50 Headcanon Questions & Answers: HiE Headcanon

I maintain a multitude of headcanons. My first main headcanon is Equestria as presented to us in the show, essentially trying to read between the lines and discern what isn't shown directly to us. The second main headcanon I keep is for Human in Equestria stories. HiE done well is my favorite genre of fanfic, but since Humans aren’t mentioned or even hinted at in the show it requires a different canon. I'm frequently annoyed at HiE stories because it doesn't answer the question of how the Human got to Equestria outside of "Well, somebody/something pulled it there...magic!" This is my attempt at a cohesive worldview that can simultaneously contain an Equestria that could have a human in it as well as be cohesive with the many tropes HiE contains.

The Princesses:
1. How old are Celestia and Luna?
The exact ages of Celestia, Luna, and Cadance are impossible to determine due to the inherent problems in instantaneous long-distance travel.[1] Celestia and Luna left their world[2] together, but Luna arrived a decade after Celestia. Comparing time streams from other travelers who have arrived shows that not all of them used similar time schemes, several of which are mathematically irreconcilable. The only facts that can be proven are that Celestia arrived 7,500 years ago followed within a decade by Luna and within a millennium by Discord.

2. How old is Cadance?
Cadance was born 2,700 years after Celestia and Luna disappeared. She arrived in Equestria 40 years ago. She is from the same world as Celestia and Luna, but it's only been 3,000 years since they disappeared, not 7,500.

3. Were Celestia and Luna always alicorns, or did they ascend?
The natural magic of Equestria converted their original form into the Alicorn form. A similar process has happened to every traveler; when they cross the boundary into Equestria their body is altered in form to fit the rules of Equestria.[3] This has not been the case every time, as with Discord or the Human.

4. Are Cadance and Twilight immortal?
No. Very few beings are truly immortal. The only immortal being in Equestria is Chrysalis, who is contained inside of the magical hive-mind of the Changelings and can eventually regenerate a body. Sombra attempted to copy this method, causing the magical vanishing of the Crystal Empire.[4] However, Alicorns have naturally long natural lives. It's unknown how long Cadance will live, as she is a traveler changed by Equestria's magic, but Twilight can expect to live another 12,000 years, more if she's careful.

5. Have there been other alicorns in the past?
No. Or if there were they're all dead now with no traces remaining.

6. How much authority do Celestia and Luna have in Equestria?
As much as is needed and they can get away with. In the past, they had been needed to be away fighting threats, so a fairly democratic system was in place allowing regions to administrate their own affairs while still having a centralized government. The details of that original system have been lost after Luna was banished and Celestia took emergency powers to make sure that casualties were minimized after the damage the battle took on the sun and moon.[5]
The current governmental model can be compared to an ancient pony herd with Celestia (and now Luna) taking the position to the stallion and each town sending a representative who takes the position of a mare. The princesses have immense power in the decision making process equivalent to the other representatives, but do not have the ability to unilaterally override the desires of all the representatives. Celestia and Luna count as one royal representative and are authorized to speak for the other, although the nobles are pushing for this to change, assuming that if Celestia and Luna can count as multiple royals then the nobles could get their turn at being a part of the government.

7. Does Shining Armor rule The Crystal Empire along side of Cadance?[6]
No. His official title is “Vicar CrystalHeart” [sic], or “One Who Speaks For the Crystal Heart”. The Vicar sits on an advisory board as an impartial party who is supposed to only represent the needs of Crystal Heart, namely civilian morale and happiness. His words carry immense weight in an advisory capacity, but without emergency measures can not issue any orders. Cadance has also given the position of Vicar the additional title of Commander of the Crystal Guard. In this position he has direct authority over the military branch assigned to defense of the Crystal empire. This allows the Vicar to take immediate action to defend the Crystal Heart and those who power it.

8. Other than Twilight, Luna, and Cadance, what relationships have been important to Celestia in her lifetime (students, close friends, lovers, family)?
Yes, innumerable. Just like all of us, we’re the result of our closest relationships and are changed based on those relationships. Over 7,500 Equestrian years she has had the chance to have numerous students, countless friends, and is mother to the noble branches.

