See * for disclaimer

Call of the Cutie (January 7th 2011, 22 minutes)

Summary: Apple Bloom wants a cutie-mark NOW!

One room schoolhouse. A bit over-decorated, like most things in MLP, but it follows the 1800's design very clearly. The round bell tower up above is unique, though, I've not seen a setup quite like that. Many years ago I participated in renovating and restoring an 1819 schoolhouse that was a somewhat bigger version of this. The one I renovated was actually two floors (one room on each floor) with a ladder connecting them, no stairs. Place was built like a fortress; the walls were three large bricks thick.

Okay, very specific mechanics on cutie-marks. Unlike in previous generations cutie-marks are a sign of 'maturity', when a pony discovers what innate talents they have.

You really can't get more 80's than Cheerilee's outfit there.

If Cheerilee isn't handing the foals a line here, then cutie-marks are rarely direct and obvious. Since they manifest magically and can be interpreted, they must be following some kind of system of symbolism. Possibly driven by the pony itself, meaning that a pony from a foreign culture or even just a different city, could have a completely different 'system' of symbols.

Cuteceanera, a pony pun based on the Quinceanera: a celebration of a girl turning fifteen. Fifteen is the age in most common in Latin America, but similar ceremonies occur all over the world ranging from fourteen to eighteen, like Debutante, Cotillion, etc. The original point of celebration was a simple announcement that the girl was now of marriageable age and was not already part of an arrangement. Which is interesting if not a bit disturbing to modern minds in this context. If the Cuteceanera is the remnants of a similar concept, then getting a cutie-mark really was once the defining moment of becoming an adult. They probably don't realize it, but this party would have once been Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara shopping around for husbands.

Applejack selling apples from a mobile cart in the middle of town. Sounds like a market, but it's pretty empty relative to real marketplaces.

Doctor Whooves! Yay! Sorry.

Applejack was the last of her age to get cutie-mark, but Rainbow Dash was the first of her age. Which means Rainbow Dash is likely significantly younger than Applejack.

Karate. Not generic martial arts, but specifically karate. A 'hard' Okinawan form (hard means it focuses on strikes, where soft focuses on grappling) that blended some very old indigenous martial arts with the Chinese Kempo or To-te.

Nice kite, actually.

Roller derby? Okay.

Even magic can't make a cutie-mark appear.

That's a huge chocolate pony. That takes a lot of effort to make one structurally sound at that size balanced like that.

Silver Spoon seemed a bit off put by the suggestion that Apple Bloom might have the potential be a great writer. Like that was what *she* wished she had gotten instead of a spoon.