1889/On a Crusade!

On a Crusade!
Date of Scene:	27 March 2015
Location:	Equestria
Synopsis:	Pinkie searches for her Cutie Mark! THE HUNT IS ON!
Cast of Characters:	Staren, 470

---

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Trot trot trot!
    Clop clop clop!
    Canter trot click-click-click!
    Someone is just meandering all through Ponyville. The click of cloven hooves heralds PINKIE PIE's wanderings as she trots down the streets. Backwards. And on her hind legs. While juggling.
    Whelp.

Staren has posed:
    Staren has stopped to watch. At first, he thinks this must be the local Pinkie putting on a random performance, but then he spots the mask. Well, okay. He watches with interest, but doesn't say anything. It would be rude to interrupt!

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Clippity clippity clop- hop.
    Pinkie pauses on spotting Staren-- of course this leaves her hopping in place on one leg while stillf juggling. "HI STAREN." Chirruped fairly loudly. Oh no it's not the local Pinkie, but rather the visiting one, yes.
    Well it looks like he doesn't need to interrupt because she's paused herself.

Staren has posed:
    Staren steps back and blinks. "Um. Hi Pinkie." Beat. "Seems like it's been /ages/ since I actually saw you /performing/. Glad to see you doing something you enjoy. How's it going?"

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    "It's going great!" Well it has to be, if she's so cheerily hopping and juggling brightly colored objects. "Except I still haven't quite figured it out yet, huh." Figured what out? Well it's another moment before she flomps down on all fours, ditching her juggling act with a snort. "Whelp. So much for my Walking Backwards While Juggling Cutie Mark. Back to the drawing board!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren stares blankly at the first sentence, waiting for her to say more. At the second, he waits, then starts "Figured wh--" before she continues. He tilts his head to the side. "I figured that whatever process brought you back from the dead didn't make your Cutie Mark appear for some reason, but... you can get /another/ one? Are you not able to get the... to get it for partying or making people smile or whatever it was the first time?"

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    It's like you can HEAR the record scratch just going off right then and there, when Staren brings that up. Up comes one hoof, with a sheepish little look, somehow, despite the mask. "Aaaaaaaactuaaaaalllllyyyyyyy..." Uh oh.
    Uh oh!
    Here comes the admission. A rare moment of truth as the little *~squee~* sound says Pinkie is flashing a weak grin behind her mask.
    "I never got mine~."

Staren has posed:
    Staren's ears perk up and he blinks. "You didn't? Huh." Staren holds his right forehoof to his chin and thinks for a moment, then sets it back down on the ground. "Well, have you tried asking the local Pinkie how she got hers?"

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    "Nnnnnope!" Never got it apparently. Though a little prance and a small snort visibly gusts a tiny cloud of steam from the mouth-slat of her mask, and just like that, Pinkie is trotting circles around Staren. "I'll pass!" Chirruped in regards to asking the local Pinkie. "I already know how she got it! Rock farm! Barns! Parties! Fun stuff." She notes with a little bob. "I want one of my ~own~!"

Staren has posed:
    Huh. Must be one of the differences of that alternate future Equestria. Twilight will be interested to know, to help reassure her that that world was different from the start.

    Staren's head tracks Pinkie as she circles him. "I... see. But aren't you... I mean... you /were/ basically her, weren't you? Why does... I mean... all of you... the Bearers... did the rest of them have the same marks in your world, or different ones? And you still do the same kinda stuff... well, except for being an assassin too. Do you want to try for an assassin cutie mark?"

    Blink. "Wait, 'rock farm'?"

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Hoof immediately meets forehead for a moment before Pinkie resumes her scooting about. "No no no! I mean while 'Ninja Assassin' is a perfectly valid Cutie Mark... It's not the one I WANT!" She snorts, tossing that curly mane.
    But then she's waving that hoof dismissively. "Yes~ Born on a Rock Farm, pushed rocks around. Was all super drab and unhappy until BALLOONS and STREAMERS, and PARTIES. Get with the program, silly~."

Staren has posed:
    Staren ahs, and listens for a moment. "I'm not really that familiar with the bearers' pasts. I've talked a bit with Twilight, but... I'm not that close to the rest of you, you know?" He closes his eyes, improvises a quadrupedal shrug by rolling forward slightly on his forehooves, then stands normally and opens them again. "Is a cutie mark really something you /pick/? Your special talent... well, a talent is something innate, isn't it?"

