The Cutie Mark Chronicles

The Cutie Mark Chronicles is the twenty-third episode of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, season one. In this episode, the Cutie Mark Crusaders seek out the six main characters in order to learn how they acquired their cutie marks.

Episode summary
"This town is full of ponies who have their cutie marks. Why don't we ask them how they did it?"

- Apple Bloom

The Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle continue their attempt to find their special talents by trying their hooves at zip-lining as a suggestion from Spike. Unfortunately, they only reach the middle of the line before stopping. The friction from the slide causes the rope to snap, resulting in their crashing into a nearby tree. Once again, no cutie mark appears; just a covering of pine needles and tree sap. Scootaloo suggess a plan "B" involving a cannon, but quickly dismisses it. While cleaning up, Apple Bloom remembers that there are plenty of ponies in Ponyville with their cutie marks and suggests it may help their quest to ask how they discovered them. The Cutie Mark Crusaders take off, Scootaloo powering a scooter attached to the wagon in which the other two sit, to search for answers, starting with Rainbow Dash; who Scootaloo suggests is the "coolest, bravest, fastest" flier from Cloudsdale.

Along the way, they nearly run over a group of rabbits that are running from Applejack after having swiped some of her apples. The Crusaders decide to ask Applejack about how she got her cutie mark.

Applejack: The city
Applejack recounts the story of leaving the farm for the big city of Manehattan to join her Aunt and Uncle Orange, who promised to have her acting like a proper Manehattanite in no time. During an evening get-together with some of the other high-society Equestrians, Applejack tells them how much she loves the city with her new high-society accent, but she causes a raise of eyebrows when she mentions the life she left behind. Thankfully, her awkward moment is interrupted as dinner arrives. But it turns out to be nothing more then a bit of carrot and a bit of corn which resemble garnish more than substantial fare. She quickly grows disappointed of the city life and becomes homesick, missing her simpler farm life and wondering what her big brother and grandmother are up to. Just at this moment she hears a loud bang and sees a beautiful rainbow stretch across the sky towards Ponyville. Applejack makes up her mind and returns home. Accepting her old farm life, realizing that it is where she truly belongs, her cutie mark appears: a trio of red apples.

Just as she finishes her story, she sees the rabbits and chases them once more. Scootaloo, finding the story to be sappy, says they should continue their trip to find Rainbow Dash.

They come to an abrupt stop near Fluttershy, who is helping a family of ducklings across the road. Hearing what the fillies were up to, she states that she earned her cutie mark because of Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy: The fields
When she was a filly, Fluttershy was virtually the weakest flier in a summer flight camp. In fact, she could only flutter for a few seconds before falling. After she falls from trying to fly over one of the cloud rings, two male pegasi start making fun of her. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash appears to stand beside Fluttershy, telling them to leave her alone. The duo then challenges her to a race. All three make a quick start, but Rainbow Dash accidentally knocks Fluttershy off of the clouds and towards the earth below. She is saved by a giant swarm of butterflies which support her decent before conveying her into the fields. When she looks around, she is overcome with the sight of all of the wonderful creatures. She had never been so close to the ground before, her joy causes her to start singing about this new sensation; the song So Many Wonders expresses her admiration of everything in this new world. She then hears an explosion behind her. Looking up, she sees a gorgeous wave of colors scorch throughout the blue sky. Unfortunately, the blast and ensuing color explosion cause the animals to become frightened and hide. Without hesitation, Fluttershy gathers the forest animals that calms them. Her new love and exceptional communication with animals earns her the cutie mark of three pink butterflies.

Scootaloo is now more anxious than ever to find Dash, since Fluttershy was not there for the remainder of her friend's race and cannot tell them of Rainbow's story. Sweetie Belle suggests they might ask her sister Rarity about it. Somehow, they end up helping Rarity with her latest work. Hearing of their continuing pursuit of their cutie marks, she recalls the time she got hers.

