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KYM Pony General VI: Return of the Poni

Last posted Apr 19, 2013 at 12:20AM EDT. Added Jul 01, 2012 at 04:43PM EDT
10166 posts from 235 users

Millenial Dan wrote:

Anyone notice that Veggie made a new comic? It’s somewhat relevant because he used a muffin gag, but to be blunt, I didn’t think it was very funny. Veggie’s comics are okay on average, but am I the only one who thinks he’s overrated? I only make this observation because of his comics’ massive following when compared to other (equally good) comic artists’ work.

My guess is because he's one of the early guys to get that show accurate look. I like his work but wish some other lesser known artists get his kind of following but oh well.


I was on tumblr and I saw this…

A lot of people think it's eithier Derpy or Octavia. But remember, Grey Delisle can't work on Ponu because of labor union rules.

She did voice the ponies in the MAD TV parodies though, so I suspect more of those I guess?

I really don't know how MAD TV will squeeze more jokes out of that dry rock tho…

@Zero
Ponies as kitties are nothing new.
The 'Ask the Kittens' Tumblr has been around for eight months now.

SOURCE
Basically, take cute ponies, combine with cute cats, get ultra-cuteness out!

@Dan
LINK TO THE COMIC FOR REFERENCE
Veggie55 is an interesting case.
I'm with you in saying that a good chunk of his stuff isn't particularly 'funny' to me.
You can often see the elements of a joke, but the delivery is just… off much of the time.
He does have some good ones though (and the fact that he is/was similarly obsessed with Scootaloo helped!).
Good One
Another Good One
Vengence For Scootaloo!
And he was also a major proponent of Guy-ra, too: Guy-ra
(Geez, that's a lot of comics. I must be bored today.)
All in all, I like Veggie55 well enough.
His art is solid and, in his heyday, he produced quite a lot of content, but he's certainly not my favorite comic artist out there.

Blue Screen (of Death) wrote:

@Twilitlords KYM Ponification contest

Am I the first to do this? Or has everyone just PM'ed Twilit their submission? Although he did say we can post results here.

In any case…well…I tried.

Perfect! It's just how I imagined her!

@DeadParrot and Pony kittens

…wow…

Thanks, for showing me that. It might do good for Reference images.

chowzburgerz wrote:

Who is that Pegasus next to Dashie? Mother? Sister? Clone?

pleasepleasepleasepleasePLEASEPLEASEPLEASE don't talk about what's under the spoiler tags. Don't even talk about it. Some of us are still holding out over here.

Not related, something I posted on deviantArt back in February to mild success received 400 views out of the blue in the space of a few hours today. No amount of Internet Zach McSleuthburgering has revealed the cause.

Last edited Oct 26, 2012 at 11:44PM EDT

Actually, BSoD, you're the first entry so far. I haven't even had a chance to draw mine. I do hope there's some other entries coming, otherwise it'll be kinda boring. Quick request – could anyone making one PM me? Then I can at least have an idea how many I've got coming, and know if I'll need to give another day or something.

Windigo With Salad wrote:


Hmm… Interesting…

If one freezes at the right point in the video; one can see that RD's Competitor appears to have an orange lightning bolt Trailing behind her.
This points to RD not being the only Pegasus to have "elemental" Abilities that activate during fast flight. And by "Elemental" I don't mean "Elements of Harmony"; more like the Classical "Earth, Fire" Etc; with a lot more room for definition.
But whatever, it's possible this unknown pony can strike others with lightning if she tried; in comparison to RD being able to Nuke stuff with pure Light. Of course, this all may be more akin to "Ki" powers than "Arcane"; despite both being supernatural powers in origin.
Anyways, back to the two; I guess the Comparison between them is like Athena Vs Iris. Although I doubt that is apt enough; and Athena would only sometimes use Zeus' lightning.

Do you guys like, want some more time? Cause otherwise BSOD wins by default.

Although I gotta admit, his is pretty good. I would probably change her cutie mark to KYM and take the hairpin out, but that's about it.

Twilitlord wrote:

Do you guys like, want some more time? Cause otherwise BSOD wins by default.

Although I gotta admit, his is pretty good. I would probably change her cutie mark to KYM and take the hairpin out, but that's about it.

