{{Infobox television episode | series = [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]] | image = Apple Bloom's blank flank is revealed S1E12.png | image_size = 280 | image_alt = | caption = [[Cutie Mark Crusaders#Apple Bloom|Apple Bloom]]'s [[Cutie mark|blank flank]] is revealed at Diamond Tiara's [[Quinceañera |cute-ceañera]]. | season = 1 | episode = 12 | writer = [[Meghan McCarthy]] | director = *[[Jayson Thiessen]] * [[James Wootton (animator)|James Wootton]] | music = | editor = | airdate = {{Start date|2011|01|07}} | length = 22 minutes | prev = [[Winter Wrap Up]] | next = [[Fall Weather Friends]] | season_article = My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 1 | episode_list = List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes }} "'''Call of the Cutie'''" is the twelfth episode of the [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 1|first season]] of the [[Animated series|animated television series]] ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]''. It originally aired on [[Discovery_Family#As_Hub_Network_(2010–2014)|The Hub]] on January 7, 2011. The episode was written by [[Meghan McCarthy]]. In this episode, [[Cutie Mark Crusaders#Apple Bloom|Apple Bloom]] becomes worried about not having her [[cutie mark]] and attempts to gain one by any means necessary before Diamond Tiara's [[Quinceañera |cute-ceañera]].
== Plot == {{External media |headerimage=[[File:YouTube 2024.svg|alt=YouTube logo|x20px|center]] |video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69q78WoBGUs Call of the Cutie (full episode)] — Official upload of the episode onto [[YouTube]] | float= left| }} {{My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic sidebar}} In the Ponyville Schoolhouse, [[List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic characters#Cheerilee|Cheerilee]] teaches young ponies about [[cutie mark]]s, and Diamond Tiara uses the lesson as an opportunity to embarrass [[Cutie Mark Crusaders#Apple Bloom|Apple Bloom]] for not yet having one. After class, Diamond Tiara invites Apple Bloom and Twist to her [[Quinceañera |cute-ceañera]] while she and Silver Spoon tease them for being "blank flanks." At Sweet Apple Acres, [[Applejack (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic)|Applejack]] reassures Apple Bloom that every pony gets a cutie mark eventually and points out that their family tends to be late bloomers, which leads Apple Bloom to conclude her talent must be related to apples. However, when her overzealous sales tactics at the market cause more harm than good, she becomes even more frustrated and discovers that Twist has just received her cutie mark for making sweets.
Determined to get her cutie mark before the party, Apple Bloom seeks help from various ponies around town. [[Rainbow Dash]] coaches her in numerous activities including [[juggling]], [[hang-gliding]], [[karate]], and [[roller derby]], but none succeed in getting her a cutie mark. At Sugarcube Corner, [[Pinkie Pie]] suggests Apple Bloom might be good at making [[cupcake]]s, but despite an upbeat song ("Cupcake Song") and multiple attempts, each batch ends up burned and Apple Bloom grows increasingly discouraged. Apple Bloom desperately begs [[Twilight Sparkle]] to use magic to make a cutie mark appear, but the conjured magical marks quickly disappear and Twilight explains that not even magic can force a cutie mark to manifest.
Apple Bloom decides not to attend the party due to her continued blank flank, only to discover that Diamond Tiara's cute-ceañera is taking place at Sugarcube Corner where she already stands. She tries to leave unnoticed but bumps into Applejack, who pushes her in front of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, forcing Apple Bloom to cover herself with a tablecloth and claim she got her cutie mark but doesn't want to outshine the birthday pony. When she stumbles and exposes her blank flank to all the party guests, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon mock her publicly.
[[Cutie Mark Crusaders#Scootaloo|Scootaloo]] and [[Cutie Mark Crusaders#Sweetie Belle|Sweetie Belle]] emerge from under a table to defend Apple Bloom and reveal their own blank flanks, arguing that having no cutie mark shows potential rather than lack of talent since it means she could become anything from a great [[scientist]] to the [[mayor]] of Ponyville someday. The three fillies receive supportive comments from Twilight and Applejack and become surrounded by excited party attendees, which aggravates Diamond Tiara enough to make her storm off. The three cutie mark-less fillies introduce themselves and form a club dedicated to earning their cutie marks, eventually settling on the name "[[Cutie Mark Crusaders]]".
