Tempest Horn Regrowth vs Rarity Horn Filing a theory.

[Senko 459]

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING

OVERTHINKING AHEAD

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING

If you don't like debating or musing about the elements of the show leave this thread now.

Seriously if you aren't interested in people musing about explanations for plot holes LEAVE now.

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING.

 

So I was watching where the apple lies today and one of the background hospital ponies had teary eyes and a broken horn which got me thinking about the movie, tempest shadow and the stalls of unicorn horns. If Tempest in the movie is canon then it'd mean that there's a whole bunch of unicorns, possibly with a talent in magic who permanently lost their ability to do the very thing that made them special. On the other hand considering it's location/nature and the fact we've seen at least two unicorns with broken horns you'd think there'd be enough that it'd either be a major source of worry especially when a unicorn slams their face into something or have some form of magical healing like Applebloom's tooth from Zecora. Similarly arguing against this being a permanent issue we see Rarity visit the spa in green isn't your colour and get her horn filed without a care in the world. If it didn't regrow that would mean they are literally filing away her ability to use magic every visit. Which you'd think would send any unicorn into a panic attack.

However we have the Rhino who has a horn that grows unless its fully removed. Admitedly it grows only slowly and can be safely (for a value of safe considering poacher still go after the stump and you impact its entire life) harvested every 1 and a half years.

So my theory is that unicorn horns if healthy and whole do grow slowly and naturally leading me to the following theory . . .

Note how its longer and sharper than the ponies we see. Generally its been assumed that this is an eastern unicorn but what if it isn't? What if this is the natural shape of a unicorn horn if left to grow as originally it was a means for them to attack via the sharp point and slowlly evolved to channel magic. The modern day unicorn however is a cultured, refined being that uses their magic for offense, defense and daily tasks thus a sharp horn is a sign of a lack of proper grooming and/or a violent nature so they file them down to create the shorter, rounded tip we see today on a regular basis just like humans are supposed to visit a dentist twice a year for proper teeth health. However like the rhino a certain core/base must remain intact and unharmed for it to grow which Tempest did not have as too much damage was done to her horn at a young age when it was more fragile to allow it to regrow.

You'll noticed not only is it common enough the spa ponies are ready to use one on Fluttershy but Rarities is being filed near the tip.

So Thoughts?

Edited May 6, 2019 by Senko

[Brony Number 42 10,046]

I don't think unicorns all file their horns. I think Mistmane's horn is sharp because of her background. Otherwise we would see more with sharp horns. But it does make sense for them to grow back. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Brony_2A

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

Maybe only part of the horn grows back.

[Senko 459]

6 hours ago, Brony_2A said:

I don't think unicorns all file their horns. I think Mistmane's horn is sharp because of her background. Otherwise we would see more with sharp horns. But it does make sense for them to grow back. 

Possibly though I'd expect more sharp horned ponies if Mistmane were an example of a type just like there's all the Sonambulan's in southern Equestria or at least a reaction by somepony on seeing her horn.

6 hours ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

Maybe only part of the horn grows back.

That's what I think.

[Brony Number 42 10,046]

Maybe if the root is killed it won't come back, like a tooth.

[Jeric 46,838]

In some artistic depictions the sin-you have a curved or angled singular horn (different from the kirin or qilin branched horn in some depictions). That’s where the horn design for the eastern themed unicorns in FiM was inspired from. There so many fascinating types of unicorns in mythology. 

As far as horn regrowth from damage, I assumed the reason for the writers using the Ursa was to show that it takes something extraordinarily strong to break a horn. Those familiar with the two Ursas would would recognize the amount of danger and perhaps magical damage cannot he healed. 

As far as horn filing, I assumed it was for several reasons. It could be a method to keep it clean. It could also be used to keep out growths in check and preserve a more manageable size for the horn. I would expect that different regions would have different horn shapes even if they grew. We already know that some unicorns have longer horns to match body type for aesthetic design, so I would suspect that those taller ponies just let their horns grow more. 

[Fhaolan 4,471]

I'm of the opinion that the horn can 'heal' and grow back, but only if the damage isn't too severe.

In RL, animal horns do grow. In fact, I have had to cut the ends off of sheep horns occasionally, as they sometimes grow in unfortunate ways and curl too close to the animal's eye or neck. But you have to be careful because an animal's horn is not a solid undifferentiated structure, there is a 'core' there that if damaged will prevent the horn from growing properly.

