Questions: The Invasion of Unit Fifty. · 6:34am Apr 14th, 2014
Got this from The Princess Rarity who got it from bookplayer. I thought it would be fun to actually jot down the gelatine that is my head canon.
The Princesses:
1. How old are Celestia and Luna?
I like to think of Celestia being either 5,000 or 10,000 years old, and Luna to be circa 3,000 to 6,000 years of age, but never greater than Celestia. Their sisterhood, for me, is solely because they've known each other for so long that it became their custom to think of each other that way.
2. How old is Cadance?
Cadance is only a couple to three decades, at most. Mid-twenties would seem accurate.
3. Were Celestia and Luna always alicorns, or did they ascend?
I imagine Celestia and Puna ascended at some point, probably during their late teens, early twenties. I like to think that past iterattions of royalty (all alicorns) also controlled the sun and moon, and handed the responsibility down to ponies who proved themselves harmonious in most things.
4. Are Cadance and Twilight immortal?
Nothing is ever truly immortal, though some may be blessed with longer lives. This applies to Luna and Celestia as well.
5. Have there been other alicorns in the past?
See #3.
6. How much authority do Celestia and Luna have in Equestria?
Celestia and Luna have the authority to seize all power, should the situation arise, and a list of protocols by which they abide that provides a scalable series of instances where this would become necessary. I highly doubt they take one hundred percent authority all the time.
7. Does Shining Armor rule The Crystal Empire along side of Cadance?
Yes. He has equal authority with Cadence.
8. Other than Twilight, Luna, and Cadance, what relationships have been important to Celestia in her lifetime (students, close friends, lovers, family)?
I like to think Star Swirl was her third student, Sunset Shimmer was her fourth, and Twilight Sparkle is her fifth. The long hiatus between third and fourth occurred because Celestia was dangerously close to her Nightmare-like form herself when Luna was banished. I even think that Celestia may have left the throne altogether for a time to battle her demons.
Ponies and Equestrian Culture:
9. Are there still cultural differences between earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, or is the culture homogeneous by the time shown in canon? Are there cultural stereotypes (positive or negative)?
There would be some lingering cultural differences (pegasi would be more militarial, unicorns more educated, and Earth ponies more adept at earth-based labours), but over a thousand years of a well-organized diarchy would have pretty much eliminated that.
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?
I like to think that there is a particular strain or three of fruit that only pegasi can grow.
11. Can all unicorns learn all spells, given the time and effort spent practicing them, or is magical talent usually limited in some way?
A unicorn can learn all manner of spells. Those that fall in line with their natural bend, however, come a thousand times easier.
12. Earth pony magic: Does it exist? What is it?
Earth pony magic is the ability to feel and understand the soil, stones, and that which springs directly from them. The Apples, of course, would specialize in apple growth, but because of their affinity for helping things grow, they could raise other crops. The quality and quantity wouldn't be quite up to their apples, though.
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?
I think it has to do with how close-knit families were through the ages. Professional covention in horse naming dictates that the name must be related to both parents in some way or another, but they do not necessarily need a suffix, prefix, or "midfix" to do it.
14. How much formal schooling is an average, middle class pony expected to complete?
Ten years, beginning when foals reach four.
15. What’s the average lifespan for a pony? At what age is a pony expected to be independent of their parents?
Earth ponies tend to live over one century on a regular basis. Their natural strength and hardiness often play a part in longer lives. Unicorns have shorter lifespans, though that is dictated by how many burnouts one has had as a child and young adult. They do not live as long as Earth ponies do, only existing for about eighty-five to ninety years, though if they link their lives with a pony or other race that lives longer, they gain a life boost equal to and additional twenty percent of their bond's nastural lifespan. Pegasi are the shortest-living race, but mostly their lives are cut short by weather-related or flight-related accidents due to their more aggressive nature. The average pegasus that lives a full life will live about seventy-five to eighty years.
16. Are there roughly an equal number of male and female ponies?
City and area notwithstanding, the ratio of mares to stallions worldwide is approximately 52:48 for every 100.
17. How informed are most ponies about things that happen in other parts of Equestria? What about other parts of the world?
The average pony reads the newspaper for local news, specifically that which pertains to their neighbourhood directly. Most everything else is extra fluff that the paper wastes space on, unless it's a huge catastrophe.
The Main Characters:
18. How old are the Mane Six? Spike? The CMC?
Applejack - 20
Fluttershy - 20
Pinkie Pie - 19
Rarity - 19
Rainbow Dash - 18
Twilight Sparkle - 18
Spike - 10
Sweetie Belle - 11
Apple Bloom - 11
Scootaloo - 10
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?
I suspect Fluttershy returned to Cloudsdale to tie up some affairs, like letting her family know where she was, then left immediately.
20. Rarity and Applejack both seem to have grown up in Ponyville. What were their interactions like before the show?
I think they were rather ignorant of each other, very much like customer-supplier. Not much, just kind of passive.
21. What do Twilight and Spike consider their relationship to be?
Elder sister/younger brother.
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?
I always did like to think of Pinkie as an apprentice.
