I am personally delighted that I have just written over 800 words analyzing how My Little Ponies might fly. It makes me feel warm inside.
I really liked your analysis on the idea of magic being a trait inherent to all pony species within this particular universe. The pegasus ponies most certainly have innate abilities, magical or otherwise, which allows for them to freely manipulate the natural world to a fantastic degree.
So we all know there are three kinds of pony specie, and both the unicorn and the pegasi are known to have some form of ability. Unicorns are able to freely manipulate magical energies for the purposes of every day tasks, and are known to specialise in particular skillsets. Pegasi pony abilites, while granting them certain advantages over unicorns, are inflexible, cannot be altered by their own free will. Their abilites to walk on vapor and cloud as well as to build with them, is as natural to them as humans have fingers. Yet, they never see themselves as wielding any particular forms of magic, they see themselves as what they are.
Earth ponies have so far displayed the least apptitude for magical or paranormal manipulations. Pinkie Pie is what i would consider an anomaly for the momment, and not truly indicative of Earth Ponies in a general case of speaking. However, the ideas of curses and hexes seem to be of such widespread knowledge that i wonder if all ponies, and even other forms of creatures, like Zercora, could create concoctions with magical properties, like alchemists. That would suggest the distribution of magical essences into the natural world at large, and may not simply be related to ponydom.
Yet, it is a fact nonetheless, that pinkie pie was displaying forms of precognition. Is she simply a receiver, getting cues from her particular sense to paranormal or magical means from the environment which enables her precognitive abilities. Or is this power within her and generated by herself? This question should be put forth towards unicorns as well-are their horns simply tools which allows them greater manipulation of external magical forces in the environments, their talents basically ONLY aiding certain types of magics they wish to express. Or are their talents part of an inner reserve of generated magical energy exclusive to each individual unicorn ponies.
-This puts pegasi ponies in a unique position. Their abilities are certainly in born and a part of them they cannot control, making them the only known pony type to have an innate magical ability at all. As CaptainBooshi has mentioned, i feel the way they express this innate magical ability is simply in their powers of flight, and how well certain individuals make use of these innate powers makes them better at it. The Sonic Rainboom is a representation of the mastery a pony can achieve over his or her magical abilities, and is clearly a part of themselves; unlike unicorn ponies who have to learn from a book and study rigorously before they can make use of magical powers.
Unicorn ponies however, seem to have another unique way to wield magic. They seem to require certain belief in themselves, as well as the social belief and bonds of others placed upon them, to determine their magical ability. I was recently replaying Okami, and it was mentioned how, as a goddess, your powers are inherently tied and determined, by the amount of people who who worship and love you. This seems extremely simillar to the case in Equestria, and would also explain the god like powers Celestia holds, due to all of Equestria holding her in reverence. It also would explain why Celestia needed Twilight to go out and 'Make Friends'', it could be just another way to deepen the social interactions and bonds you could form with others, and thus, help augment your magical abilites.
One good example is Twilight Sparkle: Her magical abilities were definitely not of the highest quality when she first reach ponyville, in fact, she demonstrated how unwieldy her teleportation was when she burned Spike under durress. Contrast her abilities in the episode where she fought off the Ursa Minor-by then she had formed a close knit friendship with the main cast, established a social connection and familiarity to the ponyville community, and it is explicitly mentioned in the pilot episodes that the Spark which activated the Elements of Harmony was her enlightenment at how close knit she had become with her new friends.
*Im almost suspicious of what this Spark is-why did Celestia keep Twilight all her life as her student and NEVER mentioned her to go out and make friends, and only so happened to do so the day before Nighmare Moon's return. Why would a unicorn like Rarity, who has firm beliefs and confidence of herself and is part of a close knit group of friends, not be the so called special one to give the "Spark", why not ANY other normal unicorn? It was as if keeping Twilight away from friendship up till the return of Nightmare moon was a ploy, like incubating, and this enlightenment of Friendship, coupled with her innate talent of Magic, allowed her to gain tremendous abilities and potential. Not to mention that she was sent to ponyville where the 5 ponies needed with the right embodiments of each Element all somehow exist together.
A counterpoint would be Trixie. Trixie seems to be a unicorn whose magic talent comes from her innate talent towards magical tricks and illusions, as well as her firm belief and confidence at her own shows and acts. We could even call trixie a second rate Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn who developed her magic abilities in lieu with a talent directly related to magical expression, yet because of her lack of belief in others and the community in general, as well as her having no friends (from what we know), her magic growth and expression were stunted and capped at a particular point. She thus could not pass a barrier set by herself, and from the whole message of the series thusfar, opening herself up to a community abd friendship may help augment and further increase her magical potential.
