spoiler Does Equestria know how to handle rouge Unicorns?

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

So this has been bugging me for quite some time, recently sparked by the events in Appaloosa's Most Wanted,  but it appears that Equestria has no real means of stopping rouge/ unlawful Unicorn without resorting to using another Unicorn or other powerful magic user.   I mean in the episode Sweetie Belle was able to just grab the keys right off the rack, what if a different Unicorn tried that in the jail? Not much security there.  

As well as the matter of Magic Duel.  I mean were there no fail-safes in place in case a Unicorn decided to wreck stuff up?  Okay fair enough Trixie was superpowered at the time, but still you could have shown them at least attempting to stop her and the measures failing because of how strong she was. Instead everyone just kind of stands around dumbstruck on what to do. 

I'm just saying that if humans had one third of the population with some enhanced power for over a thousand years, we'd have come up with a way to counteract it (Although given our track record, our countermeasure would probably be genocide) 

[Justin_Case001 4,860]

Eyup, that's a thing alright.  Lol, that Appaloosa jail though, it's like the Andy Griffith Show.  It occured to me--Sweetie took the keys with telekinesis, then they told the Sheriff that he was missing the rodeo, so he runs out, and the crusaders run in...you know...into the jail...where the keys were previously hanging....on the wall....in the room....where the crusaders are now standing.....in the room.   Does anyone else see what I'm getting at?  What was the point of magically nabbing the keys??!!!  They could have just walked in and taken them after the Sheriff left!

Edited May 3, 2015 by Justin_Case001

[Tom Snyder 4,111]

Eyup, that's a thing alright.  Lol, that Appaloosa jail though, it's like the Andy Griffith Show.  It occured to me--Sweetie took the keys with telekinesis, then they told the Sheriff that he was missing the rodeo, so he runs out, and the crusaders run in...you know...into the jail...where the keys were previously hanging....on the wall....in the room....where the crusaders are now standing.....in the room.   Does anyone else see what I'm getting at?  What was the point of magically nabbing the keys??!!!  They could have just walked in and taken them after the Sheriff left!

Probably never thought that part through, but the writers have a weird sense of humor.

[Overlord0909 479]

This is actually something to ponder... But you gotta think, what actual threats are there? A pony who is actually meant to be clown, who knocks stuff over accidently and a arrogant unicorn with pride, but has the flaw of having too much? And if a problem arose, they do have a royal guard... And the mane 6 and 3 other princesses. Perhaps even help from the griffins and buffalo in Equestria as well. :/ With all those aspects, I would say they have measures, just not really much means to use them.

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,694]

How do you handle a rouge unicorn?

 

Lots and LOTS of cold cream. 

[cuteycindyhoney 13,284]

Probably never thought that part through, but the writers have a weird sense of humor.

I was like "Uh, Sweetie Belle, your magic is sure improving, but what was the point of that?"

 

[probablynotacat 4]

what ever happened to that magic blocking spell thing from the pony olympics episode? 

shouldn't we using that on the unicorns???

[Steel Accord 6,658]

 

 

(Although given our track record, our countermeasure would probably be genocide) 

 

Can one become numb to something they despise just by getting used to it? If they can, it ain't working on me. I despise how prevalent the meme of "humans are bastards" is. Just ONCE, I'd like somepony to say that humanity would not abuse/destroy/etc.!

 

Anyway, on topic:

 

An Appleloosa jailhouse ain't exactly a maximum security prison. Western jailhouses were not meant to hold criminals for their entire sentence. They were just so the convicted or suspect wouldn't run before the circuit judge or prison transport showed up.

 

Given that we've seen magical restricting technology in the Crystal Empire, I don't doubt their larger prisons would have something similar built in. Now THAT I actually have more of a problem with than with the potential abuses of magic, but that's neither here nor there.

 

What's more is . . . yeah, you can send another unicorn to take them out, Hell you'd probably have some volunteer on the spot to do it. Not everything requires a top down solution or protocol, especially in a world like Equestria.

