Head Canon Survey

Hello, bronies. I found this little Q&A about head canons and I thought it would be fun to do it... So... Here it is.

The Princesses:
1. How old are Celestia and Luna?
A thousand years at least, since the first confirmed feat they did was imprisoning Discord with the Elements of Harmony, which they achieved around a thousand years prior season 2. Though they might have been born some years prior of that too.

2. How old is Cadance?
The same age as Shining.

3. Were Celestia and Luna always alicorns, or did they ascend?
They ascended sometime before they received the elements.

4. Are Cadance and Twilight immortal?
How about… no.

5. Have there been other alicorns in the past?
Only one. She was the creator of the world where Equestria can be found, but sadly cannot reach to her little ponies in the same way she was used to.

6. How much authority do Celestia and Luna have in Equestria?
Their authority is absolute and surpasses that of every other political figure in Equestria, but they hardly use said authority. They usually watch over problems of interest for the entirety of the country, like the creation of a new law or the opening of a new trading route and such. That’s why they assign elected mayors for many cities, that deal with problems pertaining their respective areas.

7. Does Shining Armor rule The Crystal Empire along side of Cadance?
They are both rulers of The Crystal Empire, But Cadance usually deals with the diplomatic topics while Shining is in command of the Empire’s Army and its law force.

8. Other than Twilight, Luna, and Cadance, what relationships have been important to Celestia in her lifetime (students, close friends, lovers, family)?
Yeah… I don’t-diddly-know. I guess Sunset was important to her at some point, but I haven’t really thought about this topic. For me, Celestia is selfless in everything she does and cares about everyone of her subjects the same way.

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 cultural differences related to the natural differences between each of the three races. The thing is that there aren’t really any stereotypes attached to a race by the other two. They all recognize that one race is stronger than the other in some way that the other two can’t achieve, but they see through these differences and move on with their lives. They judge a pony by his character, not by their origin.

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?
Unless rainbows can be used as a spicy sauce, then no, I can’t think on any food that could be grown in Cloudsdale.

11. Can all unicorns learn all spells, given the time and effort spent practicing them, or is magical talent usually limited in some way?
Unicorns can naturally perform any spell that relates with their special talent, and learning a spell that differs from said talent would depend on how familiar is the unicorn with the spell’s purpose, how complex is the spell itself and how much magical power the unicorn currently has.

12. Earth pony magic: Does it exist? What is it?
Earth pony magic is… pretty complex if you think about it. Clearly, it allows them to help plants grow better and healthier and to evaluate the fertility of the land, making them great farmers and gardeners. Their magic also gives them some sort of pre-cognition, which in turn gives them a great sense of orientation.

NOTE: Ponies at a young age are yet developing their magical powers, and thus might have problems when trying them the first time.

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?
Usually, the names given to a foal by his parents follows certain trend in the family, which in the end corresponds to their special talent in some way. Sometimes, however, the special talent of a pony could bear no relation whatsoever with their names, so they choose between keeping their old name or receive a brand new one. I like this idea because that would explain why someponies like Diamond Tiara and Snails have their names being a description of their cutie mark.

14. How much formal schooling is an average, middle class pony expected to complete?
I’ll have to agree with Darth Link 22 in this one. All foals general education about their respective race at kinder, formal education at primary and high school, and then they start an apprenticeship in a job where they could perform their talent.

15. What’s the average lifespan for a pony? At what age is a pony expected to be independent of their parents?
The same as us humans. And I guess the age where they would be expected to be independent would be around 18 years. ID-really-K.

16. Are there roughly an equal number of male and female ponies?
Yes. The reason why we don’t see so many stallions in the show is because it usually focus on the lives of six mares that most of the time do girly stuff. There’s a video somewhere where this is explained better.

17. How informed are most ponies about things that happen in other parts of Equestria? What about other parts of the world?
There is a regular source of information in Equestria that keeps ponies informed about anything happening in the world, they just don’t let them worry unless the situation demands it.

