- For the mare whose individual name includes "Pegasus", see List of ponies/Earth ponies/Mares#Pegasus Olsen and List of comic ponies/Unicorn ponies#Pegasus Olsen.
Rainbowshine, a Pegasus pony, in Cloudsdale's weather factory.
Pegasus ponies, or Pegasi, are one of several kinds of ponies that live in Equestria, along with Unicorns and Earth ponies. They are characterized by their wings as well as their ability to fly, walk on clouds, and control the weather.
Development and nomenclature[ ]
Pegasus ponies were introduced shortly after Earth ponies in the original My Little Pony toy line. In the show, they are called either Pegasus ponies or Pegasi and mostly "Pegasus" for a single pony, though "Pegasus pony" is also used, as specified in the article ponies. Lauren Faust, the show's developer, stated that the Pegasus ponies have a passive kind of magic that allows them to walk on clouds and manipulate the weather.[1]
Pegasus ponies are derived from Greek Mythology, notably the tales surrounding the eponymous flying horse, Pegasus, who was a white horse with wings. Pegasus is also the name of one of the 88 modern constellations.
Depiction in the series[ ]
History[ ]
Banner of the Pegasus tribe, from Hearth's Warming Eve.
Hearth's Warming Eve depicts Pegasi before the founding of Equestria as a militaristic tribe whose members maintained the weather in return for food that was harvested by Earth ponies. The group lived in the clouds and was led by Commander Hurricane, who refers to the Pegasi as "a mighty tribe of warriors".
Physical and magical traits[ ]
Pegasi demonstrate great speed and agility in the air in multiple episodes. In Fall Weather Friends, however, Rainbow Dash is equally matched on the ground with Applejack, an Earth pony, during both the Iron Pony competition and the Running of the Leaves.
As shown in Sonic Rainboom, Pegasi can walk, sit, and lay on clouds, whereas unicorns and Earth ponies cannot do so naturally. Twilight Sparkle casts a spell that allows her non-Pegasi friends and herself to walk on clouds. Gilda, a griffon, and Tank, a tortoise, interact with clouds in Griffon the Brush Off and Tanks for the Memories, respectively. In May the Best Pet Win!, several other creatures are shown to be capable of perching on clouds.
A Pegasus training in the episode Hurricane Fluttershy.
Pegasus wings sometimes feature incredible strength and hand-like dexterity. Athletically-trained Pegasi support most of their body weight on them in Hurricane Fluttershy, Rainbow Falls, and Equestria Games. Scootaloo, who is unable to fly, uses her wings to haul multiple ponies in a wagon hitched to her scooter in The Cutie Mark Chronicles and Flight to the Finish. Fluttershy uses her wings to take bits out of her saddlebag in Putting Your Hoof Down, while in Parental Glideance, Rainbow Dash, her parents Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot use their wings and feathers to plug their ears, salute, "shake hands", and count.
In the episode Sonic Rainboom, Pinkie Pie describes how a sonic rainboom can happen when "a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash" reaches a certain speed, though Rainbow is the only Pegasus ever depicted performing the maneuver.
In My Little Pony: A New Generation , Pegasi wings are slightly bigger, enough that they cover their owner's cutie marks while tucked in. Each member of the royal family has their own unique wing design.
Weather control[ ]
- See also: Pegasi magic
The Cloudsdale weather factory, as seen in Sonic Rainboom.
At the first episode of the series, Twilight Sparkle meets Rainbow Dash, who hops on a cloud to make it rain and wash the mud off Twilight, and then air-dries her by flying around her. Twilight tells Rainbow Dash she is "supposed to be keeping the sky clear"; Rainbow then clears the skies of clouds (in "10 seconds flat"). In Sonic Rainboom, the main characters visit the Cloudsdale weather factory. They walk through a chamber where Pegasi handcraft snowflakes, an open area where Pegasi mix up rainbows and finally the cloud-making department.
Rainbow Dash creates thunder and lightning by violently punching or bucking clouds in Griffon the Brush Off and Luna Eclipsed, to prank ponies. Derpy triggers thunder and lightning by repeatedly jumping on a cloud in The Last Roundup. In Tanks for the Memories, Rainbow Dash visits the weather factory, which holds lightning bolts in jars laid about.
