May
17th
2017
Points of Canon: S1x10 - Swarm of the Century · 4:15pm May 17th, 2017
I can always find an excuse not to do any actual work. Today, it’s power outages.
I have a mobile connection, some battery life, a kerosene lamp, and a backup kerosene lamp, but coding when at any moment power and network might cut out again is way too bothersome. Let’s write up another one.
This one is about the Grey Goo…
- So Fluttershy got the flower picking job for Celestia’s visit. Why not the Flower Trio, though? Upon finding the parasprite, Fluttershy immediately forgets about the flowers entirely, and never returns, so I suspect it might have been her own initiative.
- The squirrel is capable of recognizing what Fluttershy is doing and trying to help, but is not capable of properly assessing the flower selection criteria. That’s… about dog-level intelligence, I’d say.
- Just what is that bucket of apples doing there in the first place? Wasn’t Fluttershy picking flowers?
- Parasprites clearly do not observe mass conservation laws.
- …The wasp nest / beehive on the Golden Oaks library is missing.
- Spike complains that Twilight has a habit of reading multiple books at once.
- One notable recurring decoration in the trees is a pair of bells. Is there any specific symbolism for those?
- The Canterlot Friends are all there, helping.
- A rare case, “WELCOME PRINCESS CELEST” is in perfectly legible Latin letters.
- It takes a special brand of tired or stoned not to notice that this happened, or to notice that it did and think it’s acceptable. Was Berry Punch drinking with Golden Harvest / Carrot Top the day before?…
- …Why is Cup Cake rolling dough on a round table with an obvious tablecloth on it? Shouldn’t this be done in the kitchen? Maybe this operation has some other purpose?…
- Eating all the sweets is exactly the kind of behavior that would get Pinkie fired or at least harshly reprimanded if she weren’t related to the Cakes. See related hypothesis.
- “…and I, Pinkie Pie, declare that these treats are fit for a king, or a queen, or a princess.” Kings and queens exist at least as concepts.
- Fluttershy refers to finding the parasprite “at the edge of the Everfree forest,” though this isn’t definitely an indication that this is where they originate.
- Twilight doesn’t know anything about parasprites either. The whole point of this episode is that Pinkie recognizes them instantly, but I do wonder just how this could have happened. This doesn’t look like otherworldly knowledge, more like direct experience.
- Twilight feels the need to make excuses for calling things adorable.
- The full list of instruments Pinkie searches for includes: a trombone, an accordion, a harmonica, (donated by Applejack, so – one of the Apples plays harmonica) a banjo, maracas, a tuba, cymbals, tambourines, a flute. Notably, in the final one-pony-orchestra assembly, we only see a tuba, an accordion, a harmonica, cymbals – which Pinkie lost but mysteriously reacquired – and a banjo. She is not actually using the banjo either. Looks like there really is no evidence for Pinkie playing any plucked string instruments.
- The outfit Rarity is trying to get Rainbow to stand still for includes a decorative saddle. They’re still in fashion and remain so up until the Gala, after which they mostly disappear.
- The reason why Rainbow even needs to wear something for a royal visit is never explained, because the time when Celestia actually visits, nobody is wearing anything visible. Twilight looks at the camera and compliments Rarity on outfits, plural, but if there are any other outfits in there, we don’t see them.
- Ponyquins have bridles and saddles on them still.
- …And the wasp nest / beehive is back again, what the hell.
- Spike’s blanket is patched up. You’d think Twilight could afford a new one.
- The telescope that I first noticed in Bridle Gossip is present, rather than the one from Look Before You Sleep.
- Rainbow’s house is positioned at a much higher altitude than before. This thing definitely moves around easily. That house is shown to have an outside veranda of sorts where Rainbow is napping this time – I don’t think we saw that feature afterwards, because later episodes show she has a rather normal bedroom inside the house. But this time, she chose to sleep in the fresh air, and since parasprites pop out of the cloud with her, that’s where she spent the night.
