I am so imagining the snapped horn punishment. I wish I could draw so I could draw it.

This is like a What If? scenerio, not an actual idea for an episode. For actual episode suggestions, I think the undercover Celestia and/or brain switching and/or evil versions of the mane 6 would be a better fit

edited 17th Jul '11 11:12:09 AM by JackOfAllTrades

For basic episode ideas:

An episode where Rainbow Dash has some problem working on the weather.

^^I know, I know. It's definitely too dark for an actual episode, but I can't even see it taking place in fanon-Equestria. Maybe some town on the outskirts of the country run by ponies who aren't actually Equestrian subjects, but Celestia would never sentence anything like that herself, nor would she condone it to be performed in Equestria. That's a major pony rights thing right there.

They should have that happen, only for it all to turn out to be one big practical joke. It would so be worth it.

Check out the first 6 pictures here. I wonder if this mod will actually be finished and playable?

http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/list/Command_and_conquer/1

[1]

What if Celestia appeared, and said that Horn removal was the punishment for Trixie's crimes. Then pulled out an ax herself and prepared to chop it off, only for Twilight to telekinetically stop the ax mid-fall and say that despite Trixie's actions, she is a skilled and dedicated unicorn who just needs a few good friends to show her the way. Trixie would be touched by Twilight's kindness and willingly repent. Celestia would then reveal that Trixie's horn was in no danger at all, and she was just trying to encourage Twilight and Trixie to make up.

I don't think it would be against pony rights if the horn removal was temporary or reversible. I reckon that each subspecies of pony is different in more ways than just the immediately apparent. Maybe unicorns have magic INSIDE them, but just use their horns as a method of projecting it, meaning that horn removal wouldn't destroy a unicorn's unicorn-ness completely. Removing a unicorns ability to use magic would be harsh, but understandable under certain situations, especially if the horn could be retrieved later on

Celestia NEEDS to have a method of dealing with PROPER criminals (not just cartoon supervillains which can be purified of the evil inside them) She might be benevolent, but she needs to have a harsher side aswell, in order to run Equestria right

edited 17th Jul '11 12:08:02 PM by gingerninja666

Like...jail?

I'm with Red Savant on this one; horn removal just doesn't fit into the tone of the show. It could work in a Dark Fic, but not in anything that's trying to stick to the tone of the show. I could see something like temporarily magic prevention or something, but not removing the horn completely.

And weirdly enough, I don't really see Trixie as someone who would seek revenge anyway; she'd just go off, train for a while, and return to one up Twilight in some sort of magic contest. Out of all the villains, I think Gilda is probably most likely to seek revenge. Like returning and trying to humiliate Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie for embarrassing her.

edited 17th Jul '11 12:15:43 PM by JapaneseTeeth

She might banish you from Equestria, or throw you in a dungeon. Or banish you and then throw you in a dungeon in the place that she banishes you to!

If a unicorn is causing problems and the only way they're causing said problems is because of their magic, then removing their ability to do so would fix the problem while also allowing them to contribute to society without being locked up. I'd say it's a better punishment than prison

edited 17th Jul '11 12:15:09 PM by gingerninja666

Send them to work for the Diamond Dogs.

Turn them catways.

On Ponibooru, I keep seeing all of these pictures from tumbler, and then I checked...

Lordie, people seem to have made a crapload of tumblr accounts for the characters. o_O

guess it comes down to Alternate Character Interpretation. I see Trixie as becoming obsessive and self-doubting over her defeat, and Gilda as going into denial and trying desperatley to win back Rainbow Dash once she realises that she needs her

edited 17th Jul '11 12:41:45 PM by gingerninja666

@Ginger: Maybe it's more economic, but...you wouldn't take a pegasi's wings away, would you? Maybe I'm a little extra eager to fight against the prospect of this because of the way it was proposed (even if she was evil, taking away the thing that makes up Trixie's talent? It's like taking away an artists hands or eyes...), but this is straight up crippling someone we're talking about here. Granted, there's a precedence for such things, such as chemical castration for sex offenders, but still...

