A Gift from Celestia: Chapter 6 · 10:39pm Aug 26th, 2014
First, a huge thanks to my pre-readers!
Metallusionismagic, AShadowOfCygnus, Punintended Consequences, and Yrfoxtaur.
Why do ponies have lightning? What's the purpose of lightning in a world where the pegasi control all the weather (besides that it's awesome)?
It's obvious why they have rain. They might like to keep small clouds around (white fluffies) in a mostly-clear sky, so that birds and pegasi have a place to land, but what's the point of lightning? Even if it isn't usually fatal to ponies (and canon evidence suggests that a direct hit isn't), it can damage trees, start fires, etc.
We know that in real life, lightning is caused by a difference in electrical potential between the sky and the ground (the kind we're concerned with, anyway—lightning can also go intracloud or cloud to cloud). Depending on where in the cloud it originates, it can be negative (bottom of the cloud, most obvious) or positive (top of cloud; can strike where an observer can't even see the cloud which caused it). It's really quite fascinating.
But back to the point at hand . . . why does it exist in Equestria? Well, depending on your view of their control of the weather systems, it could work just like IRL lightning . . . or my theory could be valid.
We know in canon that Ditzy has trouble with directions (if we assume that Ditzy and Derpy are the same pony, that is). How could it be, with as obvious a directional marker as Canterlot Castle, that she could get her directions wrong?
Well, I have trouble with directions. North and south are no problem, but I get east and west confused when I'm driving. One plausible explanation for that is when I was a kid, we lived four miles from Lake Huron. Aside from when we went to Lexington (which was the nearest port town/beach), whenever we wanted to go somewhere, we invariably traveled west—because we weren't cool enough to own an amphibious car. It's possible I came to associate leaving home as going west, and returning home as going east, and still initially think that way. Give me a moment to consider, and I'll usually get it right, but my first though is typically that I'm headed west, even if I'm not.
Totally unrelated, but freaking awesome.
There could be some landmark, or some instinct in Ditzy's upbringing that leads to her confusion of north and south—maybe the direction in which pegasi marathons were normally set up, for example. She might have even learned to associate a particular side of her body with 'turning north' or 'turning south'; she could also be used to magnetic/magical fields around Las Pegasus, and they're completely different over Ponyville. When she's in a hurry, and not thinking about it, she follows the pattern she's learned, even when it's not right. [I could write a separate blog post on this subject alone.]
Semi-related: when I took SCA dance classes, I always had trouble remembering which was right and which was left, and took to wearing a hair tie around a wrist, which served as a reminder. Recently I heard on NPR that one of the most effective way to correct children who are writing a number or letter backwards is to have them write it with a different color pencil—it works much faster than having them write hundreds of the letter over and over again. The reason is because the time it takes to switch pencils gives them time to think about what they're about to do, and then they typically get it right.
This segues neatly into our next topic: teaching physical movements. Anyone who has participated in sports or other physical activities knows how hard this can be. Again, I'll fall back on what I know, and that's teaching and learning mechanic's skills. Some of it is muscle memory, and that can't really be taught. Other motions can be learned by observation, and still others by difficult explanation. Reading a book on how to mount a tire is no substitute for watching someone do it, and then doing it yourself. I can describe the motions, I can tell you what you want to do with the tire spoon, how the lip of the tire has to sit over the duckhead on the machine . . . but there's also muscle memory and experience that tells me how hard I'm gonna have to push down on the sidewall to get it to do exactly what I want, and to smoothly use the foot controls on the machine. I can't really tell you precisely how that feels.
The only currency we've ever seen in the show is the 'bit.' I—and other authors—have surmised that just like dollars, pounds, euros, or whatever currency system your country uses, there are fractions of a bit used in small transactions. I personally like the idea of the ponies using a base 12 systems, and thus they have a 1/12 bit, 1/6 bit, ¼ bit, 1/3 bit, and ½ bit. Many monetary systems made use of fractional coins.
I remember having a grand total of three sex-ed classes during my time in public school. The first was in elementary school, and it was very vague. Mostly “don't touch or expose those parts.” Middle school covered more of the specifics of anatomy, and high school was a refresher.
