The Musical Magic of Equestria

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

One of the most wonderful aspects about the show is its wonderful music. Not just the background music by William Anderson and his team, and occasionally by the venerable Daniel Ingram, but Ingram's beautiful songs. Whether it's the majesty of Art of the Dress, the joy in Smile, Smile, Smile, or the musical-like-nature of At The Gala and Winter Wrap Up, the songs are simply divine, far better than one would typically expect from an animated show in general, let alone a My Little Pony show. But let's step back for a moment from praising the music and examine it in the context of the show's universe. How do we view it in Equestria itself? Is the music really there, summoned from nowhere, ponies gifted with song and the knowledge of lyrics, all together like something out of a Broadway musical come to life, or are the songs simply metaphorical, something we would enjoy as viewers but wouldn't see happening, for the most part, in the "real" Equestria?

 

Although I have often pointed to aspects of the show such as Pinkie Pie's constant physics breaking as more metaphorical or cartoony than actual depictions of reality, as it were, in truth my opinion is that the music is just as real as we hear it. The instrumental background to the songs really does start playing from nowhere, summoned up by the magic that persists within the fabric of Equestrian reality. Ponies who might otherwise have terrible singing voices normally, such as Rainbow Dash, are able to sing beautifully. The lyrics too come from nowhere. There are a few instances of songs in the show I would argue doesn't fall under this. For example, the Cutie Mark Crusader's Theme Song from The Show Stoppers, primarily because it's far funnier to me to picture Scootaloo actually singing acapella, but also because they were shown practicing and writing said song, meaning that it did not arise "naturally." Just about all of Pinkie's shorter songs, as well as You Gotta Share, would also be lumped in this category, as most of them were clearly prepared by Pinkie rather than emerging on the spot.

 

I define the musical magic in Equestria as thus. During a pony's lifetime, emotions can run high in many instances. Because life is so harmoniously in tune with reality itself in Equestria, these emotions can eventually inspire and stir up the latent magic into a song, a melody blaring out its full throat. For a normal pony, this probably only ever occurs once, and can be the happiest, angriest, or saddest moment of their lives, depending upon what emotions and events stirred them into song in the first place. The Mane Six, being the spirits of the Elements of Harmony and especially in tune with harmony itself and Equestria, create so much of this musical magic because they're that much more powerful, magically speaking. This may be an in universe explanation, incidentally, for why we see the songs primarily confined to Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Dashie and Fluttershy, because they're a bit more in tune with magic than Applejack--Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash due to their Pegasi abilities to fly with such tiny wingspans and their abilities to manipulate clouds, Rarity for being a Unicorn, and Pinkie Pie because of her Pinkie Sense. Twilight, on the other hand, may not inspire many songs, but when she does, she inspires HUGE ones. I attribute both Winter Wrap Up and At The Gala to her, and I will preemptively attribute her song in the season finale to her as well.

 

The musical magic of Equestria probably doesn't go untended to either. It's likely controlled or watched over in some way, just as the Sun and the Moon are. This is what I speculate Cadence does, given the way her name would tie into the whole ideal of music. I could be wrong, of course, especially since Lauren Faust did not originally intend for Cadence to be an Alicorn, but it gives her control of a domain that I think suits her.

 

Of course, this is up for interpretation. There is evidence aplenty in the show to support both this interpretation and the interpretation that the music is simply metaphorical. Note how in Winter Wrap Up the episode the ponies seem to show no knowledge of what Twilight sang, since she has to go around and ask them what she should do, but in other episodes, such as May The Best Pet Win, the song carries the scene and clearly occurs, at least in some form. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this, whatever they may be.

Edited April 13, 2012 by Kyronea

[Nothing392 61]

I guess I always just took it as you would take a musical, not questioning it. But this explanation makes sense if you do try to explain it. It would be cool if you wrote a fanfic based on this idea.

[TwiForLife 87]

I think this is one of the many reason this show is so special to us. Not only are the songs are catchy and fun to listen to, but they touch our hearts, such as Smile Smile Smile. It even makes our darkest of days bright again with some of the lyrics, and that's something you don't see quite often in songs in kid's cartoons these days.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

I guess I always just took it as you would take a musical, not questioning it. But this explanation makes sense if you do try to explain it. It would be cool if you wrote a fanfic based on this idea.

 

I'm afraid I have no talent for any sort of song lyrics, and since any fanfic idea based upon this notion would probably require a song or two as a part of it, I couldn't write it. But there's no reason someone else couldn't.

 

I think this is one of the many reason this show is so special to us. Not only are the songs are catchy and fun to listen to, but they touch our hearts, such as Smile Smile Smile. It even makes our darkest of days bright again with some of the lyrics, and that's something you don't see quite often in songs in kid's cartoons these days.

 

I should also point out that I endorse this idea because I feel it lends something a little extra to Equestria. As its own little reality, having its own rules about how things functions make it unique, and musical magic is not something I see all that often in any sort of setting.

[Swordfishtrombone 384]

Yeah I see where you're going with this. I think you're really onto something here. Why not write a more expanded form or story based on it?

