auroraexpress | (no subject)

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Who: All heroes
When: Day 45, Morning
Where: The clearing

[ In the morning, all heroes can wake up to see a new trial is being held! Following the door that appears in the clearing will lead to a Very Scary, faux-abandoned house. There are all the markings of terrible Halloween decorations, for those that are familiar with it. There are fake spiderwebs all around, fake bats, skeletons, and even spider skeletons.

There are several different tables spread across the room - one has a pile of small, sticky spiders in it, then there's one where people can get refreshments, if they so wish, and all others have tons and tons of pumpkins sitting there. None of those are carved - though there are several carved, lit pumpkins spread across the room - just sitting on the floor.

Notably there is a runway, and behind that, a room in which people may grab costumes, or pieces of costume. Make up is also provided.

Finn can be seen at the end of the Runway, aptly wearing his Spider-Man costume, before he begins to explain ]

So! I've recently found out I fight crazy people for a, huh, possibly living. Whether I get paid or not is still under debate. And who would have thought, there's a costumed guy for every occasion. There's no better way to drive off the mental image of a guy fighting with a flaming pumpkin on his head than make better memories, so I'm imposing Halloween on you all.

For those of you who are not in the known, what with us being all from different worlds and stuff, Halloween is, huh ... probably an actual serious holiday somewhere, somehow, but in practice it's all about the money, baby! And scary stuff. And sharing scary stories and getting candy.

So there you have it. A game to get some actual fun Halloween action that does not involve people barely avoiding getting brutally murdered and blown up. Not speaking of anyone in particular here.

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Why wouldn't a horse fit? I mean, sitting would be awkward, but... [Doesn't quite parse pony flexibility helps a lot for fitting into things.]

Not sure how toxic chocolate is, but we certainly have it. And we do a lot of baking, makes up a lot of our food.

Which can be risky. Baked goods are the only way we can eat some things without getting sick. Like eggs.

Rumors say you can do it with other stuff though.

Like once there was this mad caterer. Super friendly and upbeat. Always ready to provide helps with parties at any time. They were so well loved no one even looked their way when ponies started to disappear.

Not until it was far too late. See, all their baked goods were all oddly salty. Just a bit too chewy.

Until one day, someone had walked into their backroom by mistake. And found the remains of all the missing ponies and a horrible dress made of pony's Cutie Marks and Pegasus wings, and unicorn horns.

They're not really built for horses... Oh wow! A dress??

...kitchens don't seem that different.... [HM]

[Nodnod.] A dress. Stitched together in a multicolor monstrosity.

[Also have some spicy candy and another pepper because so many purples.]

[Also grabbing another spider.]

There's actually a lot of horror stories that use Cutie Marks and them being stolen as part of the terror. Like it's one thing to die. It's another thing to have the thing that's uniquely you stolen from your body. [More pony fun facts.] Even more important than horns and wings.

[actually. considers her need to change her costume... puts on an apron]

What's a cutie mark?

[And she needs to do a pumpkin. So back to the pumpkins.]

[It's....it's going to go poorly. How to knife. It's less of a face as a massacre.]

Cutie Marks are things ponies get when they grow up. As a pony ages, they eventually figure out their special talent. That thing that makes them unique. Sometimes it's obvious, like someone whose good at baking has a cupcake. Sometimes it's vague, like a lightning bolt for speed. When they realize this talent, their Cutie Mark appears on their flank.

But what if someone isn't really that great at any particular thing?

Well....

[Stabbing this pumpkin a lot.]

There are tales of such things. One filly thought that once. She worried she'd never find her special talent, never earn her Cutie Mark. It would plague her, the older she got. What if I have nothing?

Then one day, when shew as walking in the woods, she met a mare. A mare without a cutie mark.

The filly asked so many questions then. Why didn't she have one, where did she come from, on and on. The mare was amused, and friendly. Said there was a whole village of blank flanks.

The mare led the filly to the village and at first, things seems fun. Everyone was nice and welcoming, but then things were...off.

The food just a little too bland, the homes just a little too shabby, the plant life a little too wild.

The little filly grew unnerved. There were so many ponies here, why was it so rough. She said she was going to go home, even though it was nice to meet them.

But then they said she couldn't leave. She was a blank flank. She belonged here. She would always belong here.

And the little filly was never seen by her family again.

[See, lots of Cutie Mark horrors.]

But in reality, everyone has something they're good at. It might be a weird thing, or a vague thing that isn't a direct application, but special talents can be jobs, it can be skills, it can even be emotional aptitudes. Like have you ever met someone who really had nothing they were good at?

Um...

[kind of weird that a town of friendly but lackluster people is a horror story]

Sort of, yes? Even immediately close to me, I love my brother and I can tell you a bunch of things he's good at, but I can't tell you anything he's so exceptional at that he would be tattooed with it at puberty. I think he would kind of hate to be defined by anything like that, actually?

[It is for ponies.]

It's not like the talent means you're the best at it ever. Like there's plenty of unicorns who have some variation of 'talented at magic' for their Cutie Mark.

And the thing about Cutie Marks is they can't be something you hate to be defined by. It's not just about you doing the thing the one time, first time, and then it pops up. In fact, that might even be less than half the time.

There's plenty of ponies who earn Cutie Marks for things they've done for years. Families will often have similar Cutie Marks because of nature and nurture meaning they're good at the thing, and they want it to be part of their life.

What it means to not have a Cutie Mark for a pony is that there is nothing they're passionate about or do better than they do other things. Everything would be mediocre, including their reactions to everything they do.

Cutie Marks are about discovering what you're good at, but to get the mark, you also have to realize that this is the thing you want to always be part of your life, how you'll be fulfilled. Cutie Marks tell you that if you lose this thing, you...can't be you.