- Notably, the parasprite reproduction method consists of eating, digesting and regurgitating, rather than anything else, even mitosis, which makes me think someone took a normal dragonfly and made it into a bioweapon, meant specifically to strike at pony weak points…
- Among other interesting objects in Fluttershy’s cottage is a rather large bag with a silhouette of a mouse on it, which I think is meant to be feed for mice – because there’s another one with a bird silhouette in the other corner of the room.
- Fluttershy’s hybrid fireplace-oven is not lit and has a real log in it.
- Fluttershy says: “I’ve tried everything I know: I’ve tried begging, and pleading, and beseeching, and asking politely and…” Notably, she did not try staring, or at least did not say she did.
- The hair salon and the spa are still intact in Twilight’s imaginary version of Celestia’s future visit.
- Twilight says “Nopony can herd like Applejack,” which should be a reference to Applebuck Season, only, this episode is much more likely to be summer if Rainbow chose to sleep outside… Otherwise, we don’t know when did Twilight find out.
1. I’m marking this because the CMC only do that when singing, but never otherwise.
Pinkie is capable of running backwards when not singing.1
- Fluttershy’s cottage is at least a few minutes walk away from Everfree proper – the time it takes for them to bring the ball of parasprites from where they collect it right next to the cottage suggests at least 300 meters, even including cartoon time.
- It’s interesting that Fluttershy is the one stretching her hooves to Rainbow for a slap, and she’s also the one saying “ouch.” I suppose this is something Rainbow used to do in their childhood and Fluttershy remembered that Rainbow expects this gesture.
- Rainbow says “We call in the weather patrol!” which I think is the official name for the organization she works for, though, others have been used. Notably, she wears goggles when doing that, which we don’t see on her often.
- The result is a rather strong artificially generated tornado – strong enough to get Rarity to dangle on her front hooves horizontally at that. A loss of concentration induced by Pinkie’s cymbals results in Rainbow getting tossed out of the tornado, which implies that it stores energy – it maintains shape for a significant time after Rainbow is ejected.
- I do wonder why that pony who is busy gardening amidst tomatoes, salad, and some kind of root vegetable is wearing a Winter Wrap-Up uniform.
- Twilight is capable of casting a spell that compels the parasprites to stop eating food. Notably, it seems to affect all the parasprites in town, does not require her to know anything about their physiology, and results in them starting to eat non-food, so I wonder how exactly does that work.
- The list of things seen damaged by parasprites: Multiple roofs, several shop signs including the Sugarcube Corner sign, partially destroyed walls in multiple houses, multiple market stalls, multiple books – for some reason, the ink was the food of choice, while paper was comparatively untouched – and Applejack’s entire barn. Several houses are eaten entirely, only a few houses shown remain undamaged, but also, I don’t think even one actually collapses unless it’s eaten entirely, though several pieces are seen falling off.
- It’s important that parasprites still multiply, even though they’re eating things other than food now.
- One of the weapons Applejack brandishes against the parasprites is a syringe-like device that has to be a chemical delivery system of one kind or another.
- …the wasp nest / beehive is missing again.
- There is no explanation whatsoever why Zecora is balancing upside-down on a pole, nor where did she acquire a bamboo pole.
- Zecora doesn’t just recognize a parasprite, she knows the Equish name for the species. Also notably, she does not have any useful advice to offer at all.
- The flying chariot maintains the same rules as previously: Pegasi run in the air, wheels rotate.
- Twilight says, “So… how was the trip? Hit much traffic?” While it’s obvious Twilight is fishing for a delaying tactic, and there’s no way Celestia would hit much traffic in the air, the fact that Twilight even knows it could possibly be a problem is an interesting tidbit.
- If Celestia recognizes parasprites, she’s not showing it.
- So there’s an infestation of “a swarm of incredibly bothersome creatures” in Fillydelphia. There are several interesting branches of “what really happened” depending on whether they were parasprites or not.
…So, any theories where these things actually come from? To summarize:
- I think it likely that parasprites are engineered. If they aren’t, they have to be a freak magical accident.