Rarity: The rock
Rarity was in charge of costumes during a school play. She was praised by her teacher by calling them "very nice", but it wasn't enough for Rarity: they needed to be spectacular. Obsessively trying to craft the perfect clothes, she wonders if her dream of being a fashion designer is fading. Her horn then glows literally pulling her away from her house, away from the outskirts of Ponyville. She knew that unicorn magic happens for a reason, and it may lead her to her true destiny. After being dragged through the desert and up and down mountains her journey ended with her stopping in front of a giant rock on a plateau. As she furiously laments about why her horn led her all the way to this area, she soon hears an explosion, followed by a sight of vibrant colors in the air. The shock waves split the boulder in half, revealing a vein of gems. She used this pile of crystals to decorate the costumes. At the night of the play, the audience watching were in awe of the fillies wearing the bejeweled set. Rarity's inspiration, not to mention her new ability to track down hidden gems, gave her a cutie mark of three blue diamonds.

Scootaloo pushes her friends out of the shop, tired of Rarity's "namby-pamby" story. She hopes to find Dash and hopefully hear a more exciting tale. The moment they run into Twilight, however, they end up listening to hers.

Twilight Sparkle: The exam
Twilight was eager to join the festivities of the Summer Sun Celebration that took place in Canterlot. Seeing the ruler of Equestria raise the sun inspired her to study everything about magic. Her parents noticed their daughter's interest and enrolled her into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. The only thing in the way of her dream was an entrance exam she was required to pass. The test was to hatch a dragon's egg, which Twilight failed to perform under the pressure of the exam. Just as she gives up and apologizes for wasting the testers' time, she hears a boom from outside. Inexplicably, her magical energy is triggered. The egg hatches, revealing Spike. However, she soon loses control and causes chaos inside the exam room, causing the judges to levitate, turning her parents into potted plants, and making Spike grow to immense size. Princess Celestia, having seen the event from outside, stands next to Twilight and places her hoof on her, making Twilight's magic wear off and returning everything to normal. Celestia compliments Twilight on her raw power, but reminds her that it requires focused studying to control it. She offers to take Twilight under her wing as her new protégé. With her parents silently encouraging her to accept, Twilight says "yes" and bursts into cries of happiness, but Celestia adds one other thing: she points out to Twilight that a cutie mark, a violet-colored star with five small white stars surrounding it, appeared on her flank. Twilight soon hops around the princess, even more excited than ever.

Lauren Faust suggested that there is more to Princess Celestia than has been depicted of her in the series. She says, in relation to the events of the flashback, Celestia sensed that Twilight Sparkle is connected to the Elements of Harmony and arranged the dragon-hatching test for her. She then raised and trained Spike, and subsequently assigned him to be Twilight's assistant.

The Crusaders leave a cheerfully-skipping Twilight before hopping on their cart to find Dash once again. Unexpectedly, Pinkie Pie appears inside their cart, complete with riding helmet, and she suggested they could find her at Sugarcube Corner. She offered to tell them how she earned her cutie mark if they joined her in the bakery, to which the fillies reluctantly agreed.

Pinkie Pie: The party
According to Pinkie Pie, her life was not always as happy as it is now. She worked at a rock farm with her family outside of Ponyville. No one played, or talked, or even smiled. They just worked. After her family went inside for the day, she heard an explosion from the sky, followed by a blast of wind, messing up her straight hair. She then saw a wave of colors, turning the gray world around her blue. It was the first time in her life that she ever felt pure happiness. She was so overwhelmed by the colorful rainbow, that she wanted to "smile forever" and, even more so, wanted to spread this happiness. The next day as her family was going out, she called them into the silo. Inside the silo were party decorations, balloons, streamers, music, and cake. However, as she saw them look at the scene strangely, it almost seemed as if they didn't like it. Taking a second look, she saw their smiles slowly, but surely, reveal themselves and they danced with her. With new-found joy, Pinkie's cutie mark appeared, showing a set of blue and yellow balloons.

Pinkie finished her story by saying "And that was how Equestria was made!" and, much to the Crusaders' confusion, told them that she would tell them how she received her cutie mark on the way back home. Sweetie Belle assured Scootaloo that it was just Pinkie "being Pinkie". Reaching Sugarcube Corner, the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally find Rainbow Dash, along with the rest of her friends. Having heard of the fillies' interest in her cutie mark, the Dash tells them her story, much to Scootaloo's relief.

