Pony Fanon Workshop

What would be a good name for an Wide-Eyed Idealist Unicorn? To be specific, the fanfic I'm writing takes place in a semi-glaciated (or fully glaciated, depending on what part you're in) Equestria After the End, which is being colonised by the Technocracy, an Indian-esque country centred on the tropics. The character is a part of a scientific expedition team that plans to explore the frozen Northern Equestria (basically, everything to the north of Canterlot, including Ponyville) to see whether the weather could be 'domesticated', which can possibly lead to the "terraforming" of Equestria. He's a part of the Temple of Harmony, a religious sect that reveres the Mane Six as martyred saints, and are basically seen as childishly naive optimists who have no idea about reality. He basically believes sees his work as a quasi-religious duty, and through doing this, he could return Equestria to a paradise on earth and possibly even bring back the Element Bearers.

edited 24th May '12 7:08:46 PM by SantosLHalper

Stargazer is sometimes used to refer to an impractical idealist or a daydreamer, perhaps that could work.

What happened to this thread? Did it die?

That main project that was being discussed here sort of got canceled, unless someone comes up with something else that will attract a crowd then I don't see much traffic coming into this thread.

In that case, I'll try and get some development and feedback for my own setting.

My other 'big' project*

is going to be a Sharpe*

And probably Gaunts Ghosts as well

-esque story of a Pegasus who leads a team of crack commandos called Les Voltigeurs into a war against the Griffons on the island of Albayon. Now first things first: Shining Armour makes an appearance as basically filling the role the Duke of Wellington plays in Sharpe: essentially giving missions to Les Voltigeurs and assigning promotions when necessary. This leads me to figure out the relationship between Les Voltigeurs and the Royal Guard. Should they just be a "light company" of the Guard, or are they a separate military unit, with Shining Armour being commander of both? For the latter, should I go with something like saying that as captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armour is also the de-facto commander of Equestria's military forces?

In my warfic his full rank is Captain-General Shining Armor, so I would say that's a good hypothesis until proven otherwise.

I would contribute my own, but I don't really think this forum would like to have an entire thread of me babbling ceaselessly

actually, on second thought, babbling endlessly might be a decent enough idea, if I get out of the history section into more recent events....

but is this thread alive, really? I mean, I'm not very knowledgeable in forum etiquette, is it bad to keep a thread alive like this, rude even, or what? Will the activity dissuade newcomers or encourage?

If someone could just tell me the 'rules' and consequences, that'd be lovely

There are no real hard or fast rules about that sort of thing. I and it seems a few others will at least pop their head in a few times to see what's going on. Besides, I think idea development works best if you have people to bounce them off of.

Mostly it's just my fanon is "light" meaning it doesn't intrude heavily into actual show-writer canon wherever possible, so I tend to leave some gaps open there. Also I'm busy with many many things so I tend to stick to the main pony thread.

Anyways I still Follow this thread so it's not like I ignore it

edited 10th Jun '12 6:50:57 AM by AceOfScarabs

The three finest things in life are to splat your enemies, drive them from their turf, and hear their lamentations as their rank falls!

Anyways, I'll just post again, now that I have time... last post: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13246473300A75160100&page=72#1777

I'll just skip a few pointless possible rants and... The Griffon war ends with the Griffon governments driven from the Equestrian valleys, the Pegasi unified and in control of the previously Griffonic city of Marelin (Griffon name of Coopenhagen), with general-princes carving out new kingdoms in the North and settling down in the Griffon cities (driving the Griffons out, and confiscating their property). In Imperial politics, the war is important in that the Heimdaller family is stripped of all previous power and sent into exile, while the remaining Fringe States and Alfheim joined together in a semi-religious war to push back the Equestrian hordes. For pony politics, it was revolutionary, as suddenly the strain of decades of total war was finally relaxed, and two new kingdoms were added to the existing alliance/confederation of the Red Council. The growing centralization relaxed, as lords reigned like kings in their lands, and an abundance of resources meant a reduction in interpony conflicts. There was one problem for the victorious herds, though: the existing griffon citizens, left landless and starving to wander the countryside.