When we're dealing with a nude culture, some of the rules change. While some authors assume that the ponies wear some kind of fur-colored underwear, I don't. By the time Ditzy would have had her class, she would have seen the naughty bits of both mares and stallions, and it would be assumed that her parents would have given her at least a general overview of what they were for, and so on.
I still think that the teacher would begin by giving the proper names for the anatomy (after all, by middle school I have to figure that most kids have figured out what they have, and probably have at least a rough idea of what the opposite sex has); after that the part that the school would likely be most interested in teaching the students would be reproductive health and the actual act of sex (and probably pregnancy as well). They'd want to teach it at an age before the ponies became sexually active, and maybe have a refresher class later.
All that having been said, here in the US there is some debate on what should be taught. I do remember that the books we got in middle school had an entire chapter cut out of the book [and I mean physically cut out]. I can't remember now what it was.
Ginger root has anti-nausea properties. Even when I was a kid, Ginger Ale (Vernors in Michigan) was the beverage of choice when you were nauseous.
obligatory cute Derpy pics!
Actually, a bit does NOT seem to buy all that much. I see a potential need for LARGER coins, but since they seem to go by weight in gold/silver, a 10 bit coin would probably be 10 times bigger, so until you start hitting the need for cheques or gems for large purchases which would be annoying to carry in gold, they simply use 1 bit coins.
As far as why they need lightning, there's always science reasons, though of course that's always flexible when magic is around.
Yay, Vernors!
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Why do you assume Bits are gold? There are plenty of alternative gold colored metals which would be significantly lighter and cheaper.
i.imgur.com/T8pShEz.jpg
It varies so much by episode, though, it's hard to be sure. I think we've seen 3 bits for a bushel of apples, two bits for a whole apple pie, and 20 bits for one cherry (which may make Cherry Berry about the second richest mare in Ponyville . . . no wonder she can afford that hot air balloon and helicopter she has).
Direct comparisons might be nearly impossible, anyway, since there's a lot we don't know. Were those the last cherries until the next harvest? Are the apples freshly-picked, or are they leftovers in the apple cellar? Does the Equestrian government subsidize prices?
We have heard 'cents' mentioned in canon, and apparently when Dr. Hooves bought apples from AJ for four bits, she told him he forgot his change--which suggests fractional.
Apparently, Fluttershy offered Cherry Berry silver coins to fly her to Cloudsdale. The only firm conclusion I can draw from that is they have more than one color of coin.
I actually envision that a lot of ponies buy and sell things on credit, and settle up at the end of the month. Day-to-day transactions at the market between two strangers might involve coins, but we've never seen Rarity hoof over any bits at the spa, have we? Given most ponies honest natures, this would certainly be a workable system in Ponyville.
It could also be that the coins have values printed on them (which we aren't seeing in the show), and there are 10 bit coins, 100 bit coins, and so on.
Given that most gems in the show are practically worthless (Spike eats them, Sweetie makes macaroni art out of them), maybe gold is, too. Especially now that they have a surplus from cleaning up after Rarity's redecorating of Ponyville.
2404113
The whole time I was writing the blog post, I was thinking to myself there's something useful lightning does besides set stuff on fire. I even actually thought of fulgurites, but was pretty sure they didn't provide any actual benefit.
Review of Vernors
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Protip: if you can command or summon giant eagles, you're officially a badass.
images.says.com/uploads/story_source/source_image/239254/7052.jpg
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Should I do a series of
sixseven humorous blog posts about why each of the girls (and Spike) is a total badass?2404295 We all know who the one real bad ass is around town.
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130106045738/mlp/images/9/93/Cranky_Mumbles_Doodle_S02E18.png
2404522
What about Mulia?
3.bp.blogspot.com/-UvRPqMqOx60/UC6N3FaxH2I/AAAAAAAAGmI/05YROWg6a-s/s1600/MotFE38.png
One of the main things lightning does in RL, is heat up the air to intese, plasma temperatures, causing cascade chemical reactions between the various componants of the air.
TL:DR.
Nitrogen fixation by ligtning fertilises the crops.
To an extent.
2404258
They also have 'cents.' I'm not entirely sure the word 'penny' was ever used, but 'cent' was. I'd assume it works like 'Murican monies, by percentage, but hell, it could still be some fraction.
