Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Rites of Ascension Extended Universe group!

This thread is going to serve as a place where you can ask questions about the universe of Rites of Ascension. I may not be able to answer everything, keep in mind. I still have to work on the story itself, live my life, work on my original book, etc. Not to mention the fact that I will not post anything that is spoilers. So things may or may not be answered quickly or at all (please don’t be offended if I don’t answer your question), but I shall do what I can within reason.

So, what is Rites of Ascension? I talked a bit about it in my last blog post, but what about the world?

To start with, I view Equestria in the Rites universe as going through a boom of a steampunk-style industrial revolution, although powered more by magic than fossil fuel. It’s one of the reasons I love Freeze Frame by Toix Story, it reminded me so much of what’s going on outside of Canterlot and it’s outskirts towns (outskirts which include Ponyville). This, along with the near-disasters averted by Twilight & Co., has helped to shift power away from Celestia and Luna and into the hooves of other ponies, straining their government’s efforts to keep everything together.

Magic is of course a very important thing in the world, and each pony race has their own unique abilities from that magic. I’m working on things in the internal wiki to help define all this more concretely.

I have no map of Equestria other than a vague one in my head. This is deliberate, as I’m fickle when writing and do not want to lock myself away from story ideas by a pre-made map. Suffice it to say, Equestria (the country) is pretty huge, with the Griffons to the north and Zebrica and Saddle Arabia across the sea.

Sometime in the future, we hope to have an external wiki with non-spoilery things available for everyone.

So, yeah, welcome everyone. Again, I may or may not be able to respond to questions quickly (or at all, especially if the answer is a spoiler), but I do enjoy reading them. (Also, I encourage other forum goers to respond to questions they know the answer to.)

Is the Luna as not NMM thing an illusion? I know it said something about locking away lots of her power, but I'm not 100% on the mechanism. If you could explain it or someone could give me the specific line to start from I'd appreciate it.
Also, I think it's a cool idea.

What areas does earth pony magic cover? I think it was in the story but I don't remember, and am too lazy to go through the whole thing to check.

718214

Is the Luna as not NMM thing an illusion? I know it said something about locking away lots of her power, but I'm not 100% on the mechanism.

Neither form is an illusion; when Luna unseals herself, she looks quite similar to Nightmare Moon. This was first mentioned in the Prologue, and explained in Poetic Revelations.

You may have been confused by

“Luna is the disguise!”
-- Twilight Sparkle

however, this does not refer to an illusion; this refers to Luna "disguising" by sealing a significant fraction of her power, and therefore appearing more approachable.

718220

What areas does earth pony magic cover?

Earthponies have a natural resistance to telekinesis, as well as a positive effect on nature and plantlife in particular.

Is it possible for non-unicorns to access the magic contained within gem weapons, like the one seen in DI ?

718220

They can easily resist telekinetic holds, have constant light magic resistance, heal rather quickly, are resistant to disease and poisons, and they can grow plants extremely fast by tending to them and caring about them. Even patients under the care of earth pony nurses tend to recover quickly. They are also extremely sturdy and resist damage of all kinds, and their physical kicks are monstrously strong.

718284
Thanks, I wasn't sure if the appearance was changed by the sealing of power or an illusion. Basically, her body is smaller. I was mostly wondering about if she could bump things with her "larger" body if she got too close. But, I see that it isn't a problem. Works for me.

718329
Does this mean that it takes more magic to grab hold of an earth pony, or they can deliberately make it more difficult to pick them up ?
For example would a rescuer have a hard time levitating an earth pony out of danger, or would the earth pony need to be aware of the hold, and actively trying to resist it ?

718316

Sort of. The weapons' use can be tied to physical actions and voice command. Earth ponies and pegasi can't cast magic through them nor can they use anything not pre-programmed into the gem core. For instance, swinging it a certain way or giving it a certain command will always do X thing if it's made to do it. A unicorn could have it do different things in the same type of swing, and they would never need a voice command. Also, only unicorns can recharge the gem in the core of the weapon, so earth ponies and pegasi would to need to pay a unicorn to do it.

