What Makes You Special! · 4:48pm Oct 21st, 2015
art by RockingScorpion
Warning: super video heavy blog! 
I'll admit, I've gotten wrapped up in a number of other projects and fun activities with friends, and so I haven't watched all the new episodes since My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic came off of hiatus. But there is one episode -- one amazing, heartwarming, EPIC episode -- that I have seen again and again.
And the music was awesome!
I could listen to that music all day. The episode was perfect -- the kind of episode that evokes liquid pride and leaves you feeling happy for hours. The incredible development, and the turn it means for the show, make me eager to see what comes next.
"Every blank flank needs our help!"
art by NCMares
Back in May, I wrote a blog giving my thoughts on the first six episodes of this season. If you would like, once I have watched the other new episodes, I can give my thoughts on the post-hiatus batch. But there is no way I could hold back expressing how much I loved "Crusaders of the Lost Mark"!
One of the best, if not the best, episode in the whole show. I simply cannot gush enough over how beautiful this episode was. And if you've seen it, you don't need me to tell you why. And, considering the episode came out weeks ago, I doubt there is anything I could add that you haven't already heard.
After watching the episode for the first time, I yearned for more of it. So while working on other projects, I found myself watching reaction videos for the episode (starting with the one below by Strategic Jordan, whose YouTube channel first came to my attention when he started a highly-enjoyable "blind reaction" Let's Read series on Fallout: Equestria).
He warns when he posted this blind reaction video "I feel you all should know I freak the FUCK OUT!" We all did, Jordan. Even if only internally. 
You simply cannot overstate the importance in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic of learning and embracing that which makes you special, whether it be your talent or your virtue. That better part of you that allows you to rise above and be the better person. It is the very core of this show, and it is what drew me to it from the start. It was the foundation of my magnum opus, and serves as a reminder to myself in daily life: we can be better. Seeing that the true talents of the Cutie Mark Crusades is helping others, and that their epiphany came when they abandoned their self-focus to focus on aiding those around them, drove home and reaffirmed these themes in the most gorgeous way. This episode was an anthem for the series.
"I see the light that shines in me. I know that I can be my better self."
~Diamond Tiara
art by Sirzi
In tangential news, Bethesda Softworks just released the final video in their S.P.E.C.I.A.L. series: Luck! So now, as promised previously, here are all seven videos in order. Enjoy revisiting what makes you S.P.E.C.I.A.L.
Strength
Perception
Endurance
Charisma
Intelligence
Agility
Luck
Now i just really hope that cutie mark crusaders won't get the cutie map treatment. I much rather they will have to figure out how to not only help ponies but find ponies who need help, then them getting sent around on destiny defined missions.
So much fun stuff. It may have felt a bit rushed, But I really liked the show went about the filly's getting their cutie-mark. The show was more of a lesion for parents, then it was for little girls, mostly telling them to not raise a spoiled brat, but also because it makes the kid unhappy to be a spoiled brat.
That episode still gets me, I think it is my all time favorite. Mostly for the reasons you have pointed out but also for some personal reasons.
It is interesting how the topic of 'what makes you special' fits in two ways here. Possibly more if someone is a deep thinker.
It's pretty emotionally satisfying to see them finally succeed :D
I think their cutie marks are unique just because they would sell more toys then since they are more different from typical ones from being more unified. But it sort of implies they will never separate which is nice I guess. It was a good ep though.
Ohh Luck video is released, the set is complete. I wonder if they will do anything S.P.E.C.I.A.L. for October 23rd..
I had the most wide eyed expression at Crusaders of the Lost Mark's end.
