Deviation Actions
As of season 5 onwards, Cutie Marks have proven to be a very confusing and somewhat complex topic in terms of MLP’s lore.
Its almost like they’re just making up the rules as they go, and given the direction of the series as of season 5 onwards, you wouldn’t be remised for thinking that [like Josh Haber was just making up ‘Shadow Play’ as he went, but what do I know?] Although it is worth noting that Cutie Marks have always been a point of confusion for the common viewer [see ‘Magical Mystery Cure’]
But I think I may have an explanation once and for all that is easy enough to understand, flexible as to everything we’ve seen in the series canon, and actually rather simple.
In ‘The Call of the Cutie’ Cheerilee explains the meaning of her cutie mark as more symbolic than literal as hers is a trio of flowers and not something to do with teaching.
In ‘The Cutie Mark Chronicles’ we see the origins of the Mane-6 and how they all got their cutie marks, the rest of them triggered by Rainbow Dash’s first sonic rainboom, thus they all get their marks at exactly the same moment.
In 'The Cutie Pox' Apple Bloom attempt to get her mark through unnatural means by using a plant, but this backfires and she ends up with cutie marks all over her body that pretty much force her to display those abilities.
In ‘Magical Mystery Cure’, a spell from Starsucks the Beartarded causes the Remane-5’s cutie marks to switch, which in turn causes them to think that they’re meant to do each other’s jobs, and they think this with only regret and not any hesitation [and apparently they got each other’s memories], and only reminding them of their true talents restores their memories AND original cutie marks.
In ‘Princess Twilight Sparkle’ Twilight recognizes the form of her cutie mark in the natural shape of the Element of Magic as it was in the Tree of Harmony before it was first removed.
In ‘Twilight’s Kingdom’ we see that a pony’s cutie mark disappears when their magic is stolen from them.
In ‘Bloom and Gloom’ Applejack insists to Apple Bloom that cutie marks won’t change her
In ‘Appaloosa’s Most Wanted’ we are introduced to Troubleshoes, a horse with a cutie mark that appears to represent bad luck, and thus who thinks fate itself has handed him the raw deal as he’s often beset by endless bad luck and has for most of his life been unable to do the one thing he’s always wanted to do.
In ‘Crusaders of the Lost Mark’ the Cutie Mark Crusaders help Diamond Tiara understand how to properly apply herself and her talents and what her cutie mark really means.
In ‘The Cutie Re-Mark’ we learn the origin of Starlight’s disdain for cutie marks [however little sense it makes…] after we see a young Sunburst the Wizard get his cutie mark in a burst of magic similar to the CMC when he shows his quick skill in magic.
However, in ‘The Crystalling’ we see that despite Sunburst’s display of magical ability, he ended up failing Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and now sucks at magic personally.
CMC episodes afterward, like ‘On Your Marks’, basically show the CMC helping ponies either get their marks or understand either them or what to do with their lives when they don’t understand their own marks.
In ‘A Royal Problem’ Starlight uses a spell to switch the cutie marks of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, though this doesn’t seem to have any effect on their abilities or characters.
Hey wait, didn't Luna's ink stain stay on her bottom when she gave her magic away?
You son of a girl-dog-!
And in ‘Marks and Recreation’ we get the repeated insistence that cutie marks do not dictate your character or lifestyle and Rumble comes to this conclusion.
At first glance, one could not be blamed for thinking that the writers are just making all this up as they go [and its very likely that they are, if recent seasons are any indication]
But there IS a satisfactory answer that has yet to be contradicted.
Cutie marks are like a bodily organ –a magical one, that indicates what a pony’s greatest potential is. Sooner or later, everypony recognizes a prominent aspect about themselves, and this manifests in the form of a cutie mark, said mark taking the form of whatever the marked would interpret that aspect as. All ponies are born with natural magic, and a part of this natural magic manifests as an imprint [why on their hindquarters? The heck if I know]
The major common misconception is that Cutie Marks dictate not only a pony’s talent but also their character. However, note that in Twilight’s Kingdom the lack of a cutie mark does not inhibit a pony’s character, it only signifies that they no longer have any magic.
