Appleoosa's Most Wanted, MMC, and EqG. Cutie Mark conundrum

[ManaMinori 4,146]

What really IS a cutie Mark?

 

 

It's no secret that season 5 of MLP:FiM, in an epsode called "Appleoosa's Most Wanted", has turne ome fans away from the series entirely, while leaving those who remain either scratching their heads or trying to come up with an explanation as to why the concept of a pony obtaining their cutie mark only after understanding where their talents lie, after it had been established lore in prior seasons, was turned on its head.

 

In this topic, I'll be trying to do the latter, and explaining my theories on the cutie mark mystery in a way that hopefully makes sense.

 

Looking at "Appleoosa's Most Wanted" in the way it handles cutie marks, and Troubleshoes misinterpreting his own, one would assume that this episode throws a wrench into already established cutie mark lore. But does it, really?

 

Could it be that ponies simply don't know about how cutie marks really work, even after the detail on them in previous seasons? That everything they think they know about cutie marks is merely observation and conclusion, when the process of getting one occurs, and that the deeper magic behind cutie marks remains elusive?

 

Looking back on "Magical Mystery cure", upon succeeding in switching her own best friends' cutie marks, and learning of the disaster she single-hoofedly caused,Twilight says something that's very interesting. Spike suggests to Twi that to help her friends, Twi might want to employ Zecora's remedy for a similarly, previously established condition called the cutie pox. Also, she ignores, flatly shooting down his other suggestion of performing the memory spell that she used on her "Discorded" friends, with a single statement. "That won't work. It's not their memory, Spike, it's their true selves that have been altered".

 

But not 5 minutes after she shoots down Spike's suggestions, goes to her room to sulk, and come back down with an idea, Twilight says this: "I may not be able to remind them of who they are (but wait, didn't she do that once before, in "the return of harmony?"), but I can show them what they mean to each other..."

 

Funny thing is, though, the solution to the spell, which Twilight was assured wasn't a lapse of memory, as Spike suggested, was resolved by jogging the Mane 5's memory..... =_=; okaaaaay.....

 

But that begs the question, ARE the ponies their "true selves", as Twilight claimed, if memories and physical appearances aren't a factor? Does a cutie mark, in actuality, determine everything about a pony, from the very beginning? Even before a pony can acquire it?

 

"But how can that be possible, if the cutie mark hasn't yet appeared?" You ask? What if I told you that the cutie mark of every pony was always there, since birth, and that even with that being the case, ponies to this day have no idea how their own cutie marks really function?

 

What if Twilight, in MMC, had a point about cutie marks being the sole identity of a pony's being? What if the cutie mark, along with becoming visible at the point where a pony discovers their true talent, what they're meant to do above all else, also held their memories and determined their physical appearance, while also being misinterpreted by some ponies, even after their cutie mark appears?

 

I think the answer to this might lie in Equestria Girls. Drifting away from cutie marks for a second, why is it that we see many things in FiM that look like they were made to be used by humans instead of horses? Cider mugs crafted as if they were meant to be held by human hands, rather than hooves, ponies with their mouths, if they lack the magic of a unicorn to levitate a wtiting tool. FORKS!!! (You tell me how a pony who lacks a levitating spell would use a fork and be able to eat, if it's anything like how they maneuver writing utentils)

 

My conclusion to the cutie mark mystery is this- before ponies were ponies, they were the humans we are getting to know in Equestria Girls, which takes place in the past. And these humans already had "cutie marks", as seen on their clothes, and what I think is, the cutie mark is visible to the parents, and determines the name of the individual, while determining /encoded with other factors, such as the individual's special talents, but leave those details "encrypted", for the individual to discover for themselves, when they're able, and of age to.

 

Upon being given their name from the cutie mark, the mark itself goes into a sort of dormant state, invisible to everyone, including the individual (while obtaining data on the individual's memories through their life), until the person is able to discover their talents and make their mark visible again.

