Can a Pony Change His/Her Destiny?

[Odd Ball 230]

MLP:FiM has shown us that ponies get a cutie mark that is based on what they love, which eventually leds to their destiny, like what happened with Twilight Sparkle. But what if somepony was tired of that destiny and decided to change it? Would it also change their cutie mark? People in real life change their jobs/interests all the time, so it would be neat to see a pony who isn't part of the mane six go through this.

[AtomicStone 724]

This is a good question, I've always wondered the same thing.. I'm sure that their cutie mark may well change if they found another talent that they liked a lot more.. Or it may be a case where they just wouldn't get a cutie mark until they found that particular talent.. I'm not sure.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,386]

I guess one could say that if a pony decided they were tired of this or that and wanted to do something else, that too would be apart of their destiny from the start. So essentially it would still all be going according to plan in that case. The whole 'destiny' concept is a pretty copulated thing. 

[Metemponychosis 1,238]

I think that attaching the word "destiny" to cutie marks was one of the dumbest ideas out of this cartoon.

 

It was perfect when they were associated to talents, because a pony can work as a seamstress and have a talent for making beautiful things, as much as a pony with a talent for being fast can be a happy pony working the weather.

 

Calling it destiny is just weird. It gets much more than talents and choice involved and in the end it becomes a mess. Specially when it seems that the show actually is more worried with talents than destinies. When you think about it, "destiny" only works for Twilight.

[Roughshod 719]

It's been shown in season 5 that a pony's cutie mark can be magically removed so it's reasonable to assume that another cutie mark could be put in its place using the same method. I'm not sure how well this would work out for the ponies involved, if they would adapt, or if it would affect their 'destiny' but it's one way of attempting it.

 

In terms of a pony changing their own mark I don't think this is likely. It would nullify much of the significance of attaining and having a cutie mark in the first place. We know that the meaning of a cutie mark isn't always clear when it first appears and can be interpreted in many ways depending on the pony and your point of view. Again, unless we're talking about the use of magic or perhaps some very unusual circumstances such as a curse or cosmic event it doesn't seem likely to me.

[El Duderino 878]

I've always been against the whole idea of "destiny", but just because the show seems to have set is as canon that destiny is a thing, I will temporarily ignore my personal beliefs. 

 

Going off of what I understand about destiny, a you should always come to the same end no matter what choices or paths you choose in life. That's not saying you can't deny your destiny, but life will always try to push you towards it, so I don't think that a cutie mark would change unless you would be able to actually change your destiny.

 

I do think that a ponies destiny possibly isn't set until they get their cutie mark, but cutie mark magic seems to know whats best. Don't some ponies not even understand what their cutie mark is for until later? Maybe a cutie mark knows what a pony would be happiest doing even if the pony hasn't figured it out yet.

[PatatoPony 20]

I guess so..haha twilight losing her powers in order to become a scientist. Fluttershy joins the spa(F those animals!), pinkie pie went to be a...idk, um, adventurer to find cheese sandwich?, rarity likes applejack, JKJK! I like everyone in the series. But dayum, it will be VERY confusing but cool if they could 'try out' diff destinies

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

Unfortunately, the show seems to have the view that whatever force is in charge of cutie marks is basically omniscient so whatever gives ponies their cutie marks knows, from start to finish, what they'll want to do in life and gives them a cutie mark to match that.

 

 

On that note, its funny that the mane six all got the same cutie marks in the altered timelines that they did in the canon timeline; Honestly a HUGE bit of lost potential there as seeing the mane six's paths and destinies change due to a butterfly effect is kind of the whole POINT of changing destinies

Like showing how they each had their cutie marks gained without a sonic rainboom would have been VASTLY more interesting IMO.