A tiny trickle of sunlight beamed down graciously on the slumbering city of Ponyville. The morning dew that had collected on the ground throughout Luna's night still clung to the flora, gripping desperately at the blades of grass. The moisture dampened the dirt road that swerved out of the borders, heading down South to the next settlement. Pools of residue had been frozen overnight, and the chilly atmosphere promised a painfully slow thawing.

There would be very few ponies awake at this hour. The mail pony would have just woken up to prepare for the morning deliveries, while local stores such as Sugarcube Corner had just begun preparing their stock for the crowd of incoming workers just a few hours from now.

Now would be a perfect time as any to go on with his plan.

Hooves came crashing down on the morning dew gathered on the grass just outside of the city. The sound they made against the road was absorbed by the emptiness, and the wind refused the pony's company. He paid no mind to the vastness of the trail ahead of him, a sigh slowly creeping from his mouth.

It was time; this was the day he had been waiting for his entire life. This was the day he would shine above all other equines in history, radiating with more intensity than the royal princess. He stopped abruptly, quickly pivoting so that his eyes could rest on the serene little village just a small trek behind. Everything felt distant looking in from the outside, his gaze darting through Ponyville, spotting several places that he recognized with ease.

The aforementioned Sugarcube Corner was easy to spot in the morning. It's bright colored rooftop and foundation almost looked as if it were made out of candy and gingerbread, the lone pony thought to himself. Visions and voices communicated with him as memories passed through his closed eyes.

"I'm sorry! I'm so very sorry!" A panicked brown pony coughed out through the smoke. He quickly fought his way through the smog, a thick piece of cloth fitted in his mouth. He made his way to the oven towards the other end of the kitchen, quickly opening the contraption and pulling out the tray of baked goods.

He frantically turned the machine off, his nose wrinkling at the awful scent radiating from the tray. He backed up towards the opposite end of the kitchen after opening up the back door, stretching his feathered wings as he did. Once he was in position, his wings beat firmly, wafting the smoke into the air outside. It didn't take long for the smoke to finally disappear, but the wretched stench of the burnt cupcakes still lingered in the house. Disappointed, he frowned, trying to shake off some of the leftover flour that had stained his coat in the preparations.

The pony's eyes flashed open again. Though the past quickly faded into the recesses of his mind, he could still hear Mrs. Cake scolding him for burning his fifth batch of cupcakes that morning. He apologized, as he always did, but in hindsight, he couldn't deny that their choice to let him go had probably helped- hell, saved- their business. Besides, the pink mare that they brought to work from the loft upstairs had already proven herself to be a more proficient baker than he could ever dream of being, and her potency at attracting customers completely overshadowed any skills he might have had.

Several strands of his dark brown hair fell in front of his eyes. He ran a hoof through his mane from front to back, pulling away the annoying bits from his face. His thick, mud-brown tail quivered as he spread his wings open. His feathers shivered as they grazed the still, icy air. He stretched them out along with his legs and neck as he prepared to take flight. As he did so, his eyes landed upon a huge plot of the red delicious apple trees just outside of the village.

"I still don't understand it," he finally spoke, his voice sucked into the silence of the morning.

"Apple delivery?" he asked the younger pony. A large, mighty colt stood eagerly at her side, waiting for the brown pony's answer to their offer.

"Yessir," the powerful farmer answered him. "Take fruit orders, and deliver 'em to the customer."

Finally, something that he just knew he could really shine at! He smiled while shaking the stallion's hoof, generously accepting the golden opportunity given to him. Delivering packages of apples around town? To say it was a piece of cake would be an understatement! He may not be as strong or as fast as other pegasi, but he knew that this type of job would be perfect for him.

Plus, it'd give him time to be in the air. He loved being in the air. It gave him time to enjoy himself without a single care for the world below.

His wings lifted his frame off of the ground without issue. He took one more deep sigh, his hazel eyes still locked on the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

"'Ah'm terribly sorry, but there's just not enough orders coming in," the wife of the farmer pony told him one day after calling him in from his most recent delivery.

"But you can't!" The plain, brown pony pleaded desperately. "The money I get from this job is all I've got now!"

"'Ah understand, and t'ain't easy just lettin' ya' go like this, but we just can't afford to keep ya' around..."

A dooming silence fell over the two ponies. His betrayed hazel irises stared back at the wife. She couldn't bear to look back at him, avoiding his eyes. She pulled her hat down far enough to block his bleeding gaze.

"Ah'm sorry this had ta' happen to you, sweetie, but that's just the way it has t'be."

She walked past him, and straight into the field of apple trees. She refused to look back at his broken expression.

The feeling of wind in his face soothed the painful memories. He hadn't seen the filly that fired him since that day, and not once had he ever considered asking her, after these few short years, why exactly she had decided to let him go. Whenever he delivered the food packages to their hungry customers, the smiles on their faces and the juicy tips that they handed him always assured him that this was the job he had been looking for. He was absolutely certain that the delivery orders would continue to swarm the Apple Family as long as he was on the job. So, what exactly happened that changed this?