Now also recall in The Cutie Map how the equal marks pulsated before Pinkie Pie nullified. Cutie marks are kind of unessential organs, like appendices; if you remove it, it doesn’t really affect your body. Starlight’s replacement mark is kind of like replacing you appendix with a sort of internal shock collar or a bomb.
A cutie mark is not in fact some strange alien parasite magic [or whatever] that dictates one’s character and ability; it is simply a manifestation of a reflection of who that specific pony is, a magical imprint left by nopony but themselves.
The show sometimes seems to suggest the opposite, but in reality its just the ponies themselves who assume this, and do so without any real proof. Its just widely accepted as fact. But like with Cheerilee and the Mane-6, although they got their cutie marks, it was entirely up to them to figure out how they were going apply this new information to the lives they either wanted or wanted to change.
Troubleshoes’ cutie mark likely only manifested as a symbol of bad luck because that’s how he interpreted his signature aspect. He always wanted to join the rodeo and later was perfectly happy with being a rodeo clown, but because he couldn’t look past the negatives, his cutie mark ended up reflecting that.
The Cutie Pox meanwhile was just a parasitic plant taking over Apple Bloom's body.
But what about the Twilight Sparkle, the CMC, and Sunburst? Well, I think Sunburst is easy enough to explain; what we saw of him getting his cutie mark wasn’t actually the mark manifesting, but rather him really getting into the magic he was using, and the mark appearing was just an added bonus.
As for the CMC? Post COTLM we have actually seen one or two other foals get their marks in such a way. Maybe it just happens like that when foals get excited about discovering what they’re great at. Fans keep insisting that magic is emotional, so who knows.
But what about Twilight’s cutie mark? How could her mark manifest as something pre-existing that she has never seen before?
Two, maybe three possibilities;
1. We know that the Elements of Harmony are public knowledge, as indicated by the book on them in the season 1 premiere; so maybe in her youth she just saw a copy and forgot about it? Then again, the EoH are depicted in that book as all standard gemstones and Magic [not even named because nopony at the time knew what it was] was not in the shape of Twilight’s mark
2. The Tree of Harmony has been watching over Equestria waiting for the right candidate to bear it’s Element of Magic, then saw Twilight’s immense potential and shaped her mark as it was developing into the form of it’s most powerful Element, effectively choosing her for the job
3. The Tree can see through time and saw into the future what Twilight’s make would be, then formed it’s main Element to reflect that. Twilight’s mark meanwhile just formed the way it did because she interpreted the magic outburst as a large purple flash with little sparkles
I’ll leave you to cast your own theories as to how that worked.
Anyway, I hope this clears up the confusion once and for all;
Cutie marks, despite popular opinion, DO NOT dictate a pony’s character or talent, they only REFLECT it. it is entirely up to the pony who receives it and ONLY the pony who receives it who decides how to apply this reflection to their lives.
That is all they are, that is all they are ever meant to be
2023 End of the Year Address
Merry 2023 Christmas!
Lets Talk About the Tree of Harmony
We Now Know the Origin of the Alicorns... Kind of
And when AB "helps" Tender Taps, he already knew what his talent was, he just didn't have the confidence to perform on his own. It doesn't take a specific pony to help him, ANY friend or family member could have done the exact same thing AB did. Thus, she was entirely unneeded. This was bad writing specifically to force AB to "help" him.
With Gabby's episode, we knew at the beginning that Griffons couldn't get Cutie Marks. Literally nothing changed between the first minutes and last minutes of the episode. They created Gabby, made her stupidly good at literally everything (for no reason) and then reaffirmed what we already knew at the beginning. The CMC weren't needed there, either. Not sure why Gabby would think she'd be able to get a Cutie Mark since no Griffon had ever done it. Poor excuse for an episode at every turn.
Filly digging up fossils in her sand box? Aside from how ridiculous that is, the CMC said literally nothing to the filly prior to her getting her Cutie Mark. They were in the scene, sure, but they did nothing to assist her with the Mark. She gets that entirely on her own. Add to that the fact that a filly can't have such advanced knowledge of the fossil (the scientific name, etc.) without having shown at least some prior interest in the subject, indicating that her parents were either oblivious, or willfully ignorant. Either way, the CMC got credit for something they had no hoof in.
