Pegasus feathers · 9:43pm Jun 7th, 2013
We all know that pegasus ponies molt. They preen, they get excited and lose their feathers.
Now, maybe I've been thinking about this a little too much, but what the hell happens to all these old feathers. I mean, it has to tie into pony customs somewhere. If you were a pegasus, and you lost some feathers, wouldn't it be rude to leave them on the ground? I mean, that would be like walking around in someone's home and throwing trash on the ground. Also, as a pegasus, how embarrassing would it be to lose a feather in a public place and stop to pick it up.
What would they do with all the molted feathers. Would they have special receptacle for feathers? Because I don't know about you, but mixing in any human remains with trash would be pretty creepy. Imagine being a trash guy and having to dig and sort through people's arms and legs all the time. If I was a trash pony, it would be really uncomfortable to go digging through piles of pegasus feathers.
Would pegasus feathers that never got thrown away drift around like trash on the side of the highway. Would there be signs along paths that read, "Help keep our trails clean. Molting could lead up to a 200 bit fine"? Because with all the pegasus ponies out there, there are a lot of feathers. And with all the ponies there are, there would be some of those that didn't give a shit what to do with their feathers, which would lead to a rainbow of feathers just blowing around on the street unless there were actual ponies dedicated to cleaning up pegasus feathers.
I guess what I'm asking is, what in the name of Celestia would we do with all the pegasus feathers in Equestria?
Down pillows are probably cheap and easy to get...
~Skeeter The Lurker
Feathers can be used for fashion, like in Green Isn't Your Color.
People throw out finger and toenail clippings all the time, it isn't creepy.
1130806 Holy god yes! YES!
Pillows everywhere!
But shoot, that would also be weird. Go back to the thought of sleeping on a bag full of human arms. How would you sleep at night knowing that all the feathers in your pillow belong to, like, six hundred different ponies?
1130808 But those are small and inconspicuous. Feathers are larger, they don't fall into small places and disappear, they drift in the wind, they have color. You can see them on the floor.
1130810
Well, arms and feathers are a bit different.
Besides, if the feathers in question were donated or sold... No problem. Actually... Selling them would explain the extravagance of Cloudsdale...
~Skeeter The Lurker
Feather dusters exist in this universe.
Feather pillows exist in this universe.
Clearly they sell them for a profit.
1130816 Yeah, that makes sense. But, what if they force ponies to give up feathers. It's like a Nike sweatshop, only, instead of little round-faced children making shoes, they're being fed crazy hormones and plucked daily for soft, undeveloped feathers! The conspiracies!
TWO HUNDRED BITS!?
Jeez, Sorren, at the rate Pegasus ponies might lose their feathers through preening or molting, it's no wonder Dash sleeps on clouds, seeing as how she can't afford a proper bed!
Okay, she has a home in Cloudsdale, but seriously, DAT FEE!!!
Well, I suppose it depends on the type of feathers they are... I mean, maybe they'd work better as decoration, maybe they'd do well as a softener inside a harder shell, like a pillow...
Maybe Twilight picks them off Fluttershy when she's not looking. I dunno, Scootaloo had her feather plucked by Sweetie Belle in the Hearts and Hooves Day Episode because that was a part of the "spell", so they DO have distinct properties, apparantly.
I'd guess that Pegasus ponies might need to take care of their wings with some form of regular 'treatment', though, as opposed to just flying around randomly. Notice that they often close their wings in the show unless they're around Cloudsdale, so maybe there's a set of rules exclusive to the Pegasus ponies in cloud towns that their leaders (Celestia, unless there's a mayor of Cloudsdale) would bring up.
That's kinda "Eagle Heart" logic, but it's believable enough to justify it as a possible response.
1130821 Well, yeah, flared wings in public does seem like it would be a little unacceptable. I mean, that;s like walking around with your arms spread wide. The same thing goes for a conversation I had earlier talking about how it would be socially unacceptable for a pony to stand up on their hind legs because ti would be the equivalent to flashing.
I figured it out! This is the Quills and Sofas connection! Davenport uses pegasus feathers for quills and as stuffing for his sofas! He probably comes from a pegasus family or something, so he gets free feathers all the time! I'm a genius! Worship me and my powers of quill-sofa deductivity!
Once a year, they engage in tickle fights with all the abandoned feathers in large competitions.
Fuck, that gives me something to write.
1130824 Consider this as well: If someone lost a feather, it'd be pretty easy to figure out who it was, by determining first the color, followed by how there's really no such thing as a completely anti-social pony in Ponyville. Even Fluttershy's pretty well-known: You can just ask others who has been around, and nine times out of ten, given how ponies come in what it STILL a "limited spectrum" of colors, you could just FIND the pony who might've lost their feather.
But in truth, we never see any form of waste-disposal in the show. They have trash cans, and bags, and there was a pony whose destiny revolved around trash in some way (The Perfect Stallion song: "Too Smelly"). I honestly think the ponies just avoid littering as often as possible not out of law, but out of respect for the town and people, and that includes Pegasus ponies keeping their wings closed when walking, or making sure their feathers aren't falling off when they're doing jobs, are at Cloudsdale, etc.