[Singe 2,109]

The rather weak level or lack of law enforcement is what keeps some of the Mane 6 and Spike from going to jail for their problematic mishaps. Rather yet, there is a rather lax of onscreen accountability and punishment.

 

They always can use magic to brainwash trouble makers to be better members of Equestrian society.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Singe

[Pastel 7,627]

what ever happened to that magic blocking spell thing from the pony olympics episode? 

shouldn't we using that on the unicorns???

My answer as well, they can block unicorns' magic with these portals:

 

[pony.colin 156]

The law and law enforcement forces seem lax in Equestria.

 

Getting to that, this show does not seem like it will ever bother to get in depth about policing in Equestria.  The other thing as well is policing bodies don't seem that standardized and/or vaguely there or not there or not even deployed by the state.  You also have to question if Equestria is based in a medieval or modern state of policing (not really going to go in-depth someone can go with it if they like).

 

Anyways, a rouge unicorn using their magic to commit acts of a heinous nature? No, no, no ... that can't possibly happen.  How could you think of such a thing? Why the idea of a rouge unicorn trying to ensalve a whole town for revenge, or trying to brainwash them into a cult? Our unicorns? Never.  (I'm being sarcastic to be blunt so that I don't cause Poe's Law)

 

But yeah that's a good point to bring up, something that really hasn't been addressed properly before.

 

For future case scenarios after Season 5, it's obvious they'll probably send a certain alicorn and her five friends (and leave behind the poor dragon like usual) to go tangle with that rouge unicorn whenever it occurs now.  Before Twi and co gained the magical map? Who knows what was used before them to handle rouge unicorns.  Probably nothing (or probably the Princess coming to address the problem if they ever found out.). 

 

Again, it seems as though Equestria seems rather passive or either just very trusting, in assuming that most of its unicorn population would never commit any type of criminal activity or power mongering and seems to barely have only a few safety measures on hand.

 

 

@@probablynotacat,

 

@@Blobulle,

 

 

Most logical counter-measure to use in case a unicorn goes rouge.  Only begs the question of whether they've forgotten to re-use it again or if its not been re-engineered for this kind of purpose.

 

 

 

 

An Appleloosa jailhouse ain't exactly a maximum security prison. Western jailhouses were not meant to hold criminals for their entire sentence. They were just so the convicted or suspect wouldn't run before the circuit judge or prison transport showed up.

 

Given that we've seen magical restricting technology in the Crystal Empire, I don't doubt their larger prisons would have something similar built in. Now THAT I actually have more of a problem with than with the potential abuses of magic, but that's neither here nor there.

 

 

Probably.  It would be hoped that a much bigger metropolis would put in that safety measure for rouge unicorns.  But those small country towns?  Well good luck to them if they ever get overrun by a powerful rogue unicorn. And if Ponyville is any example, well too bad. 

 

 

Eyup, that's a thing alright.  Lol, that Appaloosa jail though, it's like the Andy Griffith Show.  It occured to me--Sweetie took the keys with telekinesis, then they told the Sheriff that he was missing the rodeo, so he runs out, and the crusaders run in...you know...into the jail...where the keys were previously hanging....on the wall....in the room....where the crusaders are now standing.....in the room.   Does anyone else see what I'm getting at?  What was the point of magically nabbing the keys??!!!  They could have just walked in and taken them after the Sheriff left!

 

That's ..... that's .... (bwahaha, snickers uncontrollably).  Good eye.

Guess, Sweetie Belle's gotta have her time to show she's actually getting older and maturing and getting better at being able to user unicorn magic now.  At least its showing Sweetie Belle's growth (twice in this episode as well IIRC).

Edited May 4, 2015 by pony.colin

[Singe 2,109]

Some wonder why certain villains are allowed to escape?

