I have noticed that when Twilight is depicted as human sometimes she is depicted with dark skin with no apparent context.

Without any context her having dark doesn't make sense.

The following list will show my opinion on the skin tone of the mane 6 listed from darkest to palest

1. Applejack. (She spends whole days outside working hard on her farm.)
2. Rainbow Dash. (Spends allot of time outside managing the weather and training)
3. Fluttershy. (Spends allot of time outside helping her animal friends though mostly in the forest).
4. Rarity. (The windows in her shop are large to let large amounts of sunlight to display her wares)
5. Pinkie Pie. (She works in a bakery and delivers orders)
6. Twilight Sparkle. (She spends most of her time inside.)

Who of the main 6 do you think is the palest to the darkest?

I'd agree with this list based on the assumption that every character has a pale skin tone (ie White or Possibly East-Asian). I believe that when Twilight is given darker skin it is to denote an Indian or possibly African heritage, in order to possibly add some racial diversity to the group. I've also seen Rarity or Rainbow sometimes given Asian skin tones, though Applejack Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are generallly full Caucasian. Don't take this as a definite answer, just a thought.

Does it really matter? Are people not allowed to see a little bit of themselves in multicolored horses?

I think twilight would have a Tanner skin tone, because if you remember the beginning of the first episode twilight was sitting outside reading a book. Who is to say she didn't do this offtin when studying under Princess Celestia?

6775235
It's all just fandom interpretation.
Me personally, I see all of them as Caucasian. I'm not even white

6775558
Me too, althought I am white

6775235

Applejack
Twilight Sparkle
Pinkie Pie
Fluttershy
Rainbow Dash
Rarity

6775235
Because very early on, some fanart portrayed her as having dark skin and it caught on.

Having tried my hand at art and cartooning myself, I know how difficult it is to avoid having all your characters look like exact clones of each other except for hair - in fact, in anime, much of the reason for the vibrant hair colors is so the audience can tell the characters apart.

I think darker (somewhat brown) skin actually works well for Twilight.

Well I'll throw my hat in the ring for me Rarity would definitely be white if not close to albino. Applejack would have naturally tan skin, but I don't think black. Fluttershy would be very pale but not albino, maybe its her mane colour but I just can't see Fluttershy with even an average white skin tone. Pinkie pie is honestly any skin tone from albino to black she seems to fit with basically any, if I had to pick she would be be very close to albino for that slight pink tinge in light. Rainbow Dash would either be on the lighter side like Fluttershy with either no tan or a mild tan or on the lighter side of dark skin. Finally I personally see Twilight as Eurasian so skin colour would be on the lighter end, but darker than Rarity and Fluttershy and lighter than Applejack, though I can see darker skin on twilight though it would again be on the lighter side.

So Lightest to darkest would be (note pinkie could go anywhere I choose albino just to have her in the list)
Pinkie Pie (Albino) ------------------ Pinkie Pie (Albino)
Rarity ----------------------------------- Rarity
Fluttershy ----------------------------- Fluttershy
Rainbow Dash (Light Skin) ------ Applejack
Twilight (Light Skin) ---------------- Twilight (Dark Skin)
Applejack ------------------------------ Rainbow Dash (Dark Skin)

6775235
In Greek mythology: Unicorns are from India. Indians have dark skin.

6775235
AJ: Pretty obviously Caucasian, since she's a Southern Yankee (rest of world call all Americans Yankees) with blonde hair. So, tanned Caucasian skin.
RD: Deep tan due to outdoor athletic lifestyle and all the time spent on the field/ pitch.
FS: Reminiscent of a forest nymph archetype, which is also implied in some of her EQG clothing choices. And in 1 song she was re-enacting Sound of Music. Which is why ppl see her as Caucasian.
Ra: Ppl see her as Caucasian due to her affected accent. PoC Americans usually don't put up a posh accent like that even if they become high-status.
PP: Ehh...
TS: 2 things. 1st, her hair style is feudal Japanese hime cut, which is still popular today. 2nd, hair is long, straight, and dark. This opens her up to interpretation based on human hair genetics. Who has long straight dark hair, and are stereotypically nerdy and brainy? Asians and Indians. Helps that her coat color is also dark, for ppl to make that association.

6775455
Good point.

6876596

Pretty obviously Caucasian, since she's a Southern Yankee (rest of world call all Americans Yankees) with blonde hair. So, tanned Caucasian skin.

If any of the Mane 6 would be Black, I'd kind of expect it to be AJ. Because of her Southern accent (I think most Blacks are Southerners, or descended from Southerners).

6876775
Sure, if she didn't have blonde hair and white freckles.

6878129
Actuality, Black people can have freckles. As for the hair: I wouldn't really expect the Ponies to have the same hair-color as Humans.

6879121
Sure sure Morgan Freeman has them. But you're wasting energy arguing that a pony with a cowboy hat, Southern accent, freckles, and a blonde mane isn't a stand-in for a white Southerner with blonde hair. Same as arguing Coriander Cumin and Saffron Masala are actually platinum blondes as human analogs. Why bother?