Oh, and lightning. Well, my theory is that it works more or less the same way it does here. Though Equestrian clouds are always tiny and much closer to the ground. But yeah, I rather doubt that ponies invented clouds. They probably just learned how to tame them, and make them, a bajillion years ago. So they haven't changed a cloud's inherent properties (though they might have ways to control them). Lightning is a complex thing that's still not 100% understood. But basically, it's static electricity. Since pony clouds are still up in the air (most of the time) they're not grounded electrically. It's not surprising then, that they'd get a static charge.
Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Dash's house would gain a charge. Just by being up in the air.
In fact, Derpy shocking herself by jumping on a storm cloud makes perfect sense. She has a much more neutral charge than the cloud does. (But I'm not sure why jumping on it would trigger a discharge.)
Also, perhaps lightning isn't (as) lethal in Equestria simply because their clouds are smaller. Wouldn't it stand to reason that a smaller cloud, that's closer to the ground, would have a lower charge than one of our clouds? Because... pony clouds wouldn't even be able to gain as much of a charge as our clouds, because they're closer to the ground. You know, less distance (and hence resistance) to the ground = lower maximum charge capacity before discharging.
Fun thought: pegasi landing on clouds - any clouds - would probably get at least some static shock. And they'd probably avoid any stormy-looking clouds for fear of a much bigger jolt.
Regarding the bit, I wonder how well it would work if it were representing an amount of work done. I originally got the idea from a book I read years ago, where a currency called a work hour (or whirr) was used. Basic idea, you earn 1 whirr for every hour of work you do, and things cost based on the work put into them. Gems are cheap because a unicorn like Rarity can, with some help from Spike, collect dozens of gems in an hour. A bushel of apples costs less than a pie because the pie includes the time needed to bake it, not just the collection, sorting, and transport that a bushel of apples costs.
Would it work if that were the case, or does it not fit with the current cannon?
Gems are not exactly cheap. You can use 2 gems to ride the train round trip from Ponyville to the crystal empire with 4 ponies plus pets. You can use a gem to get a huge pet hair dryer. Gems are taken as a VERY good tip in Manehattan when Rarity gives them out.
Gems aren't easy to find unless you are Rarity.
Spike was probably provided with gems out of the treasury when he was in Canterlot, and now that he is in Ponyville, Twi probably gets gems for him from Rarity who I doubt charges her anywhere near full value for them.
¡Lightning!
All of the lightning we see in the show is in or around Ponyville. Ponyville is near the EverFreeForest. The EverFreeForest is wild. The electrical storms could come from the EverFreeForest.
¡Bases!
I prefer Sexagesimal (Base60). 60 is the least common multiple of all natural numbers 6 and less and is an highly composite number:
60 has 12 factors:
01 01
02 02
03 03
04 04
05 05
06 06
07 10
08 12
09 15
10 20
11 30
12 60
No number less than 60 has 12 factors. That is what the adverb “Highly” in Highly Composite means.
¡Currency!
Coins in denominations of 1/60th Bit, 1/30th Bit, 1/20th Bit, 15th Bit, 1/12th, 1/10th Bit, ⅙th Bit, ⅕th Bit, ¼th Bit, ⅓rd Bit, ½nd Bit, 1 Bit, 2 Bits, 3 Bits, 4 Bits, 5 Bits, 6 Bits, 10 Bits, 12 Bits, 15 Bits, 20 Bits, 30 Bits, 60 Bits are cool but, if we want efficiency, ¿how should we do it?:
Before we begin, let us see how some apes do it:
I know some apes using decimal (Base10). They found that if use only powers of 10 like .1, 1, and 10; they would have to use a great deal of coins for when prices fall between denominations, they had to use many coins of the smaller denominations. If they fill in the denominations such as those between 1 and 10 thus; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; they drowned in denominations. They ended up imposing powers of 2 over their system like thus:
000.01
000.02
000.05
000.10
000.25
000.50
001.00
002.00
005.00
010.00
025.00
050.00
100.00
¿Could one do better? ¡Yes!:
We need to get into RadixEconomy:
RadixEconomy is the base times the digits needed to represent a number. As an example Decimal (Base10) 4,294,967,295 is Binary (Base2) 1111,1111,1111,1111,1111,1111,1111,1111. The RadixEconomy of the 1st is 100 (10*10), while the 2nd is 64 (2*32).
