Unbalanced Races

[PinkiePie Forever 65]

One thing that irks me is how unbalanced the races are. Its a kids show and all that but its just so unfair. Unicorns can pretty much do anything, they can teleport so they don't need wings, and Pegasi can fly but what about earth ponies? They don't have any special abilities at all! They should have equal pros and cons in my opinion. And Alicorns are just.... overpowered!

 

It is a kids show and its not all in depth and stuff but they should have balanced races.

[Finesthour 7,287]

Overpowered...?

 

Do you think Earth ponies really care if ponies can do things they can't? No, they love their lives like they are. Like you said, it is a kids show. Everyone that lives in Equestria loves themselves for who they are. No hard feelings.

[OptimisticNeighsayer 478]

Correction: Only a few unicorns can do "pretty much anything" (Twilight is the only unicorn proper we've seen so far who can teleport)

 

Earth ponies have been claimed to have a special connection to the land, so fundamentally they are actually among the most powerful since they provide much of Equestria's food.

Edited August 25, 2012 by JustFairness

[Unexard 50]

Earth ponies are the OP class dude. They seem to be the only ones able to grow food, their are the strongest physically and don't have to worry about crashing into stuff or having their magic go apeshit.

 

If there is a war between the three, earth ponies win all the way.

[Regality 233]

As was said, Earth ponies are hard workers and good producers, most likely attributed to them having the most physical strength and dedication of the three pony races.

~~

[Skullbuster 1,906]

the thing is, unicorns must train themselves to be good at magic

pegasi, have to train to be good at flying, some can barely fly at all,i mean look at fluttershy

and alicorns are a rare species

[Lonewolf 127]

IMHO races are pretty balanced :

-Unicorns can only do magic related to their cutiemark/work and levitation. Twilight can do more than that because her element is Magic.

-Pegasi can fly and that's about it. They don't have any other "super" talents.

-Earth ponies have the most endurance of the three races. Plus they're the only ones who can grow food.

 

(All of this is based on what I've seen)

[Skullbuster 1,906]

IMHO races are pretty balanced :

-Unicorns can only do magic related to their cutiemark/work and levitation. Twilight can do more than that because her element is Magic.

-Pegasi can fly and that's about it. They don't have any other "super" talents.

-Earth ponies have the most endurance of the three races. Plus they're the only ones who can grow food.

 

(All of this is based on what I've seen)

 

then that raises the question, what to stop a unicorn from growing food? what if his/her talent is gardening, and uses magic suited for it?

[AnonBrony 1,468]

I think everyone here has already said what i was gonna say.

Earth ponies have that special connection with land and can grow food the best. Not all Unicorns are magically gifted like Twi. The most and average unicorn can do is a couple spells usually related to their talent. Unless they train their magic, but still can't probably learn a billion spells. I doubt most of them can even teleport or levitate themselves. Pegasi also have to learn to fly, and some arn't even great at it. Most can just regularly fly. Not go at super sonic speeds like Rianbow Dash.

 

imo they are all pretty equal. But again... its a kids show. i doubt the target audience would mind if they are balanced or not.

[PonyEcho 1,610]

well first you need to stat your facts and evidence because it looks to me like you compering entire races to how specific characters are written

and Alicorns there are only 3 with in the can and each have been weakened and defeated in some way.

get your facts together before ranting and remember canon over fanon.

[Jammo 986]

Earth ponies have down to Earth experience and wisdom.

They have to work hard, therefore have much stronger resolve.

They are stronger because they don't have those natural gifts.

[Spring Storm 276]

IMO, they're all pretty balanced. Earth ponies have a special connection to the Earth, so they're better with things like gardening and growing/making food, which is just as good/important as the pegasi being able to fly and control weather, and the unicorns and their magic. As for alicorns, they are very rare, and we've barely seen alicorns do anything other than rule.

[Flame Blitz 85]

To tell the truth, i think that the Earth Ponies are much better than the others, Because they survive without magic or wings, just with the work of their hooves.

[pinkiefan1287 610]

Even thou Earth Ponies can't use magic or fly, I think they have other different types of abilities besides growing food. Like Apple Jack being able to bake, harvest, and even make ice sculptures. And Pinkie Pie has her Pinkie sense. So Earth ponies can do a lot more then what a unicorn and a pegasus can do.

[Starswirl the Trixie 975]

Well, yes there is some genetic inequity in Equestria. Let's face it: Unicorns are prohibited by Equestrian society from performing certain jobs because they would do them so well that Earth Ponies would be driven into poverty. There seems to be an unwritten rule that Unicorns can only use magic to do what manual labor cannot (ex. in Winter Wrap Up Twilight can't use magic for manual labor but Rarity can use it for fine motor movements that hooves cannot do.) Just look at Twilight at the end of "Applebuck Season": She harvested an entire field of apple trees with one telekinesis spell. Now not all Unicorns are as skilled as Twi, but we can imagine how much more efficient production would be if Unicorns could compete with earth ponies.

 

As for Earth Ponies' "Special connection to the land", there's no sign of it in the show. Sure, they probably are more physically fit on average than other races, but I don't see a sort of magical aura that helps them plant crops. Non-Earth ponies have been shown harvesting apples just fine. Most likely the "special connection" is more propaganda of the Equestrian government designed to keep the lower orders (Earth Ponies) from realizing the inequity.