The Main Characters:
18. How old are the Mane Six? Spike? The CMC?
The Mane six are all around their 20’s as Word of God stated. The young ones, on the other hand, should be around 10 by the beginning of the series.

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?
Fluttershy managed to fly back to Cloudsdale with the help of some bird friends, but she kept visiting the ground every once in a while. She and Dash drifted apart for some time during high school, but they became friends again before Fluttershy graduated and after Rainbow dropped out :P

20. Rarity and Applejack both seem to have grown up in Ponyville. What were their interactions like before the show?
They’ve met each other at school and were friends for a time. It was because of Rarity that AJ tried to give it a shot on Manehatten. When their interests turned out to be different, they kept things easy and remained as good acquaintances.

21. What do Twilight and Spike consider their relationship to be?
I think some would agree that their relationship is that of a brother and sister, but I see them more as a mother and child. Spike just cares too much for Twilight’s affection to see her just as a sister, and Twilight cares enough for Spike to consider him her son; the thing is that both of them are just so darn dumb that haven’t realized that yet.

Also: Twilight is best mom.

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?
She moved in some years after her cutie mark appeared, and she did to start an apprenticeship. The Cakes are also long time friends with the Pies, so there were no hesitation when arranging the plan.

23. Who among the Mane Six had the best parents growing up? The worst parents?
Okay… so, they all had pretty nice parents, each with their particular knacks and flaws, but good parents nevertheless. If you want me to point out the best and the worst, keeping in mind that they all had good childhoods, I’d have to say that Twilight’s and Rarity’s respectively.

24. Why didn’t the CMC hang out more/know each other before Call of the Cutie?
Because Diamond Tiara’s Cuteceañera was a defining moment for each of them to grow, which in turn lead them to meet each other and become the CMC. Also, Apple Bloom is a year behind Sweetie and Scoots.

25. Is Scootaloo an orphan? Will she ever be able to fly?
No, yes.

26. Will Apple Bloom’s cutie mark involve an apple in some way, even if it’s unrelated to farming or baking?
I’ve seen some creative ideas for Apple Bloom’s cutie mark depicting an apple as something else, and we’ve seen a cheese sandwich cutie mark depicted as an accordion, so that’s pretty much a thing. If her special talent turns out to be crafting and building, then maybe her cutie mark would be related to an apple all the same.

27. How is Sweetie Belle’s relationship with their parents different than Rarity’s was?
IDK. I guess there must be a reason for her to spend so much time with Rarity, but I can’t really point out why or how that would be related to her relationship with her parents. Maybe it’s better, maybe it’s not.

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

29. Are Big Mac and Cheerilee an item, romantically?
Okay, I personally love Kiala97’s next gen characters, and Red June is no exception. So yeah, I’d say that I ship them. BUT! FlutterMac is best pairing.

30. How did Prince Blueblood get his title?
By blood, but he’s more like a duke or something like that. His bloodline comes from that of the Unicorn Royal Family, descendants of Princess Platinum, whom after Celestia and Luna recovered the throne of Equestria, were given the that title in order to appease their demands that the throne should be given back to them.

31. Is Silver Spoon equally as bad as Diamond Tiara?
Nah, she’s a satellite: she follows Tiara all around and agrees with everything she says. But we haven’t seen her initiating something herself, it’s always Tiara who starts all the bullying. Silver Spoon might not be a good filly, but she isn’t as bad as Diamond Tiara.

32. Is Zecora’s magic common among zebras?
No. Zecora is a Shaman, so her magic was bestowed upon her as a ritual of ascension.

33. Why does Daring Do publish her stories as fiction?
Beats me, maybe because she didn’t want to get the attention?

34. Do you have a strong headcanon for any non-speaking or one line background ponies that you want to share?
I don’t think so, 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?)
A speaking species should be treated with the same rights as ponies do in Equestria, and should also respect the laws of the country or be asked to leave Equestria in case it doesn’t abide, but in general they have rights similar to the human’s rights. Non-speaking species like cows, while a few of them can speak and choose to interact with ponies, tend to act more like animals and as such are given their own rights.