 

Simply, the Mane 6 have no established authority to arrest and detain anyone. Discord and Tirek already had Celestia authorized their imprisonment long ago. If they need to arrest and detain, Celestia or whatever legal authority has to give the okay.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Singe

[Steel Accord 6,658]

 

 

Probably.  It would be hoped that a much bigger metropolis would put in that safety measure for rouge unicorns.  But those small country towns?  Well good luck to them if they ever get overrun by a powerful rogue unicorn. And if Ponyville is any example, well too bad. 

 

Well in keeping with Appleloosa being a call back to American settler towns, that's a risk they are willing to take. Many towns back then all died out, that's where the term and trope "ghost town" comes from, some of them didn't make it.

 

Ponyville is similar except it obviously has its own protectors. After all, there's an entire episode of the Powerpuff Girls showing the police are competent, but they're happy to let the superheroes, BE superheroes. Ponyville doesn't even have half the population of Townsville so they largely don't need regular police officers to keep the peace.

[pony.colin 156]

Well in keeping with Appleloosa being a call back to American settler towns, that's a risk they are willing to take. Many towns back then all died out, that's where the term and trope "ghost town" comes from, some of them didn't make it.

 

Ponyville is similar except it obviously has its own protectors. After all, there's an entire episode of the Powerpuff Girls showing the police are competent, but they're happy to let the superheroes, BE superheroes. Ponyville doesn't even have half the population of Townsville so they largely don't need regular police officers to keep the peace.

 

Who needs police when you've got an alicorn princess living in the backyard of the town?

I doubt we'll see police appear in Ponyville.  (I know that's a frequent topic that's been brought up constantly). But it's something that's always interesting to talk about in a thread.

 

But as I've always thought, give a unicorn enough time to learn powerful magical knowledge and they might have the potential to try to take over a town, a metropolis or a whole region. (Not saying they would, it's just the opportunity is there if one would desire such a path.   Social norms and morals are what hold unicorns in place probably.)   Of course our heroes would eventually attend to that dilemma sooner or later.  But hey, King Sombra managed to plunge a whole Crystal city-state into 1000 years of darkness.  You'd figure there'd be more safety checks on unicorns learning about dark magic with such knowledge. Or magic that is meant to do harm would be a little bit more restricted/and not so easy to buy in a rare artifacts pawnshop.   

Edited May 4, 2015 by pony.colin

[Steel Accord 6,658]

Who needs police when you've got an alicorn princess living in the backyard of the town?

I doubt we'll see police appear in Ponyville.  (I know that's a frequent topic that's been brought up constantly). But it's something that's always interesting to talk about in a thread.

 

But as I've always thought, give a unicorn enough time to learn powerful magical knowledge and they might possibly try to take over a town, a metropolis or a whole region.   Of course our heroes would eventually attend to that dilemma sooner or later.  But hey, King Sombra managed to plunge a whole Crystal city-state into 1000 years of darkness.  You'd figure there'd be more safety checks on unicorns learning about dark magic with such knowledge. Or magic that is meant to do harm would be a little bit more restricted/and not so easy to buy in a rare artifacts pawnshop.   

 

Well to be fair, Sombra was stopped and by the highest authority in the land. And even the pawnshop owner tried to keep Trixie away from the Alicorn Amulet, cautioning her that it's simply too dangerous for him to sell. Trixie just sweetened the deal. (Speaking of which, where did she get that money?!)

 

So this is simply the mutant "problem." Yes there are some people that have superpowers, yes some of them can be dangerous, does that make it fair to treat them differently just because of what they might or are able to do as opposed to who they are?

[RarityFan01 2,444]

I would think their magic would be disabled. I do unicorns can't use magic in prison (it would make sense.) But I don't know. It could be covered in a future episode. We know unicorn magic can be disabled. Maybe unicorn guards have the ability to disable magic with their own magic. 

[pony.colin 156]

 

Well to be fair, Sombra was stopped and by the highest authority in the land. And even the pawnshop owner tried to keep Trixie away from the Alicorn Amulet, cautioning her that it's simply too dangerous for him to sell. Trixie just sweetened the deal. (Speaking of which, where did she get that money?!)

