Character Theories

[TotalEcplise]

This is a thread to discuss what you think about certain aspecets of certain characters. I'll lead by example.

Theory: Rainbow Dash is secretly rich.

This idea hit me while i was in the shower earlier.

Because of this.

I honestly don't believe Rainbow's lifestyle explains how she can possibly afford this thing. In comparison to the other Mane 6 this house is ridiculous. The closest contenders are Rarity, Twilight, and AJ...but none of those really count. Twi (and i dont doubt for a moment that Celestia would pay for twilights living expenses if it ever came to that), and Rarity both live in there place of work, and AJ's family basically has a monopoly on apples.

But Dash...what does she do? Well she creates weather and leads the ponyville weather team...thats all. pegasi are expected to do that, at best I consider that similar to lower middle - middle class work. Look at her house! So either pegasi get paid a crazy amount of money for doing something thats expected of them, or RD has something she's hiding.

At first i dismissed it by saying "Well, she's a pegasi she can just lump up clouds and build a house and make the rainbows." Then i thought of how that argument has no leg to stand on. Pegasi treat weather like a business, and it is serious. Even the playful pranster is rarely seen messing with the weather for lulz.

Which got me to thinking, she likely can't just grab clouds and build a house...she probably had to buy those from cloudsdale. In sonic rainboom we she that engineers create rainbows, not just any pegasus...so she had to pay to have rainbow fountains created and seeing as its cascades off the house its probably a constant budget drain, and she probably also has to pay a fee for taking up air space. Honestly I dont see where her moneys is coming from.

Unless her never mentioned parents are very well off and they simply paid for all the expensive stuff and Rainbow maintains it.

And there's my little deconstruction of RD's house.

[tacobob]

Yeah. That's my guess. Her folks are raking in the bucko-bits and Rainbow Dash is livin La Vida Loca because of it. I do hope we see her folks in season 3. Fannon usually has RD's mother as being the previous generation Rainbow Dash', the "Always Dresses In Style version" with a different name. A pony that makes Rarity look like an old hobo.

[Lux]

Wouldn't it be interesting if RD's father and/or mother was an ex-Wonderbolt and is rich due to the money they saved performing stunts. No wonder (pun!) why she would idolize them!

(Serious headcanon idea).

[ChillzMaster]

I'm quite partial to the "Tyrant Celestia" concept. Allow me to explain;

I'd like to present the scope of relativity we're given in the show, where the meter of right-wing and left-wing stands. In the grand scheme of things, on the right side of the scale is equality and freedom through the self, god-given rights as a living being that can't be taken away and are to be used as starting tools to craft your own destiny. On the left, we have "equalization", (to put it in pony) monitoring everything to create a society where none is greater than the other, but personal freedoms and general restrictions are still in place. However, a society can adopt a caste system and make the transition from a socialistic society into a facist society, where clear lines are defined between the various patrons of the state.

The class system in FiM is obvious,

We have (from top-bottom) The Matriach(s), the educated (clergy?), the military (patrol for dangerous clouds), and the proletariat. Note that Rarity and Twilight hold significantly "better" jobs than Pinkie and Applejack. (Semi-famous fashion designer/apprentice to the matriarch vs baker/farmer)

Then we have the Cutie Marks. Ever read The Giver? Essentially, everypony gets a job no matter what, and the job in question is revealed at around the time of puberty (same shpeal in The Giver)

Let's return to the scale of right-wing vs left-wing. Celestia and Luna lead a very left-wing weighted nation, and leave Discord as naught but "Chaos and Disharmony". We have a skewed point of view, mind you. In the actual scale, all the way on the left we have Communism, oppression, total loss of personal freedom. Bad, to put it bluntly. On the right, we have Anarchy as the extreme. Bad, to put it bluntly again. Anything on the edge of the viewed scale of left/right politics is going to seem bad differently to where one views the scale. The ponies view Discord as absolute Chaos, or Anarchy of sorts. But it's a skewed view, again. What if their edge of the scale is just our self-determination/ free-market capitalism?

Upon further inspection, Discord really didn't hurt anypony in Return of Harmony. Yes, he tortured the Mane 6 a bunch, but that was because they were trying to foil his fun. If one is punched, one would like to punch back, no? Other than one scene where Berry Punch was surprised because she saw her sneeze blow down a few houses, nopony else other than the Mane 6 were harmed by Discord's second return (on-screen anyway).

Celestia recalls that Discord made life hard for everypony, but that's just one point of view. I know it's "God's" point of view, but still, a sphere viewed from one angle is naught but a circle. What's to say that Discord doesn't bring with him self-determination, the ability to let everypony create their own destiny?