These Griffons flooded towards the mountainous Fringe, but a number of them failed to do so, or refused to do so, and instead formed independent tribes within Equestria. These tribes constantly clashed with the settling ponies, and the local governments often applied brutal force to hunt them down, sometimes establishing anti-meat-eating laws to give it a touch of legitimacy. As the returning warrior-priests continued to stream in and brutalize the Griffons, the tribes responded with their own force, often taking back deserted forts or castles and waging a guerrilla war on the colonists, hoping to inspire the Fringe states to invade Equestria and return their cities to them. The unicorns responded viciously, killing any Griffon on-sight and assaulting the remaining strongholds. This continued on in a sort of "Flower Wars"; princes looking to collect sacrifices for blood magic (note again: this sort of magic is not inherently evil, simply more powerful and more easily abused) would send their forces into psuedo-religious wars with the intent to capture instead of kill, while claiming glory from the primitive church establishment and seeking reward from the Red Council.

Now, racial cleansing and the harvesting of sapient beings seems a little harsh when compared to modern day Equestria, but it makes sense given the time period. The overall Equestrian culture was in a very anti-Griffon mood, and desensitized by the war. On top of that, they were in a state of religious extremism- while religion naturally plays a huge part in a theocracy, it was especially potent thanks to the combined efforts of the very religious Red Council, the recently-ended holy war, and national efforts to suppress secularists who sought to remove their property ties from the religious establishment (to tie the land to family lines and laws, securing it) during the war- securalism was seen as a threat to unicorn legitimacy, even in such a mild form as property right matters. These religious causes had whipped up much of the populace, and solidified the status as a theocracy. Beyond that, one could just say it was a time of few laws and regulations, where a few opportunists saw a chance to violently exploit a situation.

Back to the situation: The Flower Wars were not entirely one-sided- the tribes managed to hold out for quite a while, and organized together into a cohesive and disciplined fighting force. Nonetheless, their lack of numbers or resources meant it was an inevitable defeat, a fact eventually recognized by the remaining Imperial Griffons. After several attempted counterinvasions, things began to turn from bad to worse, after an Equestrian engineer invented the weapon known as the crossbow- a weapon far more easily used by ponies than ordinary bows, and far more powerful. This meant a rise in military weaponsmiths and producers, and also the end of the Griffon superiority in ranged combat. And, more importantly, a growing demand for powerful construction spells meant that more nobles wanted to participate in the harvest, growing increasingly efficient. The tribes, desperate, went to the Imperials, explaining that, if they did not strike now, they would lose an important asset. The Fringe Cities, motivated by a growing fear of possible future conquest by the hordes at the gates, rallied behind the message, and the joint invasion by the Griffon factions subsequently took place many years earlier than it was supposed to.

The Griffon invasion, although immature, was still well-planned and well-executed. Smashing through the unprepared Equestrian forces, the armies soon had the fledgling colonies of Flankfurt and Stalliongrad under siege, and had sent the Northern defense forces reeling. It took the Southern united forces, as well as expeditionary forces set aside for the exploration and possible conquest of the newly discovered White Isles (home of the zebras). Along with that was a major advancement in magical warfare that would change the nature of aerial-verus-land combat: the creation of spells that would, instead of sucking the entire area of airspace downwards to bring down large formations in a massive waste of energy and resources, allow individual unicorns to saturate large areas of specific airspace with various magical impediments that would disable flight. By increasing efficiency and accuracy, the army was finally able to cope with smaller-unit tactics and more dispersed armies, making anti-air combat viable at last on a larger scale. With all the combined efforts of Equestria's military, the last major Griffon offensive in Equestria was over, and the tribes subdued.

The Griffon Tribes eventually were eventually moved onto the lands of those who sought to harvest them (moving armies across neutral patches led to fights over property rights and military access), and forced to accept peace by offering up the weakest or least valuable for an offering whenever the unicorns demanded tribute. In return, they were left in peace, given cattle, with some lords even going out of their way to build more accomodating living spaces, as if to start competition. These camps were seen as dangerous, but entirely legal, and while some saw it as morally objectionable, most ponies were either directly profiting or apathetic.

