50 Question Headcanon Quiz

No big lead-in here. Since everyone else is doing this, I thought I'd join in. That's about the size of it.

The Princesses:

1. How old are Celestia and Luna?
A little over five thousand years old, give or take a century, for no other reason than that timeline works well in my fanfics. I can't claim to know why, though. I'm comfortable with the idea that they're just powerful enough to use age spells. Still waiting on the show to give us some answers about how they got so powerful in the first place.

2. How old is Cadance?
By human standards, thirty. In pony years, I have no idea. This gets complicated because ponies seem to mature faster than humans do, then keep more or less the same appearance for most of their adult lives. That, and we don't know for sure that an Equestrian year is the same length as an Earth year, or whether any measure of time matches up at all. I'm sure this'll be coming up again in later questions.

3. Were Celestia and Luna always alicorns, or did they ascend?
Probably always, but I'm fine with not knowing.

4. Are Cadance and Twilight immortal?
No. Possibly they could be if they used age spells, but I don't see either of them as being the type to go down that slippery slope. Unlike Celestia and Luna, the world doesn't need them enough that they'd defy the natural order just to keep their power.

5. Have there been other alicorns in the past?
Heck, there are other alicorns right now. The incidence of background alicorns is high enough that it seems natural ones happen all the time. As for ascended alicorns, it seems unlikely that thousands of years would pass without any and then two show up at once. There've probably been others.

6. How much authority do Celestia and Luna have in Equestria?
Celestia has veto power over absolutely everything, which is why most of her job appears to consist of signing forms for approval. She rarely makes decisions of her own, though, since her responsibilities lie everywhere; she prefers to act as a mediator between the heads of relevant fields, letting ponies with practical expertise have more input. Luna has some of the same duties and is reclaiming her role as Dream Warden, although she can only give advice, not orders.

7. Does Shining Armor rule The Crystal Empire along side of Cadance?
He helps. An outsider would say Shining and Cadance rule as equals, but it's understood by them and all the crystal ponies that she's the one in charge.

8. Other than Twilight, Luna, and Cadance, what relationships have been important to Celestia in her lifetime (students, close friends, lovers, family)?
Celestia has taken several students, although Twilight is one of her favorites, as she reminds her of Star Swirl. In the past she had children, but they were mortal, and died. She has a few surviving relatives, such as the Blueblood line, but Celestia is so far distanced from them that she thinks of them as nieces and nephews rather than many-times-over-great-grandchildren.

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)?
It's shown in canon that Ponyville is the exception, rather than the rule, when it comes to the three races; it's still uncommon for them all to live together. Practicality plays a part in this; for example, an earth pony wouldn't do very well in Cloudsdale. While cultural differences still exist, all animosity between the races has pretty much died down. Accurate descriptions of the differences between the groups are taught as part of the standard curriculum in every city, largely (though not completely) smoothing out stereotypes.

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?
Aside from food, which has to be imported, Cloudsdale is mostly clouds and rainbow rivers. Pegasi who grew up in the city often prefer to build cloud-houses when moving closer to the ground, so seeing the architecture isn't uncommon.

11. Can all unicorns learn all spells, given the time and effort spent practicing them, or is magical talent usually limited in some way?
Any unicorn can, in theory, cast any spell, though it's limited in the same way that any earth pony can, in theory, drag around an entire house. Casting a spell related to your special talent helps, but I've never liked the idea that a cutie mark "grants" a pony mastery over a certain task; that's looking at it backwards. A cutie mark is what makes a pony special, not a superpower. If mastering a ludicrously difficult spell is so important to you that you're willing to devote a large chunk of your life to learning it despite not having natural magical aptitude, then that, not a more mundane task that you happen to be good at, will be your cutie mark.

12. Earth pony magic: Does it exist? What is it?
A connection to and ability to manipulate the earth, in the same way that pegasi can manipulate the air, and unicorns manipulate light. Presumably seaponies are the same with water. Dragons would be the obvious choice for fire, but I'll let the griffins have it.