We could even say how Rainbow Dash could not get pass her own barrier placed upon her innate pegasi magics until it really mattered: the life of a friend at stake. Her being the bearer of the Element of Loyalty also seem to further the point. In fact, fluttershy and Rarity both wield their magical skills and expressions at very high levels when certain situations placed their particular elements at stake. Rarity, in her stunning use of telekinesis and stage display when she insisted on making dresses for all her friends and thus having her Element of Generosity tested, and Fluttershy, whose Element of Kindness was tested in the dragon episode and cockatric episode, where one sees her pushing her Death Glare and animal whisperer abilites to the what seems to be the upper limit. All of them were cases related to the close friendships they had formed with each other, and all wielded and pushed the upper limits of their abilities when friends were at stake
I really liked your analysis on the idea of magic being a trait inherent to all pony species within this particular universe. The pegasus ponies most certainly have innate abilities, magical or otherwise, which allows for them to freely manipulate the natural world to a fantastic degree.
Yeah, agreed re. pegasi having magic.
Yet, it is a fact nonetheless, that pinkie pie was displaying forms of precognition.
No, it is not a fact. Within the context of the show, I think there are much better explanations for the events of that episode than Precog Pinkie.
-This puts pegasi ponies in a unique position. Their abilities are certainly in born and a part of them they cannot control, making them the only known pony type to have an innate magical ability at all. As CaptainBooshi has mentioned, i feel the way they express this innate magical ability is simply in their powers of flight, and how well certain individuals make use of these innate powers makes them better at it. The Sonic Rainboom is a representation of the mastery a pony can achieve over his or her magical abilities, and is clearly a part of themselves; unlike unicorn ponies who have to learn from a book and study rigorously before they can make use of magical powers.
I'd say unicorn magic is also "innate" in the sense pegasus magic is. It's just that it's controlled by different mechanisms - while unicorn magic is quite clearly linked to rational thought, pegasus magic is linked to the more intuitive and emotional aspects of the brain.
I was recently replaying Okami, and it was mentioned how, as a goddess, your powers are inherently tied and determined, by the amount of people who who worship and love you. This seems extremely simillar to the case in Equestria, and would also explain the god like powers Celestia holds, due to all of Equestria holding her in reverence. It also would explain why Celestia needed Twilight to go out and 'Make Friends'', it could be just another way to deepen the social interactions and bonds you could form with others, and thus, help augment your magical abilites.
I think you're going too far out on a limb here.
One good example is Twilight Sparkle: Her magical abilities were definitely not of the highest quality when she first reach ponyville, in fact, she demonstrated how unwieldy her teleportation was when she burned Spike under durress. Contrast her abilities in the episode where she fought off the Ursa Minor-by then she had formed a close knit friendship with the main cast, established a social connection and familiarity to the ponyville community, and it is explicitly mentioned in the pilot episodes that the Spark which activated the Elements of Harmony was her enlightenment at how close knit she had become with her new friends.
Twilight was already quite powerful before the events of MLP:FIM. Indeed, the show has made clear that she has a born talent for magic.
A counterpoint would be Trixie. Trixie seems to be a unicorn whose magic talent comes from her innate talent towards magical tricks and illusions, as well as her firm belief and confidence at her own shows and acts. We could even call trixie a second rate Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn who developed her magic abilities in lieu with a talent directly related to magical expression, yet because of her lack of belief in others and the community in general, as well as her having no friends (from what we know), her magic growth and expression were stunted and capped at a particular point. She thus could not pass a barrier set by herself, and from the whole message of the series thusfar, opening herself up to a community abd friendship may help augment and further increase her magical potential.
(Twilight was already quite powerful before the events of MLP:FIM. Indeed, the show has made clear that she has a born talent for magic.)
Ahh, but the show has yet to go out on a limb to prove the fact how powerful Twilight was before the events of the pilot. The only magical ability shown during the pilot was her rather unconvincing teleportation misshap, and her later uber powers which she used to seal Nightmare moon, and even then, it was with the direct aid of her friends all wielding the elements of harmony.
(Trix are for kids.)