 

I'm not saying that Unicorns should start using their magic to make production more efficient, as that would disenfranchise the entire earth pony race, but Unicorns are quite a bit superior. And look at the Princesses. They seem to have the genetic benefits of all three races: Magic, flying, and great physical hardiness. But which one of those three is most important to their role in the government? They could get by without flying or physical strength, but without magic they couldn't raise celestial bodies.

 

As for this being "bad for children", why is that the case? I think children should be exposed to a slightly darker reality, like that of MLP, than the fantasy worlds of other cartoons. Of course, most of the dark side of MLP requires much deeper thought to uncover than little girls are capable of, so I wouldn't really be worried (or pleased).

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

then that raises the question, what to stop a unicorn from growing food? what if his/her talent is gardening, and uses magic suited for it?

 

That is a really good question, I think it could be answered by saying. Earth ponies have a special connection to the land that makes them better at farming. Unicorns don't have that special connection with the land so I highly doubt a Unicorn could have a special talent in gardening.

[TrueBrony 13]

I would say that the races are pretty balanced in terms of power. Each of the three have their own unique talents which contributes to the overall success of Equestria itself. Even if Earth Ponies had less of a role, I'd doubt they'd care because they're far too busy living their own happy lives. Earth Ponies frequently have more talents in farming (Applejack, Big Macintosh). Pegasi control the weather (which helps the Earth ponies grow crops), and fly. Unicorns have magic which enables them to magically raise the Sun and Moon, as well as possessing many other unique abilities. Overall, I'd say the races' abilities compliment each other pretty well and that's how harmony is maintained on a consistent basis.

Edited August 26, 2012 by TrueBrony

[Vulpes 26]

Well, aside from the act they live in a primarily land-centered place, ere go less pegasus, pony genetics may provide a good answer.

 

Okay, sure this seems okay, but... horses have more chromosomes, to resist adverse effects of inbreeding. With that. and alicorns, there is a good chance pony genetics would be a bit more complex, still it would work.

 

Realistically, that's probably not the reasoning the producers used, rather that was simply what they came up with. Nothing deep or complex, just what they felt would make for a better show for whatever reasons.

[_Magikarp 17]

earth ponies are the the most powerfull ponies when it comes to physical strength. Think about they are the work ponies yes but they have more powerful legs then unicorns and pegasus. a lot of them could win a race against a pegasus even if they where flying im talking in general not like rainbow dash

[Spring Storm 276]

I was just thinking, even though this is non-canon, Doctor Hooves is an Earth pony. He has the power to travel through time. So who's to say other Earth ponies can't also have awesome powers like that? Perhaps there's still a lot of unexplored potential for the Earth ponies.

[OptimisticNeighsayer 478]

Well, yes there is some genetic inequity in Equestria. Let's face it: Unicorns are prohibited by Equestrian society from performing certain jobs because they would do them so well that Earth Ponies would be driven into poverty. There seems to be an unwritten rule that Unicorns can only use magic to do what manual labor cannot (ex. in Winter Wrap Up Twilight can't use magic for manual labor but Rarity can use it for fine motor movements that hooves cannot do.) Just look at Twilight at the end of "Applebuck Season": She harvested an entire field of apple trees with one telekinesis spell. Now not all Unicorns are as skilled as Twi, but we can imagine how much more efficient production would be if Unicorns could compete with earth ponies.

 

As for Earth Ponies' "Special connection to the land", there's no sign of it in the show. Sure, they probably are more physically fit on average than other races, but I don't see a sort of magical aura that helps them plant crops. Non-Earth ponies have been shown harvesting apples just fine. Most likely the "special connection" is more propaganda of the Equestrian government designed to keep the lower orders (Earth Ponies) from realizing the inequity.

 

A curious thought entered in my head-- there might as well be unicorns that run farms if their talent just so happens to be farming. And production is not just picking up apples, it's also planting and knowing when they are ripe and keeping pests away from all the trees. One can imagine a unicorn that is good at picking up apples or any sort of crop, but not good at knowing when it is good to pick them or being able to defend them against pests, and vice versa.

 

Sure there's no magical aura that happens when Earth ponies plant crops, but then again, where's the magical aura when pegasi fly or walk on clouds, which I assume would be even more "magical" than anything any unicorn can do, given the size of the wings and all? It's not unreasonable to believe that magic does not always require an aura.

Edited August 26, 2012 by JustFairness

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

I wouldn't say that they fundamentally need to be balanced seeing as it's an entirely different society and culture, and not a real time strategy game.

 

^{Fig. 1: A metaphor that isn't related to Equestria.}

 

They have their own equilibrium which for us biped sapien humans is entirely alien.

For a good example of this sort of thing, I'd suggest Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, that has three main intelligent species on the planet instead of one.

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

Theres a reason Applejack excels so much at farming. She's an earth pony. Unicorns also lived on the earth before Equestria was founded, but they didn't farm.

[_Magikarp 17]

as they said in hearth warming eve every race has a talent that the others needed to survive meaning they are all balanced and cant live without each other if you take away the earth ponies you would have no crops meaning no food and you would die. so everpony is needed

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

as they said in hearth warming eve every race has a talent that the others needed to survive meaning they are all balanced and cant live without each other if you take away the earth ponies you would have no crops meaning no food and you would die. so everpony is needed

 

Earth ponies arent REQUIRED for food, but they are quite a boost since that's how they've lived on the earth so food production is alot quicker.