Equestrian Geography 101 · 9:45pm Apr 4th, 2015
So I started this group for discussing the geography of Equestria:
Sounds a bit dull? I'm not suggesting we discuss geography just for the sake of it.
The characters of the show provide a common ground for understanding a fic. If you introduce Pinkie Pie into a story, she can be happy, and you don't need to explain why she's happy. If you mention Fluttershy acting shy, you don't need to say why.
With background ponies it's a bit different — they have almost no consistent canon personality. But certain themes have emerged from the fandom, like Berry Punch being drunk, Lyra liking humans, Doctor Hooves being a time traveller, etc. If you're writing a story, you don't have to use those ideas, but reusing them allows readers to slot your story into a place in their head that is consistent with other stories they've read.
That's happened with background ponies, but not so much with background places. This group exists for that purpose — to develop a shared headcanon for Equestria's geography. If you're writing a story that has Lyra taking a walk through Canterlot, you should be able to go to this group and get a list of landmarks she might see, shops she might pop into, cafés she might eat at.
So if you're interested in this sort of thing, please join the group. If you've written a story set in Vanhoover which describes a park where your main characters have a picnic, then tell us all about it, so that other ponies in other stories can walk past that park, or sit on the same park bench.
