Pony Names · 12:59pm Feb 6th, 2018
I don't think that names like Twilight Sparkle consist of the first name and the family name. Twilight Sparkle sounds like a full name for me, and Twilight like a short name, similar to names like Bill and William. Also they are used in different situations. And I use this approach in my story.
But some people, including the show writers, stick to the well known for them first name—last name structure. Thanks to them we have phenomena like Mr. Shy and Mrs. Sparkle. I can probably explain this behaviour with the bandwagon effect.
Illustration: ponies with new, completely original names.
From left to right, top row: AppleBelle, FlutterTwilightBloom, FlutterJack, RariMarble.
Second row: DoubleRainbow, FlutterRar, TwilightBelle, FlutterFlitter.
Third row: SweetieLyra, TwilightMarble, RariGlimmer, StarlightRar.
Bottom row: Pinkieloo, RariTwi, TrixieFan.
Source.
P.S. Mr. Shy and Mrs. Sparkle should be paired to make dialogue like this possible:
“Oh, you aren't as shy as your name, Mr. Shy!”
“And you're really a sparkling mare, Mrs. Sparkle.”
That's interesting, but also terrifying.
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The interesting part is about names and the terrifying part is about the computer-generated ponies, isn't it?
I have also added possibly terrifying shipping proposal.