I'll leave with this - the ponies fear a place called the EverFREE Forest because it acts like our world. The ponies normally have to tell the plants to grow, tell the animals to hibernate/wake up, change the seasons, and create/manage the weather. Again, The Giver.

[BaconofChaos]

While an interesting theory Mr. Eclipse, I think you're wrong on one thing:

Pegasi treat weather like a business, and it is serious. Even the playful pranster is rarely seen messing with the weather for lulz.

She used lightning clouds to prank Spike in Griffon the Brush Off, and Pinkie in Luna Eclipsed, and while not strictly a prank, she created a raincloud with a hole in it for Twilight in Ticket Master, and rained on the CMC in Ponyville Confidential. I don't think Rainbow Dash views weather as serious business at all.

I'll agree that she probably bought her house though, simply because I don't think Dash has the skill or patience to create an enitre house.

[flutterscotch]

Personally, I think she's just showing off.

[SteelEagle]

A pegasi who can clear the sky in ten seconds flat and seems flippant in regards to regulations is likely fully capable of creating a house.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

I'll agree that she probably bought her house though, simply because I don't think Dash has the skill or patience to create an enitre house.

You really think it would take that long or be that hard for Dash?

[SteelEagle]

I'm quite partial to the "Tyrant Celestia" concept. Allow me to explain;

I'd like to present the scope of relativity we're given in the show, where the meter of right-wing and left-wing stands. In the grand scheme of things, on the right side of the scale is equality and freedom through the self, god-given rights as a living being that can't be taken away and are to be used as starting tools to craft your own destiny. On the left, we have "equalization", (to put it in pony) monitoring everything to create a society where none is greater than the other, but personal freedoms and general restrictions are still in place. However, a society can adopt a caste system and make the transition from a socialistic society into a facist society, where clear lines are defined between the various patrons of the state.

The class system in FiM is obvious,

We have (from top-bottom) The Matriach(s), the educated (clergy?), the military (patrol for dangerous clouds), and the proletariat. Note that Rarity and Twilight hold significantly "better" jobs than Pinkie and Applejack. (Semi-famous fashion designer/apprentice to the matriarch vs baker/farmer)

Then we have the Cutie Marks. Ever read The Giver? Essentially, everypony gets a job no matter what, and the job in question is revealed at around the time of puberty (same shpeal in The Giver)

Let's return to the scale of right-wing vs left-wing. Celestia and Luna lead a very left-wing weighted nation, and leave Discord as naught but "Chaos and Disharmony". We have a skewed point of view, mind you. In the actual scale, all the way on the left we have Communism, oppression, total loss of personal freedom. Bad, to put it bluntly. On the right, we have Anarchy as the extreme. Bad, to put it bluntly again. Anything on the edge of the viewed scale of left/right politics is going to seem bad differently to where one views the scale. The ponies view Discord as absolute Chaos, or Anarchy of sorts. But it's a skewed view, again. What if their edge of the scale is just our self-determination/ free-market capitalism?

Upon further inspection, Discord really didn't hurt anypony in Return of Harmony. Yes, he tortured the Mane 6 a bunch, but that was because they were trying to foil his fun. If one is punched, one would like to punch back, no? Other than one scene where Berry Punch was surprised because she saw her sneeze blow down a few houses, nopony else other than the Mane 6 were harmed by Discord's second return (on-screen anyway).

Celestia recalls that Discord made life hard for everypony, but that's just one point of view. I know it's "God's" point of view, but still, a sphere viewed from one angle is naught but a circle. What's to say that Discord doesn't bring with him self-determination, the ability to let everypony create their own destiny?

I'll leave with this - the ponies fear a place called the EverFREE Forest because it acts like our world. The ponies normally have to tell the plants to grow, tell the animals to hibernate/wake up, change the seasons, and create/manage the weather. Again, The Giver.

Discord is the very definition of an enemy of free will and freedom. He corruped deeply held personal beliefs until ponies became the very definition of what they themselves would despise. He uprooted a town and changed the weather to fit his fancy; normal life in said town would be abjectly impossible, commerce, farming, the normal busines of life would be physically impossible. Discord being some propenent of free will does not compute; the only will that matters is his will. He is the definition of a tyrant.

This would be open to further debate if we just heard of his actuions from a purely historical perspective, but we saw what he did when he was allowed to run amok.

