Can we have a proper bap discussion? >How do you incorporate baps into your Equestria of choice? >What is their origin? Have they always been, or were they a stray spark of creation by Nightmare Moon? >Are they cool, dark and brooding or retarded and adorable?
>>43205894 >>How do you incorporate baps into your Equestria of choice? They're uncommon to see in non-bat pony dominant regions, but not outright rare especially starting in the evening hours >>What is their origin? Have they always been, or were they a stray spark of creation by Nightmare Moon? Definitely much more the former. I imagine they had their own nobility and small duchies, allying themselves with Nightmare Moon when she promised them favor in her eternal night kingdom >>Are they cool, dark and brooding or retarded and adorable? No more so than any other pony, except for the ones still clinging to their old nobility titles and Houses. Those carry themselves like the kinds of Counts and Dukes you'd expect to see in classic universal or hammer horror films (or like the Munsters for the less serious ones)
>>43205894 >>How do you incorporate baps into your Equestria of choice? Well there's Clousdale for pegasi right? They have their own little zone. And they're rarely seen because they're nocturnal. There are many aspect of nature that ponies actually manage themselves. Baps handle the nighttime processes. They also tend to be creative and artsy, like how unicorns tend to be studious and pegasi athletic. >>What is their origin? Have they always been, or were they a stray spark of creation by Nightmare Moon? Always been >>Are they cool, dark and brooding or retarded and adorable? Their personalities vary. My bap gf is dum and adorable
>>43206062 I like the idea of them being like between unicorns and pegasi. They have the laidback swagger of pegasi and the sophistication of unicorns.
>>43205894 >How do you incorporate baps into your Equestria of choice? I just go with EAW's depiction. >What is their origin? Have they always been, or were they a stray spark of creation by Nightmare Moon? They were always around. >Are they cool, dark and brooding or retarded and adorable? They are dark, brooding, and complete retards.
>>43205894 >How do you incorporate baps into your Equestria of choice? They're just ponies. Somewhat more insular and reclusive than the other kind, but that's just a by-product of being nocturnal and (in general) having a preference for the darker things in life. They've always believed Luna (not the Nightmare) would come back to them some day. >What is their origin? Have they always been, or were they a stray spark of creation by Nightmare Moon? They've always existed, just never in great numbers. Back in the day, they used to be the only ones who gave Luna any attention, but it just wasn't enough and Luna still turned to the Nightmare for validation. Unfortunately, that whole business gave them all a bad rep. Celestia managed to patch up relations between baps and other ponies again but it took a while, long enough that there was a lasting schism. >Are they cool, dark and brooding or retarded and adorable? They flip-flop between being (or rather, trying to be) edgy emos and being adorable cinnamon buns. Sometimes within the same sentence.
>>43206991 >They've always believed Luna (not the Nightmare) would come back to them some day. This would've made a fun movie. It takes place directly after Episode 1 & 2 and shows Mane 6 exploring bapciety
>>43205894 >How do you incorporate baps into your Equestria of choice? Accepted by some communities but rejected by others, mostly because their fangs, leathery wings and lurking in the shadows have them being easily confused with monsters >What is their origin? Have they always been, or were they a stray spark of creation by Nightmare Moon? Creation. NMM's initial outburst has a couple hundred pegasi, including the royal guard and a city the size of Cloudsdale turned into baps. Those of the royal guard aided NMM but most others were just confused with their new forms. Newly turned baps would seek help but would end up terrifying the local populace as rumors of NMM's monsters spread out. Some secluded themselves in mountains and caves, others toughened the rumors out and reintegrated with ponyfolk. Celestia would attempt to aid them with no success, the best she could do was try to quell the rumors that they were monsters. >Are they cool, dark and brooding or retarded and adorable? With 1,000 years, they had enough time to develop different cultures. Those reintegrated with ponyfolk live their lives just like any other. But NMM's royal guard's descendants and the baps living in caves fear and hope for her return, maybe she'll curse them into servitude or maybe she'll deliver them from their forms.
>>43205894 >into your Equestria of choice? They've been a relatively insular group living in Hollow Shades fuck Pony of Shadows since Luna's defeat, due to Celestia and the government nearly genociding them in the aftermath for their role in helping NMM. She was only stopped thanks to the actions of Fillydelphia's duchess at the time, who had given the bats refuge after they fled Hollow Shades. In the present day, the Night Guard almost exclusively employs them.
>What is their origin? Unknown. They've been around since time immemorial. While some think NMM or Discord made them, there are fragmented records from pre-HWE showing them with the ancient pegasi polity.
>Are they They run the gambit, as the other tribes do. You got some mango ones, some lunar goddess ones, some normal ones, etc.
>>43206062 >the kinds of Counts and Dukes you'd expect to see in classic universal or hammer horror films Do you picture them as threatening as in the horror films too, or do you think it's just the aesthetics?
