, "all unicorns get their magic sometime in their teen years."

Sonny rolled his eyes, "but I want to be able to perform spells and stuff now!"

"Just be patient. It will come." His mother said, and Sonny walked out of the room.

Sonny recalled the talk with his mother about when he would be able to perform magic as he brushed through his mane, finally making it look more decent. After, he looked to his left to see his black-rimmed glasses sitting there on the counter.

Maybe I can make them come to me, he thought, as he tried to perform telekinesis. He squinted his eyes and tried to use magic, but nothing was happening. Sonny sighed and picked them up with his teeth and flipped them on his face, another failed magic attempt.

Sonny trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen, where his mother was making breakfast.

"Mom, I'm going to school." He said, and turned to leave.

"Wait," his mother called, "aren't you going to have breakfast?"

Sonny shook his head and trotted to the door, "Can't. I'm gonna get to school early today."

"Why the rush?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sonny smiled, "There's talent show tryouts today. I have to make sure my routine is perfect so I can get in it."

"Good luck with that!" She said, and returned to her baking. Sonny just shrugged and walked out the door, knowing that she probably wouldn't think much of it.

The entire way to school, Sonny went over his routine in his head. He would sing a song for the school to a piece of music he created on his own. Nobody had ever heard him sing before, and now was his chance to show everyone his talent.

Once he got to the familiar but huge campus, he headed straight for the tryouts room. I hope I don't fail, he thought, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Inside, three older ponies stood in front of an open space, and other ponies about his age were standing off to the side. Sonny walked up to the three ponies standing and handed them a small disc.

"Trying out?" The one in the middle asked, who was the school principal. Sonny nodded.

"That's my music. I'm going to sing to a song I created."

The principal nodded and motioned with her hoof to the empty space for him to stand. The ponies off to the side were whispering and looking at him, but Sonny didn't care. He had to get into this show.

"You can start when ready." The principal said, and put the disc in an outdated stereo and hit play. Sonny closed his eyes, waited for the music to start, then began to sing.

The lyrics flowed from his vocal cords and into the atmosphere, combining with the melody from the old stereo. He didn't dare make eye contact with anyone in the room, and just focused on hitting the correct notes. After the music stopped, he dropped his head down before looking at the ponies judging his performance.

First, Sonny was concerned. All of them were staring at him, wide-eyed and not blinking. He knew they were judging him. Some of their jaws even dropped. Then, some pony in the corner, began to clap his hooves together, and everyone else joined in unison.

Sonny's muscles in his legs relaxed, and he stood upright again. He stared at the judges, waiting their answer on how he did.

"Sonny…that was some performance…" The principal said, still gawking at him, "I don't think I've ever heard a more brilliant voice from a student." She used her unicorn telekinesis to levitate a pen and scribbled Sonny's name down on a piece of paper, "You, sir, have a spot in the talent show tonight."

"Th-thank you!" He stammered, and trotted quickly out of the room. Once he got into the hall, Sonny jumped with joy and pretty much galloped to his first class. The whole day was a daze to Sonny since he was so excited to be able to perform for everyone.

The bell rang throughout the campus, and Sonny dashed through the crowds of fillies and colts, just to get home and tell his mother the good news. When he got to his house, he leaped over the gate without even opening it and kicked open the door to get inside.

"I did it!" He yelled into the house, bouncing up and down on the wood floor.

"Did what?" His mother said, running into the room.

"I made it into the talent show tonight!" Sonny said and had a smile on his little pony face you could see from a mile. His long black mane and tail flew as he jumped and a tiny spark of red fireworks came from his unicorn horn.

"That's great!" His mother smiled down at him, but Sonny couldn't sit still. Of course, he was in the fifth grade, and not many young colts could when something exciting was about to happen.

That night, Sonny stood backstage with the rest of the fillies and colts who made it in the talent show. He paced back and fourth, his hooves clicking on the wood floor of the backstage room. He fumbled with his costume: an all black suit with several dark red stripes down the side, and cut off at the bottom for his hooves and a circle cut out on the back for his tail.

He impatiently tapped his hoof and waited for his name to be called. One by one, ponies were called out to perform. A group of fillies came off the stage, and before he knew it, they called Sonny's name.

"Sonny, you're up next."

Sonny swallowed hard and made his way onto the stage, where a huge crowd of people were gathered below. He tried to stand up tall and make his way to the center of the stage, and waited for his music to play.

The lights dimmed, and a single spotlight focused on the little grey unicorn with jet black hair and the square-framed glasses. Sonny took a deep breath, and the pounding music he created on his computer began to play.

It was so much louder than on the speakers of that old stereo this morning, or on the computer speakers after school, but on the school sound system, the whole gym shook. He opened his dark brown eyes just as his part to sing started.

Once he parted his lips, the sounds rang out in sync with the loud music. It was his creation, his music, and his show. He tapped his hoof in rhythm with the music, and sang in tune with every beat. All of a sudden, the song was over, and the room went dark. Sonny put his head down as he waited for the house lights to return as beads of sweat formed and rolled down from his forehead to the collar of his costume.

The lights returned, and the whole gym broke out in hoots and hollers as ponies clapped their hooves together in applause. Sonny smiled as he stood up and bowed to the crowed. In the back, he saw his mother smiling and waving at him.

Sonny beamed, and waved to his mother before trotting off the stage. When he got to the back room, everyone was bro-hoofing him and patting him on the back. Sonny just smiled and thanked everyone for the compliments.

"You did so well!" His mother squealed as she ran into the back room and hugged her son.

"Thank you!" Sonny smiled and hugged her back as they trotted into the cool night air. Everyone was in awe with his performance, and Sonny felt very proud of himself.

When they got back to their house, Sonny yawned.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and go to bed. I'm really tired from the show." Sonny said and began walking up the stairs.

"Alright. Goodnight." His mom said as Sonny disappeared over the top of the stairs. He walked to his room and unzipped his costume and stepped out of it, his legs sweaty from the shiny material. Just as Sonny was walking by the mirror he noticed something different.

Raising an eyebrow, Sonny took a few steps back so he could see himself. He examined his face, but it looked the same as it usually does. His mane was the same, mostly, except when he turned to check his tail he saw what caught his eye.

Right there, by his tail on the center of his flank, was what appeared to be a cutie mark. Could I be hallucinating? Sonny turned his body so he could see it with his own eyes. It appeared to be a red I and two L's.

"Wh-what?" Sonny began to panic; ponies weren't supposed to get their cutie mark until at least sixth or seventh grade, and he was only in fifth. He rubbed at the mark to see if it was just a trick of the light, or a dirt stain, but it was certainly a cutie mark.

"H-how did I…" Sonny wondered out loud as he stared at the new mark on his flank. He would be the first colt in the whole fifth grade that has gotten his cutie mark. How would the other ponies react when he walked on campus with it the next day?

I can't tell mom…she will ask too many questions, Sonny decided as he tried to figure out what had just happened to him. I'm just gonna go to sleep, and deal with this in the morning, he told himself, before taking off his glasses and jumping in bed. The whole night, Sonny tossed and turned as he tried to find sleep. For some reason, he missed being a blank flank, and he didn't know why.