 

So this is simply the mutant "problem." Yes there are some people that have superpowers, yes some of them can be dangerous, does that make it fair to treat them differently just because of what they might or are able to do as opposed to who they are?

 

Not talking about fair treatment, but I'll get to that in a bit.



Let me go on about my conspiracy/crackpot theory for the fun of it. Right now, there are no other ponies that could possibly pose a threat to unicorn power.  Instead, unicorns have already established themselves as more advantaged class of ponies, so they never feel threatened about their position of power.  They probably occupy enough high up positions in Equestrian societis and also enjoy a great level of autonomy to pursue their goals freely (since who else could oppose them).  Rather then it being a cooperative relationship, in regards to how Hearth's Warming eve framed it, its secretly a co-optation relationship that unicorns share with pegasi and earth ponies.  Unicorns can advance further in magical arts than any other pony group, and its their magical gifts that can allow them to manipulate the physical world around them and such.   Unicorns have secretly already won over their position of power over the other two pony groups.  I like how there have been times where I've seen a social class argument that has been made about the position that earth ponies occupy in Equestria society; often it being the case that most earth ponies are agricultural farmers, an occupation that has probably gone back several generations.  If only they could stand up and realize how low of a position they occupy and realize their own oppression and rise up to have their agrarian revolution against their unicorn overlords.  But that's where co-optation bit comes in.  If social peace is to exist, then obviously unicorns cannot occupy all positions of power around communication, production, labour, knowledge access etc.  The way to do this would be to allow some earth ponies and pegasi to enter to into higher up professions that are different from their traditionally assigned roles in pony society.  To forgo some position of unicorn dominance and power to save the rest.  To break up some class consciousnesses and unity amongst the earth pony and pegasi, but of course, naturally not all of them can be so talented.  Only selected few will succeed and that will be enough to maintain their social dominance over the other two.  But I'm not really being serious about this and I'm not overly emphasizing certain things.  It's clear that unicorns can do things with more precision and accuracy with telekinetic magic.  But it would be unwise to upset this social cooptation and cause mass class war.  So, there might exist some unicorn societal norms and internal social rules that existed amongst specifically unicorns.  Namely, knowing when not to develop magical arts that could easily outpace the labour capacity of that of the humble earth pony when it comes to agricultural production.  Unicorn society might have some internal self-regulating social norms to ensure its position of influence is not overthrown.  Neutering the pursuit of some magical arts in order to prevent complete greed and power mongering (but still greatly retaining a lot more in comparison). The unicorns won long ago, they just have to continuing maintaining the cooptation rules if they want to maintain their power of influence.  It could be just a small unicorn oligarchy that controls and regulates these things, a small group of unicorns operating like this would fit just well actually. Would work to their advantage working even within unicorn society.  Again, not being serious about this, just fooling around with things    

 

Now about fair treatment. I did put in my edit a bit late when you replied, saying that "(Not saying they would, it's just the opportunity is there if one would desire such a path.   Social norms and morals are what hold unicorns in place probably.)"  - treatment of the individual's actions should be considered and evaluated in itself, and not as a representation of the whole.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

 

 

Let me go on about my conspiracy/crackpot theory for the fun of it.

 

You may, and I did read it, but I'm give that entire text wall even less credit than "NASA faked the moon landing." I refuse to believe there is anything more sinister going on in unicorn society than a foppish prince. Hell, that kind of proposed illuminati, racial superiority and segrgation, nonsense, almost lead to their extinction! Remember?!

[pony.colin 156]

You may, and I did read it, but I'm give that entire text wall even less credit than "NASA faked the moon landing." I refuse to believe there is anything more sinister going on in unicorn society than a foppish prince. Hell, that kind of proposed illuminati, racial superiority and segrgation, nonsense, almost lead to their extinction! Remember?!

 

It was crackpot for entertaining purposes. 

