>>42505904
>See Season 3 Magical Mystery Cure
Fuck no. MMC takes a shit all over what cutie marks are actually about.
Cutie marks are not your job or your hobby, they represent the 'thing' that makes you special. One can't be 'assigned' or 'branded' with a cutie mark one doesn't want because they only appear when the recipient realises that 'thing'. It is a magic that comes from WITHIN, when a pony makes that discovery about themselves. About who they want to be, what is important to them. It's more abstract than just liking painting a lot, so you get an Easel cutie mark.
There can be no outgrowing a mark either. The equivilant would be someone having a mental breakdown and changing into a completelty different person. In regards to reinvention: if you knew deep down in your heart what makes you special, why would you want to just go and 'reinvent' yourself?
And yes, I recognise most the shit above is kind of contradicted by the cutie marks earned on screen. Twilight didn't even know it was there until Celestia pointed it out, for example. But whatever, sonic rainboom magic fucking with shit I guess. There's that crap with Troubleshoes (and I suppose part of the CMC's schitick after their own CMs), too. Not 'understanding his mark' or some bullshit. Rubs me the wrong way.
>that personal growth, reinvention, or even failure aren't part of the picture
I don't understand where you're getting this from. The whole point of the show is learing friendship lessons. Ponies fail, grow, and change all the time.