Re: Free and Open Debates on the Nature of Ponykind

**Slag** Mon Nov 28, 2011 2:53 am

Good eye. I was thinking about that, actually.

Surgeons are likely unicorn-dominant, however, because the fine motor control and the ability to control things without having something gripping them would likely be an absolute boon to surgery. I'd imagine that any standard physician would more likely be an earth pony, though, but I think it could go either way since unicorns tend more toward intellectual pursuits, and medicine is definitely an intellectual pursuit.

Necro910 Mon Nov 28, 2011 9:07 pm

Slag wrote:I think it could go either way since unicorns tend more toward intellectual pursuits, and medicine is definitely an intellectual pursuit.

Spoiler:

**Flying Dice** Sun Dec 18, 2011 3:30 am

Somewhat relevant crossposting from the main thread:

((spoilers for Hearthswarming Eve))

Yeah, I really enjoyed it as well. Shame the carol/choir song wasn't longer, though. Nice to see more canon support for the theory that the whole harmony and friendship thing is a cultural artifact imposed by facts of life rather than an inherent trait; we've seen now both that ponies are prone to massive mental breakdowns when they're stressed for extended periods of time, and both with this and Discord that there are eldritch abomination-level beings that feed on negative energy, making friendship and harmony necessary for survival, rather than nice little additions to normal life.

I'm also curious as to how Celestia and Luna came into the picture; they were on the final flag, but I think that was anachronistic, given that there was no other mention of them in the events of the story, indicating that they probably only revealed themselves after the unification. One wonders now if this was because they were waiting for their creations to mature in their own time, or if they really are just another pair of external forces, which systematically brainwashed the entire species during the process of taking control of the land, and that both this story and all the other stuff about friendship and harmony are really measures they've taken to prevent high levels of negative emotions from developing, which could potentially lead to revolution. The mental breakdowns could be explained as the subconscious realization of the oppression rising to the surface of their minds in moments of extreme stress.

**Slag** Sun Dec 18, 2011 3:39 am

They could have existed before the story's events took place, but took a much less direct role in the ponies' lives. After the events of the story, the ponies probably needed a more unified system to lead over them, but every attempt to form one ended in people trying to get themselves on top and everyone getting pissed off and having to retreat for a time. The sisters introduced themselves as their current avatars, taking a position as figureheads that nobody contested and assuming a more direct and active role in their ponies' world.

drilltooth Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:27 am

kind of been my theory for a time that the princess's current forms are a side effect of using the EoH, which are, essentially, a channel for the combined power of all pony magic. Of course, it remains to be seen if splitting their power six ways as opposed to two, or going it solo, will lessen the side effects in the long run.

**Flying Dice** Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:41 am

Heh, funnily enough, the big reveal I had planned for TSR was that all ponies are inherently capable of becoming alicorns, and only need another alicorn to activate their abilities using a magical artifact, typically shortly before the older alicorn transcends.

Spoilers for To Set Right below, but I doubt I'll ever get around to completing it, so if anyone is interested in what I had planned, go right ahead.

I don't think I'm going to ever finish the story, so this doesn't need to be spoilerish any more, but my basic premise was that Celestia and Luna had realized that they were nearing the end of the period of time where they could exist as alicorns rather than transcendents, and had intended to activate the mane 6, but waited too long and some of their power as transcendents leaked through, overloading the spell and exerting some small measure of release as kinetic energy, propelling the EoH away. Without the EoH, the mane 6 were stuck in a partially altered state where they were functionally immortal, but because of the nature of the spell, would remain essentially in comas until the EoH were replaced, and by that point, the Princesses had already transcended and were unable to directly affect the world. Without them, or the knowledge of how to control the sun, moon, and stars, Equestria gradually began to shift away from unity and control. I also made the assumption that all sorts of environmental magic (pegasi weather control, Earth pony farming talents, etc.) were directly linked to alicorns, as part of their own control over the world, and without them it wasn't possible. Obviously, this was contradicted by the episode, but I think I could have altered it to have the Princesses be responsible for controlling the really nasty stuff, similar to how they also hold more magical power and relevant responsibility than unicorns. The point I was almost at when I gave up writing it was where the OCs got their hands on the Element of Magic and a journal written by an aging palace guard who had tried to retrieve it and been crippled, which promised 'incredible treasure' if they returned it to Canterlot. The idea was that they would do so, restore Twilight, and she would convince the OCs to help her recover the other EoH and complete the activation, with the story ending with the mane 6 becoming alicorns and starting to plan for the restoration and recovery of Equestria.

**Sean Mirrsen** Sun Dec 18, 2011 10:05 am

It somehow doesn't feel right to inform the administrator of the forums of the existence of spoiler tags. I mean, the warning is nice and all, but the text's still out in the open.

As for my own theory on alicorns, as of the latest episode:

Well, it's more of an epileptic tree:

**Dsarker** Sun Dec 18, 2011 10:13 am

Spoiler:

**Flying Dice** Sun Dec 18, 2011 5:21 pm

Sean Mirrsen wrote:It somehow doesn't feel right to inform the administrator of the forums of the existence of spoiler tags. I mean, the warning is nice and all, but the text's still out in the open.

Again, because 'eh', I figured it wasn't exactly spoilerworthy, because neither I nor anyone I know of actually cares about that story, but it doesn't sit right with me to do a infodump on the plot of anything without some sort of warning.

...

