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[Necro910]

I don't really like THE SHOW IS A HORRIFYING DYSTOPIA! line of thinking. I prefer the Equestria is fine, but after this fanfic it'll be Hell on Earth line of thinking.

I know it's not a dystopia. Hell, it probably is a utopia.

Just I like dystopia's better 

[TheBronzePickle]

I prefer the "Equestria is nowhere near utopia, but it's far superior to the quality of life here on Earth and it's going to take a hell of a lot to change that" line of thinking, myself. Part of why I'm not going to help much with the sequel is that I'm pretty sure that the AU being made is going to clash heavily with my thoughts on the matter and I won't be able to write it right.

[Sean Mirrsen]

You can always write your own, where everyone dies horribly. I would like to take it out of its current nosedive and gradually level it out and up to end up a little above sea level.

[Zangi]

Utopia: Where all your worries are inconsequential and petty, taken up a notch.  Bam.

[Flying Dice]

I don't really like THE SHOW IS A HORRIFYING DYSTOPIA! line of thinking. I prefer the Equestria is fine, but after this fanfic it'll be Hell on Earth line of thinking.

But see, under the line of reasoning I took, it isn't. Celestia is a relatively benevolent immortal monarch/goddess who occasionally takes reasonable measures to protect her subjects/worshippers. Simply put, "some bad things happening" =/= "HORRIFYING DYSTOPIA". England in A Clockwork Orange was at best mildly dystopic (that is the correct form for that, isn't it?  ) by today's standards. Most modern nations are far worse than it in many respects, and we don't consider ourselves to be living in a dystopian world. By comparison, Equestria really is a land of rainbows and sunshine, even if it were canon that Celestia commited acts of xenocide in the past to protect her subjects.

The line of thought where she is a merciless, iron-hooved totalitarian who has mind-controlled every pony into believing that they live wonderful lives is dystopian. One where a leader takes necessary steps to protect her people from being eaten alive is not.



Re: Spike as child slave. No, he isn't. For a perfect example of imprintation of dragons on caretakers of other species, see The Dragonriders of Pern. In both situations the relationship is mutualistic. Regarding the idea of wild/tame dragons, I think that, as pony civilization is at minimum more than 1,000 years old, it is much more likely that this sort of relationship between dragons and ponykind has existed for a very long time, and that dragons living in the wild are dragons who were once in a similar situation, and left for an independent life once their companion/caretaker died. Hence why the adult dragon was familiar with ponies, as well as being fairly friendly once he wasn't being assaulted or woken up from a nap.

Utopia: Where all your worries are inconsequential and petty, taken up a notch.  Bam.

Different =/= inconsequential and petty. Just because ponies have different types of problems and conflicts, or that they endeavour to resolve them quickly, doesn't mean that they don't matter, or are somehow false. I made my stance abundantly clear on a certain other thread, and if need be I will repeat it here.

[Fniff]

I don't really like THE SHOW IS A HORRIFYING DYSTOPIA! line of thinking. I prefer the Equestria is fine, but after this fanfic it'll be Hell on Earth line of thinking.

But see, under the line of reasoning I took, it isn't.

I know it isn't. It's a damn fine place. I just like fanfics that make it utter hell by a logical progression of events.

[Dsarker]

Well, of course it's a utopia! It doesn't exist!


Now, a eutopia, on the other hand...

[LordBucket]

The egg is not incubated and likely unfertilized.

The egg was obviously fertilized. Spike was a baby dragon, not a mass of jelly.

we don't know whether this is a standard entrance exam or a special occasion.

Watch the sequence. The examiners were clearly bored and impatiant about the whole affair. Celestia isn't even in the building during the exam. She didn't take notice of it until after Spike's head smashed through the roof. There's no indication that anything about the exam is special until Twilight's eyes go white and she engulfs the room in magical lightning and starts turning ponies into plants.

Furthermore, we haven't seen any other unicorns that have servants or assistants.

We also haven't seen any other unicorns who are students at Celestia's school for gifted magicians.

We don't know whether the baby dragon was handed out to
Twilight or whether she chose to care for him.

Does that matter? We do know that ponies have a dragon egg, and are using it to test the magical abilities of students. Whether she chose to take him or was ordered to doesn't really matter. Unicorns are using baby dragons to test magical ability, and they aren't giving them back to dragons afterwards.

Twilight was probably the exception to the entire system
in that she did something that should have been impossible.

What reason do you have to assume this? Again, by every indication, this was a totally standard exam deserving of no special notice, and the examiners aren't shown reacting to the egg hatching, only to Twilight's magical outburst.

EDIT:
Also, remember Dragonshy? The episode where they confront a dragon? Spike stays home.

Think about it.

[Dsarker]

So you're saying the examiners are reacting to the only thing that could cause the egg to hatch?


Hmmmm. I wonder.

[Flying Dice]

So you're saying the examiners are reacting to the only thing that could cause the egg to hatch?


Hmmmm. I wonder.

They were reacting to the fact that she grew him to full size as well as hatching him, or the whole 'egg test' is really some sort of mental exam  to see how long potential students will go along blindly with their instructions until they decide to do things a different way. In either case, it is a reasonable explanation for Celestia taking Twi under her wing.

[Sean Mirrsen]

No, well, normally the examinee - if successful - would just hatch the egg and be done with it. Twilight, on the other hand, went supercritical instead.

And the reason she was given a dragonling is because said dragonling acts as a message exchange/mini-mail-delivery system. Such dragonlings might not be common, but they are probably widespread enough - in Canterlot and similarly important places, which are mostly very far from Ponyville.

As for Celestia taking Twilight under her wing - she probably saw that, unlike most merely "magical" unicorns, she was indeed talented, even meant for magic. Considering that Celestia was aware of the Nightmare Moon's impending return, she saw Twilight as a potential carrier of the Element of Magic.

[LordBucket]

So you're saying the examiners are reacting to the only thing that could cause the egg to hatch?

This is a screenshot from fully five seconds after the egg has hatched:



See how unconcerned the examiner looks? They don't react to the sonic rainboom outside, or to the egg hatching or to the initial magical outburst. They do react when Twilight engulfs them in lightning and then turns her parents into plants.

No indication that the egg hatching was anything out of the ordinary.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Not to be picky or anything, but Twilight only turned her parents into plants. The examiners mostly just hovered.

Also, nice frame catch. The examiners did look concerned with the magical outburst, they mostly shielded their eyes against it before it engulfed them.




Also, the parents' reaction is very believable.

[LordBucket]

Twilight only turned her parents into plants.

Ok, fixed.

The examiners did look concerned with the magical outburst,
they mostly shielded their eyes against it before it engulfed them.

Yes, they do react when the entire room is engulfed.

They don't react to the egg hatching.

[Flying Dice]

Twilight only turned her parents into plants.

Ok, fixed.

The examiners did look concerned with the magical outburst,
they mostly shielded their eyes against it before it engulfed them.

Yes, they do react when the entire room is engulfed.

They don't react to the egg hatching.

One could argue that they had slightly more pressing concerns.