Are Crystal ponies actually not a race?

[Zoraxe 546]

Silverquill pointed out a certain pony in one of his reviews.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g35Hl6QvyP0

 

Now, I always thought that Crystal Ponies were their own type of Ponies. Like there are Unicorns, Alicorns, Earth Ponies, Pegasus ponies, and Bat ponies. So is that guy an animation mistake, like with all the alicorns we sometimes see in the background?

 

I'm thinking that this guy is an animation mistake, most likely. Or I guess a Pegasus who joined Cadances guard like Flash Sentry, and then got hit with that Crystal heart wave thingy and temporarily turned him crystal.

[Castle Bleck 19,518]

I'm certain the CPs are indeed their own race, others can temporarily become crystallized by the Heart, and Flash simply moved to the Empire and joined Cadance's guard offscreen at some point in Season 3.

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

Crystal Ponies are shiny ponies that have magic to radiate loving energy from the soul so yeah I think it is another race. As for Flash, he moved in sometime prior to Equestria Girls.

Edited March 16, 2015 by TheJLeeTeam

[Pastel 7,630]

No they're not, I think they exist just because of the Crystal Heart.

 

I'm certain the CPs are indeed their own race, others can temporarily become crystallized by the Heart, and Flash simply moved to the Empire and joined Cadance's guard offscreen at some point in Season 3.

In my opinion, they keep that aspect permanently after being exposed to the Crystal Heart long enough. Edited March 16, 2015 by Blobulle

[Tao 9,602]

 

 

Now, I always thought that Crystal Ponies were their own type of Ponies

 

I would think maybe you go under a term of Subspecies from the normal ponies we see but given: unicorns/Pegasus/earth are "ponies" but the three evolved to each of their own "branch" but given they would have had to come from a shared common say "mother" species and each changed over time.   Given also the three can mate with the other and such and be just fine as we saw with the Cakes and their foals!

 

The Crystal ponies could be as said put under a term of a   Subspecies from the normal ponies given they look different and it seems they keep their "crystal" like hues/texture even away from the heart and even with out the magic of the heart, they kept a glossy like shine to their coats.

[BlueSkies 82]

Not an animation mistake--accidentally sticking a horn on a briefly-seen background pegasus is one thing, but that dude is front and center, the wings are animated (not just pasted to his side).  I think they wanted to give Cadence's guards some semblance of symmetry, since the Princesses generally prefer matching sets of guards.

 

I'm not sure whether the Crystal ponies are their own race, or simply exhibiting the effect of being inundated in the magic of love.  Afterall, they "lost" their race when they lost their magic, appearing drab and relatively normal until the Heart was restored.

 

I guess it comes down to your definition of "race", though.  Within the logic of MLP, "race" seems to refer to a strain of ponies with race-specific physical and magical characteristics, and some history of separation.  The CPs check one of three boxes for sure: "history of separation".  We don't see positive proof of their glitter being inborn, and if they exhibit their own magical powers (like cloud walking, spell casting, etc) we don't get to witness it.

 

Maybe they're an isolated population with peculiar physical traits, but I would not call them a unique "race". 

I would think maybe you go under a term of Subspecies from the normal ponies we see but given: unicorns/Pegasus/earth are "ponies" but the three evolved to each of their own "branch" but given they would have had to come from a shared common say "mother" species and each changed over time.   Given also the three can mate with the other and such and be just fine as we saw with the Cakes and their foals!

 

The Crystal ponies could be as said put under a term of a   Subspecies from the normal ponies given they look different and it seems they keep their "crystal" like hues/texture even away from the heart and even with out the magic of the heart, they kept a glossy like shine to their coats.

Nitpicking: Unicorns/Pegasus/Earth Ponies are subspecies.  Unique species, by definition, cannot interbreed successfully (and we know they can thanks to the Cake's convoluted family tree). 

I agree that the Crystal ponies aren't on that level though.

[MysticShine 530]

I never really thought of them as their own race. There are obviously earth, Pegasus, and Unicorn Crystal Ponies as well.