718365

A little bit of both. Any unicorn would need more concentration and applied power than normal to move an earth pony at all, but an earth pony actively resisting the hold is extremely slippery, for lack of a better word.

Ok thanks.
Is it possible to have multiple programs on one gem ? If not, multiple gems on one weapon ?

718369
Gotcha.

718371

It is possible to have multiple spells on one gem. Increasing that number requires a higher quality or larger gem, with more power storage ability. The complexity of it's creation also increases, increasing cost.

Having multiple gems in one weapon is possible but very dangerous. Unless the one doing the work on the weapon and the one using it knows just exactly what they're doing, you're risking a catastrophic short-circuit, which could detonate the weapon violently.

718384
The short circuit coming from conflicting commands ?
Ie, swinging the sword causes it to, I don't know, burst into flames, while a certain vocal command makes it do something else entirely. Doing both at the same time would have the highly explosive effect ?

While multiple spells on a single gem could be given a system of priority ?

718405

Right. Having both gems' power flowing through the sword at the same time is what does it.

718407
Okie Dokie.
Is there a part of pegasus magic that reduces damage from impacts ?
Or are most pegasi out of luck if they become incapacitated in the air ?

718415

They are indeed able to magically brace themselves against blunt impacts, whether it be from a blunt weapon or a crash landing. This offers a lot of protection!

They must be anticipating the impact for this to work, however. They take full damage if caught unawares!

718421
This makes an idea I had valid.
Yay

718307 718329 Thank you. This also makes me laugh a little as in my head canon Twilight has never been able to keep a plant alive for more than 3 days.

718421
Any thoughts on Snowflake (Roid Rage,etc) ?

725220

He's a funny character?

I can't account for *everything* in the show, as it is a kids' show with somewhat loose continuity. I mean, remember the Hearts and Hooves ep? There are no video games in the Rites universe. ;)

I suppose with enough pegasus power it wouldn't matter, but his maneuverability would be severely limited. Maybe it's not the steroids, but instead a genetic condition? There ARE different types of pegasus wings in Rites, although the vast majority, like Rainbow Dash, have the default type, just with varying sizes. There are also genetic conditions that can alter the way they fly.

Are there any pony nations in the known world other than equestria?

727737

Yes, Zebrica and Saddle Arabia! Both are an ocean away from Equestria and thus too far for Celestia and Luna to be able to consolidate under their authority, so they have their own governments.

Elk and Reindeer are also in the far northern tundra and mostly keep to themselves.

727550
Ok, funny side character, gotcha
I may have him being quite strong, but terribly slow.
727768
Please tell me they can be referred to as 'Caneighdians'

728028

I would but then my wife would probably glare at me until I begged for mercy...

728718
Please, Violet, puns make the world a better place.
Here are some sad ponies to help me beg
Or you could never mention it, but I could.
I have no problems making a pun off of my home and native land.

Fun Fact:

At the start of Rites, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash are the shortest of the main six, and the two are roughly the same height. Rarity and Pinkie Pie are both taller than them, and those two are about the same height. Applejack and Fluttershy are the tallest of the group, and both of them are roughly the same height, with Fluttershy being just barely the tallest if you don't count AJ's hat.

Naturally, Twilight will be growing a bit.

730377
I'm guessing Dash won't be pleased about being the shortest

730377
Here's a just for fun question.
Does Applejack's hat have physics defying abilities?

772937

I'd say it's more likely the show forgot to include the chin strap :)

773238
Same colour as her fur?
Awesome

Apologies if this was already covered in the story (I'm holding off on a re-read until you announce the next update), but it's now official that Twicorn won't outlive all her friends in the main timeline:

It doesn't say whether or not she's immortal now, so her friends may or may not have extended lifespans. Does this change or conflict with your views on Twicorn and the Bearers? "Spoilers, Read and Find Out" is an acceptable answer.

880262

In Rites, Twi IS ascending to full Celestia/Luna style alicorn with all the powers, rights, responsibilities, and burdens thereof, including agelessness*.

* I say "agelessness" instead of immortality because alicorns can indeed die, but they must be *killed*. They don't age physically past their prime, and natural causes will never kill them. Some (very powerful) outside force has to end them.

Are demons apart of the rites universe?