== Reception == Sherilyn Connelly, the author of ''Ponyville Confidential'', gave the episode a "B" rating.<ref>{{harvp|Connelly|2017|p=77}}</ref> In her review of the episode in ''[[SF Weekly]]'', she commented on the trio's mission to gain their cutie mark: "As [[crusades]] go, it's healthier than most."<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416140513/http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2012/03/my_little_pony_recap_season_1_episodes_11_12.php|url=http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2012/04/my_little_pony_recap_season_1_episodes_19_20.php|first=Sherilyn|last=Connelly|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-04-16|date=2012-04-11|title=My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Season 1, Episodes 11 and 12|website=[[SF Weekly]]}}</ref>
In a critical analysis of the episode, author Jen A. Blue described "Call of the Cutie" as "very nearly as good" as writer [[Meghan McCarthy]]'s first episode ("[[Dragonshy]]"), while identifying the introduction of the Cutie Mark Crusaders as representing both the show's target audience of young girls and the [[brony fandom|adult brony fanbase]] seeking to establish their identities. Blue wrote that the Crusaders function as "the audience" because they are "[[geek]]s among geeks" who are "[[bullying|picked on and disliked by their peers]]". She analyzed Apple Bloom's character as existing "in a tension between old and new, between the desire to grow up and establish her identity, and the desire to stay a child and retreat to the comfort of family," with this conflict [[Externalization (psychology)|externalized]] through her advisors Applejack and Rainbow Dash. According to Blue, Applejack represents the comfort of taking time to discover one's cutie mark naturally, while Rainbow Dash pushes Apple Bloom to try new things quickly, and that Twilight Sparkle's suggestion for the Crusaders to "revel in their potential" rather than obsess over their path is "a reminder that we hold our destinies in our own hands," which she called a vital lesson of the episode. Blue connected the episode to the show's future direction; the conflict between Applejack and Rainbow Dash represents the show's own search for its identity between traditional ''[[My Little Pony]]'' values and contemporary animated programming.<ref name="Blue-S1">{{cite book |last=Blue |first=Jen A. |title=My Little Po-Mo: Unauthorized Critical Essays on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season One|pages=127-150|date=2013-08-31 |chapter=Everything is going to be just fine (Winter Wrap-Up, Call of the Cutie, Fall Weather Friends, Suited for Success)}}</ref>
Tara Rittler of ''TulsaKids'' praised the episode's moral lessons, describing them as relatable to both children and adults. She wrote that "Call of the Cutie" offers valuable guidance about being patient when uncertain about one's life direction and not stressing when you don't know what you're supposed to do with your life—a feeling she described as being "all too familiar with."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tulsakids.com/cupcakes-for-pinkie-pie/|title=Cupcakes for Pinkie Pie: Lessons learned from Season One of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic|first=Tara|last=Rittler|access-date=2025-06-01|date=2017-12-19|website=TulsaKids}}</ref>
Feminist author Melanie Hurley analyzed the role of cutie marks in "Call of the Cutie" as symbols for female [[body positivity]] and bodily development ([[puberty]]). Hurley wrote that the episode creates "a positive narrative around puberty, shifting the conversation around the female body from one of menstrual shame to one of the acceptance of nature." She wrote that the acquisition of cutie marks is a [[metaphor]] for [[menarche]]: ponies treat receiving their cutie mark as a major life milestone, the characters discussing cutie marks in the episode are predominantly female, and Diamond Tiara's [[Quinceañera |cute-ceañera]] explicitly frames cutie mark acquisition as a [[rite of passage]]. Hurley commented that this coding allows the show to present bodily changes as something to look forward to instead of something to be ashamed of.<ref name="Hurley-2023">{{cite book |last=Hurley |first=Melanie |chapter=Jem, She-Ra, and My Little Pony Combating Misogyny, Homophobia, and Racism in Girl-Centered Reboots |editor-last=Laist |editor-first=Randy |title=The '80s Resurrected: Essays on the Decade in Popular Culture Then and Now |publisher=McFarland |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-4766-4855-2|pages=217–231}}</ref>
== Home media == The episode is part of the Season 1 DVD set, released by [[Shout! Factory|Shout Factory]], on December 4, 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-Magic/dp/B0096W47NO|title=My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Season 1 | publisher=[[Amazon.com]]|date=2012-12-04|accessdate=2012-12-04}}</ref>
== See also == * [[List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes|List of ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' episodes]]
== References == {{reflist}}
===Bibliography=== * {{Cite book |last=Connelly |first=Sherilyn |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ponyville_Confidential/E3VPDgAAQBAJ |title=Ponyville Confidential: The History and Culture of My Little Pony, 1981-2016 |date=2017-04-01 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-6209-1 |language=en}}
== External links == * {{IMDb episode|1832713}}
{{My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes|1|state=expanded}}
[[Category:My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes]] [[Category:2011 American television episodes]] [[Category:2011 Canadian television episodes]]