In the episode Winter Wrap Up, Rainbow Dash leads the weather team during the annual Winter Wrap Up. The team, which wears blue vests, consists mainly of Pegasus ponies. In the song that shares its name with the event and episode, the weather team clears the skies of clouds to let the sun warm up the land and melts the snow. Rarity mentions that the team also "guides the birds back north for the spring." On a frozen lake, Twilight Sparkle encounters Pinkie Pie, an Earth pony, who is helping the weather team by acting as a "lake scorer". Pinkie Pie cuts squares in the ice with her ice-skates and explains to Twilight that it helps the rest of the Weather team break the ice layer. Pegasi usher in winter in various activities in Tanks for the Memories, culminating in an accidental snow blast from the Cloudsdale weather factory that covers Ponyville in snow.
At the beginning of the episode Hurricane Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash hosts a mandatory meeting for all Ponyville Pegasi, in which she shows a film that states, "A team of Pegasi combine their wing power to create a jumbo tornado, powerful enough to pull water out of the local reservoir and funnel it all the way up to Cloudsdale." This, Rainbow Dash explains, supplies Cloudsdale and all of Equestria with rainwater. Rainbow Dash also stresses that the ponies' combined power must exceed a minimum of "eight hundred wing power." During training, Twilight Sparkle uses an "anemometer" to gauge wingpower. Rainbow Dash's score on the anemometer was 16.5 wingpower and Fluttershy's post-training score was 2.3 wingpower.
Non-Pegasus weather control[ ]
Earth ponies and unicorns can play a part in controlling the weather too. Autumn leaves are shed from the trees in a foot-race of all pony kinds in Fall Weather Friends. Pinkie Pie is part of the Winter Wrap Up weather team in the episode of the same name, described in the previous section. Other Earth ponies clear the snow with snowplows, and Spike mentions that in Canterlot, unicorns wrap up winter. When Rarity temporarily gets Rainbow Dash's cutie mark in the episode Magical Mystery Cure, she uses her unicorn magic to arrange the clouds above Ponyville in a checkerboard pattern.
When the ponies venture for the first time into the Everfree Forest, Applejack surmises that "It ain't natural; folks say it don't work the same as Equestria." In Bridle Gossip, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash elaborate that the plants grow on their own, animals take care of themselves, and clouds move without pony intervention.
Other magical creatures affect the weather too. Discord has strange effects on all of the surroundings, including making clouds rain chocolate milk in The Return of Harmony Part 1. Princess Luna triggers thunder and lightning in the episode Luna Eclipsed. Windigos, "winter spirits that feed off fighting and hatred", create snow and blizzard: "the more hate the spirit feels, the colder things become," according to Clover the Clever, the historical character that Twilight plays in the Hearth's Warming Eve play.
Residence[ ]
Rainbow Dash's home.
Pegasus ponies live in Ponyville, where all three types of ponies live, and Cloudsdale, which is exclusively populated by Pegasus ponies since only they can walk on clouds. Fillydelphia is mentioned in Hurricane Fluttershy to have a Pegasus pony population as well. In the episode It's About Time, Rainbow Dash mentions a town called "Las Pegasus". In Top Bolt, Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail hail from Stratusburg. Canterlot and the Crystal Empire are almost devoid of Pegasus ponies, with the exception of some Pegasus Royal guards.
In My Little Pony: A New Generation , Pegasus ponies live in Zephyr Heights, a sprawling metropolis built atop a mountain.
See also[ ]
- List of Pegasus ponies
- Earth ponies
- Unicorns
- Crystal Ponies
- Foals
- Alicorns
- This article's speculation forum
References[ ]
- ↑ Lauren Faust (2011年04月16日). The magical traits of each pony kind. "Unicorns are the only ones that can control [magic] willingly. Pegasi have involuntary magic that allows them to do things like walk on clouds, and Earth Ponies have a magically ingrained connection to the Earth that makes them better at working with plants and animals."