Running out of things to say or maybe I just don't have a lot to say. Either way, it's time for another chapter. No reviews from the last one, but plenty of hits. So my thanks go out to all those that have taken their time to read my story. I hope you are enjoying it. Please enjoy the next installment of Cutie Mark Crusaders Conundrum.

Chapter Seventeen

It's just a story… Right?

They read the story once more. The words hadn't change since the last time. They were hard to read. But could they be true? It was just a story, right? Just words on a page to teach young fillies and colts to appreciate the gifts they have. A moral that all should learn and hold near to their hearts. It wasn't true though. A Unicorn that travelled place to place. It was not to find a friend or a home, but she looked for the destiny that she lost. Hers was taken. In others she looked for it. Never to be found. Never to know who she once was. Leaving her victims to wander the earth without knowledge of who they could have been. Still… her fate was the same… and she would move on to the next… Another she would have to find.

No Cutie Mark did this Unicorn have…

Neither did Trinny…

"Come on guys...," Scootaloo was the first to speak up, "It's just a story... There's no way that a Unicorn could take some pony's Cutie Mark... Right?" she looked to them for assurance.

They all bit their lips in unison. There was all sorts of magic in the world. Conjuring types. Ones that come levitate and move objects. Some ponies could use magic to heal others. Some could change one thing into another. There were even spells that could travel back in time. Powerful magic… so many kinds of magic… but was there one that could steal another's talent… or even remove it?

"You guys okay?" Spike noticed their depressed state, "Didn't the story have a happy ending?" he came up to them.

"Not really…," Apple Bloom looked to the book.

"Oh," Spike was surprised, "Well… Twilight says that not all stories have happy endings," he thought for a moment, "Stories often reflect life and life doesn't always have a happy ending… it's supposed to teach young fillies and colts a lesson… or something like that."

Thinking about the story they just read, Apple Bloom could understand what it was trying to teach them. However, there was a Unicorn that walked among them without a Cutie Mark. She wore a blanket to hide her bare flank. She was cheerful and kind to all she met. She seemed to like little fillies and foals the best and preferred to be with them than the mares and stallions.

But… Apple Bloom couldn't help but think of all that Trinny had done for them. She cheered them up when they were down. She believed in them when they didn't believed in themselves. She bought them sweets that lifted their spirits and filled their bellies. She couldn't be the Unicorn from her story… that Unicorn was greedy and evil… Trinny was kind and gentle… but she had no Cutie Mark… just like the Unicorn from the story…

Could she be…?

"Earth to Apple Bloom," Spike waved his claws in front of her face, "You in there?"

"Huh?" she shook her head, "Oh… sorry. You were saying?"

He sighed, "All I was saying is that all stories aren't meant to be happy… but they teach us how to make our own happy endings…," he scratched his head, "I think that's what Twilight said."

"So how do you make a Unicorn without a Cutie…?" Scootaloo started to ask, but the others quickly covered her mouth.

"She means… we were… wondering… um...," Apple Bloom couldn't think of a good excuse.

"I think she means that we were wondering on how to make a sad ending a happy one," Babs Seed managed to come up with something.

Spike rubbed his chin, then shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I guess it depends on what the sad ending is. Let me read it again," he reached for the book.

Apple Bloom quickly closed it, "Thanks Spike, but we have to go," she indicated to the others Crusaders to follow, "See you later," she quickly ran out the door.

The girls followed after her with a quick goodbye to Spike. He only stood in the door scratching his head in wonder. The Crusaders ran off as fast as their little hooves could run. Where they were running too, they didn't know. They just had to keep running. Not that they could run from what was bothering them. They couldn't run from their own thoughts and doubts. But still they ran… they ran to outskirts of Ponyville before they felt like they needed to stop and catch their breath. Taking in deep breaths, they let their minds take in all that they read.

"What do you… girls think…?" Apple Bloom was finally able to speak, "Do you really think that old story is true? Do you think that Trinny could be that Unicorn… without a Cutie Mark?"

There was no answer that they could give. None that made sense anyway. It was just so confusing. A full grown mare without a Cutie Mark and a story that told of a greedy Unicorn that would steal the fates of others just to regain what was taken from her. Could Trinny really be the Cutie Mark thief?

Sweetie Belle bit her lip, "Trinny has been really nice to us… and the last part did say to beware the friendly Unicorn…"

"But we don't have our Cutie Marks," Scootaloo pointed out, "The Unicorn from the story was only looking for fillies and colts that just got theirs. She wouldn't be interested in us."

Sweetie Belle gasped, "Unless she can tell that one of us is about to get our Cutie Marks and she waiting for it to appear so she can steal it!"

"Shh!" Apple Bloom hushed her, "Not so loud!"

"Sorry," she apologized.

