My Little Pony

FAN: Discuss various fictional worlds that don't qualify for SF.

Moderator: Steve

Locked
User avatar
Zixinus
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 6663
Joined: 2007-06-19 12:48pm
Location: In Seth the Blitzspear
Contact:

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Zixinus »

Zor wrote:I have just realized this...

1-Word of Faust is that they reproduce like any other mammal, they just leave out the details of which for obvious reasons
2-The Newborn Unicorns at the ward had horns.

Ouch...

Zor
The horns do not seem to be sharp though. In fact, I think only Luna as Nightmare Moon has a truly "sharp" horn. Celestia herself seem to have a rounded horn and so does Luna. Sweetie Belle's horn is also pretty rounded. So it may not be that bad...
Credo!
Chat with me on Skype if you want to talk about writing, ideas or if you want a test-reader! PM for address.
User avatar
RogueIce
_______
Posts: 13385
Joined: 2003-01-05 01:36am
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida, USA
Contact:

Re: My Little Pony

Post by RogueIce »

Serafina wrote:I don't doubt that Twilight could use such magic if she wanted to. However, teleporting would work just as well. It might also be that that spell only works on transparent objects, and thickness might play a role as well
This works really well. As a matter of difficulty.

For instance, Pumpkin went through the mesh of a playpen, not a solid wall. Plus she's a tiny filly, not a full-grown pony. Twilight probably could phase through walls, but it would be a lot more effort for her. And why expend that effort when it's likely easier to just teleport?

Kinda like in Sonic Rainboom. She gave Rarity wings (and the ability to walk on clouds) but that single spell took a lot out of her, and apparently had a hard time limit on it if memory serves. Later on she managed to find another spell that simply gave the others the ability to walk on clouds for a time, which was apparently easier as she gave it to AJ, Pinkie and herself. I don't know if there was a time limit on that, but probably.

Besides which, how often does phasing through a wall really come in handy, anyway? It's not like she even uses her teleporting except for when she's trying to chase someone down or something. She seems otherwise perfectly content to just walk from place to place, as well as make use of these things called "doors" they have in Ponyville. :wink:

EDIT: Oh, and as for Pound flying and not Scootaloo, I think it's mental. Pound doesn't have to "think" about it, it's just instinctual. Like the earlier babies swimming example.

There's precedent here, too. We all know Fluttershy can be a perfectly strong flyer, she just has to have the proper motivation. Otherwise, it seems her lower confidence and general shyness tend to inhibit her (plus fear outright paralyzing her wings in the worst case). Although, to note some character development, Fluttershy does seem to be flying a bit more often this season, perhaps because she is feeling a bit more confident about herself, at least around her friends.

Anyway, Scoots could have a similar problem. Except in her case of idolizing Rainbow Dash, she's tending to overthink it. Trying to live up to too much too fast, that her poor filly wings can't cope. Or it's in her head and she's not letting herself just be herself and this her "magic" just isn't there. Kinda like the whole Cutie Mark thing. Flying is so important to her and such a big deal that she's keeping herself grounded, kinda. I'm having a tough time putting this into words, but I hope you get my general idea.

Also: Applejack episode next week! Yay! Whoo hoo! :D

I actually have an idea for what I'd like to see, though admittedly it is incredibly fanfic-y and I doubt it's the direction they'll go (and I'd hardly be disappointed if they didn't). Maybe I'll post it up a bit later.
Image
"How can I wait unknowing?
This is the price of war,
We rise with noble intentions,
And we risk all that is pure..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, Forever (Rome: Total War)

"On and on, through the years,
The war continues on..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, We Are All One (Medieval 2: Total War)
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight
User avatar
lordofchange13
Jedi Knight
Posts: 838
Joined: 2010-08-01 07:54pm
Location: Kandrakar, the center of the universe and the heart of infinity

Re: My Little Pony

Post by lordofchange13 »

RogueIce wrote: I actually have an idea for what I'd like to see, though admittedly it is incredibly fanfic-y and I doubt it's the direction they'll go (and I'd hardly be disappointed if they didn't). Maybe I'll post it up a bit later.
Please do.

