The timing of them getting their marks is almost down to the minute five years EXACT from when they very first appeared huddled together in fear.  
Well played, Hasbro. Well played, good Sirs.

@Background Pony #40D2  
I would think a lot of people agree with you my self included.

@KinkyCelestia  
Finally someone who agrees with me

And they turned out horrible

@Lizuka  
So many events in so little time.

@NXD6580  
Only two Galas we’ve seen, but I have a hard time believing it’s really only been one year. The timeline just seems really sketchy for that in places.
 
Plus, not to put too fine a point on it being spoilery and all, but some parts of Scare Master make it sound like they have a Nightmare Night tradition and… Rather hard for that to be the case if the group’s only been together one year and didn’t partake in said tradition in the previous Nightmare Night episode.

Ehhh, too bad the cutie marks are shit. They clash with their entire character design.

So far there was only 2 galas so to them it was 1 year

Ahem
 
Five years in the MARKING!

and now a new crusade begins

@Fwelin  
Agreed, songs are spectacular for plot compression. They let you leap across time without it seeming disjointed or forced (montage!), and lyrics let you get a point across so much faster than dialog does.

♪The dream came true yes the dream came true♪

@crazylee  
Except that musical episodes let you fit in MORE plot, not less. Songs are incredible at giving lots of exposition in a short amount of time. For example, take True True Friend. In a 3-4 (IIRC) minute song, it handled the events that without a song, would have taken probably 10 minutes at least, with them going to each of the four remaining ponies, seeing their problem, showing them how to do it, and then having their realization and getting their old cutie mark back.
 
We wouldn’t have learned any more from a 10 minute non-song version, either, since it’s just them doing the same process four times in a row with new characters.
 
The same goes for many of the other songs, in MMC, PP, and this episode.

@G.S.  

 
Yes.  
I’m not sure what other episode you’re referencing but I remember this same problem, even worse, with the episode where Twilight got her wings. 90% songs, 10% plot.

@nascarfan160  
Amen to that ❤️

Though, the payoff itself was nice. Congrats, fillies; you’ve absolutely earned your cutie marks and I’m happy to see you finally get them. :)

I really think they should stop making episodes with large status quo changes into musical episodes. All of those songs shear off time for actual plot, thus removing much of the opportunity for build-up and cheapening the payoff.
 
They made this same mistake with MMC. Come on, writers, seriously. You can do better than that.

Thanks Corey Toomey!!

@Atomic  
Nearly 5 years, and that gif is still weird.

A 5 year build up with a lot of hype, but honestly not much satisfaction. They could of handled this better.

FIVE YEARS IN THE MAKING
 

A lot has changed these last five years.

Even though I haven’t watched the episode yet (then again, I only watched (in order) the first minutes, Castle Mane-ia, two parts of FiM, and The Ticket Master), YAY FOR THE 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF MLP:FiM AND CMC GETTING THEIR CUTIE MARKS!!!

Quite undoubtedly one of the best days in the history of this fandom. I’m so glad I decided to watch the episode live today. I had wanted to do something to celebrate the fifth anniversary other than rewatching some of the original episodes.
 
While the episode was pretty good itself (I’ve been waiting forever for Silver Spoon to finally turn against DT), there is nothing that could have prepared any of us for the end.
 
What a wonderful five years it has been. Here’s to many more.

5 MORE YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!