You do realize that's plenty of information about a pony as it is?

I'll just leave this here.◊

I've been wondering something about cutie marks (for some reason). These magical tattoos identify a pony's special talent, and they basically define what they will be.

What I'm wondering is, what happens if a pony never works it out? Do they go through life without getting the mark or something? And what if a pony is injured and their mark ends up being badly damaged or distorted? Does that have any kind of negative, magic-related effect?

It's possible ponies who don't find some driving purpose in their lives get a cutie mark that's more an indication of personality. Not all cutie marks indicate what those ponies spend most of their time doing. Rainbow Dash's mark indicates her love of speed, but her day job is as a weather pony. And the jerk ponies that made fun of her had sports related cutie marks, but we saw them doing construction work.

Actually Dash is more weather related, its a reaking rain cloud with a {rainbow} Lightining bolt

Pinkie Pie is Baloons for PARTY but she works in a bakery.

As for damange i don't think there is any magical effect but socially a scared cutie mark can't be good

edited 1st Jul '11 1:26:34 AM by NekoLLX

The cutie mark is what you want to do with your life, but it's not necessarily relegated to career, yeah. Like, there's a lot of ways Pinkie could make ponies happy.

The idea that a scarred cutie mark might have a reverse effect is pretty cool, though...I might actually use it in a fic, since I was planning the villain to have a sort of warped cutie mark anyways.

I wouldn't imagine a damaged cutie mark would have any adverse affect on the pony; it's not the cutie mark that causes the love of doing something, it's the love of doing something that causes the cutie mark. Or somepony's personality, I guess; I doubt Dollar just loves making money, or he sure as heck wouldn't be a freelance photographer.

It might be interesting to explore what a pony with a scarred cutie mark thought about it, though. Like, whatever hurt them also hurt their sense of self, so the scar would be symbolic of their self-doubt, perhaps... Though there is the fact that everypony has two marks to consider.

edited 1st Jul '11 1:42:20 AM by RedSavant

Or if the area where the mark would have been was scarred previously, so they just misread it it? Like, it came to them in a flash of brilliance, but they didn't really remember it afterwords, and looked to the mark for guidance, but the mark was broken, and so led them down a broken path.

Okay, this is really, really cool. I am so using this.

I could see a damaged cutie mark being detrimental to a unicorn, since their magic is supposed to be tied to their talent, but I can't see it doing anything to a pegasus or and earth pony.

Is the cutie mark like a birth mark on the skin? I always thought it was a patch of different colored hair.

edited 1st Jul '11 1:52:56 AM by Crowfall

I'd have to assume that they're effectively the same thing to ponies. But if you're wondering how it's possible to damage a patch of fur, hair doesn't grow over scar tissue. So if the flank was hurt badly, part of the mark might never grow.

What if a pony acquires a cutie mark and decides they don't really like whatever they got it for after all? Is that possible? I can imagine this kind of thing being used in a episode featuring those irritating little Cutie Mark Crusader creatures in the future. The moral associated with them tends to be "growing up", right? This stuff would be right up there with the "one of them gets their mark; are they still friends with the other two?" angle.

This whole thing has interested me since I saw a couple of fan-comics on Equestria Daily a short while ago. One featured Apple Bloom's Cutie Mark being a pot of glue while the other was a mock-up newspaper in which her mark turns out to be so horrifying the reporters who saw it killed themselves (or something like that).

I'm really far too interested in this kind of thing. I also wonder about stuff like, "What if a pegasus lost one of their wings?" and, "What if a unicorn's horn was broken off?" Would they become earth ponies?

edited 1st Jul '11 3:27:13 AM by TheGloomer

Wings and horns don't make pony a Unicorn or Pagasus. If you lose wing you become pegasus who can't fly. And about horn it propably grow back. Horever maybe wings can grow back again or magic can fix it.

In Green Isn't Your Color we see Rarity getting her horn filed, so presumably there is some growth happening there.

I'll actually be a bit disappointed if we don't get an episode where one of the CMCs gets their cutie mark before the others. But that probably won't happen next season, they'll probably drag that out for awhile.

edited 1st Jul '11 3:53:46 AM by Crowfall

CMC status depend on their spinoff if they got one the probably will get thei CM much later but if they don't who know.

And don't whant see one of they gets CM before other. That plot can done with some of their frends who allready have CM. Lite Twist, she and Apple Bloom were best friends and now what are their relations? Did they are still friends offscreen or AB abodon her for Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell becaise of Cutie Mark?

That's the thing, though; the crusaders are pretty much only together to get their marks. When one of them gets it before the other two, they could have a whole story about whether or not they're actually friends or if they were just sticking around to get their cutie mark.

I think Applebloom abandoned Twist because she was fucking annoying. (I'm kidding (mostly))

I know the crusaders were originally meant for a spinoff, but I really hope that doesn't happen. I mean, I like them and all, but their shtick wouldn't hold up for an entire series.

Yeah. Also, they're incredibly irritating (except for the unicorn one, who is boring compared to the other two).

I actually like the Crusaders, but an entire series of them searching for their marks would not work. Especially since the audience already pretty much knows what their talents are. They work much better in moderation.

If they could have a story where they weren't trying to get their Cutie Marks it would be nice. I know that's their whole gimmick, but it would still be interesting to see them do something else for a change.

What that could be I don't know.

I'm down for an episode of Scootaloo stalking Rainbow Dash.

They were brought together because of their shared lack of a cutie mark. Just because one of them gets their cutie mark, or they all (finally) do, does that lessen their friendship? I'm inclined to say no.

It's like the friends you make during, I dunno, high school. More often than not, the friends you have at that time, they're imprinted in your mind. You're stuck with 'em.

Why yes, I did, in fact, compare a pony getting their cutie mark to puberty. It's obviously a big moment in their lives.

All that said, it's exactly the reason it would make a good episode. (It'd also be a good episode to bring Twist back, or something.)

edited 1st Jul '11 4:36:35 AM by KylerThatch

Why does Scootaloo like Rainbow Dash again? I can't remember if they ever said in that episode with all the flashbacks.

I think I know what's especially bothersome about Scootaloo; she's the only member of the group who really has no sort of character outside it. She doesn't even get to be "x's sister" or something like that. At least the unicorn got five minutes of being a mischievous younger sibling at one point.

I think Scootaloo being the daredevil that she is counts for characterization. She's the one that persuades her friends to try things they'd be too afraid to do otherwise (note the very first scene in The Cutie Mark Chronicles). That, or she just has no regard for safety. For all we know, it could be both.

edited 1st Jul '11 4:43:12 AM by KylerThatch

That's not what I meant. Scootaloo is the only one whose life outside the group hasn't been touched upon at all. We already knew Apple Bloom from the episode with Zecora, and Sweetie Belle turned out to be Rarity's younger sister who tries to help her at her shop, but for Scootaloo we've got nothing.

Scootaloo likes Rainbow Dash because she's the coolest pony in Ponyville. She represents exactly what Scootaloo wants to be like when she's older.