My Little Pony VII: The Grand Galloping Thread

[Thanqol]

Proposal: We need to start up a new Friday tradition during the off-season. Any suggestions? We could watch 2 episodes each Friday and find all the nifty stuff we missed the first time. Or we could highlight some of our favorite fan works, or something.

What do y'all think?

I propose we pick a poster at random and bake him/her into delicious cupcakes.

[Irbis]

My newest fan theory:

How do you name a pony? Obviously, there are some families with long traditions that use themes (Apples, Oranges). Others don't follow a theme, they name it after physical traits. But...

Essentially, the main difference is if the pony was named after something, or not. The first case appears to be pretty much always two words, and has obvious connection with the pony itself. The second case? When a pony has one word name with loose connection?

Personally, I think all such ponies are nobles, showing off using names that their marks/trait don't mean much to them, they are above them. Possibly even changing their names when they inherit the title. Celestia and Luna being obvious cases, Blueblood less so, but it isn't connected to him outside of pointing he is noble, and might mean he waits for inheritance. This would also made Rarity a minor noble, explaining her upbringing and ability to own a shop in such young age. Trixie? Her bragging is justified, seeing she really is great and powerful, by her birthright. After all, she got that expensive stage from somewhere.

This would make 'Nightmare Moon' a slur, meant to show she lost her nobility by revolting, by replacing regal name with common class name. This would also mean two-words-into-one names are an attempt to emulate nobles, though anypony noble would still see them as pretenders.

This would also have interesting implication:

Spoiler

Show

Spitfire and Soaren so far means the Wonderbolts are possibly all-noble team (not surprising, really, with only so many spots only these with the most influence can got in)... Meaning, they will first inform RD she need shool diploma, and when she will finally got it she will be informed she needs the noble title first crushing her completely

This would explain why they didn't wanted to talk to Rainbow Dash - all these nobles around were their families/patrons, and some random fanpony with plebeian name wasn't all that interesting to them

[PhoeKun]

I propose we pick a poster at random and bake him/her into delicious cupcakes.

I think this might get old quickly. Or to look at it another way, we can't possibly one up the original event.

[Grif]

I think this might get old quickly. Or to look at it another way, we can't possibly one up the original event.

Why one up it, when you two up the event and then add some cherries on top?

[Irbis]

Proposal: We need to start up a new Friday tradition during the off-season. Any suggestions? We could watch 2 episodes each Friday and find all the nifty stuff we missed the first time. Or we could highlight some of our favorite fan works, or something.

One volunteer per week tackling that MeMe challenge from the OP? :P

[the_druid_droid]

My newest fan theory:

How do you name a pony? Obviously, there are some families with long traditions that use themes (Apples, Oranges). Others don't follow a theme, they name it after physical traits. But...

Essentially, the main difference is if the pony was named after something, or not. The first case appears to be pretty much always two words, and has obvious connection with the pony itself. The second case? When a pony has one word name with loose connection?

Personally, I think all such ponies are nobles, showing off using names that their marks/trait don't mean much to them, they are above them. Possibly even changing their names when they inherit the title. Celestia and Luna being obvious cases, Blueblood less so, but it isn't connected to him outside of pointing he is noble, and might mean he waits for inheritance. This would also made Rarity a minor noble, explaining her upbringing and ability to own a shop in such young age. Trixie? Her bragging is justified, seeing she really is great and powerful, by her birthright. After all, she got that expensive stage from somewhere.

*snip*

The more I think about it, this theory makes a lot of sense...

Edit: Realized I should probably elaborate. In particular, the comments about Rarity and Trixie seem like they fit in pretty well with what we know about those two already, and it would explain why Rarity thought she might have a chance with a noble.

[Raz_Fox]

So what implications does that theory have for Pinkamina Diane Pie? I mean, it's not really a description of her, but it's a three-word name. Is that supposed to imply she's the poorest of the poor, or what?

