History WMG / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicSettingEquestrianCulture

*** Dragons, vampires, Zeus, and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers and Wolverine]] aren't exactly the most pleasant mythological beings and we still think they're cool.

The only difference is that instead of Nightmare Moon, ponies offered their candy to various minor monsters like Timberwolves, Chimeras, Manticores, Hydras and etc. similar to how Celtics give their sweets to demons as their tribute during the real-world Celtic festival of Samhain. After the banishment of Nightmare Moon, ponies had replaced all those minor monsters with her, and over time forgotten who were the original "boogeymans" of the holiday. This theory could also serve as a explanation for the UnfortunateImplications concerned around origins of the holiday and Celestia involvement in creation of it - namely, the holiday already existed! [[{{Headscratchers}} However, the fact that her sister becomed its part in a way she didn't probably intented, still makes it weird that Celestia didn't did anything in order to stop ponies for giving her sister a wrong reputation...]]

The story of the fight between Celestia and Luna/NMM is true. It was recorded as such.
Over time as the story was told to younger ponies, they began dismissing it as an "old pony's tale" and NMM transformed from a true threat into a boogeyman, used to get fillies to eat their vegetables. Nightmare Night and NMM came together due to their similar names over the course of 1000 years. When NMM returned in S1, the ponies were all shocked that their boogeyman was ''real''.

*** Dragons, vampires, [[AnythingThatMoves Zeus]], and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers and Wolverine]] aren't exactly the most pleasant mythological beings and we still think they're cool.

** Possibly the gun is also a recent invention, too weak and unreliable to be used (see [[http://pooryorickda.deviantart.com/gallery/37506217 "Equestria Divided"]] by [=PoorYorick=] on Website/DeviantArt for examples I am thinking of) besides a morale busting weapon outside of giant cannons. Earth Ponies may not of had not enough need to develop weapon technology (see above reasons) or were not ALLOWED to develope weapon technology, do to there former statuses of serfs.

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[[folder: Pony Customs]]
[[WMG: Ponies in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' practice polygyny.]]

[[WMG: Pony funeral customs.]]

** A small, undecorated tombstone is considered especially sad because it belongs to a foal who died so young that they never had a chance to get their cutie mark. Alternatively, ponies who died without cutie marks have a generic symbol on their tombstone such as a heart or a [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth butterfly.]]

[[WMG: The Equestria national anthem is...]]

[[WMG: We won't see '''even one''' blacksmith before the last season of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''.]]

[[WMG: In Equestria, female is the dominant gender.]]

* Given the amount of horse-related {{Furry Reminder}}s the show has, it's not that unbelievable; real horses, despite common conception otherwise, are actually matriarchial -- in a herd, the lead mare, as her name suggests, actually handles all the decision-making for the herd. The stallion's job is basically to sire foals, fight off attacking predators, and keep peace between the mares.

[[WMG: Libraries in Equestria, including the one in Ponyville, are not organized alphabetically.]]

[[WMG: Wizard hats were made with unicorns in mind.]]

[[WMG: The Ponyville bowling alley is a front for the Equestiran Mafia.]]

[[WMG: The Idea of an Alicorn precedes Celestia and Luna.]]
As we saw at the end of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E13HearthsWarmingEve the play]], the flag shown has two Alicorns on it. If the events of the play takes place before Celestia and Luna are born, how can the ponies think to put Allicorns on the flag? Because the idea of the Alicorn had already existed. The sentiments behind it, the best characteristics and talents of all three pony races present in a single pony, was either created by, or be very appealing to, the Pony Pan-Nationalists, the Clover the Clevers, Smart Cookies and Private Pansy's of the world. So when the three tribes became friends and put aside their differences, they decided to put the Heraldic Symbol of Pony Unity on their flag.

[[WMG: Economically, politically, technological, but mostly socially, Equestria is in the Age of Enlightenment/Industrial Revolution]]

Some Earth Ponys are moving into what was once inhospitable lands surrounding Equestria, similar to the migration west in the Old West.

[[WMG: In Equestria, "I Spy" was made as a sight-seeing game.]]