Sure tricks are for kids, but Trixie has so far been the only other pony being shown with a talent related to magical expression. If she was somehow not a second rate twilight, and developed and pushed her abilities to the upper limit due to numerous friendships, social connections and self sacrifice, i would go out of the limb to say she could challenge Twilight. Sure she may not have the talent of Magic itself, but it would be akin to a duel between a very powerful all round wizard against a master illusionist. While the wizard could beat the illusionist on face to face magic alone, he may be stumped by the illusions put forth by the illusionist and would have to resolve that first.
(think you're going too far out on a limb here..)
I dont think so, what else is Friendship but social connections, loyalty to one another, and all the elements of harmony combined. Extrapolate that and it is easy to say reverence and worship towards a something else is an even greater form of magic, which tfirst expresses itself through the ideas of freinds
If we can assume that Equestria has a similar atmosphere and gravity to Earth, then I can do the calculations skipping the entire ornithology part. I'll try to find how long Rarity fell for now.
Rarity fell for about 38 seconds. At Earth gravity with no air resistance, this would be: 9.81 * 382 = 14,165.64m = 8.8mi So Cloudsdale is less than 8.8 miles high.
Terminal velocity for a human (close enough to a pony for rough math) is ~70 m/s, so traveling at constant terminal velocity would make Cloudsdale 70 * 38 = 2660m high. As Rarity started from rest, Cloudsdale is less than 2.66 km (1.65mi) high.
Of course, there is a greater explanation for everything: Flimsy backstory for merch.
Yeah, the "flawed story from flawed human beings" explanation is generally the best one around, but it leaves us zero potential for Gandalf girthing.
I have my own theory for the Ponyverse: It's an amusement park.
Specifically, an amusement park world, created countless ages ago by human or human-like (let's not necessarily preclude elves or fairies) magical beings as a place for them and their children to vacation.... and the ponies--- Earth, Pegasus, Unicorn and Alicorn(winged unicorn)--- were created as the entertainment and maintenance staff (along with perhaps the other intelligent creatures such as the cows, mules, buffalo, etc). They were to watch everything, tend and care for the plants and (tame) animals, maintain both the climate and the orbiting artificial sun and moon.... But ages later, the original builders of the amusement park abandoned it and left the live-in staff to their own devices.
If you think about it, it all makes tremendous sense. Where else would everything-- the plants, the animals, the climate, the seasons-- be so micromanaged? Where else would you see such surprisingly tame "wild" animals? Even the "monsters" are a relatively minimal threat; even FLUTTERSHY can make a Basilisk or a Dragon or a Manticore back down, and the Diamond Dogs were unraveled by their own prisoner just WHINING at them. If the ponies were the genetically established head caretakers, it only makes sense that the other species would have an obedience instinct implanted in them (diluted over the millenia, per the hydra and Angel the bunny.) Where else would you see so much schizo tech--- crank Victrolas next to modern turntables, candles and lanterns next to electric lights, medieval armor, wild west outfits, victorian wigs, fashions from the 80's, 90's and current times--- other than on the "backlot" of an amusement park, where themed performances of every possible culture and era would be likely? Why else would the ponies be using musical instruments with keys for HUMAN fingers, cups with handles, tools with hand grips, etc.--- save as a racial memory of doing things for the convenience of human guests? It would explain why the ponies were PULLING the train engine rather than RIDING it; they have an instinctual memory that trains should be pulled, and should have an engine up front... but the recollection of how it all works is screwy after so much time.
It even explains why gems, which are normally 1)rare 2)formed deep in the earth under specific conditions, including heaps of time and great pressure, are scattered so prolifically around Equestria that Spike can casually snack on them, and Rarity thinks nothing of digging up four WAGONLOADS of gemstones, out of loose topsoil, no less, just to use in a couple of costumes for a pop singer. Just have the staff scatter a few hundred tons of fabricated gemstones around the countryside, so the kids of the guests can go out "treasure hunting" with a pail and shovel.
Side thought: maybe the only reason we haven't seen any other Alicorns is because, as members of the royal family, they're in charge of the stars(and comets, shooting stars, northern lights, etc) and therefore they're all on the night shift with Luna . Perhaps each star is a tiny worldlet inhabited by one of the Alicorns, a la "the Little Prince."
Of course that would mean presumably four royal relatives decided to overrule Celestia's imprisonment of Luna--- or just went behind her back to undo it.....
