Ahoy there!

We decided it might be useful to have a thread so that you guys could ask questions about the group in general without having to ask in other threads, use the comment section, or send us a PM. Feel free to drop them down below!

Questions pertaining to a certain thread (e.g. a writing prompt) can still be asked there. This is for more general questions, first and foremost.

Also, we've decided to answer a bunch of our most frequently asked questions, hopefully clearing up some confusion

Q: I have a story, but I don't know what folder to put it in. Help!
A: Our folders are organised by race, so put it in whichever folders apply. There's no hard limit on how many you can put it in, but be reasonable, aye? We're not overly fussed about the folders being perfect, but folder-spam is hardly the best way to impress others.

Q: Are [insert non-standard pony type] allowed?
A: Yes. The reason behind the No Ponies rule is because we have so much dedicated to exploring their culture already. The WBA is all about other groups, so crystal ponies, flutter ponies, Saddle Arabians, etc are all fine because of how different they are.
Important note: Unicorns/pegasi/earth ponies/alicorns are still allowed to be present in your stories, just that they shouldn't be the focus of it.

Q: What about [insert non-sapient species]?
A: Should be fine. Timberwolves, manticores, cockatrices and hyrdas would all make some interesting stories, I feel.
If you're not sure about your specific story, feel free to ask us directly. Either in the thread, or via PM.

Q: Zombies?
A: No. Not in the competitions, at least. Unless you have undead as a completely different group, with their own society/civilisation/whatever, then it's just a normal pony that likes to eat other ponies.

Feel free to discuss the topic of resurrection/the afterlife/undead in the forum, though.

Q: My story wasn't published because it's not pony enough! Wat do?
A: We've had this problem with a couple of submissions in the past, and while we do love the pre-readers for voluntarily wading through the unfiltered masses that get submitted to fimfiction on a daily basis, they really can't seem to make up their mind on this rule.
The long and short of it is: Try to get it approved if you can. Adding references to Princess Celestia and Luna seems to work for most people. Failing that, enter it in the competition anyway, but be sure to provide a direct link and any passwords you use with it, so we can judge for ourselves.
Note that the story still needs to follow the other site rules.

Q: Am I allowed to promote my story here?
A: Try to keep it tasteful. No "HEY GUISE HERES MAI STORY IT'S ABOUT MY OC PEGADRAGONLING WHO DATES CHRYSALIS AND HAS TEH BABEHS". There's enough of those in the feature box already. However, if you're debating headcanon and you want to bring up your story, feel free.

Q: What's canon/headcanon/fanon?
A: Alrighty, time for a bit of 'splaining.
Canon is what has been shown in the source material. In the context here, it's anything that's been shown to exist in the MLP TV show (not the comic books, as they've been declared non-canonical). If it happens in-show, it's canon (e.g. gryphons). If it doesn't happen in-show, it isn't (e.g. hippogriffs).
Headcanon is what a person believes exists/occurs in-show, but hasn't been shown directly (e.g. zebras living in a savannah)
Fanon is commonly accepted headcanon (e.g. Derpy the mailmare)
Also relevant: Word of God is anything that Lauren Faust or the show's writers say. Some treat it as canon, seeing as Faust conceptualised the series and the others run it, while others regard it as a kind of headcanon-plus. Please bear this in mind while discussing what Faust says on her twitter, or whatever.

Q: What's with the No Human rule?
A: Alright, time for some clarification. Human stories aren't allowed in the folders, and we will not hold topics discussing Humans in Equestria/Ponies on Earth, nor will we accept human stories in our writing competitions.
We have this rule because humans are, after ponies, the most written about race in the fandom. Whether you like them or not, a sizeable portion of new stories either feature a human/pony swapping worlds, a human being turned into a pony, or a crossover of some variety with humans involved.
The WBA is about promoting discussion about the lesser-mentioned species in the MLPverse. Humans are both highly popular and not specifically MLP-related. Hence the ban.

Q: Mah thonge ith sthuck th aaah thole, hhow can ai unhsthchk ith?
A: Go home, D, you're not drunk enough.

