Is Ponyville the multicultural hub of all of Equestria?

[ggg-2 3,555]

Canterlot's population seems predominately unicorns. AAAAAAAAAAPPLEOOSA!'s population is all earth ponies. Cloudsdale's population is of course, entirely Pegasi. That said, Ponyville has a perfect balance of all three races. (four if you count Alicorns as a race of ponies) In addition to having a zebra and a draconequus, (presuming Discord lives in Ponyville, if not actually living with Fluttershy.) as well as several donkeys/mules. So, is Ponyville the multicultural hub of Equestria?

Edited June 4, 2014 by ggg-2

[Khaoios 1,970]

No........its actually Manehattan.  

[Fhaolan 4,494]

The show does give the impression that Ponyville residents believe Ponyville is unusual for having all three 'tribes' in fairly equal measure. Plus the presence of several donkeys and one zebra (who is outside of Ponyville, but Ponyvillians probably still count her).

 

Now, they're missing griffons and crystal ponies at least to be truly called cosmopolitan, but they're not far off.

[yeet 2,027]

You mean the most diverse place in equestria. Probably.

My town is one of the most diverse towns in england we've been told by teachers.

[PsychedelicPony 440]

It actually surprised me that Cloudsdale and Ponyville were so neck in neck at the Equestria Games. Since Cloudsdale is only Pegasi how did they compete with Ponyville events that gave Unicorns and Earth Ponies an advantage over them. I assume there were events only for Unicorns and Earth Ponies as there were flying competitions only Pegasi could enter for obvious reasons.

[Freewave 1,145]

The show does give the impression that Ponyville residents believe Ponyville is unusual for having all three 'tribes' in fairly equal measure. Plus the presence of several donkeys and one zebra (who is outside of Ponyville, but Ponyvillians probably still count her).

 

Now, they're missing griffons and crystal ponies at least to be truly called cosmopolitan, but they're not far off.

 

 I agree with this to a degree. Other major cities may have more diversity but Cloudsdale is mostly pegasus, Canterlot for unicorns. Actually it may be humorous but Ponyville may also known as the "nudist colony" to Canterlotonians as they don't seem to wear clothes there but they mostly do in Canterlot.

[Nulln 755]

I'm pretty sure they mentioned in one episode that Ponyville is special because it's so diverse.  But in Cloudsdale's defense, not many races besides pegasi can even stand on the clouds.  lol

[Pastel 7,630]

Mmmh, I guess the population is different from one city to another.

 

Some cities only have a certain race of ponies (Cloudsdale=pegasi, Canterlot=unicorns), whereas some others have more diversity, like Ponyville.

[The Crimson Cross 7,533]

I'm rather surprised that nobody has mentioned Zecora yet, seeing as she IS a zebra. Though... She does live in ever free forest which is just outside of town. There's cranky doodle donkey and his friend. Though I suspect that Discord is living over with Princess Celestia at the moment. 

 

Though mostly pegasi live in Cloudsdale, Earth ponies in Apploosa and unicorns in.... Canterlot?

I guess since ponyville is smack bang in the middle of Equestria, it makes sense for all kinds of ponies to live there.

I'd say nopony is limited to where they live.

 

I'd say that there's just a chance of what race you become due to random chance.

Look at Mr and Mrs cake for example! 

 

Edit: Whoops, seems I didn't clarify that pound cake and pumpkin cake were different species!

Edited June 5, 2014 by The Golden Cross

[Carbon Maestro 1,003]

Multicultural implies that there are distinct differences in a segment of a population living together (ie Zecora living separately from most ponies). There's less mixing of cultures.

 

However, I'd say Ponyville is a melting pot - a mixing of all the ponies in the same place with little cultural differences. There is a difference though.

 

IRL cities like LA, New York, are all melting pots. In European cities like London, Paris, they're more about multiculturalism than America.

 

So to answer the question, Ponyville is more a melting pot than a multicultural center.

[LED Dasher 228]

I'm glad the show mentioned the concept of diversity in season four. While Ponyville is diverse, I would say that there are probably other towns or cities with a similar amount of diversity. I don't think Ponyville is large enough to be considered a hub. It seems like more of a diverse small town.

 

Multicultural implies that there are distinct differences in a segment of a population living together (ie Zecora living separately from most ponies). There's less mixing of cultures.

 

However, I'd say Ponyville is a melting pot - a mixing of all the ponies in the same place with little cultural differences. There is a difference though.

 

IRL cities like LA, New York, are all melting pots. In European cities like London, Paris, they're more about multiculturalism than America.

