Fridge / My Little Pony: A New Generation

Fridge Brilliance

• Going by the color of each of the Crystals, they seem to match a gemstone that represents that particular quality of the pony race.
  • The Pegasus Crystal is Jade which represents the sky.
  • The Unicorn Crystal is Sapphire which represents magic.
  • The Earth Pony Crystal is a Diamond which represents the earth.
• With the disappearance of magic, unicorns were the ones that were hit the hardest, living with a technological disadvantage while the other two races are chilling in modern cities. Makes sense as they were the ones that used their magic overtly the most, meaning that they lost their societal backbone when it disappeared. No wonder they are so depressed.
  • It's also possible that the mass depression that seems to hit the majority of their race WAS the factor as to why they were unable to recover as a technological civilization. Pegasi arguably were hit worse than unicorns; their cloud cities became unavailable and who knows how many of them died trying to recover their flight. But pegasi were able to recover as an industrial, high-tech civilization, while unicorns wallowed in their crumbling domain.
• Izzy seems to be the most cheerful of the unicorns and it’s possible the reason why can be seen in her home. It’s clear Izzy is very good with her hooves and does arts and crafts as a hobby. Unicorns were on average the most creative of the three pony races thanks to their horns and magic but losing their magic would be like an painter or craftsman losing their hands and forced to give up their hobbies. Izzy, meanwhile, learned to pursue her hobbies with just her hooves and thus didn’t need magic, hence why she’s more cheerful than other unicorns. She learned to live without magic and still be creative.
• Why are Earth Ponies most fearful of the other tribes while being the first to start a race war among them? Their magic is agricultural based with a dash of (supposed) Super-Strength. Living in the city renders the former practically pointless as no one is farming. Compared to flight and levitation, Earth Ponies really got the short end of the stick should standard Equestrian society become urbanised as a whole.
• Zipp is the only one not wearing an accessory compared to the other Mane casts (Sunny's purse, Hitch's sash, Izzy's bracelets, and Pipp's crown). That's because Zipp is trying to practice flying and she doesn't want to wear anything that will throw her off balance with added weight.
• The last two times the ponies were divided, Windigos came to feed off of their hatred. On the first occasion, this led the ponies to learn to set aside their differences and work together to survive, defeating them for the time being. The Windigos were destroyed the second time they emerged, so when the ponies divided again, the Windigos were no longer around to force the ponies to work together, hence why the ponies are still divided and Equestria isn't a frozen wasteland.
  • Another explanation is, that switching off the magic was the last-ditch effort to dealt with Windigos, when pony races get into conflict.
  • Since we haven’t seen any magical beasts on the scale of the ones seen in G4, chances are the Wendigos and other magical beasts of that size require magic to survive and when magic disappeared they died off or went into hibernation.
  • As Sawtooth Waves points out, another big factor is that the Windigoes can only feed of active fighting like the events of the past and the start of FIM's Season 9 finale, not the passive-aggressive segregated racism as shown in this movie. So even if they survived Twilight's blast, there is no active conflict to feed off.
• Pegasi, even after losing ability of flight, could still glide rather well, and seems to have all their instincts intact. All they lack is thrust. Being a technological civilization, why didn't they just use strapped-on engines, to produce required thrust like jetpacks or turbopacks? Albeit it is possible, that the royal family discouraged aerodynamic researches, because if other pegasi managed to fly with technological assistance, then it would become obvious that royals are faking their "natural" ability.
• Why were the so-called "dungeons" in Zephyr Heights such a Luxury Prison Suite? And how did Queen Haven escape so easily? Simple! When the dungeons were designed, the leaders of the pegasi knew that if their secret was ever found out that they were phony ponies full of baloney who couldn't fly, they might just get locked up, themselves. And as another Hasbro character once said, a wise tyrant always ensures their prisons are built for their personal escape! Or, of course, to be as cushy as possible a place to wait, if that proves to be necessary. Talk about Crazy-Prepared!
  • Another possibility is that Zephyr Heights has less nice prisons, but Queen Haven decided to sent Izzy and Sunny to a luxury "dungeon" until she was able to question them properly. For all she knew, members of other tribes were aware of their visit to Pegasi capital. Maybe they were even messengers from those very tribes, at which point it would have been better, if they weren't treated harshly by throwing them into a proper dungeon. No reason risking provoking a war with Earth Ponies and Unicorns, if it can be helped.