We're in "Humanized Ponies" forum. The topic is about the correlation between ponies and human ethnicities. If your opinion is "There is no correlation other than what the viewer wants", fine, there's nothing more for you to say because there's nothing for you to analyze.

6879580
I think you're taking this a bit too seriously. But from what I've read: One forth of all cowboys were Black.

“The topic is about the correlation between ponies and human ethnicities.”

Yes. But White and Black Southerners are two very closely related ethnicities (there's not that much difference between them). Signs for one ethnicity, will mostly double as signs for the other.

6879597
LOL wait, I'm "taking this a bit too seriously"? I'm not the one arguing that a pony with blonde hair and white freckles is black if she is compared to human! Ofc whole lots of Southerners are black. Whole lots of Latinos are also in the South, with a Southern accent... why can't they be AJ? I'm just calling a spade a spade.

6880070
You said that Human AJ's "pretty obviously Caucasian". I disagreed, but I never said she was pretty obviously Black! It just really wouldn't surprise me if she were Black, considering her Southern accent.

Edit:

But when you get down to it: The only obvious thing about the Mane Six's ethnicity, is that they're Equestrians. Or Americans, if America's the Human version of Equestria.

6880120
Yes, because they're not human. A pony can have the exact mane color and coat color as a certain human ethnicity, and speak in the same dialect/ accent/ language, and it would not be that Homo sapiens variety, unless magic. But that's xenobiology. If we talk about "What was intended by the writers?" it's pretty obvious that AJ is meant to be a Caucasian Southerner. You can't be writing for an American (hell, human) audience, give the character a Stetson, Southern yankee accent, blonde hair, freckles, and a coat similar to tanned Caucasian skin, and then tell the viewers oh no that character is not a stand-in for a Caucasian. That's just disingenuous.

It's not because I care about "white representation", as if. AJ is not even the most interesting character. It's just I like intellectual honesty, especially in media.

6880290
You do have a point, about AJ's fur and mane color. I picture Human Twilight as looking Indian: Both because Pony Twilight has dark fur, and it seems fitting with mythological unicorns being from India.

6880371
I had also agreed with the plausibility of Twilight being an Indian nerd. The only conflict with that now is that we've seen actual ethnically Indian unicorns in the show, and they don't talk or dress like Twi.
Heh, and we've also seen actual ethnically East Asian unicorns in the show, and they also don't look or dress like Twi...

6880438
I don't think that's much of a conflict. Having some foreign blood, isn't the same thing as being an actual foreigner.

I have some Italian blood. But I don't talk like Italians, because I'm not Italian. I'm American. An American with some Italian blood, isn't the same thing as an actual Italian.

6881163
Okay, except neither of Twilight's parents resemble the actual "Indian" unicorns.
Doesn't really matter, since Twilight is not human. But the point is, "Oh well maybe she's a 2nd generation" doesn't really work. If we're getting to 3rd-4th generation, she won't look Indian anymore anyways (as a human).
Why? Because setting-wise, she's Canterlot minor nobility. As such, she is whatever ethnicity the Canterlot old unicorn houses are. For me, worldbuilding fidelity matters vastly more than diversity points. So if she's native Canterlotian, then that's what she is.

6882728
Well, if you really want to think about it that deeply:

Twilight would almost certainly be American, because Equestria seems to be an alternate universe America (look at the city names, for one thing). If we assume you're right, and that Twilight doesn't have enough immigrant blood to look visibly foreign: She'd probably have to be White, Black, or Amerindian.

Those are basically the three races that created the America we know: The decedents of the British colonists (Whites), the decedents of the African slaves (Blacks), and the people who were already here (Amerindians).

Three races created Equestria too (Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and Pegasi). But those races don't remotely correspond to the American races. So Twilight being a Unicorn tells us nothing about if she's Black or White. However: We can probably rule out Amerindian, seeing as Twilight's not a Buffalo.

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But I didn't form my mental image of Human Twilight, by thinking about it that deeply. I formed my mental image, because in a story I wrote (that I didn't publish), Twilight took Human form. Looking (Asian) Indian just seemed appropriate: Considering Twilight's dark fur, and that mythological unicorns come from India.

6882745
Ha, did a bit of research and fun fact turned up... If you want to incorporate Indus Valley Civilization unicorns:

Then you'd have to go to these MLP unicorns for the closest equivalent:

But they're Far East Asiatic in dress and architecture! So, unsurprisingly, Equestria and Earth mythology don't match up perfectly.
But man, now I wish Studio DHX had given the Indian unicorns the curved horns. As for Mistmane and the Asiatic unicorns... well I guess they could have been the Kirin.
Otherwise, unicorns are just way too widespread... Asia, all unicorns... India, we've only seen unicorns... Middle East... at first it was those horses, but now also unicorns!

6882751
I haven't been following the recent episodes.