- Pinkie appears to have direct experience of parasprites, including direct experience of the only effective method of getting rid of them.
- Zecora knows the Equish word for parasprites, and does not know any method of getting rid of them, but she does recognize them by sight.
- Celestia appears to have never seen parasprites before.
- We suspect, but do not actually know, that the appearance of parasprites next to Everfree is simultaneous with a parasprite infestation in Fillydelphia.
There has to be an interesting missing piece here, but so far, I don’t see it.
The "WELCOME PRINCESS CELEST" banner has led to a personal headcanon that Equestria has at least three alphabets in active use, with the unaltered English used only for formal occassions. If true, this likely caused some confusion on Twilight's part in the human world.
Speaking as a former owner of a security blanket, I doubt Spike would accept a substitute for his.
It's possible that Twilight learned of Applejack's herding prowess in one of the earlier stampedes, one of the ones that enabled Dash to recognize them from the dust cloud alone.
I think it might have been implied that the giant ball of parasprites rolled all the way to Fillydelphia, though the geography there feels more than a little absurd. As for the parasprites' origin, I'm blaming Discord. Maybe he overheard ponies say how much he bugged them.
4536141
Most of the other alphabets are only slightly mangled Latin letters with the occasional mirrored letter, to be fair. Except what we see of the one in Crystal Empire, that is nothing like the rest.
No, it’s not. They roll the first ball straight into the Everfree, where it stays – presumably, feeding the local predators for generations to come. Then the Mane 5 come back to find that inside Fluttershy’s cottage, a single remaining parasprite multiplied while they were busy and they have to start again. If any parasprites in Fillydelphia exist and if they originate from the same parasprite zero, they would have to have been delivered with the tornado, which is pretty clearly shown to disperse most of them around Ponyville proper instead.
It certainly does sound like his style, but wouldn’t Celestia have known of them if that were so?
That's her lunch. Picking flowers makes her really hungry.
The Crystal Empire had kings and queens, thousands of years ago: aside from King Sombra, the original Crystal Fair was established by the reigning Queen. Of course, the Crystal Empire itself has faded from public knowledge by this point in time, so they're probably not the only country to have kings and queens.
I've seen theories that the Pie family rock farm was attacked by parasprites, and that's how Pinkie knows.
Clearly, after living among ponies for long enough, the bees have started imitating human behaviors. Like tearing down their hive and rebuilding it for no real reason.
Alternate theory: Celestia does recognize the parasprites, but she's feigning ignorance to let Ponyville and Twilight save face. And there's no infestation of anything in Fillydelphia: Celestia's making up an excuse to reschedule her trip to Ponyville. Because the Princess can't visit because there's a crisis in some other town is far less embarrassing than Sorry about the mess, Princess—we had a nasty infestation of parasprites at the worst possible time.
Besides, dealing with a town-threatening crisis herself? Not exactly Celestia's modus operandi. If there were a real parasprite infestation in Fillydelphia, Celestia would have asked Twilight and her friends to go fix it. :P
4536141
4536149
The talk of dumping parasprites in the Everfree calls to mind this bit from a bonus chapter of Contraptionology:
The question is, why does a rock farmer and baker know the only effective method to deal with parasprites?
Perhaps Twilight's wasp colony was on vacation in Fillydelphia during part of this episode.
4536276
All the secondary canon pretty heavily insists she was a princess too, though.
I would say she looks way too natural for that. That is, I think that both are more likely to be true simultaneously: That Celestia has never seen a parasprite before, and that she realized something is amiss when nobody agreed with her assessment of parasprites as cute and her statement that she is being greeted with a parade. So she made up an infestation for her excuse.
This puts Fillydelphia out of the equation. There’s still something of a contradiction though: Zecora would have to know of parasprites from a pony source to know the Equish word, yet nobody else seems to know that source, and Pinkie behaves like she experienced an infestation.
Mmm… Celestia disagrees with this assessment. :)
Twilight Sparkle: I’m so glad you two could come!
