1) B: Slim, though the possibility does exist. As early as in a year or so, in fact. Somewhat recently a chief justice was married and subsequently asked why she took her husband’s last name. Her reply was very interesting, to the many present who were not aware. As a filly she was emancipated from her abusive parents and she choose to drop her last name to distance herself from them. Under current law, she had no alternative but to take her husband’s last name in order to marry. And to quote her, “Were my husband and I to have both retracted our surnames, marriage between us would have become a legal impossibility.” If you watch and listen to the video of the interview, you can easily hear somepony in the background quietly remark, “Well, that’s stupid.”
B: Every fire starts with a spark.
B: However, none of this is information Lyra doesn’t possess herself. But for her to accept this knowledge and willingly relay it to others would be accepting the possible repercussions it may one day carry. Our Lyra has never faired very well with the concept of hope. I assume I need not explain why.
2) B: Let’s see now… I believe it was: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and then Lyra would likely not finish the quote and offer some wholly unnecessary remark about sexism.
B: Ordinarily if an intelligent being comes to Equestria seeking citizenship, they’d go through immigration. Pretty simple process. Barred from holding any government sanctioned position for a year, and within that year they must prove they’ve integrated into Equestrian society and are able to pay the tax. After that they’re an Equestrian citizen, free to bask in all the rights and protections that offers until such time that they are either unable to continue or prove themselves unfit as a citizen.
B: However, due to the changlings’ unique talent, things become much more complicated. Being unable to tell who may or may not have been involved in an attack against our nation, all changlings would have to be considered ex-criminals. They would be assigned a probation officer and a rehabilitation/reintegration councilor. The process of rehabilitation and reeducation would last as long as necessary- possibly a year, possibly more. After proving they’re able to behave within Equestrian borders, the process to become a citizen could begin.
B: Of course, you don’t have to live in Equestria as a citizen. There’s nothing illegal about being unregistered and without a temporary visa. However, you’re prohibited from engaging in any government related activities, like voting or receiving a permit, and are not protected under Equestrian law. If you’re not a citizen and you get mugged in broad daylight with a hundred witnesses, you do not possess the right to press charges. Somepony else would have to do it for you.
We shouldn’t, because we’re better than that.
And yeah. I know exactly how close we came to being utterly destroyed. Not even. Like I said, we’d have been a lot worse off, pony’s lives were in jepordy, but we were never in danger of being taken over.
The public seems to forget too often that for one thousand years the Elements of Harmony were unusable. Think for five seconds about all the times Canterlot and Ponyville alone have been attacked in the last two years. If they- the elements, were the only line of defense we had, how would we have survived that long? Princess Celestia is a fair and just ruler, but she’s not a fighter. Not a defender. Up until a few weeks ago I’d just assumed the rumor that she’d taken a vow of non-violance was true.
Here’s a little secret. By the time Princess Cadance had freed Shining Armor and he had used his barrier to repel the changlings, the treasury holding the Elements of Harmony had been secured again. There was a unit starting its way to the throne room. Could they have stopped Chrysalis where Princess Celestia had failed? Probably not. But they could have freed and empowered Shining Armor and Princess Celestia faster than Chrysalis could have bat them down.
That’s not even counting the group that was advancing to awaken Princess Luna.
Equestria’s safety does not rest on a needle’s point. We don’t resort to acts of cruelty because we’re stronger and better than those that do.
1) Really? All the things you humans know about us; all the perverse stuff you write and draw and you don’t even know something basic like that?
Our “naughty bits” mesh when not in use. Male sheath retracts into the body and the left and right walls of the opening close together the same way the female opening and anus do. The mesh is almost perfect on it’s own and fur coat covers the rest. That’s it.
2) Who now?
3) I’ll have to come back to it later again. I have a commission to do!
4) Yeah, I don’t think it would have mattered. You preformed a successful hug anyway.
1)
I don’t know really know if they’ve alive or not.
2) I wear makeup to… Ugh… I hate talking about this…
Yes. If Rarity was the only pony that used any kind of makeup there wouldn’t be much of an industry to produce it, would there?
3) Once upon a time I was held over the edge of Canterlot for trying to avoid some ponies.
Now I’m afraid of heights.
The end.
4) Certainly! I could probably use the exercise, too.
You’re overgeneralizing things. “Healing magic” is a laymare term that refers to Partial Acceleration and the more recent Mending.
Partial Acceleration is the oldest form of time manipulation magic. It predates antiquity; literally was produced before recorded history. It’s advanced, but one of the most finely tuned branches of any defined school of magic. Using it properly is sort of complicated and requires a lot of preparation before, during, and possibly even weeks after the procedure. But if done properly, there’s no real danger in advancing time on a specific part of your body; the rest of your body will compensate.
However, it will only heal what the body is naturally capable of healing on it’s own. I don’t know what happened to the pegasus that sent that message. If s/he crashed through thick glass and completely mutated their wings, no amount of acceleration is going to heal what the body is incapable of healing by itself.
Mending, on the other hoof, is new. And by new, I mean like a decade old. The ponies that originally presented it as a legitimate branch of manipulation are still alive and continuing research in the field today. It’s incredibly complicated and is technically a form of forced bodily mutation. It’s thus far proved unreliable and long term effects are unknown, but in life-or-death situations mending has done some remarkable things. But last I looked into it there was a possible correlation with producing cancer in the years after the procedure.