Actually, I'd say BSoD pretty much nailed it. The hairpin should stay, since it gives her mane a unique style, and I think cutie marks are better off not containing letters. So yeah, I don't think there're any major changes I'd make to his rendition. All hail our new pony mascot! We can still make additional artwork at any time, after all.

In other news, this page's Flutteryness pleases meh.

Last edited Oct 27, 2012 at 11:37PM EDT

Twilitlord wrote:

Do you guys like, want some more time? Cause otherwise BSOD wins by default.

Although I gotta admit, his is pretty good. I would probably change her cutie mark to KYM and take the hairpin out, but that's about it.

We have people that draw a bit here, but I wouldn't say that many would want to throw down in a contest for one reason or another.
 
Muumi would have run everyone out of the building, but he doesn't really do digital art from what I've seen. I know he saw it, because omnipresent, but he probably didn't want to participate, is all.

Gigatoast would have been the same thing: unfair. But I'm thinking that he might have other obligations recently.

Ivan isn't really a regular poster here, so I don't know if he saw it.
 
Not to insult other artists here, but those are the ones who comes to mind immediately.
 
 
But I actually think the main thing might have been time. Another day wouldn't have really helped. Unless you're just sketching, most artists on DA or tumblr produce a piece of published art every few days. If that is the case for the artists here, then they probably wouldn't set aside their current projects to work on this. I think you introduced this from scratch maybe three days ago, maybe four.

A contest should probably have a week, at least.
 
opspe and I made it so that people would have two weeks to take a survey that would take 30 minutes at most. I would have given potential artists at least a week for something that would take much longer than 30 minutes to produce.

But then again, you've been promoting it and telling people to ask if they needed more time. Maybe the interest just isn't there for the time being.

@Twilit

I'd say give it more time. Even if I nailed it, I'd still like to see it refined and polished a bit more by the more skilled and experienced artists here.

I'm sure if Muumi gave himself a few days, he could remake my vector in pencil with fine detail to the last strand of hair.

Also where's Twins? Someone get her in here so she can take part. Whenever she draws things she manages to lure all the artists out of hiding. She has an uncanny way of making Ivan or Muumi mysteriously appear and do something.

@Star

Sure is a lot of 'hate' in here today!

@Fluttershy
Are we doing a 'blisteringly cute Fluttershy-in-costumes' thing?
Okie-dokie!
Have some Flutterbunny:

@Twilit
As the others have said, just give it some more time.
I recall a few people saying they were interested in drawing something up when the subject first appeared so I assume someone out there is working on something.
There's obviously no rush for this so let's let any others finish their concepts.

(BSoD did do a pretty awesome job, though.)

Last edited Oct 28, 2012 at 12:35AM EDT

Blue Screen (of Death) wrote:

@Twilit

I'd say give it more time. Even if I nailed it, I'd still like to see it refined and polished a bit more by the more skilled and experienced artists here.

I'm sure if Muumi gave himself a few days, he could remake my vector in pencil with fine detail to the last strand of hair.

Also where's Twins? Someone get her in here so she can take part. Whenever she draws things she manages to lure all the artists out of hiding. She has an uncanny way of making Ivan or Muumi mysteriously appear and do something.

There's a "mating call of the artist" joke somewhere there but I can't really find it.

And I guess I need to get on the Fluttershy in clothes art dump as well.

RandomMan wrote:

I see your cat, and raise you one bee.

IT BEGINS

My Flash build is based off BSoD's vector, so if we decide on something else I will be displeased.

@BSoD, below

I HPOE UR HAPY

Last edited Oct 28, 2012 at 03:44AM EDT

@Exudes

I was kinda hoping that people could take my design and improve/expand on it because I don't have the skills to make it really detailed and give it that MLP style. You're more than welcome to use it

No horn?

(You also made me realise that I forgot her eyelashes)

Last edited Oct 28, 2012 at 03:41AM EDT

Blue Screen (of Death) wrote:

@Exudes

I was kinda hoping that people could take my design and improve/expand on it because I don't have the skills to make it really detailed and give it that MLP style. You're more than welcome to use it

No horn?

