Where's it mentioned they have no money to spare? Also, they weren't going to lose the farm because of bankruptcy, they were going to lose it because that was the terms of the competition. And besides, Applejack outright says that the reason they even make cider in the first place is so that they have enough money to make it through the winter. Winter isn't the growing season so they have no apples to sell for money, meaning that they have to look for other means.

@ Kegi: I tend to write off the Hearth's Warming Eve one as being a special effect, since it was a play and all. Over A Barrel shows that plants don't grow instantly since it took a year to grow the orchard.

I'll concede the point on the second paragraph.

@ Apple: I feel like they do grow food really well. Just not ludicrously well.

@ Librarian: The fact that they'd have to sell at the Grand Galloping Gala or they can't afford to get a new barn or plow. The terms were the ability to sell cider. Nothing more, nothing less.

@Librarian: No, they do mention that without the money from Cider season they'd sink. OR at least have a hard time with winter.

But, bear in mind they may have needed that specifically to replace the barn in episode three of this season, AND it's possible they actually hold off on selling apples specifically for Cider season, as it's so popular(And they can therefore bump the profits over what they'd get for plain old apples), that they don't actually sell enough regular apples. Not the BEST business model, but up until then they'd never had to compete for Cider sales.

That's a fair point. But then, I tend to take the opinion that because of the division of the races individual magics were much more refined back then(A similar phenomena occurs in my TCYB universe - countries with single tribes tend to be greatly advances in one feild or another compared to Equestria due to needing to rely on their one gift to do more.)

edited 3rd Dec '12 2:23:45 PM by kegisak

The reason they were selling apples at the Gala was just to replace stuff that they needed, not to stave off bankruptcy, plus the Apples were going to leave Sweet Apple Acres when Flim and Flam "won". And Applejack outright says that "We need that cider to make it through the winter!"

edited 3rd Dec '12 2:24:45 PM by theLibrarian

Earth ponies have far more talents than being mere farmers. They can be geologists, in tune with the Earth's bones and able to identify gems and minerals more accurately than any Unicorn magic. They can be pioneers and colonists, hardy enough to tame the wild frontiers; adventurers, with the endurance and practical knowledge to rival even a master archeologist like Daring Do; Engineers, with better basic practical knowledge in machinery than Unicorns, who are more dependant on magic-based electronics.

And then you have Pinkie, who learnt the ancient Earth Pony war arts of turning food and party supplies into ammunition, and knows how to turn Earth Pony sensitivity into Pinkie Sense, and can ninja well enough to chase Dashie all over Ponyville.

@Librarian: Also because Applejack was getting greedy about planning to mooch off the nobles partying and forgot that they do their own catering.

edited 3rd Dec '12 2:25:01 PM by AceOfScarabs

What Ace said.

And I definitely do think that E Ps can grow better food far more efficiently and with higher quality than other races, just that it doesn't preclude other races from growing a few things. I mean, a plant that gets water and sunlight isn't going to die if a unicorn is doing the watering rather than an EP. The EP just gets far more out of it.

@Bad Farms almost always break even. It's a thing in real life, too. Any savings must go towards necessary repairs as well as a buffer for the inevitable bad year(s). A farm having money problems says nothing about the effectiveness of Earth Ponies as farmers, especially when it's a grand total of two able bodied ponies and a child doing an amount of work that would take dozens of human farmhands to do.

And again, consider the average pegasus and the average unicorn compared to the average Earth Pony. We're so used to being exposed to Rainbow Dash and Twilight that we forget that they're in the top percentile of raw power and ability.

edited 3rd Dec '12 2:31:11 PM by PerpetualLurker

As a matter of fact, Earth Ponies may actually be so in tune with metal, that the best blacksmiths might be of their race as well.

Not to mention the best botanists and herbalists outside of the Zebra are Earth ponies like Applebloom, who could actually make a working bootleg potion out of Heart's Desire (even if it backfired and gave her Cutie Pox).

