Headcanon Expanded (and a Small Desert Spice Update) · 9:13pm Oct 25th, 2015
Still working on the next chapter of Desert Spice, in case you were wondering. I'm almost finished writing the first part of it, and I think I've gotten some useful insights to write the rest of it faster. For instance, I can decide to not get hung up on specifics of making a line perfect. Instead, I can get the gist of it down and move on to another part of the story and come back to it later. It may not be the secrets of rocket surgery I'm uncovering here, but it's still useful to me. Sweep is fun to write, and I find his character interesting, but I still enjoy writing about Spicy more.
I still need to figure out exactly what kind of fish-out-of-water shenanigans I want to inflict upon her, but I do have a couple of things ready for that. The real challenge I'm going to face this chapter will be having Horizon believably act like a self-centered jerk while setting him on the path for redemption.
Anyhow, now onto the main subject of today's blogpost: How "Hearthbreakers" expanded my headcanon.
So, it turns out that Pinkie's family literally eats rocks. Judging by the Apples' reactions to being served rock soup, I would guess that this ability to eat rocks is not a universal earth pony trait. I posit, therefore, that there are significant biological (or at least magical) divisions within the known pony tribes.
Pictured in the episode, we have two kinds of earth ponies. I'll refer to ponies like the Pies as rock ponies, while I call ponies like the Apples dirt ponies. (Incidentally, those ponies who lived out on the bayou beyond the Fire Swamp in "Somepony to Watch over Me" are mud ponies.) Almost all earth ponies have a deep connection to the land, but the nature of that connection differs between these groups (and perhaps others) of earth ponies.
Dirt ponies are more connected to the soil and to living things that grow therein. This connection allows them to enhance crops they grow, dispose of weeds, and even communicate with plants.
Rock ponies, meanwhile, have an innate and intimate connection with the less organic aspects of the land, especially rocks. They know where to find them, what kind of rocks they are, where best to strike them to make them into oddly accurate sculptures, and can even (in some cases) communicate with them.
This is hardly an exhaustive description of possible intratribal differences between earth ponies, but it ought to be a fun and cool starting point for some stories and general worldbuilding. I'd already hypothesized that magic doesn't always function the same way for everypony within the same tribe (Derpy's for instance, is somewhat nonstandard in MHE), but this gives me some more stuff to work with.
I hope this episode was as fun for you as it was for me. DHX has really been hitting it out of the park this season, in my opinion. And the second half of the season, so far, has straight-up rocked.
Intratribal distinctions open up a wide variety of possibilities. I've seen pegasi with different wing shapes elsewhere, but I don't think I've seen anyone tackle unicorns beyond variable power levels (and, of course, coat fluff level
). Headcanon considered, at bare minimum. I'll need to see how I can toy with this idea.
I think you know how my writing without quality has turned out at this point.
To be fair, Maud already ate one of Rarity's decorative stones in her debut episode.
I have, floating in my notes somewhere, some thoughts on both how the three races differ, and their similarities, and there might be within them an idea or two on differentiation within each race. Inter-race magic interactions are also something I've been trying to come up with something about, and what I do have, I notice, does indeed allow for the CMC to ascend under certain circumstances. I swear I'm not trying to make this a thing.
Anyhow, what I have concerning the races:
Unicorns: Mind
Pegasi: Body
Earth: Spirit
Unicorn magic manifests through thought, channeled by one's horn. They have the most direct control over their magic, but it is very limited by their understanding of it.
Pegasus magic is the manipulation of energy that normally already exists. More motion = more magic, as shown by Rainbow’s Sonic Rainboom. The forces of nature are ideal objects for them to manipulate.
Earth Pony magic is based on emotions and morals – their own or otherwise. In the Apple Family's case, their affection towards the earth and other ponies make them ideal caretakers. If we take Pinkie's emotional state to be her source and direction of magic, her capacity to bend reality may even be almost explicable.
In all of these cases, divergence is an option, as is demonstrated by the Pie family and Apple family's differences – it's just a matter of which branch of your born magic you choose to explore. Mixing magic is not something I have an explanation for without a focus required.
DISCLAIMER: In appropriate circumstances, and with a properly enlightened subject, a combination of all three races' magic may cause ascension. Before mixing magics, please consult your princess and ask if ascension is right for you.
Now, so long as I grant the CMC a proper focus, and lesson on friendship, I can ascend them AND NONE CAN COMPLAIN!
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I can't really think of any intratribal differences that'd make sense for unicorns, aside from low mana vs. high mana with the low mana unicorns being largely limited to basic spells and magic based on their special talents while the high mana unicorns become wizards. Then again, I feel like that divide in and of itself provides plenty of room for interesting stories.
Regarding floof: Floof is also a useful adaptation for certain unicorns who spend a lot of time in the mountains, and it also lends itself to greater cuteness (and masking of fatness), so that also makes it a positive trait.
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Y'know, I don't recall anybody complaining the last time the CMC ascended...
Hm, neat idea. :)