I was thinking... I know, I know, it's a dangerous pastime, but...

There is a lot of confusion about the cutie mark swap in Magical Mystery Cure and what it means. Are the Mane 6 defined by their destinies, their cutie marks or their jobs in Ponyville? Something I realized is that, in a certain sense, there isn't much difference.

What are the destinies of the Mane 6? To be the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, of course. When Twilight cast the incomplete spell, it acted on the Elements of Harmony. The magic started with Twilight's crown, and then spread to the rest. Since her Element was only revealed when the other five were gathered, it makes sense that it can affect the others in such a way.

Does this contradict Call of the Cutie, where it was "established" that cutie marks are not magically mutable? No, not if you accept that Starswirl's spell acted on the Elements of Harmony, the physical manifestation of their destinies (their Manifest Destiny, if you will) and that when their destinies were switched, the cutie marks naturally followed suit. This is a very different situation to what was presented in CotC. There is no contradiction. To even ask that question caters to a fallacy. The cutie marks were never affected by magic, only the Mane 6's destinies, of which the cutie marks are a visual representation.

So now the question becomes this: How do the jobs of the Mane 6 in Ponyville related to their destinies as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony? For Fluttershy, it's pretty easy to see how her caring for small animals, and even her ability to understand them, derives from her position as the Element of Kindness. Pinkie Pie as the Element of Laughter is scarcely more difficult to fathom... she lives in a sweet shop, she throws parties and cheers up everypony in town.

For Rainbow Dash, I suggest that her role as Ponyville's weather pony is tied to her Element of Loyalty. Even in the pilot, she tells Twilight "I'd never leave Ponyville hanging." Naturally, her denial of the Shadowbolts later in the episode is also an expression of her loyalty, but the second one doesn't negate the first, it only reinforces it.

Rarity is the Element of Generosity, and there too, her job can be considered an extension of her Element. She is using her talents to create things of beauty that other ponies can enjoy. The fact that she doesn't do it free of charge is im-material. (See what I did there?)

To be honest (the puns just keep on coming, folks) it's not immediately clear how Applejack fits into the framework. She also produces things for other ponies, so why is she the Element of Honesty, rather than Generosity? Firstly, she's more about working together with her family than giving up of herself to others. Secondly, she produces something that is consumable, as opposed to Rarity, where there is a potential for one of her creations to become something longer lasting than an apple pie. Even in real life, clothes are passed down the generations (think wedding dresses). Thirdly, the phrase often heard is "an honest day's work", and where else but at an apple farm (or any other kind of farm) can a phrase be so readily applied?

And finally Twilight. I think it could be said that she doesn't really have a job in Ponyville. She doesn't seem to be acting as a librarian, although she does occasionally recommend books to others or re-shelve the library. She doesn't run the place, because that's Mayor Mare's job. Her "job" is to learn and report to Princess Celestia about the magic of friendship. In Magical Mystery Cure, she reaches a certain plateau in that job, and is thus "promoted" to a higher station.

Now does this remove all the question marks raised by the events of Magical Mystery Cure? Indeed, it does not. But I think it is a different way of looking at those events, and for me, goes some way to explaining what happened.

Keep on chasing those rainbows, everyone...