(You also made me realise that I forgot her eyelashes)

Thwarted by the edit limit.

Geez, these Flash builds are a veritable gold mine of do-it-yourself reaction imagery.

Last edited Oct 28, 2012 at 04:15AM EDT

On a completely Unrelated note; I asked in a DnD/Pathfinder Forum which Alignment they thought a character I described was. And I specifically requested that anyone that knew which character I was talking about not give away who it was (To make it a single Blind Experiment for those that didn't recognise it, and more accurate than a non-Blind).

-The punchline: I was describing Twilight Sparkle.

So far There have been Five Seven! Repliers:

Replier 1: (After quoting my line on not revealing the character) "As you wish… Neutral."
Replier 2: "Oh I know who it is. I'd say very Lawful but with a low wisdom so she doesn't realize what havoc she's unintentionally making happen."
Replier 3: (After Quoting reply 2) "Nope. All points scream "chaotic". Being an ordered person has nothing to do with being lawful."
Replier 4: (Reply to 3) "I sort of agree with this. You could make a case for Neutral as well, but she seems to do what she wants, consequences be damned.[Snip] -The person seems more likely to act in an unpredictable way then anything else. She seems to be friends with authority but does not seem to respect it, which indicates she likes the individuals not the titles. She does not really seem to do anything at all that would make me think she was lawful. She seems to do a lot that makes me think she is Chaotic."
Replier 5: "[Snip]-Outside of the ordered bit all the points seem classically chaotic to me, though an argument for "leaning neutral" could be made. I guess it all depends on her motivations.
She mostly just sounds childish and annoying."
Replier 2 (Again): "If planning out your every second of every day for the next three months isn't lawful, I don't know what is."
Replier 6: "She looks more obsessed than ordered. CN." (Chaotic Neutral)
Replier 7: ":D Oh this is awesome. :)" (Wha?)

I'm betting that was… Unexpected. And considering the only one actively saying Lawful knows which show she's from; and the one that says Neutral is… dubious on that front…

…I say we need to re-evaluate our idea of who Twilight is.

Pictured: The Real Twilight?

More Replies may be incoming.

If you Promise not to give Twilight's identity away: you can see the Thread Here!

Last edited Oct 28, 2012 at 05:20AM EDT

Verbose wrote:

Muumi would have run everyone out of the building, but he doesn’t really do digital art from what I’ve seen. I know he saw it, because omnipresent, but he probably didn’t want to participate, is all.

Pretty much this.

Since when have I become so easy to read? Or this just another case of you showing off your skills in social studies, psychology, etc. ?


And since you guys are showing off Fluttershy in costumes, have some Satori Komeiji.



And on other news, I have been thinking about starting on a new pony drawing after this four month hiatus.

I'll probably base it on my "unwritten fanfic", like "It is Already Too Late", "Arcane Trixie", "Everfree", and "Let The Sleeping Giants Lie". So it'll essentially be a part of the so called "Arcane Set", which takes place in an alternate timeline somewhere in the near future. It's basically an anime styled fantasy story of FiM, or simply like a JRPG.

I'll even include a short quote from one scene of the fic that I wrote well over a year ago. Now I just have to hope I get a satisfying enough scetch done, so that I can actually start on it. But unfortunately laziness, trade school, and internet won't let me get it finished anytime soon though.

We'll just have to wait and see.

Last edited Oct 28, 2012 at 06:13AM EDT

Muumi wrote:

Pretty much this.

Since when have I become so easy to read? Or this just another case of you showing off your skills in social studies, psychology, etc. ?

Nah it has nothing to do with Verbose. We just assume that Finns are sneaking around everywhere all the time.

(Yes, I will never stop bringing up Simo Hayha references. Just learn to live with it.)

(Twilight is not Lawful, Continued)

Someone Made a TL;TR Post in the Thread of blind survey on Twilight Sparkle's Alignment.

Again, See the thread Here .

I'll put what they Said in Spoilers, Not because it has spoilers, but because it's long… And I don't know how to quote Properly.

DeathQuaker: I don't know who this is, so I am only going by the description provided.


PRD wrote:
Lawful characters tell the truth, keep their word, respect authority, honor tradition, and judge those who fall short of their duties.