Princess Luna: Of course. We so rarely get a chance to relax and just visit.
Princess Celestia: There’s usually some crisis we have to deal with. Somepony always needs our help. But today—
(Gauntlet of Fire)
4536290
From seeing someone else do it, most likely. They do love rock music on those rock farms, they say. They also have a lot less food per square kilometer, so an infestation of parasprites would hit them hard, but at the same time, would not produce enough parasprites to spill elsewhere.
4536317
…I need to look up the airspeed of an unladen wasp.
One explanation is that Pinkie knows about them from stories and folklore passed down by her grandmothers. That's how she knew about the mirror pool after all. Given how strongly traditional and old fashioned the Pie family is having preserved a better and more thorough oral tradition than the rest of Equestria makes some sense.
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A laden wasp, surely? They took the hive with them.
I never realized it before, but Parasprites really are a grey goo on par with the G1 Smooze. They can apparently eat anything to reproduce, they just prefer things that ponies consider food. I have to agree they are an engineered bioweapon. I agree with 4536141 about Discord making them. He's the only being we know of with the magical skill to create life like that. Normally I'd say such a grim apocalyptic threat of starvation is outside even villain Discord's style.
However, I could see him making a few as a prank, perhaps a trap for the Sisters in one of their early battles. He'd be sure they could eliminate parasprites on their own, and if not Discord himself could always get rid of them later.
The real question is, like the darkstone throne, how something this powerful could exist in the series without completely warping the setting. Perhaps as a magical weapon parasprites breed rapidly only when they are near ponies? And ponies less squeamish than Twilight can just squash them.
4536610 Considering that a kaleidoscope of Equestrian butterflies are strong enough to not just hold up a pegasus filly, but catch her when she's falling, it's certainly possible that a swarm of bees could carry their own hive.
4536497
That is a possibility, but do you remember how Pinkie reacts?
Twilight Sparkle: I’ll take one off your hooves. I’ve never seen anything so… adorable. Besides, it’ll be nice to have a companion for Spike so he won’t bother me so much while I’m studying.
Fluttershy: Pinkie, do you want the other one?
Pinkie Pie: Ugh! A parasprite? Are you kidding?
Fluttershy: Ugh?
Twilight Sparkle: A para-what?
Fluttershy: How could you not like…
Pinkie Pie: Ugh. Now I gotta go find a trombone.
Not “these must be parasprites.” Not “oh I know what this is.” It’s an immediate, strong, “omg not this again” reaction, and her reaction to the rest of the Mane 6 comments on the matter is likewise “I don’t believe you don’t know what those things really are.” This keeps up for the entire episode.
Someone who had a run-in with parasprites would have that. Someone who only read or heard about them would have this reaction instead:
Twilight Sparkle: Zecora, these little guys are devouring Ponyville, and the princess is on her way. Can you help us, please?
Zecora: Oh, monster of so little size. Is that a parasprite before my eyes?
Twilight Sparkle: I don’t know! Is it?
Zecora: Tales of crops and harvests consumed. If these creatures are in Ponyville, you’re doomed.
The difference is pretty distinctive. So I’m pretty sure Pinkie had experienced an infestation before, and at least saw someone fight it off. The one doing it could have been her grandmother, even.
Might explain why the Pie family is accustomed to eating rocks, actually: Anything edible was eaten by the infestation, but they adapted.
4536610
There’s still that period when Celestia says there’s an infestation but the hive is back on the tree. :)
4536911
That could be the case, but I suspect there’s a more interesting condition.
You see, I still think Celestia either never saw any, or simply forgot they existed:
Princess Celestia: Ah, what is this? Oh ho ho, these creatures are adorable.
Rainbow Dash: They’re not that adorable.
Ponies who had a direct experience dealing with parasprites don’t call them adorable.
The biggest issue with parasprites created by Discord is that they would need to keep breeding for a thousand years without a population explosion, but still with occasional outbreaks that escaped Celestia’s notice and/or refreshing her memory.