Bonus Headcanon:
Celestia arrived in Equestria within a century of Hearth Warming’s Eve. She has a special connection to those ponies, which is why she has kept the story of Equestria’s founding alive. She learned how to control the Sun and Moon from the unicorns and was so adept at it and so long lived that she eventually became the only one who knew how to do it and was thus thrust into ruling roles on that basis alone. Other countries also rely on her for the sun, causing interesting international treaties.

[1] The highly powerful figures in Equestrian history (Celestia, Sombra, Discord, etc) have all come from other worlds, fleeing or traveling for a multitude of reasons, good and bad. Equestria seems to be the place that the first successful attempt at instantaneous travel takes a being. Unfortunately, each method of travel can only be used once, so for an additional being to come a separate method needs to be used. When Celestia and Luna harnessed the power of order to flee their world, Equestria welcomed them in. However any additional beings using the power of order to power their travel would not be diverted to Equestria. These facts are kept from the populace in general, although there are folk tales talking about beings from other worlds appearing, causing trouble, and then dying horrible deaths as punishment for their hubris and in direct reaction to the trouble they caused. These are typically used as fairy tales to keep children in line.
[2] The word “world” could mean actual worlds, dimensions, realities, or anything else. “World” is just a convenient term.
[3] This is taken from what I remember of Lauren Faust’s conversation about intelligence in Equestria being tied to hoofed quadrupeds. As far as I remember the only canon exceptions are Diamond Dogs and Dragons, and dragons are just too awesome to be a true exception.
[4] Sombra’s method attempted to tie his soul into the magic of the Crystal Heart. Upon his attempt the Crystal Empire vanished along with all traces of its magic and Sombra’s. Sombra was killed when the ponies powered up the Crystal Heart, purging his essence from the Heart. Not having a physical form, he quickly disintegrated and is permanently dead.
[5] The sun and moon powered Celestia and Luna’s fight, and thus both were weakened afterward. The sun could not give as much light, the moon could not affect the tides as much as it had, and Equestria was threatened with famine and freezing temperatures for years. I assume that the Season 4 opener was a time-compressed battle, and it really took a few hours for it to play out, during which time the sister’s castle was damaged and the full power of the sun/moon were utilized.
[6] While not directly mentioned in a question, Cadance’s style of governance is much more similar to an authoritarian government than Celestia’s. This is because of the smaller population she governs. Cadance also tends to rule based on her gut more than Celestia and Luna. This is reflected in her powers over love (and I’m assuming other emotions to a lesser extent).

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)?
Yes, specifically because of how each one can live. An Earth Pony will not grow up with instinctual knowledge of air currents and how to deal with them as you fly down from your cloud house to school. Because of that, terminology is used that causes cultural divides, but this doesn’t typically divide ponies as they try to accept. There are cultural stereotypes, such as earth ponies love being dirty or unicorns can’t handle the scents normal to a pony.[1]
Perfect example at 59 seconds.

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?
Pegasi can’t make food. Literally. The magic of Equestria prevents them from growing food. Earth pony magic is needed to activate seeds. This is discussed further in the next few questions. Of course, they probably have ways unique to them of preparing the ingredients, but I have no headcanon about that.

11. Can all unicorns learn all spells, given the time and effort spent practicing them, or is magical talent usually limited in some way?
Magical talent is limited in the same way as human talent is limited. My hands are not steady enough for me to be a surgeon, but I can type just fine. Neville Longbottom was horrible at potions, but excelled with botany. In the same way, magical talent is varied amongst ponies. A talent such as Twilight is fairly unique, which is why Celestia’s school exists.[2]

12. Earth pony magic: Does it exist? What is it?
Yes, and it is very important for life. Earth pony magic is the magic which is most easily able to directly affect the spark of life within living things.[3] This makes Earth Pony magic both the most subtle during peacetime (growing crops) and the most obvious during war (killing platoons instantly).
(I also like to think of Earth Ponies like Earth Benders from Avatar: The Last Airbender. They aren’t always flashy, but where one of the other benders would have to so something external to your town to destroy it, an Earth Bender could just instantly sink it into the ground crushing everybody. Maud Pie certainly showed the ability to demolish rocks - I haven’t decided if that was because of Earth Pony magic strengthening her teeth/hooves, or if it was because Earth Pony magic interacts with the Earth directly.)

