Can only unicorns do these things?

[RainbowMau 291]

After watching the show I've been noticing some basic daily life actions that I've seen unicorns do with magic that seem to be very difficult for earth ponies since it seems very hard to do with mouth/hooves:

 

- Writing

- Hoofsewing

- Eating sandwich

- Self-grooming

 

I'm not sure if I'm too shorted-minded, but I've never seen an earth poniy do that, I don't think it's easy to mannipulate small things with hooves, using their mouth without swallow risk or eating it directly from plate, and not being able to reach mane, so I wonder how would they manage to do so if they did.

[boiteporte 591]

For writing, I think I have seen ponies use their mouths. In fact, having tried it myself, my mouthwriting skills are quite good provided the paper does not move.

 

As for eating sandwiches, Twilight does it without magic in one episode where she goes to eat at the burger restaurant with the CMCs.

 

Now, of course, there are plenty of tasks that would be really hard to do without magic, but I am sure they have a good way of doing it. After all, they were born with no hands and so, they have adapted to their situation.

Edited August 14, 2014 by boiteporte

[Simon 4,557]

I think from a canon/not canon perspective, they all can do these things.  From the perspective a the show, showing non-unicorns doing some tasks requires some more difficult and creative animation to make it look believable which is why it isn't shown on screen very often, but I think we're supposed to understand that all ponies can take care of themselves.

That being said we actually have seen non-unicorns write (during the journal and letter writing scenes) and sewing (all the ponies are shown sewing dresses for Rarity in Manehatten).  We also have heard Pinkie Pie talk about sandwiches and I'm pretty sure non-unicorns have been shown in the background eating them.  So there's definitely more things that are shown on screen than you might realize.

[Pastel 7,630]

To eat, they can do like Twilight:

 

(but I guess they can use their hooves too )

 

To write, they use their mouth:

It doesn't seem to be a problem.

 

Of course magic is sometime very useful.

They can also ask unicorns to do what they can't do.

[AlbaTross 1,586]

All ponies can do the stuff listed. Unicorn magic just makes it all more convenient and sanitary. For those reasons, it's probably most ideal to be a Unicorn, but that doesn't mean that everypony else can't manage.

[Cwanky 17,532]

Does she answer your question? 

 

a

 

The fact alone that a pony like Applejack, like many others seems perfectly capable of grooming herself and keeping her hair nice and tidy suggests otherwise. Moreover in this particular example, you see Applejack grooming herself in a highly sophisticated manner, combing and styling her hair up and wearing an elaborate dress.

 

Simply because we often see non-unicorns using their mouths to do manual tasks, doesn't mean they're limited to just that. They've proven equally capable often times of using their hooves in ways normal real ponies and animals would not be able to. Why? Well because screw physics and its not our world that's why. 

 

Its a tremendous folly to believe that somehow lacking the convenience of magic that non-unicorns are somehow helpless and inferior.      They are still very much so competent and underestimating their abilities is ignorant and foolish.   

[Jeric 46,848]

They can do a lot more than you think at first. Their hooves seem to be able to manipulate some objects with relative ease.

 

 

 

Also, pen in mouth writing is freaking adorable!

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

Rainbow Dash had no problem with a sandwich:

 

Apple Bloom has no problem writing with her mouth:

 

Granny Smith and the Apple family did hoofsewing a quilt every Reunion:

 

Self-grooming might be a problem, but given the things above, it's not so difficult to imagine that they have their own methods that work.

[DubWolf 17,132]

Heheheh, that reminds me of this:...oh, and skip to 3:32 .

 

 

Perhaps they can just pick it up..like that ? Who says everything has to make sense?

[Samurai Equine 50,112]

Did someone summon a unicorn?

Okaasan once said this:

Don't be a show off with your abilities, especially if it's something only you can do. That's just rude.

 

...Didn't Twilight learn a similar lesson once?

[Snow Frostflame 3,568]

no any race can do that with there hooves Unicorns do it because they have magic and why not if you had magic you would rely mostly on it too instead of your hands

[Inkscape 113]

Was thinking of that first episode of Derpy and Dr. Whooves while reading this whole thing. "You just pick it up."  "How, you don't have any fingers." "I dunno, you just pick it up!"