Bookplayer's 50 Questions Thingy

The Princesses:
1. How old are Celestia and Luna?
Hard to say, I would guess at least 2,000 years so that they have been together for half their lives.

2. How old is Cadance?
Late 20s.

3. Were Celestia and Luna always alicorns, or did they ascend?
I prefer ascension, with at least one starting as an earth pony. I also think it's likely that they aren't actually related.

4. Are Cadance and Twilight immortal?
My headcanon as to alicorn immortality is that it is not some special power of being an alicorn. Alicorns have the powers of all three races, but turned up to eleven. Earth pony magic includes increased endurance, so the natural consequence of more earth pony magic is better health. With enough, this will completely prevent aging. So, as the element of magic, Twilight is immortal. Cadance might be, but I'm not as certain.

5. Have there been other alicorns in the past?
I am adverse to alicorn OCs so I'll say no.

6. How much authority do Celestia and Luna have in Equestria?
Quite a lot, they are so well liked that other parts of the government often try to grant them more powers while they try to impose controls. I've never liked the stories where the other portions of the government can completely screw them. Even if they could legally, The princesses' immortality allows them to decide how history will remember others. This seems like a very effective threat.

7. Does Shining Armor rule The Crystal Empire along side of Cadance?
He is commander of their military and helps her make decisions, but ultimately her decisions go.

8. Other than Twilight, Luna, and Cadance, what relationships have been important to Celestia in her lifetime (students, close friends, lovers, family)?
I find it likely that she has had lovers and probably a child or two. She used to be more closely connected to her subjects, but has become viewed as this perfect figure and now finds it difficult to be treated as a pony.

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)?
Generally pretty homogenous, although it varies by region. Cloudsdale is probably pretty different.

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?
Cloudsdale uses a lot of clouds and fewer heavy objects.

11. Can all unicorns learn all spells, given the time and effort spent practicing them, or is magical talent usually limited in some way?
Some unicorns lack the power to cast powerful spells, but with enough study they can cast any spell they have the power for. If the spell is relevant to their talent, they can cast more powerful spells and can learn them very easily.

12. Earth pony magic: Does it exist? What is it?
I already answered some of this above. I see it as a combination of good health and increased talents. It's often subtle, but earth ponies are just too good at their talents. e.g. the Cakes could manage to bake something tasty even if they had no salt. If they work at it, they can make this more blatant. e.g. Applejack returning a dying tree to health in a few minutes.

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?
Most families don't. Twilight is effectively a junior.

14. How much formal schooling is an average, middle class pony expected to complete?
At least some high school as we would think of it.

15. What’s the average lifespan for a pony? At what age is a pony expected to be independent of their parents?
I just default to human values except for earth pony longevity. I see earth ponies as generally living ~20 longer than the other races with some extreme outliers.

16. Are there roughly an equal number of male and female ponies?
I don't have really strong feelings here, but I lean towards there being more mares.

17. How informed are most ponies about things that happen in other parts of Equestria? What about other parts of the world?
Newspapers exist and I assume that there is some technological or magical equivalent of the telegram. So, 19th century communications or thereabouts.

The Main Characters:
18. How old are the Mane Six? Spike? The CMC?
The Mane Six are 20-26 (Twilight might be as low as 18)
Spike and the CMC are 11-13

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 find it unlikely that she did alone as she seemed quite young. She may have stayed with relatives or friends who were closer to the ground or just visited it often. They were always friends, but there were times when they didn't see much of each other.

20. Rarity and Applejack both seem to have grown up in Ponyville. What were their interactions like before the show?
Old classmates, they got along but didn't hang out.

21. What do Twilight and Spike consider their relationship to be?
Brother-sister but with a large age gap so she will often act motherly.

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?
When she was a teen, so she's something like a surrogate niece. She's part of their family by now.

23. Who among the Mane Six had the best parents growing up? The worst parents?
Applejack had very good parents, but they died when she was young.
Pinkie had parents who really didn't know how to deal with her. They love her, but don't really understand her. However, they probably set her up with the Cakes.
Rarity's parents are loving, but embarrass her horribly.
Rainbow Dash either fights with her parents who want her to just settle down and mature or didn't know her mom and loves her dad but thinks he's embarrassing.
Fluttershy is who I'm most torn on. First option is that they are sure that they know what's best for her and it's not what she's doing so she avoids them. Second option is that they were always worried about her and when she found something she loved they backed her all the way.
Twilight has good parents, but moved out of home quite young.

24. Why didn’t the CMC hang out more/know each other before Call of the Cutie?
Sweetie and Scootaloo did, but it was just chance that Apple Bloom wasn't included. They hadn't really tried to get to know each other.