With that out of the way, feel free to ask any questions you have down below! Or, if you'd rather keep it private, you can still send us a PM here on fimfic, or a message on Skype if you've got us there. We'll try to make sure our bodies are ready.

~The World-Building Alliance Admin Team

Thanks.

Question: Has there ever been any part of this group focusing on the future of the world as a whole (i.e. sci-fi MLP) ?

1073565
There was a thread regarding space and such, but that was mostly focussed around the mechanics of a forcibly geocentric solar system.

1073461

Thar she blow!

1073461

Will the judging results for April be out soon, and if so, roughly when can we expect them?

Hi, I had a question. I'm pretty sure the answer is around here somewhere but couldn't find it so I figured I'd just ask. What is the "Pony of the Month" and does it have any significance? (For example, for the writing prompt of the month should it include the pony of the month somehow or...?)

-Thanks!

1119974
It's mostly just the pony with which Plum answers everyone in threads about that month's writing prompt. It has no bearing on the prompt itself, and certainly not on the entries expected. It's just for fun, really.

1120073

Ohhh okay! That makes sense. Thanks for the help. ^^

Whoops, just noticed these questions being asked.

1099706
Hue.
Also, check up top:

Questions pertaining to a certain thread (e.g. a writing prompt) can still be asked there. This is for more general questions, first and foremost.

1120083
Aye, basically what BP said. I've been told I have a tendency to use Rarity images a lot, so I decided to mix it up with pony-themed months.

Are Crystal Ponies different enough from the other races of equine animal to warrant their own discussion thread?

1397108

The group generally treats them as separate enough, so yup.

How exactly would we classify trees and the like that are used for other things because of their special properties?

Seen here: A squirrel's bad day.

2578988
If you wanted to post a thread exploring trees and/or other plant life, you would be perfectly welcome to.

1073461 Question, and this may have been asked before, but, by no human culture, does this mean that you can't redo human mythology to fit better into the FiM universe, or is it completely against the rules?

2836335
If we couldn't feature anything based on human mythology, we couldn't even feature the show

All we're not allowing is direct human interaction (i.e. Bill Nye in Equestria, or what have you)

Hey, does this group allow lore expansion for just ponies themselves?

I'm writing a series called Eqeustrian Apocrypha, they're text fragments from Eqeustria's past that have to do with the nature of the world, or give information on Equestria's divinities.

3740665
Deities are definitely fine. Ponies themselves? Not really.

The WBA is all about expanding the world of the creatures who aren't ponies, because every story on this site worldbuilds for the ponies, to varying degrees. We're all about gryphons, dragons, buffalo, apes, sheep, gods, demons and everything else in between

Ah, that's a pity. Can;t find any large groups that seems focused on expanding pony lore.

And by that I mean, Celestia, Luna, Discord, Pegasopolis, Earth and so on.

3740788 I've been looking for groups like those too. I can't find any either.

3740788
3787039
The Writer's Group often discusses things related to pony society in fiction, as well as many other topics.

Hello! New here, just got in here and already talking, wow!
Ahems,
So here's the deal, I respect all of y'all's rule of "No Ponies because we know a lot about them anyways", I totally get that. But can I talk about the "mainstream" Ponies (what we see on the show) (IE Dragon curses pony for x, Griffon owes unicorn life for x, Changeling is allergic to Pegasus feathers because of x) Or talk about a race/creature from a Pony's standpoint (Either as an "informative" text or as a bedtime story?)
Thanks again!
Your fellow maniac,
TrueGentleman

I remember the old World-Building Alliance Writing Contests with some nostalgic fondness, and while I appreciate that other commitments might take priority - or if, for some reason I'm missing, they just weren't working out as intended - I am curious about their long absence. Is there a chance the contests could be revived, and if so, what preconditions would need to be met? They seemed like an entertaining and helpful way to further the world-building aims of the group and get some purposeful writing accomplished, and there's always the thrill of competition. Not to forget, there's the chance to see various people's takes on the same concepts in action.

1073461

Sorry if I'm nagging, but I am still curious about my question from before: 5635256. It's been a while. Honestly, I don't mind if the answer's "no", and I understand if my post went unnoticed, but I would appreciate an answer if it's possible.