His body relaxed as his wings took him up ever higher into the morning sky. Down below, Ponyville was now small enough to fit on his foreleg. His mind numbed for a second before he remembered what he was doing here in the sky. The temperature was dropping steadily as he reached closer to the heavens.

With a newfound determination, his wings beat furiously, lifting him further away from the ground below. He looked back down as he continued to ascend. His eye caught sight of a symbol on his flank. It was a peculiar marking: A round, circular shape with what appeared to be two wings sprouting from either side of the circle. On his left flank, the image seemed to be imprinted perfectly. On his right, however, it appeared larger, as if it had been dragged along his body. The circular shape was more oval, and the wings appeared thick.

"What's the ‘B’ stand for anyways?" a child's voice cracked at him. He looked across from his tiny booth in the restaurant, placing his hay sandwich back on the plate. In the walkway was a white colt with a mane and tail that had a splash of several distinct blue hues.

"E-excuse me?" he answered back.

"There!" he pointed with one of his hooves. There was an application for the Ponyville weather control unit on the table next to his sandwich, only half complete. She read out the name written in under the section designated, "B. Slate. What does the 'B' mean?"

The baby stallion looked at the mysterious colt. His appearance was bland and uninteresting, but he couldn't help but notice the application he had been filling out.

Slate was lost in thought for a moment before replying with a shining smile, "The 'B' isn't anything important, really."

The child narrowed his eyes. "How come? Isn't it a part of your name?"

"Yeah, it's a piece," he replied, "But it's not something I'm particularly fond of showing off."

"Oh." He didn't seem the least bit interested in Slate anymore, nor did he ask him any more questions. The colt disappeared from sight minutes later, letting him finish his application.

Slate found another cloud to rest on, and didn't hesitate to land. Catching his breath from the long climb, he poked his head through the soft material and back down onto the city. It was but half of the size of one of his hooves now. The thin air at this altitude made him stay put for longer than he had hoped for.

"This is perfect," he told himself. Celestia's sun rose ever higher, generously warming Slate's body as he regained his strength. The rays of light crawled along the side of Ponyville, sweeping further into the city as time dragged on.

Other scattered memories ran through his mind, and many other distinct fillies and colts flashed by with every blink of his eyes. He had done so much for this town over the years. He always thought himself to be a helpful pony; a jack of all trades whose flexibility could be useful for any type of job. He did admit that he had been accident prone in the past, but he genuinely felt that his generosity far outweighed the errors he had made along the way. These thoughts only made his decision last night more difficult. His will felt strong though, and he was focused on sticking to the plan. Leaving Ponyville's borders that morning sealed the deal.

The wind made its presence known, albeit weak at that height. It wasn't as though it mattered to Slate either way. He stretched out his legs once more, his energy finally returning thanks to the break. He inched closer to the ledge of the cloud, taking one final glance at the sleeping town.

He thought back to that foal at the restaurant. Under his breath, he whispered the name of the Princess, followed by what appeared to be a prayer of sorts.

"No regrets."

He turned his back on the city. He tucked his wings back in. They quivered against his sides, begging him to reconsider. He immediately kicked his body's instincts aside, ignoring his urges for self-preservation.

He inhaled as much of the light air as he could.

His forelegs lifted off of the cloud, dangling right in front of him, his body completely perpendicular to the puffy surface.

Clearing his mind of every distraction that he experienced at the start of the morning, he tossed his body backward, beginning his decent towards the unsuspecting town.

=============

Five Minutes Later

Manehattan was bustling with activity, ponies clogging up the roads as far as the eye could see, each one out on business: setting up shop, attending meetings, or making their way home from their busy nights. Winter only made the streets more difficult for travelers to navigate, the pony-traffic moving at a snail's pace. Snow blanketed every rooftop within the city, mounds building up in small alleys or ditches. Flurries chilled the coats of those still roaming the gigantic metropolis, and in the park, younger fillies could still be seen hurling snowballs at one another behind benches, trees, and other unsuspecting civilians.

An older mare was looking out of the window of her second floor hospital room, struggling to stifle a yawn. Her bed had been raised so that she could watch the world outside go by, noticing the strips of white that covered the base outside of her window. Her mane was in shambles, running down her head in every direction. Her softened red hair was thick with sweat, and the tint of purple it carried, combined with her perspiration, gave it a very delicate appearance. A tail lazily hung from the side of the bed, waving gently like the swing of a pendulum. Her smile betrayed the concern flooding her bright purple eyes. Her husband would be there soon to check up on her the moment he finished up with a report to his boss. It would only be a matter of time before he showed up with a beaming smile spread across his face.