With the solid foundations of industry and agriculture, the only true advantages Pegasi had over them was the safety of the air and mastery of the weather, while all Unicorns truly have is their magic and their horns (And I reckon most Equestrian Unicorns would prefer not to risk horn injury and thus losing their magic by using their horns as weapons!)

edited 3rd Dec '12 2:31:29 PM by AceOfScarabs

No it wears off after a certain amount of time anyway.

Damn, it's hard saving up for a computer and having to not buy anything since you have no actual income due to being a minor. It's hard saving up for a computer and having to not buy anything since you have no actual income due to being a minor, and no one understands.

edited 3rd Dec '12 2:31:18 PM by SuperGex

I could say that Earths could do a 'Runic' magic like the Dwarves of the Warhammer universe, but then again, what would stop the others doing that either.

I still would love to see what the 'pinnacle' of the EP race would be able to achieve.

edited 3rd Dec '12 2:32:37 PM by ApplelightLimited

Yeah, farms don't often have a lot of elbow room on finances. I mean, you're ultimately producing a product requiring very high labor and extreme expenses, but by necessity has to be sold at very low cost while simultaneously being vulnerable to complete disaster at any given moment.

Earth ponies can probably boost yield by quite a bit, but ultimately that's just how much they can sell and not a lot of profit margin per sale.

edited 3rd Dec '12 2:34:26 PM by Pykrete

Earth Pony blacksmiths wouldn't even need the runes, if they knew the trick whatever they forged would have the effect without the need to engrave runes on them.

In a more technological context, Earth Ponies have a more developed mundane tech tree, since Pegasi have little technology which can stay up in the sky, and Unicorns relied more on their magic and may have looked down upon relying upon auxilary power sources.

Earth Ponies might have discovered mundane gunpowder when they tried to make something that could rival Unicorn magics, for example, and they would certainly have been the first to discover the Wheel and quite possibly Fire, which the Unicorns would copy with their magic.

edited 3rd Dec '12 2:34:54 PM by AceOfScarabs

It really bugs me when people keep forgetting this in the E Ps are inferior argument and act like all unicorns have Twilight's power.

@ Lurker: My apologies then, I don't really know that much about farms.

It really bugs me when they're used as justification to say "All Earth Ponies are strong enough to tow mountains. And can grow a jungle in 10 seconds. Now it's fair"

edited 3rd Dec '12 2:35:44 PM by Badwolfwho

@Applelight: Bucking a hole in a mountain. But seriously, E Ps are built four of them managed to haul a freaking train overnight. I seriously doubt even RD or Twilight could pull off something like that.

I like the idea that earth ponies would have been quicker on the uptake with tools if it came down to a civil war. Plowshares can always be beaten back and all.

Well, my fanon is that food grown by Earth Ponies is so much more nourishing and the crops so much more efficiently bountiful that it's not even funny.

You can tell the difference between an apple grown by a Unicorn, a Pegasus, and an Earth pony. The unicorn apple would be large and fat, but tasteless because it was raised on magic and not nourishing at all; the pegasus apple would be very moist and heavy, but also lack the zing because it was grown with aeroponics and nowhere as nourishing. The Earth Pony's apple would have a rich, succulent flavour and at least double the nutritional content.

I really regret starting this topic now.

Hello everyone, what'd I miss?

Don't forget, humans developed better technology without magic. After we hit our tech explosion, we have crazy hardware no Elven magic can compare to, and our metallurgy and firearms have long since surpassed that of the Dwarves.

Yeah, it's like how the Harry Potter universe is culturally stagnant because they've got magic to solve all of their problems and don't make any effort to advance it other than make new spells and new potions.

@Applelight: What exactly is the problem?

@ JT

The problem is, every attempt I put forward to help E Ps gain an equal foothold to the other two tribes gets knocked back. Basically, I'm feed up arguing this point now. E Ps have no powers, and I don't want to admit that but I guess I'll have to.

There is nothing that they can do that a pony of a different tribe can also learn to do.

edited 3rd Dec '12 2:55:23 PM by ApplelightLimited

@ Apple: Everyone is saying they have powers. The only thing being debated is to what extent they have powers.