Why are other races arrogant toward ponies?

[pinkiefan1287 610]

It seems like a lot of different races in the MLP world, don't care for the ponies that much. Like Gilda seems to look down on them. I don't know if this is all griffons seeing as there have only been 2 in the show. Dragons also seem to look down on them and just see them as weak. Seeing as they make nest where ever they feel like. Changelings just see themselves as being the superior race to all other and just see them as food. Even Zecora at times seems a little aragonite at times. Like in Swarm of the Century she did not seem to care that the Ponyville was about to be destroyed and in Magic duel it felt like she was saying her magic is better then unicorn magic. Thats just the feeling I got from her in those episodes.

 

So why do you think so many look down on ponies?

 

Could it be that the ponies have more of an environmental affect on the world and the they just can't do that? Griffons can lay on clouds, but we don't know if they can control the weather. Or could it be the writers are just trying to show not everyone is going to get a long at first, but in time once we get to know each other we can get a long?

 

This is just a random thought that came to me. 

Edited April 22, 2013 by pinkiefan1287

[zeptabrony 6]

i dont know for sure, but i think it has to do with the fact that the ponies are better. in the show, most animals are able to have human emotions, and are pretty smart. some like dragons can even talk, but none besides the ponies are civilised, with huge cities and farms. ponies are just more self-seficiant. and ponies seem to be more than willing to use and farm other animals (like cows), and refer to them as bad words (like mules). im not too sure about griffons, i think they are just angry at anyone, i dunno...

[Rainbow Skywalker 642]

That's a pretty detailed observation. When you think about it, it does appear that the other races are more ignorant towards the ponies. I would guess that this theory is true, but we haven't seen all that incredibly much of the outside races. There could probably be some pretty nice griffins, or perhaps even thoughtful changelings. But thats what fan fiction is for right?

[Scootalove 10,689]

I think it's because, the other races aren't too fond of ponies and don't really understand why they are very passionate and always nice to someone. Gilda & The Changelings don't really think of ponies as friends, they think of them as enemies and very annoying.

It's something that even I don't understand.

[Orablanco Account 3,707]

The changelings just think every race they meet is food.

 

Dragons probably look down on everyone.

 

Gilda is just proud.

 

My head canon dictates that every other race probably holds an intrinsic resentment for the ponies because they think they're OP, what with all the alicorns and wielding the EoH.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

You bring up an interesting point. Personally, I think it's because of cultural perceptions of strength. Griffons, like Gilda, are descendant of predators. Gilda particularly seems more willing to get physical than anyone in Ponyville. They may view ponies as, maybe not necessarily unable to fight, but unwilling to. Which could be even worse as a cultural viewpoint.

 

Dragons may have this perception about anyone. They are dragons after all! They are immensely powerful and ridiculously long lived. There's a reason some fantasy settings portray them outright as gods.

 

Zebra we have even less to go on since we have exactly one example of them. Zecora's attitude doesn't seem to stem from cultural pride as it does from personal history. She's been traveling for what's implied to be a long time, possibly most of her life. Ponies jumping to conclusions, not thinking ahead, being eccentric, and having more "flashy" magic is simply at odds with how she's had to live.

 

Changelings are really don't know about. Individuals don't seem to have much in the way of opinion beyond scurry around, shape shift, capture food source. Chrysalis did mention how Equestria had more love than she ever encountered. So it could be not that ponies are "weak" to them but are a smorgasbord of sustenance. Take your pick on whether that's better or worse. 

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

That is an interesting observation, although I'm not sure if Gilda/the teenage dragons should be allowed to speak for their races. Changelings makes sense, when you view something as food it's only natural to think of it as inferior.

 

As for Zecora, I got the vibe that her general attitude was that intelligent use of the magic that you have, combined with teamwork, is better than accursed dark magic. Plus, she needed a way to reassure Twilight that there was a way to overcome the stupidly overpowered amulet.