It just so happens that CurrencyEfficiency is directly proportional to RadixEconomy. RadixEconomy is:
y=x/ln(x)
e has the highest RadixEconomy:
e ≈ 2.718281828459045
The closest integer is 3. Powers of 3 is the most efficient way to do currency. Let us use the example of ApeMoney again:
000.01
000.03
000.10
000.30
001.00
003.00
010.00
030.00
100.00
For random transactions, the number of coins required times the base (3) is lower than with any other scheme.
Denominations in Sexagesimal (Base60) and your preferred base DuoDecimal (Base12) are:
Sexagesimal (Base60):
01, 02, 06, 20, 60
DuoDecimal (Base12):
01, 04, 12
Thus we get for Sexagesimal:
60
20
06
02
01
½
⅙
1/20
1/60
Foir duodecimal, we get:
12
04
01
¼
1/12
RadixEconomy shows up all over the place. As an example, let us look at the PanScale:
PanScales have 2 pans and masses called weights, despite being masses. Let us suppose that one wishes to measure masses between 1 gram and 1 megagram (a metric ton). ¿What is the least number of weights one needs? One might think 20 weights:
1 1
2 2
3 4
4 8
5 16
6 32
7 64
8 128
9 256
10 512
11 1,024
12 2,048
13 4,096
14 8,192
15 16,384
16 32,768
17 65,536
18 131,072
19 262,144
20 524,288
The unexpressed assumption is that all weights are in the opposite pan of the measured material. ¿Why not put some weights as the pan of the weighted material? ¿Can we do better? ¡Yes we can with powers of 3!:
01 000,001
02 000,003
03 000,009
04 000,027
05 000,081
06 000,243
07 000,729
08 002,187
09 006,561
10 019,683
11 059,049
12 177,147
13 531,441
¡Only 13 weights!
748,578 grams would be:
1 + 531,441
2 + 177,147
3 + 59,049
4 - 19,683
5 0
6 0
7 - 729
8 0
9 - 81
10 - 27
11 0
12 + 3
13 0
I'm gonna call Patchouli* to convince you all that counting from 1 to 96 is cleraly superior as it is the highest number under 100 that is divisible by both 2 and 3.
*Touhou games
2404937
Well, technically fractions and percents are interchangable; it's just easier to say the fraction (or abbreviate the coinage). A half-penny could be called a half-percent, a 1:200 dollar, or whatever. Quarters and half-dollar coins take their name from their percentage of a whole dollar, whereas smaller coinage is just referred to by name (dime, nickel, penny). Two cent coins and half-cent coins were percentage . . . it's really kind of odd, when you think about it. Especially since one of the other nicknames for a quarter goes back to fractional money (two bits)--it's not like anyone that I'm aware of ever made a specific 12 1/2 cent coin called a 'bit.' [and here's where someone who knows a lot more about monetary systems and the history of the same is going to correct me, I'm sure].
Plausible, although how a pegasus can trigger lightning is still an interesting question.
I don't know if it's possible for there to be an arc if the charge is below a certain point. In part, I'm sure the distance it has to travel plays a factor, but I doubt it's enough to get lightning as we know it below the 'kill you dead' power.
Or would they pick up the same charge as the air around the cloud, and only get a shock when they touched back on the ground?
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I looked into 96. It does have some interesting properties, but as a base, it has only 2 prime factors (3*2^5). It has only 12 factors. I could be wrong but it seems to be that you chose 96 specifically because it is the largest number less than 100 with 2 and 3 as factors.
2406085
Hehehehehehe... they'd be getting shocked all the time.
2405036
In the broadest sense, that's how currency works. There is a wonderful fantasy fic which explains that as framed by a currency exchanger (the price of a horse as expressed in lemon drops).
In a more specific sense, that's how I'm paid. I get flat rate, which means that there is a labor guide which says how long a job should take, and that's what I make. Sometimes that's to my benefit (ball joints on a F-150), other times it is not (anything on a Volkswagen).