Her respect for authority seems to be based upon personal loyalties, not because they are authority figures. She only judges those who fall short of their duties when it is in relation to her own personal goals. The other items do not fit or there is not enough information. But so far it doesn't look like lawful is a good fit. Let's keep going.

Quote:
Chaotic characters follow their consciences, resent being told what to do, favor new ideas over tradition, and do what they promise if they feel like it.


She seems at least inclined to follow what she thinks is the correct course of action first (is skeptical of others, breaks rules if she needs to). The rest, not enough information (I don't know if she resents being told what to do, etc.). But chaotic looks vaguely more positive. Continuing on.

Quote:
Law implies honor, trustworthiness, obedience to authority, and reliability. On the downside, lawfulness can include closed-mindedness, reactionary adherence to tradition, self-righteousness, and a lack of adaptability. Those who consciously promote lawfulness say that only lawful behavior creates a society in which people can depend on each other and make the right decisions in full confidence that others will act as they should.


She seems to have no allegiance to honor. Trustworthiness I don't know--but her sometime reckless behavior may make her unreliable. She doesn't have especial obedience to authority (as noted above). Close-minded? Not sure--the skepticism was mentioned, but that's it. Reactionary adherence to tradition--nothing in that description implies that at all. Self-righteousness? Possibly, but in honesty, I think that's a poor descriptor for lawfulness--anyone can be self-righteous (it's how you back the righteousness that implies your ethos). She doesn't seem to lack adaptability--indeed, she seems to be both creative and have good tactics, so that would appear to be the opposite. And I don't see anything in the description that she would believe only lawful behavior creates a productive society.

Quote:
Chaos implies freedom, adaptability, and flexibility. On the downside, chaos can include recklessness, resentment toward legitimate authority, arbitrary actions, and irresponsibility. Those who promote chaotic behavior say that only unfettered personal freedom allows people to express themselves fully and lets society benefit from the potential that its individuals have within them.


She seems to hold her personal freedom as a high priority, and she seems adaptable and flexible, given she can be rigid and structured when required and fluid and following her emotions at other times. The items described hit reckless, arbitrary actions, and irresponsibility fairly well, at least at some moments. Don't know about resentment toward legitimate authority, but then again, her loyalty to the local authorities is based on personal relationships, not upon the social role they play. I don't her feelings on personal freedom and its contributions toward society.

Quote:
Someone who is neutral with respect to law and chaos has some respect for authority and feels neither a compulsion to obey nor a compulsion to rebel. She is generally honest, but can be tempted into lying or deceiving others.


All of these things also actually suit her fairly well, from what I can see in the description.

Based on the guidelines provided in the core rules, I'd say she is most likely chaotic or possibly neutral with regards to ethos.

And of course she doesn't have to match the descriptions precisely anyway, as they are guidelines but she hits most of the major points.

The only apparent arguments toward lawfulness in the OP, if I am reading between the lines correctly, is that she is logical and tactical and is capable of being personally orderly, but as noted in the quotation above, those items are not actually necessarily lawful traits. Being ordered and respecting external structures can be two quite different things.

Maybe if that thread does well enough, I can make another blind survey on Luna.

Last edited Oct 28, 2012 at 09:23AM EDT

@Rinsankajugin: Like everyone suggested, I'm just gonna wait. I dunno how long, probably until I've got a bunch or people stop sending 'em in.

@Badsitrep: I'm not dressing up as anything. When Assassin's Creed III was announced for the 30th, I cancelled any plans of doing Halloween stuff, as I will be in my room playing it as much as possible.

Right, this is probably my only post today, as I think I may be coming down with the flu and feel like total crap. I can't even type properly right now.

@Windigo: They may not have made one with the Pyro video, but yeah, there's no way THAT line was a coincidence.

Edit: Nope, not as much as I thought since he says stupid in the line and the trolls think he's bashing it. Heh, that's funny since Gabe said he was a fan and there was that video of the Sniper reading a letter to Celestia.

Last edited Oct 28, 2012 at 07:49PM EDT

mind if I drop in?


Anyway, I see the thread has derailed.

May I bring up a topic?


An alicorn's immortality.