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

Okay maybe they're not necessarily a different race but have different traits like being sparkly and the ability to radiate love magic from the soul.

[Tao 9,602]

Okay maybe they're not necessarily a different race but have different traits like being sparkly and the ability to radiate love magic from the soul.

 

True, yet the history we do know on the founding on Equestria and the three tribes,  does the Empire Pre-Date this and existed before the founding did?

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

Maybe some earth ponies founded the territory where the empire would be to be full of magical crystals, ones that give magic and permanent shininess to ponies that are exposed to it. And ponies that were affected founded the Crystal Empire. That's what I think.

[Steve Piranha 29,499]

I think they are a sub-race. Not because they can become crystal (Cadance and the Mane6 did at Sombra's death), but because they have a different coloration and eye designs (Maud also has those eyes though)

 

For me it's like comparing an American Caucasian to an European one, an American-African descendant, to an Euro-African descendant, to an American hispanic o an latino.... you get the point 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,165]

I prefer to look at the as a sub-race that eventually became their own race.

 

The Crystal Heart is a very powerful artifact that can hold certain influence over beings, and given enough time it looks like that effect can be made permanent. Even when the Heart isn't in full spin and when the crystal ponies are far from the Empire it's effect on them is still strong.

 

So yeah, I tend to count them as a race.

[Prince Firemane 309]

Honestly, I don't think so. I don't ever remember seeing any crystal Unicorns that weren't just regular character models that were given the crystal gradient to fill out crowd scenes. But as has been shown, there are crystal Pegasi Royal Guards that are their own character models and are definitely not an animation error. It stands to reason that there are crystal Unicorns, we just haven't seen them yet. It seems to me that Crystal Ponies are defined as such because they have a symbiotic relationship with the Crystal Heart and it's reflected through their crystal gradients. With enough exposure, either through time or a massive concentrated eruption of magic from the Heart can effect outsider ponies as well. After all; the mane six, Shining Armor, Princess Cadance and Spike were all given crystal gradients through exposure to the massive concentrated eruption of magic from the Crystal Heart that healed the Empire and destroyed King Sombra. But the effect was temporary for them and wasn't given to them when they were subsequently exposed to smaller eruptions of magic that create the crystal aurora above the Empire. However, I bet that Shining Armor and Princess Cadance will eventually gain permanent crystal gradients due to living in the Empire and continuous exposure to the magic of the Crystal Heart.

[Zoraxe 546]

I never really thought of them as their own race. There are obviously earth, Pegasus, and Unicorn Crystal Ponies as well.

 

There are no unicorn crystal ponies, and that one I mentioned is the only Pegasus.

 

Its why I consider Crystal ponies a race, being crystal is what makes them different, even when under Sombras influence they still look distinctive enough. So a crystal Pegasus suddenly is a character that would have a unique characteristics of muliple races, like an Alicorn sorta.

[MysticShine 530]

There are no unicorn crystal ponies, and that one I mentioned is the only Pegasus.

 

Its why I consider Crystal ponies a race, being crystal is what makes them different, even when under Sombras influence they still look distinctive enough. So a crystal Pegasus suddenly is a character that would have a unique characteristics of muliple races, like an Alicorn sorta.

I really don't believe they're a race the same as Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns. If there can be Earth Pony and Pegasi crystal ponies, that would mean they aren't a basic race of ponies. They may be a different species, but not a race.

[Prince Firemane 309]

I really don't believe they're a race the same as Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns. If there can be Earth Pony and Pegasi crystal ponies, that would mean they aren't a basic race of ponies. They may be a different species, but not a race.