2405086
My theory is that different types of gems (wild vs. farm raised, for example) have different values, in a system which cannot be explained. Rarity et al leave the Diamond Dog caverns with potentially enough gems to buy
Francea medium-sized country, and Twilight also knows Rarity's spell . . . so why aren't the Mane 6 rolling in bits?2405149
That's quite true. Given the characters of the show, there is certainly a Ponyville bias, and we can't say with certainty that Ponyville is representative of Equestria as a whole. There may be no lightning anywhere else, for all we know.
I believe that this gives us writers a great latitude, and it's one reason why I shy away from making too many definite statements in blog posts.
While that's great for a lot of math, I can't see how such a system could have evolved <ignores Babylonians>. Base 12 (to the ponies) could have been a logical progression from the far less-satisfactory base 4 [four hooves]. Once they got into advanced math, base 4 numbers would get unmanageably large fairly quickly . . . and it would be apparent that each hoof is roughly triangular, giving them three points/hoof. Much like how some base 12 cultures IRL counted finger segments (three/finger times four . . .).
Plus, just imagine a system where you had to memorize sixty different numbers before you could start again. That would be incredibly unwieldy, despite the apparent utility of a base 60 system.
2406763
Maybe that's the real reason for 'wingboners.'
2407297
The Mane 6 are NOT rolling in bits because Rarity and Twilight have not thought of the idea of looking for more bits than they need. I mean Rarity is interested in her reputation and dressmaking. If she NEEDED a bunch of bits to buy a type of silk, she would get it. You NEVER see her at want for ANYTHING in Ponyville. Hence she is as rich as she needs to be, and sees no need for setting up her own dragon hoard instead of working on her most recent creative endeavor.
2407388
You make a good point, and I do feel that the ponies don't have the desire to become fantastically wealthy.
I do feel that in Rarity's case, generosity =/= stupidity (as was stated in one fic who's name escapes me right now), so she's hardly likely to sell Sapphire Shores a batch of dresses which are worth Canada's GDP at a discount, which suggests to me that different gems have different values to the ponies . . . but like I said, canon doesn't give us any clear answers on this.
Heck, IRL 200 years ago, aluminum was more valuable than gold; now we just chuck empty beer cans out the windows of our SUVs and don't worry about it at all. Maybe sapphires and rubies are practically worthless to the ponies, but emeralds are worth their weight in . . . well, gold. Maybe half the 'gems' we see in the show are just colored quartz crystals. Pretty, but not really worth much.
Or maybe ponies just don't value things the same way we do. Maybe they're more pragmatic (and in an upcoming fic, I actually touch on that a bit). I'm reminded of an old Uncle Scrooge comic where he's lost in the desert and can only find oil wells, gold, and diamonds . . . but not a single drop of water.
Or, what if we accept that they're more of a barter economy? Could be that the pony who rented them the industrial pet drier really wanted that particular gem, and wasn't using the pet dryer that day anyways. Consider the difference in hotel prices I paid for Bronycon and Otakon . . . essentially the same room, and both hotels within one block of the other.
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Actually, having her dresses used by Sapphire Shores on tour would be an excellent reason to give it to her at a discount or even FREE. What level of publicity do you think that gets you, or even better, landing Sapphire Shores as a constant or even exclusive client?
You do know that the Super Bowl does NOT pay the performers, and is considering CHARGING the performers.
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I could give a compelling argument against your point, given that one of my hobbies is as an unpaid actor . . . and I don't see an influx of people in our shop just because I did a masterful performance as Mayor Killens at our last show (but I did get fanart, so that's worth consideration). I don't see a huge 'national brand' type of movement in Equestria, so I could argue that Rarity did better in getting Fancy Pants to recognize her in that one episode than she'll ever do giving boatloads of free dresses to Sapphire . . . but there are so many things the show leaves open, and for all I know, Rarity's been a Sapphire Shore fangirl since she was a filly, and that's got to count for something in her mental accounting, too. I know that when I met Tony Koester for the first (and only) time, I was at a complete loss for words. Had he asked for my shirt, I'd've just taken it off and handed it to him.
In regards to the superbowl, I think there's a bit of a difference between a performer who's already made it, and one who hasn't. Maybe I'm wrong--they haven't asked the Ring of Steel to perform.
2407329 Kinky.
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Sexagesimal seems okay to me, but most ponies to whom I suggest it raise your objections. I suppose that I am an Unique BulkBiceps in this regard.
