Rainbow Curl Ponies and the UK (an overthought lore discussion from me).

[Taffeta]

As I mentioned in the things that made me smile thread, today I got 2 backcards for ponies I had as a child. The one from Rainbow Magic being the most special. In December 1991, Mum and Dad decided to buy me a pony as a cheer up present because Mum was in hospital having just been diagnosed with blood cancer, and I chose Rainbow Magic because her backcard story said she could grant wishes. I also remember asking Mum if she wanted Rainbow Magic to stay with her in the hospital for good luck.

I never kept my original pony's backcard, so I've spent a lot of time trying to get one, either a MOC on UK card or the card on its own. Finally I managed to do so. The fact it was around my birthday is even more appropriate.

So today for the first time in years I read that story that had given me inspiration when I was nine years old.

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Here it is (I cropped it from the card).

As I remembered, it mentions her ability to grant wishes. But what I had forgotten is that her ability to do so gives the other Rainbow Curl ponies their identity as Rainbow Curl ponies.

The others aren't named in the story, nor is there any mention of the Rainbow Mountain, which is where I *think* they lived in the comic (as custodians of the Rainbow babies...someone fact check me on that if I'm wrong).

But in the UK, this set all have Rainbow in their name.

So I wonder if that prefix came about, lore-wise, because of this wish granted by Rainbow Magic. Which would mean their original names were Rider, Cloud and Storyteller, but their wish made them Rainbow as well.

As for Rainbow Magic herself, the fact that the ponies mistake her at first for an actual double rainbow kind of suggests she's something different. Maybe the manifestation of 'rainbow magic' herself, hence it being her name.

On UK cards at this time, one pony from the set was usually drawn as the figurehead for the whole set. I find it interesting that it's Rainbow Magic on the rainbow curl cards here, because Rainbow Rider was the one used in a lot of the advertising from this year. It does reinforce this idea that she is the 'originator' and the others came as a result of her spell

...I'm not going to lie, I have always hated the US names because absolutely no thought at all went into them. But looking at this makes me feel like there's an actual story base here for those UK names to make sense.

I don't have the cards for Cloud and Rider. I do have Storyteller's but it's away in the folder at the moment. But maybe we should think of her as the one who wrote the stories - including this one about the origin of the Rainbow Curl ponies themselves...?

Here ends my massively overthought and overanalysed theorising on the Rainbow Curl ponies in the UK.

But I feel like we need some sparkly magical lore discussions right now. So. Discuss?

[MoonstoneMew]

Your backstory for how you originally got Rainbow Magic is so sweet yet sad. I'm going to be thinking of you now whenever I see her. As far as your theory on the origins of their names, I think it is plausible that they got their prefix from the spell. If the back cards from the other 3 ponies had a different story, maybe there would be more context for the lore of the set.

[Taffeta]

In the UK, this set each have individual stories. We didn't have whole set stories until 1992-3ish. So yes, they have different stories. Sorry, I should've made that clear - all the sets at this time still have individual pony stories in the UK. The cards/card art/designs are the same though. Just the stories are distinct.

I went through my photos and I do have a picture of Storyteller's card so here's her story as well:

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For anyone not sure which one this is, it's the pink earth pony (Stripes? in the US).

I'd have to do some deeper digging for some comic based lore stuff. I remember RM saying she could grant wishes in the comic as well, and I also remember a focus on Rainbow Cloud at one point...maybe for a calendar page or something. But otherwise I don't remember.

On the backstory - I've always felt we were fortunate, since Mum came home and 30 years on she's still with us. Even if it's not something that can ever be 100% cured, she's still been in our lives all those years.

Naynie and I both have a special fondness for Rainbow Magic for that reason. Even though it's completely not connected, we were both pretty young - Naynie especially - and it's a lot easier to believe in magic when you're a kid than when you're grown up.

[LadyMoondancer]

Ohhh, I like the idea that they were originally named Rider, Cloud, etc.  That's such a nice origin for the set.

Taffeta, have you ever read "Rainbow Rider's Birthday Adventure" book?  Because that is an absolute TRIP.  (They do live on Rainbow Mountain in it.)

[Taffeta]

I have, and I do have it somewhere, but it's been a long time. I remember it being a bit interesting but that's all.

I found the story for Rainbow Cloud on the wiki but aside being a bit nuts, it doesn't really add to the lore aspect. Just the ongoing UK concept that not only unicorns have magic, which is well established anyway.

For anyone unsure, this is 'Raincurl' in the US - the white one.

When Rainbow Cloud wiggles her nose at a cloud, almost anything can happen! One day, she turned a cloud into a Rainbow Palace and invited the Starlight Baby Ponies to tea. All the food was rainbow coloured. Baby Mischief curled an oatcake round her hoof then put it in her mane. "I want rainbow curls like yours," she chuckled to Rainbow Cloud. So, Rainbow Cloud went outside and wiggled her nose at a cloud. She turned it into rainbow curls for Baby Mischief. "When it rains your curls will turn back into a cloud and float away!" she said. And they did!

Have you ever seen a rainbow cloud floating through the sky?

I don't have Rider's and it isn't on the wiki. I have a vague memory of something related to music for her in the comic but maybe I'm just thinking of her symbol. It does appear that they all have some kind of rainbow magic of their own, which also must have come from Rainbow Magic's granting their wish...

