Author Notes: So this village is extraordinarily isolated, for those of you chomping at the bit to read Polyville's reaction to the CCM leaving, you'll just have to sit tight.
Chapter Seven
Try: Part One
All three fillies slept at Mark's place for the night. Apple Bloom had her face covered in ink from brainstorming with Mark when her friends showed burst through the door. The earth pony had quickly cleaned up and gave Mark big soulful eyes until the other mare sighed and sent Apple Bloom to play with her friends. Mark had been genuinely happy that all three of them were staying the night. Apparently, Mark had decided that the cutie mark crusaders were her new project. The cutie mark scientist had scared the cutie mark crusaders telling them by about the only pony in history that never earned his cutie mark during dinner. Apple Bloom had tried to explain that night to her friends that Mark didn't really want them to be blank flanks, no matter how much she gushed about wanting to study a pony who never earned their cutie mark. Mark was just happy to observe and record when and how the three got their cutie mark and then theorize from what she learned why it had taken them so long. Plus, Mark was sure they all had a talent, the crusaders were just being too ambitious to find it. Scootaloo had scoffed and asked what that even meant.
While curled in bed, the three friends shared what they during the day. Scootaloo had told her friend a little history according to a unicorn who really thought she was a pegasus. It took longer to coheres Sweetie Belle to talk about her day. Eventually they dragged from Sweetie Belle what she did with Pinup and Shade. Sweetie Belle tried hoity toity unicorn things' and then tried to change the subject. Finally Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had gotten the idea. Apple Bloom decided that Mark was right when she said this was a very old fashioned town. Sure, Apple Bloom didn't know many unicorns outside Sweetie Belle's family and Twilight, but she knew little about gender stereotypes and customs from earth pony history. In the old days, earth ponies had the mare heads of the family would do the research on o get out of it by saying the two unicorns only talked about mares and then contact the ones she thought were appropriate for the colts to meet and get acquainted with. This was seen as the most secure way for colts to find a stable and supportive wife. The fear being that if it wasn't done so formally, he would be used and then dropped as soon as the mare was pregnant. Divorce was made unappealing to a flighty mare since colts also came with dowries. If the colt was abandoned, the dowry defaulted to him and not his wife. It was why, out of all the pony races, earth ponies were the most equal between the genders.
But arranged marriages were old fashioned. Apple Bloom only knew of those old traditions surrounding marriage because Applejack had ranted about them after some careless comments about Big Mac being a proper colt unlike Braeburn. Applejack had gone ballistic when one of the Apple's had implied that Applejack should arrange a marriage for Big Mac. The mare had even implied she would arrange one if Big Mac continued to be single. The ensuing yelling match between the two mares had gotten nasty, but then Granny Smith had interrupted. Apple Bloom couldn't remembered exactly what Granny Smith had said, but the offending mare and her immediate family had made an angry retreat, muttering and blushing as they left before the reunion had even ended.
It was all really silly. Apple Bloom forced herself out of her thoughts and shook her head. She smiled at her friends as they all left though she was sad they were apart against for the day. Mark had suggested to Sweetie Belle that she should first explore the uses of her strongest spell if she wanted to find out what her special talent was. Mark said it was often, when a spell turned out to be a fillies' specially talent. It would also explain why Sweetie Belle would find it difficult to do any other spell. Not that unicorns could do many spells outside whatever helped or was their talent, but most unicorns could do at least a basic levitation spell with ease. Sweetie Belle had difficulty with even simple spell. Mark had then ruined the mood by trying to see if Sweetie Belle would earn her cutie mark right in front of her. Unfortunately Sweetie Belle cleaned up and wouldn't show the spell she was good at and left.
Scootaloo said something about the weird unicorn fixing her wings over the next few days. Her friends had been really happy for Scootaloo. Apple Bloom knew how much flying meant to Scootaloo. The orange filly idolized Rainbow Dash. The pegasus wanted nothing more than to be able to fly. Maybe it wasn't her real passion or her special talent, but the way Scootaloo's eyes would sadden or deepen when Rainow Dash flew and she obsessed over the fast flying pegasis. It had taken Apple Bloom a while to realize that Scootaloo idolization of Rainbow Dash existed not only because they had a similar love of the fast and dangerous, but because Scootaloo wanted so badly to fly. Apple Bloom was sure that Scootaloo's inability to fly was one of the reasons pegasus had such a hard time finding her special talent. Not that Scootaloo would be fixed so she could fly. As soon as she could fly it wouldn't be long before she got her talent.
Now Apple Bloom got to spend the day studying with Mark again. When the other cutie mark crusaders left, Mark stopped trying her questions. Mark didn't ask Apple Bloom questions to figure out Apple Bloom's special talent, mostly because she was sure the earth ponies' talent was to be a cutie mark scientist.