 

So I'm thinking that the marks have always been that way for them, so the humans never questioned or tried to explain their marks, but once they evolved fully into ponies,

 

If the humans in the past began to evolve over time into ponies, it would explain how the human tools and tech are scattered through the modern day pony world.

 

But why do humans in the past look like their pony dopplegangers in modern time? (Epc war, survivors evolved to ponies, manufactured friendship heroes in EQD as clones from the past, to provide stability for their future, with EqG's cutie marks/memory banks) Again- I think the answer is the cutie mark, more specifically, the line that was said by Twi, in "Magical Mystery cure". Rather than just being a memory lapse, it was the ponies' "true selves" that were screwed up.

 

If the cutie mark acted like a magical memory bank or computer chip, storing details of everything about a person, pre loaded with info on their name and future talents, in order to take on an image resembling the information, as well equipped with magical drives to contain the memories and experiences of the individual as they go through life, could explain why cutie marks in the modern pony time are topics to be taught and fiddled with through spells and events in MMC, and "Appleoosa's Most Wanted" are often misinterpreted by ponies themselves.

[ManaMinori 4,146]

Does anyone have an opinion on this that they'd like to share?

Edited September 3, 2015 by Nightmare Muffin

[Princess Lona 382]

This is a pretty interesting idea. It could suggest that a kind of reincarnation exists in Equestria. If a cutie mark has the ability to exist without being visible, then maybe a cutie mark can exist for a short time without a pony to stamp onto. Perhaps cutie marks retain the memories of a pony after he or she passes away, then the mark acts kind of like a soul and finds a new foal to incarnate in. The memories of the past ponies are carried on to future generations but instead of giving their new ponies a conscious memory of the past, the cutie mark manifests the old memories subconsciously in the new pony as instincts which could lead to a new interpretation of the mark. For example, if a pony in olden times had Pinkie Pie's cutie mark, that pony might have been good at making balloons but they would not necessarily have been a party pony by nature. However, their business of balloon making would have put them in contact with a lot of parties and maybe they would learn to really enjoy parties. Once the cutie mark moved on to Pinke Pie, it would bring that love of parties with it and implant it into Pinkie on a subconscious level so that when Pinkie gets the balloon cutie mark, it would now reflect her penchant for throwing parties.

[ManaMinori 4,146]

This is a pretty interesting idea. It could suggest that a kind of reincarnation exists in Equestria. If a cutie mark has the ability to exist without being visible, then maybe a cutie mark can exist for a short time without a pony to stamp onto. Perhaps cutie marks retain the memories of a pony after he or she passes away, then the mark acts kind of like a soul and finds a new foal to incarnate in. The memories of the past ponies are carried on to future generations but instead of giving their new ponies a conscious memory of the past, the cutie mark manifests the old memories subconsciously in the new pony as instincts which could lead to a new interpretation of the mark. For example, if a pony in olden times had Pinkie Pie's cutie mark, that pony might have been good at making balloons but they would not necessarily have been a party pony by nature. However, their business of balloon making would have put them in contact with a lot of parties and maybe they would learn to really enjoy parties. Once the cutie mark moved on to Pinke Pie, it would bring that love of parties with it and implant it into Pinkie on a subconscious level so that when Pinkie gets the balloon cutie mark, it would now reflect her penchant for throwing parties.

I was thinking something along those lines, actually. That before the humans of EqG (in the past, which we're seeing take place, currently) can evolve into full fledged ponies, given enough time, the mane 6 run their life course and die, but with enough time, and humans are 100% pony, somepony recalls the power that the former human mane 6 had, and recreates their cutie marks, complete with memories, personalities, everything of their true selves in the mark, so they can protect Equestria.

 

TL; DR- pony mane 6 in FiM are the mane 6 from EqG, reincarnated, through their cutie marks

 

Your theory of cms being sentient is interesting. The thought of them existing for a short time aftr the original pony's death, and finding a host to latch onto, for subconscious memory and instinct of the former pony to shape the new pony unrelated to them, is something I never thought of. That could possibly explain Pinkie's line of "and that's how Equestria was made", back in "cutie mark chronicles"....