In Show Stoppers, each of the CMC was shown to have a talent, and Twilight very well expected them to perform those talents. But through their desire to be someone they're not, they chose to do things they were not actually talented at. This, notably, confused Twilight. And after the episode, the writers just ignored those shown talents as though they'd never existed at all. Now, for the first few seasons it's arguable that they were trying to show the CMC not realizing they had those previous talents despite displaying them, and so their "crusading" for the Cutie Marks gave them a cause (and thus more episodes) to explore their characters. But to then, in CotLM, write off those established talents entirely, to do something which had never before been required in the history of Equestria, is an affront to the CMC as characters.
There are two ways people claim the CMC's new "talent" works: the first way is that they help others to find their talents. The problem with this is that this would directly contradict Cutie Mark lore established in Season 1. If everypony gets their Cutie Marks eventually (destiny), another pony cannot be required to help them get it. Otherwise, they by definition would be able to not get their talent should they not meet that specific pony. It's a bit confusing through text. The only way we can be sure this "talent" actually works this way is if a pony goes their whole lives without their Cutie Mark, because they did not meet the CMC. Otherwise, we can never be sure that the CMC mattered at all. Doing this would then contradict the "everypony" part of Cutie Mark lore, which means the CMC are not required for anyone to "find" their Cutie Marks. An example I can point to would be the Rainboom that caused each of the Mane 6 to get their Cutie Marks. A person could claim it was "required" for the Mane 6 to get their Marks, yet looking at the Season 5 finale, in the versions of the past where Starlight prevents the Rainboom, each of the Mane 6 has their Cutie Mark regardless. (even in the past with Chrysalis, because even though Rainbow and AJ are Changelings, the Changelings have the canon Cutie Marks, meaning the actual ponies have those same Cutie Marks, also. Otherwise it would be kind of silly to impersonate someone else if you're going to get huge details wrong.) Because even without that one event, they are destined to get their Marks, as is everypony else. Which means the Rainboom was not required, nor can the CMC be required.
The second way is that people claim the CMC help others "understand" their Cutie Marks. The problem with this idea is that, before Season 5, it had never been shown to have ever happened before. Cheerilee's Cutie Mark is three flowers. That has precisely nothing to do with teaching. She is the one that decided that's what her Mark meant. Nopony told Fluttershy that she was good with animals. She figured that out on her own, and it was her decision to move to Ponyville to take care of animals. Nopony told Rarity to use the gems she could find in her clothing, she did that on her own. Nobody can tell you what to do with your talent. Good at art? Great. But does that mean you should be a character artist? Or a background artist? A comic artist? An animator? Maybe just to be an art teacher? Nobody can tell you which of those jobs is your destiny. You have to choose on your own. Every talent you could have can be applied any number of different ways. Nobody can make your choice for you.
And yes, they tried to retcon this stuff into the lore in the Perfect Pear episode, but my question is this: if AB's mother told Mrs. Cake to make desserts, and that's the reason AB can do what she's said to do... why do Sweetie and Scoots have the exact same talent? Are they her daughters, too? That whole episode was a dumpster fire of retcon, but that's for a different rant.
And then, the kicker: The CMC spent 5 years doing dozens of different activities trying to force their Cutie Marks to appear, despite that being explicitly stated as not how Cutie Marks work. A pony will get their Cutie Mark through the normal course of their life. It is literally destiny. As stated in the show. And for 5 years every random activity they tried in order to force their Marks to appear failed, only for them to open a camp designed to make a dozen other foals try dozens of different activities, trying to force their Cutie Marks to appear. Not only does this tactic fail for five years, they continue to try the same damn thing, but this time it fucking works for no damn reason. It literally contradicts the previously established information about Cutie Marks. Not only do they not get their Marks through the normal course of their life, but even after being told for years that they "couldn't force it to appear," that, "it needed to happen when it was ready," suddenly it's perfectly alright to force it to happen just because twelve activities out of literally millions of possibilities were written into an episode.
In conclusion, the writers were literally making up the rules as they go, and were absolutely willing to contradict the previous rules solely to push a crappy story.