“So… what exactly do you try to do in order to get your cutie marks?” Gallus cautiously asked.
“Well we just finished trying to get siege cutie marks,” Sweetie Belle explained.
“Ah built the catapult,” Applebloom proudly declared.
“Too bad Applejack took it away before we could try using it,” Scootaloo grumbled.
Gallus could only stare at the fillies in wonder. “What sort of use would a talent in sieging things be?”
The three fillies exchanged confused looks.
“Well… we could help demolish buildings,” Scootaloo reasoned.
“Yeah! And we could help the royal guard keep Canterlot safe!” Applebloom added.
Only Sweetie Belle seemed to show any level of doubt about the viability of a sieging cutie mark. “What do you think we should try to do for a cutie mark?”
Gallus blinked. “What?”
“Yeah! If you’re so smart what do you think we can do to get our cutie marks?” Scootaloo demanded.
Gallus was silent as he wracked his mind for something that might make the fillies in front of him happy. In the midst of his frantic contemplations, some small part of him noted that these sorts of things might be why Gilda had run away from these three. All the implied suffering they may have caused the griffon probably also had something to do with it too. If half the things that the fillies had said had been true then it might be best if he suggested something safe. “How about…” He paused as several ideas flashed though his mind. Hunting, fishing, and wilderness survival were the first to come to his mind. They were dismissed just as quickly. “Pottery?” he asked.
Although the pegasus filly looked unenthused about his suggestion the other two seemed much more willing to give it a shot.
“What’ll we need in order ta try getting’ a pottery cutie mark?” Applebloom wondered.
“We’ll need clay won’t we?” Scootaloo offered.
“I think Slip Shine has clay and one of those big furnaces,” Sweetie Belle answered.
As one the three fillies nodded and leapt into the air. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER POTTERS GO!” they shouted at the top of their tiny little lungs. With their battle cry completed they shot down the streets towards their destination. Only to return not even a minute later to give Gallus a sullen look.
“Yer supposed to follow us,” Applebloom said.
Gallus looked down at them in confusion. “I don’t even know who you are.”
The fillies looked at him in surprise for a few moments before introducing themselves.
“Ah’m Applebloom.”
“I’m Sweetie Belle.”
“Scootaloo.”
Gallus nodded at each name. “And I am… Blueflame,” he said after a pause. He had considered going by Gallus for a time, but as Gilda had said it seemed that his title would rouse less suspicion.
“Yeah, yeah. Nice to meet you,” Scootaloo said. “Now hurry up! We need to get to Slip Shine’s shop!”
Without further ado the fillies sped down the road, leaving a bemused Gallus to follow the fading trail of dust.
<=[XXXXX]=>
Gallus looked around in slight horror while he telekinetically fished a clay shard out of his mane. After his month in the Northlands he had thought he’d seen every conceivable way to destroy things, but these fillies seemed able to outclass all but the most inventive warriors.
“Aww man, I was sure we’d get our cutie marks this time!” Applebloom moaned. She had actually managed to get a relatively proper clay pot made, of course beside what Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had made almost anything would have been an improvement.
“What do you think went wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked as she tentatively poked the firing kiln. She doubted that any more half-baked clay shards would shoot out of it but given their reputation, it never hurt to be careful.
Scootaloo was less careful, peeking inside the still blazing kiln as best she could. “Hey! My sculpture of Rainbow Dash exploded!”
“That was supposed ta be Rainbow Dash?” Applebloom asked.
“I thought it looked good,” Sweetie Belle assured her now sulking friend.
Gallus shook his head in disbelief. Maybe Gilda had been right to run away from these walking disaster areas. With a sigh he trotted over to the counter and peeked over it. “I’m very sorry about that ma’am. I think the worst is over now,” he assured the still shaking mare that had bunkered down behind the counter.
“R-right.” She looked around the shop and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that there had been very little actual damage.
“I managed to contain most of the blast,” Gallus explained when he saw the relieved look on her face.
She turned to him with wide eyes. “You… you were able to contain a Crusader Disaster?”
Gallus winced slightly as he heard the obvious capital letters in her tone. “Yes. I guess I did.” He looked around the shop, taking note of several chunks of clay scattered around the shop. “Mostly anyway.”
She shook her head. “Even doing this much.” She cast an appraising look around the shop once more. “I don’t think I lost any merchandise at all!” she marveled. “Are you going to be herding those three full time?” she asked, hope shining in her eyes.
“I doubt it. I just got here and really should be looking for work. I just got dragged along when they saw I didn’t have an emblem.”
Slip Shine glanced down at his flank in surprise. “I didn’t even notice that. It’s rare to see a full grown pony without a mark.”
“I wasn’t a pony until recently. I was born a griffon with crippled wings and eventually found someone that could transform me into something else.” Gallus felt a slight twinge of guilt as she nodded in acceptance of his half-truth.
“That makes sense. Nopony can earn their mark with a spell.” She paused. “Well I guess they can if their talent is casting spells,” she admitted. “In any case, if I run into anypony looking to hire somepony I’ll tell them about you. It’s the least I can do after you helped keep my shop intact.”
