I thought of this a few days ago when I was plying Resident evil Revelations. while I was playing it, I was taking note on the ways that characters were modeled and dressed, noting on things such as their personalities and why they may wear certain things.

But one particular character stood out. Jessica.
Being that many people probably did not play the game, instead of wearing bandoliers and armor, Jessica wore Ugg Boots, a Russian styled hat, had her hair down, and all sorts of things unbecoming of a commando. Now, while I could just say it was a videogame and say that she would never be qualified to kill zombies and monsters for an occupation, I instead saw how what she word and how she acted foreshadowed the fact that she was the spy.

But that is not why i'm here, because of that, I began to think of how someone that looked so unqualified for that job managed to be in that position. But as I applied that to ponies, I began to think about their cutiemarks and came up with this question, "Do ponies need to be qualified to if something is their special talent?"

First off, I hated Magical Mystery Cure because it basically said that ponies were tied to fate and destiny, something that I do not approve of. I believe that everyone should have the right to chose and be responsible for their actions. What I do when I write and make characters, I say that ponies can do whatever they want, but their talent may make certain things easier, that they have to find a way to incorporate their talent into their occupation. If not, than that would basically mean that the royal guard is full of people who went through their lives knowing that their destiny basically is to be a killer, and I find that incredibly just... -I don't even know how to describe it- stupid.

Other than that, do we need to make our characters qualified to be more believable? since im on the topic of the guard, one thing that I really despise is the fact that (in the fic that I avoid like the plague) people would make their OC's Lunar guards and leave it at that, never really proving that they are a badass or not, just hoping that by mere words we'll believe them.
Its like the opening of that flop of a movie Macgruber by Saturday Night Live, If i remember in the beginning, a guy describes Macgruber as a green beret navy seal who won the medal of honor on 3 separate occasions. Now if the movie was not a comedy, and they said that, I would lose all credibility with the show and seriously lose interest.

Anyway, back to the topic. Just because someone's talent is in a certain field, do we still have to justify and qualify their expertise or not. here's 2 scenarios,

1. Walk into a dentist's office, see the dentist has a cutie mark in flossing teeth, dentist does its job and everything is fine and dandy.

2. Walk into a dentist's office, see the dentist has a cutiemark with a whip and pink handcuffs go "WTF?" but then notice they have a degree from a dental school and everything else turns out fine and dandy.

So other than that, if we still believe that ponies are tied down only to their skills and talents, I may have figured out why the Apple is always in dire straits even though there is a high demand for their products.

As we see from the show, they have the biggest orchard in Ponyville, have high demands for their cider, jam, and other apple products, but are constantly strapped for cash.
Now, we can all agree that their penchant involves apples... but if what I've been saying is true that they cant move beyond that, then they must be terrible businessmen.
Lets just think about it, and instead of pricing what the demand for their apples are, the Apple Family instead must always charge incredibly deflated and low prices, taking any other apple farmer out of business, and practically cornering the market with their Chinese i mean Low priced goods.
Now if by some miracle they get a person who is talented in the works of business on their farm, they actually might see the light of day and prosper in their business.

If not, and ponies can do whatever they want... then the Apple Family needs to seriously cut their costs because if they still are tight for money even though they have high demands for products, then they are losing too much money somewhere else.

So, are ponies tied to what their talent is (MMC) or can they do whatever they want, and need to find a way to apply their talent to their job (free will). further, do they need any qualifications in their talents or will they be accepted because "its what they're meant to do."

I think it's something similar to real life. There isn't any fate or destiny, but there is only an illusion of free will. So somewhere in between the two extremes.

Yay headcanon time!

Okay, I am of the opinion that cutie marks and special talents guide, but do not determine, a pony's career. Examples:

Rarity's special talent is finding beauty (not finding rocks, unless they are pretty rocks) Therefore, she goes into the fashion business. But, she could have been a modeling agent, photographer, or fashion critic/writer/journalist or whatever. Except the she also has a talent for (or at least learned skill of) sewing, so she became a dressmaker.

I like your idea that none of the Apple family has a talent for (or training in) business. It explains a lot.