Has there been any information on if and when we will get a episode based in cloudsdale? Im really interested to see a little bit of Pegasus society, a well as the Griffins and other non-pony sophants.
"There is no such thing as coincidence in this world - there is only inevitability"
"I consider the Laws of Thermodynamics a loose guideline at best!"
"Set Flamethrowers to... light electrocution"
It's not enough to bash in heads, you also have to bash in minds.
Tired is the Roman wielding the Aquila.
User avatar
Crossroads Inc.
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 9233
Joined: 2005-03-20 06:26pm
Location: Defending Sparkeling Bishonen
Contact:

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

Ok, as far as "pony genetics' go... We have to consider something.

For thousands of years, the ponies were seerated by 'race'.
The Pegasis Ponies, Unicorn Ponies, and Earth Ponies all lived very sepperate, and as seen in "Hearthwarming Eve' all hated each other.

Now, I don't know about you, but as far as I am concered ponies HAVE to breed true.
Otherwise what happens when a Pegasis pony gives birth to an Earth pony? Or a Unicorn gives birth to a Pegasis?

Sure today it would be raised by loving parents, or at worst put up for adoption.
But thousands of years ago?

We are faced with the idea that if IF This new system is correct, it means that these seperate groups might have given birth to a pony type not their own and...well... I may not want to think about what was done to it.

Untill I see more evidance of one Pony type giving birth to another, my head canon remains unchanged.
Praying is another way of doing nothing helpful
"Congratulations, you get a cookie. You almost got a fundamental English word correct." Pick
"Outlaw star has spaceships that punch eachother" Joviwan
Read "Tales From The Crossroads"!
Read "One Wrong Turn"!
User avatar
Serafina
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 5246
Joined: 2009-01-07 05:37pm
Location: Germany

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Serafina »

That problem is easily solved via alleles.

If Earthponies, Unicorns and Pegasi didn't interbreed back then, their children could not inherit any alleles from any other pony-race.
It's really like hair colors. If a population doesn't have the genes for blonde hair, no children will inherit them. Only after the population starts to interbreed with another which has the genes for blonde hair, some children might inherit it.
SoS:NBA GALE Force
"Destiny and fate are for those too weak to forge their own futures. Where we are 'supposed' to be is irrelevent." - Sir Nitram
"The world owes you nothing but painful lessons" - CaptainChewbacca
"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one." - Wilhelm Stekel
"In 1969 it was easier to send a man to the Moon than to have the public accept a homosexual" - Broomstick

Divine Administration - of Gods and Bureaucracy (Worm/Exalted)
Crazedwraith
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 11863
Joined: 2003-04-10 03:45pm
Location: Cheshire, England

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Crazedwraith »

Anyone got a link to this weeks ep?
User avatar
Serafina
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 5246
Joined: 2009-01-07 05:37pm
Location: Germany

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Serafina »

You can find them on EquestriaDaily

SoS:NBA GALE Force
"Destiny and fate are for those too weak to forge their own futures. Where we are 'supposed' to be is irrelevent." - Sir Nitram
"The world owes you nothing but painful lessons" - CaptainChewbacca
"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one." - Wilhelm Stekel
"In 1969 it was easier to send a man to the Moon than to have the public accept a homosexual" - Broomstick

Divine Administration - of Gods and Bureaucracy (Worm/Exalted)
User avatar
lordofchange13
Jedi Knight
Posts: 838
Joined: 2010-08-01 07:54pm
Location: Kandrakar, the center of the universe and the heart of infinity

Re: My Little Pony

Post by lordofchange13 »

Crazedwraith wrote:Anyone got a link to this weeks ep?
Damn, i knew there was something i forgot to do yesterday.

Is Zecora's suppose to be a whole fourth group or are they some sort of cousin to earth ponies?
"There is no such thing as coincidence in this world - there is only inevitability"
"I consider the Laws of Thermodynamics a loose guideline at best!"
"Set Flamethrowers to... light electrocution"
It's not enough to bash in heads, you also have to bash in minds.
Tired is the Roman wielding the Aquila.
User avatar
Crossroads Inc.
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 9233
Joined: 2005-03-20 06:26pm
Location: Defending Sparkeling Bishonen
Contact:

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Crossroads Inc. »

From what we have seen of Zecora's "Magic", Earthpony offshoot is most logical.