It's why what can be a special talent is so broad. It's not about just a job, it's just about the thing that truly defines you as a person.

Edited 2019-11-05 06:19 (UTC)

Hmm... But what about then on the flip side? What if you're like a renaissance man and into a lot of things? Can someone's Cutie Mark change if they do lose their special thing? Like a soccer player breaking their leg.

Then their talent is something like innovation. I mean, if a unicorn has a talent in magic, that is a broad subject. There's an assortment of different spell types from party games to elemental to transfiguration to mental and more. Then there's also spell making, spell memorization, spell comprehension. Dark magic and harmony magic which is seperate from all that. Magical artifacts and their creation. And there's been one or two unicorns every century who are good at all of it. Starswirl the Bearded was one, and his spells changed everything.

And he tried to do magic with Cutie Marks and all those experiments didn't go so well. Cutie Marks don't change. Losing what your Cutie Mark is....it's bad. If someone's special talent is soccer and they suddenly lose all ability to play, it's going to be like....losing a child.

I mean, they can do other things in their life, find things they enjoy, but they're gonna feel that loss their whole lives. At least growing out of it is easier, and then they're often already moved to mentor roles, where they still feel apart of it, versus having it ripped away.

Do cows and sheep have cutie marks?

No. Only ponies have Cutie Marks.

Why?

[SHRUGS]

No one really knows. It's probably to do with us having a lot more magic naturally than most other creatures, but we're not the only highly magical creature around, so why it's just us is a bit of a mystery.

Like, we know the affect of Cutie Marks, the general way they manifest, all the psychology of it, but the magical root cause is hard to understand.

Like it's always been a question of 'is a Cutie Mark predetermined, or forms from your actions.' Like is someone good at soccer because they were ALWAYS going to be good at soccer, or is it because they're the type of person who grew up loving sports and this happens to be the sport their personality would love the most? No one knows.

It could be because ponies are just the ones naturally tied to the planet. Like Pegasus are the ones who keep the weather working and Earth ponies are best in making the ground do what it needs to thrive and change and unicorn magic can easily interact with those things without getting out of hand. And because of that connection, we have a stronger definition in roles.

It could be Harmony magic, but Harmony magic is even harder to understand than Cutie Marks, but Harmony magic also purifies and brings order whenever they have to be used, so it's kind of connected.

But doesn't that make it kind of odd to be so defined by them...? If cows and sheep can have complete and fulfilling lives without them, why not blank ponies?

[.......tentatively, not sure it's a question to ask, but if they're this important, solar flare will have noticed by now either way,]

Do you have one right now?

Two reasons. One is ponies don't have to do guesswork. Other creatures, they can doubt. They can wonder if this is really for them, what is there's something better. Ponies don't have that. Once we find that thing, we know it's a certainty. This is something meant for us. Maybe other things are up in the air, but at least that one thing is true. It's not impossible for other creatures to have fulfilling lives, but they have the potential for doubt.

The other reason is the Cutie Mark is a physical and magical manifestation of that feeling, and quite possibly a way to attune the body to do things that might be hard. Like Earth ponies can have trouble with some instruments, because they don't have the fine tune control a unicorn does. But an Earth pony with a musical Cutie Mark will often have an easier time finding a way to work with those instruments. There's even been Pegasus and Earth ponies who have been able to manifest a more active magic on par with a unicorn because of their Cutie Mark.

For unicorns, a Cutie Mark also indicates the second natural magic. All unicorns can learn levitation. To learn anything beyond that takes years of practice and study. Except for the Cutie Mark magic, where they can tap into a magic that helps their talent. Like being able to do a location spell for certain objects, or manipulate the weather, or create illusions.

Removing a Cutie Mark....there's been some theories on magic work on that and the belief is to do that would likely remove the talent from the pony completely.

[But at that question, she looks away. Wrapping her arms around herself.]

I should have one as a pony. But it's not on my body right now.

[not loving a magic system with in-built specializations either, but she won't dig into that]

Do you um... Do you remember what yours is?

[Hey, any unicorn can become a great magic user. They just gotta want to put in the years and years of study. Like Sunset did, her talent is not actually magic specifically.]

....no. I didn't exactly look at my flank to get a good look at it.

[pegasus and earth ponies tho]

Oh... We should be able to get a good look at it eventually.

[Well, yeah, but most creatures can't do active magic in Equestria. Unicorns are special like that and its why they were kind of assholes for a while.]

Yeah. Though if it even still applies.... [Is it as certain if she's actually stuck like this????]

[for all eliza knows sheep and cows and everything else CAN do magic]

It should, right? Since you said they don't change.

[Sunset will gladly clarify if asked.]

But if its a talent for magic, or magical research, or....I don't know, espionage? Three princesses took me to the restricted section, that says a lot of trust.

That has a lot less application in a low magic place with wholly alien cultural norms. I may never be able to use that talent again.

I don't see why a magic or magical research talent wouldn't apply. Or even a plain research one. This whole enterprise runs on some kind of magic, and there's completely new systems of magic to explore.

Except I was turned into a human before here.

And considering I was lying on the legal paperwork, chances are high 'magical shape change and telportation' isn't a legitimate explanation for things which implies different to possibly near nonexistant magical system and no clue as to the effects of the spell that changed me to fit into that place. Probably other world all things considered.

A Cutie Mark is physical. Altering my form to this extent and for at least some weeks could have...damaged that. Especially since a transformation spell this heavy duty isn't easily done.

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bowtiedbones - 2019-11-05 09:32 (UTC) - Expand

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daydreamshimmer - 2019-11-05 19:09 (UTC) - Expand

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