Celestia not only stays out of most ponies' life(aside from raising the sun, which would seem to be a point that no one would argue against), but to claim she curbs free will does not seem correct. She protects Equestria(or attempts to): Discord, Nightmare Moon, and Chrysalis would have(in order) either utterly dominated every aspect of life at their own humor, destroyed the land by denying it any sun, or basically turned the whole country inta bunch of zombies under mind control. If you are referring to Celestia ruling the country at her whim- perhaps, but she seems to stay out of affairs until they require action. And even then, she only ever seems to take action that helps all ponies- both in their masses and individually.

The big difference between The Giver and Cutie Marks is that it has been shown almost down to a pony that they love whatever their cutie mark represents. Also, not all cutie marks are a job- Cheerilee does not tend to a happy garden, nor does Pinkie run a party shop. Rarity is not a diamond huntress and Rainbow Dash doesn't cause lightning. They are symbolic of the ponies the mark adorns as much as they symbolize a profession, a profession mind you they seem to love universally.

You hargument, once broken down, says thus: Celestia rules Equestria, Equestria is a utopia. You have not successfully made a case that Discord is possibly a harbringer of personal freedoms nor that Celestia is a tyrant. Case dismissed!

[BaconofChaos]

You really think it would take that long or be that hard for Dash?

Unless she's been hiding her skills as an architect, yes. I understand that cloud is probably much easier to build with than bricks, but even so I think she'd need help.

[RarityDash]

Celestia not only stays out of most ponies' life(aside from raising the sun, which would seem to be a point that no one would argue against), but to claim she curbs free will does not seem correct. She protects Equestria(or attempts to): Discord, Nightmare Moon, and Chrysalis would have(in order) either utterly dominated every aspect of life at their own humor, destroyed the land by denying it any sun, or basically turned the whole country inta bunch of zombies under mind control. If you are referring to Celestia ruling the country at her whim- perhaps, but she seems to stay out of affairs until they require action. And even then, she only ever seems to take action that helps all ponies- both in their masses and individually.

The big difference between The Giver and Cutie Marks is that it has been shown almost down to a pony that they love whatever their cutie mark represents. Also, not all cutie marks are a job- Cheerilee does not tend to a happy garden, nor does Pinkie run a party shop. Rarity is not a diamond huntress and Rainbow Dash doesn't cause lightning. They are symbolic of the ponies the mark adorns as much as they symbolize a profession, a profession mind you they seem to love universally.

You hargument, once broken down, says thus: Celestia rules Equestria, Equestria is a utopia. You have not successfully made a case that Discord is possibly a harbringer of personal freedoms nor that Celestia is a tyrant. Case dismissed!

Also, Celestia has pretty wings and a sexy voice, therefore she cannot be an evil tyrant. She is too awesome to be anything but a force for good.

That's my entirely sound logic at least.

As for Dash, I must say I like the idea of her being from a very wealthy family. It would be unexpected and add an interesting dimension to her character. She's a braggart, but it's never about what she has as much as what she can do. The idea of her being from some rich, upper class family would really be kind of cool.

[Rosewind]

My theory on Twilight is that Celestia is grooming her to take over as her successor. It all makes sense!

[Lux]

My theory on Twilight is that Celestia is grooming her to take over as her successor. It all makes sense!

Believe it or not I've read many fanfics that point to that conclusion. Usually they involve Twilight becomming an alicorn.

[Rosewind]

I'm sure they do -- it's still a fun idea to romance, though. I've seen other Mane SIx becoming Alicorn Princesses as well.

[RarityDash]

I'm sure they do -- it's still a fun idea to romance, though. I've seen other Mane SIx becoming Alicorn Princesses as well.

Rarity would be the prettiest alicorn princess ever.

[TemplarFrost]

A similar thread like this was going on in the 18+ forums, called Unusual Headcannons. I'll just repost here, but slightly edited.

• Berry Punch has an alcoholism problem.
  
• Braeburn is a total womanizer (Marenizer?).
  
• Scootaloo is an orphaned street urchin.
  
• Snails has Autism.
  
• Snips has foreveralone syndrome.
  
• Discord was once good, but was driven to evil, because he was misunderstood.
  
• Derpy was dropped as a filly.
  
• Twilight has a severe form of Asperger's syndrome
  
• Twist is a hard-core WoW Skyrim gamer.
  
• Zecora is secretly an evil voodoo priestess.
  
• Applejack's parents are deceased.
  
• Soarin' has a major crush on Rainbow Dash
  
• Diamond Tiara is secretly depressed, because she gets whatever she wants
  
• Spike shreds major CoD
  
• Spitfire also has a slight crush on Soarin' and is jealous of Rainbow Dash. That's why Rainbow Dash isn't in the Wonderbolts.
  