I wouldn't be surprised if all three versions had different colored offshoots.
Praying is another way of doing nothing helpful
"Congratulations, you get a cookie. You almost got a fundamental English word correct." Pick
"Outlaw star has spaceships that punch eachother" Joviwan
Read "Tales From The Crossroads"!
Read "One Wrong Turn"!
User avatar
RogueIce
_______
Posts: 13385
Joined: 2003-01-05 01:36am
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida, USA
Contact:

Re: My Little Pony

Post by RogueIce »

Haven't seen it mentioned, but Lauren Faust has an FAQ up on her deviantART page. Among other things, she addresses AJ's parents:
Lauren Faust wrote:Q: Where are Applejack's parents?

To put it bluntly, we just never figured it out. I just liked the feeling of them living with their Granny, but keeping the family dynamic tight and small. To be honest, I would like to simply say that they passed away somehow, but it's just it would have likely been deemed too sad for a kids' show and I don't think it would have ever been approved. There was brief discussion of them being traveling salesponies or explorers, but since we never needed the information in an episode, nothing was ever made official. So it will have to remain a mystery until someone decides to define it.
Strikethrough and italics as originally posted.

So, not a huge surprise there, but at least she kinda goes with AJ's tragic backstory.

She did say that it's likely to have been deemed too sad but not for sure. Maybe Hasbro might give it a chance? Assuming any of the showrunners decide to ask, of course.
Image
"How can I wait unknowing?
This is the price of war,
We rise with noble intentions,
And we risk all that is pure..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, Forever (Rome: Total War)

"On and on, through the years,
The war continues on..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, We Are All One (Medieval 2: Total War)
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight
User avatar
madd0ct0r
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 6259
Joined: 2008-03-14 07:47am

Re: My Little Pony

Post by madd0ct0r »

going back to genetics:

there's
earth ponies
zebras
pegasi
unicorns
alicorns

seperate allelles for wings / no wings, horns / no horns and fold zebras in as a skin tone variant?
"Aid, trade, green technology and peace." - Hans Rosling.
"Welcome to SDN, where we can't see the forest because walking into trees repeatedly feels good, bro." - Mr Coffee
User avatar
Starglider
Miles Dyson
Posts: 8709
Joined: 2007-04-05 09:44pm
Location: Isle of Dogs
Contact:

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Starglider »

I don't know why you'd expect zebras to be interfertile with ponies any more than you'd expect buffalo, dragons or diamond dogs to be. They're probably a completely different species of talking quadruped.
User avatar
madd0ct0r
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 6259
Joined: 2008-03-14 07:47am

Re: My Little Pony

Post by madd0ct0r »

maybe, but they look more like ponies then pegasi do.
"Aid, trade, green technology and peace." - Hans Rosling.
"Welcome to SDN, where we can't see the forest because walking into trees repeatedly feels good, bro." - Mr Coffee
User avatar
lordofchange13
Jedi Knight
Posts: 838
Joined: 2010-08-01 07:54pm
Location: Kandrakar, the center of the universe and the heart of infinity

Re: My Little Pony

Post by lordofchange13 »

Starglider wrote:I don't know why you'd expect zebras to be interfertile with ponies any more than you'd expect buffalo, dragons or diamond dogs to be. They're probably a completely different species of talking quadruped.
I have been under the impression that Zebra's and domesticated Horses can be interbred in real life, and produce fertile offspring. That leads me to assume until in show evidence is given that Zebras of MLP can make children with at least earth ponies.
"There is no such thing as coincidence in this world - there is only inevitability"
"I consider the Laws of Thermodynamics a loose guideline at best!"
"Set Flamethrowers to... light electrocution"
It's not enough to bash in heads, you also have to bash in minds.
Tired is the Roman wielding the Aquila.
User avatar
Skgoa
Jedi Master
Posts: 1389
Joined: 2007-08-02 01:39pm
Location: Dresden, valley of the clueless

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Skgoa »

Zecora is the only non-pony character who has a cutie mark and lives like a (caricature african) pony.
http://www.politicalcompass.org/test
Economic Left/Right: -7.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.74

This is pre-WWII. You can sort of tell from the sketch style, from thee way it refers to Japan (Japan in the 1950s was still rebuilding from WWII), the spelling of Tokyo, lots of details. Nothing obvious... except that the upper right hand corner of the page reads "November 1931." --- Simon_Jester
Crazedwraith
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 11863
Joined: 2003-04-10 03:45pm
Location: Cheshire, England

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Crazedwraith »

lordofchange13 wrote:
Starglider wrote:I don't know why you'd expect zebras to be interfertile with ponies any more than you'd expect buffalo, dragons or diamond dogs to be. They're probably a completely different species of talking quadruped.
I have been under the impression that Zebra's and domesticated Horses can be interbred in real life, and produce fertile offspring. That leads me to assume until in show evidence is given that Zebras of MLP can make children with at least earth ponies.
Not according to wiki or Whatever's that worth.