I forgot to mention that your choice of Duodecimal is a good choice because 12 is an highly composite number:
1 01
2 02
3 03
4 04
5 06
6 12
No number less than 12 has 6 factors. Indeed, the numbers with the greatest number of factors less than 12 are 6, 8, and 10 with only 4 factors each —— ¡12 beats both of them by 2 factors!
The best base of all is Balanced Ternary, but by the time ponies discover it, they would already have higher mathematics, so would already have another base:
Balanced Ternary uses 3 symbols representing -1, 0, and +1 and powers of 3. I shall use T for representing -1:
TTT -13
TT0 -12
TT1 -11
T0T -10
T00 -9
T01 -8
T1T -7
T10 -6
T11 -5
TT -4
T0 -3
T1 -2
T -1
0 0
1 +1
1T +2
10 +3
11 +4
1TT +5
1T0 +6
1T1 +7
10T +8
100 +9
101 +10
11T +11
110 +12
111 +13
Writing numbers which are not integers is easy:
τ ≈ 6.283,185,307,179,59 ≈ 1T0 . 10T,T0T,110 , 0T1,10T,T0T , 1TT,000,001
That is:
+ 9
- 3
0
+ ⅓
0
- 1/27
Et Cetera
Balanced Ternary is the best base because arithmetic is simplest in ti. This has to do, once again, with its RadixEconomy. (3 has the lowest RadixEconomy). By the time ponies would have mathematics sophisticated enough to discover Balanced Ternary, they already would have settled on another base.
2404258
Lightning also generates ozone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning
though I have no idea if it goes up to form ozone layer or if it stays down and is a problem (pollution).
----
-Edited out.-
2413561
It does; it would be reasonable to suspect that intra-cloud and cloud-to-cloud lightning is more beneficial in creating ozone-layer ozone (since it hasn't got as far to go to get where it needs to be), but in truth I have no idea if that's the case, or if lightning is responsible for a significant portion of the ozone which makes up the layer. Perhaps a climate scientist could weigh in?
Corrections made--thank you!
2404937 Here's a bit of background trivia: According to someone who has a very, very comprehensive knowledge of the mythos behind the FiM reboot, weather control isn't really necessary- Pegasi were tasked with weather control to give them something to do besides extorting food from Earth ponies. This way, they have to actually do work, rather than muse about how terrible it would be if there were a sustained lack of rain, and those apples certainly do look tasty, know what I mean?
TL;DR, the Pegasi of old were a bunch of bullies.
2429632
Seems like there'd have to be something in it for them, since they could basically extort food from the earth ponies if they could control the weather prior to unification (which I personally believe they could). The pegasi are likely the most mobile of the three tribes, and if we accept popular fanon that they'll eat fish, they have the best access to food sources over other types of ponies.
Makes me wonder what the unicorns had to do for unification?
So basically like eagles.
THEY DO NOT EAT FISH.
Who the fuck came up with that bullshit? I know it was some fic or other, but god damn. That really rustles my jimmies.
2429821
Well, a job- in other words, the whole weather factory/weather team industry was created so they'd have to contribute something of value to get food. I don't know all the details, but in essence Celestia (and Luna, probably) let them know in no uncertain terms that they had to do the job or they weren't getting fed. After a while, it just took hold- kind of like how RD was horrified about the weather being uncontrolled or AJ that plants grow all on their own in the Everfree.
As for Unicorns, I didn't hear what they were told, but I'm guessing it was along the lines of "Get a job, youse guys ain't enforcin' nuttin' no more, capeesh?" only much more flowery.
2430559
I think the theory behind it is that A) horses WILL eat meat sometimes and B) building and sustaining flight muscles would be very hard on a low-protein diet.
It's fanon, not in the show, but there's so much in fanfiction that we DO accept that I don't see it being as big a stretch as say, TVs. Or airplanes.
2430559
I personally think that there is enough evidence in canon that they might (fishing poles, ponies seen fishing (Magnum), Fluttershy bringing fish to her 'ferrets,' etc. I do embrace it in CSI/OPP and all other stories in that 'verse, and I even have an explanation for how it came about (but you'll have to wait for that).
Doesn't mean I'm right, of course. Pinkie was fairly clear when she said "We're all vegetarians." Maybe ponies just like killing fish, I dunno.