[PhoeKun]

So what implications does that theory have for Pinkamina Diane Pie? I mean, it's not really a description of her, but it's a three-word name. Is that supposed to imply she's the poorest of the poor, or what?

Also, Applejack is one word.

Your move, Irbis.

edit: on the subject of pony names, I've been having a little fun lately trying to figure out how to convert my name and the names of various people around me into what they would likely be if we were all ponies. Or more accurately, what the ponified versions of our pre-existing names would be. Anyone want to play with me?

[the_druid_droid]

So what implications does that theory have for Pinkamina Diane Pie? I mean, it's not really a description of her, but it's a three-word name. Is that supposed to imply she's the poorest of the poor, or what?

Hmm, dunno if this still needs to be spoilered. I'll play it safe.

Spoiler

Show

Considering that Pinkie grew up on a rock farm outside Ponyville, I'd say that she does indeed qualify as extremely poor, so I think the theory still works pretty well in this case.

^ Name ponyfication does sound fun. Maybe that could be our Friday thing?

[Grif]

Huh, and how would be ponify our names?

[Raz_Fox]

My pony name: Vulpine. That or Foxy Tales.

PhoeKun's can be Sally Ships.

[Irbis]

So what implications does that theory have for Pinkamina Diane Pie? I mean, it's not really a description of her, but it's a three-word name. Is that supposed to imply she's the poorest of the poor, or what?

*shrug* Different culture?

If we go by RL implications, they were migrants from some other place, fresh newcomers into Equestria, perhaps coming from republic of some kind (as my history education suggests, anyway, having two names and surname was instituted by countries that tried to limit nobility's influence, by forcibly naming peasants who until then had only one name, to erase differences between subjects - at least that's how it started in central Europe). Everypony having three word name, not tied to traits/marks, with clear surname would have exactly that effect.

Note Pinkie changed it to blend in better, suggesting it's outside custom, and even then... If we go by other names, had she been born in Equestria she would have been called Pink Pie, so she tried to preserve at least part of the uniqueness, IMHO. Being named after a finger, something ponies lack, is not exactly in tune with all other names

Also, Applejack is one word.

Your move, Irbis.

It's exactly as I said above - Applejack and Fluttershy were named by their parents with 2-in-1 pattern, perhaps showing these ponies were better off, or that they wanted better future for their children. Note, AJ's planned destiny was being sent to big city, where such name would come in handy more than normal, rural name (even her accent was ridiculed) while her older brother was to inherit the farm.

edit: on the subject of pony names, I've been having a little fun lately trying to figure out how to convert my name and the names of various people around me into what they would likely be if we were all ponies. Or more accurately, what the ponified versions of our pre-existing names would be. Anyone want to play with me?

You mean, RL names, or nicknames?

[the_druid_droid]

*snip*
It's exactly as I said above - Applejack and Fluttershy were named by their parents with 2-in-1 pattern, perhaps showing these ponies were better off, or that they wanted better future for their children. Note, AJ's planned destiny was being sent to big city, where such name would come in handy more than normal, rural name (even her accent was ridiculed) while her older brother was to inherit the farm.
*snip*

I think in AJ's case it wasn't so much her planned destiny as what she wanted to do for herself. But still, it's possible that she contracted her name from Apple Jack for the Manehattan trip and it just stuck.

Edit: Also pony name...Andy? (Like from android...ok, I know I need practice...)

[Thufir]

Why is it that as soon as I stop lurking constantly in this thread, you all say things I want to respond to?

I am platonically in love with you. Or with your use of esoteric English, one of the two.

'Wont' is esoteric now? I can never keep track of how people view my language.

Oh hey, that reminds me of a dropped quote...

it's a simile

it's so good a simile that it is also a really good metaphor. Now that is one hay of a similaphor.

Having made the point that you like to have your text colour preserved in quotes, I am somewhat miffed you uncapitalised the start of that sentence and removed the full stop from the end.
Also, the thing you said after the quote makes no sense.

