“Don’t” doesn’t necessarily mean “can’t”, so this feels a bit noncommittal to me.

@ExistenceNull  
@kztxl7  
Cool it or lose it.

@kztxl7  
Because the smart and non-facepalmy alternative is to incorrectly assume things about people and get mad at them for thinking things about a fictional species in a fictional show? XD

@ExistenceNull  

 
I wasnt aware that basically you and maybe 1 or 2 other people constitute as “everyone”.
 
And there isnt more to this other than the mountain out of a molehill that youre trying to make this.
 
They were constantly starving. They’re not anymore.
 
They “lost” their wings but they can shapeshift. So wings can come back easily.
 
Holy shit problem solved.

@Background Pony #38DD  
And yet it’s shown feeding off an individual has consequences.  
Renewable or not they still need to feed, doing so on each other just means they suffer instead “”“lol”””.

@ExistenceNull  
It’s very definition of renewable resource lol. It’s not a fossil.

@PonyPon  
It’s still a finite resourse, so where are they getting more?  
If draining a pony is wquivalent to draining a battery, the process still requires input from outside sources sp there’s still “sacrifice”.  
Besides, Thorax proved a “true form” wasn’t needed to coexist.

@Frustration in Excelsis  
No, but it’s just weird they’d lose an innate ability like that. Like, if I was a changeling and King Thorax said to me “Okay so you’ll be ‘healthier’ and in your ‘true form’ if you go Crayola, but there’s like a one in three chance you lose your wings* but it’s okay because you can just shapeshift into something that can fly”, I’d tell him to frigg right off XD
 
*Assuming of course there’s also not a one in three chance you lose the ability to use magic :/
 
@PonyPon  
Hell no. I’d rather be hungry :P

@Badumsquish  
The true form is true because it’s prettier and requires food no one has to sacrifice.
 
So they lose a few body parts(and according to some, gain a caste system), but it’s worth it, right? Right?

@Badumsquish
 
A human cannot shapeshift, however. If a flightless changeling wants to fly, they simply need to take the form of a creature of their choice that can fly – a pegasus, a bird, a dragon, a winged changeling…

@Depressed Knoll  
You’d think their true form would be stronger than their “starving” form though. Like, for a creature that was born with the ability, losing the ability to fly would be devastating, like the equivalent to a human being losing the ability to walk and having to crawl on all fours. I’d honestly much rather be hungry :/

@Ihhh  
And ignorance does not mean innocence, even more so when the supposed mage of the group could’ve done research as a mage is supposed to.  
A halfassed job is a halfassed job, regardless of how well respected the one doing it is.

@ExistenceNull  
And you know that they didn’t know, how?

@Background Pony #38DD  
The point went right over your head.  
The princess’s control astral bodies without which the entire world would collapse.  
Their(seemingly) immortal and all but treated as gods by their people, to the point ponies swear on their names.  
As for latent magic, thats standard in their world, to the point Diamond-Dogs probably have some form of it. Alicorns, Draconequi and a few others are far and well beyond being mortals with a modicum power like a Unicorns’ limited and finite spell craft, or a dragons innate but ultimately unnaccesible magic.  
Theres a large difference between a druids’ finite and potentially suicidal ability to make plants grow in inhosptitable land and a god of life or harvest turning a desert into a rainforest with a flick of the wrist.

@ExistenceNull  
Aren’t all ponies gods by your definition? Earth Ponies, divine beings who turn barren lands into fertile lands, Pegasi, divine beings who can control the uncontrollable: the weather, Unicorns, divine beings who bend reality to their will, even a small group of them can control The Heavenly Bodies.  
If you go to “but lifespan of a few centuries is still mortal!” route, then all dragons are suddenly gods.

@Ihhh  
When your go to is banishment without even knowing how the world your sending things to reacts to them, you’re effectively putting a nuke on someones front lawn, but thinking it’s alright because it should be a dud.

@ExistenceNull  

 
What?

@Ihhh  
Divine doesn’t mean born a god it means possessing massive power to put you beyond mortals you daft fool.  
The pillars are lazy shits anyway, probably caused decades of suffering elsewhere but hey, they’re heros!  
And unfortunately if you want to be treated like a god and rule for eternity, be ready to deal with the shit that comes with it.

@ExistenceNull  
The tree of Harmony was created by the pillars, it is not Divine in origin. The princesses are just powerful ponies, they are not gods. Get your facts straight before you say stupid things.

@Frustration in Excelsis  
How about the fact that the tree explicitly bears their emblems, and should anyone attempt to use them without it’s blessing it backfires’ horribly?  
And how about the fact that all of these threats they’ve been used against were world altering should they spread? Not worth bringing in everyone into it? Actually forming some form of peace rather then the incredibly tipped scales in Equestria’s favor in every front?  
And good technicality there,not like hundreds of real life religions and myths tell of gods and immortals severing parts of their bodies to create thigs under their control.  
The elements are part and parcel of the tree and can be removed, but doing so hampers the tree as an entire season opener stated.  
Think taking computers out of a network, each can function individually and carry out what their told but the whole is still greater then the pieces.  
More so the tree isn’t a thing of flesh and blood, and yet it’s shown to be aware.