23. Who among the Mane Six had the best parents growing up? The worst parents?
Best parents: Twilight Sparkle, no question. Super-supportive, always around, willing to give their little daughter anything so she would be happy. Tied is Applejack. I think she's at peace with the tragedy that happened, and she keeps her hat as a memento from her father, who saved her from some kind of cataclysm.
24. Why didn’t the CMC hang out more/know each other before Call of the Cutie?
Scoots and Sweetie Belle did, but off-and-on and informally. Apple Bloom was too focussed on her cutie mark quest to notice much in the way of friends besides Twist. I like to think that Scootabelle (not to imply shipping) actually moved to Ponyville from elsewhere, and knew each other there.
25. Is Scootaloo an orphan? Will she ever be able to fly?
Scoots is an industrious, if reckless, pegasus who lives apart from her parents. Although I loves orphanloo stories, this is not my headcanon. She has a disability that prevents her from full flight, but not from hovering or going faster using her wings.
26. Will Apple Bloom’s cutie mark involve an apple in some way, even if it’s unrelated to farming or baking?
Probably. I suspect it to be a hammer over an apple.
27. How is Sweetie Belle’s relationship with their parents different than Rarity’s was?
Sweetie tends to endure her parents' eccentricities a little better than Rarity does, and therefore can handle their antics a little better. She's also not trying to emulate the Canterlot social scene, so that helps.
Side and Background Characters:
28. Is Mr. Cake the father of the Cake twins or not?
Yes. A minimum of a thousand years of mostly-stable interspecies relations would create cross-genetic breeding between all races, so there is some latent code that awoke there, on both sides.
29. Are Big Mac and Cheerilee an item, romantically?
Prior to the love potion, there were considerations. Now? Nnnope. In fact, thanks to the antics of the CMC, they can barely look at each other now.
30. How did Prince Blueblood get his title?
Blueblood is a nephew to Celestia by godmotherhood. Though this grants him the title of Prince, it is largely just a formality that he has let get to his head a little too much. Celestia and Luna are discussing whether to remove it from his name.
31. Is Silver Spoon equally as bad as Diamond Tiara?
She's your basic lackey, nothing more. Get her away from Tiara and, although she'll be snobbish 'cuz behaviours are tough to get out of, she'll eventually open up.
32. Is Zecora’s magic common among zebras?
Zecora was the shaman of her tribe. This says to me that she undertook special training for the task, maybe an apprenticeship of some kind. Hers is not a common talent, but by no means is it exclusive either.
33. Why does Daring Do publish her stories as fiction?
Self-inserts don't usually work... unless you're writing a war story.
34. Do you have a strong headcanon for any non-speaking or one line background ponies that you want to share?
Ditzy and Derpy are twin sisters. Dinky is a non-entity, despite being so cute. Lyra is not human-crazed. Time Turner is Doctor Who, but retired. He lives in his TARDIS, reconstituted as a normal home to fit in, but it is inactive. Derpy and him are not an item. Cloud Kicker is and forever will be as Chengar Qordath wrote, end of story.
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?)
If the sheep are any indication, it's not even clear where the line is drawn for speaking species, never mind non-speaking ones!
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?
Equestria and the Crystal Empire are but two of a thousand nations across the world of varying kinds. I like to borrow from Imploding Colon regarding some of my headcanon regarding his land of Searo and a couple other locales, but otherwise I make up my own.
37. Are minotaurs related to cows at all?
Somewhere over the genetic rainbow.
38. Do all zebras rhyme?
No. It's shamanistic tradition, according to Zecora, so only the shamans would rhyme.
39. Do zebra cutie marks work the same way as pony cutie marks?
<insert other headcanon here>
Seriously - I never thought about it.
40. Do any species have types of magic, other than ponies and zebras?
Dragons largely deal with what's happening inside the earth. Diamond dogs are capable of dark vision and can sniff out gems.
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?
It's entirely cultural. The buffalo are a nomadic, largely autonomous race. They come and go at will.
Headcanon and You:
42. Do you consider official sources other than the show (comics, card game text, movies, novels, etc.) to be canon?
So far, only the show counts.
43. Do you have one headcanon that you always use, or do you switch depending on projects?
Lego blocks, man. Lego blocks. Gotta be flexible to be diverse!
44. Can you easily accept the headcanons of different writers? Do you prefer when stories match your headcanon?
When I read, I cleanse the palate with some figurative ginger, then read. I always keep an eye out for interesting takes on characters. If I find one I like, I'll adopt it.
45. Is there a part of your headcanon that you wish was more popular among writers?
Rumbloom! Silver Belle! Scootasqueak! More CMC fluff!
46. Is there a popular piece of headcanon that other writers use that you dislike?
Doctor Whooves. Despite my headcanon, I don't like seeing him as Doctor Who.
47. Have you ever written a story or blogpost just to explain some part of your headcanon (other than this one)?
No. Not really.
48. Does your headcanon influence things like your favorite pony, ship, or episode?
Obviously. I wouldn't be creative if I didn't let my headcanon, muse, and other writers have their input.
49. Would it bother you if the show proved part of your headcanon wrong? Any specific piece that would really bother you to lose?
See #43.
50. Is there something that wasn't asked about here, but you feel like you need to explain to everyone?
Nope.
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-TWC
2009390
Lego.