Spoiler

Show

There's something definitely wrong with this image!
Why would a cellist have a treble clef cutie mark?

...Uhm....hey! Look over there! It's Rainbow Dash! And she's totally making out with every pony, male and female, in the series! And there's a giant robot stomping around! And Celestia has gone all evil! And Luna has gone all evil!

Meh, just fandom business as normal.

And Fluttershy is crying!

HOW DARE THEY I WILL MURDERLISE THEM IN THE FACE

N-Now I'm all confused to know if I'm alive or dead!

Schrodinger's pony, a famous thought experiment involving a pony who has both been killed and turned into cupcakes and is alive and well...

Spoiler

Show

Eh, I don't know. Here, all the stories I had read had Dukes as evil or spoiled, princes are usually incompetent and thrown off the throne. But, I guess it's just cultural difference :P

Episode spoilers:

Spoiler

Show

Dukes are evil in stories, yes. Spoiled, maybe. But the kind of snooty uselessness demonstrated by Blueblood is much more the domain of Princes - it tends to go with incompetence, which is a Prince thing, as you say.

[PhoeKun]

It's exactly as I said above - Applejack and Fluttershy were named by their parents with 2-in-1 pattern, perhaps showing these ponies were better off, or that they wanted better future for their children. Note, AJ's planned destiny was being sent to big city, where such name would come in handy more than normal, rural name (even her accent was ridiculed) while her older brother was to inherit the farm.

Mm, well played. This actually gets more and more interesting in its implications the more I think about it. Allowing, of course, for the possibility of certain ponies to will their into the upper class with the sheer strength of their awesome. See also: Hoity Toity. There's hope yet, Dash! =D

You mean, RL names, or nicknames?

Well, either or. Whatever everypony's comfortable with. I'd been attempting to use my real name, and what that essentially entails thus far is looking up interpretations and meanings, then looking for sufficiently cute or pony sounding ways to change it. For example, my first name has all sorts of connotations with light, shining, radiance, and sun gods, which I have boiled down into 'Shimmer'. My last name is giving me fits, because 'person from Kalinowo' is not a concept that lends itself well to the whole idea I'm tackling. And my sister is a total dead end on this method: "Follower of Christ, God is my Word". So this may be a fundamentally broken methodology.

And I'm nothing if not a plebeian pony, so I must have two names. Plus, Shimmer doesn't lend itself well to being a standalone. Incidentally, this sort of exercise is also useful for helping one to figure out what they'd look like as a pony. I'd go into that in more detail, but I'm not sure anypony really cares.

[Welf]

Spoiler

Show

But it would have backfired, if so. Noble's profits aren't the work of their hands or minds, they are drawn from their belongings. Which usually means lands and industries common ponies toil in. So, even if it was a tax, used to support middle class, it would have been very regressive, as it would target lowest classes, really.

Second, using the Gala for it strikes me as rather poor idea. A lot of money spent here was burned, quite literally, in case of fireworks, but all that fancy food and decorations were useless once it ended. So, a bit of money made it into economy, maybe to these middle class workshops providing the services and goods, but most of it ended as ash and dung. Nah, that's would be like trying to collect water with a bucket with several holes.

Spoiler

Show

First, I see that more as an attempt to prevent the accumulation of too much wealth in too few hands. Several dozens of nobles and other wealthy persons are no problem for a government, since they can be easily squished individually or played off against each other. But if only 5 or 6 are left, and when they have more money than the central government, they start to have crazy ideas like starting a civil war to secede or size the throne. Government waste is a bad idea, civil war is an even worse. The history of mediaeval France or Germany is rife with that.
Second, in the end most kinds of consume means burning stuff for nothing. The point is, it creates jobs, and the ponies who earn money create more jobs when they spend their income on other stuff. It's the miracle of economic multipliers.

So... You're saying Trollestia left Luna as herself greeting the guests and proceeded to troll Rarity for a change?

Well, at least I'm saying it now.