 

I think we may need to see more members of their species' before coming to conclusions. On an interesting side note, ponies generally seem to look down on mules

[hawkflame 3,310]

The only entire "race" you could say that about is maybe the Dragons.  Griffins are too small a sample size so far, and I really don't see arrogance from Zecora at all. 

 

With Gilda, that's just her being a bully to everyone.  You can't say that about all griffins.  I don't think Zecora ever implied her magic is "better" than pony magic, just that trixie's way was not the answer.

[Grtxkkyz 389]

Well,my theory is that they're just faithful to their alignment.You see,Hasbro owns both MLP and DnD.And many of the monsters,animals and creatures in MLP are based on their Dnd counterparts.For example,the adult red and green dragons from season 1 are chromatic.Chromatic Dragons are usually alligned to any evil,be it lawful,neutral or chaotic

[dreaper 136]

The changelings just think every race they meet is food.

 

Dragons probably look down on everyone.

 

Gilda is just proud.

 

My head canon dictates that every other race probably holds an intrinsic resentment for the ponies because they think they're OP, what with all the alicorns and wielding the EoH.

 

This. With all the ridiculous power the ponies have, I can easily see why other races may hate them. I mean, ponies can control the weather, they can cast powerful spells, they control the sun and the moon and they have very powerful Elements of Harmony. 

 

In my headcanon: Ponies are the arrogant race. They may think the entire world revolves around them and look down on every other race, because they don't have the society and power the ponies do.

[Orablanco Account 3,707]

In my headcanon: Ponies are the arrogant race. They may think the entire world revolves around them and look down on every other race, because they don't have the society and power the ponies do.

That makes a lot of sense.

 

The citizens of Ponyville had never seen a zebra before and were actually frightened when they saw one.

 

Not a lot of griffons hang around the ponies, and Pinkie didn't even know what a griffon is.

 

They know next to nothing about dragons, yet Zecora seems to know a good bit about them. Maybe it's just because she's the wise ol' sage witch doctor character, but not even the scholars of Canterlot know anything after probably thousands of years spent sharing the realm with them.

 

The Apploosians set up their orchard without considering whether the land was being used by the buffalo already living there.

 

Holy crap.

 

Dave Polsky needs to write an episode about this right away.

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,091]

Dreaper and Citrus...

 

Yes. Just yes. That's exactly what my head-canon has been since I started thinking about the relationships between ponies and other races. It may stem from the fact that Equestria is a pony-dominate nation, meaning that most of the ponies there don't interact much with the other races. We know a few mules live around Equestria but that they are generally considered lesser, mostly due to the fact that ponies have on a few occasions negatively referred to mules. As for donkeys... it's not clear, but Cranky Doodle seemed to be generally accepted by Pinkie, even if he was a grouch at first.

 

Griffons obviously aren't very common in Equestria, but both Gilda and Gustave both seemed to have egos of their own. Gilda is prideful, arrogant, and thinks ponies are lame, and Gustave believed his food was the best and he seemed to have a high-class attitude about him, although the same could be said about Joe and Mulia I suppose.

 

As for Dragons... they seem to mostly keep to themselves and get agitated when bothered, but seeing as how Dragons and Ponies rarely interact, it figures that Ponies think of them as scary, monstrous brutes, while Dragons view Ponies as weak. After all, they hardly interact!
 

Overall, great discussion, and this topic needs to be bigger.

[Thuja 3,663]

A good point, I actually think the ponies are more ignorant than arrogant and maybe the other races can't really take them seriously because the ponies are all about peace and love, etc, even when they themselves have times when they don't comply to this ideal of theirs.  It would be fascinating to see the other species in the word of MLP. 