This would also explain Everfree forest. It was originally the capital of Equestria, as it was where the Princess' castle was before their falling out. After being abandoned (presumably due to grief, and bad memories, but eventually becoming something of a cultural taboo to live there), a natural ecosystem started surfacing where the theme-park micromanagement was no longer present. The major aspects (the weather, the sun and moon) were still controlled, but noone was weeding the flowerbeds at Disneyland, so to speak... and the "garden" there ran riot. Their world could probably sustain a normal ecosystem now, but at the cost of them no longer having control of it. Once the natural cycles (the rain cycle, the winds, etc) start up over a large enough area, they will no longer be able to control the weather and the plants over Equestria. Probably the only reason they have as much control over the climate as they do is the fact that their "Sun" is artificial and therefore completely stable... IRL, the sun goes through decades long cycles of higher or lower activity, which causes the climate changes historians, archaeologists and even geologists record (the ice age, the Little Ice Age, the Medieval warm period, the Bronze Age warm period....periods of climate change that literally dwarf the period of temperature rise we observed in the last decade of the 20th century.) drop a little ice age on Equestria, and no amount of shoveling will keep up with the snow. Also, their world doesn't spin on its axis, meaning there are no jet streams... which mean no major prevailing winds. (watch the show: unless the pegasus arrange it, there's never any wind!) The gravitational pull of the small moon and sun would keep the atmosphere "stirred" a bit... but not much.
Rarity fell for about 38 seconds. At Earth gravity with no air resistance, this would be: 9.81 * 382 = 14,165.64m = 8.8mi So Cloudsdale is less than 8.8 miles high.
I don't think Equestria has earth gravity. Else Rainbow Dash had snapped Rarities neck Spider-Man style.
Of course, there is a greater explanation for everything: Flimsy backstory for merch.
Yeah, the "flawed story from flawed human beings" explanation is generally the best one around, but it leaves us zero potential for Gandalf girthing.
I have my own theory for the Ponyverse: It's an amusement park.
I too can subscibe to your amusement park idea. It makes good sense
It is also, in my opinion, the one sure way to derail all aspects of world building, reduce the magnitude of the idea of the universe to an insignificant speck, and derail scientific discussions being put forth.
Not to burst your bubble, but I think Equestria Daily posts every single fan-fiction they get, regardless of any other factors.
To be fair, they have a rating system on Equestria Daily and the readers do seem rather intelligent. Not everything gets blind love. His has a 3.5 with real critique and honesty. You have to give the fandom credit for that.
I actually read one story with, very high marks, about Derpy that actually made me well up a little.
Not to burst your bubble, but I think Equestria Daily posts every single fan-fiction they get, regardless of any other factors.
To be fair, they have a rating system on Equestria Daily and the readers do seem rather intelligent. Not everything gets blind love. His has a 3.5 with real critique and honesty. You have to give the fandom credit for that.
I actually read one story with, very high marks, about Derpy that actually made me well up a little.
Didn't realize that. I just see so many story postings being made that it seems like there is no barrier to entry. I ignore all the fan-fictions, I just want videos and such.
Long time lurker, first time poster, so excuse my thoughts being somewhat all over the place.
I think Occam's razor is on the side of the ponies living on a far future earth, however I somehow prefer the notion that the local incarnations of the Doctor brought the ponies the knowledge of that strange alternate time line where bald monkeys managed to turn the world into something much more scary than the Everfree Forest.
Celestia and Luna: I think the basic tale lies in the alicorns' respective cutie marks. Celestia has a sun cutie mark, which might mean her motivation is to share its warm glow with her subjects, while Luna's cutie mark symbolizes her desire to bring the ponies the beauty of moonlit nights – only that the ponies didn't care about that. Which shows even if you do follow your special talent to the point where you control the heavens themselves to make it happen, there is no guarantee you won't get so frustrated with your place in the world that you will want to banish the sun forever.
In any case, I buy into the theory that both can control the sun and the moon, but until Luna became Nightmare Moon they were sensible enough to work together, probably because of the all-present power of friendship, but at least to spare the world the repercussions of a fight between two super alicorns. (“Super†because, like Saiyans they seem to have an ordinary low-power form, as the defeated Luna demonstrated, but are able to switch to an evolved/enlightened/buffed up form, in which they can unleash ridiculous amounts of magic.)