• Both Pipp and Zipp seem to start flying almost immediately after magic comes back, barely faltering a bit, even though most pegasi (and new alicorns) have to take time to learn. But they've been practicing the motions of flying for years! They've both faked flying for the public, not to mention how Zipp's secretly practiced hovering without the wires, and Pipp's "flown" during her concerts for years. They already know what to do, they just needed the magic to be able to actually do it!
• As stated near the end of this video, Sunny and her father living in a lighthouse home serves as a symbol for her being the one to bring all pony races together, like how the purpose of a lighthouse is to bring in ships safely, as well as her Meaningful Name being reminiscent of the star in the legend that brought everypony together in harmony.
  She also lives in a lighthouse, which is symbolic of her being the one to usher everyone in safely, and, well, her name is Sunny, which is reflective of the star that tipped everyone off about the magical crystals in the first place.
  • Noted in one of the video's comments, Sprout's role not only in fear mongering but for the fact his name and cutie mark are literal in the role he plays. He is the sprout of the soil he was grown in. The other Earth ponies were also raised in fear mongering but none like him since he was directly raised by one of the main people responsible for the fear in his own time but not only that but was facing pressure to act. His mom kept pushing him with lines like "Everypony wants to hear from you" and he also faces pressure from being Hitch's deputy and the pressure from the fearful crowd.
• As noted by this person, the three tribes ditched their G4 roots and became acting like what they hated.
  • The unicorns are close to nature like Earth ponies.
  • Pegasi are fixated on status and culture like unicorns.
  • Earth ponies are militant like pegasi.
• As stated by this comment, the three pony races each even have a prevalent figurehead of sorts that mirrors pressures from the real world:
  • The earth ponies have Phyllis Cloverleaf, head of Canterlogic, a corporation.
  • The pegasi have celebrity royals Queen Haven and Princess Pipp, the government and media.
  • And the unicorns have superstitions and other people from Izzy's village, religion and one's community.
• In "Fit Right In", the first lines has Izzy explain that unicorns were taught that Earth Ponies were the bottom of the three races and that Pegasi were mean brutes. This makes sense since unicorns used to be on the top and used to look down Earth Ponies for their apparent lack of magic and Pegasi because they were more capable of fighting back against unicorn rule thanks to their militant culture and flight.
• Friendship is Magic so of course magic comes back when the three pony races let go of their hatred and decide to befriend one another.
• After leaving her home Canterlot, Twilight's first friend she made upon traveling to Ponyville was Pinkie Pie, the local Genki Girl. Izzy Moonbow, the pony closest to Pinkie's counterpart in the new generation, leaves her home Bridlewood for Maretime Bay and makes her very first friend in Sunny Starscout, the generation's new protagonist after Twilight.
• At the start of the movie, Sunny's calls to Maretime Bay for unity and an end to fear fell on deaf ears, and she got booed off the stage. Near the end of the movie, Hitch's calls for peace were met with glad agreement from those same earth ponies. What changed? Simple: people (and ponies!) operate primarily on emotion, not on logic. If their emotions tell them to like a particular outcome, then they'll treat any logic conducive to believing in or choosing that outcome as good logic, up to and including Insane Troll Logic and Self-Serving Memory. Sprout worked the whole town so hard, in dangerous conditions, no less, and made them so upset with the environment he created, that they were now open to unity if it meant an end to that toxic environment. Just by being a Bad Boss for a few days, Sprout did what Sunny couldn't do, and got Maretime Bay to open their minds to friendship. A subtle example of Nice Job Fixing It, Villain
• It seem implausible the Mane Six, their accomplishments, and the rest of G4 were forgotten? Princess Luna/Nightmare Moon were forgotten to the point they were seen as fairy tales. So much of the history was forgotten they didn't even remember that Celestia was the other sister from that story despite her being an active figure. So there is precedent.