All the procedures I’ve had that involved magic were all partial acceleration. And they still left scars.
Not in the sense you’re thinking of.
Going back to a previous answer, earth ponies and pegasus can use minor enchantments like wards placed on objects. They can’t use anything beyond what would be considered “minor” at the technical level. I’m not permitted to explain why, but it’s a physiological constraint.
Now, they could potentially use a magically-infused object, like what you’re talking about, to power a stronger enchantment, which would drain the object in question making it’s usefulness limited. What they can’t do, is directly drain the magically-infused object to spell-cast.
I repeat, there is no way for an earth or pegasus pony to use magic like a unicorn.
But regarding the magically-infused object? Those are even more closely regulated than enchantments themselves. Chances are, if you find somepony with one or trying to sell one, it’s very illegal.
Dude... What if our planet actually rotates around the sun and we've fooled ourselves into believing magic is involved?
Anonymous
Nice try, human, but no pony that doesn’t already know the answer to that would ever think to ask.
Our planet does revolve around our sun, and I heard a long time ago it used to rotate too. But as time went on it slowed down. If nothing was done, eventually it would have tidal locked, like both our and your human Earth’s moon.
What we call the raising and lowering of the sun and moon is really our princess(es) magically grabbing hold of the celestial body in question and using it to flick us into proper rotation. That’s why it doesn’t have to be sustained all day long; it’s just one spell.
I have a cigarette burn scar on my right foreleg; underside. I don’t usually cover that one up since it’s less noticeable.
I have a mostly vertical line scar on my left hindleg. Make up covers that one and the one from my chest to my stomach up just about perfectly.
I have a small line scar on, and extending slightly off of, my right tear duct. I’m not positive, but I think that’s also when I got that callus that’s sometimes visible. At any rate it’s really hard to see, which is good because it’s too close to my eye to cover up.
Then there’s the one I already mentioned. Long, curved scar extending from the left side of my chest down to my lower right stomach. That one should have killed me. The only reason I’m still alive is because…
…
Well, I’m still alive anyway.
I can’t talk about the last one as it’s in a more private location. Boscov obviously knows but- And I know you wouldn’t, MG. But for the rest of you, please don’t go running to him to ask about it. You know he isn’t going to answer.
1) Oh, would you look at the time, It’s “I can’t discuss that”-o'clock!
2) I imagine so.
Yes, definitely. Even if you don’t count artisans that use magic for their craft, electricity in Equestria is magically powered. That magic comes from unicorns.
To go a little further on that subject, unicorn criminals can be brought in to help power the system if they’re offense isn’t too terrible. Takes time off their sentence. Earth and pegasus convicts can be brought in for similar government projects, but I don’t know the details offhoof.
Only reason I know about the unicorn thing is because I’ve done it before. It’s not so bad. The regular workers that get paid are all fairly powerful at magic and are all pretty smart. There’s a lot of down time resting where you can just sit around and talk to them. If you’re ever imprisoned and have the chance, I recommend taking it!
3) Of what?
4) Of this? Oh! I think it’s that time again!
And when I say I can’t talk about it, I mean it. Doing so would be considered an act of treason.
Well, you really couldn’t have come to a better unicorn. I could tell you just about everything here is to know about magic, how it works, how unicorns use it, how other creatures use it. I likely know things that even somepony like Twilight Sparkle probably wouldn’t be trusted with, considering her potential and the dangers involved at this stage.
I couldn’t teach you a spell, but I could probably answer every question you could ever think of about magic theory. But I can’t.
Exactly how magic works isn’t meant for everypony to know. It holds certain risks from outside parties and even other unicorns. It’s a closely guarded secret and only a few ponies not connected to the royal family are permitted to know certain bits and pieces to preform their jobs. The only reason I know is that I stumbled upon some things back when I lived in Canterlot and asked some questions. I was trusted by the royal family and given the knowledge because there isn’t really anything I can do with it; I’m too magically frail.
About your specific question, this is what I can tell you. There is no way for an earth or pegasus pony to use magic like a unicorn. They can use objects with minor enchantments like wards or protections, but that’s it. If you want to study a magical substitute, I’ve recently learned of how powerful potion brewing can be. But the applications will be different.
That would be the royal family’s answer, so that’s all I can say about it.
1) Your stance has been noted.
2) Even if the ending was stupid, most of Stillwatch was pretty good.
I’m sorry. I’m drawing a blank. All I can think of right now is A Tale of Two Cities, and while I liked the movie, the book was all but incomprehensible. The language used is so incredibly dated. And I had no problem reading the play versions of Romeo and Juliet and A Christmas Carol.
3) Did I fall into an Orbit Gum advert?
4) If it pleases the court, I would like to present this magnet as evidence.
5) I know it can be difficult to understand, but those weren’t flash mobs and they weren’t rehearsed.
Ugh… I wish I still had that book from college… It made an attempt to explain the phenomenon. You just… feel the rhythm of the music, listen and watch those around you, and you know what to do. What to sing, how to move; it’s a very spiritual experience and you won’t get it right the first time. But it’s a part of our culture, something ponies grow up with. Unless you take steps to avoid it everypony knows how to do it.
6) You seem to have fallen down to an unrelated pun; that punchline could have gone with a number of jokes.