The Everfree Forest might indeed be a remnant of their eventual fallout, however I have got a different theory why the nature remembers how nature works there: Maybe the ponies' magic is fueled by natural processes, from the formation of rain and snow to the rotation of the sun around the earth (indeed, geocentric is the only way to go with the pony universe). This in turn would explain why they have to micromanage almost everything. Of course this entails that they can't do everything by magic, unless the transformation from natural force to magic power had an efficiency above one, but then again the whole weather management is left to the pegasi for instance, who don't use magic, or at least not that particular type of magic. Also, maybe the ponies can control what they turn into magic and have enough common sense to leave forces that would have too great an impact on the world, like gravity, alone. The Everfree Forest could have been scorched in such a manner, that magic cannot be drawn from there by the ponies, maybe because of overuse, maybe because of a permanent spell or maybe as a mythical aftereffect of the tragic events that took place there. Thus it has returned to its natural state, with moving clouds and independent animals. Of course this assumes that unicorns can draw power over a distance, since they can use magic inside the forest and that the mystical creatures in the forest don't draw upon that kind of force either.
As for Twilight Sparkle, does anyone else think that she was destined to fight Nightmare Moon for a long time, simply because of her surprisingly fitting name, twilight being the connection between night and day and sparkle referring to the friendship spark that activated the Elements of Harmony? That would also explain why Celestia took her under her wing in the first place. But since she is still quite interested in her priced student, I wonder what she sees in her now that Luna has repented. Maybe Twilight has the potential to become a super unicorn herself one day and the princess wants to educate her as much as she can, so she won't turn into a second Nightmare Moon.
Pilgrim, the problem with your thinking is that it is clearly stated that every place other than Ponyville they change the seasons using magic. Weather is made in Clousdale by hoof and machine, but it is deployed magically in almost all of Equestria. I would guess that Apple-loosa might also do things manually, simply because it didn't seem like there were enough unicorns out there.
Just to throw another wrench into everyone's argument: Pinkie Pie appeared as a reflection in a mirror in "Green Isn't Your Color". Defying every natural law and rule that would have been established or hinted at. Also, there is a possibility she is some trans-dimensional super-being, fully aware that she is in a cartoon and full of a power that transcends Celestia's.
Just to throw another wrench into everyone's argument: Pinkie Pie appeared as a reflection in a mirror in "Green Isn't Your Color". Defying every natural law and rule that would have been established or hinted at. Also, there is a possibility she is some trans-dimensional super-being, fully aware that she is in a cartoon and full of a power that transcends Celestia's.
We already discussed that the physics of their world is Loony Toony.
Just to throw another wrench into everyone's argument: Pinkie Pie appeared as a reflection in a mirror in "Green Isn't Your Color". Defying every natural law and rule that would have been established or hinted at. Also, there is a possibility she is some trans-dimensional super-being, fully aware that she is in a cartoon and full of a power that transcends Celestia's.
That's why I loved "Over A Barrel." It showed that Pinkie Pie is fallible with her actions and that not everything can be cured by her pinkiest ways. She can do everything, but at least they established she can't exceed at everything and can make major mess ups.
That's why I loved "Over A Barrel." It showed that Pinkie Pie is fallible with her actions and that not everything can be cured by her pinkiest ways. She can do everything, but at least they established she can't exceed at everything and can make major mess ups.
Well, she did get the Chief and the Sheriff to agree on something. That's something!
Just to throw another wrench into everyone's argument: Pinkie Pie appeared as a reflection in a mirror in "Green Isn't Your Color". Defying every natural law and rule that would have been established or hinted at. Also, there is a possibility she is some trans-dimensional super-being, fully aware that she is in a cartoon and full of a power that transcends Celestia's.
I'll say that that episode actually takes place on alternative universe, where Pinkie Pie isn't real pony but instead is part of Twilight Sparkles broken psyche. Seriously, I don't remember Pinkie Pie having any contact with any pony other than Twilight, also everypony else ignored her weirdness, like hiding in apples.
Pilgrim, the problem with your thinking is that it is clearly stated that every place other than Ponyville they change the seasons using magic. Weather is made in Clousdale by hoof and machine, but it is deployed magically in almost all of Equestria.
That's right, the seasons are changed magically. But pegasi to clear the sky seem to be common enough, otherwise I would have expected Twilight or Spark to comment on Rainbow Dash's assignment in the pilot. Also, while only a tiny amount of energy might be required to form a snowflake, lots and lots would be required to cover a city, let alone a whole country. The same with rainbows, falling leaves and so on. So I would expect the energy balance to be positive even after magically distributing the weather everywhere.
