50 Headcanon Barage! · 4:54am May 4th, 2014
Okay this has been going around, so let's get it on! Time to fire my headcanon! And please note this is for the show itself, not any AUs I might be participating in.
The Princesses:
1. How old are Celestia and Luna?
About 1500 years I'd say. Otherwise the ancient unicorns wouldn't have to move the sun themselves.
2. How old is Cadance?
Early thirties, she is an ascended pegasus after all.
3. Were Celestia and Luna always alicorns, or did they ascend?
Always. Celestia basically said so at the end of Season 3.
4. Are Cadance and Twilight immortal?
Depends on what you mean by "imortal". Ageless yes, unkillable no.
5. Have there been other alicorns in the past?
Yes.
6. How much authority do Celestia and Luna have in Equestria?
Absolute Diarchs,but they don't abuse the power.
7. Does Shining Armor rule The Crystal Empire along side of Cadance?
Yes, he is her husband after all, and it would be sexist/stupid not to do so.
8. Other than Twilight, Luna, and Cadance, what relationships have been important to Celestia in her lifetime (students, close friends, lovers, family)?
Sunset Shimmer, any former students before her (Starswirl?), and many friends. I don't see her having lovers though.
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 there are differences, mostly from physiology (proper preening, spell etiquette, etc.). And of course there are positive and negative stereotypes, there are identifiable groups. Any time that happens stereotypes develop. It's natural mental shorthand.
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?
Lots of stuff from the ground is uncommon on Cloudsdale simply because it would fall through the clouds without enchantments, and I imagine longer lasting enchantments are more difficult/expensive/both and as such are saved for more essential goods. Cloudsdale, besides weather making and cloud architecture, really doesn't have anything the ground doesn't have. That's why getting food from the ground is such a big deal for pegasi.
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 somewhat by cutie mark. The natural selection of spells that come with a mark is usually enough for a pony, and any research they do is probably going to be towards their special talent. Spells related to a special talent are easier to cast, and ones that are different enough, or even opposed to it, are more difficult or outright impossible to perform. Magic talents like Teilight and Trixie have the potential to learn any spell, but they have to knuckle down and study hard to do so with any real success as they have no natural gift with any particular spell. All of their spells are the result of hard work and practice, but they can learn and use any spell is the trade off.
12. Earth pony magic: Does it exist? What is it?
Yes. Their magic is improving the quality of things. Plants grow quicker and hardier, food tastes better, buildings are more sturdy, etc. Let an earth pony work with materials and their natural talent, and you get quality results.
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?
Time marches on. Pinkie Pie's family has naming conventions, Pinkie is just an outlier (probably due to her odd appearance). As such and from other things seen in the show itself, I believe every earth pony has a last name at the least, even if we haven't heard it yet. The Pies, Apples, and Cakes strongly support this. Pegasi and unicorns seem to lack family names. As for theming first names, it's probably a matter of family tradition with less conservative families letting it fall out of practice.
14. How much formal schooling is an average, middle class pony expected to complete?
12 years, high schools were confirmed in the comics and treated as normal and basic. EVEN THOUGH THAT SHOULDN'T BE THE CASE! Considering their societal structure, it should be 6-8 years of schooling, with focused schooling/apprenticeships afterwards. High school is required either as a gateway for college or basic functioning in a highly advanced technological society with a massive population requiring large periods of time to get "basic" information down to properly function as a member of society. It really shouldn't need to exist in Equestria.
15. What’s the average lifespan for a pony? At what age is a pony expected to be independent of their parents?
60-80 years, except for earth ponies who I'd put at about 150. Seriously, name one old pony that wasn't an earth pony, these guys have got to able to pack on the years. And they're probably expected to be independant in their late teens/early twenties.
16. Are there roughly an equal number of male and female ponies?
Yes. We just don't see them because the girls don't hang out in the same places as guys would.
17. How informed are most ponies about things that happen in other parts of Equestria? What about other parts of the world?
We know they have newspapers, but no radio, so any official news they get will be a bit old and may even travel slower than word of mouth, but it'll get around. As for foreign affairs most ponies, like most humans, would just not care.
The Main Characters:
18. How old are the Mane Six? Spike? The CMC?
Early twenties, about five, and around ten.
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?
Probably not, what with being a kid and all. But I imagine she moved as son as she could. RD probably moved to Ponyville specifically to look after her and stay in touch.
20. Rarity and Applejack both seem to have grown up in Ponyville. What were their interactions like before the show?
"Howdy, y'all want some apples?"
"Not today thank you."
"Alrighty, have a nice day."
21. What do Twilight and Spike consider their relationship to be?
Complicated. There is signs that they see it as a mix of siblings and parent/child, with more evidence starting to pile on the later as time goes on.
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?
I personally go with beng a live in worker who rents there for convenience. She moved to Ponyville to find a job, and since she was new in town she also needed a home, hence renting with the Cakes.
23. Who among the Mane Six had the best parents growing up? The worst parents?
Best parents go to Twilight, because we actually get to see them supporting her and enabling her dreams and goals. Worst goes to Fluttershy: there has to be a reason she has such serious issues.
24. Why didn’t the CMC hang out more/know each other before Call of the Cutie?
Because kids are actually very bad at actively seeking out new social groups they aren't already a part of.
25. Is Scootaloo an orphan? Will she ever be able to fly?
No, we've seen her house. And no, she will never fly, but she won't need to be able to fly to be awesome.
