The Fault in Our Cutie Marks

The Fault in Our Cutie Marks is the nineteenth episode of season six of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the one hundred and thirty-sixth overall. The title is a reference to the John Green novel The Fault in Our Stars.
In this episode, a young griffon named Gabby asks the Cutie Mark Crusaders to help her get her own cutie mark.
==Production==
In production order, this is season six episode nine. Jim Miller stated on Twitter that the episode "was moved to later" "in the season" for the reason(s) of making "sure" to have "some CMCs in the second half of the season."
Similarly to Putting Your Hoof Down, this episode was first listed by IMDb, whose The Saddle Row Review listing was "Fault in Our Cutie Marks" and which, similarly to with Flutter Brutter and with Applejack's "Day" Off, credited David Stuart as the voice of "Father Pony", both months before the episode would be announced. Archived. Archived.
Information about the episode was first revealed during a closed-door press event at the 2016 Hasbro Toy Fair.
This episode was to be included in the Shout! Factory DVD My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Soarin' Over Equestria but was replaced with On Your Marks. Archived locally.
The episode (dubbed in Polish) aired in Poland on September 7, 2016, three days prior to its airing on Discovery Family, and also aired in Italy (dubbed in Italian) on September 8.
Bluenote was designed by Charmaine Verhagen.
==Summary==
===Prologue===
 The episode opens with the Cutie Mark Crusaders visiting a mother and father in Ponyville. While Scootaloo keeps the filly Petunia Paleo busy in the backyard sandbox, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle speak with her parents, who are concerned about the "unsettling nature" of their daughter's new cutie mark: a skull and two bones.
After Scootaloo helps Petunia unearth a dinosaur skeleton in the sandbox, Petunia's parents are relieved that their daughter is an archaeologist and not a pirate as they had initially feared.
===A cutie mark conundrum===
Later that day, the Crusaders make their way through Ponyville, proud of the many cutie mark problems they have helped other ponies with, such as Bluenote, Bulk Biceps, and Tender Taps. On their way to their clubhouse, Sweetie Belle wonders if they will ever encounter an unsolvable problem when Apple Bloom spots a griffon perched atop the clubhouse. The fillies are alarmed since griffons are usually unfriendly and short-tempered. But when the griffon sees them, she greets them with a big, enthusiastic hug.
 The griffon introduces herself as Gabriella—or Gabby for short. Having heard about the Crusaders solving cutie mark problems around Ponyville, she says she has been searching for them in order to get a cutie mark of her very own.
Inside the clubhouse, Gabby explains to the Crusaders that she has always felt out of place among the more antisocial griffons while working as a mail courier in Griffonstone. When Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash visited Griffonstone, Gabby observed them teaching Gilda about friendship and was convinced that their cutie marks were related to their desire to help others. So when Gilda needed a letter delivered to Rainbow Dash in Ponyville, Gabby jumped at the opportunity. She met with several ponies around town that the Crusaders helped and sought the fillies out so they could help her find her true purpose in life and get her own cutie mark.
 The Crusaders are at a loss as they have never heard of a griffon getting a cutie mark, but Gabby remains optimistic. While she goes to deliver Gilda's letter to Rainbow Dash, the Crusaders consult Twilight Sparkle at the Castle of Friendship for advice. However, not even Twilight has any knowledge of creatures other than ponies who can get cutie marks, and she reminds the fillies that using magic to make a cutie mark appear is never a good idea.
===Find the Purpose in Your Life===
The Crusaders decide to tell Gabby that, while it is unlikely she will ever get a cutie mark, they can still help her find her purpose in life. Unfortunately, Gabby misinterprets them to mean that getting a cutie mark is guaranteed and becomes more ecstatic than ever. Even after the Crusaders explain to her what Twilight told them, Gabby maintains that it is not impossible.
 Scootaloo sympathizes with Gabby because of her own difficulties of achieving flight and promises to help her realize her dream of getting a cutie mark, much to Gabby's delight. Using a chart to map out various possibilities for Gabby's purpose, the Crusaders lead her in song as she seeks out other ponies struggling with their own problems.
Gabby demonstrates great aptitude for a variety of activities, but her cutie mark shows no signs of appearing. The Crusaders come to realize that Gabby is good at so many things, singling out her special talent is truly impossible. When they tell Gabby the harsh reality that they she will never get a cutie mark, she flies off in tearful denial.