Now, the series is descript in how they are 'immortal'. Meaning, they can't die naturally. This is evident by their millennia long life-spans.

However, what is the extent of this immortality? Sure, they may live forever, but suppose they are mortally wounded by physical means?

My theory is that their 'immortality' is similar to Elves of Middle Earth

Elves are described of being immortal in J.R.R. Tolkein's universe. They cannot die naturally and can recover from wounds that would normally kill a man. They live for extreme lengths, Elrond, as pictured, having fought in the War of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men some few thousand years before the War of the Ring.

However, they can still die of mortal physical wounds or of grief.

A notable inclusion is Haldir of Lorien. The elf who led the Silvan forces at the Battle of Hornburg (Helm's Deep). He died in battle at the hands of the Urak hai.

Now, Celestia and Luna, living in Equestria, naturally don't have much to worry about in those terms. Their world seemingly rarely experiences bloody conflict. But should it do, they do have magic on their side. That doesn't make them mortal to physical wounds, but it does provide a very powerful, near-impossible defense.

tl;dr Alicorns can live forever naturally, but are susceptible to mortal wounding and can die that way

Either way, do you think it's possibly they could die?

@Popperfett: You forgot the alicorn that helps your case the most.

Cadance is "living" proof that alicorns can be weakened. If you watch real Cadance's first scene plus This Day Aria, she's visibly weakened during the dance, she can't push the minecart (and for some reason I feel like we have canon that alicorns are physically stronger), and the only time she flies is to glide, suggesting her wings are damaged. She also doesn't use her magic at all in the caves, suggesting that it's weakened or gone. If alicorns can be severely weakened, then having an elf-like "immortality" doesn't seem like that much of a strech.

Sorry if that makes less sense than I think it does. I'm still feeling sick and can't really think straight.

Actually Popper, I've never bought into the idea that they can live forever, even under ideal circumstances. The way I see it, alicorns live a very, very long time, but eventually even they grow old and die. Evidence for this can be pointed out a number of ways.

First we have Cadance; from what we can tell, she wasn't created out of magic fairy dust or some other weird mystical means, she was born and grew up and can marry and have children like any other normal pony. Ergo, alicorns aren't supreme, supernatural, divine beings, they're just winged unicorns.

Further proof of alicorn non-immortality is Celestia and Luna; it would seem that they do not predate Equestria, and they certainly didn't found it. They haven't been around forever, and as a side note, it's quite possible they weren't always as powerful as they are currently. Heck, even now they aren't that much more powerful than other unicorns (except maybe Luna).

Anyway, the reason I count that stuff as evidence to the contrary of what you're saying is that the alicorns we know of were clearly not the first to come along. And if there were other alicorns born in the past, what happened to them? Why isn't the world completely crowded with undying winged unicorns? I say it's because they aren't immortal.

I'll even mention Granny Smith. There's a good chance she, a mere earth pony, is hundreds of years old. If even the least magical type of pony is able to live that long, why not alicorns for thousands of years?

So yeah, that's what I think about that.

Last edited Oct 28, 2012 at 11:18PM EDT

@Alicorns:

You guys are assuming Cadence and the royal sisters are even on the same level. I tend to think they aren't. It's like the Muses to Zeus and Poseidon. The Muses are certainly not mere humans, but they aren't gods. I think the royal sisters aren't just alicorns, they're alicorn rulers. Chances are it has to do with the Elements of Harmony, of which they were the first wielders of. I tend to think it granted them immortality, whereas most alicorns did not have that.

That explains the lack of alicorns. To back that up, I'd say that the alicorn lines were muddled with the lines of the other tribes, so there are unicorns like Blueblood in the royal line, but still the rare alicorn, like Cadence. Chances are not all alicorns are divine beings, since Cadence just seems to exhibit skills that relate to her cutie mark, like any normal pony. Celestia and Luna do the same, except their skills are monumental things that required a whole race to accomplish before.

I'm of the opinion that the sisters are just immortal in the sense of age. Celestia was defeated by the buffed-up Chrysalis, so they're not invincible. They're the only alicorns that are like this, though. If you're skeptical of this, Cadence aged at the same rate as a normal pony, and she is obviously still very young, about Shining Armor's age, and has seemingly stopped growing. So, I sense a lack of divine mystic stuff going on.

