50 Pony Headcanon Questions · 10:13pm Apr 10th, 2014
So my friend, bookplayer wrote an interesting 50 Questions type dealie about headcanons and stuff, and I thought it looked like a barrel of monkeys. Here are my answers:
The Princesses:
1. How old are Celestia and Luna?
1020-1030 years old at the start of the series. I am making the assumption that Luna's corruption occurred shortly after Discord's banishment, and that the two were young adults of 18-25 when they found the Tree of Harmony.
2. How old is Cadance?
25-27ish. I'd put her in the same school year as Shining Armor.
3. Were Celestia and Luna always alicorns, or did they ascend?
This is something I don't have a set headcanon on. Generally, I'd go with that they ascended, but I have no real attachment to that idea; it's just that after Magical Mystery Cure, the only canon explanation we have for an alicorn is ascension.
4. Are Cadance and Twilight immortal?
No, both have the standard life expectancy and the extended lives of Celestia and Luna are tied to a connection they've made with the sun and the moon respectively.
5. Have there been other alicorns in the past?
No, Celestia and Luna were the first.
6. How much authority do Celestia and Luna have in Equestria?
They are diarchal rulers of the entire nation and have complete political control, but as Equestria is a utopian society, in practice they are more the mayoral governernors of Canterlot who are occasional celebrity guests in other cities for political functions.
7. Does Shining Armor rule The Crystal Empire along side of Cadance?
No, he's just some arm candy for one of the womenfolk. Not that Cadance wouldn't totally ask him for advice and help on things, but he has no title or official power.
8. Other than Twilight, Luna, and Cadance, what relationships have been important to Celestia in her lifetime (students, close friends, lovers, family)?
Celestia has had a number of students before Twilight she'd been close with, though not as close as Twilight. She's probably had a number of lovers over the years as well, and is playful and friendly enough to have made countless friends from guards and other workers in the castle.
Ponies and Equestrian Culture:
9. Are there still cultural differences between earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, or are they homogenous by the time shown in canon? Are there cultural stereotypes (positive or negative)?
There are many cultural separations between the three tribes, with Ponyville being an oddity based on how homogenized it is. Most stereotypes are positive, with very little actual bigotry existing for longer than a generation after an exposure to a different culture occurs. There are a few negative stereotypes here and there, but they are minor.
10. Are there foods or items native to Cloudsdale that are uncommon on the ground? Are there foods or items on the ground that are uncommon in Cloudsdale?
Yes. There is enough trading and interaction to where pretty much nothing is impossible to find inside/outside of Cloudsdale, but it's like a lot of metropolitan areas where the local cuisine preferences have a much larger representation. Also, most goods are modified or made from different materials to be able to be supported by clouds.
11. Can all unicorns learn all spells, given the time and effort spent practicing them, or is magical talent usually limited in some way?
Magic is a mixture of willpower, focus, "amount" of magic to work with, and study. A unicorn with all three that's willing to study could learn practically anything given enough time, but most cannot manage everything. The raw magical strength of an individual is the biggest road block, though the finesse and amount of willpower and focus for really complex magic takes years to develop.
12. Earth pony magic: Does it exist? What is it?
Yes, and it's a combination of strength/stamina that goes beyond what other tribes can achieve without intense training, and an innate communion with plant life. Earth ponies mostly use this connection for crops and cooking (they understand the "nature" of ingredients with practice and can come up with recipes and combinations quickly).
13. Some pony families we’ve seen seem to have naming conventions (the Apples, Twilight’s family) and others don’t appear to (Rarity’s family, Pinkie’s family), which is more common? Are there reasons for one or the other?
Names are tied to an innate and not really understood form of divination magic, so it's less that some families have stronger naming conventions than others than it is some families are more likely to produce ponies that have related talents than others. Families producing a more diverse array of abilities is something that used to be uncommon, but over the past few generations the amount of intermarrying between tribes and cultural exchanges have increased, making it more and more likely for foals to have more diverse talents, thus names are getting less likely to be related. That said, some families that have strong ties to each other will, in the weird divination they don't realize they're doing, choose names that are both connected to the family name and also serve as a connection to the foal's future talents (for example, if a member of the Apple family was going to have a special talent in sailing, they might name him Apple Bobber) . This is more common in earth ponies than unicorns and pegasi based on cultural differences.
14. How much formal schooling is an average, middle class pony expected to complete?
An equivalent of American middle school.