Zecora is generally referred to as a Zebra. There's no indication she's related to any race of pony. Apple Bloom also makes a distinction between her and ponies. ("I've heard that from everypony i know. And now ever zebra I know)
RogueIce wrote: I actually have an idea for what I'd like to see, though admittedly it is incredibly fanfic-y and I doubt it's the direction they'll go (and I'd hardly be disappointed if they didn't). Maybe I'll post it up a bit later.
Oooh! ooh! Go on!

In fact lets all share fanwanky episode ideas! After seeing Veggie55's grown up Scootaloo comics on DA I really want to see an episode where Rainbow tries to teach Scoot to fly. Scoot doesn't really pick it up well and becomes dejects and RD reassures her and points out she should just be herself and not try to be RD. RD could point out all the rest of the mane six are her friends and are nothing like her but are nevertheless awesome ponies. So there we go! A scoots episode but with some potential for RD to show off her non-assholey selfcentredside.
User avatar
lordofchange13
Jedi Knight
Posts: 838
Joined: 2010-08-01 07:54pm
Location: Kandrakar, the center of the universe and the heart of infinity

Re: My Little Pony

Post by lordofchange13 »

Crazedwraith: I don't see anything in the article that says Horses and Zebra's cannot create fertile offspring as a rule, nor any real mention at all. Their is also no indication that Zebra's aren't related to horses, The 2 groups being some kind of cousin race seems far more likely then having a completely different species that looks so similar to earth ponies but have absolutely no relation.
"There is no such thing as coincidence in this world - there is only inevitability"
"I consider the Laws of Thermodynamics a loose guideline at best!"
"Set Flamethrowers to... light electrocution"
It's not enough to bash in heads, you also have to bash in minds.
Tired is the Roman wielding the Aquila.
Crazedwraith
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 11863
Joined: 2003-04-10 03:45pm
Location: Cheshire, England

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Crazedwraith »

Second paragraph of the Types section:
The Wiki wrote: A zorse is the offspring of a male zebra and a female horse. This cross is also called a zebrula, zebrule, zebra mule or golden zebra. The rarer reverse pairing is sometimes called a horbra, hebra, zebrinny or zebret. Like most other animal hybrids, the zorse is sterile.[1]
All I'm saying is that MLP's Zebras are no more or less closely related to ponies than they are in real life.
User avatar
lordofchange13
Jedi Knight
Posts: 838
Joined: 2010-08-01 07:54pm
Location: Kandrakar, the center of the universe and the heart of infinity

Re: My Little Pony

Post by lordofchange13 »

Curse your evidence!
"There is no such thing as coincidence in this world - there is only inevitability"
"I consider the Laws of Thermodynamics a loose guideline at best!"
"Set Flamethrowers to... light electrocution"
It's not enough to bash in heads, you also have to bash in minds.
Tired is the Roman wielding the Aquila.
User avatar
Revy
Jedi Knight
Posts: 575
Joined: 2008-06-24 05:46pm

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Revy »

There's also this from Bridle Gossip (my bold):
Twilight: She's a zebra.
Everyone but Twilight: A what!?
Twilight: A zebra, and her stripes aren't a fashion choice Rarity, they're what she was born with.
Rarity: [faints]
Applejack: Born where? I've never seen a pony like that in these parts. Except....her!
Twilight: Well, she's probably not from here. And she's not a pony. My book says that zebras come from a far away land. But I've never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?
"And the writers sayeth unto the firmament: let there be a hokey plot convenience! And lo, I sayeth it shall be a curse upon Voyager, and all the people who dwell within, and they shall surely feeleth like a collection of jackasses."
User avatar
lordofchange13
Jedi Knight
Posts: 838
Joined: 2010-08-01 07:54pm
Location: Kandrakar, the center of the universe and the heart of infinity

Re: My Little Pony

Post by lordofchange13 »

Still it just seems very weird for to completely different species to inhabit the same world but not be related. This question cannot be fully put to rest in my mind till the show has a least one other Zebra character.

