One's 'true self' · 4:40pm Jan 10th, 2014
In my ongoing quest to unravel the mysteries of "Magical Mystery Cure," I've come across a term that I need some help defining. That term is 'true self.'
A quick refresher, I suppose. After Twilight realizes Starswirl's spell has ruined everything, Spike suggests Twilight use the memory spell she used to un-Discord everyone. Twilight replies that "It's not their memories, Spike. It's their true selves that have been altered."
So what does Twilight mean when she talks about 'true selves'?
The reason I find this important is it's one of the reasons Twilight gives up hope, even though she usually rises to any challenge that presents itself. One of the things that's annoyed me about this episode is that Twilight doesn't try to solve the problem until after she's practically given up ("I've got to Find a Way").
I'm a bit at a loss, because I don't see anything different about the mane six that I would consider their 'true selves.' When I hear that term, I think about something that defines a person--their personality, interests, character, and so forth. Looking at the switched mane six, I can't really see any significant changes in any of these areas. They still have the same general personalities and dispositions, and we later learn they still have the same talents and abilities as before.
The only real differences I can find are a) their cutie marks, and b) their jobs, neither of which I've ever seen as particularly indicative of who a person or pony is. A cutie mark is linked to talent, and their talents haven't changes. As for their jobs, well, that seems like an odd definition coming from a children's show. To paraphrase "Stardust," there are shop boys, and there are boys who happen to work in shops; there are weather ponies and ponies that happen to manage weather; there are fashion designers (Rarity), and there are ponies who happen to work in clothing stores (AJ) or sew (Fluttershy, "Suited for Success," and everyone in "Rarity Takes Manehattan").
I really am at a loss, so I'm asking for your input. What do you think?
I really subscribed to the viewpoint spread by Digibrony and Tommy Oliver and others, re: the slightly counter-intuitive definition of "destiny", and these lines about "true self" really support it directly. Rarity is destined to be a fashionista. That is not because Celestia came in and said "hey, here's a tramp stamp, now go make dresses, like it or not." The cutie mark did not set her fate in stone; I don't mean "destiny" as an antonym for "free will". Rather, she created her own destiny. She toiled away with sewing for years as a filly, had that fateful encounter with bedazzling a pageant's costumes and wowing her audience and eureka! This! This is where she belongs, what she is meant to do. She can feel it deep within her soul. It's an experience that some humans are lucky enough to experience, but for a pony, it is literally a magical experience. Not only is it guaranteed to happen in adolescence, but the universe goes so far as to emblazon a symbol onto them in that moment. "Yep," replies the universe. "You think you're supposed to do X, and I can tell you that you're absolutely right. Congratulations."
Thought experiment. Let's hop over to Rainbow Dash. We know that, in the canon universe, she is meant to earn a cutie mark related to speed, earned by performing a Sonic freaking Rainboom in the middle of a race. Consider a grimdark alternate universe where, as a filly, Dashie loses the usage of her wings. If her "destiny" was speed in canon, does that mean that poor wingless Dashie will be doomed to be a blank flank? I content "no"; that's not what's meant by destiny. Rainbow Dash is not so one-dimensional as to only care about flight. Perhaps she would earn a cutie mark about non-flying speed thrills (a la Scoots), or a cutie mark about being a Wonderbolts superfan, or hell maybe she'd discover reading at an earlier age and get a horseword-writing cutie mark. Her destiny would be borne from her experiences and passions, and it's those experiences and passions that would shape the rest of her life. The cutie mark is just a magically-bestowed commemoration, and magic "somehow" knows that "i want to make everypony smile!" is an appropriate eureka whereas "i really want Mexican for lunch" is not.
That is what Twilight meant by "true self". If she had only tempered with memories, they'd be confused into doing the wrong jobs but it would all be an illusion, and the cutie marks would not be fooled. If only the cutie marks had been swapped... it's just a cosmetic thing. The mark has no latent magical powers. Universal forces would likely prevent such a ruse, as Twilight demonstrated on Apple Bloom in Call of the Cutie. No, what really happened is, akin to a time travel spell, she swapped the experiences and passions of her friends from as early as they could remember. Applejack wanted to make dresses, and had gem cutie marks, because more likely than not she had a similar pageant in her youth. It's all she's ever known and wanted. So, Twilight effectively altered the past, and she knows first-hoof that time travel spells cannot be used to alter the past, and even the magic of cutie marks--some sort of cosmic truth, like the laws of thermodynamics--had been fooled by the spell. That (and a 22min runtime) is why she considered such a monumental screw-up to be beyond repair.
So you ask,"Okay, why did everypony suck at their jobs, then?" After all, if the spell had been perfect, there should be no ill consequences. Applejack would be committed to her childhood passion for fashion, and in S4 we'd get "Applejack Takes Manehatten." But, Starswirl's spell was noted to be incomplete. While the potent wizard's spell was powerful enough (when combined with the Elements) to fool even the universal magic of cutie marks, there was likely this subtle unease that something just wasn't cosmically right. This is what I've wanted to do since I was a filly, I even have a cutie mark confirming that this is right, but... I just have this inexplicable sensation that I'm wearing somepony else's skin. (Between the 22min runtime and the target demo, the writers couldn't afford to go subtle on the unease. So it gets exaggerated to make a point about the unease of the Mane Five, and to drive home the point that Twilight really messed up huge. There's no way that the ponies would literally be on the verge of bankruptcy for jobs pertaining directly to their cutie marks. That's just not how Equestria works.) But it's what my cutie mark is telling me. Years ago I had a eureka, and my cutie mark appeared, so... yeah. It has to be right.
The Cutie Mark, at least as I see it, don't necessarily relate to a specific job or task, but more to a general range or talents and abilities in which that particular pony excels. They also seem open for interpretation.
For instance, Rarity's mark is a trio of gems, which could easily be considered something more akin to mining, but instead seem to be related to beauty, and finding it in all its forms. Applejack, in turn, has three apples, that seem to be less related to farming than it is to her family. Notice that the things they do poorly in MMC aren't really related to their new marks, but instead to abilities the others had regardless of their marks.
For proof of this, notice how they get back their cutie marks by doing the tasks in place of her friends, that in turn re-attune them to their element, and only then they replace their marks.
By the way, one interesting concept for a story I heard once was for the Mane 6 to keep living with their new marks, applying their existing abilities to their new talents. Would be an interesting thing to explore at least.
1702873 I'm so glad someone's been keeping up with Digi and Tommy. Thanks for your comment. It actually answers a lot of questions I've been trying to answer.