Chaotic draconequine musings · 1:46am Jan 27th, 2023
Well... I honestly should probably try to give a bit less focus to considerations and some more focus to actual writing... but I'm still trying to organize some new writing means, and I think I've been feeling some sort of subconscious dejection over certain things in my life, so most of the work I've been doing is musings on aspects of lore in general. I mostly mean this regarding what I'm deciding for my AU, but I've been thinking along the basis of canon as well, both the series and expanded universe.
And given how big a part of the series he became as time went on (as controversial as a lot of those decisions turned out to be, and as many things the writers did I have to admit I don't agree with), something I couldn't help but consider was Discord himself, and to a certain extent, draconequii as a whole.
(For reference, I use 'draconequii' as the plural for 'draconequus' because it seems the logical plural going by wiktionary. That said, if fandom has another term and I don't know it, I apologize, and appreciate any clarifications.)
So... the starting point on them is that Discord's very introduction has Cheerilee state that Discord is a draconequus, which by itself would suggest they're a species, but the comics later introduce two female draconequii, Cosmos and Eris, who are, as Fancy Pants might say "quite the characters" (at least Cosmos is even more powerful than Discord, not to mention more twisted than even pre-redemption Discord, and Eris is also the latter). There being more draconequii seems to further confirm they're a species.
But that in itself would pose some interesting questions. If draconequii are a species, where is the rest of the population? Are draconequii somehow endangered, with Discord, Eris and Cosmos as the last (or at least, among the last) survivors? Or is there a whole population of draconequii out there, and they have simply kept to themselves?
If the former, and assuming Discord, Eris and Cosmos are within average for their species (which they may well not be) what possibly could have made such a powerful species endangered?
And if the latter, how have they managed to keep to themselves if draconequii (going by Discordant Harmony and the fact Eris and Cosmos also have elements of chaos to their magic) actually need to cause some level of chaos to keep themselves alive, even if they don't have to use chaos for evil like Discord proved later on?
(To address the elephant in the room, yes, I know he backslid in Seasons 8 and 9, but as doylist as that may sound, I think it's either the writers or the executives at fault (can't be sure which considering the executive meddling the series got at points) and in better hands or with a bit more creative freedom, I feel Discord could have stayed at his Discordant Harmony level of character while still being recognizable.)
If TV Tropes is right (and I have no reason to doubt it on this), Cosmos says in her issues that she came from space, but if so, that would mean draconequii are technically extraplanetary life. In itself, that would beg questions as to how they became familiar enough in Equestria for Cheerilee to recognize them as a species - but conversely, it's true that space travel exists at least as a concept in Equestria (going both by A Flurry of Emotions and Sparkle's Seven).
For what it's worth, draconequii being magical aliens is something I can accept without really much in the way of resistance. If I had to be picky with anything there, it's that perhaps there should be a bit more acknowledgement of extraplanetary lifeforms being a known thing in the Equestrian universe, but if there ever was an established population on the planet, perhaps it was assumed they were 'always native', and just became rarer - although again, if all draconequii were as powerful as at least Eris (who from what I can gather is the weakest of the three), one can't help but wonder what could have wiped the others out.
What does all this mean for my AU? Well... I've decided on some things, but I'm still deciding others. The best I can say is that I hope readers will like what I end up doing with draconequii in my fics.
Thank you to all who took the time to read this, especially considering how random it turned out...
As always, I hope all is well with all of you. :)
Best regards, and take care.
Well, it seems we've both put some thought into draconequii. I have my own plans, of course, and they will be revealed within the fullness of time...at least, so far as Cosmos goes. Still trying to make up my mind with Eris.
5710843
Looking forward to see what you will do with both of them. :)
On my own end, a lot of the details are admittedly still fuzzy, but funnily enough, Cosmos is also the one I have more defined ideas for so far, although I do also have a notion on what to do with Eris.