 

So to answer the question, Ponyville is more a melting pot than a multicultural center.

Melting pots are inherently multicultural. Even in the US, many cultural groups still live separately from the population or at least have a different lifestyle in their own households. Some groups are more assimilated than others, but there are still differences.

[Pastel 7,630]

I'm rather surprised that nobody has mentioned Zecora yet, seeing as she IS a zebra. Though... She does live in ever free forest which is just outside of town. There's cranky doodle donkey and his friend. Though I suspect that Discord is living over with Princess Celestia at the moment. 

 

Though mostly pegasi live in Cloudsdale, Earth ponies in Apploosa and unicorns in.... Canterlot?

I guess since ponyville is smack bang in the middle of Equestria, it makes sense for all kinds of ponies to live there.

I'd say nopony is limited to where they live.

 

I'd say that there's just a chance of what race you become due to random chance.

Look at Mr and Mrs cake for example! 

 

Edit: Whoops, seems I didn't clarify that pound cake and pumpkin cake were different species!

You're only mentioning 1 character for each species (Zecora, Discord...), they don't really count.

And yeah, Zecora doesn't live in Ponyville but in the Everfree Forest.

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

I'd be inclined to say that Manehattan would be a better fit for this title, but the show doesn't have enough time to expand on this. For a small town, Ponyville seems to be very important to the world of Equestria at large, but I wouldn't call a small town with little more than the basic amenities a vibrant cultural center. If that's true, then Rarity wouldn't have to think about moving on to Manehattan or Canterlot.

[Zygen 6,066]

Well, it does appear that Ponyville has the largest diversity of species in Equestria, however, the show also focuses on there a good bit, so it's only natural we don't get to see every bit of every other place. However it does seem that most other places In equestria are atleast mainly comprised of a certain species.

 

And as for Cloudsdale, the only ponies who can live up there technically are Pegasi, and Alicorns if you count them, so it's very likely they only contain Pegasi as far as ponies.

 

Canterlot just seems to contain mostly Unicorns, not that other species couldn't reside there, but it just seems to be that way.

 

Manehattan looks like it'd have a lot of diversity, but if my memory serves me right they are mostly unicorns to.

 

So while Ponyville is the mainly focused on place in Equestria, it also seems that from what information is given it is among the most diverse in the number of species who live there. Even just factoring in types of ponies.

[Discordian 6,021]

I'm pretty sure they mentioned in one episode that Ponyville is special because it's so diverse.  But in Cloudsdale's defense, not many races besides pegasi can even stand on the clouds.  lol

I dunno if that's necessarily the entire reason. In the Equestria Games they had a machine that sealed Unicorn magic. I don't think it would be impossible to make a machine that gave cloud-walking to non-Pegasi as well. Now, perhaps the structure of Cloudsdale might make it hard to live there if you can't fly unless they had trolleys on suspended wires going everywhere.

 

They never really explain it fully why the mane 6 can walk around in Cloudsdale and whether they had to take special measures to get anywhere or not but I imagine not everywhere in Cloudsdale can simply be walked to.

[silvadel 1,393]

They are mostly cosmopolitan if you are a pony.

 

If you are a zebra then not as much.

 

In most places, it seems that you have predominantly one type of pony.  The earth ponies keep to their own.  Cloud cities do not support non-pegasi very well.  Unicorns are more socialogically insular.  So yes Ponyville is odd having a good mix of all three types.

 

I am sort of surprised they had no problems with a griffon considering that it was the first griffon Pinkie had dealt with, so they can't be coming through Ponyville often (despite Gustav also passing through).  They also had a minotaur. 

 

Really, Zecora is the stand out here.  If you remove bridal gossip, then yes.

 

It actually surprised me that Cloudsdale and Ponyville were so neck in neck at the Equestria Games. Since Cloudsdale is only Pegasi how did they compete with Ponyville events that gave Unicorns and Earth Ponies an advantage over them. I assume there were events only for Unicorns and Earth Ponies as there were flying competitions only Pegasi could enter for obvious reasons.

 

Hmmm -- I thought it very odd that Ponyville could compete against the much larger cities, but taken that way, if there were events that favored ponies of the different races, then Cloudsdale might do quite lousy in some earth pony events, etc.  Since that was just raw medal count (not golds) I could see Ponyville getting quite a few bronze medals, etc.

[Adorkable 2,737]

Well, I've always seen Ponyville (for some reason) as the capital of Equestria. So I don't see why not! ^^