[Parker_Izing]

Derpy is an Alicorn that got lead poisoning from shoddy solders on silverware, and got her horn removed for her own sake (not only pointy, that removal taked her magic too) I could say, under the lead madness she created Discord and the everfree forest. Her future includes she tracing her roots and somehow marrying the Griphon shogun whose foals would vanish Trixie to Uranus, bringing the great Harmony on Equestria on 7th season.

Naw, really .

Applejack parents aren't not only dead, but Big Mac saw it happen so he got trauma induced to just say yep and nope. parents died on a feral rabbit attack, that explains AJ's apprehension to them in cutie mark chronicles.

[Rosewind]

Rarity would be the prettiest alicorn princess ever.

There's no denying that Equestria would become much more aesthetically pleasing if that happened!

[RarityDash]

There's no denying that Equestria would become much more aesthetically pleasing if that happened!

Indeed. Everything would be far more fabulous!

[tacobob]

I'm sure they do -- it's still a fun idea to romance, though. I've seen other Mane SIx becoming Alicorn Princesses as well.

Yeah, I can see it now.."Hey Pinkie! Here's a whole mess of god-like powers!"

[TotalEcplise]

While an interesting theory Mr. Eclipse, I think you're wrong on one thing:

She used lightning clouds to prank Spike in Griffon the Brush Off, and Pinkie in Luna Eclipsed, and while not strictly a prank, she created a raincloud with a hole in it for Twilight in Ticket Master, and rained on the CMC in Ponyville Confidential. I don't think Rainbow Dash views weather as serious business at all.

I'll agree that she probably bought her house though, simply because I don't think Dash has the skill or patience to create an enitre house.

note how i said rarely. But also note how when she does joke around with the weather, its always such a small amount that a superior would have to be actively searching for a problem. The most clouds ive ever seen her with (not on duty) was in MMDW. And even though she can and sometimes does sleep on clouds, when the weather doesnt allow clouds around she sleeps in trees. I thinks its because she does in fact take is seriously, the same way most people take their job seriously.

everyone take pens from their desk even though they arent suppose to.

Yeah, I can see it now.."Hey Pinkie! Here's a whole mess of god-like powers!"

Now all it needs is a pic of Pinkie flying out screaming UNLIMITED POWAH!!!

I'm quite partial to the "Tyrant Celestia" concept. Allow me to explain;

I'd like to present the scope of relativity we're given in the show, where the meter of right-wing and left-wing stands. In the grand scheme of things, on the right side of the scale is equality and freedom through the self, god-given rights as a living being that can't be taken away and are to be used as starting tools to craft your own destiny. On the left, we have "equalization", (to put it in pony) monitoring everything to create a society where none is greater than the other, but personal freedoms and general restrictions are still in place. However, a society can adopt a caste system and make the transition from a socialistic society into a facist society, where clear lines are defined between the various patrons of the state.

The class system in FiM is obvious,

We have (from top-bottom) The Matriach(s), the educated (clergy?), the military (patrol for dangerous clouds), and the proletariat. Note that Rarity and Twilight hold significantly "better" jobs than Pinkie and Applejack. (Semi-famous fashion designer/apprentice to the matriarch vs baker/farmer)

Then we have the Cutie Marks. Ever read The Giver? Essentially, everypony gets a job no matter what, and the job in question is revealed at around the time of puberty (same shpeal in The Giver)

Let's return to the scale of right-wing vs left-wing. Celestia and Luna lead a very left-wing weighted nation, and leave Discord as naught but "Chaos and Disharmony". We have a skewed point of view, mind you. In the actual scale, all the way on the left we have Communism, oppression, total loss of personal freedom. Bad, to put it bluntly. On the right, we have Anarchy as the extreme. Bad, to put it bluntly again. Anything on the edge of the viewed scale of left/right politics is going to seem bad differently to where one views the scale. The ponies view Discord as absolute Chaos, or Anarchy of sorts. But it's a skewed view, again. What if their edge of the scale is just our self-determination/ free-market capitalism?

Upon further inspection, Discord really didn't hurt anypony in Return of Harmony. Yes, he tortured the Mane 6 a bunch, but that was because they were trying to foil his fun. If one is punched, one would like to punch back, no? Other than one scene where Berry Punch was surprised because she saw her sneeze blow down a few houses, nopony else other than the Mane 6 were harmed by Discord's second return (on-screen anyway).

Celestia recalls that Discord made life hard for everypony, but that's just one point of view. I know it's "God's" point of view, but still, a sphere viewed from one angle is naught but a circle. What's to say that Discord doesn't bring with him self-determination, the ability to let everypony create their own destiny?