Maybe that’s what the timberwolves normally eat…
That isn't just a problem with Discord, it's a problem wherever they come from. How can a creature so voracious even exist in the long term, without being a major ecological hazard to itself and everything else? And how can Pinkie recognise them and not immediately think of them as grey goo?
The only solution I can think of is that they aren't always as rapid in their eating and breeding as this. Perhaps their breeding cycle only lasts for a few days a year? Or even longer - is the title correct, and this really is behaviour they only exhibit once a century?
4537077
Quite possibly, but not a century, if only because if the cycle was a century long, Pinkie would not have had a chance to experience an infestation.
Also, since they’re so highly magical, the cycle is more likely than not in moons. 30 moons, to be exact.
Between cycles, parasprites lie dormant, get eaten by whatever finds them, in cycles, they wake up, try to eat everything and multiply explosively.
4536911
My personal hypothesis for why parasprites haven't stripped the world of all other life is that they are universally edible and live in the Everfree Forest. Their extreme rate of reproduction is their only natural defense against most predators. Even the ponies could've eaten them had any been able to stomach the proposition.
4537181
It's a very good hypothesis, but there is one problem with it: The Pie rock farm is nowhere near Everfree Forest. Yet Pinkie appears to have personal experience with the said menace.
Outside Everfree, it's doubtful enough predators can be found to keep them in check...
4537195
More grandmotherly lore? It's not like the Mirror Pool's anywhere near the rock farm either.
4537203
See my comment above quoting the exact dialogue and look at the scene itself. Does this look like lore to you?
4537195 Some freak occurrence getting a parasprite all the way to the rock farm might not be that weird if they only ever get out of the Everfree by highly unusual circumstances to begin with. As for a possible mechanism in that case is the Everfree has wild weather mixed with wild magic bizzare enough things happen on our Earth without the second.
4537082 Maybe the Pie rock farm lies in a different parasprite brood region?
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Both are possibilities, really. Since parasprites never come up again, I suppose we’re free to pick whatever fits a given story best, though I do wonder which would be a better dramatic opportunity.
Grey goo is kind of world-ending unless stopped early.
4537532 Perhaps, but the parasprites are a lot less dangerous than rogue nanotechnology. A more ruthless species than ponies could handle their swarms with flamethrowers equivalents just fine.
4537053 Right, this is why I think parasprites have to have some kind of limiting factor, since they've been around long enough for Pinkie to know all about them, but they haven't devoured the planet yet.
let's not forget our old pal e=mc². Granted, they don't seem to obey mass-energy conservation either…
Perhaps I should have said Pinkie has arcane knowledge rather than eldritch.
Perhaps it's useful as a parasprite-decoy. Round body, long narrow protrusion? but, lacks 'eyes'.
feed for mice, feeder mice…who's counting?
swap craving for proteins, sugars, starches, fats for cellulose? (Do we see them eat any non-wood?) hmm, doesn't fit with "ink", which can be any number of compositions: ground mineral, crushed beetle husks…
Actually, the more interesting bit about that spell, to me, is its targeting. It affects a huge area, but only parasprites within that area. This seems like it must be a bespoke spell-feature. Twilight's magic talent is showing, I guess? because she clearly doesn't grok parasprites.
Episodes this could break: "Bats!" "A Canterlot Wedding" "Ain't easy bein' Breezies"
Why it probably doesn't: here she's abusing the fact that they reproduce asexually and thus have very little variation, and have much-simpler nervous systems than bats. (Though, changelings seem less varied…but she lacks a template 'ling from which to radiate the spell.) Breezies, she might lack fine enough control to just TK them through to their home wthout spilling their pollen. (Rarity has no such excuse.)
Point where this style of targeting is almost used: "Hooffields and the McColts"
meditation.
If so, Celestia can also play one-mare-band.
4536276
Not if she thought they were already busy, which may simply be determined by telescope from Canterlot.
4536290
AJ would seem a prime candidate, given that she grows food and lives near Everfree, but Pinkie has prepared food.