Pinkie Pie appeared as a reflection in a mirror in "Green Isn't Your Color". Defying every natural law and rule that would have been established or hinted at. Also, there is a possibility she is some trans-dimensional super-being, fully aware that she is in a cartoon and full of a power that transcends Celestia's.
Comments
So we all know there are three kinds of pony specie, and both the unicorn and the pegasi are known to have some form of ability. Unicorns are able to freely manipulate magical energies for the purposes of every day tasks, and are known to specialise in particular skillsets. Pegasi pony abilites, while granting them certain advantages over unicorns, are inflexible, cannot be altered by their own free will. Their abilites to walk on vapor and cloud as well as to build with them, is as natural to them as humans have fingers. Yet, they never see themselves as wielding any particular forms of magic, they see themselves as what they are.
Earth ponies have so far displayed the least apptitude for magical or paranormal manipulations. Pinkie Pie is what i would consider an anomaly for the momment, and not truly indicative of Earth Ponies in a general case of speaking. However, the ideas of curses and hexes seem to be of such widespread knowledge that i wonder if all ponies, and even other forms of creatures, like Zercora, could create concoctions with magical properties, like alchemists. That would suggest the distribution of magical essences into the natural world at large, and may not simply be related to ponydom.
Yet, it is a fact nonetheless, that pinkie pie was displaying forms of precognition. Is she simply a receiver, getting cues from her particular sense to paranormal or magical means from the environment which enables her precognitive abilities. Or is this power within her and generated by herself? This question should be put forth towards unicorns as well-are their horns simply tools which allows them greater manipulation of external magical forces in the environments, their talents basically ONLY aiding certain types of magics they wish to express. Or are their talents part of an inner reserve of generated magical energy exclusive to each individual unicorn ponies.
-This puts pegasi ponies in a unique position. Their abilities are certainly in born and a part of them they cannot control, making them the only known pony type to have an innate magical ability at all. As CaptainBooshi has mentioned, i feel the way they express this innate magical ability is simply in their powers of flight, and how well certain individuals make use of these innate powers makes them better at it. The Sonic Rainboom is a representation of the mastery a pony can achieve over his or her magical abilities, and is clearly a part of themselves; unlike unicorn ponies who have to learn from a book and study rigorously before they can make use of magical powers.
Unicorn ponies however, seem to have another unique way to wield magic. They seem to require certain belief in themselves, as well as the social belief and bonds of others placed upon them, to determine their magical ability. I was recently replaying Okami, and it was mentioned how, as a goddess, your powers are inherently tied and determined, by the amount of people who who worship and love you. This seems extremely simillar to the case in Equestria, and would also explain the god like powers Celestia holds, due to all of Equestria holding her in reverence. It also would explain why Celestia needed Twilight to go out and 'Make Friends'', it could be just another way to deepen the social interactions and bonds you could form with others, and thus, help augment your magical abilites.
One good example is Twilight Sparkle: Her magical abilities were definitely not of the highest quality when she first reach ponyville, in fact, she demonstrated how unwieldy her teleportation was when she burned Spike under durress. Contrast her abilities in the episode where she fought off the Ursa Minor-by then she had formed a close knit friendship with the main cast, established a social connection and familiarity to the ponyville community, and it is explicitly mentioned in the pilot episodes that the Spark which activated the Elements of Harmony was her enlightenment at how close knit she had become with her new friends.
*Im almost suspicious of what this Spark is-why did Celestia keep Twilight all her life as her student and NEVER mentioned her to go out and make friends, and only so happened to do so the day before Nighmare Moon's return. Why would a unicorn like Rarity, who has firm beliefs and confidence of herself and is part of a close knit group of friends, not be the so called special one to give the "Spark", why not ANY other normal unicorn? It was as if keeping Twilight away from friendship up till the return of Nightmare moon was a ploy, like incubating, and this enlightenment of Friendship, coupled with her innate talent of Magic, allowed her to gain tremendous abilities and potential. Not to mention that she was sent to ponyville where the 5 ponies needed with the right embodiments of each Element all somehow exist together.
A counterpoint would be Trixie. Trixie seems to be a unicorn whose magic talent comes from her innate talent towards magical tricks and illusions, as well as her firm belief and confidence at her own shows and acts. We could even call trixie a second rate Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn who developed her magic abilities in lieu with a talent directly related to magical expression, yet because of her lack of belief in others and the community in general, as well as her having no friends (from what we know), her magic growth and expression were stunted and capped at a particular point. She thus could not pass a barrier set by herself, and from the whole message of the series thusfar, opening herself up to a community abd friendship may help augment and further increase her magical potential.
