Bookplayer's 50 Questions (mostly) about Ponies and Equestria · 11:48pm Apr 10th, 2014
So I normally ignore these question things. Honestly, do you really want to read about me?† But Bookplayer just posted 50 questions about ponies and Equestria. 50 questions about ponies. Ponies! That’s much more worthy a topic. So here we go, this should be fun!
†If for some reason you do, look up my interview on the pony fiction vault, or ask me a question directly.
I’m going to answer 44 first:
44. Can you easily accept the headcanons of different writers? Do you prefer when stories match your headcanon?
I’m very accepting of other people’s “headcanons”. In fact, one of the things I love is seen all the different takes on everything. That said, I seldom have patience for arguments about what is “truth” with people trying to back themselves up with “evidence”. I’m much rather hear why an idea is cool rather than why is is or is not supported by the show.
The same goes for everything here. These are all ideas. I am not preaching them as truth.
The Princesses:
1. How old are Celestia and Luna?
Rather than answer in terms of years, which is inevitably just an exercise in picking a random integer greater than a thousand, I chose answer in terms of what they have seen and how much change they have endured through.
In my headcanon, they remember back to primal times, when ponies traveled the world in herds, ate grass, and ran from wolves.
2. How old is Cadance?
I subscribe to “Young Cadence Princessisum”.
3. Were Celestia and Luna always alicorns, or did they ascend?
They were once Earth ponies.
4. Are Cadance and Twilight immortal?
I don’t know. I’m tempted to say no.
5. Have there been other alicorns in the past?
Perhaps. But some of them may have been secretly changelings. In fact, you should probably suspect random Alicorn OCs in anything I write. Not that I have any plans in that direction right now.
6. How much authority do Celestia and Luna have in Equestria?
A great deal, Celestia seldom exercises it. The day to day running of Equestria is often left to other ponies. In addition, Celestia finds herself awkwardly straddled between the mundane and the supernatural and having to balance the needs of each. Does she spend her time dealing with changes to taxation, diplomacy, or investigating signs of dark magic that could herald the return of great evil?
Often, much of what she does is unseen and there have been years where she is hardly seen at the palace all outside of dawn and dusk.
Except for Twilight. Even at times when circumstances mean she was harder to catch the end of a rainbow, she always, without fail, appeared right after dawn, much the consternation of others. And as much as she could, she was there for Spike too.
Luna was always even more aloof and distant than this. Eventually this caused her problems. Her current role in Equestria is uncertain and in flux.
7. Does Shining Armor rule The Crystal Empire along side of Cadance?
I have no strong opinions of the Crystal Empire.
8. Other than Twilight, Luna, and Cadance, what relationships have been important to Celestia in her lifetime (students, close friends, lovers, family)?
There have been many. I’ll give a mention to Acritia and Inanna the Dragon. But you’ll have to wait for me to publish stories to find out about them.
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 are certainly cultural differences and stereotypes. There is such a thing among pegasi as a “Cloudsdale trained flyer” stereotype with the implication that if you are Cloudsdale trained, you are better.
In “Height” I believe Rainbow used the term “ground-bound.” (I think it was one of my prereaders who came up with that) Meanwhile, Rarity swore using the words “by my stars” — a very unicorn thing to swear by. “Empty skies!” is another swear almost exclusively associated with unicorns.
In general, I find thinking about how different cultures swear quite interesting. I do wonder how Celestia would swear, if you could push her that far, and what language it would be in.
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 haven’t really thought about this. I don’t think they grow food in Cloudsdale though, so I’d guess there just isn’t the same variety of food available up there. In short, Cloudsdale is not France.
11. Can all unicorns learn all spells, given the time and effort spent practicing them, or is magical talent usually limited in some way?
Yes, but each requires an act of empathy with a pony or group of ponies whose special talent the spell comes from. This may require lots of study if the pony in question is deceased and has left behind only notes. You have to study their life and times.
Basically, learning unicorn magic is all about biographies.
12. Earth pony magic: Does it exist? What is it?
Everyone says yes, so I’m really tempted to say no, not really, because I’m like that. Besides, friendships in an inherently unfair world could lead to more interesting stories.
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 entirely depends on the family. There is no such thing as a standard family name like we have in Western cultures. No idea about which is more common, but it probably comes down to how invested in the idea of family a particular family is.
14.How much formal schooling is an average, middle class pony expected to complete?
Education is, unfortunately, a bit spotty and it depends a lot of where you grow up. For example, in Cloudsdale there is a lot of focus of flying, weather, and being a pegasus. Canterlot is your best bet for a solid, academic, education.
15. What’s the average lifespan for a pony? At what age is a pony expected to be independent of their parents?
I normally dodge the question by saying things like “Twilight her in her early twenties in pony years.”
Earth ponies, however, live much longer than pegasi and unicorns.
16. Are there roughly an equal number of male and female ponies?
Evolutionary biology suggests this should be the case. Other than that, I have no opinions.