And probably because I posted that at somewhere around 2:40am my time, running on about 4 hours of sleep from the night before. Free and Open Debates on the Nature of Ponykind - Page 3 591830264

Free and Open Debates on the Nature of Ponykind - Page 3 591830264

**Debesh** Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:31 pm

Spoiler:

Loud Whispers Thu Dec 29, 2011 7:11 am

To clear up the tank thing by adding my own opinion into the massive crap storm regarding Tank the Tortoise, Tanks were originally called Tanks so that the German forces in WWI were completely unaware that the British were building a new weapon. So Dash is obviously weaponizing Tank, and keeping it a secret.

Also, WTF is wrong with Equestrian society?
The Earth ponies pretty much have a monopoly on everything, despite them and pegasi being made redundant in every way by unicorns.

And they have a dam, but they don't know any agricultural technics? They have helicopters powered by mechanical energy, and they use hot air balloons? WAURUHHHH.

**Slag** Thu Dec 29, 2011 7:50 am

Non-jet helicopters can barely keep themselves in the air, much less bring anything useful along for the ride, and the ponies pretty obviously don't have anything near jet tech. Hence hot air balloons being used. As for dams, beavers know how to make the things. Unless it's a hydroelectric dam, there's no reason they couldn't build one.

I hypothesize that, due to the extraordinarily comfortable and conformational nature of pony lives, they have little reason to develop science. Practically all of the developed technology came from cutie-mark specific research by various ponies who are rather few and far between in the society, so technology gain is incredibly random. The idea of scientific theory might not even be very prolific.

That or they have almost no scientific development at all and all technology they have are relics from a precursor race. Like, say, humans of some form.

**Flying Dice** Thu Dec 29, 2011 7:55 am

Further evidence that they're a fallen colony, and that Luna and Celestia are actually corrupted AIs that use a combination of pseudoreligious mythology, artificial bodies/solid light projections, and advanced technology (drones, holograms, magitek, etc.) to prevent ponies from advancing their technology beyond preindustrial levels. All advanced artifacts and constructs are reminants of the parent civilization, save for those that have no application beyond increasing food production, habitability of hostile environments, and entertainment/pleasure. Nightmare Moon was the result of conflicting protocols in "Luna's" personality, which created a malevolent version of her, overwriting but not erasing the 'normal' personality. Her escape from the moon was the result of 1000 years of effort to crack Celestia's security (which Celestia had designed expressly as a challenge to be overcome in a measurable period of time), subverting four drones capable of interplanetary flight to transport her core within range of the planetary network. The Elements of Harmony are interface devices designed to allow ponies to access ship-, planet-, and systemwide computer networks, and their 'magic' was actually a restore function designed to roll "Luna's" personality back before the corruption occured, allowing Celestia to resolve the conflicting priorities before they became an issue.

**Slag** Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:17 am

Because there are never enough potential AUs.

**Flying Dice** Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:41 am

Of course not. Free and Open Debates on the Nature of Ponykind - Page 3 983518067

Loud Whispers Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:00 pm

Slag wrote:Non-jet helicopters can barely keep themselves in the air, much less bring anything useful along for the ride, and the ponies pretty obviously don't have anything near jet tech. Hence hot air balloons being used. As for dams, beavers know how to make the things. Unless it's a hydroelectric dam, there's no reason they couldn't build one.

Come to think of it, how the hell do their hot air balloons even work? They don't burn anything Free and Open Debates on the Nature of Ponykind - Page 3 1298504777

Free and Open Debates on the Nature of Ponykind - Page 3 1298504777

...Why do they even have a dam?

**Sean Mirrsen** Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:21 pm

Because they refuse to give it.

And their balloons seem to work on helium. Or hydrogen.

**Slag** Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:40 pm

Less a 'hot air balloon' in that case. I think the issue is that they completely forgot the burner that keeps the balloon hot.

Perhaps some kind of magic keeps the air warm?

Also, nice joke. Free and Open Debates on the Nature of Ponykind - Page 3 164008139

Free and Open Debates on the Nature of Ponykind - Page 3 164008139

Loud Whispers Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:01 pm

Magic = Don't need to explain Razz

Although the one time the balloon was crashing, it did seem to be losing a lot of air. So... It's just an air balloon?

Anticlimatic ftw.

The HindenHoof disaster anyone?

**Flying Dice** Fri Dec 30, 2011 3:54 am

Pft, everyone knows airships are the wave of the future. One disaster and an amazing invention is relegated to advertising tires.

Emberflash Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:40 am

Free and Open Debates on the Nature of Ponykind - Page 3 Sp_aaib059_16x20_the-hindenburg-disaster-posters_707

To be fair, that would leave horrifying scars on a civilization that hadn't seen total war yet.

**Sean Mirrsen** Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:47 am

Someone should build a gigantic airship, and have it fly USA to Russia over the north pole. Call it the Hindentanic. A combination of zeppelin and icebergs can never go wrong.

Emberflash Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:55 am

Shall we stick a pony Leonardo DiCaprio on it? Just to complete the image?

**Slag** Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:58 am

Wouldn't the zeppelin fly over the icebergs? Or are we intentionally trying to crash the thing to be assholes?

Necro910 Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:58 am

Sean Mirrsen wrote:Someone should build a gigantic airship, and have it fly USA to Russia over the north pole. Call it the Hindentanic. A combination of zeppelin and icebergs can never go wrong.

Idea: An airship that can scoop up large chunks of ice, then launch them via spring coil at enemies.

Dorf meets Germany.

Sponsored content