 

Anyways, to talk about something a little more realistic I guess.  The windigos in Hearth's Warming Eve is an interesting characteristic that I had almost forgotten about (thank you for the reminder). They're actually a lot more interesting now to consider.  Some fun questions to ponder.  The windigos (in the mlp realm) are "winter spirits that feed off fighting and hatred; the more hate the spirit feels, the colder things become," (from Clover the Clever from the Hearth's Warming Eve).  You'd figure then that such a powerful force, would be a little bit more mentioned post the Hearth's Warming Eve episode (or at least given more references to and background detail) and given some sort of respect and or reverence in Equestrian society.  They're actually realistic deity-like spirits.  Now their presence would suggest, there's probably not been any types of wars that have occurred post Hearth's Warming Eve (in terms of Equestrian history).  Social order could be possibly maintained one of two ways.  One, natural peaceful order, or two, forced cooperation.  Irregardless of whether or not the latter might seem unfair, if its methods maintain social order, peace and harmony, then it holds security against a real potential consequence of the windigos appearing and feeding off the hatred to plunge ponies into an ice-age.  Though, they probably only appear when hatred manifests itself significantly enough that it starts broaching the procedures that might lead to war.   This is just rambling at this point. 

 

Other fun questions to ponder, are windigos sapient? Or are they just naturally following basic survival instincts to find a source of food to feed themselves?  Actually, that also leads to another interesting question.  If Equestria has been in a long state of peace, then have the Windigos starved out? Or are they lurking somewhere else in a far off land away from Equestria, in other kingdoms that are in conflict?  One other group's war, might be Equestria's saving grace. 

 

 

Anyways went a lot off-topic.  Trying to get back to unicorns, I think we've established that there is not really that much of direct state system to handle rouge unicorns going on power-hungry conquests or such.  It really requires the goodwill and effort of a more powerful unicorn or alicorn to take down a rouge unicorn, OR a strategic combination of applied teamwork of multiple ponies to outmaneuver the rogue.  Anyways, no regular standing body of enforcement to monitor rogue unicorns, but certain higher powerful unicorns and alicorns and other voluntary groups that take up procedure of pursuing the rogue.  (princesses being a legitimate point of authority, and one of them already likes to use a bunch of gambits when messing around with the lives of Equestrians).   But yeah, to reply earlier, where did Trixie get all that dosh?  Did she steal it? Or perhaps she just earned it through a basic income from her time working on the Pie family rock farm after a while of saving?

[Steel Accord 6,658]

It was crackpot for entertaining purposes.

 

Anyways, to talk about something a little more realistic I guess. The windigos in Hearth's Warming Eve is an interesting characteristic that I had almost forgotten about (thank you for the reminder). They're actually a lot more interesting now to consider. Some fun questions to ponder. The windigos (in the mlp realm) are "winter spirits that feed off fighting and hatred; the more hate the spirit feels, the colder things become," (from Clover the Clever from the Hearth's Warming Eve). You'd figure then that such a powerful force, would be a little bit more mentioned post the Hearth's Warming Eve episode (or at least given more references to and background detail) and given some sort of respect and or reverence in Equestrian society. They're actually realistic deity-like spirits. Now their presence would suggest, there's probably not been any types of wars that have occurred post Hearth's Warming Eve (in terms of Equestrian history). Social order could be possibly maintained one of two ways. One, natural peaceful order, or two, forced cooperation. Irregardless of whether or not the latter might seem unfair, if its methods maintain social order, peace and harmony, then it holds security against a real potential consequence of the windigos appearing and feeding off the hatred to plunge ponies into an ice-age. Though, they probably only appear when hatred manifests itself significantly enough that it starts broaching the procedures that might lead to war. This is just rambling at this point.

 

Other fun questions to ponder, are windigos sapient? Or are they just naturally following basic survival instincts to find a source of food to feed themselves? Actually, that also leads to another interesting question. If Equestria has been in a long state of peace, then have the Windigos starved out? Or are they lurking somewhere else in a far off land away from Equestria, in other kingdoms that are in conflict? One other group's war, might be Equestria's saving grace.