 

Griffins

In medieval times, the griffins were associated with strength and many heraldry featured them in some way or form.  While Gilda or that...  Gustave guy...  are not good representations of a whole race, nor should we assume their whole race is as they are.  I'm sure they're much like the ponies, with good and bad griffins.  In mythology, Griffins are known for being tricksters/pranksters or wise creatures with unnatural strength.  This could make for a society that is a lot more competitive than those of the ponies.  Gilda seems to behave the best around Rainbow Dash which she herself is a very competitive pony(and she flies), Gilda probably likes her the most because of this trait.  She probably doesn't hold much respect for a society that only focuses on love and all that wimpy nonsense.  She probably reacts the way she does with Pinkie Pie because for her that might have been a challenge on the dominace that she had on Rainbow Dash's time or, "Stepping in on her turf," as it were.  I'd actually compare the Griffin race to that of the Klingons from Star Trek and how the Klingons view the Federation.  Where the Klingons do battle to preserve their honour or gain some, the Federation would rather talk about an issue.  The Klingons constantly mock the Federation for that while still holding the Federation with some form of respect(if they're willing to hear the Fed out, I think that's respect enough?).  I'm not going to say that the Griffin society is a totally violent one but having claws and paws instead of hooves and are probably omnivores or carnivorous would have a leaning towards aggressive.   Both Gustave and Gilda are highly competitive individuals, this could possibly be a hereditary trait or the way both were raised within their shared culture.  We have yet to see more of them, I hope in the next season there will be more of them.  I'm rather curious if there is a Griffin creator or if there are even griffins that can use some form of magic.

 

Zebras

I think the concept of zebras in the world is pretty cool.  Zecora's jewelry makes me wonder what type of culture she comes from.  Though some of my thoughts on the subject are that they are more in tune with nature and may view something like magic as unnatural since one can use magic to bend what once was into something else.  Seeing how Zecora speaks of Twilight Sparkle's magic, it almost seemed to me like she didn't take it all that seriously.  It's implied that Zecora has been travelling around for a LONG time, perhaps through her travels her tolerance of unicorn magic grew, perhaps her people don't have magic or view it with some sort of stigma.  As if it were a, to be dramatic, taboo subject.  Zecora's use of herbal remedies could hint at the possibilities of Shaman-like zebras, or druids if they can use magic or even if they can't.  Perhaps there are unicorn-ish zebras but they are viewed like untouchables or how lepers are viewed.  Though, Zecora is the only zebra in the series so far, we have yet to be introduced to any other zebras(I haven't been reading the comics so I wouldn't know.)  I'd like to see more of them.

 

Changelings

Changelings view all other races as food, so it's understandable that they look down upon everypony else.  It wouldn't make much sense for a predator race to pity the prey...  I wouldn't be surprised if there were changelings that are a bit ok, that would make for an interesting episode.  A Changeling that actually has some compassion for the other races.

 

Dragons

In modern times, dragons are generally viewed as arrogant and look down at other creatures with contempt or are wise advice-givers helping the protagonist.  Though it seems the dragons in the MLP-verse don't have much love for the ponies to the point that the mane 6 have to make a dragon disguise to "blend" in and find Spike.  Or they are simply misunderstood/ a lacking of interaction between the two species since that one dragon that fluttershy scolded seemed to have a willingness to speak with them and regarded Fluttershy with respect while he could have just squashed them all and went back to sleep.  They don't really seem to shed much light on the inner conflicts of the different races, considering the initial age group that Hasbro is trying to reach.

 

Donkeys, Mules and Bison

Bison don't seem to have that much respect from the ponies, that's actually rather understandable considering that ponies have colonized their lands without their permission.  It could be that they are simply misunderstood, perhaps it's a clash of understandings or ideas/ culture-views.  The ponies colonize the bison's land and a conflict that's much like the Native Americans and the pioneers from the past ensues but this time around a compromise is found and the fact that the ponies colonized on the bison's land seems to be forgiven(with apple pie). 