• Why are Pipp's wings so fluffy compared to the other pegasi? She's super stylish and fashion-conscious and even has a perfume line named after her. She probably uses some kind of styling product or conditioner on her wing feathers to make them soft and poofy. And since she's a member of the royal family, supposedly the only pegasi still able to fly, other pegasi would be looking at and admiring her wings all the time, so it makes sense she would want to draw attention to them.
• Why is the tennis ball used on unicorn horns called a shield? They may be used to (ineffectively) stop magic, but they can also stop the very sharp horn tip from impaling somepony.
• Zoom and Thunder's chess piece cutie marks are very appropriate to their personalities, as viewers who are familiar with chess might notice. Thunder's cutie mark is a knight, which is the only piece able to jump over other pieces, befitting his jumpy personality. Zoom's cutie mark is a rook, which moves in straight lines, befitting her no-nonsense Straight Man personality, and is also considered the most valuable piece outside the queen, which hints that Zoom is one of the most competent royal guards.

Fridge Horror

• The Unicorn ponies have it pretty bad in the present day. At least the Pegasus Ponies have their rulers' (fake) flying to keep up their morale. But the unicorn ponies have been living without magic and constantly depressed over it too. The real horror is, how long have they been this way? Years? Decades? Generations? Have there been unicorns and pegasi who were born, lived and died without ever being able to perform magic or fly?
  • It's also worth noting that there are noticeably less unicorns compared to the other two races.
• What would Twilight say if she could only see that not only has harmony been lost in the span of thousands of years, but what has become of her race, the unicorn ponies? Deprived of their signature magic and demonized by the other two races. Assuming she's passed on by now, she must've been rolling in her grave up until Sunny fixed things.
  • What's more, imagine how Rainbow Dash (and for that matter Scootaloo) would feel if she saw her fellow Pegasus Ponies living without the joys of flying.
    • What would the Student Six think about what has become of Ponykind? And, that apparently all the hard work they and the others put into making the different species across the land find peace with and become friends with each other bit the dust? Sandbar, Gallus, Ocellus, and the others would be horrified and rolling in their graves along with Twilight about all of this. Everything they did amounted to nothing in the end.
    • What did the other species, like Griffins, do when ponies started turning on and being racist towards each other? Did they turn their backs on the ponies after attempting to help? Did they face racism from the ponies that were supposed to be their friends?
• Beings like Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Discord are all essentially immortal. So what happened? Why are none of them still around? Are they trapped somewhere? Did they all die from something? Were they murdered? Or did they abandon their people after trying and failing to make peace between them? The audience, and most of the ponies in Generation Five, have no idea what happened or that these beings even existed. Nothing Is Scarier indeed.
  • It's most likely they passed away from old age without the magic necessary to sustain their immortality... Save for Flurry Heart, who more likely froze with the rest of the Crystal Empire...
• For that matter, what happened to all the countless mythological creatures inhabiting Equestria? Cragodiles, Bugbears, Manticores, Chimeras, all the things in the Everfree Forest? The only animals that seem to be around no matter the location are smaller than ponies and relatively commonplace. Given how easy it was to run into any one of these monsters in the Mane 6's time, their complete absence carries a sad implication.
• Why did the Wendigos never attack ponykind for turning on each other in the past? Is it possible that they did and the three crystals were separated in order to get rid of the Wendigos, even if that meant everypony losing their magic?
• This movie is heavily implied to take place in a post-apocalyptic world. All of the old cities in Generation 4 are gone. As far as we are told, there are only three pony cities, one for each type of pony. Just how bad must things have gotten for something like this to happen? What even started everything?
• Having overthrown their queen for lying to them about the royal family being able to fly with their wings, the pegasi of Zephyr Height are now left in a political power vacuum on top of socio-cultural disillusionment that they could ever be able to fly again. The turmoil that they are left with is reminiscent of that of the French, Russian, and German revolutions, with all the possibilities of chaos, conflict, and calamity that might potentially result from that.
  • Maybe they were forgiven after flight returned. This is Equestria after all.
  • Or perhaps the royals will not be imprisoned, but won't be reinstated either. It's a good excuse for getting the princesses out of town while tempers cool for the next adventure.
• The G4 episode "Baby Cakes" has stated that crossbreeding between different pony races can result in two Earth ponies with distant mixed ancestry to give birth a pegasus or a unicorn. If we were to assume that this can happen even after multiple years, could you imagine the turmoil about something like a pegasus giving birth to a unicorn during the divide between races?