15. What’s the average lifespan for a pony? At what age is a pony expected to be independent of their parents?
A bit longer lived than humans, 100-120 being the average expected range. Most ponies have left home and/or started working towards their livelihoods between 15 and 20.
16. Are there roughly an equal number of male and female ponies?
Yes, mostly. Slightly more females than males, but the ratio is more like 52% F 48% M than really skewed.
17. How informed are most ponies about things that happen in other parts of Equestria? What about other parts of the world?
Not very. At all. Local news is important, and really really big happenings in Canterlot spread fairly quickly, but a lot of information is isolated even if it probably shouldn't be.
The Main Characters:
18. How old are the Mane Six? Spike? The CMC?
The mane six are all the same age about, with Fluttershy a year older than the others. Rainbow Dash is the youngest and just turned 20 in Pinkie Pride, while Fluttershy is 21. Spike and the CMC are all roughly the same age at about 10 or so, with Spike being the youngest of the four (ie: Spike was born in the Cutie Mark Chronicles flashback, and during that time Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were all infants).
19. Did Fluttershy remain on the ground after getting her cutie mark? Were she and Rainbow Dash friends all along, or did they drift apart for a while?
She made arrangements to move to Ponyville shortly after her fall, and she and Rainbow Dash drifted apart until Rainbow Dash moved to Ponyville years later. They weren't the closest when they were in school, either, so there wasn't much "drifting" that happened.
20. Rarity and Applejack both seem to have grown up in Ponyville. What were their interactions like before the show?
They were in the same school year, but didn't really hang out or share common interests. They knew each other by name and were friendly enough, but weren't really friends. In fact, none of the five were ever really close friends before Twilight moved to Ponyville. They were acquaintances at best, and "friends" with Pinkie in the same way that everyone else in Ponyville is a friend of hers, but Twilight drew them together as a group of best friends.
21. What do Twilight and Spike consider their relationship to be?
Spike is Twilight's baby brother, and it's a sibling relationship where, because of the age gap and the fact that there wasn't a clear set of parents for the two of them growing up together (Celestia is a surrogate second mother to Twilight, and a bit of one for Spike as well, but I think that for a long time Spike was treated less as a child by the ponies as a pet of Twilight's until they realized the little bastard was learning how to talk and junk, based on how little seems to be known about dragons by ponies) put her in a close to maternal role for him.
22. When did Pinkie move in with the Cakes? Is she a worker who rents a room, an apprentice, or is there some other relationship?
Less than five years before the start of the series, and she is an apprentice.
23. Who among the Mane Six had the best parents growing up? The worst parents?
None of them had traumatic childhoods, but they all had "hands off" parents. Fluttershy has the best relationship with her parents now (who are both very different than her. It's my headcanon that Fluttershy got along so well with Bulk Biceps in Rainbow Falls because he sort of reminds her of her dad), while Applejack's had the hardest time since her parents passed when she was really young. Not that that made them bad parents, just, you know...it's hard to be a good parent if you're dead.
24. Why didn’t the CMC hang out more/know each other before Call of the Cutie?
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were friends before because they were classmates and hung out a lot, but Apple Bloom was in a different class before then. After forming their secret society, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom begged and pleaded to have their schedule changed so they had the same class as Apple Bloom.
25. Is Scootaloo an orphan? Will she ever be able to fly?
Maybe, the orphan thing is another "no set headcanon" thing. Yes.
26. Will Apple Bloom’s cutie mark involve an apple in some way, even if it’s unrelated to farming or baking?
This sort of links to the naming convention thing I talked about earlier. If there is a way to represent the meaning of her cutie mark using apples, then yes. If not, then no. We've seen other Apples without apple cutie marks, like Fiddlesticks at the family reunion, so it's not unbelievable to think she wouldn't.
27. How is Sweetie Belle’s relationship with their parents different than Rarity’s was?
Rarity has very hands off parents, so things aren't much different. Basically, Sweetie Belle is less embarrassed by them than Rarity is, though that is slowly beginning to change, I'm sure.
Side and Background Characters:
28. Is Mr. Cake the father of the Cake twins or not?
He is.
29. Are Big Mac and Cheerilee an item, romantically?
I'm not dead-set on this by any means, but I am fond of it being true.
30. How did Prince Blueblood get his title?
I have no headcanon on this. He more than likely inherited it, though why his line are princes is a big question mark. Probably a remnant from an earlier political landscape, maybe even dating back to before Discord's rule.
31. Is Silver Spoon equally as bad as Diamond Tiara?
Silver Spoon is every 80s high school movie's "the stupid bully's even stupider second in command." They're both spoiled brats that bully through manipulation and verbal abuse.
