What if an earth pony wanted to join the Wonderbolts?

[Latecomer 438]

3 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

Because there is no real call for it. Glider wings would be useless (other than for getting down from high places) unless the pony wearing them could use flight magic; almost all pegasus ponies have flight magic, with a few exceptions, and almost no earth ponies or unicorns do.

Be curious to see if Scoots could fly using canvas wings though.

If so, surely someone would have tried her on some.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

1 hour ago, Latecomer said:

If so, surely someone would have tried her on some.

Scoots didn't know they existed until one comic ago. She has made a set for Rumble though, so I imagine once Rumble's wing is healed, they will be available for Scoots to try out....

[Treeglow Flicker 13,034]

Get the Earth Pony a jetpack. They can be the Boba Fett pony of the skies!

[Latecomer 438]

40 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

Scoots didn't know they existed until one comic ago. She has made a set for Rumble though, so I imagine once Rumble's wing is healed, they will be available for Scoots to try out....

That's the point - if they could help flightless pegasi, don't you think Scootaloo would know  about them already?

[CypherHoof 26,479]

20 minutes ago, Latecomer said:

That's the point - if they could help flightless pegasi, don't you think Scootaloo would know  about them already?

We don't know of any other pegasus pony with a flight disability, and rumble's own brother didn't know about Windsock so... no?

[Latecomer 438]

Just now, CypherHoof said:

We don't know of any other pegasus pony with a flight disability, and rumble's own brother didn't know about Windsock so... no?

I doubt Scootaloo's the only one, and surely she's seen doctors about it.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

48 minutes ago, Treeglow Flicker said:

Get the Earth Pony a jetpack. They can be the Boba Fett pony of the skies!

Twi gave Rarity wings once, and tranformed them all into Breezies, so clearly there IS a magic solution too.

Just now, Latecomer said:

I doubt Scootaloo's the only one, and surely she's seen doctors about it.

We don't know of any others (that doesn't mean there aren't any, and flutters was a "weak flyer" as a filly)

Ponyville medics probably aren't the best choice either.

[Latecomer 438]

2 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

Twi gave Rarity wings once, and tranformed them all into Breezies, so clearly there IS a magic solution too.

We don't know of any others (that doesn't mean there aren't any, and flutters was a "weak flyer" as a filly)

Ponyville medics probably aren't the best choice either.

Of there's an easy fix and Scoot's doesn't get it, that kind of makes her angst seem pretty cheap.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

3 minutes ago, Latecomer said:

Of there's an easy fix and Scoot's doesn't get it, that kind of makes her angst seem pretty cheap.

Well, she IS still a filly; it is possible she will gain at least fluttershy-level flight capability when she is grown.

(that said, I just checked last week's episode again, and while she doesn't even try to fly, her wings are still TINY as a grown-up)

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

3 hours ago, Latecomer said:

If such things are possible (and capable of matching the best flyers in Equestria, at that) then why have we never seen any?

Maybe Hasbro hasn’t thought of it yet

[CypherHoof 26,479]

37 minutes ago, ExplosionMare said:

Maybe Hasbro hasn’t thought of it yet

Well, given they are now ending G4, I guess they ran out of time.

[Ittoni 536]

As janitor? Sure! Welcome!

Jk, I think as wonderbolt like it is is very unlikely, I would even say impossible. I think that the wonderbolts are a Pegasus exclusive group because they need Pegasus magic to be prepared to do things in the act with what they have. They are a specialized group that use their body and natural Pegasus magic.

I would think that there's a different aircraft division for non pegasy ponies though. 

Edited October 6, 2019 by Ittoni

[Splashee 28,537]

On 12/7/2016 at 12:40 AM, cider float said:

It's impossible for an earth pony to fly but what if they wanted to become a Wonderbolt? How are they going to reject him? Tell him down by saying, "Sorry you're not a pegasus thus you can't join."

Exactly. Giving a nicer speech why you can't join ad another race wouldn't fit the Wonderbolts, they are the elite flyers of Equestria.