 

And I think its a pretty worthy idea, the fanfic, don't see why it would b require music in on itself.

[Randomiser 115]

Yeah, I like that idea. A lot of the unrehearsed songs do give the impression that they actually happen. On the other hand a lot of the on-screen action seems to be chalked down to simply being in a typical music video fashion. Besides the obvious metaphorical scenes and dramatic backgrounds, some songs end and leave no trace that they occurred. For example, at the end of Smile, all the confetti and ponies surrounding Pinkie are gone in a moment, leaving only Cranky.

Note how in Winter Wrap Up the episode the ponies seem to show no knowledge of what Twilight sang, since she has to go around and ask them what she should do,

 

Twilight wasn't physically near her friends when they sang Winter Wrap Up. I wonder if whatever magic this is could sort of connect them all to sing the same song from a distance. Either way, I like the idea of their emotions bubbling up until the magic releases them as music.

[I used to be a stranger 7,994]

It was a fan-fiction concept I had for a while to explain "Random musical numbers" canonically:

It's all because of a curse made by a wizard a long time ago, thats passed on generationally. The gist was the wizard received milk (like most other villagers) from a mare that delivered bottles of milk. One day the wizard got so annoyed by her eternally cheery and joyful mood that he cursed her to be perpetually in-song, and whoever tried to talk to her would break into song as well; a few centuries down the line, the curse has weakened but also dispersed widely.

Edited April 17, 2012 by Blue

[Pony Joe 583]

 

I never really thought about it that way, but it makes a lot of sense! Especially the tie-in with Candence's name, it makes it seem like she didn't come out of nowhere after all.

[Guest]

I definitely agree with this, I hadn't really thought about it much myself but this idea really makes a lot of sense when you think about it!

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

Of the season finale's three songs and the two reprises, each one falls under a different heading of song from my original hypothesis.

 

For example: B.B.B.F.F. and its reprise are exactly the sort of song that I was speaking about in my original post when it comes to literal musical magic. Twilight expresses significant emotions of love and nothing about the song causes any possible plot issues for taking it literally versus metaphorically. Indeed, if anything it is better to take it literally, because she really pours her heart into it and it helps make clear how important Shining Armor was to her, especially to her friends who never knew him. The reprise only strengthens the depth of the emotions involved, this time with betrayal, sorrow, and self-contrition, given that she essentially brought it on herself.

 

This Day Aria, on the other hand, as beautiful as it is, seriously confuses the issue. The initial duet can't possibly be taken literally, because Deceptive Cadance crows about her treachery in front of everyone at the wedding, and unless we want to label every single pony present an enormous idiot, something I'd rather not do, we're forced to look at it as metaphorical instead. That would have been no problem at all except that the reprise creates a plot issue by doing so. The reprise doesn't just add a darker tone to the song, but also serves as a plot distraction for Queen Chrysalis, where Twilight has an opportunity to free Cadance long enough for the Princess to rescue her Shining Armor and banish the Changelings. So, does that mean the reprise should be taken literally and the original metaphorically? Honestly, I don't think so. I am willing to say that the reprise is just as metaphorical. What matters is that Queen Chrysalis is distracted with her own thoughts--what those thoughts are is somewhat irrelevant.

 

Love is in Bloom is like The Cutie Mark Crusaders Theme Song and other similar songs in that it isn't an example of a piece of musical magic, but neither is it metaphorical since Twilight obviously sings it. What's interesting though is that it does toss a bit of a thorn in my hypothesis...primarily in that I figured Twilight's quality singing voice only came about during instances of musical magic, rather than her possessing a good singing voice normally. I suppose I shouldn't have doubted her.

 

Unfortunately, the season finale does deal a significant blow to my hypothesis in the form of Cadance apparently having zilch to do with music. I had been hoping that Cadance would prove to be an important Alicorn in charge of such things, but instead we saw that she appeared to be not more than thirty or so years old, given that she ages demonstrably in between the flashback of Twilight's youth and her own present day appearance. Of course that doesn't mean that musical magic doesn't exist--it merely means that either some other Alicorn is in charge of it, or it's so basic to the fabric of reality in Equestria that no Alicorn or any other being is in charge of it so much as it is simply there for everyone, regardless of whom they are.

[Titan Rising 2,156]

I tend to think of singing and other things that break the laws in the world of a cartoon simply as exaggeration by the animators. Whether or not it's actually happening no one besides the writers can really say, maybe in their world ponys are lyrical geniuses or they can shape reality with their thoughts - who's to say lol

 

It's like Road Runner where the Wile E Coyote might run off a cliff and stay there for like 5 seconds before looking down and finally falling. Does he really stay there for 5 seconds or is it just meant to be looked at and laughed about?

[Batbrony 16,055]

Interesting theory; whatever the reality of the situation is, it doesn't change the fact that the songs are some of the greatest segments of the show for me. It is soooooo rare, especially today, to not only find a TV show that not only consistently has musical segments, but also consistently has FANTASTIC musical segments!!! Props to the entire musical team at Studio B!!! You guys rock!!!