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?
Names are tied to tradition. The Apple and Sparkle family has something to hold to that belongs to their family (a farm and a heritage of magic respectively). I would argue that Pinkie’s family falls into this category as well by using “Pie” as the second part of their names. It is not the common naming process, but it isn't rare by any means.

14. How much formal schooling is an average, middle class pony expected to complete?
Enough to meet the demands of their apprenticed job. This includes the three Rs: reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmatic. Getting through the equivalent to grade 8 is considered enough for most ponies, although 20-30% stop at grades 4-6 depending on the demands of work/family. Everypony thinks it's important to know at least basic arithmetic for bartering purposes and this is frequently taught by the parents before the foals go to school.

15. What’s the average lifespan for a pony? At what age is a pony expected to be independent of their parents?
Shetland Ponies live to be roughly 20 years. Health care and increased knowledge has increased humanity’s lifespan approximately 2x over thousands of years, so I assume that magic would do the same more effectively, and the life expectancy of ponies is now 50 years.[4]

16. Are there roughly an equal number of male and female ponies?
Yes, at birth. I used a study of wild horses as a jumping off point. My explanation for MLP also had to consider that we tend to see more females than males in the show. So I decided that stallion organs are more prone to failure from sudden shocks to the system, leading to almost half to die by the age of 25. However mare organs are less resistant to wear over time so they begin to die faster than males as age increases. By the time they reach 50 the ratio is back to 1:1, making life expectancy the same for each gender, but a stallion who is 50 has better odds of reaching 60 than a mare.[5]

17. How informed are most ponies about things that happen in other parts of Equestria? What about other parts of the world?
Communication is slow, except for pockets of fast magical communication such as Spike/Twilight to the Princess. This link needs to be setup in advance and can not be changed without the destruction of the physical point. For most ponies, a message would be taken by train or pony express and delivered by the postal service.

[1] Scents are very important to ponies, and is one of the identifying marks of a pony. I am blatantly stealing this from The Mixed-Up Life of Brad, which has a wonderful world/headcanon as part of it. I can't say how much I think people should go read that story right now.
[2]Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns is similar to the Jedi Academy, Hogwarts, or Xavier’s School for Totally Not-Mutants. They find ponies who have magic as their talent and then train them to utilize their talents in the best way possible.
[3] Magic is the way of interacting with the ambient magical field in a particular way. Any pony can learn the other’s magics, but it’s similar to learning another language after the age of 15. You can become fluent, but you’ll never be a native speaker the way you could be if you started learning bilingually at birth.
[4] Interesting fact I learned while reading actuarial tables,[6] life expectancy is when 50% of people in the group have died. So if life expectancy for males in the US is 77, that means it’s 50/50 odds if you’ll live that long. I always thought that life expectancy meant that barring random chance I could expect to live to that age, but that’s not how it works.
[5] The oldest pony to have ever lived was Starswirl the Bearded who lived to the age of 153. This old age is the sole reason he was such a prolific mage; he was able to do 3 lifetimes of uninterrupted research and trained several generations of mages. He had the good fortune to teach the great-great-great-great-grandfoal of his first student.
[6] Footnote in a footnote, the world is going to end! Actuarial tables are far more interesting than I thought they would be. Yes, it's a table of numbers, but you can see so many things in them that you didn't realize, from the surprising amount of deaths in the first few months of life to the ages when you can tell people suddenly decide to take risks. If you have time, and don't mind parsing data, find some tables and just peruse them.

The Main Characters:
18. How old are the Mane Six? Spike? The CMC?
The Mane Six seem to be into maturity, but not very far into it as they are still setting up their business, being a part of the “Best Young Flyer” competitions, etc. At the beginning of the show I would say that Rainbow is 11 where Rarity is the oldest at 17. In human terms, Rainbow would be coming up on her 18th birthday and Rarity would be 27.
The CMC are all 6, but Sweetie Belle is closer to 7. (Human terms, between 9-11)
Spike is about 8, making him 12-13. However dragons age differently, and he can expect to live several centuries. He should hit his adult size around the age of 80, and puberty should happen around 55-60.

