I'm brainstorming an idea, and I thought about Godparents. Wikipedia defines a Godparent as an individual chosen by the parents to take an interest in the child's upbringing and personal development.

Seeing as we have no secular definition that is canon, I can't see calling a pony a Godparent. So what is the best thing to call them?

Considering they use 'mom and dad', I think godparent is fine.

Well... what is a mother and a father to a pony?

Again, why secular?

1137466
Because Equestria doesn't have a God. They have Celestia, and "celestiaparent" doesn't really roll off of the tongue.

1137477
Not a bad point. Hmm, maybe we could get away with a "small g" usage of god. Assuming that there are other members of a pantheon out there.

Hmm... from encyclopedia britannica:

godparent

one who stands surety for another in the rite of Christian baptism. In the modern baptism of an infant or child the godparent or godparents make profession of faith for the person being baptized (the godchild) and assume an obligation to serve as proxies for the parents if the parents either are unable or neglect to provide for the religious training of the child, in fulfillment of baptismal promises. In churches mandating a sponsor only one godparent is required; two (in most churches, of different sex) are permitted. Many Protestant denominations permit but do not require godparents to join the infant's natural parents as sponsors. In the Roman Catholic Church godparents must be of the Catholic faith.

1137454
In equestrian (note the lower case e) terms the mother and father of a foal are called the dam and sire, respectively.

1137477

No God we know of. I don't think the show has ever really taken a stance on religion, and Celestia and Luna's roles in raising the sun and moon could just as easily be as jobs in service of a greater power.

1137519

I find the prospect of referring to the Equestrian equivalent as a "God-dam" obscenely hilarious, and even God-sire makes me chuckle a little bit.

But anyway culturally the custom did evolve from Christian roots, but the designation of a caretaker in the worst case scenario has been modified and adapted beyond it. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if other cultures did it first and then the European Christians adopted and modified it in their conquests, like Christmas and Easter. Tldr it was a Christian thing but anybody can and does do it.

But, anyway. The term does hail from religious roots. Considering that the closest things we have seen to a [benevolent] deity in the series are Alicorns which are collectively referred to as Princesses instead of Gods...the approximate terms [in absence of any other influencing factors] would probably be "Godparent/mother/father" or some derivative of Prince or Princess. "Guardian" is the most neutral and easy ground, I think, though there is potential for something more. Maybe Celestial Parent in reference to Celestia or somesuch.

1137439

Godparent's fine.

1137552 Yes, guardian is good.

In my experience a lot of secular households will simply use "aunt/uncle" to refer to adults who are so close with one or both parents as to have this sort of role in the life of the child, regardless of genetic connection or lack thereof.

Maybe they don't have godparents as such. Maybe the normal parents are responsible for the role of godparents. Anyway I use Harold H. Corbett's definition of a godparent:

A godfather's supposed to look after your religious upbringing and... buy you presents on your birthday.

role with godparent for now. Maybe something like spirtparents or something like that would work as well.