While we have no proof that Cadance is on the same level as Celestia and Luna, we also have no proof that she isn't. One thing that's worth pointing out is how

Cadance rules the Crystal Empire, which suggests a ruler=alicorn relationship (see also Chrysalis), and that makes me wonder if there is a, shall we say, supernatural quality to all of them, which merits them the ruler status.

Besides, I want to take back into discussion Popperfett's original comparison of alicorns to Tolkien-style elves. In his stories, elves are born like humans, and grow like humans (albeit slower if I remember my lore right). The only difference is, after they reach maturity, they age at an extremely slow rate compared to humans. Now I want to compare with Cadance again. We know that she aged at a "normal" rate when she was younger (see Twilight's flashback compared to "present time"), so the slowed maturing is not the same. However, present Cadance looks similar to Celestia and Luna in age, maybe a bit younger-looking, but still close, which makes me think that aging is drastically slowed after alicorn maturity. Hence how Celestia and Luna didn't just kind of "appear".

One more point, related to the elves: Elf fertility is a lot lower than human fertility. If you keep going down that comparison route, it explains why the world is "crowded with undying winged unicorns".

If you keep drawing comparisons to elves, then the limited immortality comes up again.


There's also the possibility that alicorns are natural mutations, like an evolved form of pony that's slowly becoming prevalent. Celestia and Luna could be the first of the alicorns, which have the natural traits of wings, horn, and extremely long life. It's possible that they were hailed as avatars of goddesses and made queens. This mutation extremely rarely asserts itself, as we know of three alicorns, canonically. Note that I totally just made this theory up.

Last edited Oct 29, 2012 at 12:01AM EDT

Yup, I get the impression that being an Alicorn gives you a [magically?] enhanced life span by a significant magnitude and that seems to be about it as far as godliness goes.

Super magic powers, super strength and rulership still seem to be factors that you need to earn like everyone else.

@Alicorn Stuff

My personal Head Cannon is a bit tilted, that's due to my mind having to describe Equestria in DnD and Pathfinder RPG Terms.

It works most of the time though, at least to keep me satisfied.

Immortality- I assume that Immortality is a definite possibility; whether this is because they are Alicorns or through another method is uncertain though. However, I do think they can die; not even Gods are invincible in a fantasy setting like Equestria.
God-Status- Possible, however I doubt their Deity Status would be very high. Probably only that of a Demi-Goddess on the cusp of a Lesser Deity. In which they probably have a few neat divine Tricks, but only mild ones that are thoroughly draining. Assuming one can become a deity in Equestria, that would explain both their relative rarity, and their status as Ruler; as well as the possibility they weren't always Alicorns. Also, Divinity usually grants a form of immortality, even to the lowest ranks.
Reincarnation/Rejuvenation- Anyone remember how Nightmare Moon Reverted to a Young-ish Alicorn when she returned to being Luna? I like to think that this is a case of one of Several possible Proofs of Alicorns having non-linear life spans. And that if they do die, they come back again in a relatively Suitable form. However, the length of time may vary considerably.

And a special Note on Pathfinder RPG Specific ways to describe them:
Sorcerer's Bloodline, Celestial : In my Head cannon, the prerequisite to being a unicorn would be to have at least one kind of Sorcerer's Bloodline. However, I don't think it matters which one. So it is quite likely that Luna and Celestia just happened to win the "Sorcerous Bloodline Lottery" and ended up being descended from Angels or something. And that bloodline Gives… You guessed it! Wings! Doesn't say anything about Longevity though.

-Of course, Pathfinder also Cites Alchemy, Wizardry, Certain kinds of Monk Training, Being an Oracle of Time, and various other methods as ways into Immortality. Its quite possible that the two had a chance to at least learn the Wizard's way to do it; Which is, likely, incredibly easy considering that in the mane 6 seems to be describable in terms of ridiculously high levels of power already. (My estimate? Level 40+ As of Season 2's end. Not to mention whatever Levels of Ninja they all Acquired.)

TL:DR? Probably immortal. The chance they aren't, even after a thousand years to figure out a way, at this point is incredibly unlikely.