This ushered in a period of tense peace, as each nation withdrew into domestic matters, while silently preparing for future conflict. Most pressing was the growing threat of the unified Pegasi, who were increasingly militaristic and demanding, as well as the Diamond Dogs in the Eastern barrens and plains, which had settled down in their own civilization and were still viewed as a lower form of life by the Equestrians. The main thing that happened at this time was that the Red Council clamped down on the lesser kings, transforming from an alliance into a confederation, and eventually into an oligarchy, with a number of important nobles representing each region of Equestria acting on a ruling council.

Anyways, this looks like a nice place to stop

So is Olympic Torch an actual toy pony?

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play

No. I was just commenting on the fact that the one line information about a torch bearer sounded like the description of a toy pony.

Tealove is best pony.Pony Fanon Index

I've got good news regarding Marabia: I'm semi-involved in a My Little Pony mod for Civilization III, and I believe Marabia might be featured in it.

you know, if you guys want me to ramble about a new topic, that is perfectly okay. There are a lot of things to talk about and, if left to my own devices, I could cover the entire length of pony history, prattling on for many a page.

Well, anyways, history at this point is changed dramatically by one pony of great fame: Starswirl the Bearded. Starswirl was born to the large, branching Dusk family, rulers of Manehattan. A pony naturally sensitive to magic, born with a quick wit and a hunger of knowledge, he disregarded his noble position and went rather into strictly clerical roles. He was not a pony who was very good at analyzing morality or scripture, but rather proved to be one of the most gifted spellweavers in the church- instead of learning spells, he spent his time making them, a dangerous but profitable art practiced by few. As his studies shifted more towards the natural world and how to manipulate it, and as his powers grew, he petitioned the clergy to allow him to join their upper ranks, to study with the masters. He was denied, but, being a member of a major family, his demands were heard by the Red Council. In one of the early conflicts between the governing branch of the Church and the clerical branch, the Red Council adopted Starswirl as a magical advisor, to provide him with magical education more suited for his talents, instead of such silly topics as "ethics" and "virtue". This growing conflict eventually erupted in a political battle that ended with the First Reformation: the reorganization of the church to reconcile the governing and clerical branches, recombining them and ensuring the stability of the church-state (the governing branch had been quite worried that a schism would lead to the breaking away of the clerical branch, which would deprive the governing branch of mages, but, more importantly, it would lead to a huge religious crisis and throw the legitimacy of the landowner's rule into question). During this Reformation, the strict laws of primogeniture were loosened to allow more competition and to give more power to magical members of the family, along with more governmental positions. In this scrambling and reorganization, young Starswirl was able to grab himself a seat at the Red Council as he marketed himself as both a powerful landowner and a powerful magician, the perfect gesture of unity. He found the position to be exceedingly boring, however, and instead had his brother often go for him while he studied, although he himself kept the title for purposes of borderline power abuse. He also began to gather around himself a sort of cult of personality, a group of impressionable young ponies who mistook his arrogance for confidence and power. To him, they were simply assistants and colleagues, if inferior ones, and he took a liking to studying with them. They became a group within the church devoted not to scripture, not to politics, and not to virtue, but to the accumulation of all magical knowledge. He used his group to collect heresies, blasphemies, and the like, to try and see what he could find within the banned texts. And, as he did, he grew more and more curious with one particular heresy that was difficult to find: the old Night worshiping religion, banned long ago by the Orthodox Church, and secretly followed by many in the South and West. He learned many spells, scriptures, and beliefs of this "dark magic" surrounding himself with it, but he wanted to know what a society of these worshipers would be like, what advancements they might have. So, he pledged, he would go to the Hill Ponies in the Cloud Hills and learn whatever secrets they might have. But there was another motivation to his journey: he was growing bored with book learning, academia, and his group, and he wanted to see more.