1073461

Apologies in advance if this is irritating you, but I'm not sure why I'm not getting a reply. Maybe my request's getting lost among other notifications? Just in case, and one more time, here's the question I would like to see answered:

Is there a chance the World-Building Alliance Writing Contests could be revived, and if so, what preconditions would need to be met?

I will happily accept an unqualified "no", if that helps.

And since 'tis the season, Merry Christmas!

5696045 plum is very tall. He might not have heard you.

We want to revive it. It just hasn't happened yet.

5696060

No worries. There's probably a lot going on behind the scenes that I don't know about; that's fair enough.

Thanks for the reply, archonix!

I just now joined, and I have a question: what's the general spoiler policy for the forums?

question: where can I post a query about specific languages of non-pony type

Question: Are maps and headcanon/world-building for said maps allowed here?

Hey, would an exception to the no-pony rule be if I've added a metric ton of detail to the official map, history, and a lot to the nature of ponies themselves? I'm a very eager world builder but the other locations in my headcanon pony world don't have nearly as much detail as my version of Equestria, and it would be nice to be able to discuss it here.
Thanks!

Q: are the Umbrum welcome here or do you think they are ponies

7347597
Sure, why not. They're different enough.

Question: now that the show has ended, would it be possible to get some new folders? A lot of species from the comics and later canon aren't really accounted for, and it is hard to figure out which stories have content about them when it's all thrown into the 'other' folder. It would help a lot if some of the stories could be sorted and moved out into specific species folders. We still don't have any for umbrum, crystal ponies, breezies, or others like the Saddle Arabians/horses. Would it also be possible to get folders for some G1 species, like flutter ponies, or a separate folder for Pre-Equestrian/historical content to differentiate between 'older incarnation of species/time period difference' and 'a generally different species'?

Also, would it be possible to get an Alicorn folder? There are a huge amount of stories on the site from over the years that have Alicorns as a different species instead of ponies, and really go into effort establishing a lot of lore and divergent content for them that could really fit the group. However, because of the rules that have been in place for a while, they aren't permitted or able to be added. It could increase group activity and help members find content that they would want to read by having a folder devoted to content for the culture and world-building of non-pony Alicorns. I can already think of about 40+ stories that would be able to fit in that kind of a folder, if it were allowed to be made.

Now that the show has ended, it would be great if there was a way to incorporate stories that utilize later canon than when the group was initially made and account for the broad amount of fanon stories that have been populating the site for years.

7404327

We still don't have any for umbrum, crystal ponies, breezies, or others like the Saddle Arabians/horses. Would it also be possible to get folders for some G1 species, like flutter ponies, or a separate folder for Pre-Equestrian/historical content to differentiate between 'older incarnation of species/time period difference' and 'a generally different species'?

Those, honestly, all sound like excellent ideas.

7483498
Oh my goodness, I was wondering if this would get a response. I'd just love to be able to share more stories here, whether they're my own or someone else who didn't know that this group was a thing. I thought about contacting a mod, but this seemed nicer. Any thoughts on the possibility of a folder for non-pony depictions of Alicorns?

7483638
I can't say I'm familiar with the concept of alicorns being depicting as something other than ponies -- I know about plenty of depictions about them being described as a separate kind of pony, but not of any where they're not actually ponies. Do you have some examples?

7483722
It’d be better if I PMd them just because... well, there’s a lot.

7483744
Go ahead, then, sure.

There are several fics that mention the "Music Of Harmony", a sort of background magic that's responsible for making people break out in song from time to time. Does anyone know where this name was first coined?

Not sure if its been answered elsewhere or if I misread some of the FAQ but are homemade/OC races allowed? link included as an example...please note this started life as a concept for a MLP RP on discord I'd been accepted into before the players lost interest.

this is the baseline example...a magitech race I called the lupinians...

It is in need of some revisions before its fic worthy but until I know the answer to my question, I don't want to waste time building on an idea till I know its allowed

Guys, I want to ask a question, is ther a group for ponies beyond equestria, as in nations and culture that are not in equestria or the crystal empire, it could be another country or a lost ancient city of the same ponies as in equestria or even a part of equestria that got independence,

Sorry accidentally deleted the old comment