 

 

Anyways went a lot off-topic. Trying to get back to unicorns, I think we've established that there is not really that much of direct state system to handle rouge unicorns going on power-hungry conquests or such. It really requires the goodwill and effort of a more powerful unicorn or alicorn to take down a rouge unicorn, OR a strategic combination of applied teamwork of multiple ponies to outmaneuver the rogue. Anyways, no regular standing body of enforcement to monitor rogue unicorns, but certain higher powerful unicorns and alicorns and other voluntary groups that take up procedure of pursuing the rogue. (princesses being a legitimate point of authority, and one of them already likes to use a bunch of gambits when messing around with the lives of Equestrians). But yeah, to reply earlier, where did Trixie get all that dosh? Did she steal it? Or perhaps she just earned it through a basic income from her time working on the Pie family rock farm after a while of saving?

Natural peaceful order.

 

. . . Sometimes there is no hidden tyranny or stepford scenario. Sometimes the surface speaks the truth. Equestria is not utopia but it is simply as idyllic as it appears to be.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Personally I think the Windigoes are spirits kind of like Discord. They are disembodied, ephemeral beings. They can't "starve" because them feeding off hatred isn't for sustenance, it's just their nature.

 

On that note, I don't think they are strictly sentient but they do seem to possess some capacity to think as one reacts to the three assistants becoming friends and they certainly seem to react in pain when they're BURNING ALIVE!

 

Possibly they could come back, they even allude to such at the end of the episode.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

I don't know about you, but I don't personally see that as a problem. I say the defense of the land should be left to the people that call at home. Not everything requires an organized infrastructure sometimes it requires just a willing participant.

 

(Maybe a bit of both? She saved up but then got bored and then stole the rest?)

Edited May 4, 2015 by Steel Accord

[Thunderlane 550]

Never really thought about it before. I kinda agree with you though

[pony.colin 156]

Natural peaceful order.

 

. . . Sometimes there is no hidden tyranny or stepford scenario. Sometimes the surface speaks the truth. Equestria is not utopia but it is simply as idyllic as it appears to be.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

 

Starlight Glimmer was able to maintain an isolated village of her personal making lead by her own personal ideology and vendetta.  Social order was maintained here, of course with the leader lying to them.  Now if our fabled magical table had not appeared in Twilight's castle, then Starlight Glimmer may have continued to grow her social experiment, into a social totality. It may possibly have grown from village into a whole metropolis, who knows what the future could've been for that village.  All residents gave their cutie marks up to join Starlight Glimmer's little village of their own free will, convinced about the ideals and virtues she was purporting to support.  Of course she was lying, but the point is that she had maintained it relatively well, free of any disruption and disturbance until the Cutie map appeared and brought our protagonists to them (although it did exhibit social peace, if only based on the surface face).  It's like there is magical surveillance all around this world .  Now that wasn't naturally developed but instead, was manipulated, orchestrated and developed personally by Starlight Glimmer.  She maintained the social order of her village, up until her secret was revealed.  I'm not saying that social peace == social order.  I'm saying they're two different things.  The latter is more interested in maintaining public order over peaceful co-existance with one and another.

 

It is possibly to develop cities and towns with natural peaceful co-existence.  But it is possible, in the scenario that Starlight Glimmer presented, to also maintain and manipulated a dishonest social order.  If only temporarily though for a short time, because magical surveillance table, snort.

 

 

Personally I think the Windigoes are spirits kind of like Discord. They are disembodied, ephemeral beings. They can't "starve" because them feeding off hatred isn't for sustenance, it's just their nature.

 

On that note, I don't think they are strictly sentient but they do seem to possess some capacity to think as one reacts to the three assistants becoming friends and they certainly seem to react in pain when they're BURNING ALIVE!

 

Possibly they could come back, they even allude to such at the end of the episode.

 

 

 

I agree, they're probably sentient, so they can feel pain and probably experience emotions.  Are they sapient?  To obtain and learn knowledge and be able to form judgement, opinions and thoughts?  Who knows. If the writers remember about them, maybe we'll be lucky enough to see them again in another later episode to observe their actions.  The cows on the other hand ....

