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flatwoodsdaemonKind of a silly one, but does anyone else think a lot about the spiritual implications of the "pony-up" transformations in Equestria Girls? I do, for some reason.
Basically, as far as I understand it, the girls can harness latent elemental magic, usually via music, and this allows them to "pony up", essentially turning them into Umamusume-esque horse girls with pony ears, longer hair (that becomes a ponytail at the bottom, because I guess they didn't want to give them actual tails, a fact that enraged me as a kid) and if they're a pegasus in the pony world, wings.
To be honest, if I was part of their group, and some people got wings and I didn't, I'd be miffed as fuck. Like in regular pony world people just accept wings as a trait like how people have different hair colours, but wings aren't normal here, so I would imagine there'd be some confusion and jealousy!!
It's the pegasus part of this transformation that makes me curious about the potential soul/spiritual implications of this transformation. If they were JUST turning into horses, that'd be one thing, you could say it's because the magic they're harnessing is specificially pony magic, in the movies they call it Equestrian magic, but the fact that it seems to specifically be drawing from their pony-world equivalents is FASCINATING to me. Why does it do that?
If the magic makes them become like their pony selves, does this imply that the ponies and the humans literally share the exact same soul? Are they inextricably linked and harnessing Equestrian magic brings them closer metaphysically to their pony clone so they start growing features as a result? Is Equestria the origin point for all universes in the MLP multiverse, is ponying up akin to returning to stardust, to the origin point? Are the human girls in fact horses trapped in human bodies they're not supposed to be in, is the mirror dimension supposed to be there or did it end up being created, and the mirror dimension is actually a warped version of Equestria that Went Wrong, DO THE GIRLS EXPERIENCE HORSE DYSPHORIA? Is the reason Rainbow Dash is so obsessed with ponying up because she feels more right in that body, does her mind secretly know what shape it's supposed to be and misses it? Does she miss the wind beneath her wings and the dirt beneath her hooves? Does she lie in bed at night and dream of her body being the right shape? Does Equestria Girls feature canonically alterhuman characters?!
Perhaps I am thinking too much about this. Maybe they just borrow the magic from their pony counterpart. I dunno.
Basically, as far as I understand it, the girls can harness latent elemental magic, usually via music, and this allows them to "pony up", essentially turning them into Umamusume-esque horse girls with pony ears, longer hair (that becomes a ponytail at the bottom, because I guess they didn't want to give them actual tails, a fact that enraged me as a kid) and if they're a pegasus in the pony world, wings.
To be honest, if I was part of their group, and some people got wings and I didn't, I'd be miffed as fuck. Like in regular pony world people just accept wings as a trait like how people have different hair colours, but wings aren't normal here, so I would imagine there'd be some confusion and jealousy!!
It's the pegasus part of this transformation that makes me curious about the potential soul/spiritual implications of this transformation. If they were JUST turning into horses, that'd be one thing, you could say it's because the magic they're harnessing is specificially pony magic, in the movies they call it Equestrian magic, but the fact that it seems to specifically be drawing from their pony-world equivalents is FASCINATING to me. Why does it do that?
If the magic makes them become like their pony selves, does this imply that the ponies and the humans literally share the exact same soul? Are they inextricably linked and harnessing Equestrian magic brings them closer metaphysically to their pony clone so they start growing features as a result? Is Equestria the origin point for all universes in the MLP multiverse, is ponying up akin to returning to stardust, to the origin point? Are the human girls in fact horses trapped in human bodies they're not supposed to be in, is the mirror dimension supposed to be there or did it end up being created, and the mirror dimension is actually a warped version of Equestria that Went Wrong, DO THE GIRLS EXPERIENCE HORSE DYSPHORIA? Is the reason Rainbow Dash is so obsessed with ponying up because she feels more right in that body, does her mind secretly know what shape it's supposed to be and misses it? Does she miss the wind beneath her wings and the dirt beneath her hooves? Does she lie in bed at night and dream of her body being the right shape? Does Equestria Girls feature canonically alterhuman characters?!
Perhaps I am thinking too much about this. Maybe they just borrow the magic from their pony counterpart. I dunno.
Thoughts
Date: 2025-08-27 07:22 pm (UTC)Jealousy would result if the pony-up details were randomized. It would not result if the details were matched to personality -- that is, the character who dreamed of flying got wings while the one afraid of heights did not.
>>If the magic makes them become like their pony selves, does this imply that the ponies and the humans literally share the exact same soul?<<
Essentially, a case of souls traveling across dimensions, taking the dominant life form in each one.
>>Are the human girls in fact horses trapped in human bodies they're not supposed to be in,<<
That would likely lead to dysfuria aka species dysphoria. It sucks. But the setup does make a good context for discussing such things as body image and identity.