[[WMG: Equestria's upper class are all NonIdleRich.]]

[[WMG: Pegasi do not form traditional families in the way that unicorns and earth ponies do.]]
Think about it: we've never seen any relatives on any pegasus character. We've seen Twilight's parents, Rarity's parents and little sister, Applejack's extended family, and Pinkie's parents and sisters, but we've never seen, nor heard any reference to Rainbow's family, nor Fluttershy's, nor Scootaloo's. And if you think about it, this makes sense: we know from "Hearthswarming Eve" that the pegasi were originally a heavily militaristic society, so it would make sense if they had a Spartan notion that children should be raised in common as part of their early military training.

[[WMG: Mixed-type marriages are not widespread nor socially accepted]]

[[WMG: In Equestria, mirrors have the same sort of symbolism to ponies as [[DeliveryStork storks and cabbage patches]] have to humans.]]

[[WMG: Unicorns often carry their heads high for a practical reason rather then snobbery.]]

[[WMG: Earth ponies are traditionally named after food.]]

[[WMG: In Equestria, social bullying is considered to be much worse than physical violence.]]

[[WMG: The shapes taken by the Elements of Harmony, based off the Mane Six's cutie marks, will come over time to be associated in Equestria with the Elements themselves.]]

[[WMG: Hokey Smoke, Queen Meanie, and Black Snootie are all figures from Equestrian literature.]]

[[WMG: Pony society is atheistic -- and not just the [[FlatEarthAtheist Flat Earth]] type either.]]

[[WMG: It's only night time nudity that is embarassing to ponies]]

[[WMG: Nudity isn't a big an issue as posture among ponies.]]

[[WMG: Humans, the Earth, and its various cultural trappings are fictional in Equestria.]]

* This would probably explain (in fanon) Lyra Heartstrings's obsession with humans and human culture, going so far as sitting like a human and wanting to be one. After all, we know dragons don't exist, but which little kid doesn't want to be one at some point or other -- even into adulthood?

** Simply the fact that humans live in a place where the ENTIRE WORLD RUNS ITSELF and can create wonders and horrors in equal measure WITHOUT MAGIC, may combine Badass Normal with Eldrich Abomination from the standpoint of the ponies. The ability to build a machine that can fly and doesn't utilize magic in any way shape or form may be both fascinating and horrifying at the same time. ("Guess what, Dashie, I just invented a machine that makes you obsolete!")

** The "humans must be better" argument falls flat when you remember that in real life, animals are not as intelligent as humans and are glorified in fiction, ''especially'' by Furries. Humans are, if not a myth but exist on another continent (as is done in the fanwork ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm''), probably mediocre compared to ponies but in fiction, a pony's human companion may be hyperintelligent for a human, much in the same way where a human's animal companion is hyperintelligent compared to them and others of their species.

*** This! Humans originated as folklore beings. The most famous is of course the household spirit the Brony (sometimes pronounced Brownie) that attaches itself to what it perceives as "the best pony" and tries to help them by brushing their mane and bringing them things, but there are others. They are master craftsmen, greedy and capricious. Humans, unlike most real sapients, cannot be seen naked or they will turn to stone or fade away, the story varies, so they are obsessed with clothing. A similar legend says that to drive away a Brony, you should dye your coat and mane. This will cause it to disappear in a puff of smoke and the wail "Ruined forever! Not show accurate!". Their absurd apperance (minotaurs with the face of an ape and the mane of a pony? seriously?) clearly shows they're an old mare's tale. No grownup believes in them anymore, but the pony equivalents of Tolkien and the like created the genre of fantasy and included fictional beings based on humans, so now they're part of pop culture. And when Pinkie Pie breaks the fourth wall -- well, she has the Sight, knows all the Lore from Granny Pie, and she knows we're real.

[[WMG: Tanks, jets, robots, and other advanced technology exist in Equestrian fantasy literature]]

* Possibly more like the Philosopher's Stone. The Ponies have the idea of the object, but they dont have the object itself.

[[WMG: Ponies wear some form of underwear.]]

