The Evolutionary Process of Ponies

Name: Celestia Valentina Sol

Occupation: Researcher

Topic: Evolution of the Races

Notes:

"Hello and good evening to my fellow researchers. My name is Celestia, and I have come before you today to bring to your attention a newly developed theory on the topic of Pony Evolution."

"This particular field of study has been pushed aside time and time again in favor of more important aspects of our day to day lives. However, I believe that this new information will revitalize the topic and pique the interest of a certain number of you all here before me today."

"Now, without further ado, please allow me to begin my presentation."

"You see, For quite some time, no new information has come to light in terms of this particular subject. And as such, it has been swept under the rug by countless other researchers for years and years at a time."

"But perhaps you would think differently if I told you that all, yes all of the races are linked in the chain of evolution. Every single one of them."

"How you ask? Well, allow me to bring your attention to the sea ponies."

"Several thousands of years ago, a tyrant known as the storm king brought despair to Equestria and the very world itself. The fate of the pony race hung precariously in the balance. However, Due to some quick thinking on the part of a wise and beloved queen, the first ponies found a new home deep down under the sea where they could live in peace."

"Some hundreds of years later, they returned to the surface to find that the storm king, without a people to rule, essentially vanished off the face of the world, seeing no point in ruling an empty world."

"Seeing that the threat to her people was now gone, the queen and her people made a home on the land once more and eventually spread throughout the world. This led to the beginning of the Earth Pony races."

"Now, from here, it gets quite simple, as the rest is simply a series of evolutionary changes caused by the internalization and expulsion of magic. Essentially a chain of quite literal transformations that led up to the modern day."

"At first, the old Earth Pony herds were content to live simply, farming the land and going about their daily lives without a care in the world."

"The key word here is, of course, at first. It was only a matter of time until somepony was born with greater abilities than the rest."

"At first, the ponies believed this pony to be a leader given to them by the goddess Faust herself, as proven by the presence of a symbol on their flank That's right. This was the beginning of the cutie mark."

"Things stayed like this for a long while. That is until more and more of these 'Chosen Ponies' started popping up."

"Ponies began getting curious as to exactly why these ponies were the way they were. They stopped dismissing it as an act of the goddess, and started to question the very existence of these 'Special Ponies'."

"Eventually, one of the native ponies discovered a more arcane explanation for their existence. This, was the discovery of magic."

"Turns out, The old queen possessed a stone of arcane power, and used this to transform her beloved ponies into denizens of the ocean, known now as Seaquestrians."

"This magic stayed with the ponies when they returned and changed to reflect their new bodies and the ways they used them."

"Returning to the previous topic, the ponies eventually found a way to remove the internalized magic from their bodies, and to imbue them into objects and other things."

"Unfortunately this came with the added consequence of removing both the color, and the cutie mark from a pony's body, effectively turning them into monochrome versions of themselves. Yes. This was the origin of the zebras."

"Eventually the zebras found a way in which to return the magic to their bodies, but it did not come without a price. Their bodies, having gone so long without magic, were not used to the sudden influx of it being poured into their bodies."

"Their bodies changed to accommodate the new magic. As it turns out, Pouring magic into an item makes it twice as concentrated" as before. Native ponies didn't know this, and thus, the first batpony was born."

"The first batponies possessed heightened senses. Particularly sight and hearing, though the former only worked at night. They also possessed the ability to fly, as well as a defense mechanism in the sonic waves from their voices. This was also helpful in the case of blindness, temporary or otherwise."

"Rather than expelling the magic from their bodies, the batponies eventually learned to manipulate their inner magic to fly easier and farther than before."

"Their mastery over this form of magic eventually led to the manipulation of outer magic. Nopony knew of the existence of aerial magic until then. And, as some of you may have guessed, it did indeed lead to yet another transformation."

"Their stiff, leathery wings soon grew fur like the rest of their bodies, and they became pegasi. This new transformation came with new abilities just like the previous ones."

"Unlike before, they could, at that time, use the surrounding magic to not only fly almost effortlessly, but also to affect the world around them. Thus came the pegasi's ability to manipulate the weather, and walk on clouds."

"Things eventually remained like this until the next transformation, which came with more powerful wings, and more powerful magic. Unfortunately it came with a drawback. With all the unused magic building up inside of their bodies like that, the torrential swirl of power caused mood swings and headaches, not to mention general irritation overall. That's right. This was the origin of the griffons."

"In a desperate attempt to stop the constant pain and suffering of the populous, they began to seek solace in one of their ancestors old practices. The removal of magic through objects. Particularly shiny objects. This would explain the griffons obsession with bits. They need them to stay sane."

"A few hundred years later, and the first Dragons were born. The griffons lost their feathers due to sudden magic surges, and they were replaced with scales instead."

"Their bigger bodies made it easier to handle the large amount of magic they possessed, but the obsession with shiny things never left them. This is why dragons love gems so much. The reason they grow so large after collecting a horde is not only because of their natural greed. It is a defense mechanism to escape their ancestors suffering, as well as their ability to soak up magic from gems."

"However, the transference works both ways. When a dragon dies, their stored magic reenters the gems, making them much more powerful than before."

"The dragon also encases itself in crystal when it dies, it's body becoming one of the gems it loves so much."

"But out of the gems comes yet another transformation. The crystal ponies. That's right. That long lost race of beautiful, beautiful ponies are descendant from Dragons"

"The most distinguishing characteristics of crystal ponies, come from their lack of their ancestors wings, and their apparent lineage of only earth ponies. It makes sense considering they are essentially made of minerals. They seem to possess no natural abilities, but that is only natural considering they have no natural predators. That and they haven't actually shown any tendency towards a particularly defining skill."

"The next evolution in the chain is one we ponies of today are very familiar with. Changelings."

"Given the bug-like nature of most Changelings, I have come to believe that the Crystal pony stage of evolution is nothing more than a cocoon state for them to grow before they finally break free into their true form. This theory is further supported by the fact that Crystal ponies shatter when they die. This is consistent with the Changelings hole filled bodies, as they appear to have partially healed over time by the time they reach adulthood. This could also be another reason why they must be suspended in another cocoon. It is to make sure they heal properly, without any further injury to themselves. The magical fire they use to transform is yet another instance of the pain of possessing too much magical power to hold properly."

"Second to last in our list is the unicorn. This particular evolution has not only mastered their internal magic, thus eliminating any and all pain from magic possession, but they also possess a horn, a way to expel that magic, also known as casting spells. With proper knowledge, a unicorn can become quite powerful."

"Last but not least is the alicorn, a fusion of the unicorn and pegasus races that possess a unicorn's knowledge, a pegasus' flight, and an Earth Pony's strength.The have mastered inner and outer magic, but the greatest feats they possess, come from their outer magic, possessing the ability to affect the world around them on the grand scale. Raising the sun and moon are only some of the feats alicorns have accomplished. Given the right circumstances, who knows what they are capable of."

"As a side note, or perhaps it is better referred to as a bonus, We have the Bicorns, an evolution thought to be myth until recently. Bicorns are so named because they are thought to be the "other half" of an alicorn, and are what happens when an alicorn is overcome by great emotion, and they are subsequently overwhelmed by their magic. Calling back to their ancestors' poor magical control, as well as their suffering, these alicorns are driven purely by their emotions, as well as their magic and it can be very hard to reign themselves in once they reach this point. However, it is believed that once this form is mastered and controlled, it can be officially classified as a possible (and safe) evolution to pursue. It can very easily be a great help to defend the nation, if not the world itself."