I just think it makes sense, if Rainbow Magic is the one who bestowed the rainbow on them, that they took the name then. Because if they didn't have the rainbow before, it wouldn't logically be part of their name.

I also didn't realise till now that it's Story Teller, not Storyteller. I've been writing it the latter way for years xD.

[Ponyfan]

I love the UK backcard stories for the Rainbow Curl ponies.    I just checked the story for the US cards and they are completely different.   

As for Rainbow Magic herself, the fact that the ponies mistake her at first for an actual double rainbow kind of suggests she's something different. Maybe the manifestation of 'rainbow magic' herself, hence it being her name.

  It's interesting that you mention Rainbow Magic possibly being part of rainbow magic.  There's a US storybook about a magic rainbow that can grant wishes. Even in a land full of magical ponies, the magic rainbow is very rare and only appears once in a great while.


Ponyfan

[Taffeta]

Ooh, I didn't know that O.O.

Obviously the rainbow is important in the whole G1 ponyverse, but I mostly remember it in the UK in association with ponies - Rainbow Mountain, the rainbow ponies, Rainbow Curl ponies, Rainbow babies, etc. And some amount of magic associated with rainbows but generally with them. For example, Trickles had something to do with rain or water droplets and the rainbow I think...and Windy would be such a fast runner that all you could see was the rainbow streaming out behind her.

The only context I remember the rainbow being often mentioned otherwise is over the waterfall (which the toy obv. had) where ponies sometimes slid down it. Though I do remember a story where something had the colours bleached out of it and they redyed it using the rainbow...??

I think it's interesting that the three future RC ponies were exploring a happiness pathway and found what they thought was a double rainbow. It does suggest the same kind of idea as the US story you mention, where a special kind of rainbow could grant wishes. Is there a broader outside-pony myth about something like this, or a fairy story, or something? Or is it just something pony/coincidental I wonder...

[LadyMoondancer]

Double rainbows are mentioned on the US newborn twins backcard, maybe there's a relation!

Early one morning, a double Rainbow glistened in the sky to announce the arrival of the newborn twin ponies, Milkweed and Tumbleweed!
Milkweed and Tumbleweed are two pretty newborn ponies who look exactly alike! Their favorite nursery toys are twin pink rocking horses with bright blue ribbons for reins. While Milkweed pretends to chase outlaws on her rocking horse, Tumbleweed imagines she is riding a musical carousel in the park.
Newborn twins like to laugh and play in their very special way ... and they're twice the fun for everyone!

[Ponyfan]

I didn't know that a double Rainbow was mentioned in Milkweed and Tumbleweed's US backcard story. 


Here's a couple of pages from the storybook about the rainbow that grants wishes.  I'm putting them in the spoiler tag because they're big images.

Spoiler

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Ponyfan

[LadyMoondancer]

I didn't know that a double Rainbow was mentioned in Milkweed and Tumbleweed's US backcard story.

Yep, and not just them, it's the first line of all the US Newborn Twin backcard stories.

[Taffeta]

Not to go off the rainbow subject,but it's interesting given the comic version in the UK, that Nibs/Dibs, Sniffles and SNookums were drawn and brought to life by Baby Lucky's magic, rather than rainbow magic.

[Artemesia's Garden]

Very enjoyable thank you. Im now trying to work out how they looked before they met Rainbow magic :-)

[Taffeta]

All design suggestions welcome!

If we think that the magic was bestowed by the wish, then Story Teller's ability to shoot out rainbow ribbons to listeners must also come from that point. And that means the stripes on her side were probably not there. So maybe her original symbol was just the stars without the rainbow, more like Starlight? And ditto Rider with the music staff, Cloud with the cloud...

This also feeds into Rainbow Magic being different, as she has no symbol. Just stars under her rainbow striped wings.

As for the other three's original hair colour, possibly one of the four colours they ultimately manifested is their original.

[Ponyfan]

All design suggestions welcome!

If we think that the magic was bestowed by the wish, then Story Teller's ability to shoot out rainbow ribbons to listeners must also come from that point. And that means the stripes on her side were probably not there. So maybe her original symbol was just the stars without the rainbow, more like Starlight? And ditto Rider with the music staff, Cloud with the cloud...

This also feeds into Rainbow Magic being different, as she has no symbol. Just stars under her rainbow striped wings.

The US backcard story says that the Rainbow gave the Rainbow Curl ponies their stripes because they helped the Rainbow regain its colors.  From the Wiki:


How the Rainbow Curl Ponies got their Stripes

In Ponyland, rain poured from the sky for many days. When the clouds drifted away, the Rainbow Curl Ponies skipped outside to splash in the puddles. As Stripes, Ringlet, Streaky and Raincurl danced in the wet grass, they noticed the rain had washed all the colors from the rainbow. Gathering their paints, the ponies climbed up the pale arch and began to paint the stripes with bright, new colors. When they finished, the rainbow gleamed in the sky. To thank them for their colorful help, the rainbow sprinkled each pony with magical rainbow crystals. When the crystals touched them, pretty rainbows appeared on the ponies. And that is how the Rainbow Curl Ponies got their stripes!


Ponyfan