I'll also add that not only have some of my friends--and online sources--informed me that a horse will eat meat (like if you set your hamburger down too close to a horse, the horse might eat it), I have seen a video of a pony chasing baby birds, killing them, and then eating them. It's no longer on YouTube, or I'd put up a link.
2430693
Having a job isn't a good alternitive to getting what you need without having a job. I do have my own theory on how the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies formed their symbiotic relationship, and in one of my stories sooner or later I'll regale y'all with it. Interestingly, eating fish fits in with this theory.
2431061 Hey. I'm pretty sure we've had this discussion before. But no, they don't eat fish. It doesn't mean they can't or that they wouldn't if say, they were starving to death. Hell, there might be several ponies (not just pegasuses) that do enjoy eating meats. But that in no way means any part of the general populace does, or that it is in any way considered 'normal.'
Either I'm having de ja vu or we've discussed this before. You know I wrote this, right? I'm not opposed to meat eating... I'm opposed to it being considered normal. It is simply not normal. From a viewpoint of society and culture, not biological or anything. You know a fair few writers believe that a pony would become sick or just straight up vomit if they consumed meat. You know that's bs. They are able, they're just not going to. And again, when I say 'they' I mean the vast majority. And it's not necessarily anything to do with loving animals or anything, it's just not societally acceptable.
As far as I'm concerned, they just love killing fish!
dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/37540750/_ponies/killing%20fish.png
(I think you gave me that image lol)
2430693
A, yes they do. Sometimes. There isn't a carnivorous herd of horses, that I know of. And even if there was, the vast majority of them are not.
B, According to a lot of people around here, building and sustaining a sapient brain would be very hard on a low protein diet. Maybe they just have high-protein hay? They have candy colored horses that can move clouds around and break the known laws of physics with little more than a thought. Having a slightly altered plant life is not exactly a far stretch of the imagination.
2431066 You're right, but when it's a demi-god on Celestia's level manipulating you, you don't really realize. Then, too, we're dealing with a society whose members have a stronger herd instinct than we do- including "horsiness" was a definite aim in the design of the reboot.
2431467
Yeah, we have.
I don't think that they generally do, and I don't think it's all that commonplace in Ponyville. I don't like the argument that pegasi have to eat fish for the protein; there are grasses and such which have all the protein IRL horses need, and of course there are birds, bats, and insects who don't eat meat and can still fly.
I think it might be more common in coastal areas, or on islands, or other places where getting a good supply of vegetables year-round might be an issue.
Once I get caught up with the chapters, I'll make a worldbuilding blog post about ponies eating meat.
2430693
Those things, and an awful lot of fishing poles in the possession of ponies.
A is true without a doubt. Of course, it's not particularly good for IRL horses; I doubt a horse could survive on a steady diet of Big Macs.
B is not entirely true, since horses and other herbivores are able to get protein from plants (such as timothy grass). I in fact made a specific mention of this in OPP, where Twilight wonders how Dale gets his protein if he doesn't eat timothy. And any number of birds are herbivores here on earth.
2440022 I could slightly understand it being somewhat commonplace in, say, a place populated by relatively equal amounts of ponies and griffons. I could probably excuse that.
2440033 I still like my counter-argument that an intelligent brain is hard to have on a low protein diet. It kind of nullifies the flight-muscle idea. So either ponies get enough protein from plants, or they'd be dumb animals, which they're not.
2440342
2440033
I'd been thinking of the "easy pickings" argument as well, but I hadn't really seen it raised elsewhere. I know it's not that complicated- part of it is that cognitive development is needed to predate efficiently, so large brains and eating meat go hand in hand, rather than one leading to the other. But I think it's valid on both points as far as this: I can't think of any large, flying birds that are solely herbivorous.
Even as far as Timothy grass goes, it's only about 15% or so protein, whereas trout is about 65%, with the remainder being almost all fat. Part of the diet equation is simple caloric density- with more calories, it's easier for the body to create components from other building blocks.
Regardless, I like the idea just because it's weird- like so much of the pseudoscience of Star Trek, it's something that has the whiff of plausibility even if it doesn't stand up to scrutiny. It makes them a little more barbaric and weird, and those little differences add color to the fanonical lore.