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?
Yes, she stayed on the ground. She fell near Ponyville and never left. She and Rainbow were acquaintances on good terms, which is why Rainbow stood up for her. After the people in charge of flight camp made sure Fluttershy was ok and reported that she wasn’t coming back, Rainbow had no reason to seek her out. When Rainbow did move to Ponyville, she made it a point to talk to the other Pegasi who lived in the Earth Pony town, and reconnected with Fluttershy then, becoming good friends.

20. Rarity and Applejack both seem to have grown up in Ponyville. What were their interactions like before the show?
Applejack got her hat fixed by Rarity and constantly had to ask her not to embellish it. Rarity bought SAA apples, but tended to avoid the stand until Applejack took a break and Macintosh took over. They interacted as much as people do in a very small town when they don’t have similar friends or work together.

21. What do Twilight and Spike consider their relationship to be?
A combination of Older Sister who takes care of the family/Younger Brother who tries to help out as much as possible and Master/Apprentice. The hatching process imprinted him onto Twilight, which has caused him to act much more pony like than other dragons. Twilight and Spike have come to terms that he won’t really be coming into his own life until she has died, and he won’t even reach physical maturity until several decades she has passed on.[1] Spike has decided to learn everything he can from her during the time he has in order to become the dragon he wants to be in the future.

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?
Immediately after moving in. She was 6, but her parties encouraged ponies to buy baked goods so the Cakes took her on as an apprentice immediately. [2][3] Since that time she has grown into something more like a family member, but it is still expected that some day in the next 5-10 years she will either move out to start her own or take over Sugarcube Corner allowing the Cakes to start something new.

23. Who among the Mane Six had the best parents growing up? The worst parents?
First off, none of them had bad parents. Nobody has some tragic backstory in my headcanon! Rarity had the most supportive parents, although she would not admit it because she didn’t understand why they had trouble understanding her when she would tell them about the troubles she was having in her life. Fluttershy had the most understanding parents, who supported her decision to live on the ground and helped her get into a school meant for Earth Ponies.

24. Why didn’t the CMC hang out more/know each other before Call of the Cutie?
Because Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle don’t really like Apple Bloom. They still tolerate her because of the bonds that were forged in the war against Diamond Tiara and strengthened every day under the mortar fire of her words, but if DT hadn’t been a bully the three wouldn’t have ever connected. Applebloom is tolerated by the other two because of what she brings to the group, because they have to hold onto each other to survive the bullying, but I expect as they grow older their group will fall apart but they'll always have fond memories.

25. Is Scootaloo an orphan? Will she ever be able to fly?
No, she just doesn’t have much in common with her parents, who are Earth Ponies. She will be able to fly, but it will be more like hovering...with style.

26. Will Apple Bloom’s cutie mark involve an apple in some way, even if it’s unrelated to farming or baking?
Eeyup. But it won’t be related to farming. I’m hoping for a apple in a potion beaker, and maybe the apple has cute cartoon eyes that are Xs because her talent is making dangerous potions.

27. How is Sweetie Belle’s relationship with their parents different than Rarity’s was?
Sweetie Belle was born female. This made things much easier on the parents, especially since Rarity had already moved out and they were able to spoil Sweetie Belle without making Rarity jealous.

[1] Turning into a princess sure changed that! Twilight can now expect to see several generations of Spike’s children before she dies of old age.
[2] Pinkie has almost no education outside of homeschool on the farm, which she left early. She has the equivalent of a 2nd grade education, but has subsequently taught herself how to read to a 5th grade level.
[3] The job system of Equestria is based around apprenticeship.

Side and Background Characters:
28. Is Mr. Cake the father of the Cake twins or not?
Yes. [1]

29. Are Big Mac and Cheerilee an item, romantically?
They are currently courting.[2]

30. How did Prince Blueblood get his title?
Blueblood is currently the oldest male of the oldest line descended from Celestia.[3] By tradition, that quirk of breeding confers the title of "prince" which allows him to sit at the right side of Celestia during royal events, confers an expectation upon Celestia to listen to his ideas and advice over other nobles, but has no legal meaning.