32. Is Zecora’s magic common among zebras?
Not common, but not unique. She is a shaman, and most zebra villages have one.
33. Why does Daring Do publish her stories as fiction?
Because Polsky kinda sucks as a writer.
34. Do you have a strong headcanon for any non-speaking or one line background ponies that you want to share?
Not really. I don't have much care or interest in background ponies. I've read a number of TaviScratches I've liked, and I am generally fond of the fanon surrounding the both of them, so there's that, I guess.
Other Species:
35. Does Equestria differentiate between speaking and non-speaking species, in terms of respect, rights and legal responsibilities? Is there some other line or scale used? (For example, how are cows classified? Diamond Dogs? A chimera?)
Ya got ponies, griffons, donkeys, mules, goats, and the occasional minotaur or other creature that's willfully chosen to live within Equestria's greater society. All other intelligent species are not technically a part of the society and rather live in the wilderness and fringes. Most of Equestria is wide open spaces, and this suits most beings just fine, as most do want to be left alone to deal with their own interpersonal politics. This either works well with the occasional bit of culture clash (the buffalo for example), or carries a lingering sense of wildness and risk (the chimera, dragons for the most part, the changelings). Except cows. Cows are the pony's slaves. Just kidding, I have no idea what the hell is going on with cows.
36. Do other speaking species form their own nations, or are all nations largely integrated, with some having larger populations of a species than others?
Um. See above. Also, outside of Equestria's borders, there are other larger nations, some of which pony, others not pony.
37. Are minotaurs related to cows at all?
Seeing as the Grecian mythology surrounding the Minotaur was a spell cast on a woman to fall in love with the Cretan Bull, and...*cough* I'm...gonna go with no for Equestria and have them be their own intelligent creature species like chimeras/dragons/griffons.
38. Do all zebras rhyme?
Nope, Zecora is actually the subject of a curse.
39. Do zebra cutie marks work the same way as pony cutie marks?
Yes, though almost all of them take the form of their stripes changing to form an image, rather than a new image appearing.
40. Do any species have types of magic, other than ponies and zebras?
All animals have some innate form of magic. Most of it for intelligent species is more shamanistic, like zebra magic, using potions and rituals rather than having direct magic like unicorns, but even unintelligent creatures have some form of innate magic.
41. Is the lack of buffalo presence in Equestria cultural, or simply because most pony towns aren’t built to accommodate a full grown buffalo?
Cultural, see above.
Headcanon and You:
42. Do you consider official sources other than the show (comics, card game text, movies, novels, etc.) to be canon?
Nope. Show canon has broken other sources' canon before, so it's entirely unreliable as solid canon.
43. Do you have one headcanon that you always use, or do you switch depending on projects?
It depends on what it is, but even stuff I'm very strongly attached to would be gleefully shattered for the sake of a story.
44. Can you easily accept the headcanons of different writers? Do you prefer when stories match your headcanon?
If the ideas are internally consistent, I'm chill with whatever.
45. Is there a part of your headcanon that you wish was more popular among writers?
Other than being really tired of "Twilight crying over her friends' graves" stories, not especially.
46. Is there a popular piece of headcanon that other writers use that you dislike?
See above. I'm not fond of immortality in general, so stuff like that makes me groan.
47. Have you ever written a story or blogpost just to explain some part of your headcanon (other than this one)?
I've had that as an ulterior goal here and there with some stories—Little Wonders was a bit of an alicorn headcanon definer—but it's always been something where it's just a piece of a different story I wanted to tell. If we're counting writing about the rapport between two characters were they in a romantic relationship, than I have written several blogs, and one could argue several stories, in order to explain them.
48. Does your headcanon influence things like your favorite pony, ship, or episode?
Well, if I didn't think of Twilight as being mortal, it would have negative affects on my willingness to ship her, so I suppose a little. Not a lot, though.
49. Would it bother you if the show proved part of your headcanon wrong? Any specific piece that would really bother you to lose?
Just the immortal thing, but we're pretty much guaranteed they won't do that. If they made it canon that there was zero earth pony magic, I'd probably be bothered a bit, too.
50. Is there something that wasn't asked about here, but you feel like you need to explain to everyone?
Wingboners are retarded.
I see we share a bit of headcanon.
Heh, well, for what it's worth, back when I wrote Light the Sky on Fire, I pretty much
stoleadopted your notion that Twilight's ascension into alicornhood just means that she's connected to all three pony races, and has pegasus and earth-pony magic in her now, but she does not have Awesome Cosmic Powers on the level of Celestia's or Luna's, nor is she immortal.I shall have to do this one as well.
