Twilight brought up to me an excellent question today regarding the nature of ponies. It was about how a pony obtains their cutie mark, as they realize their potential in life; a very poignant truth about all of our lives. Her question was more than that, however. She wanted to know where they come from, and what they truly mean. I have done much research into them in the past, and while I am unsure on all of the answers, I believe I have a hypothesis.

One's cutie mark, at its core, is a kind of representation of a pony's natural niche in the world, located on the sides of their hips. Mine is a sun, to signify my connection to the one in the sky. From what I can understand, a pony is born with said abilities and the cutie mark related to it, which does not appear until later in life. This brings up a sensitive question about our existence.

If a pony only has an ability that they were born with, what does that say about their future? They do not realize they have it until they try. It makes me wonder if the one who gave such a concept as cutie marks to us finds it all amusing, to watch ponies stumble and struggle through their lives to find themselves. I do not consider it amusing one bit. There are foals all over that try their hardest, full of passion and determination to find what they are meant for, and yet some obtain them with little difficulty. While it is unfair, it is the way of the world.

Many ponies live under the assumption that we are all created equal, but we are not. We are all born with a different set of talents, locked in our minds and flanks. The ones in control of the building blocks of life build us in a specific way. We evolve and develop skills and personalities and appearance based on the result. It is a questionable practice, but is it a fact of life?

A cutie mark appears when one realizes their true talent. They can only materialize when not only you perform what it is that you are naturally skilled in, but also come to accept your talent in your mind; it is then when it uncovers itself in a splash of magical light. It is strange, however, its appearance. What could make such odd shapes on one's coat, especially when the same colors do not appear anywhere else on their body? Although, I do notice that the color of the magical aura in ponies tends to be the same as it.

My own materialized at the same time as my sister when our mother had shown us how to control the motion of the sun and moon in the sky. It felt so natural, so easy for us. We changed the day and night in the blink of an eye. Luna and I played with the sun and moon's motions in the same way any other foals would play with a ball in a garden. It was a wondrous experience, and as we realized our potential as the controllers of the celestial objects, our cutie marks appeared on our sides in a flash.

All that I can understand is that the implications result in a disturbing truth: that we may not have the freedoms in life we expect to. We are all raised to believe that our lives are what we make of them, but alas, I cannot be sure. I can only hope that the alternative is true, that rather than the cutie mark making us, our experiences in life are what do so.

Many ponies also believe that perhaps said experiences are fated as well, including meeting with other ponies in life, connecting with them. Could my attachment to Twilight, or others, be written down someplace, like a story in a book? All that is or was, meant to be experienced at a certain time? The idea of fate is surely an interesting topic, but it is beyond our control. It is far too tiresome an exercise to linger on about.

I live for myself in the now. Right now is the only time there is to experience, and I must make the most of it, with or without somepony like Twilight Sparkle.