Dammit, I wish I could've been a part of that conversation, I LOVE those sorts of talks! It's the logistics of Equestria, and I love determining those sorts of things. Doesn't even matter the subject: Clop, Law, Pony Varieties, Job Occupations, Democracy, etc., I LOVE discussing those!
DAMN YOU!!!
1130837 Well wait, then why wouldn't the Quills & Sofas guy not just take a feather from a sofa and sell it as a quill? He RAN OUT, why not just, I dunno, "restock" through those sorts of means?
Mock pegasus wings made out of real feathers? Like a prop in a Canterlot musical/play. Or maybe a little filly wants to have a pair of mock wings so she can pretend to be an alicorn. Maybe some pony out there collects molted feathers and makes art out of them? Yes I know their might be some level of creep factor in these possibility's but I'm just trowing them out there.
Well, wouldn't the primaries be a little dense to use as pillows? I can understand the soft under-wing feathers, but the larger primaries wouldn't be so comfortable to sit/lay down on.
Secondly, i had always assumed it was kind of taboo for a pegasus to throw away their primaries. They could use them in a way of courting. Also, feathers really don't deteriorate, and pegasus' are infused with magic, so who's to say that the feathers decay at all?
So, if pegasus feathers don't decay, extremely light and durable, and last practically forever wouldn't they make some sort of decor out of them? Or maybe feathers are slightly different from pegasus to pegasus like a fingerprint is for humans.
But in my opinion, they keep their primaries if they molt them. To me, it is a symbol they can use weather it be courting, a status symbol (having gotten one of Lunas' or Celestias' primary feathers), or just keeping them for nostalgia.
~Wolfton
1130856 It makes sense though. Feathers are creepy things!
1130856
You do have a point there with the art, granted it can be quite creepy seeing someone make something out of your old feathers. But, you have to admit that you can make some pretty cool stuff with feathers.
Alright, what?
Why are you jumping to conclusions like this? Who says that Equestrian society views feathers the same way our human society views limbs? Perhaps it's a commonly accepted fact that pegasi molt, and thus ponies will occasionally find a feather here and there. Besides, I leave human remains in my trash all the time. They're called finger- and toenails.
Hell, why even go so far as to say that pegasi definitely molt? What evidence do you have for that? As far as I'm aware, no episode of the show has even hinted at such a thing, though I admit I might be forgetting something. Also, I don't keep up with the social media of anyone on the show's staff, so if anything was said there, I am completely unaware.
Personally I can do without knowing and/or caring.
edit: you people can thumbs-down me if you wish, it won't change anything.
1130862 1130856 1130867
You know, I gotta say, it doesn't sound nearly that creepy. It's more just because it's a sentient creature.
A while back, I was watching Ripley's: "Believe It Or Not". There's a barber, Bill Black, who makes clothes out of human hair. From socks and mittens, to dresses, and a bikini!
a2.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/34/e1b34b4c3ee84786bc5ded55f82d01e7/l.jpg
Say what you will, it looks, at the very least, wearable.
And I think the same can apply for Pegasus Feathers. What I'd want to know, is what would fetch the higher profits in terms of various feathers.
I mean, what if you asked Luna, or Cadance for one? Would it possibly be worth more than, say, getting one from a hostile Griffon?
1130852 Because quills aren't just feathers dipped in ink. They're carefully selected and prepared, hollowed out, and assuming his quills are any good, can take a while to make!
Not to mention, ripping open sofas tends to have the unfortunate side-effect of ruining said sofa.
(Warning NSFW: Skip this comment if you don't like it)
1130867 I was also thinking of stuff like having a stick with a few feathers on it for earth and unicorn ponies to tease their partner. Pegasi just use their wings and are probably more accurate in their movements.
1130891 I guess the problem is that we never really see the inside of a sofa in the show, so it can't be explained or denied. *shrugs* A better understanding of how the sofas are made would work wonders for the logic, though.
I mean, "Seals of the sofa" (stitching, zippers, etc.), the process of preparing quills, even demand for each object would factor into both points for, and against, the "Quills and Sofas from Pegasus pony feathers" argument.
1130893
wouldn't it be better for a single feather to be fashioned with a little bronze handle at the quick, than a stick full of feathers?
1130886
i gotta admit, that is pretty cool. But, in my personal opinion that makes me cringe. cool concept, sure, but it still strikes me as odd.
We do throw a lot of 'human remains' in the trash. Mostly hair. Unless you let your brushes/combs build up all scuzzy and fuzzy and never sweep your floor, haha. And I've lived with people who didn't sweep their hair up. It's noticeable, to say the least.
Now, I do rather like the idea of putting these feathers to use, though the broken/dirty/worn out ones probably aren't nearly as useful as those carefully picked. I think you could build an ecosystem around it, though.
1130921 True that would be more practical, something small and easily held in the hoof.
I'm guessing for feather dusters, pillows, and fashion, judging from what we've seen from the show.
Hey, looks like they've got the whole "reduce-reuse-recycle" thing down pat.
The trash.
Your reason, with the garbage ponies, makes no sense.
Really, your mom's disposable pads need to go somewhere. And what of the dog crap we pick off our lawns? I see no reason for waste to not go to waste.