26. Will Apple Bloom’s cutie mark involve an apple in some way, even if it’s unrelated to farming or baking?
Nope, it won't. And I imagine that will be the focus of an episode/lesson.
27. How is Sweetie Belle’s relationship with their parents different than Rarity’s was?
Rarity has ambitions to be a member of the upper class, while her parents are fine where they are. This causes friction between them, mostly on Rarity's part. Sweetie has no such ambitions and is content, letting her get along with her parents better...if they weren't gone on trips all the time.
Side and Background Characters:
28. Is Mr. Cake the father of the Cake twins or not?
Yes. Pony genetics is just weird like that.
29. Are Big Mac and Cheerilee an item, romantically?
Maybe, but it also might be lingering effects from the love poison. And even if it's not, the possibility may be keeping them from choosing to pursue it.
30. How did Prince Blueblood get his title?
I like to think Prince us actually just his name.
31. Is Silver Spoon equally as bad as Diamond Tiara?
No, she seems to be just a tagalong who follows Tiara's lead because she's rich.
32. Is Zecora’s magic common among zebras?
Unless we actually see more zebras to prove otherwise, I'm going with no. Magic users like Zecora are not common, but they aren't unheard of either.
33. Why does Daring Do publish her stories as fiction?
I have no idea, it's stupid. Maybe she didn't want fans hounding her on adventures? But then why publish at all? It makes no sense!!!! (Please wait, author is ranting about the first episode of the series he truly ever hated. Yes, he even prefers Mare Do Well and Spike at Your Service.)
34. Do you have a strong headcanon for any non-speaking or one line background ponies that you want to share?
Oddly enough, no. Not even Lyra/Bon. They honestly don't leave that much of an impression in the show, and I'm not counting fanon for these questions. As such, there is nothing to build the headcanon with.
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?)
I think sapient/non-sapient is a better line than talking/not-talking. cr. parrots and goats. Sapient beings would be allowed to become citizens with all the rights, privileges, and responsibility that implies. More monstrous sapients like chimera chose not to join society and become bound by its laws. Others such as diamond dogs have their own culture and aren't interested in joining the ponies. Dragons don't give a buck since they're freaking dragons, they do what they want.
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?
I imagine there are plenty of species focused nations, they just happen to have mingling species...unless they're just that intolerant it kind of has to happen in a world with so many sentient species.
37. Are minotaurs related to cows at all?
About as close as humans and chimpanzees. Remarkably farther than would appear at first glance. (Humans are closer related to lemurs and pygmy tree shrews than chimpanzees, even though we have extremely similar DNA. We really branched off from each other early on in our evolutionary lines.)
38. Do all zebras rhyme?
No, because that would be stupid. Zecora does it as a mental exercise and to keep a mystical air about her, she seems to like that.
39. Do zebra cutie marks work the same way as pony cutie marks?
Yeah sure, why not? I've seen nothing to indicate otherwise.
40. Do any species have types of magic, other than ponies and zebras?
Possibly. Sadle Arabians are high on my list of likely candidates, as are dragons, but otherwise I've seen nothing to suggest it.
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?
I think it has to do with ponies just reaching buffalo territory, and the largely traditionalist migratory tribal nature of the buffalo indicating they wouldn't be very inclined to leave their tribe to live amount a different species with a culture they really don't understand.
Headcanon and You:
42. Do you consider official sources other than the show (comics, card game text, movies, novels, etc.) to be canon?
Yes, until proven otherwise by the show.
43. Do you have one headcanon that you always use, or do you switch depending on projects?
I switch it up for AUs, simply because the information presented there is different.
44. Can you easily accept the headcanons of different writers? Do you prefer when stories match your headcanon?
I prefer when it matches for ease, but as long as it isn't too out there I can easily accept it for a story or the like.
45. Is there a part of your headcanon that you wish was more popular among writers?
Celestia and Luna being waaaay younger than 10,000+ years old. Writers have no sense of scale. Our own species is only about 12,000 years old, that would make them older than our species in most cases. Ponies are only about 5,000 years old, so that's twice the age of the species they are supposed to be the pinnacle of. Numbers matter people.
46. Is there a popular piece of headcanon that other writers use that you dislike?
God power Celestia. Yes she's well above the average unicorn, but she's not all powerful. Twilight probably comparison favorably to her now. Alicorn =/= invincible super being.
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?
Amazingly no, it doesn't seem to come up.
49. Would it bother you if the show proved part of your headcanon wrong? Any specific piece that would really bother you to lose?
Not really, unless it was the sisters ages being stupidly huge because, again, sense of scale. Or God Celestia, or all zebras rhyming, because those last two are just stupid
50. Is there something that wasn't asked about here, but you feel like you need to explain to everyone?
The Equestrian economy sucks. That's why the value of the bit fluctuates wildly; it's totally unstable and driven by market forces in a barter and haggle influenced economy. Which is fine on the small scale, but Equestria is at the developmental stage where this really doesn't work anymore and they need to change their economic model to a more stable basis.
Oh my god that's so elegant! I love it!
2692921 I'm sure a read a fic (possibly in RainbowDoubleDash's Lunaverse) where this was the case and Blueblood was established as a Viscount. One of the other nobles enjoyed teasing him about it by constantly referring to him by his title instead of his first name.
2737357 Yep.