From my understanding of what you said, I believe you may have it backwards. Crystal Ponies seem to be a race as we humans understand it. The difference between an Equestrian Pony and a Crystal Pony seems to be analogous to Caucasian and African humans, it's only really in the skin color and there's no real difference biologically, we're all still humans. The same could be said of the ponies. So while Crystal Ponies would be a different race, they would not be a different species or subspecies since Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies all have clear biological differences between them.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Prince Firemane

[MysticShine 530]

From my understanding of what you said, I believe you may have it backwards. Crystal Ponies seem to be a race as we humans understand it. The difference between an Equestrian Pony and a Crystal Pony seems to be analogous to Caucasian and African humans, it's only really in the skin color and there's no real difference biologically, we're all still humans. The same could be said of the ponies. So while Crystal Ponies would be a different race, they would not be a different species or subspecies since Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies all have clear biological differences between them.

That's what I was trying to say. I didn't really put it backwards.

 

Edit: Oh wait. I kind of did. DX

Edited March 17, 2015 by Mountaineer28

[Prince Firemane 309]

That's what I was trying to say. I didn't really put it backwards.

 

Edit: Oh wait. I kind of did. DX

Eh, just an error in terminology. It happens.

[Steve Piranha 29,499]

There are no unicorn crystal ponies, and that one I mentioned is the only Pegasus.

 

Its why I consider Crystal ponies a race, being crystal is what makes them different, even when under Sombras influence they still look distinctive enough. So a crystal Pegasus suddenly is a character that would have a unique characteristics of muliple races, like an Alicorn sorta.

The ruler of the Crystal Empire, shortly after the founding of Equestria was an unicorn....... not to mention Sombra 

[Prince Firemane 309]

The ruler of the Crystal Empire, shortly after the founding of Equestria was an unicorn....... not to mention Sombra 

Well, Sombra could've easily been an outsider. But where was it said that the Crystal Empire's ruler shortly after the founding of Equestria was a Unicorn? Was it in a comic or something?

[Steve Piranha 29,499]

Well, Sombra could've easily been an outsider. But where was it said that the Crystal Empire's ruler shortly after the founding of Equestria was a Unicorn? Was it in a comic or something?

The Journal of Two Sisters, just before the Chronicles of Friendship, detail some mess with the Crystal Heart, and they meet with the ruler at the time (who's explicitly stated to be  an unicorn) for the briefing 

Edited March 17, 2015 by Steve Piranha

[Vinyl Scratch (Filly)™ 936]

I just think they're an off-shoot race, if that makes sense. They're no different from normal ponies, despite their aesthetic differences. So I believe, yes they are their own sub-race.  

[Nature's Spell 526]

Their look is totally magic induced. If it wasn't the mans 6 wouldn't have turned into Crystal ponies, and they Crystal ponies themselves lacked the crystal look when they were sad.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Nature's Spell

[Zoraxe 546]

Not an animation mistake--accidentally sticking a horn on a briefly-seen background pegasus is one thing, but that dude is front and center, the wings are animated (not just pasted to his side).  I think they wanted to give Cadence's guards some semblance of symmetry, since the Princesses generally prefer matching sets of guards.

 

Actually, I think that may have been a case where the animators put something in they shouldn't have. Didn't we hear that Flash Sentry wasn't supposed to be there either, but the animators put him in. Maybe the same with that Crystal Pegasus.

 

The animators seem to have a lot of freedom in what they do, but that does seem to backfire everyonce in a while. Is Raven a Unicorn who works as Celestia's secretary, or a Earth Pony who works for mayor Mare? Because both have appeared.

http://mlpforums.com/topic/88476-mayor-mares-assistant/

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,697]

Come to think of it, I don't know WHAT the hay the crystal ponies are. Looking like crystal is obviously not built into their DNA or essential for them to live, since they get by without it before Sombra is defeated. As Nature's Spell says, it's totally magic-induced and since the Mane 6 also turn crystal at the end, we see that it can happen to anypony, which makes it hardly a distinguishing trait at all. Do the crystal ponies stay crystal? If so, why? And why did the Mane 6 turn back to normal?

 

The lack of details leads me to conclude that the "crystal" thing was just kind of thrown in there as a marketing gimmick (crystal ponies appeared on toy store shelves at the very same time) and the writers didn't pay any more attention to it than they had to.