[[WMG: The use of saddles as attire originated in ancient times, with the priests of Megan, Danny, and Molly.]]

[[WMG: Ponies think age/seniority is very important.]]

[[WMG: The title of "princess" is something of a formality and doesn't necessarily indicate royal blood.]]

[[WMG: The Mustangs of Mustangia practise polygyny.]]

[[WMG: Pony society has developed an unfortunate case of HoldingOutForAHero]]

[[folder: Holidays]]
[[WMG: There's a Winter Moon Celebration.]]

[[WMG: Nightmare Night was originally a Tax Collection event]]

[[WMG: Nightmare Night and how it fits with the pilot]]

[[WMG: The Hearth's Warming Eve pageant is traditionally reinterpreted by the actors chosen to play it.]]

[[WMG: Hearth's Warming involved a StableTimeLoop. ]]
We can see a unicorn that is obviously young Starswirl living in Equestria during Tirek's first invasion. Starswirl is associated with time travel spells. It is possible that he learned it from Scorpan and accidently sent himself into the past, to before Equestria's founding. By the time he figured out how to come back, he was already an aged pony with nothing to come back to. He was also a famous unicorn wizard. Clover the Clever became his apprentice. Knowing what would happen, Starswirl taught her exactly the skills and knowledge she would need to become the royal wizard and to survive the windigos (not warning her beforehoof, as her friendship with Smart Cookie and Private Pansy had to be genuine.)

[[WMG: It is traditional to burn one or more Windigos on Hearth's Warming Eve.]]

[[WMG: The song when the mane 6 first arrived at the grand Galloping Gala was [[SourceMusic completely diegetic]] (except where wavvy dream sequence effects were happening), and happens to all of the high-profile guests and who don't opt out and their retinue.]]
It's all part of the ambiance. The ponies with the identical cutie marks were either a bunch of ponies with uniforms that included a temporary cutie mark patch or a couple of ponies with duplication powers and improv skills. They were specifically told to just sing along and not tell anyone, for example, "I know you're the Princess's apprentice, but are you an idiot? Have you ever ''been'' to a state affair? The Princess will be shaking hooves and exchanging pleasantries all night!" The remaining few ponies were thrown in to fill out the vocal register and add some spice and sparkle, or were guests themselves just joining in for the group chorus and finale, or a mix of both. When you've been to hundreds of the exact same stuffy gala, if not over a thousand, you eventually start planning at least a month ahead to make things interesting. That's just one of the things Celestia had set up one of the years before she invited Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and both Rarity ''and'' Prince Bluhbluh.

[[WMG: Hearth's Warming Eve will be renamed.]]

[[WMG: The Hearth's Warming Eve pageant has Hidden Significance.]]
Ritualized performances are an important part of real-world magical practices, particularly in [[MysteryCult Mystery Cult]]s and the like. Many "traditions" once had arcane significance, or were performed by initiates into the mysteries.

[[WMG: Heart's Warming Eve was WrittenByTheWinners]]

[[WMG: Ponyville celebrates Nightmare Night differently than most Equestrian towns.]]

[[folder: Naming Conventions]]
[[WMG:Ponies inherit the “first name” of their same gendered parent]]

Likewise we can surmise that Twilight’s mother is likely Twilight something, as hinted by her resemblance to G1 twilight. Judging by the lack of armor on the father's cutie mark, it's likely Twilight’s father is name is Shining Something, possibly Shining Moon.

[[WMG: The name "Rarity" is actually a [[OneSteveLimit very common one]].]]

[[WMG: Equestria has a naming ceremony similar to ''Genpuku'']]
''Genpuku'' is a Japanese coming of age ceremony which marks entry into adulthood. A part of said ceremony is the giving of an adult name to the child. There is a high number of ponies who have names very appropriate to their Cutie Marks, suggesting that it's not uncommon for ponies to change or choose a new name for themselves that reflect their Cutie Marks. The Cuteceañera could be, or at least started out as, a ceremony which made these name choices official. How widely this is observed may vary from pony family to pony family, and there may be those who keep their original name (Twilight Sparkle had her name pre-Cutie Mark), or choose a different one entirely (possible Cherilee)

[[WMG: The ponies of Equestria use the same naming conventions as [[UsefulNotes/HorseRacing Horse Racing]].]]