She wished to show him the tiny, bundled up filly wrapped up in blankets. She cradled the baby in her forelegs, hearing a weak, tired cooing from the sheets. She nuzzled the infant, causing some of the covering to shift along her child's shape. She worked her way down the foal's appearance, a perfectly healthy filly that turned in her sleep. Her shining ivory coat brightened with the streetlight pouring into the window, falling upon a peculiar marking on her body.

She shivered as the sheets fell from her delicate figure during the mother's nudges. The fortunate parent quickly wrapped her back up. Her attention was pulled back to the marking, the reason for her concern for her new baby daughter: A glossy, thick magnifying glass with a brown handle and a silver lining thirsted for attention from her flank. It was a simple, powerful image that rocked the mother to her core. She had never once heard about such an odd situation, nor did she have any idea what the implications may be for her poor daughter in the future. She cuddled the infant as her worries intensified.

The nurse hustled out of the room, giving the new mother the space she needed. A stallion stood in her way to the main hallway, his rugged face squinting in deep thought as he peaked into the room, watching continuous flashes of light behind the curtain. The futile efforts were commendable only for the persistence of the photographers, as if somehow, the next flash would reveal the pony in question.

"How's the mother doing?" the older doctor asked the nurse. He gave a slight cough and wiped his mane back, following the nurse to the lobby downstairs.

"She's a bit shaken up, and she's pretty exhausted, but there doesn't seem to be any indications of infection or internal injury. She just needs rest, doctor."

He nodded in approval, pleased that the delivery had gone so well. "I was afraid that perhaps she was a little too aged to give birth, but it looks like I may have just overestimated the risks involved." They opened a door, revealing a set of staircases that trailed downward to the first floor. The wall was glass, showing the small block on the street. Carriages full of publishers, writers, and more photographers were still pulling up, frustrating the doctor. "They're going to be a pain to get rid of. See to it that the patients on the first floor aren't disturbed by the madness outside."

"Absolutely, doctor," the nurse acknowledged the request, pulling ahead a few steps.

"Nurse, before you go," he started again, stopping her in her tracks, "What of the baby?"

"The baby?" The nurse asked. "We ran several dozen response tests. We even repeated a few of them for the sake of accuracy. She's in perfect condition to be with her mother right now."

"Considering the circumstances?" the doctor pressed.

"It's extraordinary to see a foal like her. I've never heard of such a rare case before in all my time of working in the medical field. However, even with her condition, she seems no less healthy than any other ordinary foal."

The doctor gave sigh of relief. "Excellent. Thanks for all of your hard work up."

"We're not quite done yet," she continued, "getting the media out of here is now our top priority."

"I also want you to keep an eye on that child. A safe delivery is a great sign, but this circumstance is still as abnormal as they get, and I refuse to let anything happen to this child in my hospital. Keep the mother and filly under heavy watch. Understand?"

"Understood, doctor."

The final doorway leading to the first floor swung open. The vigorous press had already broken through the main lobby, and the security guards that normally monitor the halls on the first floor were stuck in front of an impromptu blockade, doing all they could to keep anypony from breaking beyond the border they created.

The doctor grimaced at the ferocity of the mob, hoping that the mare and her child would be safe until they were able to remove the infestation from the hospital.

The aged mother one story above could hear the commotion taking place down below. Flashes from cameras reflected off of each square of glass from the other structures across the street, and the shouts from reporters echoed up the building from below, though completely incoherent from her distance. Nurses constantly popped their heads in to make sure that both mother and child were safe, and that nopony managed to sneak into the building. One of them whispered something rapidly to the other right outside the door. Within a minute, the same nurse trotted into the room with a large sheet, and in a single swift motion, completely covered the window.

Pegasi, noticing the movement from the second floor, jumped into the sky directly in front of the window. The nurse ensured the mother that it had been locked tight, but the sound and flashes from the cameras filled the parent with doubt. The persistence of the press scared her as she brought her filly closer to her body, wishing soon for her husband to arrive.

She was frightened for her child, taking in long, shaky breaths as the press tried time and time again to get through the lobby. They needed to find this unique young mare. Describing it as the biggest scoop of the century would be an understatement.

After all, it was the first time in Equestrian history that a baby was born with a cutie mark.

Author's Notes:

Hello. I'm a fairly new author around here, and I'm just throwing my little story into the swarm here. I'm still kinda fresh at this whole setup, so if there's issues or errors, I'll be more than glad to patch up what I can and improve on future chapters.

Please leave any feedback you have. I thrive off of it, and I can only improve with constructive criticism. I'd definitely appreciate anything you readers have that you can throw at me.

The first two chapters will be released simultaneously, so Chapter 2 should be readily available right after this one. It'll have the same Author's Note, more or less. I'll be doing what I can to pump out chapters on a consistent basis, so check back once in a while. I'll be doing my best to issue release dates for each individual piece, but I won't have anything concrete until after I get back to work from publishing these first two.

Either way, here's to a hopeful start of a story I've been workin' on. Cheers!

- Garnet Rose