Warpony 40k Headcannons : Cutie Marks

If you've been attentive, you've seen that I've never even once mentioned cutie marks. Since half the ponies wear armours, it could have just been plain laziness on my part, but it's actually a choice.

So let met explain why there is no cutie mark in The Mare in the Warp, Battle Report and probably most of my future Warpony 40K writings.

Cutie Marks serve a few roles in the show :
For the spectator, it helps us ponies and give us clues about their strong points and affinities. Also it justifies selling 12 iteration of the same, colour swapped pony to the fans.
Inside the show it gives them a sense of purpose and a role in the community they live in. Diamond Tiara is a pretty good example. She's a natural born "leader" (in the sense that she can make anyone do anything she want if she puts her mind into it). Used right, this power helps the whole group getting things done. Using selfishly, for instance to deal with a mother induced inferiority complex, it's the ultimate bullying tool.

It's fine for a show that feature dozens, maybe a couple hundreds of ponies. What happen when the setting consider billions upon billions of them? When nopony care about what those untold masses want or strive to achieve? Where your place in society is pretty much decided by the planet you live in and the requirements of your government? Where wars are a constant threat? Well I decided that passing a certain point, the whole Cutie Marks system broke down. 99.99% of ponies never get their Cutie Marks because they never have the chance to express the full extent of their individuality, and several thousands of years of oppressive regime, for their sake and the sake of the Imperium, utterly broke it.

So what remains of C.M. in my Warpony setting? Glad you asked, imaginary curious reader.

At this point of the story, Cutie Marks are relics of the past. They've almost all disappeared. The most likely case is that Cutie Marks are used as a symbol of nobility. Some planets surgically remove the organs responsible for their apparition, for instance, planets under the influence of the Marechamicum. Other planets seek bearers, and train them to make efficient use of their capability; the process is however considered costly and is mainly used in military-focused planets where capable generals are prized. For Horsetartes and the Equustodes, it's more or less the opposite which happens. Upon receiving the progenoid glands, the Neophytes develop the same mark as the previous owner, perpetuating their legacy. In some rare cases (more common nowadays, due to loss of material and technologies), the Cutie Mark devolve, becoming a simpler version. In some rarer cases, the Cutie Mark change completely. Most chapter accept this, some welcome the change, some are so keen on purity that they'd consider this a failure.

So TL;DR?
There are almost no Cutie Mark in The Mare in the Warp and those who bear them are likely very noteworthy individuals, rebels or nobles.