Marked as Boring

by annamaetion

Chapter 1

There was something to be said for the ponies that had ‘boring’ cutie marks, mostly that there were quite a few. Which, considering the generally cheerful and energetic color palette of Equis, might almost seem discordant with an implied status quo.

Sans himself had a cutie mark that depicted an actual wet blanket, which had netted him quite the teasing from the foals at school, but Sans never cared too much about what other ponies thought of him.

It wasn’t really an efficient use of his energy to care about other ponies’ opinions of him after all. Much better to focus on developing solutions to achieve optimal efficiencies and productivity.

Objective clear cut number incrementation was far easier to categorize and obtain than improving subjective opinions of others anyhow.

While he is hardly alone in the ‘boring cutie mark’ category; case in point, the majority of the Pie family having rock-based marks— Pinkie Pie being the clear outlier, Sans was the only such pony of the ‘boring’ classification in his town growing up.

His mark confounded him at the time, as he truly had no desire to be a ‘wet blanket’ or to ‘rain on every pony’s parade’ but that was the mark he got.

It didn’t matter what his cutie mark looked like, Sans had decided resolutely, he would find his purpose in optimization and wherever he found to apply himself he would help.

Yes, he would help. Surely there was a pony out there who had a great idea which would require appropriate management to reach it’s true potential.

First he tried his hoof at traffic planning and management in Manehattan, which wasn’t all that challenging once he figured out the natural rhythm of the city. Optimizing it didn’t have any appeal after a while, it wasn’t the challenge he thought it would be.

Next he spent a stint as a government accountant, but the less said about the the incompetences he’d uncovered while there the better.

Plus there was the fact that the exact details of the matter were still pending throughout the district court. They really ought to have made him sign an Non Discloser Agreement, not that a NDA would have exactly stopped him from blowing the whistle, but still.

After that Sans wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to join another agency or planning commission. He’d much rather form an organization from scratch. Something he crafted from the ground up to solve some sort of underserved production niche. That would certainly provide a challenge!

Not to mention, it would be far more interesting to help somepony helm an entirely new idea...or better yet, dare he dream, an entire bevy of ideas.

Maybe he should ask around, survey the general public to see if he could cotton on to an underserved idea.

It was an interesting proposition, and maybe entirely outside of his purview, to find an idea before it really ‘took off’ and to help nurture it to its full potential. However Sans couldn’t shake the notion that he could accomplish it if he set his mind to it.

He’d make sure a good and deserving pony got their idea realized all over Equestria.

Or his name wasn’t Sans Smirk.

Author's Note:

I dunno, I guess the ‘boring’ cutie marks don’t get enough credit. Somebody’s got to be doing the behind the scenes stuff to make a society work.