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?
It depends on the family. Larger families with a longer history will usually try to pass on part of the name, while smaller, less uniform families don't care as much. Additionally, at their cute-ceañera a pony is given the option to change their name to something that reflects their special talent. This doesn't happen often, less than one in every hundred times, but it is an option.

14. How much formal schooling is an average, middle class pony expected to complete?
There is no standard. All ponies are expected to complete elementary school, which has a focus on basic practical knowledge and surviving in the real world. After that, especially if you've discovered your special talent early, it's perfectly acceptable to leave school and start getting training in your chosen field. Others carry on for as long as they need, and some simply never stop learning. Of course, it's easier to know how much schooling you'll need when you've got your dream job tattooed on your butt.

15. What’s the average lifespan for a pony? At what age is a pony expected to be independent of their parents?
The natural maximum lifespan is around three hundred, though, like humans, ponies usually live a little over half that. What this translates to in human years is another matter. Ponies are legally considered independent when they leave elementary school, though they'll have trouble being taken seriously until they're full-grown.

16. Are there roughly an equal number of male and female ponies?
Yes. Interesting fact here; because (at least, it seems reasonable to assume it's because) we live in a currently male-dominated society, when presented with a discussion in which men and women speak exactly the same amount of the time, men tend to come out of it believing that women dominated the discussion. As it happens, Equestria is dominated by women, but that's beside the point. It's just unfamiliar to see, and not as one-sided as people tend to make it sound.

17. How informed are most ponies about things that happen in other parts of Equestria? What about other parts of the world?
Not very. Big news travels fast, but only when it's allowed to; no point spreading news of the Crystal Empire's return until after we get rid of the shadow-demon that's haunting it. Big stuff just doesn't concern the general populace; no news is good news, which is why being declared a Princess in Canterlot means you still can't catch a cab in Manehattan. (Also, no one there seems the least bit surprised to see an alicorn walking around - another point to that theory.) Personal stories are universal, however, and the rise of a fashion model is considered bigger news than an Element of Harmony, as the former visually affects ponies on a day-to-day basis.

The Main Characters:

18. How old are the Mane Six? Spike? The CMC?
Here we go with ages again. By human standards I peg Twilight and Dash at 21, Fluttershy at 20, Pinkie Pie at 19, Applejack at 22, and Rarity at 24. However, in Equestria Girls we learn that Sunset Shimmer is in her last year of high school, and considering Twilight is younger than her, that puts her only around 16 or 17 in human years. My personal reading of this is that the show is saying that teenage girls have the potential to be as mature as women in their twenties, but Equestria Girls made no sense to begin with, so I don't see that it matters. Spike and the CMC I think are around 12.

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 stayed in flight school for a while, but left for the ground as soon as she graduated. Dash gave up on advanced flight school and followed her less than a year later.

20. Rarity and Applejack both seem to have grown up in Ponyville. What were their interactions like before the show?
They'd met, but had very little in common, so they'd never really talked. In Season 1 they're still getting used to the idea of being friends with each other.

21. What do Twilight and Spike consider their relationship to be?
Twilight thinks of herself as a mother figure to Spike, since she was the one who hatched him. That's not to say she was particularly good at it; it's only after she learned to make friends that she began to appreciate Spike as a person rather than a helpful pet. Spike thinks of her as more of a big sister, one who he constantly has to pick up after. The fact that he looks after her is part of his Dragon's Code, or at least his vague idea of what a Dragon's Code is, since he owes his life to her. They're both okay with this relationship because they know that in the future, when Spike is grown, Twilight will be the one looking after 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?
Pinkie took the room shortly after arriving in Ponyville. She gets free room and board as part of her job, plus a generous pay for all the extra business she pulls in. The cakes love her like a daughter, but in practice she's just an employee. Judging by recent episodes, however, it looks like Pinkie found her own house after the twins were born.