As to immortality, I think Harry Leferts has a good take on it here. Twilight wouldn't let something like death break her friendships.
I also think that immortality isn't special alicorn magic. Earth pony magic includes endurance and resilience, so at higher levels leads to good health. If taken to the extreme, this can greatly slow aging. (Granny Smith is actually hundreds of years old.)
1998216
And thirded.
1998216
1998241
I wonder if the answer to 33 crosses over from headcanon to fanon as bookplayer defined it.
I thoroughly enjoyed not only the questions but your answers as well.
10/10
Isn't it natural that pegasus ponies would subconsciously flare/flap/flutter their wings while excited? Sure, becoming physically stiff or difficult to lower is ridiculous, but the base idea makes some sense.
1999120
I didn't say "pegasi opening their wings when startled/taken off guard is retarded." That stuff all makes sense, and I'm totally fine with it. Wingboners, though, that's just puerile nonsense, and I see it in serious stories sometimes.
b-bats
dear god
dear god bats what have you done to me
the pure feelings
luna and celestia only knew each other for 20 years before they were separated for one thousand
that's demonic
1999134
Their's is an unspeakable tragedy. Just imagine, though, how much it meant to Celestia to have her sister back after waiting a thousand long years.
1999143
like, it totally changes their dynamic. because it's assumed that upon reuniting, they fell back into their usual candor, from a relationship built over hundreds if not thousands of years--but if they had only such a short time together, relatively speaking, then they wouldn't have any such thing... they would be forging an entirely new relationship... they barely even KNOW each other, and yet celestia has loved her sister her whole life...
oh bbys i'm so so sorry
curse you bats and your ability to crush my soul with like basically one sentence
1999190
My basis for this bit of age headcanon:
1) We know that there was a time before them and that it can't be forever ago, because Equestria was founded without them by the three tribes coming together in the first Hearth's Warming. Additionally, I don't think it was "soon after that" that they showed up, because Discord conquered and ruled Equestria "in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness," which does not at all sound to me like it was brief. I age Celestia and Luna at having grown up under Discord's rule and ascending some time in their travels to find a way to defeat him, because I can't see them allowing his rule to last any longer than they had to. I imagine their ascension had to do with finding the group of unicorns who were controlling the sun and moon even under Discord's rule, and wanting to help and alleviate the stress of doing so from the unicorns, discovering their innate talents and connections to the two celestial bodies.
2) I assume there was a small window between then and Luna's banishment, because Luna had vanished from the public consciousness before the premiere. If they had saved Equestria and then ruled it for 2000 years or something, and then Luna went banana sandwich, why has everyone forgotten her? It's hard enough to imagine that they had forgotten one of the triumphant heroes who rose to free them and took control of the government, even if she disappeared a week after it happened, but it makes more sense than having half of the eternal diarchy go away for a thousand years and forgetting.
3) Canterlot is a huge city surrounding Celestia's second castle, that was built in the thousand years since the castle's construction. The first castle, the castle of the royal pony sisters, is in the middle of nowhere and the closest city (Ponyville) was farm country founded by settlers when Granny Smith was young. If they had any sort of time in control post-Discord, why hadn't the metropolis formed around that seat of power?
So yeah, I imagine Celestia and Luna had ousted Discord in their youth, and traveled the country helping to heal those who had been hurt under his rule, (possibly) culminating in the defeat of Sombra and the disappearance of the Crystal Empire. Then, when their adventuring was done, they went and built the castle above the Tree of Harmony as a shrine to the Elements of Harmony. The ponies of Equestria then came to them and asked for them to rule over them. They did so, but Luna grew more and more jealous of Celestia getting praised, until the jealousy demon took ahold of her and turned her into Nightmare Moon.
Now, there is one thing that gives me pause on the whole thing, which is a quote from Celestia about Discord: "Luna and I saw how miserable life was for earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike, so after discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers and rose up against him."
They saw rather than experienced. This suggests to me that Celestia and Luna may have come from "someplace else" before discovering Equestria and rescued it as outsiders, but...uh...that implies to me that they are more alien, eternal beings that exist outside of the rules than I think anything else in canon supports, so I chalk up that turn of phrase to Celestia being formal and regal in her speech, which she is through the rest of the conversation as well.
1998210
I don't think that's headcanon. I think that's just regular old canon.
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1998724
I concur with the assessment of my esteemed colleagues.