• Argyle has several artefacts from G4 or at least replicas given that several are known to be destroyed, such as one of Zecora's masks, the Dragon Lord's Bloodstone Scepter (minus the Bloodstone), the Memory Stone from the Equestria Girls special "Forgotten Friendship", a portrait of Star Swirl the Bearded, and even Grogar's Bewitching Bell. Let's hope they really are replicas and not the real deal...
• In the maps we have from G4, Canterlot is nowhere near the ocean. But in Sunny's map, Zephyr Heights is fairly close to the ocean. If Zephyr Heights is what Canterlot has become in this future, then that means that some tragedy caused a significant amount of the continent to sink into the ocean! Suddenly, it makes sense that we don't hear about any other pony cities, even though there was Manehattan, Seaddle, Los Pegasus, Baltimare, San Fransiscolt, and many, many other pony cities in G4...!
  • Or perhaps this is a small fraction of the larger country, isolated by the same curse that suppressed the magic.
  • Where is it implied Zephyr Heights and Canterlot are the same? It's much, much, much higher up being at the top of the mountain instead of on the side. There's actually a map shown at the start of the film with Cloudsdale and Canterlot on it, too. Isn't it just possible that Canterlot is just further north and still exists? It's entirely possible that the movie is set in the south part of the continent Equestria is on. There's no Fridge Horror here- we just see a different part of the continent. Considering how isolated everyone is, the only reason they even know about Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood is likely just fear... or it's just something Argyle discovered.
• None of the non-pony races such as dragons, griffons, yaks, changelings, hippogriffs, or Kirin are seen or mentioned (aside from a plushie of Spike). It could be they are living in their own cities divided from the ponies and each other... except the ponies don't display the same paranoia and fear about them as they do of each other, and which Neighsay had shown in Season 8 of G4.
  • It could be that ponies grew so distant from non-pony races, that the generation of ponies we see don't even realize non-pony races exist.
  • In Make Your Mark, Sunny said that dragons hadn't been seen for ages until Sparky hatched, which suggests the dragons at least were very likely extinct...
• What if magic disappeared for a reason and reintroducing it back into the world causes the threat big enough to require magic to be taken away comes back?
• Cozy Glow's first evil plan was to take away magic from the world and to increase racial divisions between the three pony races and other species. What if, long after Twilight's rule ended, some ponies saw Cozy and thought her fate was too cruel for a foal like her, releasing her without heeding the many warnings against it. And with Cozy free among ponies who have no idea how dangerous she is, she could've accomplished her first evil plan without anypony getting in her way.
• If you pay attention to how Canterlogic brands itself, they're essentially a kid-friendly depiction of a WEAPONS CONTRACTOR!
• Hey, uh, has anyone stopped to wonder how many pegasi fell to their deaths as a direct result of magic disappearing?
  • This death toll most likely includes at least a chunk of the population of Cloudsdale and other such settlements... including children.
  • If it makes you feel any better, the pegasi have been shown to be able to glide without their magic. Though if magic also prevented them from dying of the air pressure and friction, there are some implications of removing a Secondary Superpower that would have also caused many casualties. (Like those performing the Sonic Boom and ramming into the atmosphere with the force of a fighter jet.)
• Make Your Mark implies (with the reference to Zipp's cherry-stealing) that the crystals are not only dependent on unity between tribes. If that's true, ponykind is insanely lucky that no tribe had a civil war or similar controversy during the Time Skip- such a war could have lost magic for everyone, with no one even knowing about the loss, and the more peaceful tribes losing it for something that was barely their fault.
  • Not only that, but it wouldn't even require anything close to a civil war — it only takes a small number of ponies angry at each other (nearly unavoidable even in an otherwise healthy society) to start screwing with everyone's magic.
• For all we know right after the truth behind Pegasi royalty came out, Pipp was probably sent things among the lines of varying insults, at best memes and post ratios, at worst death threats and suicide dares.
• In the early years of Friendship is Magic, it was stated that Equestria's more advanced technology should be assumed to run on magic. No more magic means no more Magitek means ponies would have to redo much of their technology from scratch.

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