4536911
Hypothesis: they require [magically-significant] affection as well as real food to reproduce. However, they only need a tiny bit as catalyst, and can distribute it to their offspring. Thus, while alone in the Everfree, they're no trouble (because the luvcats don't live there).
subsequent hypothesis: some changelings bugged Discord once about how they had nothing to eat, and their children were starving. This was his answer [turning them into that. It's a hat trick: they can no longer complain about starving, their reproduction is food-capped, and they can eat anything! That they cause a bunch of chaos and irritation in others along with the upheaval of rebuilding is the whipped cream on the sundae, of course.]
4537053
took the hive and came back, obviously.
I don't think anyone's asked these questions:
If Pinkie encountered them on the rock farm, where could she have led them off that would have dealt with them?
Less-stringently, a combination of the parasprite-only targeting with a want-it-need-it spell would accomplish close to what Pinkie does. Turning them into other things (lke formal apparel) --wait. The transmutation Twilight knows
at this pointis duration:concentration (top hat turns back into rock). The version Starlight knows (and teaches Trixie) is not. That's…huh. (Though Twilight learns persistent transfigurations for, say, their coach-pullers in Gala; it's implausible she maintains concentration through that chaos, making this not actually a "persistent transfiguration is dangerous and forbidden art"…probably.)Why is magical violence not acceptable? (a: because they're not past S2 yet. Friendship is still magic. Has she fired any G.I. Lavender Laserbolts yet?)
edit: when the hell is the rock-to-top-hat-to-lose concentration and bonk Spike segment?
edit2: "Feeling Pinkie Keen".
Sounds like an instance of species-specific mass mind control to me.
4538378
I don’t think this is what’s actually happening.
In fact, I think that parasprites eat everything in their normal state, they just eat food first, while anything resembling food is available. Whatever Twilight did translated into a compulsion “do not eat food,” but did nothing to actually stop them from eating, so they switched to eating things they would eat later.
Actually, not necessarily, if the above theory is correct.
To a mineshaft.
Then they put a big boulder over it.
Presumably, because it would be difficult or impossible to write a proper genocide spell that would not affect any other form of life or property. Most known forms of magical violence are either targeted or AOE.
4538443
Other sources claim Twi doesn't show manabolt until S2E26, a long way off. Oliver, take a note!
Yeah, mineshaft would do it.
4538476 Cloudy Quartz, we canst not allow a mineshaft gap. The parasprites might escape!
4538378 I like your theory that parasprites use love as a reproduction catalyst, and can pass on remaining love to their offspring. I would only say that eventually in the last thousand years somepony besides Fluttershy liked some adorable parasprite, so if parasprites haven't eaten the world, that love energy has to run out after a certain number of reproductive cycles.
As for how they got rid of them on the rock farm, I could see Pinkie (or Maud shredding on her guitar) attracting them into a tight little ball at the bottom of the cliff, and then some other pony rolls a boulder on top of them. They don't seem to be especially tough.
4538443 Agree on what they can versus what they prefer to eat.
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Regarding parasprite food preferences... I wonder if they can eat meat. I wonder where "pony" falls on their list of preferred foods—before "houses" or after? Did Twilight's magical "stop eating food" compulsion make the parasprites skip the "eat ponies" step entirely, or did it push them one step closer to that?
4538815 That's a very valuable and disturbing question.
4538815
Good question. There’s one clue:
The Golden Oaks Library is one of the two structures seen on camera that are not damaged at all. Presumably by virtue of being a (still living) tree. Items inside are damaged, but the building is left untouched.
The optimal consumption order if there is a logic programmed into that instinct would be like this:
1. Eat protein-rich food that doesn’t run away, which should increase the numbers to the point where…
2. …they can eat protein-rich food that does run away and/or fight back, without risking extinction. Upon consuming which they can…
3. Eat everything else that can be used for reproduction.
So I’d say “skip entirely.”
Notably, the other structure completely untouched is the Carousel Boutique, and I suspect this is because it looks like a cake…