[[WMG: There is magic to influence pony's names.]]

[[WMG: A pony has the option to change their name when they get their cutie mark.]]

[[WMG: The sounds a pony can make are very limited, thus every sound combination has a meaning. That's why ponies have real words for names.]]

** Joe, Trixie, Matilda, Gustave, and Philomena ''are'' real words. Joe is short for Joseph and means "he will increase" or "let him increase"; Trixie is short for Beatrix and means traveler (quite appropriate for a traveling entertainer); Matilda means "strength in battle"; Gustave means "Goth-staff"; Philomena means "friend of strength."

[[WMG: Ponies do not have surnames]]

[[WMG: A stallion will adopt his wife's surname upon marriage.]]

* The problem with this is that among the named, married pony couples we’ve seen so far (mid-Season 7), only the Pies (who are fairly obviously outliers to mainstream Equestrian culture anyway) share a name. As for the others, Night Light didn't take Twilight Velvet's name, Bow Hothoof didn't take Windy Whistles', and Bright Macintosh didn't take Pear Butter's either.

[[WMG: Equestria has no set naming conventions.]]
Many families follow patterns (The Apple Family, the Cakes, the Pies (with Pinkie being an exception), Twilight's family, ect.), and food-related names seem commong; but there are not specific conventions on the naming of foals.

[[WMG: Ponies are given a chance to change their name when they get their cutie mark to fit it better.]]

[[WMG: Earth ponies Noun, Pegasi Verb, and Unicorns Adjective.]]

This is a result of the pre-unification culture. Since unicorns were the scholars, they'd give their children names that described them in increasingly fancy ways. "The Clovergreen Clever one," "The Princess of Platinum." With the pegasi, their militaristic culture would lend itself to more active trends--"He who is a Hurricane," and such. Earth ponies, in connection with the land, would look around for inspiration when it came to their children's names. "Cookie," "Pudding," etc.

[[WMG: The inconsistency of pony names is because the current system is a mishmash of three different ones]]

[[folder: Grammar]]
[[WMG: "Anybody" and "anypony" are both valid in speech.]]

[[WMG: 'Everfree' is a Pony euphemism for death.]]

[[WMG: Calling a pony "lame" is a mortal insult.]]

[[WMG: The word "cutie" in "cutie mark" is a corruption of an archaic word for "talent".]]

[[WMG: Ponies call their heaven "Elysium".]]

[[WMG: 'Tartarus' is used as a curse word in Equestrian language.]]

[[WMG: In the same vein, so is "[[Film/YoungFrankenstein blücher]]"]]

[[WMG: Similar to the above, "feather" is a lighter versions of a PrecisionFStrike.]]

[[WMG: There are differences in dialect and vocabulary in different parts of Equestria.]]

[[WMG: Ponies actually speak a StarfishLanguage.]]

[[WMG: "Pinkamina" is a term for rose quartz.]]

[[WMG: Equestrian has at least two writing systems.]]

[[WMG: The word "ass" is a racial slur for donkeys.]]
Consider that in English, ass is not only an archaic term for donkeys, but also an insult, meaning "a stupid, foolish, or stubborn person." Combined with "ass" being considered a swearword... well, the UnfortunateImplications write themselves.

[[WMG: Donkey language rhymes]]

[[folder: Military]]
[[WMG: Most of the male ponies are drafted to Equestria Army.]]

** They're stationed at the border between Eqestria and the Griffon homeland; settlers ner the edge would otherwise get eaten.