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 all have some form of homeland, which allow the integration of any other species on their countries. Though there isn’t a consensus on how should the laws be applied to the immigrants, they are always demanded to respect the sentient species’ rights.

37. Are minotaurs related to cows at all?
The minotaurs themselves aren’t related to cows directly, but cows do have a role on the origins of this species.

38. Do all zebras rhyme?
Only Shamans practice the habit of speaking in rhymes.

39. Do zebra cutie marks work the same way as pony cutie marks?
No, Zecora’s mark is the symbol of her tribe, which was imprinted on her flank when she came to age.

40. Do any species have types of magic, other than ponies and zebras?
I really haven’t thought about that possibility. I guess that species with a culture rich on legends and traditions would have some sort of magic, but I don’t know any specific.

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?
It is tradition of the buffalos to always stay with their tribe, never leave the settlement alone to live among “outsiders”. They’ve recently opened up to the idea of living besides outsiders settlements, but they aren’t ready for the integration of both cultures.

Headcanon and You:
42. Do you consider official sources other than the show (comics, card game text, movies, novels, etc.) to be canon?
Other than that first movie, I haven’t really seen any other of those sources. So I guess it’s a no.

43. Do you have one headcanon that you always use, or do you switch depending on projects?
I have thought of many stories ideas that use many different head-canons. So yeah, I could switch depending on the project.

44. Can you easily accept the headcanons of different writers? Do you prefer when stories match your headcanon?
In a nutshell, I can accept many other ideas from other authors, as long that they sound cool.

45. Is there a part of your headcanon that you wish was more popular among writers?
Hmmm… nope, nothing in particular. There’s one thing, but I better save it for the question 50.

46. Is there a popular piece of headcanon that other writers use that you dislike?
The idea that any character from the main cast has a murderous side (I’m looking at you, Cupcakes).

47. Have you ever written a story or blogpost just to explain some part of your headcanon (other than this one)?
No particularly, but I did a comment on an Avengers X-over, explaining on what of the three pony races should a character from comics become when ponified (turning a character into a PONY).

48. Does your headcanon influence things like your favorite pony, ship, or episode?
No, I don’t think so. That, or I don’t know XD.

49. Would it bother you if the show proved part of your headcanon wrong? Any specific piece that would really bother you to lose?
Nah. It already happened for my story, but it doesn’t really matters since I can always use the “Alternate Universe” card.

50. Is there something that wasn't asked about here, but you feel like you need to explain to everyone?
Yeah there is (This is gonna be a long answer).

I’ve seen some fan-art of humanized ponies where the artist depict one or more of the mane six as an african-descendant woman, in order to give diversity to the cast. One disclaimer: I don’t have anything against African-American people nor against the idea of a more diverse cast. But these characters don’t fit with the role of african-descendants, and trying to convey them as such is wrong in my opinion. In fact, the show states that the mane six aren’t supposed to be seen that way.

In “The Unbridled Gossip”, Zecora and zebras were introduced in the series, and while this was a controversial episode, it makes a very interesting point. Besides Twilight, no other pony in Ponyville ever knew that Zecora was a zebra, Rarity in fact though that her stripes were a fashion choice. Did you notice how she reacted when she learned the contrary? Let’s not forget that Zecora has a lot of African influence in her design, accent ad even her house.
In many humanized art of Zecora she’s been depicted following this influence. Now my point is: If artists can acknowledge the fact that Zecora should look like a person with African origins, then why can’t they acknowledge the fact that the pony characters should not?

I understand that this is a touchy topic, but I’m not trying to offend anyone with these claims, and I apologize if I did. Thanks.

Oh! BTW, I still haven't come around to write the next chapter of GoH yet. I want to finish the new revision with my proof-reader before moving on with the next one. Sorry for that.