Just like every other elite group, you have to prove yourself to be worth joining, either by being rich, or having talent. Both usually comes with being born in Equestria. Oh and you can train, but you will probably not get in, there are too many Wonderbolts already.

But for an Earth Pony, no there is nothing that can be done. Same with being a Princess, without wings, it is impossible.

[Landi 597]

In congruence with this topic, I have some issues regarding the previously mentioned comic (issue 81). First off, Wind Sock's "wings" were just a glider, so how could even lift a pony on a stretcher without any actual lift? The comic claimed that the pegasi couldn't get down to save him, yet pegasus wings can also be used for gliding (and do so better than any artificial wings could). I'm pretty sure a pegasus could have definitely saved the injured pony.

Secondly, the fact that he was "declared" a full fledge wonderbolt also doesn't make sense. A little glider like Wind's definitely couldn't perform all the aerial stunts which the wonderbolts have to pull off. The types of stunts the wonderbolts do both involves and requires pegasi to use their wings and body to quickly maneuver around with great force. Artificial flying devices, such as the glider, are simply unable to do this. Therefor, I still think that an Earth Pony would be unable to actually become a Wonderbolt (Plus the comic's canon is shaky).

 

[HedonismBot 218]

 

On 2019-10-06 at 12:35 PM, CypherKirin said:

Scoots didn't know they existed until one comic ago. She has made a set for Rumble though, so I imagine once Rumble's wing is healed, they will be available for Scoots to try out....

The way Scootaloo was mentioned in that comic made it feel like the writers were practically screaming "We would LOVE to have Scootaloo fly with that thing, but our hands are tied!" (the comic still being bound to the show's status quo at the time).

 

On 2019-10-06 at 1:16 PM, Latecomer said:

That's the point - if they could help flightless pegasi, don't you think Scootaloo would know  about them already?

For most of the series, it was left ambiguous as to whether there was any hope of Scootaloo one day flying all normal-like. If she was undergoing training/physical therapy to that end, then there might not have been any compelling need to fit her for assistive tech of any sort. She might even have been under doctor's orders to abstain from that, lest she develop bad habits that would interfere with her progress towards flying naturally.

Though that would account for why, in "Growing Up is Hard to Do" (which, in a crazy coincidence, aired about a month after issue 81 of the comic was published), she didn't notice that her wings didn't grow with the rest of her - she knew that if there ended up being no chance of flying normally, she has options.

Out-of-universe, it feels very much like the writers were trying to have it both ways - that is, satisfy both the fans who were holding her up as an example of disability representation and the fans who were hopeful to see her eventually fly.

 

1 hour ago, Landi said:

In congruence with this topic, I have some issues regarding the previously mentioned comic (issue 81). First off, Wind Sock's "wings" were just a glider, so how could even lift a pony on a stretcher without any actual lift? The comic claimed that the pegasi couldn't get down to save him, yet pegasus wings can also be used for gliding (and do so better than any artificial wings could). I'm pretty sure a pegasus could have definitely saved the injured pony.

Secondly, the fact that he was "declared" a full fledge wonderbolt also doesn't make sense. A little glider like Wind's definitely couldn't perform all the aerial stunts which the wonderbolts have to pull off. The types of stunts the wonderbolts do both involves and requires pegasi to use their wings and body to quickly maneuver around with great force. Artificial flying devices, such as the glider, are simply unable to do this. Therefor, I still think that an Earth Pony would be unable to actually become a Wonderbolt (Plus the comic's canon is shaky).

 

It was stated that the rigid wings on Wind Sock's glider weren't affected by the chaotic air currents like pegasus wings were (possibly taking a few creative liberties with physics, but no worse than what we've seen in the show). As for him being unable to do the kinds of stunt flying we've seen from the Wonderbolts, that was implied to have happened several decades ago - it's possible that they had more practical responsibilities back then, as opposed to the glorified entertainers depicted in modern Equestria.