And since I've been talking too much about economic multipliers and social engineering:

Spoiler

Show

Artist: kaikaku

[Irbis]

Upon reflection - Rarity's nobility could be implied by the fact that out of main 6, she is the only one to wear a diadem/crown thing (plus, regal crimson colour of her dress), and by the Prince Highnose not only talking to her all night, but remembering her name and almost acting gallantly twice...

Which would be interesting if the Prince is actually Charming, and she was snubbed only by the whole 'minor' nobility part. Maybe if she hold actually important title, or was first in line to her family's own, she would have been treated entirely different, like a lady? After all, her impression must have come from somewhere, and the gossip magazines might only picture his behaviour towards other celebrities

[SiuiS]

Also, Applejack is one word.

Your move, Irbis.

edit: on the subject of pony names, I've been having a little fun lately trying to figure out how to convert my name and the names of various people around me into what they would likely be if we were all ponies. Or more accurately, what the ponified versions of our pre-existing names would be. Anyone want to play with me?

I'm game, but I have no idea how. Lead by example?

'Wont' is esoteric now? I can never keep track of how people view my language.

given that PhoeKun is the third person I've ever seen use the word outside of a book, I'm going to say yes. I'm sure plenty of people know the word, but it goes unused.

Having made the point that you like to have your text colour preserved in quotes, I am somewhat miffed you uncapitalised the start of that sentence and removed the full stop from the end.
Also, the thing you said after the quote makes no sense.

well, I copied it from memory, rather than going back to quote it because it was an afterthought, as opposed to being the main thrust of what I wanted to say.
It also looks like I'm having trouble with auto-capitalizing, which is something I've come to rely on. The lack of period is just lazy however; and more to the point, I'm sorry I have upset you by misrepresenting you. All else aside, that's really what's important.

Episode spoilers:

Spoiler

Show

Dukes are evil in stories, yes. Spoiled, maybe. But the kind of snooty uselessness demonstrated by Blueblood is much more the domain of Princes - it tends to go with incompetence, which is a Prince thing, as you say.

This sums it up nicely. Thank you, Thufir.

-

Hm, response while typing.
You could do City Shimmer, or find something this Kalinowo is known for and use that. I am afraid that I myself am in the same boat as your sister, though. Well, maybe not. My surname would work, though I don't know how to ponify 'defender of a valley'.

-

Oh, and an explanation while I'm coherent. Irbis; I tried typing your name, and at one point it came out Orbison. I have no idea why, but rather than erase it, I commented on it. That's what I meant.

[darthbobcat]

Upon reflection - Rarity's nobility could be implied by the fact that out of main 6, she is the only one to wear a diadem/crown thing (plus, regal crimson colour of her dress), and by the Prince Highnose not only talking to her all night, but remembering her name and almost acting gallantly twice...

Which would be interesting if the Prince is actually Charming, and she was snubbed only by the whole 'minor' nobility part. Maybe if she hold actually important title, or was first in line to her family's own, she would have been treated entirely different, like a lady? After all, her impression must have come from somewhere, and the gossip magazines might only picture his behaviour towards other celebrities

Spoiler

Show

I think she more read about him and assumed, "Oh, he's a prince, therefore he's polite." Instead, he's just a rich twit; I don't read any class-ism into his behavior, because if that was the case, why would he have hung out with her all night? (No, being related to Trollestia isn't a sufficient reason, because I don't believe in Trollestia). I more suspect he's a spoiled, rude twit, but Rarity was the first pony to ever really CALL HIM OUT ON IT.

[Irbis]

Spoiler

Show

I think she more read about him and assumed, "Oh, he's a prince, therefore he's polite." Instead, he's just a rich twit; I don't read any class-ism into his behavior, because if that was the case, why would he have hung out with her all night? (No, being related to Trollestia isn't a sufficient reason, because I don't believe in Trollestia). I more suspect he's a spoiled, rude twit, but Rarity was the first pony to ever really CALL HIM OUT ON IT.