Crazedwraith: though i have always held Wikipedia to be a fairly reliable source of scientific information, I do know for carton that there have been Zorses that were in fact fertile.
"There is no such thing as coincidence in this world - there is only inevitability"
"I consider the Laws of Thermodynamics a loose guideline at best!"
"Set Flamethrowers to... light electrocution"
It's not enough to bash in heads, you also have to bash in minds.
Tired is the Roman wielding the Aquila.
User avatar
Skgoa
Jedi Master
Posts: 1389
Joined: 2007-08-02 01:39pm
Location: Dresden, valley of the clueless

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Skgoa »

A zebra is not a pony. News at 11!
http://www.politicalcompass.org/test
Economic Left/Right: -7.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.74

This is pre-WWII. You can sort of tell from the sketch style, from thee way it refers to Japan (Japan in the 1950s was still rebuilding from WWII), the spelling of Tokyo, lots of details. Nothing obvious... except that the upper right hand corner of the page reads "November 1931." --- Simon_Jester
Rossum
Padawan Learner
Posts: 422
Joined: 2010-04-07 04:21pm

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Rossum »

Zebras are related to horses (and ponies) but they are too distant to be fully genetically compatible. I'm sure in the MLP universe the ponies and zebras shared a common ancestry before one group left to a distant land and the two groups evolved (or magically changed) separately. Zecoras "cutie mark" is a simple black and white design unlike many pony cutie marks which are colored pictures of things. So its likely that their common ancestor had some kind of primitive cutie mark and when the groups separated they each evolved their kinds of marks.


Oh, and regarding the twins:

The wikipedia article on mules mentions that the size and strength of a mule depends greatly on the mother. A mule born by a horse is larger than one born by a donkey due to the larger size of the mother. So... it could be that the twins show greater flying or magical abilities because Mrs. Cake is an earth pony.

Like, all ponies have a reserve of magic inside them and while unicorns and pegasai use that magic to cast spells and fly around, earth ponies keep it inside and either use it to stimulate plant growth or just build up their endurance. But pony mothers also use their magic to make their children healthy, so earth pony mothers tend to have stronger children due to a larger magic reserve. Its just that everyone expects earth ponies to be big and strong so when a unicorn or pegasai is born to an earth pony and displays huge magic or flying ability then everyone acts all surprised.

Certainly not something that would get addressed in a childrens show but I'm sure some weird fanfic somewhere might get some use out of it. Even if its set in some horrible violent setting:

Unicorn Supremacist 1: Earth ponies are weak and non-magical, they should be exterminated for their own good!
Unicorn Supremacist 2: But if we kill them all then WE'D have to do all the work.
Pegasai: Yeah, plus pegasai born to earth pony mothers are stronger than those born otherwise and make EXCELLENT WARRIORS!
Unicorn Supremacist 1: ...
Unicorn Supremacist 2: ...
Pegasai: What? My great great great grandfather was Genghis Colt, one doesn't conquer half the known world by being a prude.
Fry: No! They did it! They blew it up! And then the apes blew up their society too. How could this happen? And then the birds took over and ruined their society. And then the cows. And then... I don't know, is that a slug, maybe? Noooo!

Futurama: The Late Philip J. Fry
User avatar
Executor32
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 2088
Joined: 2004-01-31 03:48am
Location: In a Georgia courtroom, watching a spectacle unfold

Re: My Little Pony

Post by Executor32 »

DERPY SPEAKS!

Also, proof that Derpy Hooves is her canon name, and Ditzy Doo must be a different character.
どうして?お前が夜に自身お触れるから。
Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shape-shifting Master of Darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil,
but a foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow
was struck, I tore open a portal in time and flung him into the future, where my evil is law! Now, the fool
seeks to return to the past, and undo the future that is Aku...
-Aku, Master of Masters, Deliverer of Darkness, Shogun of Sorrow
User avatar
TronPaul
Padawan Learner
Posts: 232
Joined: 2011-12-05 12:12pm

Re: My Little Pony

Post by TronPaul »

Executor32 wrote:DERPY SPEAKS!

Also, proof that Derpy Hooves is her canon name, and Ditzy Doo must be a different character.
Derpy could still be a nickname, but yea the episode had a lot of stuff for bronies. Pinkie's forever alone face then her getting her demon rage on, plus Derpy!
If it waddles like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it's a KV-5.
Vote Electron Standard, vote Tron Paul 2012
Locked