Equestioning: For Equestria Girls Fans · 3:14pm Jan 2nd, 2021
Blog Number 123: Sunrise for Sunset Edition
Well, now that we're in a new year and just starting to get to grips with the first of twelve months, this is clearly the right time to say... I got random questions about a humanized pony spinoff. This might be for a project.
I mean, these six questions aren't by any means a full set, but they're what I'm going for today. It's foremost on my mind at the moment after recently rewatching Friendship Games.
Do we ever - in another special, for instance - get an explanation as to why Sci-Twi's magic-detecting amulet drains magic? I don't recall an explanation being given in the Friendship Games movie. Even Sci-Twi herself didn't seem to know.
Am I alone in thinking Principal Celestia knows more than she lets on? She seems bizarrely mellow throughout these movies, and then there's the... distinct phrasing of this line of dialogue from the first movie:
"A true princess in any world leads not by forcing others to bow before her, but by inspiring others to stand with her. We have all seen that you are capable of just that. I hope you see it too, Princess Twilight."
Come to that, am I alone in wondering why the introduction of magic into a pointedly non-magical world isn't treated as that big a deal compared to the reception it'd get in, say, our world? You'd think Canterlot High would be swarming with physicists, journalists, news crews, and government officials.
My best guess at the moment is that magic, while rare or obscure, is something that exists in some form in this world, but never to such a dramatic degree. That might explain why some magical effects, such as the Sirens' (limited) "fast food" version of their usual feeding technique (and possibly some of Pinkie's more cartoony abilities) can exist or be treated as normal before Equestrian magic is introduced at the end of the first movie.
I'm open to better suggestions, though, if anyone has any?
What is this plant monster? Best guess is it's an Equestrian species, but I think we'd have learned by now if something this dangerous was at large, so were Sci-Twi portals connecting to other worlds too? Is it something from Equestria's past or future?
It's mentioned in Dance Magic that Principal Abacus Cinch was replaced by Principal Cadence, but no reason is given as to the circumstances. Was it ever detailed anywhere else (e.g. is it mentioned in a novel or comic somewhere) that she was fired, or retired?
And while I'm aware "What happened to Sunset's real human counterpart?" is an oft-asked question, has there been any official confirmation by now? Or any for the Sirens, or even for reverse cases such as the pony versions of the Shadowbolts, Cinch, Juniper, Wallflower, and so on?
Good a time as any to say I'm not just interested in official sources, but also in fanon speculation and crackpot theories too. You never know when someone'll say something that goes click in your head.
Impossible Numbers, out.
Nothing official. I always figured, given Sci-Twi's reaction to it, that the draining was actually a malfunction, probably due to not knowing how to deal with magic in the first place. Unknown variables to account for, etc.
Weren't they attacked by plants in Spring Breakdown, as they were trying to get into the quicksand portal back to Equestria?
5427399
You mean this thing?
static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/5/5e/Plant_monster_appears_over_Rainbow_EGSB.png/revision/latest?cb=20190405033114
5427403
Well lookie there, it's the same one! :D
...Which really just means they didn't have any more ideas to use. :B Doesn't explain what it is.
5427404
Could be an Equestrian species that trespassed onto the Equestria Girls universe, given it's always associated with portals.
Checking the transcript, that's by design.
Emphasis mine. What confused Twilight was why the amulet started activating on its own, and that seemed to be a case of the magic having something of a will of its own. "The Science of Magic" arguably foreshadowed that. The problem with working with energy that doesn't normally exist in your universe is that you can't easily predict its behavior when you stuff so much of it in one place.
Principal Celestia either has past experience with the supernatural, past experience with royalty, or past experience with bullshitting like a fertilizer wholesaler. Or some combination thereof.
Pinkie definitely demonstrates that there's something supernatural in that world, though nothing as overt as most Equestrian magic. I suspect some combination of the princessipals' past connections and the local version of the MIB keeping the public from learning of the details.
Two words: Everfree Forest. Outside of that hypercompetitive ecosystem, this thing flourished like there was no tomorrow. Compare the parasprites.
Not to my knowledge, but presumably she retired after the fallout of the Friendship Games and/or the vengeance of Twilight's parents.
Closest we've gotten were some ponifed cameos in a multiversal casino.
Oh! But if we're talking fanon speculation:
• Sunset: Her counterpart is actually the age Sunset would have been if she'd never left Equestria, and is in a ferocious dog-eat-dog corporate environment taking a sledgehammer to the glass ceiling.
• The sirens: Corsairs during the Golden Age of Piracy, along with their Equestrian counterparts. (The Adagios shared the captaincy; it confused the crap out of the authorities.) They were the only humans the sirens ever actually respected.
• The Shadowbolts: Scattered across Equestria. May or may not become part of Twilight's personal guard. (Credit to Darth Link 22 there.)
• Abacus Cinch: One of Sombra's greatest and most infamous enforcers. Has escaped justice thus far. (Credit to Baal Bunny.)