"Why is this three symbol thing so important to cutie marks?" asked Apple Bloom, glancing up from the draft of the cutie mark book that Mark was working on. The unicorn had said she was sending it to her publisher on the next carriage that came to town no matter what shape it was in.
"I have some theories, but no conclusive proof yet. See the three repeating symbols in cutie marks is extraordinarily prevalent, even more so then just having a simple one symbol to represent a ponies' special talent. The most I can tell you is what I've discovered about the anomalies. Two or any repeating symbols over three is not only rare, but often predict," said Mark.
"Two identical symbols in cutie marks isn't that rare. There were a couple of ponies with those type of cutie marks in my village, though not as many as ponies with one or three repeating symbols, and they didn't seem..." Apple Bloom allowed her voice to trail off.
"These are just preliminary findings. Unfortunately my findings are severely limited by my colts' decision to study in this isolated forest. I love him, really, but my work needs to be done somewhere with more ponies. I need to be able to move from town to town to conduct my experiments and gather data. Really, the most I ever got out of one place was in Fillydelphia. I swear, I could study cutie marks there my entire life and still not discover everything that city holds," said Mark then sighed. "But unfortunately stuck in this small isolated with few to no fillies with no cutie mark."
"He didn't seem very interested in finding a special somepony last night," Apple Blossom said softly. Wincing a little as she remembered what the colt had said when he came home. Mark huffed.
"He'll get over it. He's just doing this to irritate me," snapped Mark.
"What if you left him here by himself?" asked Apple Blossom slowly, looking in Mark's direction without moving her head. Mark tensed at the suggestion and then shook her head and forced a laugh.
"I couldn't do that. What would ponies think?" ask Mark. "Not that I care what they think, but my son would never get a mare if it got around that he... and he needs me. I have all the money. He wouldn't know what to do with it."
"Doesn't he make his own?" asked Apple Bloom. Mark had said he worked. Wasn't that why he had moved to this town?
"What? " asked Mark, and then she chuckled. "Colt's don't deal with money."
Apple Bloom stared at Mark for a second. She had to have heard Mark wrong. Well, no she had heard it right, but she wasn't used to ponies sounding secure in statements that ridiculous. As far as Apple Bloom could tell, ponies never agreed on which gender they thought was worse with money. All Apple Bloom knew was that her brother, Big Mac was the one who kept track and was in control of their money. Well, Applejack could override him or tell him what they were going to invest in, but on the whole Big Mac was the one who did their taxes and stuff. Apple Bloom didn't know why her brother did it, or how he got stuck with the job, but Granny Smith always laughed whenever Applejack had offered to help Big Mac keep track of the money during the busy seasons. Now that Apple Bloom thought about it, from what she knew about Sweetie Belle's family, she was pretty sure Sweetie Belle's father was the one who balanced the books too. So that at least two colts who dealt with the families income instead of their mares.
"The world must have changed a lot since we've been in here," said Mark with a small smile, apparently noticing Apple Bloom's reaction and correctly interpreting the earth ponies' thought. "Sounds good for my son, but I think some of the mares I know will come running back here if what you're implying is true. Change can be very frightening to these 'intelligent' unicorns."
She trotted over to Apple Bloom. "Do you have any questions?"
"Well, it's just this part about soul cutie marks. You said they're rare?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Yes, well, as far as we know. The hypothesis is that every pony has a pony out there with their soul cutie mark, though I personally highly doubt that. Still, so far we haven't been able to disprove that all ponies have someone out there with a soul cutie mark," said Mark. "Actually, the only definite fact we can claim is that soul cutie marks exist."
"I know, two brother's with soul cutie marks came to our village and tried to win our farm. But, I'm confused. In your book you said that soul cutie marks mean that the pony is meant to be with that pony forever as a romantic couple," said Apple Bloom. "But the two I met were brothers."
"Brothers?" asked Mark. Apple Bloom nodded her head. "Well, either nature has a very twisted sense of humor, which I wouldn't doubt since there are such things as outlaw marks, or I've made a general statement based on too little information."
Mark trotted back and forth for a second, her horn then glowed and she made quick notes. "You know that most of the information in this book is theoretical. I try to emphasize on the fact that this part of the book in particular is filled with information on cutie marks I've stumbled across rarely, and my data is limited. A lot of it never really interested me, but is something that needs further study. As I said, all of us could have soul cutie marks, though I doubt it. Most soul marks I've seen have a feeling or openness to the symbol that seems to allow in another part to complete it. All the ponies I've personally met who had soul marks were in a relationship, and my friend said that the few soul marks who were not together at first and eventually ended up together in some general capacity. But she hasn't been able to find more than a dozen subjects, and her work has often been based on personal opinion and not facts. There is a chance that soul cutie marks could simply indicate that two ponies compliment and support each other in perfect harmony."
