Geoff_B wrote:I think it's obvious what the CMC's skills are - Apple Bloom's is DIY, Sweetie Belle's is music and Scootaloo's is stunts. The episode goes out of its way to show that.
My point is that these are broad categories, and that Cutie Marks aren't just the most obvious of things.
Rainbow Dash is a speedy flyer, right? But her mark isn't a pair of wings, or a diving falcon, or whatever. It's a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt. Wait... what? Okay, the rainbow makes sense, because her special skill is the Sonic Rainboom, which ties into her speedy flying because it is created by flying really, really fast... but why a cloud and lightning? Well it also happens that lightning is conceptually associated with speed, AND she works as a weather management pony, which again ties into her speedy flying, because her aerial agility makes her really good at working the clouds.
So yeah, Apple Bloom is good at working with her hooves, and Sweetie Belle can sing, and Scootaloo is agile. But those are only general categories.
Apple Bloom's cutie mark could be anything from a hammer and nails, to a construction hat, to a can of paint and a brush, to a T-square and level, to a block of stone and a chisel, to a wrench and gloves, to a garden and trowel, to a crane or bulldozer, to a bandsaw and shaving horse, to a half-erected building, to a lightbulb and wires,
et cetera, et cetera.
Sweetie Belle's focus is a little more narrow, but again it doesn't have to be directly literal, much like Cheerilee's cutie mark being smiling flowers which represent her desire for her students to "bloom" and be happy.
So Sweetie Belle's cutie mark might be anything from a microphone on a stand, to a leaf of sheet music, to a treble or bass clef symbol, to a radio or jukebox, to an opera mask, to a particular musical instrument, to a pair of tap-dancing shoes, to a conductor's baton, to an electric guiatar amp, to a marching band, etc. Or it could even be something non-literal, like a cozy pillow or a trio of floating 'Z's to represent singing lullabies, or maybe a fedora and sunglasses to represent playing the Blues, or even a pompadour and sequined jacket to represent rock and roll, whatever.
And same thing with Scootaloo - just like rainbow dash, there are a lot of ways you could manifest agility, speed, and stunts into a cutie mark.
But more important than any of that is the fact that the girls, all three of them, are getting in the way of their own success. It's not just Scootaloo, not by a long shot.
And even more important than that, the CMCs exist for the sake of young girls who are unsure of themselves. The Mane Six represent very focused personalities with clearly delineated identities and abilities. But lots of people, particularly among the intended audience for the show, and even among the older fans, don't quite have that same level of certainty regarding identity and personal passion.
It's the very fact that the girls
aren't sure of themselves, that this
isn't just a simple problem with a quick solution, that one of their biggest hardships is
waiting to find out who they are and where they belong in the world that makes them worth even having in the show to begin with. If the CMCs simply got their cutie marks in two episodes, as you suggest they ought to have, what sort of message would that send to people? That it isn't normal to not know who you're supposed to be, and if you don't figure it out lickety split then there's something wrong with you?
The CMCs are exciteable young girls who are a little too eager to grow up and don't quite realize it's okay to take the time to enjoy life and figure out who you are on your own, at your own speed. That's the entire point of their even being in the show. If they weren't trying to get that message across, they could just focus on the Mane Six with their sharply defined personalities and never deal with the concept of those who don't quite fall neatly into any one category at all.
~Alja~