Conjecture is all well and good, but for me, it all comes down to what evidence we have, and do not have.

>We do have at least a some evidence for limited alicorn lifespans and magic, thanks to exceedingly low alicorn population and Chrysalis' altercation with Celestia, respectively. We have very little proof in the way of confirming complete agelessness except for the fact that the royal sisters have been alive for over a thousand years. This, however, does not preclude the possibility of simply being long-lived.

>We have zero proof that the Elements of Harmony (the relics themselves) grant any special attributes to their bearers.

>We have little evidence that alicorns are born on vastly different tiers, since we have yet to see Luna or Celestia at a very young age. This point is further blurred by certain S3 spoilers.

>We do have an indication that alicorn physiology is affected by magic, as in the case of Luna (many times over).

>We know that the changing of day to night and back can be (and was) done by ordinary unicorns, but we don't know how many. Two? Five? Ten? No idea, but it's doubtful that it required the entire race.

>As to rulership, I'd like to point out that it appears that the royal sisters were not in charge until they defeated Discord. They were not born into their positions of authority.

>We know that magical prowess is enhanced by study, as we've seen Twilight grow more and more adept with her powers as the series has progressed. Therefore, it's not unreasonable to assume that the seemingly enormous magical abilities of the royal sisters can be attributed mostly to how long they've been around, in combination with the greater natural potential of the alicorn kind.

Taking all of this into account, this is the explanation that I think best summarizes what an alicorn is. They are simply ponies, no different from any other except that they have been gifted with the magic of all the other pony kinds at once. They age at a normal pace until reaching maturity, where their unique blend of magic preserves them for a prolonged period of time. This power is able to change other aspects of their physiology as well, more easily than with normal ponies. (Emphasis on more easily, because Twilight Sparkle has clearly shown us that magic can be used by ordinary unicorns to affect transformations.) Their ability to control magic is directly affected by both greater potential and long life. And their rule, if any, must be earned or assigned, not assumed.

@Alicorns

Millennial Dan wrote:

I’ll even mention Granny Smith. There’s a good chance she, a mere earth pony, is hundreds of years old. If even the least magical type of pony is able to live that long, why not alicorns for thousands of years?

There's a good chance she just inserted herself into an old family legend, you know.

But regardless of that, I take issue with the assertion that earth ponies are less magical. They aren't, their brand of mystic power just manifests in subtler ways, so it's harder to notice. The most visible is their ability in agriculture, but they also seem to posses far greater physical fortitude than either of the other ponies. They're also much more adaptable, since they work in a wide variety of professions, while pegasi and unicorns gravitate towards a small set of specialist roles.

So, if any ponies have the benefit of a long lifespan, I'd say it's the earth ponies. After all, good old-fashioned physical health is much more reliable than some mystic's mumbo-jumbo when it comes to combating the wear and tear of time.

Millennial Dan wrote:

We know that magical prowess is enhanced by study, as we’ve seen Twilight grow more and more adept with her powers as the series has progressed.

That might not necessarily be the case. Remember the name of the show? Her power may have increased due to the deepening of her friendships. Of course, raw power is useless if you can't channel it properly, so study is still an important factor.

Millennial Dan wrote:

We know that the changing of day to night and back can be (and was) done by ordinary unicorns, but we don’t know how many. Two? Five? Ten? No idea, but it’s doubtful that it required the entire race.

Well, I'm not so sure of that. This is, after all, one of the least well-explained parts of Equestrian lore and comes from a somewhat dubious source (adaptations based on historical facts often twist them so that they make for a better story or to be more politically correct). It could well be that the unicorns lied about their ability to control celestial objects in order to gain political leverage, and used mass illusion spells to cause a fake eclipse or the like whenever doubt was cast on them.

Alternatively, the unicorns didn't directly control the heavens; instead they called out to the divine spirits that did. What divine spirits, you ask? Celestia and Luna, of course.

Here's a little theory to make the above theory work:

Alicorns are only born in very specific circumstances, when an immaterial spirit wants to become manifest, which is usually when it wants to step in and assume leadership of a group of mortals. However, since a being made essentially from pure magic is vastly different to mortal beings, they'd have a very difficult time associating with and understanding their subjects.