17. How informed are most ponies about things that happen in other parts of Equestria? What about other parts of the world?
Not very, there is no instant communication via the internet and no TV. Most news has to travel by letter. In a crisis, most settlements have to look inward first (e.g. Over a Barrel).
The Main Characters:
18. How old are the Mane Six? Spike? The CMC?
They are adults in pony years (see above). Spike, despite being called a “baby dragon” is more a child in maturity level.
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?
See Height. After leaving Cloudsdale, Fluttershy never looked back. Rainbow and Fluttershy were somewhere between friends and acquaintances in Cloudsdale. When Rainbow came to Ponyville, their shared history gave them enough common ground to be friends. They may not understand each other most of the time, but they have known each other for a very long time.
20. Rarity and Applejack both seem to have grown up in Ponyville. What were their interactions like before the show?
Interactions were a… rarity! They really had no common ground or reason to talk to each other. At most, they may have been in the same classes sometimes.
21. What do Twilight and Spike consider their relationship to be?
Complicated. If pony culture was a culture where adopting new family members were a common practice (e.g. the idea of “blood brothers” that can be found in several cultures) they might call each other brother and sister. But they don’t, and the lack of a label is awkward sometimes. But deal down, they know they know they are family, even if they don’t have the words for it, and that’s fine. In practical terms, Twilight is somewhere between a mother and an older sister to Spike.
Why is there no question about about Celestia and Spike’s relationship? Whenever she had time, which was less often than she would like, Celestia acted as a mother to Spike. Consequently, of all the ponies in Equestria (perhaps even including Luna), Spike is the most at-ease around Celestia. The complete, polar, opposite of Twilight in fact. Unlike Twilight, he never had to earn Celestia’s attentions through a series of trials (both real and, more often, imagined). He knows her love in unconditional and is constantly baffled at everyone else’s nervousness.
“She’ll send me back to magic kindergarten!” “Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”
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?
It was an act of kindness originally, but Pinkie now helps out a lot.
23. Who among the Mane Six had the best parents growing up? The worst parents?
Interesting question. I’m nominate to say Fluttershy’s father for worst. And also speculate that he is basically Brian Blessed. The reason is that this results in maximum hilarity.
“Fluttershy, my dear! So these are the ponies you’ve told your mother and I so much about!”
“Eeepp”
“Jolly, good, jolly good!”
(For those who don’t know, Brian Blessed is a large ham and a human who can basically do the Royal Canterlot Voice. Google him on youtube).
24. Why didn’t the CMC hang out more/know each other before Call of the Cutie?
No idea.
25. Is Scootaloo an orphan? Will she ever be able to fly?
I’m undecided. I did hear a theory I liked once that pegasi look after their folds like Spartans. Basically raising children is a collective effort of the community. Though that does contradict Brian Blessed being Fluttershy’s father.
26. Will Apple Bloom’s cutie mark involve an apple in some way, even if it’s unrelated to farming or baking?
I’d give good odds. Family seems important to her.
27. How is Sweetie Belle’s relationship with their parents different than Rarity’s was?
Interesting question. Sweetie probably gets along with them better. Rarity must have been such a teenager at once point. I imagine that even today she defines herself a lot by not wanting to be like her parents.
Side and Background Characters:
28. Is Mr. Cake the father of the Cake twins or not?
Sure, why not?
29. Are Big Mac and Cheerilee an item, romantically?
Maybe?
30. How did Prince Blueblood get his title?
Prince and princess traditionally have meanings that are a little different to they way we think of them. Back in the mists of time the chief of each pony heard was the herd prince or princess. When heads started merging and changing from being migrated to fixed communities the title stuck as a term for a leader.
So basically, it’s not so much Princess Celestia as it’s Princess Celestia.
In human terms, Blueblood would probably be a Duke.
31. Is Silver Spoon equally as bad as Diamond Tiara?
No, Diamond usually leads her on.
32. Is Zecora’s magic common among zebras?
No idea. Probably not?
33. Why does Daring Do publish her stories as fiction?
I’m choosing not to answer.
34. Do you have a strong headcanon for any non-speaking or one line background ponies that you want to share?
No.
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?)
“Be excellent to each other”. Harming animals, especially herbivores, is strongly, strongly taboo and would probably result in shunning by the community. It might not have always been like this, especially back when dangerous carnivores were more commonplace. Just ask Luna “Wolfsbane” if you’re interested.
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?
There are other nations, but I haven’t had cause to define them strongly yet. I want to avoid a “Griffon Kingdom” though because everyone does that.
37. Are minotaurs related to cows at all?
“We don’t talk about that.”
38. Do all zebras rhyme?
Ask Zecora
39. Do zebra cutie marks work the same way as pony cutie marks?
I have no strong feels on this.
40. Do any species have types of magic, other than ponies and zebras?
Stars. The stars are deeply magical beings. There may be others.
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?
The Buffalo come from a place far from Equestria. But with pony towns springing up near their home, we may be seeing the first meaningful cultural exchanges happening now.