25. Is Scootaloo an orphan? Will she ever be able to fly?
Maybe (could go either way), Yes (Magic is just too damn good at fixing things)

26. Will Apple Bloom’s cutie mark involve an apple in some way, even if it’s unrelated to farming or baking?
I'd say so.

27. How is Sweetie Belle’s relationship with their parents different than Rarity’s was?
Their parents travel a lot more now so Sweetie sees less of them and stays with Rarity more.

Side and Background Characters:
28. Is Mr. Cake the father of the Cake twins or not?
Yes.

29. Are Big Mac and Cheerilee an item, romantically?
No real opinion, although I like this better than most Mac pairings.

30. How did Prince Blueblood get his title?
Three options:
He's descended from Princess Platinum.
The land that used to be associated with his title was a principality.
Hundreds or thousands of years ago, his ancestor was the child of one of the princesses.

31. Is Silver Spoon equally as bad as Diamond Tiara?
No, but she's still a bully.

32. Is Zecora’s magic common among zebras?
No, she has studied alchemy for a long time.

33. Why does Daring Do publish her stories as fiction?
To allow herself to play a bit fast and loose with the details and because no one would believe them otherwise. Or because Polsky 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?
Lyra studied Battle Magic at Celestia's School.

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?)
Intelligence definitely matters, but if they can't live as peaceful members of society, they can't be citizens. Animal abuse laws are quite strict.

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?
They generally have their own nations, but all nations have some members of other species.

37. Are minotaurs related to cows at all?
No, but Buffalo probably are.

38. Do all zebras rhyme?
No, it's a shaman/religious thing.

39. Do zebra cutie marks work the same way as pony cutie marks?
Haven't thought about it.

40. Do any species have types of magic, other than ponies and zebras?
Griffons have a lesser form of pegasus magic. They couldn't fly or cloud-walk without it, but it doesn't allow them to do real weather control. Despite larger wings and lighter bones, they are no better at flying than pegasi due to their reduced magic.
Dragons are resistant to magic and their flame and flight is magic.
Diamond dogs probably have some magic to help with tunneling.

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?
Some of both.

Headcanon and You:
42. Do you consider official sources other than the show (comics, card game text, movies, novels, etc.) to be canon?
It's more than fanon, less than canon.

43. Do you have one headcanon that you always use, or do you switch depending on projects?
I'll switch around.

44. Can you easily accept the headcanons of different writers? Do you prefer when stories match your headcanon?
There are some headcanons that I don't like but I'm generally flexible.

45. Is there a part of your headcanon that you wish was more popular among writers?
The ages, it bugs me when Rarity somehow owns a successful business at age 17.

46. Is there a popular piece of headcanon that other writers use that you dislike?
I'm not fond of flightless Scootaloo as it is often just used for the angst.

47. Have you ever written a story or blogpost just to explain some part of your headcanon (other than this one)?
No.

48. Does your headcanon influence things like your favorite pony, ship, or episode?
Not really.

49. Would it bother you if the show proved part of your headcanon wrong? Any specific piece that would really bother you to lose?
Probably would a bit.

50. Is there something that wasn't asked about here, but you feel like you need to explain to everyone?
The financial situations of the Mane Six:
Applejack: The farm is quite profitable, and they should be well off. However, when her parents died, they had a few very hard years and went deep into debt. Almost all of their profits have gone into paying this off and they are only now returning to full production.
Pinkie Pie: She earns money from the Cakes and for throwing parties, and quickly spends it. She receives room and board from her job so she's never in danger.
Fluttershy: She is the member of the Mane Six most likely to have trouble. She acts as town vet and receives a small stipend to care for the wild animals but she has a lot of dependents. She has very little to spend on herself.
Rarity: If Rarity's only concern was making money, she could be quite wealthy by just finding gems. She will sell the gems she does not intend to use so she always has a decent amount of cash on hand even if her boutique hasn't been doing too well.
Twilight: In between her royal stipend, her librarian salary, her research grants and offers of family wealth, she doesn't need to worry about money. She buys a lot of books and equipment but also makes sure to save money in a diversified investment account.
Rainbow Dash: Due to union requirements regarding maximum workload, the town had to hire her for three separate jobs. They don't mind, she does the work of five. She has a lot of money and spends freely.

Comments

[Emptybee]

Applejack: The farm is quite profitable, and they should be well off. However, when her parents died, they had a few very hard years and went deep into debt. Almost all of their profits have gone into paying this off and they are only now returning to full production.

I like this one. It always kind of bugged me that the writers seem to have just assumed that the Apple family must be poor because they're farmers.

Most of the factors which leave farmers in poverty in the real world don't apply in Equestria. Rain and other weather is made to order. There's no expensive farm equipment and no incentive to buy up too much land - so no need for big bank loans. Plus if earth ponies can directly influence their crops, or even just indirectly evaluate the soil, crop failure should be nearly non-existent. It's still hard work, but a lot more predictable.