First, he traveled to the Cloud Hills with his childhood friend and squire, sneaking past the Pegasi and travelling through Hill tribes, both the Fillydelphian controlled ones and many isolated ones that had been lost within the misty terrain. He picked from these another pony, a curious Night-worshipping unicorn, as a trophy of sorts, a token to show the extent of his travels and fearlessness, to be his companion. From there, he simply wandered Equestria, building a travelling group, until finally the group of six decided they should head into the Everfree Forest to discover the origins of magic and ponykind. The Red Council, of course, was happy to fund his expedition, as they wanted him out of the country as fast as possible- they weren't fond of Starswirl and preferred his more governance-minded brother. The expedition plunged into the forest, and dissapeared for years, with the majority of Equestria assuming he had died in the depths of the Everfree.

edit: sorry if I was rather rude, I just am rather annoyed at the questionable status of this thread at the moment, and with the lack of certainty as to whether it is alive or dead.

edited 29th Jun '12 11:34:24 PM by TimurAmir

Apple was part of the reason it was alive and he doesn't come on anymore XD

I have this personal fanon thing going on that their pony magic is based on high/low-state energy, which is why they're so resilient to harm - their natural magic toughens them up and gives them powers like the Espers from Academy City. Celestia and Luna are clearly Level 5 in terms of power. Twi is a high Level 4 going on to 5 if she can break a certain barrier of power. Pinkie's Sense is a beefed up form of extrapolative sensory perception.

Why yes, I did watch the To Aru Kagaku No Railgun anime :D

Season 3 needs a Level Upper Incident, only it's the CMC and some other blankflanks looking to get their cutie marks early by using the Level Upper equivalent.

(Crossposted from the main thread :D)

The three finest things in life are to splat your enemies, drive them from their turf, and hear their lamentations as their rank falls!

I have a quick question: Despite the Equestrian flag, Is it possible that Celestia and Luna could be born after the founding of Equestria? That the flag is actually based off of Tradition or Prophecy?

Apocalypse: Dirge Of Swans.

Celestia and Luna were said to have freed Equestria from Discord to become rulers in The Return of Harmony I think. Discord wasn't in charge of Equestria at the end of Hearth's Warming Eve. Ergo Celestia and Luna must have arrived later. The flag in the play I imagine was merely using the most recent flag so that everyone in the audience knew the importance of it, the real flag at that point in time most likely didn't have the Alicorns on it.

Tealove is best pony.Pony Fanon Index

After several month's worth of rebuilding, a lot of development has been done on my Marabia setting.

• First and most importantly, Marabia is now called the Buraqid Caliphate, after the founding dynasty. The country is a lot more decentralised than before, and Ponies/Camesl tend to think themselves more as members of their tribe or region than as part of the Caliphate.
• The head of state is the Caliph. Originally, Dhul-Qarnayn declared himself only a representative (Caliph in Arabic) of Luna, but as time went on, the title came to be seen as a successor (which is "caliph"'s other meaning) to Dhul-Qarnayn.
• The country wasn't always united. Initially, Marabia was divided into a large number of different independent states. It was only when Sultan Hazred embarked on his campaign of conquest and terror in the name of Nightmare Moon that the Marabians rallied around Dhul Qarnayn and Marabia as a country was born. After a few centuries, though, the Qarnaynid Caliphate collapsed at the hands of the Karkadanns*
  Basically the Persians
  , and then was conquered by Bucephalus the Conquerer, leaving behind a series of petty successor states until the Buraqids reunited the country.
• Camels were the original inhabitants of Marabia. Primarily, their magic is based upon water dousing and desert survival. However, a number of camel civilisations did appear around river beds and the like, until Ponies from the north came and conquered much of the area. In the end, though, they ended up assimilating into Camel culture, much like how everyone ends up adapting Chinese culture when they conquer it. In the present, Camels are mainly to the west, while Ponies are to the East (though this doesn't really apply in the desert).

This thread is dead, isn't it?

Not quite. I have been thinking of writing a pony fic with entirely humanized cast. I can see some use in this thread.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Ugh, and I thought my 'warfic' idea would be at least a little original... but no, there's several mentions of the concept on this thread's last page alone.

As for Royal Guard organisation, I have Shining Armour simply as "Captain of the Guard"; I'm thinking of dropping the normal Captain rank entirely (so the highest rank below Major would be Lieutenant) to avoid confusion.