>>43210227 Bit of both, though I do like the idea of one going so far into the aesthetic that he's one step away from being count Orlok yet can't seem to figure out why the ponies in the hamlet he oversees never seem to want to visit his manor
>>43210479 >be pony >bat or non-bat, doesn't matter, take your pick >living in the wee township you call home >things are as nice as they've ever been. Harvests are (proportionally) bountiful, the wildlife's fairly docile, and word around the tavern is the township might even reach a triple digit population soon >it'd be perfect if it weren't for the Count's manor >that gloomy thing was built right into the mountainside overlooking the whole place and built in just such a way so the sun's light never touched it no matter where in the sky it was >it could be high noon on the longest day of the year and its windows would still be lit by candlelight >certainly didn't help that at night the lanterns on its grounds gave it the kind of leering shadows that made it seem like the mansion itself was leaning forward to stare down at the ponies' homes >and as for the Count himself, worse >rarely makes a public appearance outside the usual holiday celebrations. Looks like death every time >seriously, even your grandma can't remember him ever looking young >he's usually wearing that cape and high collar that, combined with his wings, make his shadow big enough to engulf an entire pony if he's even slightly higher than them >which is all the time since he's either always flying (surprisingly silently too) or standing on the podium in the village center >and he's always got that look. Like he's not looking at anyone in particular but still seeing right into your soul >keeps everypony's attention during his speeches, that's for sure >don't know how his help at the manor is able to stick around up there >maybe it's best to stop wondering. You can can swear that's his silhouette in one of the windows and it hasn't moved since you started looking up at the manor
>>43212210 >be Count's help >unyielding look of doltish friendliness on your face, radiance smiting a monster on your butt, name's Sunny, nicetometcha >you traveled to this remote place and got yourself hired because the rumors made your superiors' nights restless >you stayed because nobody else here understands accounting >and to be brutally honest, because you're not getting any younger as well >the goof goofs around with cardboard cutouts in windows again >all's right with the world
>>43214280 >What I had in mind was a planonic Jeeves and Wooster kinda situation Nothing wrong with that either. I just thought that the count might lighten up a little when he finds a special somepony.
>>43216613 >humans are obviously a wildly different and incompatible species >but human sperm can still impregnate ponies because magic something >however since they're incompatible, the end result is a purebred pony from the mother's line >you could fuck a bat and a 100% pure bat filly (or colt) would come out I can believe it
>>43205894 >What is their origin? Have they always been, or were they a stray spark of creation by Nightmare Moon? Moonie bred them with sorcery and alchemy to be her personal shock troops and bodyguards during her civil war with Celestia. There's only a handful of them because of this. >Are they cool, dark and brooding or retarded and adorable? I guess you would be cool if you wore purple and used spears and knives, but they're emotionally retarded like Star Wars's clones.
>>43205894 >How do you incorporate baps into your Equestria of choice? In my version of Equestria, they're a sub-culture that developed due to the widespread distrust of anything with dark magic and believing those who have it are inherently evil. So bat ponies keep mostly to themselves and try not to disturb other communities that aren't used to their presence. Those who do live in mixed communities try to keep a low profile, leaving their homes late in the day or pre-arranging pick ups for things they need, which tends to play into the perception rather than break it. What is their origin? Have they always been, or were they a stray spark of creation by Nightmare Moon? They're the descendants of Pegasi who lived thousands of years ago, ponies of all kinds have the potential to be born with dark magic inside of them instead of light. Earth Ponies and Unicorns who had dark magic had no choice but to suppress their magic and inherent nature in order to integrate into society. Pegasi who were born with dark magic, are the only ones who could reliably leave or escape places that exiled them since they could fly. Over time, these dark Pegasi found each other and over multiple generations, the dark magic inside of them became stronger which changed their appearance until eventually they lost their feathers entirely and became the modern Bat Pony. Nightmare Moon offered them a chance for revenge / payback for generations of ostracization and persecution and they took it because they saw no other way to overcome the social stigma except force and in Nightmare Moon's timeline they succeeded and enjoyed a world where they were the favoured social class in a world under eternal night and ponies with dark magic were finally able to openly come out with their abilities and a whole new school of dark magic was explored and discovered thanks to breaking the established norms, even if it was by force. >Are they cool, dark and brooding or retarded and adorable? I like to think of them as being very temperamental, with them displaying stronger 'undesirable' emotions that aren't typically seen since dark magic, while not being the direct cause of evil does amplify the worst sides of a individual's personality which feeds back into the wider stereotype of them being associated with evil. That being said 'undesirable' personality traits can manifest in many ways such as anger, manifesting as passion or Greed manifesting as possessiveness (in a good way) etc.
