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A random idea I had to make the cutie mark crusaders as older mares...

I'd say they're about 4 years older than the apear on the show, and in the show my head cannon puts them at 12-13, so 16 to 17 years old here..

AND WITH CUTIE MARKS!!!

Sweetie Bell:
"to sing a song...her voice is like a bell..." ~Howard Ashman.
OF COURSE she's a singer!
The bells are because she has a sweet, pure voice... like a bell, and the music note... well duh XD

Scootaloo:
She has a need for speed, and she discovered her talent in a similar way to hor RD did, but UNLIKE RD, her talent is not based in flying, but simply going fast in any way possible, including her old scooter.

Applebloom:
"One day, you'll get your applemark and start working the farm for the rest of your life, just like every member of the Apple family has for centuries"~My Little Pony: Friendship Is Witchcraft
I KNOW the show made her seemlike a designer, BUT, EVERY member of the Apple family has an applemark, so to speak, so I think it would make more sense in my brain for Applebloom to have one :3 So I gave her a Zap Apple blossom as her cutie mark, as she will take on Granny Smith's job making Zap Apple Jam. Appebloom has plenty of life ahead of her, and eventually se will begin studies on the very subtle forms of Earth pony magic, so as to better understand them. She is not an egghead like Twilight, but rather spends her life much like Granhy Smith spent hers, studying through experimentation.