Death From Above · 3:03am Dec 7th, 2020
There has been a trope (I suppose you could call it) in the naughtier parts of the fandom since probably almost the very beginning. It concerns pegasi (and alicorns), and it's absolute nonsense.
I'm speaking, of course, of an involuntary reflex action of the wings followed by an indeterminate period of immobilization. Or, if I must be crude, so-called "wingboners".
Suppose a pegasus becomes aroused and experiences this reaction in flight. Forward velocity is no longer possible, meaning lift is no longer maintained, meaning said pegasus begins plummeting to the ground. And who is most likely to experience uncontrollable arousal? Adolescent ponies. In other words, ponies who have not reproduced yet.
Imagine you're a teenage-equivalent pegasus pony living in Cloudsdale. You just got out of school, and you start flying towards home. But what's this? Your crush, who happens to live in more or less the same neighborhood as you, got out the door a little sooner and therefore is flying in front of you. His/her tail is flying in the wind, his/her genitals are on display, your wings seize up, and you start dropping out of the sky. If you fall on a cloud, you're fine. But what if you're over one of the many gaps in the clouds? Maybe other ponies are able to save you, maybe not. And if we give you an even 50% chance of recovering in time to prevent your untimely death, that still means that you'll become a splatter half of the time.
You're in a race, you get close to the colt/filly in front of you, you lose your concentration, gravity says hi. You're flying to another town on a field trip, you're in a standard V-formation for aerodynamic reasons, you realize for the first time just how hot your teacher is, downward acceleration commences. I could go on, but I won't. There's no evolutionary benefit to having your wings freeze up at an inopportune time; in fact, it's the exact opposite of a survival mechanism. So natural selection would be selecting like hell against such a trait -- especially if, as stated earlier, those most prone to it haven't passed on their genes to a new generation.
The notion is ludicrous. Even if the trait had somehow been common during the era of Equestria's founding (which is unlikely, considering that no pegasi lived on the ground before then), it would have died out -- quite literally -- before the era of the show. In conclusion, if you think I've put too much thought into something stupid, you're absolutely right. But let he who has never overanalyzed ponies cast the first stone.
Maybe I just don't read the right kind of fics, but I haven't seen wingboners actually used in a story for years now.
I think it was always a dumb trope. The only time I've ever seen it used was in comedy pieces where dumb things can be pretty welcome or in porn where logic need not apply anyway.
It's when the fic tries to convince you that it's taking itself seriously and so should you that wing priapism is unwelcome. Romance fics especially.
I mostly just chalk it up to male writers desperate to express their own awkward boners in their writing in order to be relatable.
I could see a tnas a short term, involuntary response - the pomf effect, if you will.
Though it would be more likely to force a glide than a crash, I imagine.
However, that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't something that would be passed on, particularly in darker versions of Equestria. Evolution isn't always about what's logical and... Well, let's just say that ducks have some really funky stuff going on. It may even really be a disadvantage, but one that was heavily selected for in the past for a number of less than fun reasons.
Because I ruin everything.
5411286
Gliding involves proper positioning of the wings. Not going to be a whole lot of gliding going on if said wings are frozen upright rather than in any sort of aerodynamic configuration.
5411287
True - which depends on how bad the situation is written as. It's not something I'm prone to using, but especially with pegasus magic as a flight factor, I can see ways that would allow for it to not kill large parts of the population. Limiting control rather than eliminating it being the first part.
Or just have it be something that only happens on a surface perceived as safe; while in fligh, the existing strain on blood vessels prevents it from happening, but when stable, display instincts override.