I think there isn't much to say about the donkeys, the earth ponies probably view them as something like equals since they are landlocked and can't use magic either(as far as we know).  It's obvious that there is some form of mutual respect between both ponies and Donkeys because of the fact that there are mules in the world(the result of donkey and horse breeding).  The mules themselves seem to be looked down upon though, since they could be regarded as simply the, "help" and that's it.  How Rarity reacted by being called a "Mule" by one of the Diamond Dogs seem to hint at the mules being viewed as inferior to ponies, "Be cool or Be Mule," says Rainbow Dash. I wonder how Mulia Mild got to where she was, I'm sure she's quite the capable Mule and challenges the mule stereotype itself by simply doing what she's doing as a baker, obviously she's a really good baker since she's invited to a National Contest to show off her skills.  We have yet to see more of either three but personally I liked the Bison.  It was nice of the show to not use the stereotypical accent for Native Americans("Someone coming") when voicing the Bison.  I wonder why they respect dragons so much, I wish we had a better look into their culture...

 

Diamond dogs

I think the diamond dogs normally stick to themselves since neither Rarity or Spike could identify what they were when the Dogs make themselves known.  They're far too driven by their greed for gems to really care for what's going on above ground or even have much of an organized culture itself beyond having an army of guard dogs.  There could be some sort of social structure for them but it isn't really all that prevalent in their behaviour besides that whole "Alpha dog" idea.  The smarter dog out of the main 3 dogs that we are shown seems to have some sort of role in keeping the other dogs in line.  Perhaps he was their leader?  Somehow I doubt we'll see them again, they're too busy getting gems... I guess?

 

The Ponies

Both pegasi and unicorns look down at earth ponies, vice versa.  A good example is how the Mane 6 in Hearth's Warming Eve argue about who shuts the window.  Even interbreeding between the three can be viewed with a degree of shame.  When Mr. and Mrs. Cake have their foals, the mane six look at them oddly and an embarrassed/panicky Mr. Cake has to explain past relatives to explain why Pound Cake and Baby Cake aren't Earth ponies either.  Any three of the types of ponies don't really seem to interact all that much with each other except for a few instances, however lately, there has been show of more Unicorn/Earth, Earth/Pegasi, Unicorn/Pegasi friendships as the show progresses.  I partially blame the mane six for that since they're showing that ponies are ponies no matter if they can fly, use magic, or can do neither and all ponies can get along.  Though I'm sure both the Unicorns and the Earth ponies have more in common since they are both land-bound.  As for their reaction towards other races.  I wouldn't call it being arrogant, I think it's more of being ignorant than anything else.  Sure, some ponies are completely arrogant, I think it's a lack of education that's the problem or the lack of the pursuit of education.  When most ponies earn their cutie mark, they mostly devote their time to that.  When Zecora was first introduced, Twilight Sparkle served as a voice of reason for the other ponies since she actually knew what a zebra was.  The other ponies didn't hate Zecora, they feared her because they didn't understand what she was or where she came from.  Not knowing what something is generally makes people fear it because it's the unknown.

 

Goodness!  I seem to have rambled for quite some time I had more to say but I'm starting to lose my train of thought. @_@  I hope this helped somewhat and I'm sorry I made this explanation so long.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Anishna

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,091]

Wow, Anishna, you really broke it down and explained it a way where I was nodding my head the whole way through!
 

As I said before, since Equestria is mostly ponies, it's simply a lack of interaction that probably breeds arrogance or ignorance on both sides. You mention that it's probably mostly ignorance, but I do think that ignorance can breed arrogance, especially when you examine Gilda, Dragons, or the ponies seemingly degrading attitude toward Mules.

 

Now, I'm not saying that any of the races are inherently more ignorant or arrogant than the others, but simply that lack of communication is probably what causes a lot of problems.

 

I do agree on the point about the Changelings, though. I do think that the majority of their race probably is arrogant and does just view the rest of the creatures they interact with as food, although I do agree there could be a few odd ones here and there that try to get out of that lifestyle and treat other races with respect. Heck, that might've been the case with that dragon that Fluttershy had to yell at; he might've been a dragon who didn't really dislike ponies like the others, but simply didn't like being bothered when he was sleeping.

[Thuja 3,663]

Wow, Anishna, you really broke it down and explained it a way where I was nodding my head the whole way through!