Headcanon and You:
42. Do you consider official sources other than the show (comics, card game text, movies, novels, etc.) to be canon?
I don’t pay enough attention to them so for practical purposes I’m unlikely to end up using ideas from them. Maybe if there was a cool enough idea...
43. Do you have one headcanon that you always use, or do you switch depending on projects?
I kind of have one consistent headcanon.
45. Is there a part of your headcanon that you wish was more popular among writers?
I don’t know.
46. Is there a popular piece of headcanon that other writers use that you dislike?
Celestia “correcting” Luna on her speaking patterns. I’ve read that scene so many times. No, when it’s just them they speak the language of their childhoods to each other.
47. Have you ever written a story or blogpost just to explain some part of your headcanon (other than this one)?
Yes. A long time ago.
48. Does your headcanon influence things like your favorite pony, ship, or episode?
Probably not.
49. Would it bother you if the show proved part of your headcanon wrong? Any specific piece that would really bother you to lose?
Yes, if Celestia and Luna’s past was revealed. Perhaps even if it matched my own ideas. I want to tell it in my own way and I want to see others tell it in theirs.
50. Is there something that wasn't asked about here, but you feel like you need to explain to everyone?
I guess I already covered Spike and Celestia.
I deeply enjoy this idea.
I'm not going to bother with writing up a full answer to these in a post of my own since it probably wouldn't get many if any reads, but I thoroughly agree with your answer to #44. Heck, seeing the various different directions authors take what we see in the show is a large part of the fun of reading so much fanfiction.
1998763
As do I. The mental image of a herd of semi-airborne foals stampeding through Cloudsdale is kind of fantastic.
On the other hand, there's the mental image of Fluttershy's father learning that she was fine and booming, "FLUTTER'S ALIVE!"
Decisions...
2000188
So of course he hitches himself to the War Chariot Ajax and flies out to Ponyville to see her...
Adding Height to my read later list...
2000553
I don't want to inadvertently mislead you. I don't cover Rainbow and Fluttershy's pasts explicitly in Height. Mostly it's just hinted at with the action taking place in the present. But that common history was what was at the back of my mind while I was writing it.
You make an interesting point in your stance on other headcanons. I have a superficially similar stance in that I'm willing to accept pretty much anything for the sake of a good story, but while I'll like or dislike ideas based on their "coolness", I find that my definition of "coolness" includes how it interacts with established show canon. When I was getting into fanfiction, I found a lot of Skywriter's ideas especially cool because they lined up with show canon in an interesting way, usually by connecting apparently unrelated facts by creating a single reason or principle that explained all of them simultaneously. I like to look at the creation of headcanon as a sort of logic puzzle that involves taking parts of the show and attempting to explain them in a way that does not contradict any other pieces of "show evidence".* Points for inherent coolness, but also for bigger chains that explain more things at once.
Naturally I wouldn't be upset by stories not adhering to such ideas any more than I'd be upset by them not adhering to the show itself, and I don't really mind that, as long as it's in service of a good story. The only thing I'd have problems with is radical personality transplants for canonical characters, because they're pretty much the reason I'm reading the story in the first place, and so there's not much point if you might as well have just made original characters.
That would be interesting. This train of thought reminded me of my favourite curse I've heard in ponyfiction so far: "Celestia's flaming tits", (from Night Guards) which you'll surely remember, since apparently it contributed to getting you into the fandom.
Well. That's certainly interesting. I feel like this would have significant implications for our group of friends, and for generally integrated pony society as a whole, since Ponyville seems pretty heterogeneous, and especially multi-racial families like the Cakes. Have you written anything that takes this factoid into account?
* For an example of this, see the long, rambling footnote in my response to Bradel's response to this query.
2052414
You make a good point about canon. It is cool to see a story that ties a bunch of loose threads from canon together in unexpected ways. At the same time, there are things like This Platinum Crown that ties together bits of the show with a lot of well resarched chivalry and house polotics. I had never heard of a pas de armes before reading then and seeing that done well is just as cool.
Yup, that practically goes without saying. Though there are exceptions. I have a lot of difficulty squaring Skywriter's tragic "The Sun Nag" version of Celestia with, well, Celestia, but she such a damn interesting character I don't mind at all.
I remember that fic, including the "flaming tits" bit. I think it was on my original fic-reading ramble, probably shortly after Dangerous Business.
At one point I considered "Empty Skies" as a possible way for Celestia to curse, but it doesn't make a lot of sense so I gave it to the unicorns instead.
Unfortunately, no. I think it currently exists as a reaction to the "wizards live longest" rule you see in fantasy all the time. It's also a way of explaining Granny Smith founding the 300 year old town of Ponyville. But now that you mention it, there would be a certain sadness that earth pony parents would feel upon giving birth to a unicorn or a pegasus. I'm not sure how to work it into a story without it ended up a variant of "Twilight is sad because she's outlived her friends" story with a different narrator.