    He looks back at his flank. "Robotics. Automatons. They follow logical rules, and their creation is complex, requiring the understanding of countless scientific principles." He looks at Pinkie. "I was born smart. Barring worlds with eugenics, for every human or similar creature... for every, like, couple hundred at least, there's maybe /one/ who can analyze and understand things as quickly and naturally as I can. And my brain is a little warped. I have trouble understanding social stuff, but logic, and logical things, come as naturally and intuitively to me as talking to people without offending them comes to other people."

    "And it's not just that. I was born to successful parents, in a city with easy access to knowledge and technology. All these things contributed to putting me in a position where I could learn things and use that knowledge. But I didn't /choose/ that. It's not like I /chose/ to have the talents for being an engineer, instead of an athlete or a performer or a manager or countless other things."

    "I mean, it sounds like a pretty good deal, I think I'm pretty fortunate, and I /like/ doing this stuff, but that's partially because I'm good at it. And I can branch out, persue other things. I learned to fight. But I'll never have the talent for fighting someone born with a genetic predisposition for strong muscles, fast reflexes, and parents that, like, ran a dojo or were in a ninja clan or something, will have. Well. I can build a strong body and find a way to download skills into my brain or something, but I can hardly call that a special talent, can I?"

    Staren shrugs again, and looks at Pinkie. "Now, I'm not saying you can't do whatever you want. Obviously, there are things you're good at, things you like to do. You don't have to do some particular application of your special talent as your job for the rest of your life or whatever. But your 'special talent', whatever it is, you don't /choose/ it." He raises a forehoof to point at her. "You /discover/ it."

    Beat.

    He lowers his hoof. "So, what are you best at?"

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    For a moment. For a long, long, moment. Pinkie sort of stares at Staren. As if half of what he said sailed clean over her head. At least before she waves one hoof emphatically. "Are you silly? I know how you get a Cutie Mark! That's why I'm trying to -find- it!" Chirruped with a small stomp.
    Eugenics? She's not even going to touch that one. "I'm good at a lot of things, though! Running, jumping, climbing trees, balloon sculpting, lockpicking, partying, headbutting, JUDO, being a NINJA CLOWN."
    Well it's all true, and common knowledge by now, so she simply shrugs. "Haven't gotten a Cutie Mark for any of THAT though."

Staren has posed:
    Staren hmms, and rubs his chin again. "Well, I don't know then... is there anyone who's studied cutie marks? Twilight might know..."

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    The record scratch is almost audible as Pinkie pauses to simply stare. "Your Twilight or my Twilight, because I think we all kind of know I'm not on speaky terms with my Twilight." She notes with a waggle of her hoof. "Look I've only been at this for like... gosh twenty three years."
    She's still making overly exaggerated fake martial arts motions, too.

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks, and his ears rotate back. "Mine, of course." He looks down at the ground. "I don't know what to tell you. I don't know about cutie marks, I didn't see a convenient way to study them. Maybe... maybe there's something different about you?" He lifts his head and his ears perk up. "You're a /ninja/ clown. What if your cutie mark is invisible?"

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    With a light headbutt of that porcelain mask against Staren's shoulder, Pinkie snorts again. "Well duh, there's something very different about me." She admits. Though what it is, she pointedly changes the topic. "Duhhhhhh. Haven't you been paying attention? With the ominous dark laughter and the running, jumping. climbing trees,? I thought me being a ninja was common knowledge by now!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren sighs. "That's what I'm saying! What if ninja cutie marks are invisible? Have you ever /seen/ one?"

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Hooves lightly set on Staren's shoulders briefly. Before Pinkie starts making to shake him comically, if he doesn't back down. "Ninja Cutie Marks aren't invisible! That betrays the point of a Cutie Mark entirely!" Squealed before she calms down. "Besides! I'll be super mega intense ridiclous serious disappoint if I get one of those. So I have to keep trying to find somethig else I'm super good at!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren is shaken! "Well, I don't know! What else are you good at? What do you want me to do?! Look at your concept?"

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Shake shake shake! It lasts a moment before Pinkie lets go with an exasperated "HUFF!"
    Yes, she actually said 'huff' there, green eyes rolling. "Well clowning around hasn't gotten me anywhere, so far." She replies, tongue sticking right out of the mouth-slat of her mask.

Staren has posed:
    Staren just gives Pinkie a helpless look. What more can he do?

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Pinkie proceeds to apply her hoof to her forehead before she relents. "I

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Pinkie proceeds to apply her hoof to her forehead before she relents. "I'll just. Keep at it, I guess." She huffs again. Before this time flipping into a handstand and starts trotting away like that.
    "HANDSTAND WALKING CUTIE MARK! HO!"

Staren has posed:
    "Hoofstand." Staren corrects. Beat. "I mean... you'd have to hoovesy-handsy to handstand."