* Alternatively, all stallions are required by law to serve in the military at some point, unless they have some sort of special exemption (such as essential worker). Those ponies who have military related cutie marks form a core of professional career soldiers, while regular ponies serve their time and go back to civilian life. Mr. Cake, Rarity's father and Pinie Pie's father are all old enough to have done their time, while Macintosh has an exemption. The career soldiers (who are actually good at military matters) are stationed in the more important areas which need professional soldiers, while the non-careers are kept in safer areas (as a sort of civil defense force) to free up the career soldiers for more important duties. This would explain why the guard keeps getting beaten; they aren't up to the task of facing a real threat, only the minor disturbances that regular ponies would cause.

[[WMG: Horseshoes are used as throwing weapons.]]

[[WMG: Environmental management is Equestria's version of compulsory military service.]]

[[WMG: Equestria is actually a highly militarized society, but they specialize more in non-lethal methods.]]

[[WMG: Offensive magic is forbidden from being taught in Equestria.]]

[[WMG: The standard ranged weapon for Equestrian guards is the [[SufferTheSlings sling]].]]

[[WMG: The Gray Unicorn guards aren't part of the royal guard]]

[[WMG: Guns are an Earth pony invention.]]
Rainbow Dash mentioned "faster than a bullet" and named her pet "tank," and Pinkie Pie does have a party cannon. Firearms are more or less canon [[IncrediblyLamePun (ha ha ha)]] in one form or another. However, we never saw one used at the Royal wedding (except, again, Pinkie's party cannon) even though we saw hundreds of spear wielding [[RedshirtArmy (and rather useless)]] guards. However, all those guards are unicorns. What use could a gun be to them or to Unicorns in general? They already can blast things at range with magic, the only weapon they need is a close range melee weapon. Pegasus don't logically need guns as much either, since they can easily go close to the speed of many bullets and could do a lot of damage just by ramming into some pony (the Wonderbolts were able to cut some of an adult dragon's frills). Pegasi can also shake lighting out of clouds. The only ponies in Equestria that really need guns are the [[CloserToEarth down to Earth]] Ponies, with no ability to quickly get from one target to another or have no ranged attacks.

[[WMG: "Bullet" and "tank" are a TranslationConvention.]]

[[WMG: Most of the Royal Guard are stationed near Equestria's borders.]]
Ever wondered why there are few, if any Earth Pony Guards or how they were [[RedshirtArmy defeated so easily?]] The guards at the Canterlot Wedding were probably new recruits fresh from training. Now normally, in important ceremonial events such as this, it's often the experienced guards who are kept...[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin well, in guard.]] But it could be that the experienced troops were too far away to reach or giving the recruits a chance to shine in duty. As for the latter, well [[CurbStompBattle we know what happened.]] The Earth Pony Guard are probably heavy hitters considering Earth Ponies are physically the strongest and are in charge of heavy weaponry such as tanks and artillery. The reason we don't see any Earth Guards patrolling the streets is that the Royal Guard doesn't want to take the chances of collateral damage.

[[WMG: The Royal Guards dye their coats and manes.]]

[[WMG: The ponies wear saddles and occasionally bridles as a tribute to the now long extinct race of "gods" that created their civilization.]]
The social structure, buildings, economic system and agricultural society depicted in Equestria are all human. Clearly humans wiped themselves out taking the environment along with them, but not before an intelligent race of equines began to evolve. They may even have been engineered by humans. As a tribute to their long-dead gods they continued to wear saddles and bridles. Of course now saddles have a more practical function for carrying things, but bridles continue to be worn for a purely ceremonial reason.

** Considering earth ponies' association with plants, they may plant seeds or trees on top of their loved ones' graves. Perhaps, if the deceased was named after a plant/flower/tree, they plant their namesake on the grave, similar to the burial customs of the islanders in ''Film/TheWickerMan1973''. [[LastDisrespects To dishonor somepony who was hated in life,]] flowers with negative meanings may be planted instead, such as yellow carnations (disappointment and rejection), cyclamen (resignation and separation), orange lilies (hatred), or petunias (resentment and anger). For this reason, there is also a superstition among some earth ponies that it is bad luck to name a foal after one of those flowers. (As to why there is a filly named Petunia in "The Fault In Our Cutie Marks", the no-naming-foals-after-certain-flowers custom is considered archaic in some areas or just not practiced everywhere.)