Theory: The Elements Of Harmony, Statues, And Death In Equestria

[Denim&Venöm 16,450]

A question that some of us have asked at one point or another is why did the EoH petrify Discord but banish NMM?  And even though it is a kids show, we haven't had many references to death in Equestria. Or perhaps we have. 

 

Here's what I'm thinking. When creatures die in Equestria, the don't decay back into the earth. Instead, they turn to stone. That labyrinth in Canterlot during return to harmony wasn't a garden, it was a cemetery, filed with ponies whose natural lives came to an end.  But then you ask "What about the Cockatrice? It's gaze turns things to stone." Or does it? Maybe the Cockatrice gaze, much like that of a similar creature, the Basilisk, actually kills creatures, and being turned to stone is the result of a beings life ending. 

 

So essentially, the EoH didn't imprison Discord, but actually killed him. Makes sense considering Discord is the embodied opposition of the EoH. How can it undo the very antithesis of it's function. That could be like hot trying to convert cold into something else. So why was Luna banished instead of killed? Because as implied in the series, she's immortal and more than all likely a demigod. Creatures like that are probably immune to death itself, perhaps even interacting with the spirits of the dead, much like the theory that in magical mystery cure how Twilight died of Starswirl's spell and Celestia was the one who interacted with her in the netherworld.

 

So then why could the Eoh & cockatrice stare be reversed? The deaths they cause are unnatural, caused by magic, and magic can be reversed and undone. There is still a life force within those statues, rather than the ones in the garden who ran out of life.  

 

But why do the statues look so young then? Well this is just headcannon speaking, but reverse aging. Animals here tend to live youthful lives until their last few years, unlike we humans who begin a slow painful decline starting about 2/3's in. Ponies seem to age like us, but do the opposite of our animals, where the last few years would be filled with frail aging, they being to get younger, living out the last years in their prime and being immortalized at their best when their final day comes. 

 

I'm not even sure ponies can even be killed by conventional means, as they have been shown to be incredibly durable, Rainbow Dash being the best example.  She's flown through glass without getting cut, tore though solid wood, even smashing though stone while only ending up dazed and sore. Even flying at supersonic speeds gave her a broken wing rather than splattering her across the ground.  Twilight Sparkle survived a variety of objects falling onto her, most notably an anvil and a piano from 2-5 stories up, things that would kill a normal horse. Even Derpy survived a point blank lighting strike, maintaining consciousness, barley being fazed and ending up only mildly singed, doing pretty well considering lighting bolts are hotter than the surface of the sun and can stop ones heart instantly.  

 

So maybe ponies can only die natural deaths? Maybe they can heal at accelerated rates? Maybe only magic and supernatural powers can end their lives? From what the show has shown us so far, this all does seem to be the case.

 

Any thoughts, opinions, ideas for or against my theories? 

[Scootalove 10,684]

I think your theory makes a lot of sense if you ask me, I've always wondered what happened when a creature or a pony gets turned to stone by the Elements of Harmony or anything from nature. In the show, it can either be caused unnaturally or by magic and you could say that it can be undone or reversed even if realistically outside of the show's universe they would be dead over time if it's not reversed or undone.

[FNGRpony 655]

well,

 

sense we're on the topic of getting stoned,

I've seen some people comment on those statues being other ponies who peaved off the banana queen.

 

Now that the elements of harmoney are gone,

 

I'm wondering if anyone who had been stoned over the years is now free?

I mean surely in 1000 years they had to stone more than just discord.

[zev_zev The outcast 415]

.  

 

So maybe ponies can only die natural deaths? Maybe they can heal at accelerated rates? Maybe only magic and supernatural powers can end their lives? From what the show has shown us so far, this all does seem to be the case.

 

 

Tell it to Applejack parents. 

 

Honestly, your theory are close to my heart. However, immediately raises the question: why are there so few statues? Is in Equestria almost no one dies? Besides, I used to believe that ponies lives very long (200-300 years), I liked to think so. Perhaps it is because the MLP universe time flows differently? In any case, no one can give us the answers to these questions. I would like to continue to believe what I told you, but common sense gradually takes over my dreams.

[aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q 3,671]

Here's what I'm thinking. When creatures die in Equestria, the don't decay back into the earth. Instead, they turn to stone. 

It's there that a problem immediately comes into view. There are definitely carnivores in the world of Equestria so if creatures turn to stone when they die, that just makes it impossible to digest, let alone ingest.

 

As for the theory as a whole, it sounds interesting but it does raise a lot of questions. For starters, what we consider to be a natural death means to die from disease or organ failure due to aging. It can happen very slowly and people can therefor be bedridden for weeks if not months. A cemetery would therefor look more... unsightly as you see statues of ponies still in the pose in which they died. It can probably look really morbid as well with ponies who may have died from something like a neck injury.

[Sparkshower 103]

honestly about why NMM was banished i think it was because BOTH Luna and Celestia were the bearers of the element and the full power of the elements could not be tapped when only one of the bearers was using them, and so instead of petrifying or simply restoring NMM to luna they could only banish her

[Oblivion 20,265]

No offense, but it's a cartoon, I hardly doubt that the writer actually took all this into consideration when creating the show. Their have been MANY cartoons in the past where the characters survive horrible falls, having TNT put in their mouth, getting shot point blank with a double barrel, only to have their face slightly singed black. Think Tom and Jerry for instance, that cat should have been dead thousands of times, but each time he survives, IMO MLP is no different, they add a little cartoon violence every now and then, and they survive, pretty old school if you ask me!