So, they need a host body that understands the needs and desires of mortals. Of course, said body also needs to stand out. So, they arrange for a pony to be born an alicorn and merge with them. They allow the alicorn to develop a mortal's personality, but always sit in the back of their mind, subtly manipulating them towards their desired goals.

So Celestia and Luna are the spirits of sun and moon made manifest. Presumably the ponies ran into some difficulty deciding who should be the leader of this newfound nation of Equestria, so the twin spirits decided to step in and solve the problem, rather than let the ponies lapse back into tribal barbarism.

There's some further support for this theory, based on the info we have of season 3:

Cadence seems to have appeared at an awfully convenient time, no? An empire stuck in time warp suddenly appears and she's appointed leader by virtue of being the only available alicorn around. I very much doubt that's all random chance.

Wow, you've all clearly put a of of thought into these theories… Really interesting to read, actually.

I've always just seen alicorns as some sort of super-beings; born via magic because their presence was required to stop Discord. Then they stayed to rule and protect the land of Equestria, since their powers seem to be greater than those of any ordinary unicorn (and they can fly) they make natural leaders.

Of course, it looks like alicorns each have some sort of special talent as well, which defines what sort of magic they are most adept at. Are they gods? I wouldn't say so, but they certainly are powerful beings. Although they have never had any conflicts with regular ponies in the show, it looks like the only beings that can stop an alicorn are other semi-god-like creatures like Chrysalis or Discord. The elements of harmony combined seem to have this power as well.

That being said, I know nothing about season 3 or any alicorn-related spoilers therein.

Brownmane the Knight wrote:

That might not necessarily be the case. Remember the name of the show? Her power may have increased due to the deepening of her friendships. Of course, raw power is useless if you can’t channel it properly, so study is still an important factor.


But what if also Alicorns gain their powers through the bonds they form with normal ponies? So as long as they have friends and subjects, they will live forever. When old friends pass on, they would just form new bonds.

So that way, they couldn't die of old age, but they could still die of loneliness. (makes more sense than dying of grief)

And what if the magic of friendship works like a web, and all the friends Twilight makes, also makes Celestia stronger? (insert Conspiracy Keanu picture here)


Of course that brings up the question of how Nightmare Moon survived the thousand years of solitude on the moon.

But then on the other hand, she was pretty much posessed the entire time, so I dunno if she really was "alone" there (Alicorn + Split Personality = Immortality? lolwut). Anyways, after her "Friend" for a thousand years was destroyed by the Elements, she was in a severely weakened state, but slowly grew stronger again through new bonds, and by reforming the bond she had with Celestia in the past.


…And yet again, we're overanalyzing a childrens TV show. Just like the good old days.

Last edited Oct 29, 2012 at 10:58AM EDT

Muumi wrote:

Brownmane the Knight wrote:

That might not necessarily be the case. Remember the name of the show? Her power may have increased due to the deepening of her friendships. Of course, raw power is useless if you can’t channel it properly, so study is still an important factor.


But what if also Alicorns gain their powers through the bonds they form with normal ponies? So as long as they have friends and subjects, they will live forever. When old friends pass on, they would just form new bonds.

So that way, they couldn't die of old age, but they could still die of loneliness. (makes more sense than dying of grief)

And what if the magic of friendship works like a web, and all the friends Twilight makes, also makes Celestia stronger? (insert Conspiracy Keanu picture here)


Of course that brings up the question of how Nightmare Moon survived the thousand years of solitude on the moon.

But then on the other hand, she was pretty much posessed the entire time, so I dunno if she really was "alone" there (Alicorn + Split Personality = Immortality? lolwut). Anyways, after her "Friend" for a thousand years was destroyed by the Elements, she was in a severely weakened state, but slowly grew stronger again through new bonds, and by reforming the bond she had with Celestia in the past.


…And yet again, we're overanalyzing a childrens TV show. Just like the good old days.

Only this time you're actually participating in the discussion Muumi, a rare occurance, as normally a post of you requires a summon through the sacrifice of 3 virgin mares, so that the red Norwegian moon can make its rise from the blood of their hymens.

That or free art sharing opportunities.

Skeletor-sm

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