Rainbow Dash: The race
Taking place where Fluttershy's story left off, Dash and the two bully pegasi began their race. They were to fly through the cloud rings toward the finish line. Rainbow Dash was already in the lead, and soon one of the bullies crashed into a cloud-pillar. Dash was bumped by the other bully and veered off course, but caught up and took the lead again. She tells the Cutie Mark Crusaders about how she found a love for the adrenaline and excitement of gaining so much speed. Her desire to win helped her beat the bullies, and most of all, perform the ultimate trick that was only told in legends; the Sonic Rainboom. She won the race, and obtained her mark; a rainbow colored lightning bolt. Rainbow Dash mentions in a previous episode, Call of the Cutie, that she was the first in her class to get a cutie mark.

Epilogue
As the story ends, Dash's friends suddenly remember hearing, or seeing, that very blast from their stories. Eventually, an epiphany forms: Rainbow Dash's race led to the inspiration of their goals and helped them earn their cutie marks. They believed that they were destined to be friends, even before they knew each other. They gather for a group hug, while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle pull a slightly irate Scootaloo into a group hug of their own. As Fluttershy suggests another song, Scootaloo cries out in despair.

By the end of the day, Spike writes Twilight's latest report of how one's connection can lead to a future friendship, while sarcastically commenting about the letter's sappiness. She simply replies, "just write it, Spike."

Hubworld poll
Before the episode premiered, visitors of Hubworld.com were presented with a trailer and a chance to vote on how they think Rainbow Dash earned her cutie mark. The results had no effect on the episode; voters simply guessed on which was accurate. There were three possibilities:
 * Sonic Rainboom - Rainbow Dash challenges Fluttershy's bullies for a race. She enjoys it so much that she almost forgets about winning. Trying to catch up with the competitors, she breaks the sound barrier and performs the first sonic rainboom ever.
 * Born to Fly - Rainbow Dash practices to impress the Blue Thunders with her flying tricks. She doesn't get into the team, but discovers her true talent is good enough.
 * Dash of Lightning - Rainbow Dash retells the Arthurian legend about retrieving the Lightning Bolt in the Stone. Nobody believes her until they see that she indeed got a lighting bolt cutie mark (This story would not have worked, as another pegasus has the same cutie mark of a regular lightning bolt).

Flashback character designs
Many of the characters in the flashbacks share the same design or color scheme with "modern-day" show characters, and some of the incidental young ponies share the same design as the main characters' young versions. One of the fillies that young Rarity designs a costume for appears to be a young Cheerilee. Two of the fillies wearing young Rarity's costumes share the same design of young Applejack and young Pinkie Pie, with different color schemes.

Twilight Sparkle's mother shares "modern-day" Twilight's character design and the color scheme of original Twilight, from the first generation of My Little Pony.

Fluttershy in her flashback is noticeably taller and more gangly than the other fillies of the main cast, and her wings fold like those of an adult pegasus and not like those of a filly like Scootaloo, or young Rainbow Dash. This is consistent with her saying that she is one year older than Pinkie Pie in Griffon the Brush Off. The show's developer, Lauren Faust, suggested that Fluttershy might have gone through an "awkward phase".

Music
The episode incorporates a couple of sound-alikes of famous classical music segments. There's a reference to the black monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, complete with a Thus Spake Zarathustra sound-alike fanfare, which occurs when Rarity is mysteriously drawn to... a giant monolith, which she calls a "rock". The music Applejack's city relatives are listening to is Waltz from Swan Lake, which also plays during Rarity's performance in Sonic Rainboom.

The music that plays during Pinkie Pie's first party is the same music used in Swarm of the Century to take the parasprites back to the Everfree forest.

Quotes

 * Apple Bloom: See anything?
 * Scootaloo: Tree sap and pine needles, but no cutie mark.
 * Sweetie Belle: Plan "B"?
 * Scootaloo: Yeah... You know where we can find a cannon at this hour?