And speaking of modern Equestria: take whatever voodoo powers Tank's propeller, stick it in a ducted fan, and you have a jetpack. It's quite plausible that a skilled engineer (possibly even Scootaloo, what with her own mechanical skills) could develop that into something that would meet modern Wonderbolt standards.

[Fluttershutter 2,118]

Well it might be a little more polite to say "Sorry, you don't have wings."

[Misty Shadow 7,084]

Why would a pony who can't fly want to join a group for Equestria's most elite fliers in the first place? 

[Megas 27,064]

They actually made a comic about this lol

[HedonismBot 218]

2 hours ago, CloudMistDragon said:

Why would a pony who can't fly want to join a group for Equestria's most elite fliers in the first place? 

Why is that so implausible? The whole reason we have airplanes is because some guy saw a bird flying and thought "It'd be cool if I could do that".

[Landi 597]

8 hours ago, HedonismBot said:

It was stated that the rigid wings on Wind Sock's glider weren't affected by the chaotic air currents like pegasus wings were (possibly taking a few creative liberties with physics, but no worse than what we've seen in the show). As for him being unable to do the kinds of stunt flying we've seen from the Wonderbolts, that was implied to have happened several decades ago - it's possible that they had more practical responsibilities back then, as opposed to the glorified entertainers depicted in modern Equestria.

It never really made any sense though, especially considering how flimsy the glider looked compared to pegasus wings. Not only are pegasus wings able to be very strong (especially those of a Wonderbolt), they are supposed to be able to withstand numerous weather conditions (considering that pegasi are the ones who control the weather). If Wind Sock's Contraption could miraculously withstand the heavy winds, than so could pegasus wings. I feel like the writers were just trying to create excuses to make pegasi seem useless so that Wind Sock could do something.

As for the wonderbolts being more practical beck then, it's a possibility, but unlikely. "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3" mentioned that the wonderbolts were started after creating of an amazing ariel display. It made it seem that the wonderbolts have always done incredible Ariel tricks.

9 hours ago, HedonismBot said:

And speaking of modern Equestria: take whatever voodoo powers Tank's propeller, stick it in a ducted fan, and you have a jetpack. It's quite plausible that a skilled engineer (possibly even Scootaloo, what with her own mechanical skills) could develop that into something that would meet modern Wonderbolt standards.

I still doubt that a pony would make it in, even with a strong device. The wonderbolts are looking for the most talented flyer, which means they are looking for ponies who can fly naturally. A device wouldn't feel anywhere near as impressive since it isn't the pony, rather the machine doing the flying (the pony can control the direction of the machine, but isn't putting in the physical work a pegasus would need to do the same). Plus, there really isn't a need for flying devices to become mainstream in Equestria. Any job requiring flight can just be done by a pegasus.

[Reality Check 627]

Pretty sure it'd be awkward all around

[Clawdeen 12,110]

Yeah the comics had an earth pony wonderbolt.

Wind Sock

[HedonismBot 218]

7 hours ago, Landi said:

As for the wonderbolts being more practical beck then, it's a possibility, but unlikely. "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3" mentioned that the wonderbolts were started after creating of an amazing ariel display. It made it seem that the wonderbolts have always done incredible Ariel tricks.

Even if the stunt flying was always a part of what they did, it's possible that in olden times they had more responsibilities beyond that.

 

7 hours ago, Landi said:

I still doubt that a pony would make it in, even with a strong device. The wonderbolts are looking for the most talented flyer, which means they are looking for ponies who can fly naturally. A device wouldn't feel anywhere near as impressive since it isn't the pony, rather the machine doing the flying (the pony can control the direction of the machine, but isn't putting in the physical work a pegasus would need to do the same).

If it were Scootaloo wearing whatever it is, then Rainbow Dash might have something to say about that (though she could just combine a modified version of Wind Sock's glider with the thrust from her own wings, so it wouldn't be just the machine doing the flying).

[dead account 2,703]

They won't be accepted. But there are always the Washouts. If you are risk taking they welcome you with open arms.

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

No wings, no Wonderbolt. The same would apply for a unicorn. 

Edited June 5, 2022 by TomDaBombMLP