We could even say how Rainbow Dash could not get pass her own barrier placed upon her innate pegasi magics until it really mattered: the life of a friend at stake. Her being the bearer of the Element of Loyalty also seem to further the point. In fact, fluttershy and Rarity both wield their magical skills and expressions at very high levels when certain situations placed their particular elements at stake. Rarity, in her stunning use of telekinesis and stage display when she insisted on making dresses for all her friends and thus having her Element of Generosity tested, and Fluttershy, whose Element of Kindness was tested in the dragon episode and cockatric episode, where one sees her pushing her Death Glare and animal whisperer abilites to the what seems to be the upper limit. All of them were cases related to the close friendships they had formed with each other, and all wielded and pushed the upper limits of their abilities when friends were at stake
Very interesting stuff. What do you guys think?
And then this thread happened.
I was almost safe. Almost.
Be back in 20 episode's time.
Ahh, but the show has yet to go out on a limb to prove the fact how powerful Twilight was before the events of the pilot. The only magical ability shown during the pilot was her rather unconvincing teleportation misshap, and her later uber powers which she used to seal Nightmare moon, and even then, it was with the direct aid of her friends all wielding the elements of harmony.
(Trix are for kids.)
Sure tricks are for kids, but Trixie has so far been the only other pony being shown with a talent related to magical expression. If she was somehow not a second rate twilight, and developed and pushed her abilities to the upper limit due to numerous friendships, social connections and self sacrifice, i would go out of the limb to say she could challenge Twilight. Sure she may not have the talent of Magic itself, but it would be akin to a duel between a very powerful all round wizard against a master illusionist. While the wizard could beat the illusionist on face to face magic alone, he may be stumped by the illusions put forth by the illusionist and would have to resolve that first.
(think you're going too far out on a limb here..)
I dont think so, what else is Friendship but social connections, loyalty to one another, and all the elements of harmony combined. Extrapolate that and it is easy to say reverence and worship towards a something else is an even greater form of magic, which tfirst expresses itself through the ideas of freinds
At Earth gravity with no air resistance, this would be: 9.81 * 382 = 14,165.64m = 8.8mi
So Cloudsdale is less than 8.8 miles high.
It's an amusement park.
Specifically, an amusement park world, created countless ages ago by human or human-like (let's not necessarily preclude elves or fairies) magical beings as a place for them and their children to vacation.... and the ponies--- Earth, Pegasus, Unicorn and Alicorn(winged unicorn)--- were created as the entertainment and maintenance staff (along with perhaps the other intelligent creatures such as the cows, mules, buffalo, etc). They were to watch everything, tend and care for the plants and (tame) animals, maintain both the climate and the orbiting artificial sun and moon.... But ages later, the original builders of the amusement park abandoned it and left the live-in staff to their own devices.
If you think about it, it all makes tremendous sense. Where else would everything-- the plants, the animals, the climate, the seasons-- be so micromanaged? Where else would you see such surprisingly tame "wild" animals? Even the "monsters" are a relatively minimal threat; even FLUTTERSHY can make a Basilisk or a Dragon or a Manticore back down, and the Diamond Dogs were unraveled by their own prisoner just WHINING at them. If the ponies were the genetically established head caretakers, it only makes sense that the other species would have an obedience instinct implanted in them (diluted over the millenia, per the hydra and Angel the bunny.) Where else would you see so much schizo tech--- crank Victrolas next to modern turntables, candles and lanterns next to electric lights, medieval armor, wild west outfits, victorian wigs, fashions from the 80's, 90's and current times--- other than on the "backlot" of an amusement park, where themed performances of every possible culture and era would be likely? Why else would the ponies be using musical instruments with keys for HUMAN fingers, cups with handles, tools with hand grips, etc.--- save as a racial memory of doing things for the convenience of human guests? It would explain why the ponies were PULLING the train engine rather than RIDING it; they have an instinctual memory that trains should be pulled, and should have an engine up front... but the recollection of how it all works is screwy after so much time.
