(Evil) title and name conventions

[Lerian]

Equestria is ruled by Princess Celestia and now Princess Luna in a partnership. The Crystal Kingdom is ruled by Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armour. It is widely believed/known that the real world reasons are that 'girls love princesses' and 'queens are evil' but what reasoning could there be in world?

Maybe it is a reminder to the Alicorns that, although they are more powerful than the other ponies and that they rule, they are not 'better' than the other ponies. They are not the absolute head. A self imposed title that they reinforce with their subjects. This is then reinforced by individuals who do become too selfish or power hungry, ('I am your queen!', sorry, QUEEEEEEN!), and the society itself calling its bad rulers Kings and Queens and changing their names to reflect their being bad.

Likewise,you have pony naming conventions. Are bad 'uns renamed officially as an acknowledgement of their crimes? 'Princess Luna is dead to us. By Royal decree she will now be known as Nightmare moon.' You are not likely to have Dark Lord Sundrop and no parent is going to look at their child and think, 'Hmmm, Blackshadow evillypants seems to suit them.'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Thank you for coming Twilight Sparkle. It seems that Princess Cadence and your brother were corrupted by the shadow crystals of King Sombra and black crystals are spreading throughout the land! They must be stopped!'

'The only way to stop them is to encase them in ice! I....I'm sorry big brother....'

'I love you Twiley'

A THOUSAND An indeterminate number of years pass

'Thank you for coming Starlight Twinkle. It seems that Queen Mi Amore Cadenza and her King, Clouded guardian have returned from their frozen prison and the Crystal kingdom threatens us once more! Their black crystals are spreading through our land and the dark queen uses her magic to force all ponies seeing them to love her!'

[MyLittlePonyTales]

I have this headcanon that there used to be king and queen Alicorns, which were Celestia and Luna's parents. However, they died unexpectedly (my headcanon is Discord), and Celestia and Luna were suddenly thrown into leadership. As an homage to their parents, since they never rightfully received their titles, they remained princesses. (As further headcanon, Celestia would have married and become queen while her husband was king, and Luna would have only become a queen in the event Celestia and her spouse perished and there was no other heir to the throne.)

Headcanon aside, there was something I noticed from the most recent episode: Twilight Sparkle: "A 'Crystal Faire'. According to this book, it was established by their first queen, and became their most important tradition." I caught right away that she said "queen" and not princess. However, in this instance, it definitely seems like the queen was good, and not a bad queen like Queen Chrysalis.

I don't know, Hasbro is just wonk.

[Lerian]

Liking that idea for Celestia and Luna Tales, it seems a much nicer (ponylike?) way of doing things than my own idea.

Also, obviously blanked out the bit where they mentioned the crystal pony queen, I remember hearing it now you pointed it out but obviously too busy going off on one

Nice headcanon while it lasted though!

[TemplarFrost]

I have this headcanon that there used to be king and queen Alicorns, which were Celestia and Luna's parents. However, they died unexpectedly (my headcanon is Discord), and Celestia and Luna were suddenly thrown into leadership.

In fact, Lauren Faust stated that there is no sentient being in higher power than the Celestial Sisters. But then again, Lauren isn't in charge anymore...

[korok132]

For normal naming, I never understood that. Take Applejack for example. If not for the Sonic Rainboom (and maybe her dislike of high society), she could very have well became the adopted daughter of the Oranges and received an likewise orange cutie mark. Would her name still have been "Applejack?" Or would it have been changes to reflect her now being an Orange? Like, say, "Orangejack" or something.

As for the "bad guys," I think it depends. The only examples we have are of super-powerful evil characters. Plus, we have no idea the origin of their "evil" names. Luna took the name "Nightmare Moon" when she went power-crazy and tried to take Celestia out, we know that much, but not who decided her name should be NMM. Maybe she took the name herself, and we call her that because of the 1000+ years of stories that nopony bothered to correct. Or maybe because, after a while, they were legends, and Nightmare Moon sounded far more menacing than Princess Luna.

Same with King Sombra. I fully doubt his actual name was "Sombra" before becoming the evil king we were shown in the episodes. His real name very well could have been "Sunshine Puddingpop" for all we know, yet he is most well known for being "King Sombra," because that's when he was in power and being evil.

I think of it like a title, or pseudonym. King Ivan IV Vasilyevich of Russia is better known as "Ivan the Terrible," yet his actual name never included "the Terrible." He very well could have been known as "Ivan the Kind" if he had worked for it.

How about Theodor Seuss Geisel? AKA, Dr. Seuss. Most people don't know his actual name, because his pseudonym is so much more well known.

Lastly, for titles, I've used up all my thinking juice for the other paragraphs, so darn if I know.

[TemplarFrost]

King Ivan IV Vasilyevich

[Lerian]

Lastly, for titles, I've used up all my thinking juice for the other paragraphs, so darn if I know.

Thinking juice you say?

I think that was what I was getting at with the evil names.... It takes a 'special kind of person (pony)' to genuinely name themselves something nasty sounding. (Look at what some DRC warlords call themselves).

Also I've liked the idea of world conquering 'love me' Cadence since I saw her power....