>>11458>Something about the traveling here feels different to other seasons. More cozy, more ‘’intimate'.They haven't even been back to Canterlot yet, so it's really the first city we've seen them go to on the show (I think)!
>You’d think that, especially with the context of some racial animosity that still lingered on and could rear it’s head that was established within the show even in, well, next season, this should’ve been an issue!I think, rather, that even whilst animosity exists, it would be a very ponyish thing to do to not even consider making the competition Pegasi only, simply because it's a given that they can fly. I could imagine them letting other flying creatures participate. That is to say, I think Pegasi just think of it as a competition, not a PEGASI competition, if that makes sense.
>Unicorns budding in and doing shenanigans like this would be an uncommon occurrence and a speckle/sight of wonder..They wouldn’t be taking the spotlight every day of the week.I think also, with regard to the awe with which Rarity is treated, that the Pegasi might be assuming that she used her own magic to make the wings.
>>11459>I wonder how one would conjure something with properties like that? She does turn frogs into living oranges at some point - I would posit that unicorn conjuring operates on a basis similar to Plato's theory of forms. Normally we think of Plato's forms as being quite universal. I remember in philosophy class reading the example of a horse (appropriately), where all earthly horses are reflections of a singular, heavenly horse - the 'form' of the horse, thus why horses take a horse-form. But it seems logical that specifics would exist too, especially if we imagine the Platonic forms to be a real, spiritual force - and so we have the forms of gossamer, and of morning dew - in this universe, they are (not just by my theory but by the fact they're specified in this dialogue) spiritually imbued with those properties that make them merely appear magical in our world, but in Equestria, such sentiments make them really, truly magical. No longer is waking up to see the dawn an emotionally magical moment: here in Equestria, it's magical in a very literal sense. Furthermore if we go with the Platonic theory, then it goes quite nicely with the relationship between Magic, Friendship and Harmony: when unicorns summon things from our ethereal, Platonic plane, they summon the pure artifact, the perfect thing which all reality merely imitates the form of. And so, Friendship and Harmony, as sources of collective magic amongst ponies, must too be reflective of the magical sphere: a divine order of things that, when reflected or re-enacted down in Equestria, brings it in line with the magical form and so produces magic. It also makes sense for the forms to reflect things in different states given that ice, water and steam are all different states of the same matter.
>I wonder how one would conjure something with properties like that? Given Twilight's studiousness, I'd like to think it requires intense study in order to determine whatever esoteric principle differentiates morning dew from regular water droplets!
> but considering what we have seen thus far, it doesn't necessarily need to be that much water given how magic works and how (possibly) small scale things often seem to be (one dragon being enough to put Equestria under fog for 1000 years).That's very true. At this stage we just have Ponyville, Fillydelphia, Canterlot and Cloudsdale. Later when we get to the buffalo out on the frontier, it's notable that it's the desert - so Cloudsdale clearly isn't operating that far afield. It could also just be controlled 'extra' weather on top of normal or 'wild' weather - when an extra storm is needed, one is made, or when more sunlight is needed, Celestia could just slightly lengthen the day whilst Pegasi clear the skies.