On the other hand, if it where to happen, Since the unicorn horn is spiraled I could see it actually unraveling of the ponies head. Say, there's a thought: Maybe the punishment is simply an illusion cast by Celestia, to make them think they've lost their magic. Celestia seems to be big on behavioral modification rather than direct punishment, and losing an integral part of oneself is going to make them re-think a lot of things. She could just watch over them, and 're-instate' the magic once they'd use it better. I can imagine a unicorn whose magic was taken away and re-instated going on to only use it to help other ponies with fine construction or something...

Goddamnit, 'nother fanfic idea. Well, I guess I'll add it to the stack.

edited 17th Jul '11 12:43:46 PM by kegisak

I didn't mean use it for every little misuse of magic, just for unicorns who have grossly and/or dangerously exploited it. Where letting said victim continue to use magic would be too risky. They could get used to being an earth pony, it's not like you can't live like that, and I did ammend myself by saying that making the punishment a temporary one would be the best

Okay, I confess, I lied a little when I said I couldn't draw. (Well, not said it so much as implied it, but just go with it.) I went and drew a unicorn with a broken horn, even though I should have been asleep several hours ago. My muse demanded it. So rare are her visits; how could I deny her?

Don't most myths hold that a unicorn's horn contains its soul or something? And taking the horn kills the unicorn?

@ last two pages: Dammit, leave poor Trixie alone, it isn't her fault she's the best pony.

I agree with Japanese Teeth on this one, Trixie is more likely to come back and try to show Twilight up than go for some diabolical revenge. She honestly didn't seem all that put out at the end of Boast Busters, she was acting exactly the same as she had all episode. She strolled up, was all "whatever, I'm still way better than you, " then booked it.

Yeah, I know, I'm just used to the traumatized, emotionally disturbed Replicant-esque Trixie I have in my fic. I sometimes forget what she'd really be like

Even then, though, it's just...creepy, to think of mutilation as a punishment, no matter how warranted it is. And the thing is, they wouldn't even be an earth pony at that point, because earth ponies have that inherent earth connection. They would be sub-pony, or something. A Nopony.

In this case, we're sort of substituting 'soul' for 'magic'.

edited 17th Jul '11 2:29:18 PM by kegisak

I'm not debating that a punishment more fitting than community service would have to be found for severe magic-related crimes and the like, but holding somepony down and sawing their horn off would be ridiculously cruel. A magic block would be more than sufficient, I should think.

^Yeah. Again, unicorns' major strength is that they can use magic to use tools and such. It'd be like cutting off someone's hands - it's barbaric.

On another note, I have to wonder if there are any murders in Equestria. It seems obvious that such things would happen now and then, and the show is obviously no place to look for canon either way on the matter; but so much of Equestrian society, up to and including the seasons and the behavior of animals, is... well, not exactly artificial, but not entirely natural either, that I wonder if the ponies might even have eliminated (truly) violent impulses out of themselves, as well. I realize I'm grasping, but it doesn't seem likely that the most feared figure in Ponyville would be Zecora simply for looking creepy if there were actual pony murderers around.

edited 17th Jul '11 2:30:14 PM by RedSavant

Well, given that wars in Equestria are really just massive foodfights...

But really, it depends on whether you look at Equestria as it's presented in the show, or whether you read a lot into what happens offscreen.

I doubt that there are any murders in canon; the show is way too light for that. Really, the most "evil" character in the series (Nightmare Moon) is really just an enormous jerk. I mean, her whole eternal night thing was more for the purpose of personal validation (if they don't want the night, I'll make them take it anyway) rather than trying to genocide Equestria. I think there's a reason that canon never brought up the whole "Crops can't grow" thing.

edited 17th Jul '11 2:37:50 PM by JapaneseTeeth

We don't even see animals wanting to eat each other.