Spoiler

Show

A) Being a noble is all about being rude to right persons and charming to your peers/superiors. All I said he would be much more interesting character if he wasn't as one-dimensional as he is being painted now by fans, and instead played the social game perfectly, without thinking.

Unless you suggest he is equally rude to everyone, including Celestia, which I doubt. He has to tailor his responses somehow.

B) If he is so rude, why he made an effort to compliment Rarity a few times and stopped her from stepping into the water? All his rudeness seems to be an afterthought, as if he suddenly remembered he can't socialize too much with her without tarnishing his image - thus, taking the rose, grabbing nearest object with which to cover the water, or remembering he can't open the door for her without sending wrong message.

[darthbobcat]

Spoiler

Show

A) Being a noble is all about being rude to right persons and charming to your peers/superiors. All I said he would be much more interesting character if he wasn't as one-dimensional as he is being painted now by fans, and instead played the social game perfectly, without thinking.

Unless you suggest he is equally rude to everyone, including Celestia, which I doubt. He has to tailor his responses somehow.

B) If he is so rude, why he made an effort to compliment Rarity a few times and stopped her from stepping into the water? All his rudeness seems to be an afterthought, as if he suddenly remembered he can't socialize too much with her without tarnishing his image - thus, taking the rose, grabbing nearest object with which to cover the water, or remembering he can't open the door for her without sending wrong message.

Eh. We'll just have agree to disagree.

Spoiler

Show

I would suspect that Celestia is the only one he varies his behavior with. If he's that high up the social ladder, he can always find new people of lower rank to fawn over him. He's probably a fundamentally lonely guy, given the constant recycling of friends and acquaintances.

[Mystic Muse]

I propose we pick a poster at random and bake him/her into delicious cupcakes.

Lets try this again.

Stop trying to kill my friends.

[Irbis]

Eh. We'll just have agree to disagree.

Spoiler

Show

I would suspect that Celestia is the only one he varies his behavior with. If he's that high up the social ladder, he can always find new people of lower rank to fawn over him. He's probably a fundamentally lonely guy, given the constant recycling of friends and acquaintances.

Erm... You do realize what you said now isn't incompatible with what I said? :P

[SiuiS]

Spoiler

Show

A) Being a noble is all about being rude to right persons and charming to your peers/superiors. All I said he would be much more interesting character if he wasn't as one-dimensional as he is being painted now by fans, and instead played the social game perfectly, without thinking.

Unless you suggest he is equally rude to everyone, including Celestia, which I doubt. He has to tailor his responses somehow.

B) If he is so rude, why he made an effort to compliment Rarity a few times and stopped her from stepping into the water? All his rudeness seems to be an afterthought, as if he suddenly remembered he can't socialize too much with her without tarnishing his image - thus, taking the rose, grabbing nearest object with which to cover the water, or remembering he can't open the door for her without sending wrong message.

Spoiler

Show

What you are missing, Irbis, is that being nice to rich people and rude to poor people is considered a flaw. It's not just another trait, but definitively a flaw. This is directly related to Rarity being so cool; she is nice while still having what others call 'gold digger' tendencies. She is not limited by wanting to be rich, even though it helps define her.

On the other hoof, Blueblood catering his actions to station rather than the person bearing the station is a quality I find irredeemable. He is, by design, full of himself and useless. He refuses food, not based on taste, but because he can't afford to be seen eating such low-brow food.

Now, this may be just me, but anyone who turns down food because it doesn't fit their social standing is dumb. Food is food, and good food transcends class boundaries.

[Raz_Fox]

Lets try this again.

Stop trying to kill my friends.

You'd be surprised at what you can live through. Just saying.

[Mystic Muse]

You'd be surprised at what you can live through. Just saying.

Since I don't feel like linking it that many times, just imagine 12 dozen of the yelling Angryshy is in this post.