A few moments passed as Gallus processed the mare's sudden offer of assistance. "Ah, yes! Thank you!" he eventually managed to respond.
“Don’t worry!” she laughed. “Like I said it’s the least I could do. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if everypony in town was willing to chip in a few bits a day to keep you running herd on the crusaders.” She cast a hopeful glance his way.
“No thank you. I’ve only known them for less than an hour and I can already tell that I wouldn’t be able to survive watching them full time.”
Slip Shine laughed again. “It was worth a shot.” She glanced over at the crusaders, all of whom were looking around the shop for new cutie mark ideas. “I think they’re ready to head out to their next crusade,” she told Gallus. “Good luck with them.”
Gallus smiled and headed over to the crusaders in time to hear their next idea.
<=[XXXXX]=>
“Well that could have gone… worse,” Gallus said as the four of them half-limped away from yet another crusade gone wrong. “Do things always end like that?”
“Too often,” Sweetie Belle groaned.
“It wasn’t that bad! Did you see how far the watermelon flew? That was awesome!” Scootaloo said with a grin.
“So much for Cutie Mark Crusader Watermelon Farmers,” Applebloom sighed. Her gloomy mood vanished in an instant as she looked to her fellow crusaders. “What should we try next?”
“No offense, but so far everything you’ve tried seems to be something you weren’t too good at. Why not try something you already know you can do?” Gallus asked.
Applebloom looked at him like he was crazy. “Cuz we don’t have cutie marks for ‘em! If something we were already good at was our special talent wouldn’t we already have our cutie marks by now?”
Gallus frowned slightly. “But from what I understand it’s less you just doing something and more you figuring out that it’s something that you enjoy and take pride in. If you’ve been doing things like…” He waved his hoof vaguely in the direction the watermelon had flown. “Then wouldn’t you be working against getting your marks?”
The fillies looked at him and rolled their eyes. They had heard the same reasoning from every singe adult that they had tried to get help from. Well, all but Damien, but they were pretty sure that he didn’t count.
“Then what do you think would get you your cutie mark?” Scootaloo challenged eventually.
Gallus closed his eyes as he tried to think of what he was good at. He had been rather good with the fire magic that Arkus had given him. On the other hand… or was it hoof here? It wasn’t exactly something that he was born with so could it be his talent? He snorted at this. If that magic was his talent then wouldn’t he have gotten his mark during the fight with Damien? But no… he had never had any real connection with his magic. Even when he had met his familiar he had bonded more with it in particular than grown any actual connection to his magic.
He growled under his breath as he tried to think of something that he felt connected to. Something that he could do and loved to do. Something that he could see as his. His eyes snapped open as a grin spread across his face. “I think I know.”
The fillies looked at each other in astonishment, a small flame of hope sparked deep in their hearts. If this stallion was right and had figured out his talent this quickly then he would definitely be able to help them out, right?
“Well? What is it?” Scootaloo demanded.
“Hold on, we’ll need something first. There wouldn’t happen to be a store that sells instruments nearby, would there?”
<=[XXXXX]=>
“Heh not that often I get somepony lookin’ for one of these babies,” the old grey stallion said as he reverently placed the small case on the counter. “Not too many earth ponies can manage much with ‘em.”
Gallus smiled and telekinetically opened the case to reveal a beautifully crafted violin. “It’s perfect,” he breathed as he lifted it from the case in order to examine it more thoroughly.
“A violin? That’s lame! You should try the drums! Or a guitar!” Scootaloo said as she watched Gallus examine the instrument.
Gallus ignored the filly and lifted the bow from the case. “May I?” When the shopkeeper nodded he carefully placed the bow on the strings and drew it across slowly. “A little out of tune,” he muttered as his magic grasped the pegbox and twisted the pegs slightly. Once more he drew the bow across the strings, smiling as the sound filled the air. “Perfect.”
He began slowly, with a simple song he had heard years ago in the tiny village he had been raised in. The family fortunes had long since been lost to history and repeated attempts to hire mercenaries and heroes to fight Damien, so the small house was all they had left. He got about halfway through the song before stopping. “It’s not right,” he muttered, “not right at all.” He stared at the instrument and grimaced. It didn’t feel right. Something was wrong. He examined the instrument once more; looking for any flaws that might make things sound so off, anything that could contribute to his feeling. But no, the instrument was perfect. His eyes widened in sudden inspiration. What if it wasn’t the instrument? What if it was him? He looked down at his hooves. He certainly couldn’t play the violin without fingers. It was a wonder that a species lacking them even managed to invent a violin in the first place. His gaze narrowed in determination as he focused on his hooves, and there was a whoosh as his forehooves burst into flame. A fire as blue and bright as any he had ever conjured to combat the various monsters that plagued humanity. His grimace slowly became a smile as he flexed his new flaming fingers. They gave off no heat and he could feel through them. After giving a reassuring demonstration of their non-destructive properties to the shopkeeper, a reasonable desire for anyone who had almost their entire lively hood made out of very flammable objects, he picked up the bow and violin.