 

As I said before, since Equestria is mostly ponies, it's simply a lack of interaction that probably breeds arrogance or ignorance on both sides. You mention that it's probably mostly ignorance, but I do think that ignorance can breed arrogance, especially when you examine Gilda, Dragons, or the ponies seemingly degrading attitude toward Mules.

 

Now, I'm not saying that any of the races are inherently more ignorant or arrogant than the others, but simply that lack of communication is probably what causes a lot of problems.

 

I do agree on the point about the Changelings, though. I do think that the majority of their race probably is arrogant and does just view the rest of the creatures they interact with as food, although I do agree there could be a few odd ones here and there that try to get out of that lifestyle and treat other races with respect. Heck, that might've been the case with that dragon that Fluttershy had to yell at; he might've been a dragon who didn't really dislike ponies like the others, but simply didn't like being bothered when he was sleeping.

 

Thanks!  

I think it's more ignorance because they have shown that once the ponies of equestria understand what something is, they generally are very accepting of it.  While there are highly arrogant beings from all the races, most just don't know any better and simply listen to what other people have to say on the subject at hand like the gossip that was shown towards Zecora when she was first introduced.  Though most races will have stereotypes of other races such as the mules or whatever, stereotypes can be fun but when they become something to degrade others that's when it becomes bad.  It shows that they, like anypony else, aren't perfect and are works in progress.  Re-evaluating yourself and changing for the better is what most people would call growing up.  

 

I do agree that they lack communication, once they open the channels some more I'm sure they'd better understand why someone from another society would think/behave as they do.  It's the ignorance of other societies that makes people feel superior or fear others and makes them think of others as inferior to them.  I think that really reflects on the way many people think today or from history with the settlers and the natives to the British empire of old and all the lands/people that they once conquered.  Ravishing subject, is it not?

[pinkiefan1287 610]

 

 

The Ponies Both pegasi and unicorns look down at earth ponies, vice versa.  A good example is how the Mane 6 in Hearth's Warming Eve argue about who shuts the window.  Even interbreeding between the three can be viewed with a degree of shame.  When Mr. and Mrs. Cake have their foals, the mane six look at them oddly and an embarrassed/panicky Mr. Cake has to explain past relatives to explain why Pound Cake and Baby Cake aren't Earth ponies either.  Any three of the types of ponies don't really seem to interact all that much with each other except for a few instances, however lately, there has been show of more Unicorn/Earth, Earth/Pegasi, Unicorn/Pegasi friendships as the show progresses.  I partially blame the mane six for that since they're showing that ponies are ponies no matter if they can fly, use magic, or can do neither and all ponies can get along.  Though I'm sure both the Unicorns and the Earth ponies have more in common since they are both land-bound.  As for their reaction towards other races.  I wouldn't call it being arrogant, I think it's more of being ignorant than anything else.  Sure, some ponies are completely arrogant, I think it's a lack of education that's the problem or the lack of the pursuit of education.  When most ponies earn their cutie mark, they mostly devote their time to that.  When Zecora was first introduced, Twilight Sparkle served as a voice of reason for the other ponies since she actually knew what a zebra was.  The other ponies didn't hate Zecora, they feared her because they didn't understand what she was or where she came from.  Not knowing what something is generally makes people fear it because it's the unknown.

 

You bort up a lot of good with each race, even the ones I did not mention or think about. Still I do have one question about the pony one.

 

How is the closing of a window a good example as to why unicorns and pegasus look down at earth ponies? It could just be I don't understand it and I don't remember it that well, but didn't they tell Rainbow Dash to close it? Also couldn't Twilight close it with her magic? Like I said, I may just not be getting it.

 

Next the interbreeding part.

 

First, Her name is Pumpkin Cake. Baby Cakes is the name of the episode. Sorry just one of my nitpicks.

 

Next, I don't think ponies look down on interbreeding as a bad thing. For one the mane 6, just looked surprised to see that 2 earth ponies had a unicorn and a pegasus. I did to when I first saw it. As for the 6, they didn't know about Mr. and Mrs. Cakes family past. Also some ponies don't even look like their parents. If this means anything.