>>43229425 How the fuck would a dark earth pony look and act like? >I'm so evil I'll gonna grow less tasty cucumbers on purpose, mwa ha ha I feel like their innate magic is too subtle to manifest this duality in a meaningful way. They can be greedy or angry assholes, but it's a taut bell curve rather than something separable. And then there's Puddinghead as the representative of earth pony vices in their own epos, and she's like uhh what? Was she trying to destroy reality with holes in maps? I mean, their reality sucked, it's not my place to judge.
>>43229917 >How the fuck would a dark earth pony look and act like? Maybe like Raoh' horse prior to being tamed. Herding up and stampeding across their territory, trampling anything not theirs. Maybe in this case it eventually extends to just barreling down anything remotely civilized they come across as they go from one side of the land to the other
>>43229570 That's kind of the point? They've been moulded by a entirely different way of life which is completely 'other' to mainstream Equestria so those barriers are just a wider consequence of that so overcoming them and seeing that they can care, express love and kindness is part of the appeal. >>43229917 >>43229976 Ponies with dark magic have muted colour schemes which contrasts sharply next to regular ponies. Though there is more to Earth Ponies in general than just growing crops since that's more of a collective result of their ambient magic, in my headcanon every pony has a unique spell or ability which only they can cast or perform which is usually related to their name which balances the power disparity that unicorns ended up with. There is value in abilities that are innately destructive, an Earth Pony with the ability to kill plants for example could be really useful if a blight struck the harvest or a invasive species was encroaching on their land. What matters is the intent behind using those abilities which is the measure of whether a pony is good or evil but most don't see it that way. That being said, anyone can use dark magic but using it constantly will slowly change your appearance, their fur will become darker, they'll grow sharper teeth and generally appear more vicious, which is why those who see dark magic as a avenue for power appear to 'become evil' in the process rather than it being seen as the side effect it is. It also works the other way, using light based magic constantly will make you appear 'good' by smoothing out the more imposing or threatening parts of your appearance to appear more friendly. I can't think of any examples in the show of Earth Ponies who have dark magic but Stygian is a example of a dark unicorn who was on the side of good, helping in other ways his magic could not. Which led him down a road seeking the recognition he deserved only to have his friends turn on him out of fear he was seeking power for power's sake. >Puddinghead I personally don't see Puddinghead as the name of a character since I reworked it into a epithet given to the last attempted leader of the Earth Ponies before everything fell apart and whose name was forgotten. They're put into the Hearth's Warming Play to sanitize the turbulent founding of Equestria around Discord's defeat and to posthumously redeem them for their failure.
>>43236464 Old bat guard called them "thirsters" and we had a mascot bap with a story and everyting. Can't remember her name or stories but they exist.
>>43205894 >How do you incorporate baps into your Equestria of choice? Before Luna's return they would have been all but unheard of as a tribe in exile, hidden in the mountains with only occasional contact to smaller communities for trade. After Luna's return they would have integrated more, small populations popping up around, generally not straying too far from their ancestral homes but ultimately being everywhere in some capacity. Integration would be slow with nocturnal habits, but the sight of them would become more common, especially in the evening or early morning, and ponies would eventually overcome their natural aversion to the strange outsiders. >What is their origin? Have they always been, or were they a stray spark of creation by Nightmare Moon? They've always been. Luna formed a kinship with them for being nocturnal and that paired with their physical differences made them natural outsiders in normal pony communities, deepening their bond with her in her corruption to Nightmare Moon. The nocturnal second class ponies had to stick together. >Are they cool, dark and brooding or retarded and adorable? Ancient bat culture was cartoonish in its martial nobility and lordly demeanor. That hard appearance was used as a mask initially to protect bat pony cities early in reintegration but eventually softened up. Individual bats would actually be pretty much the same as normal ponies just maybe with some autistic quirks from growing up in ancient isolationist communities.
ah finally a bat thread, havent been here often enough it seems. well, a few weeks ago i finally designed a bat pony and wanted to share her around more. her cutie mark is the keyframe icons from flash and a paintbrush because shes a graphic design artist and animator. hoping to get more art of her soon
>>43247674 Either a cuckold or a demoralization agent. Either way let him have his ponies the way he wants. And you have them the way you want. It's not difficult anon.
>>43205894 >How do you incorporate baps into your Equestria of choice? Most Baps live near the mountains, but after Luna's return, they are increasingly seen in the capital city.
>What is their origin? Have they always been, or were they a stray spark of creation by Nightmare Moon? Pegasus tribe was cursed by an unknown unicorn(Starswirl) and slowly died until Princesses was able to rescue them.
>Are they cool, dark and brooding or retarded and adorable? They try to appear thoughtful and secretive, but everyone thinks they are backward and nosy.
>>43267102 His desire to learn more about the new area of magic led him to make a mistake. He stopped his studies and tried to help the dying thestrals, but failed. Then he decided to ask for Princess's help without revealing what caused the curse.