I'll leave with this - the ponies fear a place called the EverFREE Forest because it acts like our world. The ponies normally have to tell the plants to grow, tell the animals to hibernate/wake up, change the seasons, and create/manage the weather. Again, The Giver.

I don't agree completely. But something I do believe is that discord may not have always been evil, perhaps his idea of how equestria should work conflicted with Celestia's. Being put in stone is pretty harsh, sure discord came out and laid chaos across all of ponyville, but seriously he is so powerful he couldve done the same to all of equestria easily...why didnt he? Because he wanted to mess with Celestia probably. Its possible that his world was like the everfree and what he did in ponyville was just to annoy Celestia and neutralize the elements...I mean he started in canterlot, yet didnt even bother the capitol as far as we can tell.

You really think it would take that long or be that hard for Dash?

A pegasi who can clear the sky in ten seconds flat and seems flippant in regards to regulations is likely fully capable of creating a house.

Well when it was shown that clouds are made from factories as are rainbows and snow flakes coupled with the fact that the weather is very likely closely monitored and shes never really shown doing more then slightly messing with clouds for personal purposes, and that Dash has shown NO prior hints at being a master architect...

Me thinks that between procureement of material and the actually construction Dash id none, or very little.

[Silver]

Disregard this. It didn't make very much sense.

[starswirlthebearded]

I find it pretty interesting that fans pretty universally consider Celestia to be some kind of ruler. I don't think the show ever really portrays her as any kind of ruler. All we know is that she is a 'Princess', and though princesses and royalty are often rulers in our world, there is never anything saying this is true in Equestria. Cadance is also a princess, and she doesn't seem to be in charge of anything.

We know that Celestia is in charge of raising the sun every day, and that she runs the magic school. She is also very powerful: We know she defeated Discord, Nightmare Moon, and Queen Chrysalis seemed somewhat surprised to have beaten her. However, being powerful (or even being a hero) doesn't mean she's a ruler. The main six show themselves to be heroes a few times, and they hold the power of the Elements of Harmony, but the world as a whole seems not to really have noticed. (Other than the thank yous said immediately after the fact.)

Everypony seems to respect Celestia. Maybe because she raises the sun (and that's really important), maybe because she is powerful, or maybe just because she is royalty (or possibly some combination thereof). Other ponies tend to scramble to make her happy, but they often do the same for other famous ponies as well. It could just be the fame and royalty influencing that. Still, the only pony that really seems to fear her is Twilight, but Twilight doesn't fear her as any kind of queen or overlord, but instead fears that she will disappoint her teacher.

I suppose it's not a hard conclusion to come to (that she's some kind of ruler), nor does it really bother me or anything, but I figured I'd share my thoughts on the matter.

This would be fine if not for the first episode where Mayor Mare said when introducing Celestia for the Summer Sun Celebration "The ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and moon each and every day, the good the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria, Princess Celestia." And then all hell breaks loose when she doesn't appear. And then at the END of that 2 part opener where Celestia tells Luna "we were meant to rule together little sister."

I'm pretty sure THAT is the reason why all the fans consider them rulers. Now as for gods... I have no idea, but they are CERTAINLY the rulers of Equestira. Celestia rules the day and Luna rules the night.

Not to mention that when they fear punishment (like Fluttershy and Twilight in "A Bird in the Hoof") they fear BANISHMENT and IMPRISONMENT. I'm pretty sure only a ruler could banish.

[Silver]

This would be fine if not for the first episode where Mayor Mare said "The ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and moon each and every day, the good the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria, Princess Celestia." And then all hell breaks loose when she doesn't appear. And then at the END of that 2 part opener where Celestia tells Luna "we were meant to rule together little sister."

I'm pretty sure THAT is the reason why all the fans consider them rulers. Now as for gods... I have no idea, but they are CERTAINLY the rulers of Equestira. Celestia rules the day and Luna rules the night.

I suppose I worded what I said kind of badly. 'Ruler' was a bad word to use. ^^; I was more referring to more as their fandom status as dictators/tyrants. They definitely have command over the day and night, but I never saw them as the (usually all powerful, all knowing) political leaders they are portrayed as.

[starswirlthebearded]

I suppose I worded what I said kind of badly. I knew that they ruled over the day and night, but I was referring to more as their fandom status as dictators/tyrants. They definitely have command over the day and night, but I never saw them as the political leaders they are portrayed as.

No, they EXPLICITLY SAID IN THE FIRST EPISODE that Celestia is "The RULER OF OUR LAND" (aka Equestria). I'm pretty sure that means that they are dictators.