 

Also in Canterlot Wedding, Cadence used her magic to help a arguing earth pony and pegasus couples. Also Shining Armor is married an Alicorn who also used to be a pegasus.

 

Another thing is in Apple Family Reunion, you can see one unicorn in that episode. Meaning one of the Apple family members must have married a unicorn in order to make that happen. 

 

So that is just what I think.

[Thuja 3,663]

You bort up a lot of good with each race, even the ones I did not mention or think about. Still I do have one question about the pony one.

 

How is the closing of a window a good example as to why unicorns and pegasus look down at earth ponies? It could just be I don't understand it and I don't remember it that well, but didn't they tell Rainbow Dash to close it? Also couldn't Twilight close it with her magic? Like I said, I may just not be getting it.

 

Next the interbreeding part.

 

First, Her name is Pumpkin Cake. Baby Cakes is the name of the episode. Sorry just one of my nitpicks.

 

Next, I don't think ponies look down on interbreeding as a bad thing. For one the mane 6, just looked surprised to see that 2 earth ponies had a unicorn and a pegasus. I did to when I first saw it. As for the 6, they didn't know about Mr. and Mrs. Cakes family past. Also some ponies don't even look like their parents. If this means anything.

 

Also in Canterlot Wedding, Cadence used her magic to help a arguing earth pony and pegasus couples. Also Shining Armor is married an Alicorn who also used to be a pegasus.

 

Another thing is in Apple Family Reunion, you can see one unicorn in that episode. Meaning one of the Apple family members must have married a unicorn in order to make that happen. 

 

So that is just what I think.

 

I brought up the window part because they were bickering over who should shut the window due to pony type differences.  Rainbow Dash could fly, Twilight Sparkle could use her magic, etc.  It's that whole idea that a certain pony is meant to do certain things because they are a certain type of pony.  It's stating that whole idea that pegasi can fly, therefore they should deal with higher up things, or that unicorns should use their magic to fix every little problem.

 

Thanks for the correction!  I haven't watched the episode Baby Cakes in a while so I forgot their names, how embarrassing of me.  I wasn't exactly saying that all of the ponies viewed breeding with different ponies as a bad thing.  There are those that probably view the other types as lower than they are, while there are those that view breeding with other types of ponies as normal, love is love.  Similar to how some people think other races shouldn't breed, yet we have interracial couples and children.  Some ponies just make the biggest deal out of something that doesn't really matter. 

[Shanks 10,816]

I think it is because the other races view the ponies somewhat fairly and somewhat unfairly as largely superstitious and cowardly. We have seen several examples of this throughout the show case in point was Bridle Gossip where all these unfounded rumors and urban legends spread throughout Ponyville about Zecora being a "evil enchantress" who "gobbles ponies in a big tasty stu". What also dosen't help this perception is that most of the races seem to interact more with their own kind than with the ponies which only reinforces any further misunderstandings. 

[Inactive01 5,299]

Well let's put it this way. If you were someone huge and mighty like the Griffons and the Dragons looking onward at the tiny and weak species like the ponies, of course you'd have some arrogance. As we saw in Dragon Quest, the Mane 6 were frightened of the dragons!

Edited June 7, 2013 by Sterling Crimson

[Steel Accord 6,660]

@@Sterling Crimson,

 

I think they were frightened of the dragons because they were violent, delinquent, teenagers. Really it's a no win scenario. The younger dragons think they're invincible so they kick around other races because they're just petty little pricks! While the older dragons may not be as actively malevolent, yet there still too powerful to truly oppose if they want to do something.

 

Fluttershy notwithstanding but she's one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony so she's basically a demi-god in the mythological scheme of things anyway.

[Orablanco Account 3,707]

If you were someone huge and mighty like the Griffons and the Dragons looking onward at the tiny and weak species like the ponies, of course you'd have some arrogance.