"She could be right though," Scootaloo groaned, "Maybe Trinny is the Cutie Mark thief and she can sense that one of us is about to find out what our special talent is and then she's going to sneak into our room at night and steal it while we sleep and then we won't remember who we are and run off into the Everfree Forest," she started to shiver, "and never be heard from again… AAAAGGGGG!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Sweetie Belle soon joined her. Both were screaming at the top of their lungs. An ear splitting scream that rang through the air and was carried to far off places.

Apple Bloom growl and gritted her teeth, "HUSH UP NOW!" she yelled at the two screaming fillies, "No pony is here to steal our Cutie Marks! It's just a story!"

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle became silent and looked to Apple Bloom. They knew that they were over reacting, but it was a scary thought that filled their minds. To get their Cutie Mark and then lose it. The only thing they've ever wanted in their entire lives was to find what made them special and receive their Cutie Marks. Well… Scootaloo also wanted to fly, but that was beside the point.

"You really think it's just a story Cuz?" Babs Seed looked to her, "You don't think that Trinny is the Unicorn from the story?"

Apple Bloom looked up and down and every which way she could until she just let her head hang, "I don't know… Trinny doesn't have a Cutie Mark… the Unicorn from the story doesn't have a Cutie Mark. Trinny says she's been traveling place to place… so does the Unicorn from the story…"

"Not to mention Trinny is a Unicorn," Scootaloo pointed out.

"It doesn't look good Cuz," Babs Seed didn't like to admit it, "I know it's just a story… probably and old pony's tale… but the similarities. My mom says that there is a grain of truth in every story… what if it is a big grain this time?"

What Babs Seed was saying was hard to hear, but the truth was often so. But how could they know if the story was true… if Trinny was the Unicorn that could steal Cutie Marks? Had she come to Ponyville in search of her next victim? Was some unsuspecting filly or foal about to receive their Cutie Mark and Trinny would be there to take it away? It all sounded so horrible. To lose something that was a part of you. To have it taken away when you just found it. How could some pony do that?

There's no way Trinny could… she just wasn't that kind of pony… was she?

"We could always ask her…," Sweetie Belle spoke up.

"Are you kidding me!?" Scootaloo stomped her hoof, "She wouldn't tell us if she was some sort of evil Unicorn that steals Cutie Marks! She would lie right through her teeth to protect her identity."

"Or something else could be going on," Babs Seed suggested, "There might be some other reason that Trinny doesn't have a Cutie Mark and we could embarrass her if we bring it up."

Scootaloo looked down in shame. She hadn't thought that there might be reason that Trinny was Cutie Markless. They all felt ashamed that they jumped to conclusions. But they still didn't know why or how Trinny was a blank flank. They needed to know and they knew that there was only one way to find out. They had to ask.

"So… we agree?" Apple Bloom looked to her fellow fillies.

Slowly they nodded their heads. They were Cutie Mark Crusaders after all. They were to help any pony to earn their Cutie Mark. They vowed to do whatever they could to help fellow blank flanks across Equestria. No matter if they were Earth, Pegasus or Unicorn. Maybe they could even help Trinny remember hers.

"Let's put our hooves in girls," Apple Bloom put out her hoof, "We will find out what's going on with Trinny. If she doesn't have a Cutie Mark, then let's promise that we will do everything in our power to help her get it or get it back."

"Or stop her…," Scootaloo added, "You know… just in case she's evil."

Every pony gave her a look.

"What? We have to be prepared," she pointed out.

They all agreed. Whatever they would find out… whatever they were about to face… they would do whatever they could. Either they would help a mare rediscovery her destiny or they would stop her from taking another's. On the inside, they were all hoping that they would be helping a pony.

"So… does anyone know where Trinny is?" Scootaloo asked.

They looked to one another and shrugged their shoulders. Trinny was one of those ponies that just seemed to appear and disappear. There was no way of telling where she would be. The last time she was seen, she was in the woods applying her homemade lotion.

"Maybe she'll still be back at the pond," Apple Bloom thought out loud, "If we hurry, we might be able to catch her."

It was the best plan or the best one they could come up with. They remembered the area they were looking earlier, but not exactly which pond. It would take a little bit of searching, but it was something that they had to do. Running off to the woods, they began their search.

Unfortunately… they should have looked around before they spoke…

"Did you hear what those blank flanks were saying?"

"Of course I did. I was standing right here."

"Do you think they were telling the truth about that new Unicorn that's been hanging around?"

"Those blank flanks seemed sure about what they were talking about."

"But could it be true that Unicorn… what's her name? Trinny? Could she really not have a Cutie Mark? I mean, every mare and stallion has a Cutie Mark. How could she not?"

"… I don't know… mmm… Let's go see what story they were talking about…"

The two shadowy figures laughed as they made their way to Ponyville. What they planning was something sinister. Anything to make the Cutie Mark Crusaders miserable. It would be a good laugh anyway. Whatever was going on, they would twist it to their little game that they would play. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were going to pay and it was going to start with the mysterious Unicorn known as Trinny.