 

The allusion to them at the end of the episode of Hearth's Warming Eve, - more magical entities monitoring the actions of ponies teehee, no such thing as privacy. (if only because its in their nature to do so). 

 

 

I don't know about you, but I don't personally see that as a problem. I say the defense of the land should be left to the people that call at home. Not everything requires an organized infrastructure sometimes it requires just a willing participant.

 

(Maybe a bit of both? She saved up but then got bored and then stole the rest?)

 

Not saying it's a problem, just stating my personal observations on the matter.

 

For Trixie:  possible.  Unfortunately it doesn't seem like it will be explained anytime soon.  But also, another intriguing question.  How exactly did an all powerful magical alicorn amulet end up in the possession of a small pawnshop?  And who made it in the first place?  (He totally undersold it for a small bag of money.  He so could've gotten more for it)

Edited May 4, 2015 by pony.colin

[Steel Accord 6,658]

 

 

Starlight Glimmer was able to maintain an isolated village of her personal making lead by her own personal ideology and vendetta.  Social order was maintained here, of course with the leader lying to them.  Now if our fabled magical table had not appeared in Twilight's castle, then Starlight Glimmer may have continued to grow her social experiment, into a social totality. It may possibly have grown from village into a whole metropolis, who knows what the future could've been for that village.  All residents gave their cutie marks up to join Starlight Glimmer's little village of their own free will, convinced about the ideals and virtues she was purporting to support.  Of course she was lying, but the point is that she had maintained it relatively well, free of any disruption and disturbance until the Cutie map appeared and brought our protagonists to them (although it did exhibit social peace, if only based on the surface face).  It's like there is magical surveillance all around this world .  Now that wasn't naturally developed but instead, was manipulated, orchestrated and developed personally by Starlight Glimmer.  She maintained the social order of her village, up until her secret was revealed.  I'm not saying that social peace == social order.  I'm saying they're two different things.  The latter is more interested in maintaining public order over peaceful co-existance with one and another.   It is possibly to develop cities and towns with natural peaceful co-existence.  But it is possible, in the scenario that Starlight Glimmer presented, to also maintain and manipulated a dishonest social order.  If only temporarily though for a short time, because magical surveillance table, snort.

 

Exactly, and why do you think the map did send the demi-goddess and her entourage to that town? Precisely because it wasn't true peace.

 

My father once asked me "does the absence of war mean peace?"

 

 

 

I agree, they're probably sentient, so they can feel pain and probably experience emotions.  Are they sapient?  To obtain and learn knowledge and be able to form judgement, opinions and thoughts?  Who knows. If the writers remember about them, maybe we'll be lucky enough to see them again in another later episode.   The allusion to them at the end of the episode of Hearth's Warming Eve, - more magical entities monitoring the actions of ponies teehee, no such thing as privacy. (if only because its in their nature to do so). 

 

I don't think they will and I don't mind that. They're meant to be a literal manifestation of a fable or parable. One of the most important elements of creating a believable fictional world is that they have their own legends and stories, myths within myths. Hearts Warmings Eve might be a hundred percent accurate or the Windigoes might never have existed and they simply would have frozen to death if they hadn't cuddled together for warmth and that mutual survival experience was what finally helped them get over their prejudice and emerge from the cave as friends. Either way, the "truth" of the myth is the same.

 

The Windigoes served their narrative purpose, in-universe and meta sense.

 

 

 

How exactly did an all powerful magical alicorn amulet end up in the possession of a small pawnshop?  And who made it in the first place?

 

The Holy Grail might be in a pawn shop in Cairo for all we know. Important artifacts aren't always treated with the same reverence they deserve. They guy probably bought it, either truly understanding what it was or finding out later exactly what he had. (Although if his intention was never to sell it, he did a poor job of securing it. Seriously dude, right behind the counter on the shelf?!)

[pony.colin 156]

Exactly, and why do you think the map did send the demi-goddess and her entourage to that town? Precisely because it wasn't true peace.