Basically, what you see as a 'horn' is an outer covering. Inside there's an actual bone that has blood flow, a core of marrow, and all the same things the rest of the bones in the body has. This bone is often fairly small, and you can tell where the blood flow stops by running your hand along the horn and feeling where the horn grows cold. Anything past this point can be cut and the animal is not hurt by it, anymore than you are hurt when you cut your fingernails.

However, cut into the warm area where blood flows, and you're going to have a problem. The horn will not regrow properly after that, because you've actually damage the bit that grows the covering.

From the looks of Tempest, the damage is close enough to the skull that the bone  (or equivalent) itself was damaged and the horn will never regrow properly.

[Senko 459]

1 hour ago, Fhaolan said:

I'm of the opinion that the horn can 'heal' and grow back, but only if the damage isn't too severe.

In RL, animal horns do grow. In fact, I have had to cut the ends off of sheep horns occasionally, as they sometimes grow in unfortunate ways and curl too close to the animal's eye or neck. But you have to be careful because an animal's horn is not a solid undifferentiated structure, there is a 'core' there that if damaged will prevent the horn from growing properly.

Basically, what you see as a 'horn' is an outer covering. Inside there's an actual bone that has blood flow, a core of marrow, and all the same things the rest of the bones in the body has. This bone is often fairly small, and you can tell where the blood flow stops by running your hand along the horn and feeling where the horn grows cold. Anything past this point can be cut and the animal is not hurt by it, anymore than you are hurt when you cut your fingernails.

However, cut into the warm area where blood flows, and you're going to have a problem. The horn will not regrow properly after that, because you've actually damage the bit that grows the covering.

From the looks of Tempest, the damage is close enough to the skull that the bone  (or equivalent) itself was damaged and the horn will never regrow properly.

Ah thank you for the providing detailed information on how it works. So the theory partially holds water though the growing naturally into a curved sharp style may not.

 

So we have potentially a working theory . . .

1) Unicorns have a core bone structure that supports the rest of their horn.

2) If the core is damaged it can potentially impact their magic and prevent their horn regrowing.

3) The "horn" itself is strong and takes a fair amount of work to damage as a protective coating.

4) The horn grows naturally.

5) Horn care may involve filing to create an attractive shape and prevent potential health problems.

 

Which would mean that sad unicorn in where the apple lies will be able to regrow his horn in time as it's broken off well away from the proposed core whereas tempest not only got hit by an ursa at a much younger age but had it broken off close to the skull where the core would be. This works, I like it. It would also explain why there was no apparent healing for it because it would require healing the actual bone core not just a protective covering like apple blooms tooth chip.

[Fhaolan 4,471]

4 hours ago, Senko said:

Ah thank you for the providing detailed information on how it works. So the theory partially holds water though the growing naturally into a curved sharp style may not.

 

No problems. Additional info: Rhino horns work differently as they don't have the core bone, they're solid keratin (the coating on normal horns). To prevent them from regrowing, you have to damage the skull itself. Antlers also work differently, as they don't have the keratin coating, being entirely a special type of bone that grows, dies, and falls off every year. Giraffe ossicones are based on cartilage rather than bone, and my knowledge on that ends at that point.  Most of my knowledge is from dealing with raising sheep for the last fifteen-twenty years.  

Different shape horns are easily possible within the same 'species'. This is what people normally think of for sheep horns: 

Here's a racka sheep: 

This is also a racka: 

And here's a jacob sheep: Yes, this breed can have *six* horns (this one only has four, which is more common for this breed).

 

So having specific 'breeds' of unicorns with curved vs. straight horn is completely reasonable.

Oh, and both girl and boy sheep can have horns. A lot of modern breeds have been 'designed' to not have any horns at all (called a 'polled' breed), and ewes, if they have horns, tend to be much smaller than rams, as horn growth (in sheep at least) is tied to testosterone. So 'fixed' males (wethers) usually also have lighter & shorter horns than full rams.

Probably not helpful for your theories, but I've always felt that more information might spur other ideas. 

 

[Senko 459]

The bit about different sheep horns fits in nicely and explains the different horn types in a natural rather than cultura/filed way so I appreciate it.