31. Is Silver Spoon equally as bad as Diamond Tiara?
Silver Spoon is just as bad as Diamond because she wants to be close to Diamond Tiara and honestly likes her. However DT is just as bad to SS as she is to others. Silver Spoon puts up with it because she can't see herself living in any other way and still fulfilling her cutie mark.[4]

32. Is Zecora’s magic common among zebras?
Equestrians don’t know. Zebraica is on the other side of Saddle Arabia and Saddle Arabia has asked Equestria to have no diplomatic relations with Zebraica. Equestrian researchers are not allowed passage through Saddle Arabia to study Zebraica. There are only a few zebras in Equestria, and none of them are forthcoming about their homeland.

33. Why does Daring Do publish her stories as fiction?
As most ponies do not have a strong foundation in reading, the best way for her to make money on the adventures is to publish them as simplistic fiction.

34. Do you have a strong headcanon for any non-speaking or one line background ponies that you want to share?
Not really. I have weak headcanons, but nothing strong.

[1] Mr Cake is sterile, so they used a sperm donor. This does not make him any less Pound and Pumpkin’s father.
[2] Courtship is a moderately structured process by which ponies make it clear that they're looking for a spouse. This is different from dating, which implies no specific romantic conditions. Females and males go on dates frequently with either gender, but that does not imply they are looking for romance in their dating partners.
[3] The descendants of Celestia’s line frequently suffer from many of the common problems of nobles throughout history, such as inbreeding. This makes them frequently lower quality ponies in a variety of ways. Blueblood’s magical abilities are weak in every way, both from lack of use and practice and because his innate talent is low from centuries of a shallow gene pool.
[4] HamGravy’s story “Silver Spoon’s Mark” is my headcanon Silver Spoon’s cutie mark, and that explains why she would want to be around DT. Because DT is the only other high society foal at school and that’s what Silver Spoon’s innate talents and desires lie.

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?)
Speaking beings are considered citizens until they have taken steps to show otherwise. If you are within the borders of Equestria and can speak, you are required to follow the rules and responsibilities of the nation. Species like Diamond Dogs have seceded from Equestria and still live within the borders in secret, but are still subject to Equestrian laws when found. Cows are citizens just like ponies are, but tend to avoid pony civilization.

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?
Some species have their own nation some do not. Cows have never organized their own nation, Griffons have.

37. Are minotaurs related to cows at all?
No. All known species are not able to breed with each other, and have no known common origins. This doesn't stop people from trying, or from having inter-species relationships.

38. Do all zebras rhyme?
All of the zebras in Equestria do, but they will not say one way or the other if that’s something they share with zebras in their homeland.

39. Do zebra cutie marks work the same way as pony cutie marks?
Unknown. No zebra will say what their cutie mark represents or how they got it, but each zebra has a different cutie mark.

40. Do any species have types of magic, other than ponies and zebras?
Yes, but it either isn’t as refined as pony or zebra magic or is related to a different area.[1]

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?
Cultural. The settler ponies just built them a home where the Buffalo roamed. And the deer and the antelope had already traveled to another place because the harsh environment didn’t suit them. The well tended Equestrian “wilderness” clashes with Buffalo traditions.

[1] DJ PON-3’s system was made by minotaurs. Their magic is related to control of electricity. This has allowed them to manufacture working electronics, hence Iron Will’s headset and speaker setup.

Headcanon and You:
42. Do you consider official sources other than the show (comics, card game text, movies, novels, etc.) to be canon?
I believe I heard that the comics were worked on with the official team, so I consider them canon unless directly contradicted in the show. Otherwise it’s all non-canon, including Equestria Girls, unless the TV show specifically mentions it.

43. Do you have one headcanon that you always use, or do you switch depending on projects?
Every story has a separate headcanon unless explicitly part of the same universe. That doesn't mean that other headcanons can't make cameo appearances though!

44. Can you easily accept the headcanons of different writers? Do you prefer when stories match your headcanon?
I prefer when stories don’t match my headcanon! One of the reasons I like fanfics is because of how they stretch my concepts of the characters.