This time he sat on his haunches and placed the violin to his neck. It felt different from what he was used to, different yet somehow right. He placed the bow against the strings and placed one set of flaming fingers around the instrument's neck. It felt almost as though he had never stopped playing, never gone on to be a hero for two years. With a deep breath he drew the bow across the strings once more.
Once again the song started with the simple tune he remembered from his home. But this time it grew into something else. His movements sped up as his fiery hands steadied. Before long the bow and his summoned fingers were dancing along the instrument with a precision and dexterity that amazed everypony in the room. Precision and dexterity that would have amazed him had he not been so lost in the song that he wasn’t even aware of his surroundings. He poured himself into the song as he played the instrument that he had given up so long ago in order to try and regain his family’s position. Every thought and every emotion that he had felt, every trial he had undergone, everything that had made up his entire life up until that point went into the song. Before he knew it the song was over and he was left breathing as heavily as though he had been fighting a dragon. It took several moments for him to remember where he was and what he had been doing. When he finally fully regained his senses he turned to look at the other ponies in the shop. “Um, how was it?”
His words seemed to break a trance that had fallen over the shop as everypony, even Scootaloo, began to clap wholeheartedly.
“That was beautiful. I never thought I get to hear one of my violins played with so few unicorns round here,” the shopkeeper said with a smile.
“Thank you,” Gallus said, somewhat confused by the stallion’s response. He hadn’t played that well, had he? He cast a quick look down at the violin and levitated several coins out from a pouch around his neck. “I don’t have any of the local currency but these coins are pure gold. Do you think…?” he let the question trail off as the stallion examined the coins.
“Ya know. It’s not fair to show a stallion that you and an instrument belong together right before trying to haggle on a price,” the shopkeeper remarked good naturedly. After examining the coins for a few seconds he plucked a number of them from the air. “This ought to cover it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course!”
Gallus looked down at the instrument and smiled. It felt right having an instrument of his own again. Arkus had demanded that Gallus focus solely on magic while acting as the god’s disciple. That had meant casting away his old violin. He carefully placed his new treasure inside its case and did up the latches once more. Arkus had never said he couldn't get a new one after his two years of service were up after all.
“Here’s a carrying strap,” the shopkeeper said as he produced a long fabric belt with a buckle. “Let you carry it without having to use your magic all the time.”
Gallus accepted the gift and hefted the violin case onto his back, securing it in place with his new belt. For some reason it just felt right to have the instrument sitting on his back. His moment of peace was quickly interrupted by a sudden gasp. He turned to see, for the second time today, the three fillies pointing at him with wide eyes.
“You got your cutie mark!” Scootaloo cried.
Gallus looked down at him flank to see a winding staff with several notes and a bow crossing in front of it. Did this mean that his true calling was to play the violin? It had appeared when he had been playing the violin so it would make sense. He smiled slightly as he realized that this proved the point he had been trying to make to the fillies. “See? You just have to try-” he started to explain.
“We should try playing instruments too!” Applebloom exclaimed.
“My mom has plenty of instruments around the house. An instrument playing cutie mark isn’t that cool but it would make her really happy,” Scootaloo said.
“Oh! Can I try playing the lyre? Lyra is always playing it and it sounds so beautiful!” Sweetie belle said with a smile.
“Uh, no. That’s not what I was trying to say,” Gallus began again.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER INSTRUMENT PLAYERS!” the fillies screamed as they leapt into the air.
Gallus sighed as he watched the three exuberant foals rush out of the shop.
<=[XXXXX]=>
“You survived,” Gilda said as she watched Gallus slowly make his way into the kitchen.
“No thanks to you,” he grumbled back.
“Hey, it’s not my fault you weren’t smart enough to run away when you had the chance.”
“Maybe if you had explained why you had run instead of just retreating like that I might have!”
“At least you got your mark. That supposed to be for playing music or something?” Gilda asked as she pointed a claw at the mark that now sat on his flank.
“This? Yeah. It’s for playing the violin apparently.” He levitated the case from his back and opened it to show her the instrument inside.
“A violin huh? Don’t see too many ponies playing griffon instruments." When she saw his surprised look she continued on. “Right. Of course you wouldn’t know about that. Most string instruments were made by griffons. Ponies are mostly known for their brass instruments. Trumpets and things like that.”
“I… never expected that you would know things like that.” Gallus said with an appreciative nod. “No offense,” he quickly tacked on upon seeing the glare Gilda shot him. “You don’t really seem the… musical type.”
“She only knows that because she's been hanging around the library with Ms. Sparkle,” Damien explained as he entered the kitchen from the pantry. “She’s been trying to get lessons on friendship from the master. Or so she says.” He laughed as Gilda shot him a tired glare. “So you got your mark eh?” He didn’t wait for Gallus to answer before continuing on. “Excellent! I’ll just need you to fill out this questionnaire.” He pulled out a massive sheaf of papers and dropped them onto the table in front of Gallus. “The spells around the house will have already stored your magical aura before and after you got your mark. I already have a blood sample from our fight beforehand so I just need a recent one to compare it to.” He smiled wickedly and pulled out a large syringe.
Gallus slowly began to back away and tried to look for help from Gilda, only to see the flash of her retreating tail disappear up the staircase. “YOU COWARDLY BITCH!”