 

    AND, I am fairly sure we actually SEE a coffin in the show!!!

Maybe?

Pretty sure that's a coffin, if ponies turn to stone, then why would they need coffins? Possibly crush them up to dust and then berry the powder? lol

 

Moving on...I really doubt that Discord was killed, my guess is that his soul was imprisoned in stone, yes he was still very much alive, same thing with twilight! For one, when Fluttershy found Twi, she really didn't seem overly shocked or saddened, granted she was still shocked and sad, but that wasn't the face or the general reaction that someone might have, had a good friend died...

 

  As for the durability of the ponies YES! They do seem very VERY tough, I am talking almost Super Man tough! But then again you have to remember those darn cartoon physics again! Like I previously stated We see or have seen abnormally tough, or impossible to survive situations in many many older cartoons, Tom and Jerry, Looney Toons, etc, so it's fair to say that that is just the writers attempt at classical cartoon comedy, I mean, a character having an anvil or a piano dropped on their head is about as old school as it gets!

 

   I know we all like to have out own head cannon, and love to think it's true, I have a lot of my own, but I just really doubt that the writers would put THAT much thought into every detail of the show, I mean after all, before us bronies came along the show was intended for little girls, not saying that that we don't influence the show to a certain extent, because I know we do, I am just saying that sometimes it's just simpler not to over think things, and then be disappointed when we learn it is in fact not true...

 

WOW, I just realized I kinda sound mean in this post! lol, take everything I say with a grain of salt!

[Denim&Venöm 16,450]

It's there that a problem immediately comes into view. There are definitely carnivores in the world of Equestria so if creatures turn to stone when they die, that just makes it impossible to digest, let alone ingest.

 

As for the theory as a whole, it sounds interesting but it does raise a lot of questions. For starters, what we consider to be a natural death means to die from disease or organ failure due to aging. It can happen very slowly and people can therefor be bedridden for weeks if not months. A cemetery would therefor look more... unsightly as you see statues of ponies still in the pose in which they died. It can probably look really morbid as well with ponies who may have died from something like a neck injury.

Maybe it doesn't happen to all life, maybe just those infused with magic, like ponies and draqoniqui. 

 

Ponies do get diseases, but perhaps they have faster acting immune systems that prevent diseases like that from getting fatal. Several diseases have been mentioned but the only one we've observed was the cutie pox, and that seemed to occur from a backfired potion than a contagion. 

 

It's also possible that ponies just don't die from what we consider fatal injuries. They may very well heal from a broken neck. it wouldn't be a pleasant experience, but they would survive. Theoretically, they could survive any mortal injury, they would just heal from it at a normal rate, or perhaps an accelerated one compared to us. 

 

Organ failure would be covered in my headcannon on the ponies reverting back to their youth just before death and personification. Beings die because their cells run out of energy to keep going. Maybe the ponies magical cell structure functions more like a dying star. Stars typically run on the burning of hydrogen, but once they run out of that energy source, rather than going out, they instead burn helium, reigniting themselves, yet at the same time drastically shortening their lifespan.  Maybe the organics of a pony tap into the remaining magic or life force or energy of a pony, rejuvenating the pony to their prime just before whatever fueled the transformation runs out and turns the pony into one of the least energetic objects around: cold, hard, stone.  

 

 

Tell it to Applejack parents. 

 

Honestly, your theory are close to my heart. However, immediately raises the question: why are there so few statues? Is in Equestria almost no one dies? Besides, I used to believe that ponies lives very long (200-300 years), I liked to think so. Perhaps it is because the MLP universe time flows differently? In any case, no one can give us the answers to these questions. I would like to continue to believe what I told you, but common sense gradually takes over my dreams.

it could be that since it was Canterlot, it was a cemetery for the rich and famous ponies, or perhaps for ponies who achieved great (or in Discords case, terrible) things, and that the cemeteries are elsewhere. There's the possibility that there aren't enough ponies in Equestria to make death noticeable. I heard somewhere that there's only between 45,000 & 65,000 ponies in Equestria, so only a few hundred death statues could be easily hidden. 

[Latecomer 438]

On 1/15/2014 at 2:16 AM, Denim&Venom said:

But why do the statues look so young then? Well this is just headcannon speaking, but reverse aging. Animals here tend to live youthful lives until their last few years, unlike we humans who begin a slow painful decline starting about 2/3's in. Ponies seem to age like us, but do the opposite of our animals, where the last few years would be filled with frail aging, they being to get younger, living out the last years in their prime and being immortalized at their best when their final day comes. 

If so, they certainly seem to go right up to the brink first.

It's certainly an interesting theory, if only workable even back then due to the show's committed avoidance of death. Adds some deep shadows to certain actual or almost petrificattions in latter seasons. Butt ultimately, it's a bit too far from plausibility, even back then. Might make an interesting quirk for another race, though.