"Isn't that what most ponies look for in a mate?" asked Apple Bloom. "I mean, wouldn't you marry the pony you spent all your time with and connected perfectly with?"
"No, I spend more time with Gail than I ever did with my husband, and I did love Grey. Gail and I have something special, a connection and understanding that I could never have had with my husband, but I could never see myself in a sexual relationship with her, and I've had my share of mare crushes before," Mark said absently. And then chuckled nervously. "Don't tell anyone I said that. These backward mares would ignore me to death."
Apple Bloom chuckled uncomfortably along with Mark, though she didn't quite know what they were laughing about.
"Um, so, I mean, how do you translate cutie marks? I mean, this is all really fascinating, but not really like your other books," said Apple Bloom. Mark nickered and shook her head.
"And here I thought you'd might specialize in one of those sub groupings of study," said Mark. Apple Bloom blushed and glared at Mark.
"Well, maybe I will, but I have to study the basics of cutie marks science before I learn about abnormal of special cutie marks. I still don't understand how two ponies with identical cutie marks can have different special talents," said Apple Bloom with a sigh. "And neither you or your books really explained it."
"Sure I did, you just haven't studied the book recently or carefully enough," said Mark with a knowing look. Apple Bloom blushed. It was true. She hadn't sat down and read Mark's books since she started hanging with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. She just had so much to do. They kept her busy and Apple Bloom had no time to read with school, homework, her friends and her chores on the apple farm. The earth ponies just hadn't had the free time she had when it was only her and Twist. Apple Bloom bit her lip. It had been so long since she'd talked to Twist. "This book does expect the pony reading it to understand the concepts of my other books. I do repeat and explore the more general facts about my cutie mark in this book briefly alone with my preliminary thoughts on the importance of a pattern of three, but you're looking for chapter is seventeen."
Apple Bloom made the biggest eyes she could and looked up at Mark. Mark laughed and lay down next to her.
"Alright, I'll explain, but you'll get more from reading," said Mark. "Now, even if two cutie marks look similar, there are little changes that sometimes seem insignificant but can mean the world when translating. Believe me, I've seen all sort of cutie marks. What you see is not always what it means. Take the most prevalent symbol in your family, apples. I'm sure you've seen every apple symbols under the sky, but I bet not all of those apples meant the ponies talent was exclusively connected to apples."
"That's why I want to know more," said Apple Bloom with a slight jump. "Apple Tart and Apple Fritter have the same cutie mark but totally different special talents. I'm not sure how that's possible."
"Are you sure they're the same? Have you really looked at them closely?" asked Mark. Apple Bloom nodded, wondering why Mark asked the question. Of course Apple Bloom checked that they had the same cutie mark. Why else would she even dare ask the question?
"I wish we had them here," said Mark. "Next time you see your cousins, really look at their cutie marks, even if it makes them uncomfortable. It would be best if you can get that to allow you to draw their cutie marks, not from memory, but with them right in front of you. Some marks will look identical at first, but will have the smallest differences to them that can completely change the meaning the symbol and indicates a completely different special talent. What are their cutie marks?"
"One perfect Cortland apple," said Apple Bloom confidently.
"Good, you paid attention and made sure the type was the same and even made sure the color remained strong. Even the smallest blemish of green can change the meaning of the cutie mark. Now, a perfect Cortland would be a talent in marketing, specifically in food sales. But little things, hard to notice, can change the meaning. A green mark would be a talent in psychology. Now, as with everything else, that is a grand overstatement. A different placement of the green spot can once again change the meaning. And sometimes ponies with completely different symbols can have the same special talent. Now, let's get back to our subtle changes. Others would be if you could see a stem or leaf of the apples. Changes that will affect the meaning only a little would be if one apples was slightly larger or smaller in size. Or even how much of the stem is showing, ect. Hard to say what changed it without the two ponies here in front of me."
Apple Bloom tried to find any differences in the cutie marks that she could remember, but she really couldn't say if any of those differences Mark mentioned applied to her cousins. She didn't think one of apples had a stem and one didn't, but now that Apple Bloom thought about it, she didn't even know if she remembered seeing a stem on their apples at all. Mark laughed, not cruelly, and she came over and gave Apple Bloom a small hug.
"Don't worry about it filly. We'll look at some of the explorer ponies' marks today. They tend to have subtle differences to them. I learned some of the new ones have earned their marks, and I haven't seen them yet. Maybe we'll get lucky and one will have a cutie mark like what you're suggesting," said Mark. Apple Bloom smiled and nodded. She felt a little embarrassed, but Mark was being kind, and the unicorn was right. There was no way to have different talents with the same cutie mark. Still, something was nagging at Apple Bloom. There was something about this situation or place that just seemed off to the earth pony.
Apple Bloom took a deep breath in and then let it out. It was time to study, she needed to clear her head and get into the game, or she would never earn her cutie mark.