===Gabby makes her mark===
 As the Crusaders wallow in their first failure at solving a cutie mark problem, Gabby bursts into the clubhouse and reveals that she earned her cutie mark after all. She shows off her cauldron cutie mark and reasons that, since helping Zecora brew potions was the first thing she tried, that must be her special talent. The Crusaders are elated and decide to tell Twilight the good news. However, Gabby suddenly becomes nervous at this suggestion and promises to meet the Crusaders at Twilight's castle after delivering Rainbow Dash's reply letter to Gilda.
The Crusaders go to the castle to inform Twilight about Gabby's cutie mark, but Twilight tells them that Gabby left them a note before quickly departing. As the Crusaders read Gabby's note aloud, in which she thanks the fillies for helping her earn a cutie mark, Twilight excitedly drops everything to research the first cutie marked griffon in history. Realizing that Gabby broke her promise, the Crusaders become suspicious and go to find her.
 The three find Gabby helping Dr. Hooves get his cart out of a mud puddle. When she trips and falls in the mud, her cutie mark is revealed to be fake. Gabby apologizes for lying about getting her cutie mark and admits that she did so to cheer up the Crusaders after they failed to help her. Before she leaves for Griffonstone in shame, Scootaloo gets an idea and tells her to meet them at the clubhouse.
===The first griffon Crusader===
Later at the clubhouse, Gabby wonders that since she cannot get a cutie mark, she may not have a purpose in life. However, the Crusaders tell her that she does have a talent for helping others in need, even the Crusaders themselves. Gabby says that helping others is just something that she enjoys, and the fillies tell her what makes her talent special is what she enjoys doing most, which she doesn't need a cutie mark for.
 In recognition of her talent, the Crusaders give her a makeshift cutie mark in the form of two mailbag clips modeled after their own marks. With this, they welcome Gabby as the first griffon member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Some time later, all of Ponyville throws Gabby a cute-ceañera to celebrate her cutie mark. Immensely grateful to the Crusaders for their help, Gabby promises to share what they taught her with the rest of Griffonstone, and the Crusaders tell her to come back soon.
==Quotes==
:Mrs. Paleo and Mr. Paleo: Oh! [chuckles] She's an archaeologist.
:Scootaloo: Of course! What'd you think she was gonna be, a pirate?
:[beat]
:Mrs. Paleo: Pirate? Pfft! Why would we think that?
:Mrs. Paleo and Mr. Paleo: [laughing nervously]
:Gabby: The Cutie Mark Crusaders! I can't believe it's really, really you!
:Scootaloo: We are kinda awesome and all, but nopony can just give you a cutie mark. It just sort of... happens.
:Sweetie Belle: Though I'm pretty sure it doesn't happen to griffons. Or if it does, we've never ever heard of it.
:Gabby: Oh. I hadn't thought of that. Sounds like a challenge!
:Sweetie Belle: Say, is there some kind of spell you can whip up to make her mark appear?
:Twilight Sparkle: Um, I don't know if any of you remember, but using magic to get a cutie mark never really works out all that well.
:Cutie Mark Crusaders: Ohhh. Right.
:Apple Bloom: Why in tarnation would you promise somethin' that just can't be done?
:Scootaloo: I know what it's like to want something that's out of reach. And just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it can't. Maybe trying for the impossible isn't so bad.
:Scootaloo: Gabby, we can't help you.
:Gabby: But, but... you're the world-famous Cutie Mark Crusaders! I can't believe it! I... I... I won't believe it!
:Twilight Sparkle: You actually got a griffon a cutie mark for the first time in recorded history?! You know what this calls for? A full-scale research project!
:Scootaloo: Gabby, finding your special purpose doesn't have to be about being good at something. It's about feeling good about something inside.
:Apple Bloom: And it looks like your destiny is a whole lot like ours – helping others. And you don't need a symbol on your flank to know that.
:Scootaloo: Gabby, today we dub thee...
:Cutie Mark Crusaders: The very first griffon member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!
:Scootaloo: Crusaders forever?
:Gabby: Crusaders forever!
==Gallery==
==References==
de:Ein Greif mit Schönheitsfleck
es:Bajo la Misma Cutie Mark
id:The Fault in Our Cutie Marks
pl:Znaczków naszych wina
Category:Cutie Mark Crusaders-centered works