Also note: Rainbow Dash is head weatherpony for Ponyville. Her special talent is breaking the sound barrier; these two things are barely related. My headcanon (influenced by TheLastBrunnenG) is that Dash is also the equivalent of a college graduate by Equestrian standards, which is actually more than most ponies get, which is how she got a government management job. (Note that this degree, and the government hiring process, do not say anything about leadership skills, which Dash is only just learning)

Twilight's day job is librarian, not magician, Pinkie is a baker, and so on. The only Mane Six pony who does her special talent as a career is Fluttershy.

Therefore, we can assume the Equestria has some kind of education system (feel free to invent your own) that gives each pony the training they need to become productive members of society. (How good that education system is is up to each author and the needs of the story)

My own headcanon is that Equestrian schools focus on vocational training in secondary school (you go to high school to learn a specific job) with only a small percentage going to college to learn highly complex fields (like magic/physics, medicine, meteorology, etc.)

As to guardponies, I would assume some sort of boot camp, to instill discipline and proper guard technique and such. Though there is nothing in the show to suggest that the royal guard is very good at being guards...

1039978

Though there is nothing in the show to suggest that the royal guard is very good at being guards...

+1!

1039978>>1040028
of course when we apply things such as comedy we no longer can take anything seriously, but if an author is serious in what they mean then they better not just hope for a miracle that we will believe them.

I have an example of both situation where both may fate and choice may be good. (I personally believe in choice.)

I made 2 OC for a future story, Blue Ribbon and Pitch Perfect.

Blue ribbon (or just blue) is a 3 time gold winning Olympic archer. He was chosen to train special forces and blah blah blah.
But what people would remember Blue for is not the fact that he is a dead shot with a bow, but his ego. he is indeed qualified with a bow, but his personality is his outlandish ego. he has millions in endorsements, a playboy who jokes that he can use his celebrity status to hook up with almost any mare, and says that his alimony will put him in the poor house. his talent is what qualifies him. but his ego makes his character.

The other is Pitch Perfect, or just Pitch. He is plagued by OCD and cannot stand it if he cannot do something perfectly. His occupation is that he is a cellist in the Canterlot Orchestra. His talent is his perfection, and he uses it to be the best in the band.

1040211 In both cases, I would say the need to prove that the characters have certain skills is dependent on the impact those skills have on the story. If Pitch is a cellist, and he needs to impress somepony with his musical talents in order to advance the plot, then it would be necessary to set up his talent beforehand, by showing him practicing or something, and somepony commenting on how good he is (or maybe how he's technically perfect but his playing lacks feeling)

If Blue never actually picks up a bow during the story, it would probably be alright to simply state he was an archer (and won medals etc) and leave it at that. In that case the informed ability has no direct influence on the story, so it's enough to say that he's rich and/or famous now because of stuff he did before.

1039679
I usually leave it to the character to decide what his/her cutie mark means. Remember that when you're writing about a character, regardless of who it is, they're merely an extension of yourself. And you need to treat them that way. If you really feel that your character is THAT bland then what you should do is try to get in the mindset of whoever it is. Try writing something from their point of view ( Don't think, just write) and use that as a template for whether or not your character seems qualified.

1039679

Now if by some miracle they get a person who is talented in the works of business on their farm, they actually might see the light of day and prosper in their business.

That's what Aplebloom is there for.

I personally don't think is that crucial for the character to have its cutie mark represent exactly what job it has.
There are several examples of this not being determinant, and with main characters, no less.
This doesn't means that we are going to stretch it and put a pony with the talent to inflate balloons as a cybertronian psychologist.

1039679

What are you trying to tell me?

1042048well... What do you expct? Its ada. Ahe's on all sorts of drugs n shit and also is asian. Im talkin about jessica, who wears a wetsuit with half her ass hanging out of it... Did she not know that ocean water is colder than a witchs tit in a brass brazier?
Plus, as chris would say, "WEAR ALL THE THERMAL UNDERWEAR. PUMP ALL THE IRON! SAVE ALL THE GURLS! RESPECT ALL THE WOMEN!"

1042048 "TRUST ALL THE TRAITORS!"