In the fic I'm writing, the Guard is divided into a few dozen regiments, each 1,000 - 2,500 stallions strong and commanded by a Colonel. There are separate regiments for unicorns, pegasi and earthponies; mixed regiments do not exist. Unicorns are mostly used as artillery and anti-air (magic horn blasts!), pegasi as fighters/bombers/paratroopers, and earthponies as infantry. While mares hold prominent positions in many sectors of Equestrian society, the Guard accepts stallions only (this is consistent with canon, as we've only seen male Royal Guards in the show itself).

Between Shining Armour and the Colonels, there are six or seven Generals, who together with Shining Armour himself form the General Staff.

Mache dich, mein Herze, rein...

Textdump from the main thread, some thoughts on Equestrian language/writing:

They probably have several alphabets from the three tribes back in the day. The pegasi had a shorthand styled military shorthand, the Earth Ponies used a phonetic kana-styled scribble, and the unicorns used symbolic hieroglyphics. The three writing forms are still used in modern Equestria, with the Pegasus script used for shorthand and Weather Factory documents, Earth Pony kana used as basic writing, and Unicorn script for tertiary scholarly publications and old books.

Earth Pony phonetic script would be easy to learn and practical, so it became the modern Standard Alphabet, while Unicorn hieroglyphs are good for abstract things and higher Mathematics, making it the academic language of choice. Pegasi signal signs remain in use as signalling for traffic and danger signs, as well as a means of communication by air.

The other alternate mental picture I had was that Modern Equestrian is a dual-type language like Japanese, with Earth Pony phonetic script like the hirigana and the Unicorn glyphs like the kanji.

Most of my fanon Equestrian language hypothesis stems from a calculated guess based on their cultural personality and language usage.

Pegasi would primarily use writing based on sign language that could be manually communicated in flight or as large, easy to read cloud signals, so it'll be great for signs and easy to understand.

Earth Ponies would need a language that's practical and usable from a reading/writing standpoint, something that sounds like its written. Therefore they would be likely to use phonetics to shape their writing, making it easy to learn and flexible for adding new words.

Unicorns would have a more intellectual bent to their writing, for conserving abstract concepts used in their magic, as well as good for mathematical calculations needed for some kinds of spells. It should also be flexible for poetry and wordplay, like the glyphic characters used in Chinese or the hieroglyphs of Egypt.

The book Twi reads in the very beginning looks like it's written in unicorn script, while the Welcome Princess Celestia sign in Swarm was written in what looks to be English but is most likely Earth Pony script, lol. The cutie mark crusaders had no trouble reading the Hearts and Hooves book, suggesting they either know unicorn script or the Earth Pony Script is also used for books meant for wider audiences.

Daring Do fiction is probably primarily written in Earth Pony script to make it more accessible as Dashie could read it.

Crystal Pony books were written in a language that at least Twi knew, so it probably was written either in an older variant of Earth Pony script or something that predates Modern Equestrian but is still familiar to her.

In fact I would be amused if Earth Pony script resembles Latin/English characters.

@Kyler: point, but I wouldn't be surprised if Modern Equestrian writing was like that. Dual-script writing makes sense if both writing systems were retained after the Three Tribes united. Pegasi signals would not become part of everyday writing, but would become a common Signal Language used in clear communication.

@Sereg: given that pony technology doesn't seem to advance quickly, it's entirely possible that the Modern language, or a closely-related form, was in use in the Crystal Empire.

As for one of the script forms being like English, yeah that gives me hope we can read it if we ever visit Equestria

I agree that they'd teach all three script forms in school, it's practical and ensures most ponies should be able to read most books. I reckon more emphasis is placed on Earth Pony scripts and Pegasus signals, since they're more commonly used.

@Santos: Your idea has been hijacked by the concept of Saddle Arabia as of Magic Duel :V

edited 15th Dec '12 4:27:14 AM by AceOfScarabs

The three finest things in life are to splat your enemies, drive them from their turf, and hear their lamentations as their rank falls!