The designs of the CMC's cutie marks have a lot of meaning packed into those little symbols. A large part of what makes the Crusaders Special is each other, and the bonds they share that grew as they quested together. This is of course represented by the fact that the shields bear three colors, corresponding to the CMC's manes. The shields themselves show that Cutie Mark Crusaders is as much a part of who they are as anything else, as their questing for their own marks has given them unrivaled insight into what cutie marks represent, and what it means to discover them. However, the emblems on those shields still differentiate the CMC by showing the talents and/or values that are unique to them. For Apple Bloom, the apple and the heart represent the hard work and integrity the Apple family is known for, and the love she has for her family. Apple Bloom can do anything, from brewing potions to fixing up a clubhouse, if she puts her mind to it. For Sweetie Belle, we've known since The Show Stoppers that she has a lovely singing voice, and that she idolizes her big sister Rarity. Sweetie Belle is a creative thinker, and often prone to inspiration, for good or ill among her friends. The music note is obvious, but the star represents this other quality: inspiration, both for herself, and to others (and of course, music itself does much to inspire people on its own). Lastly, Scootaloo's cutie mark is a wing and a lightning bolt. Like her idol, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo is an athlete, and the bolt on her shield represents both her own athleticism, and that of the figure most inspiring to her. The wing itself represents Scootaloo's hope. Scootaloo may never fly, but she's awesome anyways, as Rainbow Dash once told her. Still, she holds onto the hope that someday she will fly with the best of them. Together, Inspiration, Hope, and Hard Work are what define the Cutie Mark Crusaders as a group. They get inspired to try something new, hope that they will discover something about themselves, and work hard to continue bettering themselves no matter how many times they might fail. Once they realized how good it felt to use this process for the benefit of others, they truly realized who they were, and where they belong: Cutie Mark Crusaders, together forever.
thanks for the advertising my channel Kkat i hope i can keep it entertaining given how much more i still have to get thru and after, Project Horizons ...gods help me
I was so very very happy at the episode. That Liquid pride filled my eyes during that episode. No matter what age you are, this theme resounds with everypony. I am also glad to see the final of the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. episodes, and also reaffirmation that anypony, even Diamond Tiara, can change for the better. Those Cutie Mark Crusaders are awesome, and like they have been putting in place last season and earlier this season specifically, the journey for cutie marks will not end with receiving their own, but realizing that even after that, others still need help. Their Crusade continues, now with a shield with their own colors.
I loved that episode too. My favorite song out of all of them has to be "The Light of Your Cutie Mark". Reminds me of "For the First Time in Forever Reprise" from Frozen.
It is odd though. In fallout equestria a lot of people seem lost, do not know what theri cutie marks mean. In some cases, they are even declared useless.
Yet inthe show it is emphasizing what makes them important to ponies, individually and as a society, and their magic as well. There is no such thing as a useless cutie mark. But one can easily forget what it means.
If only the episode wasn't spoiled for me...
Oh well.
3487264 It's more then even that. They are also the single biggest possible exclamation point to a "YOU! ARE! WRONG!" against Starlight Glimmer's entire mindset of what 'true harmony' is.
All three of them have nearly the same cutie mark, the same overall design, the same greater mission. And yet, each of them is also still unique, still has their own personal talents as well. Bound together in friendship. All working for the same goal. True Harmony, is not many voices all singing the exact same note. It is many voices, all singing their own notes which complement the rest. That work with each other to build a music greater then any one voice alone could create.
I LOVED that episode
and I'm also glad all the s.p.e.c.i.a.l. videos are out.
3487967 You're right!
Maybe the crusaders help Starlight Glimmer find her true talent so she's not so nasty.
3487622 Sounds like the ponies of the Wasteland need the Cutie Mark Crusaders more than anyone.
3488114 sadly the cmc of your equestria did not get the marks they did here.....
that is a thoguht i have had. how you can adapt things that appear later into the fallout e universe. especially when we have something like the tree, and what would lead twilight to not become an alicorn. something of a turning point that lead to destruction. some fialure or difference.
Your door password was a little more accurate than anticipated. Now that they are literally the Cutie Mark Crusaders forever, CMC3BFF is spot on.
the ponies of ponyville are only happy because now their home/life insurance rate will go down the insurance companies well their not so happy.
I see the Mysterious Stranger perk is making a return.
It was a pretty amusing one when it wasn't being buggy.
Just got to say, I'm not really a blog reader, but when I found this I burst out laughing, given that Fallout games are known for being S.P.E.C.I.A.L. So I was initially disappointed when it turned out to be normal "special" but then it got cool again by the end. So thanks for that Kkat, you're awesome.