45. Is there a part of your headcanon that you wish was more popular among writers?
That ponies are more like ponies and less like dogs. So many authors say that the ponies are 4 feet tall and then also make them weigh 100 lbs. A Shetland pony is about 4 feet tall, and weighs 400-500 lbs. Body differences and “magic” can shave off some of the weight if the plot demands, but quadrupeds are going to weigh more than bipeds.[1]

46. Is there a popular piece of headcanon that other writers use that you dislike?
Chessmaster Celestia. While Celestia, like every monarch, has an overarching plan for her nation I don’t think she is manipulating everybody in some master game toward some end somewhere.

47. Have you ever written a story or blogpost just to explain some part of your headcanon (other than this one)?
No. Well...yes, but it hasn't come out publicly and I don't know if it ever will. I just needed to write something to get my headcanon down.

48. Does your headcanon influence things like your favorite pony, ship, or episode?
I try to keep a canon favorite pony and a headcanon favorite, but they do bleed over into each other sometimes. I still don't understand the fanon fascination with Lyra, but Background Pony keeps bleeding over into canon. Why isn't Lyra with Bon Bon in many of the recent episodes? Because Bon Bon has no idea who she is and doesn't know they were good friends.

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, but not very much. To be honest, I’d probably decide that the canon didn’t happen! I’d be disappointed if canon set a height for the ponies.[2]

50. Is there something that wasn't asked about here, but you feel like you need to explain to everyone?
Ponies use indoor plumbing, and it looks the same as ours. I have no explanations for that one. I can rationalize cup handles and doorknobs, but I just can’t rationalize a human toilet in Equestria. My explanation - animation decision. Clearly they meant to include a squat toilet but decided not to because we wouldn’t understand what it was immediately.

[1] Princess Celestia is 6 foot 11 inches to the top of her head and weighs 1,050 lbs. To the top of her horn is 7 foot 7 inches. The average pony stands 3.5 foot and weighs 400-450 lbs. Unicorns tend to weigh and stand 10-15% less, Earth ponies 10-15% more.
[2] I read a survey once that found that the older the fan of MLP was the smaller they thought the ponies should be. Little kids wanted them to be actual pony sized so they could have pony rides and adults wanted them to be dog sized so they could have an animal friend, I suppose.

Comments

[Chatoyance]

In the episode (my favorite episode!) 'Winter Wrap Up', Twilight states clearly that Ponyville has been wrapping up winter for 'several hundred years'. At minimum, several is two, so at least two hundred years.

In 'Family Appreciation Day', the core premise is that Granny Smith is so ordinary and boring that Applebloom is embarrassed to have her speak at school, the moral of the episode is that even the most ordinary old people (ponies) still have interesting stories to tell. Her story is the discovery of the Zap Apple when she was young, roughly the same age as the Mane Six at the time. She found the apple while she was helping early settlers found Ponyville by carving a place for it out of the Everfree.

Since Granny Smith is absolutely ordinary, and since Ponyville is - at minimum - two hundred years old, then the average life span of a magical, sapient, technological and tool using Equestrian must be somewhere around 230-250 years old, unless we consider Granny Smith to be literally staring death in the face. Considering that her only problem is a sore hip, and she is capable of dancing in 'The Return Of Harmony, Part Two', we must assume she still has some significant percentage of lifespan left.

Several Brony sociologists have done statistical analysis on the show in the fandom, and their results suggest that Ponyville, with an estimated population of 4300, and considering the apparent birth rate indicated by the number of foals and fillies and colts ever shown, is closer to 350 years old. This would strongly suggest an average life span of 350 to 400 years for the average Equestrian pony.

So, the minimum is 230, the maximum perhaps around 400 years.

The generally accepted number is 350 as the maximum average life span of a pony in Equestria.

Which, I think is pretty amazing stuff, actually, since the minimum - 200+ - is canon to the show itself.

Following the natural progression of development, we can estimate that childhood is much longer for Equestrians, and that the Mane Six, being what Lauren Faust has described as being 'roughly the same as a human in their late teens to early twenties, only in pony terms' - would likely be around thirty to fifty years old chronologically. Applebloom could have reasonably experienced as much as 20 years of life, Equestrians simply have much longer childhoods. This would neatly explain certain surprisingly mature behaviors on their parts in the show, despite an overall childish disposition.

Just thought you might find such matters thought provoking. They certainly surprised me, when I discovered them.