ThatBob

Diamond Tiara seemed to be important for motivation, but I think one of the most important things about cutie marks is that all that ponies need to discover their special talents is themselves, and they would've eventually found it, DT or no. Now that I think about it though, that's kind of not possible, considering how RD's first Sonic Rainboom was directly responsible for all the Mane 6's cutie marks. I wonder if there's a way that they could've gotten the same cutie marks without the Rainboom....

I think that it was great the way that after including the song as a hint that the Crusaders would be getting their cutie marks at the beginning, the writers pulled focus away from it to drag attention to the Pip Campaign, and Diamond Tiara's redemption afterward. It really made the ending take you by surprise, especially the way the Crusaders' conversation at the end was similar to just another end-of-episode lesson discussion. Overall, I thought the writing was great, and really clever.