[darthbobcat]

Erm... You do realize what you said now isn't incompatible with what I said? :P

Spoiler

Show

I'm contracting the number of people he's polite to, and giving a different reason to be rude to Rarity. I don't think that he's rude because she's lower class than him specifically, he's rude because he's always been able to get away with it. After all, the apples prove that he has zero tolerance for low class things. He stayed with Rarity, so he doesn't percieve her as such. He's as polite as he can muster to Princess Celestia, but anyone else needs to put up with his defective personality or get out. His peers probably put up with him because of his important station and the hope of influence, while servants would put up with him because they were payed to. Rarity just decided to get out without sparing his feelings.

Edit: It occurs to me that we're arguing in circles because I'm focusing on his personality and you're focusing on his social circle, where both are things that would reinforce each other.

[PhoeKun]

Hm, response while typing.
You could do City Shimmer, or find something this Kalinowo is known for and use that. I am afraid that I myself am in the same boat as your sister, though. Well, maybe not. My surname would work, though I don't know how to ponify 'defender of a valley'.

Unfortunately, there's an absolute ton of cities named Kalinowo, and the only real certainty is that they'd have been founded either by someone named Kalina (itself meaning 'Rowan Tree'), or in an area surrounded by things that superficially resemble (but are not!) cranberries. Except on large bushes instead of in bogs. So berries, flowers, trees, and women named after trees. My word association-fu fails me. Apparently gueldar roses are also known as snowball trees, which sounds kind of pretty. I dunno.

Which is really the name of the game, by the way. And with pony names often having a great deal to do with appearance and/or purpose in life, I find it's useful to contemplate your pony image when thinking about the name. Like, I'm realizing now that I'm mostly likely a primarily white colored pony, possibly a unicorn. That makes me want to play with the snow theme.

It's the same sort of game you can play with 'Defender of a Valley'. Start thinking about descriptive words that invoke safety or hills, possibly greenery. Or even just the color green. Or whatever other kind of valley you'd rather invoke, depending on what best suits your own color scheme or cutie mark. You get stuck when you try to do a direct translation, but if you can boil it down to an image or a feeling, it gets easier.

Since I don't feel like linking it that many times, just imagine 12 dozen of the yelling Angryshy is in this post.

I don't like that image. That depiction of Fluttershy is fundamentally at odds with everything she stands for, and it bothers me in ways I can't describe that her moment of desperation and extreme weakness is played up by the internet as a joke. I have never wanted to hug her more than I did during those scenes.

[the_druid_droid]

On the subject of the pony class system, it strikes me that if the one vs. two names theory works out, there must be some upward mobility. After all, Twilight Sparkle is a twice-named pony (thus probably a commoner), but because of her impressive talent she's become quite close to Celestia. I don't know if this works in general though or if Twilight is a special case.

Also, re: ponyfication of IRL names, I've got to work with "Twin" and "Fair/Handsome", not sure how to do that without making a snobby-sounding pony...

Also also, Darthbobcat mentioned once that he would NOT be writing a story about BB forced to work at Sweet Apple Acres to learn a lesson...this idea is mysteriously growing on me, despite an utter lack of previous fanfic writing experience.

V: Check their name? I don't understand.

[SiuiS]

Spoiler

Show

I'm contracting the number of people he's polite to, and giving a different reason to be rude to Rarity. I don't think that he's rude because she's lower class than him specifically, he's rude because he's always been able to get away with it. After all, the apples prove that he has zero tolerance for low class things. He stayed with Rarity, so he doesn't percieve her as such. He's as polite as he can muster to Princess Celestia, but anyone else needs to put up with his defective personality or get out. His peers probably put up with him because of his important station and the hope of influence, while servants would put up with him because they were payed to. Rarity just decided to get out without sparing his feelings.

Edit: It occurs to me that we're arguing in circles because I'm focusing on his personality and you're focusing on his social circle, where both are things that would reinforce each other.

I endorse this.

So nopony wants to check their name? Nopony?