What Their Cutie Marks are Telling Us

[Cwanky 17,760]

Its a question that's been lingering in the back of my head for awhile now. What do cutie marks tell us about ponies and perhaps more importantly, does your cutie mark define who you are, OR do you define what your cutie mark is and hence you if at all? Initially I did and still do, laugh at the concept of cutie marks, especially since the show makes light of them via the Cutie Mark Crusaders just as much as they emphasize them. Lauren Faust at one point early on the show's debut during an interview jokingly calls them "butt symbols." 

 

Magical Mystery Cure effectively changed, or at least swayed my opinions on that view quite drastically (the absence of Faust I suppose also didn't help). This song in particular while adorable, somewhat disturbed me about the potential implications it suggests:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft1rbnlYhYY

 

I have had myself asking this question numerous times but, are the Mane 6 and all pony kind that helpless if they suddenly lose or have their cutie marks altered? From the overall plot of the episode they either were brainwashed by Star Swirled's unfinished spell, suffered significant amnesia due to the spell,  simply were very confused and unable to properly react to the situation or all of the above. Aside from that the consequences of the spell reinforces the notion that the Mane 6 play large roles in Ponyville, so naturally harm or corruption to them harms and corrupts Ponyville.

 

From how Twilight resolves the problems, showing the Mane 6 their true selves by showing how they help and affect each other, it seems to confirm my hypothesis: cutie marks are at least in part defined by the individual and NOT the other way around. Of course this only raises more questions.

 

How much of you is defined by your cutie mark if, especially if it is indeed you who defines it? How does "destiny" play a role here. It almost seems unfair and wrong if this was the message cutie marks teaches kids that some of us are "destined" to become princesses and heroes, while others are just "destined" to become average ordinary people doomed to obscurity or mediocrity or tragedy like Luna. That would seem an awfully sick joke to be teaching kids. And of course what of the non-pony races? Do they lack special talents, which unfortunately can be construed as them being inferior. Do zebras have cutie marks. And of course what of Spike, who has enough trouble already trying to be a pony that embraces his dragon heritage in an already highly monarchical and class based society.

 

Yea so much for cutie marks just being butt symbols. 

[Fhaolan 4,494]

A lot of the behavior in the Magical Mystery Cure was... odd. Yes, their cutie-marks changed and they felt that their destinies changed along with, but did it really? They obviously didn't gain the skills necessary to cover that change in destiny. Yet in the earlier episode Cutie Pox, Apple Bloom *did* gain the skills along with the cutie-marks.

 

So something's disconnected here.

 

Note what the Mane6 were doing, when they were attempting to act out their new cutie-marks. Much like the Cutie-Mark Crusaders, they were looking for their destinies in the wrong place. They were doing what they *thought* their friend's cutie-mark was telling them.

 

Here's the big example that covers all of that: Rarity starts re-arranging the weather. Why? Because she had Rainbow Dash's cutie-mark. But Rainbow Dash's special talent has nothing to do with weather management, it's connected to speed and stunts (adrenaline junky). It was, however, what Rarity thinks Rainbow Dash is all about, because she thinks in terms of careers and jobs, and RD's actual talent is what she would consider to be just a hobby. She thinks of RD as a weather pony, so when she tries to 'be' Rainbow Dash, she felt that re-arranging the weather was appropriate. And because she's still Rarity, she tried to make it esthetically pleasing. Which is *her* actual talent, esthetics.

 

So the spell re-arranging cutie-marks was a form of Mind Control married to a bit of Illusion, much like being Discorded. It didn't actually *change* anything, it just made the recipients think that things had changed. Actually, disturbingly a lot like being Discorded.

Edited June 10, 2013 by Fhaolan

[Stellafera 3,836]

Here's the big example that covers all of that: Rarity starts re-arranging the weather. Why? Because she had Rainbow Dash's cutie-mark. But Rainbow Dash's special talent has nothing to do with weather management, it's connected to speed and stunts (adrenaline junky). It was, however, what Rarity thinks Rainbow Dash is all about, because she thinks in terms of careers and jobs, and RD's actual talent is what she would consider to be just a hobby. She thinks of RD as a weather pony, so when she tries to 'be' Rainbow Dash, she felt that re-arranging the weather was appropriate. And because she's still Rarity, she tried to make it esthetically pleasing. Which is *her* actual talent, esthetics.

 

This actually makes a LOT of sense.

 

Rainbow Dash isn't exactly the nuturing type, so she think's Fluttershy's cutie mark amounts to controlling animals rather than taking care of them.

 

Fluttershy isn't really sociable and doesn't particularly like parties, so she thinks that Pinkie Pie's mark refers to just making other ponies laugh rather than making them happy, and she does so through very conventional means rather than finding what makes each pony laugh. 

 

Pinkie considers AJ's cutie mark to be "work, work, work", so that's what she does when the cuties marks are switched.

 

Applejack is also business minded, but she focuses on "I have to make dresses" rather than artistry due to her pragmatism. So the dresses look terrible (also she doesn't know sewing).