23. Who among the Mane Six had the best parents growing up? The worst parents?
Tough call. For best I'm going to say Rarity's parents. Even if they don't exactly jive with their daughter's style, they seem especially friendly and supportive. Worst is a toss-up between Fluttershy and Applejack by virtue of being absent, emotionally in one case, literally in the other.

24. Why didn’t the CMC hang out more/know each other before Call of the Cutie?
'Cuz they're kids. Most likely they were just in different classes.

25. Is Scootaloo an orphan? Will she ever be able to fly?
No, but her parents travel a lot and don't really have time for her, hence her need for a big sister figure. She'll get good at hovering later on, but she'll never fly.

26. Will Apple Bloom’s cutie mark involve an apple in some way, even if it’s unrelated to farming or baking?
Yes. Wherever she goes later in life, being an Apple is an important part of her identity.

27. How is Sweetie Belle’s relationship with their parents different than Rarity’s was?
Not that much. She's only slightly less of a drama queen than Rarity was at that age, and her parents have more practice this time around. They're just happy she's still their little girl and isn't as keen to outgrow them as Rarity was.

Side and Background Characters:

28. Is Mr. Cake the father of the Cake twins or not?
Yes. Unbeknownst to either of them, Cup Cake's grandmother cheated on her husband with an alicorn, putting the unicorn and pegasus genes back in the family.

29. Are Big Mac and Cheerilee an item, romantically?
Based on their reaction to the idea, I like to think they used to be, or at least talked about it, before realizing they like each other better as friends. Mac appreciates her knowledgeable, lecturing style of speaking, and after spending all day in a schoolhouse, Cheerilee likes to spend time with someone who she knows won't talk her ear off. There isn't any romantic spark there, and they're both fine with that; even if they were dating, their relationship wouldn't be any different than it already is.

30. How did Prince Blueblood get his title?
He's an extremely distant relative of Celestia, clinging to an ancient estate and mostly ceremonial title. Although generally considered an elitist pig, he's legitimately good with money and has secured his family's fortune for the next hundred years or so. Judging by his luck with mares, some say that he's set to be the last Blueblood, but they said the same about every prince before him; in truth, perhaps due to the bloodline, Blueblood comes from a long succession of formerly arrogant, womanizing stallions who, through a series of contrived misunderstandings and wacky hijinks, learned to be better ponies and fell in love with the last mare they ever expected to. This has yet to happen to the current Blueblood, although Celestia does have some unexplained dates marked on her calendar...

31. Is Silver Spoon equally as bad as Diamond Tiara?
Yes. She has more potential to improve if the pair are ever separated, but hardly matters when she's raining down insults just as thick and fast as her co-conspirator.

32. Is Zecora’s magic common among zebras?
No less so than doctors are in Equestria. However, Equestria-style doctors are as rare in Zebrica as Zecora is in Equestria, meaning that while you can find ten zebras in any town who can cure curses, fevers and deformities, you'd have to travel far and wide before you find anyone who knows how to mend a broken leg.

33. Why does Daring Do publish her stories as fiction?
Marketing. No matter what the contents of her book are, the fiction section of any bookstore will always get more traffic than autobiographies. It also helps that this way Ahuizotl can't sue her for slander.

34. Do you have a strong headcanon for any non-speaking or one line background ponies that you want to share?
This is iffy, because there comes a point when I'm just talking about my OCs who I've wrapped in the skin of background ponies. Strictly in terms of the show, the only characterization I standby is that of Linky/Shoeshine, who has internalized her status as background pony. She rivals Lyra and Bon Bon in terms of screen time, yet never speaks and is largely ignored by the fandom. She's invisible in plain sight, always so close to what's going on but never a part of it... and she resents every minute of it.

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?)
Any living thing may be considered a citizen of a place so long as they live within its boundaries and can prove they are able to understand and follow the local laws. The inability to speak the local language can be a setback when it comes a lot of jobs, but it's not too big an issue in general. For the most part the species are still segregated, but this is mostly due to different species preferring different living conditions. Cows, for instance, are a close-knit group, uncomfortable wandering off on their own, who make a comfortable living selling milk and physical labor. The one exception is sheep. Everyone hates sheep.