 

But here's the thing: the ponies are not weak. They have the Elements and they have the alicorns. When the dragons insult the ponies and look down on them, it less arrogance out of assured dominance if they ever meet. It's arrogance out of not knowing who they're messing with.

[pinkiefan1287 610]

 

 

I brought up the window part because they were bickering over who should shut the window due to pony type differences.  Rainbow Dash could fly, Twilight Sparkle could use her magic, etc.  It's that whole idea that a certain pony is meant to do certain things because they are a certain type of pony.  It's stating that whole idea that pegasi can fly, therefore they should deal with higher up things, or that unicorns should use their magic to fix every little problem.  

 

When I saw that part it did not look like they were bickering over which pony type should close the window, Rainbow Dash was just the closets one to the window. That and everyone else was doing something.

 

Fluttershy was hiding in a bow. Twilight was trying to get Fluttershy out of the box. Pinkie Pie was trying to help Twilight get Fluttershy out of the box. Rarity was making sure she was ready. AJ might have been doing the same thing. While Rainbow Dash was just chanting to herself, near the window.

 

So maybe just a little more detail into that part. Cause to what it looks like Rainbow Dash was just the closest one to the window. 

[Thuja 3,663]

When I saw that part it did not look like they were bickering over which pony type should close the window, Rainbow Dash was just the closets one to the window. That and everyone else was doing something.

 

Fluttershy was hiding in a bow. Twilight was trying to get Fluttershy out of the box. Pinkie Pie was trying to help Twilight get Fluttershy out of the box. Rarity was making sure she was ready. AJ might have been doing the same thing. While Rainbow Dash was just chanting to herself, near the window.

 

So maybe just a little more detail into that part. Cause to what it looks like Rainbow Dash was just the closest one to the window.

A Fair point, I should have been more detailed in my explanation.  Ok so here's what I'm talking about:

 

*cue heavy winds from open window*

Rarity: oh, my hair!  Applejack, be a dear and shut the window, will you?

 

Applejack walks towards the window, doesn't close it and watches a Rainbow Dash admire herself.  Applejack is shown leaning on the window pane and even put her hoof on the window, without even shutting it.  Applejack and Rainbow Dash argue about Rainbow Dashes vanity for a while and Applejack has yet to close the window even though she's right there.  Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie are both currently occupied with Fluttershy hiding in a box.  After a bit of more arguing between the ponies, the play starts(at this point the window has yet to be shut).  Now what I'm talking about is around the end of the episode, not the beginning.  Now the wind starts to blow again when they're backstage.

 

Rarity: Applejack, I thought I asked you to shut the window.

 

Applejack: Don't blame me, Rainbow Dash could have just went up there and shut the window!

  After all, she's got wings.

 

Now back around the beginning of the episode, it shows that Applejack could have easily closed it and it wasn't that high of a window in the first place.  Applejack was initially asked to shut the window yet she didn't, she could have done that while she was arguing with Rainbow Dash.

 

Rainbow Dash: Why do I always have to do the high-up chores?!  Why can't Twilight use her magic?

 

The ponies start arguing further and the Windigos are heard off in the distance, Rainbow Dash ends up closing the window.

Now this hints at a stereotype that:

 

Pegasi have wings, therefore they should do the stuff that is in a higher location.  We have yet to see Scootaloo actually fly but she has wings, why isn't she using them like a pegasi should?

 

Unicorns should use their magic to solve every little inconvenience.  We've seen some unicorn not use magic at all, why aren't they using their magic like a unicorn should?  Couldn't Rarity have used her magic to shut the window?

 

The Windigos initially became a problem because of the arguments and hatred between the three clans of ponies.  Their hatred for one another only fueled the Windigos power even more which caused the snow to be stronger in force, continuing a vicious circle.  With something as small as ponies arguing over who shuts the window due to pony type only would fuel the Windigos' power which is probably why they heard the cry of a Windigo around the end and reaching a solution where Rainbow Dash shuts the window of her own freewill(even though Applejack could have shut the window herself around the beginning of the episode).