It even explains why gems, which are normally 1)rare 2)formed deep in the earth under specific conditions, including heaps of time and great pressure, are scattered so prolifically around Equestria that Spike can casually snack on them, and Rarity thinks nothing of digging up four WAGONLOADS of gemstones, out of loose topsoil, no less, just to use in a couple of costumes for a pop singer. Just have the staff scatter a few hundred tons of fabricated gemstones around the countryside, so the kids of the guests can go out "treasure hunting" with a pail and shovel.
Side thought: maybe the only reason we haven't seen any other Alicorns is because, as members of the royal family, they're in charge of the stars(and comets, shooting stars, northern lights, etc) and therefore they're all on the night shift with Luna
Of course that would mean presumably four royal relatives decided to overrule Celestia's imprisonment of Luna--- or just went behind her back to undo it.....
Also, I never heard Alicorn before. I always just used pegacorn.
Heh. No newsletter, but I do have a website: http://www.rhjunior.com
Also, their world doesn't spin on its axis, meaning there are no jet streams... which mean no major prevailing winds. (watch the show: unless the pegasus arrange it, there's never any wind!) The gravitational pull of the small moon and sun would keep the atmosphere "stirred" a bit... but not much.
It is also, in my opinion, the one sure way to derail all aspects of world building, reduce the magnitude of the idea of the universe to an insignificant speck, and derail scientific discussions being put forth.
Its good sense. Its just helluva boring if true.
I actually read one story with, very high marks, about Derpy that actually made me well up a little.
I think Occam's razor is on the side of the ponies living on a far future earth, however I somehow prefer the notion that the local incarnations of the Doctor brought the ponies the knowledge of that strange alternate time line where bald monkeys managed to turn the world into something much more scary than the Everfree Forest.
Celestia and Luna:
I think the basic tale lies in the alicorns' respective cutie marks. Celestia has a sun cutie mark, which might mean her motivation is to share its warm glow with her subjects, while Luna's cutie mark symbolizes her desire to bring the ponies the beauty of moonlit nights – only that the ponies didn't care about that. Which shows even if you do follow your special talent to the point where you control the heavens themselves to make it happen, there is no guarantee you won't get so frustrated with your place in the world that you will want to banish the sun forever.
In any case, I buy into the theory that both can control the sun and the moon, but until Luna became Nightmare Moon they were sensible enough to work together, probably because of the all-present power of friendship, but at least to spare the world the repercussions of a fight between two super alicorns. (“Super†because, like Saiyans they seem to have an ordinary low-power form, as the defeated Luna demonstrated, but are able to switch to an evolved/enlightened/buffed up form, in which they can unleash ridiculous amounts of magic.)
The Everfree Forest might indeed be a remnant of their eventual fallout, however I have got a different theory why the nature remembers how nature works there:
Maybe the ponies' magic is fueled by natural processes, from the formation of rain and snow to the rotation of the sun around the earth (indeed, geocentric is the only way to go with the pony universe). This in turn would explain why they have to micromanage almost everything. Of course this entails that they can't do everything by magic, unless the transformation from natural force to magic power had an efficiency above one, but then again the whole weather management is left to the pegasi for instance, who don't use magic, or at least not that particular type of magic.
Also, maybe the ponies can control what they turn into magic and have enough common sense to leave forces that would have too great an impact on the world, like gravity, alone.
The Everfree Forest could have been scorched in such a manner, that magic cannot be drawn from there by the ponies, maybe because of overuse, maybe because of a permanent spell or maybe as a mythical aftereffect of the tragic events that took place there. Thus it has returned to its natural state, with moving clouds and independent animals.
Of course this assumes that unicorns can draw power over a distance, since they can use magic inside the forest and that the mystical creatures in the forest don't draw upon that kind of force either.
As for Twilight Sparkle, does anyone else think that she was destined to fight Nightmare Moon for a long time, simply because of her surprisingly fitting name, twilight being the connection between night and day and sparkle referring to the friendship spark that activated the Elements of Harmony? That would also explain why Celestia took her under her wing in the first place. But since she is still quite interested in her priced student, I wonder what she sees in her now that Luna has repented. Maybe Twilight has the potential to become a super unicorn herself one day and the princess wants to educate her as much as she can, so she won't turn into a second Nightmare Moon.
Pinkie Pie appeared as a reflection in a mirror in "Green Isn't Your Color". Defying every natural law and rule that would have been established or hinted at. Also, there is a possibility she is some trans-dimensional super-being, fully aware that she is in a cartoon and full of a power that transcends Celestia's.
/Thread.