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?
Within Equestria, ponies rule through sheer numbers. Communities of other species form within it, some with vastly different cultures, but most defer to Celestia as their ruler. In other parts of the world, other species rule kingdoms of similar sizes, with outposts of ponies being in the minority.

37. Are minotaurs related to cows at all?
No. Minotaurs are few in number, a lot of which has to do with the fact that minotaur courting rituals involve traversing a labyrinth to reach the object of one's affections at the center. Since building or growing a high-quality maze can take upwards of a decade (no lady-minotaur is going to be impressed with you traversing a hedge maze that you can see over the top of) this means that a good romance can take a really long time go get going, and Celestia help you if after all that things don't work out.

38. Do all zebras rhyme?
No. In fact, Zecora herself does not know that she's rhyming. She sounds like she's speaking in stilted verse because she has to pause every few seconds to mentally translate what she's saying from Zebrican, and, by sheer coincidence, it always comes out as a rhyme. In her native tongue, she's speaking perfectly normally.

39. Do zebra cutie marks work the same way as pony cutie marks?
Yes, but they're read differently. Cutie marks of stars and flowers are just as incomprehensible to Zecora as her swirls are to us.

40. Do any species have types of magic, other than ponies and zebras?
Other than dragons, no.

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?
Both, but mostly the former. Buffalo are migratory and find it hard to get used to staying in one place.

Headcanon and You:

42. Do you consider official sources other than the show (comics, card game text, movies, novels, etc.) to be canon?
Characterizations, yes, but not events. As an example, I don't consider it canon that the Crystal Empire was briefly held up by Gilda and Trixie, but I do consider it canon that Cadance was adopted.

43. Do you have one headcanon that you always use, or do you switch depending on projects?
Since I started Our Equestria and absorbed Bokurano into my headcanon, I've become flexible with this. If you know the series, you know why.

44. Can you easily accept the headcanons of different writers? Do you prefer when stories match your headcanon?
I prefer different perspectives, although this may be because I usually ignore the large, obvious questions and explore extremely specific things, so my headcanon rarely matches anyone else's anyway.

45. Is there a part of your headcanon that you wish was more popular among writers?
TomxBloomberg OTP.

46. Is there a popular piece of headcanon that other writers use that you dislike?
Scootaloo as an orphan and/or homeless. It's not an inherently bad idea, but so often it's used as an overly emotional sob story to make Rainbow Dash burst into tears. The whole thing's out of character on multiple levels. Also, now that I think of it, Applejack's hat. A lot of people cling to the idea that it was a gift from her parents, even after it was revealed that she won it at a fair and she has a dozen more just like it. Personally, I prefer the idea that she doesn't need a reason to be attached to it; she wears it all the time because it's her damn hat, and that sums up her character just beautifully. Sometimes things just are the way they are, and that's all you need.

47. Have you ever written a story or blogpost just to explain some part of your headcanon (other than this one)?
Let me check. *one check later* Not specifically, no. Though I did explain my view on Flash Sentry once.

48. Does your headcanon influence things like your favorite pony, ship, or episode?
Not really. My world and the world of the show are largely separate.

49. Would it bother you if the show proved part of your headcanon wrong? Any specific piece that would really bother you to lose?
That sort of thing used to bother me, as it meant I might have to rewrite some of my fanfics. Now that I'm entrenched in my own spinoff universes, I don't mind so much. That said, I kind of don't want to know more about Celestia and Luna; they're the most fun to explore when we get to make up what the rules are. That's selfish, though.

50. Is there something that wasn't asked about here, but you feel like you need to explain to everyone?
Hmm... nah.

Comments

[zacoda1]

"Equestria is dominated by women"

I can't really say that I think that's a canon thing, but other than that an interesting blog post!

I headcanon Equestria as more egalitarian though.