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// Prologue: Directions 
// Story: Green Lantern: Tales of an Emerald Equestrian 
// by Ten Mihara 
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Prologue: Directions



A compass. Such a seemingly simple tool, isn't it? It points north. Really though, doesn't it do more than that? It provides a path to those who are lost, guidance to those who cannot see the way forward. It provides direction, which leads to goals, which in turn lead ultimately to purpose. I'm not normally one to get too philosophical, but I felt in this case it was necessary to get the point across. A compass is meant to do more than just point north.

Cutie marks. Every foal spends their childhood trying to invoke that emblem; that one thing that makes them special. The mark that symbolizes their special talent, and ultimately their purpose in life. A cutie mark is not unlike a compass; it provides a foal with direction in their life, and something to devote themselves to. Care to guess what my cutie mark is? That's right, a compass.

I've told you that my cutie mark is a compass. I've also explained why a cutie mark is like a compass. So, where does that leave me, a stallion whose cutie mark IS a compass. This one doesn't point north, it doesn't provide me with direction and it certainly hasn't shown me any enlightening paths. What makes me say all this? My occupation. I'm a cartographer; I go out and create maps. Yes, it's exactly as boring as it sounds. Sure, I may occasionally get to see some cool sights, but most of the time its just rocks and trees and dirt.

When I was little, like most foals, I fancied myself an adventurer. I even dressed up as a pirate for my very first Nightmare Night. Subsequent years saw me dress up as other things, but that first one is particularly memorable. I met Her Majesty Princess Luna that night, but that's not the point of this particular story. That night I learned about how fear can be kind of fun, and subsequently that fear is really not that big a deal. Most of the time anyways.

Sorry, getting off track. I was talking about adventures. Pretending to be a pirate or an explorer, or even a temple delving relic hunter like Daring Do are all things that foals with dreams of adventure think about. So, naturally, when I first got my cutie mark, I was thrilled. Daring Do herself had a cardinal star for a cutie mark, and the stars were how old fashioned compasses got their bearings. I figured that, with a cutie mark of a compass, I was destined for a life of adventure. How wrong I was.

I found that, in the real world, there really is no room for that kind of adventure. I tried a few different occupations before I settled into cartography. First I tried archaeology, like Daring Do. I thought it would be all plundering tombs and recovering lost treasures and saving the world. Nope. Digging up old rocks and bones and then finding out how old they are. Only once did I actually get to work with anything that would be considered treasure, but gem and gold mining are pretty low key in Equestria. I decided that archaeology was NOT for me.

Next on my list of ideal occupations was to be a sailor on the high seas, like the days of my pirate pretend back in my youth. Yeah, turns out that seafaring is even more mundane than archaeology. At least archaeology had the chance of making interesting discoveries. But with things like magical iceberg detection and weather control, the chance of anything exciting happening is zilch. Doesn't help that a third of Equestria's population can fly. We also have trains, and even airships are becoming more commonplace. Tried piloting an airship once too, but again, magical and pegasus based weather control pretty much ensure boredom in that field.

Lastly, I came into cartography. It boasted the chance to travel to far off places; see and explore exotic locales. What it actually entailed was taking long, dull trips out to places that hadn't been mapped, and then drawing paths and locations and markers to help other ponies find their way. I guess it kind of makes sense that cartography went with my compass cutie mark, considering I was now providing direction for others. That's the main reason I didn't give up on cartography like I did with any of the other professions.

So, is my ultimate purpose in life simply to provide direction to others? While that's a nice sentiment, it doesn't really leave me feeling very fulfilled. I had no goals beyond making maps, no ambitions to speak of, and I was utterly lacking in direction. A cutie mark is supposed to provide these things, but mine didn't. This is even more frustrating when that cutie mark is OF something else that's meant to do exactly the same thing. You'd think that would give me twice as much direction. Evidently not.

So, what did I do? What could I do? Not much really. I occupied myself with friends and my job, but I always felt there was that something missing. Something more, something that made me special. Cutie marks are all about what makes a pony special after all. Yet I was left feeling distinctly... bored. That's a good word for it. I was bored with the same old job and the same old fr-, no strike that, my friends will always be cool, especially when one of them is a Princess (though that's a more distant friendship than most). Still, they're really the highlight for me.

So, here I am, Pipsqueak, the pony with a compass for a cutie mark who is utterly lacking in direction. Turns out my purpose was a lot bigger than I could have ever expected, given the complete lack of one up until that point. That one turning point in my life where everything changed, and my whole world got a LOT bigger. And it all starts with a little green ring.