Further thoughts on biplane pegasi
This post was made a couple days back for the purpose of showing off a picture of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in a biplane formation. For some reason, the post has stuck with me and I came up with some expanded speculation about it.
- 2 ponies is the optimal configuration for stability. More ponies than that increase drag unacceptably or increase the height of the tower too much, giving it an inertial moment even more unstable than a single pegasus. 3 pegasus towers are often seen at Wonderbolts shows and flying competitions, but 4 tall towers are only attempted in still air with a long drop to the ground to recover from any mishaps
- Flying tandem like this is is considered one of the strongest non-romantic expressions of closeness, since it requires trust and contact. Think of it like a pair of Earth Pony soldiers sharing a foxhole.
- When taking off in tandem (not recommended for daily flights), having the pony with the most wingpower on bottom is essential for best take-off, unless there is a very large size difference. If the ponies have similar wingpower, the taller pony should be on the bottom.
- However, for two pegasi to join together mid-air, the most stable flight configuration is for the larger pony to be on top, to minimize the distance from the bottom pony's hooves to the top pony's ears for increased stability against roll (though extreme size differences, like an adult and a foal may reverse this guideline)
- A tandem takeoff into biplane flight is a ritual at the end of pegasus weddings, since it shows both ponies willingly jumping into a challenge where they are required to rely on and support one another, even if one of them has to do slightly more physical work than the other. As long as there is not a notable difference in size or wingpower, it is traditional for the stallion to take the bottom spot to avoid sophomoric humor among the wedding guests.
- Sometimes pegasi who marry unicorns or earth ponies will take off with their new spouse on their back, though this is an understandably rare practice (doubly so among a pegasus who marries an earth pony)
Misc. thoughts about pegasi and their place in Equestrian society
- Ponyville residents would at least be passingly familiar with the post-marriage ritual, due to their proximity to Cloudsdale
- Pegasus cities, though mobile, are more like mobile homes: they tend to anchor themselves near an existing ground-based city and stay in roughly that area (though the buildings themselves may move around quite a bit within the city)
- Canterlot's unicorns are probably less familiar with this ritual due to lack of Pegasus cities nearby, though its importance as Celestia's home probably means it is popular for destination weddings (they're much cheaper when you can fly and bring your own clouds) and therefore not that unfamiliar.
- In cities large enough for skyscrapers, the middle floors are the ones nopony wants. Earth ponies have their wealthiest tenants on the bottom for ease of access and comfort of having your hooves on the ground, wealthy pegasi inhabit the penthouse and roof so they can fly right out if they want. Unicorns go anywhere: sometimes on top for the view, sometimes on the ground for convenience, others prefer the privacy of the basement (earth ponies occasionally also enjoy the cellars, but with less frequency than unicorns).
- Before the episode about Fluttershy's brother implied that pegasi probably have similar family structure to the other pony types, I preferred the theory that pegasi raised their foals more or less communally, with the foal's parents only interacting with one another for purposes of raising their foal.
P.S. Twilight gets to be a killjoy and explain why this does not work aerodynamically. They're magical pastel ponies, so maybe they have different aerodynamic rules than ordinary creatures.
Submitted May 04, 2017 at 06:28PM by PUBLIQclopAccountant
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