• Gloriosa Daisy & Timber Spruce: Earth pony ecosystem managers, the same job as Fluttershy, though on the other side of the Everfree.
• Juniper Montage: Still an intern. Canter Zoom is one of the greatest directors in Applewood.
• Wallflower Blush: The Diarchy of Equestria disavows any and all knowledge of any agent of the crown using the alias "Agent Forget-Me-Do."
• Vignette Valencia: Does not exist. The human world has billions of people, after all. Mathematically speaking, some of them won't have Equestrian analogues.
• Kiwi Lollipop & Supernova Zap: Up-and-comers who have yet to reach the vaunted fame of Sapphire Shores or Coloratura.
So much to think on 🤯
Oh... and it be wrong to plug a friend of mines Equestria girls art here? This piece is criminally underrated
5427409
Petition for you to write all of those headcanon stories nao
5427409
That said, she describes the magical phenomena as "EM frequencies" twice, which suggests two hypotheses she was toying with regarding the strange energy:
1. She thought it was primarily an electromagnetic phenomenon, albeit an anomalous one. In which case, is her amulet a kind of lightning-conductor and portable battery combined?
2. (More likely): She thought the electromagnetic frequencies were side effects, and tried to tailor the device only to the magic itself.
I mean, it's safe to say magic produces electromagnetic side-effects (it's always a light show, for one thing), but the way she talks about it suggests something more esoteric. Does magic create a static charge in the air whenever it's used, like it's radiating UV or X-rays? Maybe the energy required to defy normal physics produces ions as a side effect, because the magic "steals" the energy from the surrounding atmosphere?
Thus entertaining the idea that magic is a wish-granting entity that doesn't know when to stop. Note that everyone it turns into a demonic entity is technically still after what motivated them to use the magic in the first place, just taken to a point where it overwhelms every other consideration (such as moral ones).
5427410
Love how Adagio and Aria have full toothy grins, while Sonata settles for a wry smirk.
5427422
Be sure to let her know if you got a DA, this girls definitely a rising star and I can say I played a huge part 😊
FoME has already thoroughly answered the ones that have definite answers, so I'll just chime in on the speculative ones.
Does Celestia know more than she lets on? I doubt it. She does react somewhat calmly, as do pretty much all of the students. I just took her use of "Princess" just being that Twilight's origin story had made the rounds to her by then. As to why the school hasn't become a place of study, she does directly address that in Friendship Games and possibly earlier. I do remember her referring to everyone at CHS agreeing to keep all that a secret (which may have been from an earlier movie), which is also why she exhorted the girls to keep their magic from emerging during the games. When Cinch threatened to expose all that, Celestia basically told her go ahead, who will believe you?
As to human/pony counterparts, I never got the sense it was guaranteed that there are counterparts for every single character. There are plenty of background characters from EqG and MLP that never appear in the other, even in cases where you'd think they would because of their normal proximity. Some of these may have appeared and I just didn't notice, but the Cakes were in EqG, and I don't remember their kids appearing. Maud was the only one of Pinkie's family to appear (though them having a house suggests at least the parents are there). No Mayor Mare? Fancy Pants? Aside from Lyra, none of Twilight's circle of closest school friends show up. We did see some background diamond dogs, but none of the other non-pony races. Likewise, some fairly prominent EqG characters never appear as ponies despite constantly being in close proximity to the Mane 6, like Sandalwood, Watermelody, and all the villains or semi-villains Juniper Montage, Wallflower Blush, Valencia Vignette, Timber Spruce, Gloriosa Daisy, Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, Sour Sweet, um... whatever the two musicians from Sunset's Backstage Pass were named. Interestingly, while the pony side did definitely show some characters with disabilities (Kerfuffle, the guy in the wheelchair analog from "Trade Ya"), I don't recall seeing any such characters in EqG.
So the short answer is: while many characters do exist in both universes, I don't think it follows that they all necessarily do.
5427495
I can't help but think that's pretty peculiar behaviour in and of itself: even if she wanted to avoid all the media attention, it has to have occurred to her that this is something worth investigating, especially when it's already been shown to cause damage and perform miracles. The whole bluff on Cinch relies on the idea that all these magical effects are not considered normal phenomena. And the whole student body is bound to include at least a few people who absolutely will blab the secret to anyone they can contact.
Understandable. I'm still curious as to what the rules are for correspondence between the two, but I'm trying to avoid obvious Doylist ones (like the show staff just didn't take any particular interest in showing how it worked) in favour of Watsonian explanations (like maybe the correspondence is chiefly or purely between Canterlot High and Ponyville, with anything beyond Canterlot High or further away from Ponyville deviating more strongly). And then wondering why that is the case...
Whew, speculation is like chasing rabbits down holes sometimes.
That's a great point. It's worth remembering that Sunset is always complaining about Equestrian Magic, not just magic in general.