Dear Baby Ribbon:

Okay, so unicorns can teleport or "wink out."  Fine, lots of unicorns can do that.  So what good is it if the little Pony unicorns can't wink through walls?  And how come Twilight is the only one who does it in the first episode?  Finally, in the episode where Baby Ribbon winks up to the top of a closet to get at a board game, and only her top half materializes, where's the rest of her???

Lyra

Dear Lyra,

Oboy! Finally a question about winking out!  No grueling research or interviewing needed here.  I love unicorn stuff.  First of all, however, let me make it clear that I will discuss no further the embarrassing "Little Piece of Magic" checkerboard thing (see Pony Actors).  Ugh . . . directors!

Winking used to be banned on TV back a long time ago, back so long ago that the film has since decomposed and nobody outside of Ponyland has ever seen the stuff.  It was thought that if unicorns were allowed to showcase their powers like that, the other ponies would be jealous and bad feelings would erupt all over Dream Valley.  

During the height of Unicorns' Lib, however, we unicorns decided that it was our right as citizens of Ponyland to wink out whenever we wanted to, even on television ("Freedom of Winking").  During the filming of "Escape from Midnight Castle," Twilight, in a landmark performance, culminated this change in precedent by winking out on camera . . . twice.  Censors were up in arms over the film, riots ensued, and Cotton Candy, one of the actors, even walked off of the set during filming.  Director and censor board came to a compromise eventually, and Twilight's winking out was allowed to remain in the film, on the condition that she make the act look difficult, as if it took a concerted effort of all a unicorn's faculties to wink out (hence the "I wish . . . I wish . . . I wish!" baloney).  Winking is easy!

You are right, however, in that we cannot wink through walls.  Not that we physically can't, we are just not allowed to by the laws of the land.  Don't let my tone throughout this topic fool you either; these laws are absolutely necessary to prevent violation of others' privacy and to prevent idiots like Baby Noddins from winking right into the center of a table, again, because she couldn't see where she was going.

Ah yes, we've come a long way since the days of "Midnight Castle" and TV censors--from hide-and-seek games conducted in secret to winking to the refrigerator because we're too lazy to get off the couch.  It's a good life!