 * Scootaloo: We can start with the coolest pony in Ponyville...
 * Apple Bloom: Applejack!
 * Sweetie Belle: Rarity!
 * Scootaloo: No, you guys. I said "cool". You know what I'm talking about. She's fast. She's tough. She's not afraid of anything.
 * AB/SB: Pinkie Pie?
 * Scootaloo: No! The greatest flier to ever come out of Cloudsdale.
 * AB/SB: ...Fluttershy?
 * Scootaloo: NO! Rainbow Dash!


 * Fluttershy: You'd never guess, but when I was little I was very shy. And a very weak flyer.


 * Rarity : I had no idea where my horn was taking me, but unicorn magic doesn't happen without a reason. I knew this had to do with my love of fashion, and maybe even my cutie mark. I knew that this was... my destiny!
 * Young Rarity: A ROCK?! That's my destiny?! What is your problem, horn?! I followed you all the way out here for a rock?! Dumb rock!


 * Princess Celestia: You have a very special gift. I don't think I've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities.
 * Young Twilight Sparkle: Huh?
 * Princess Celestia: But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study.
 * Young Twilight Sparkle: Huh?!
 * Princess Celestia: Twilight Sparkle, I'd like to make you my own personal protege here at the school.
 * Young Twilight Sparkle: HUH?!
 * Princess Celestia: Well?
 * Young Twilight Sparkle: YES!!!
 * Princess Celestia: One other thing, Twilight.
 * Young Twilight Sparkle: More? My cutie mark! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes...


 * Twilight Sparkle: ...yesyesyesyes...
 * Apple Bloom: Okay, okay.
 * Sweetie Belle: We're happy for you, Twilight.
 * Scootaloo: Yeah, thrilled. Let's get out of here while we still can.
 * Twilight Sparkle: ...yesyes, YEEEES!
 * Passerby: Are you okay?
 * Twilight Sparkle: [giggle] Um... yes.


 * Scootaloo: Why don't we ever smash into Rainbow Dash?!
 * Pinkie Pie: You're looking for Rainbow Dash? If I was her, I'd be at the Sugarcube Corner! Of course, if I was anyone I'd be at the Sugarcube Corner. Hey! I have an idea. Wanna go to the Sugarcube Corner?


 * Young Pinkie Pie: Surprise! You like it? It's called... a party!


 * Pinkie Pie: And that's how Equestria was made!
 * Scootaloo: Wha... Huh?
 * Pinkie Pie: Maybe on the way home, I can tell you how I got my cutie mark. It's a gem...
 * Sweetie Belle: Oh c'mon. She's just being Pinkie Pie.

Gallery



 * The Cutie Mark Chronicles image gallery

Trivia

 * Rarity's remark "dumb rock!" seems to run in the family, as her younger sister Sweetie Belle made a similar remark "dumb fabric!" in The Show Stoppers.
 * "Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns" is similarly named to X-Men's "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters".
 * The ponies on Twilight Sparkle's entrance exam board refer to her as "Ms Sparkle".
 * The blackboard on the wall behind Twilight features the same diagram and the same equation as the blackboard in the episode Call of the Cutie.
 * When Pinkie Pie tells the girls her story, she says that she was raised on a rock farm where there was no smiling, yet in Friendship is Magic part 2, she said that her grandmother told her to laugh when she was scared.
 * Rainbow Dash's first ever Sonic Rainboom is seen in this episode. She mentioned that event in Sonic Rainboom. She has both front hooves out in front of her in Sonic Rainboom, just as when she successfully performs it in this episode.
 * In Fluttershy's flashback, she waves a checkered flag to start the race. This flag is actually used to mark the end of a race; she should have used a solid green one instead.
 * The timeline of Rarity's flashback is inconsistent. When she is working on the costumes, young Rarity mentions that the performance is "that night". Later, as her horn is pulling her to the gems, she's seen traveling for so long that the sun has set and the moon has risen, meaning the performance would have already been playing and she'd have missed it, without even accounting for the time it took her to travel back. This can be explained by assuming the time-shift was used for comedic purposes.
 * As a filly, Applejack travels to Manehattan, a play on Manhattan, a borough of New York City. New York City is also known as the Big Apple.
 * This is the first episode which all the members of the CMC and everyone of the Leading characters, have a speaking role in a episode.