 

 

To prevent me from going in a round-about (because I think we've reached the concluding theory on this).  It's to suggest that peace, naturally occurs in Equestria, and only fails to be produced unless external forces are working to change that. 

 

 

My father once asked me "does the absence of war mean peace?"

 

I would answer no,  But I would also ask, what is the peace we are talking about? Peaceful coexistence? Where we learn to accept others who have opposing views to our own?  What about radicals? Are we going to shun or dispose of them? Or freely allow them to coexist as they wish to pursue their goals and worldviews?  Does that mean peace is artificially enforced by governing or self-regulating individuals? Or peaceful existence only the sense of groups not engaging with each other and ... actually maybe I'm going off since, talking about mlp:fim's world lore is not the same to compare with the modern human world, sorry for getting a little off-topic.  This is probably not worth going into talking with mlp:fim.

 

 

 

I don't think they will and I don't mind that. They're meant to be a literal manifestation of a fable or parable. One of the most important elements of creating a believable fictional world is that they have their own legends and stories, myths within myths. Hearts Warmings Eve might be a hundred percent accurate or the Windigoes might never have existed and they simply would have frozen to death if they hadn't cuddled together for warmth and that mutual survival experience was what finally helped them get over their prejudice and emerge from the cave as friends. Either way, the "truth" of the myth is the same.

 

The Windigoes served their narrative purpose, in-universe and meta sense.

 

 

I would be a little disappointed if that ended up being the case with the writers.  I'd be disappointed because it would then seem like as though they're not bothering to re-use any of their lore for continuity or making the world building process of the story more secure.  Not to say the narrative purpose and meta-narrative purpose of the windigos is bad or anything like that.  But it just feels limiting as well to me and seems underused (then again several things have only appeared once).  They serve the narrative purpose well, but I just think it would also make it interesting to see them re-appear again as a social factor in Equestrian society as well - building upon the story to flesh it out well and make it stronger, create some consistency with this world, something that builds upon itself rather than one time usage. 

Edited May 4, 2015 by pony.colin

[Steel Accord 6,658]

 

 

I would answer no,  But I would also ask, what is the peace we are talking about? Peaceful coexistence? Where we learn to accept others who have opposing views to our own?  What about radicals? Are we going to shun or dispose of them? Or freely allow them to coexist as they wish to pursue their goals and worldviews?  Does that mean peace is artificially enforced by governing or self-regulating individuals? Or peaceful existence only the sense of groups not engaging with each other and ... actually maybe I'm going off since, talking about mlp:fim's world lore is not the same to compare with the modern human world, sorry for getting a little off-topic.  This is probably not worth going into talking with mlp:fim.

 

Agreed.

 

 

 

I would be a little disappointed if that ended up being the case with the writers.  I'd be disappointed because it would then seem like as though they're not bothering to re-use any of their lore for continuity or making the world building process of the story more secure.  Not to say the narrative purpose and meta-narrative purpose of the windigos is bad or anything like that.  But it just feels limiting as well to me and seems underused (then again several things have only appeared once).  They serve the narrative purpose well, but I just think it would also make it interesting to see them re-appear again as a social factor in Equestrian society as well - building upon the story to flesh it out well and make it stronger, something that builds upon itself rather than one time usage. 

 

They've used several pieces of the lore and brought them back! Starswirl, Dragons, Discord, Luna's dream powers.

 

I think you are the one that's putting unnecessary weight in the Windigoes. They aren't meant to be the menace that hangs over the land to keep their social order in check. They're supposed to be the Titans, the Grinch, the Boogeyman, something that once held such power and terror but is laughed over because the ponies overcame that which gave them power. Unless the writers want to get edgy and have Equestria split back into the three tribes, there presence would not add anything, it would just be out of place and destroy what they were meant to symbolize.

 

In my classes, we were talking the difference between a closed society and an open society. Equestria is very much an open society, but even the fabled presence of the Windigoes would suggest a closed society and essentially mean the surface level acceptance is a flasehood.