Where Foals Actually Come From

[WriteCodes46 178]

It's usually been pretty a pretty obscure fact how foals are actually conceived in the MLP universe. However, digging up on the older cartoons, I actually found this piece of world-building, in Newborn Cuties nonetheless (which is the immediate predecessor of Friendship is Magic).
 
Foals aren't just delivered by a stork. In fact, they appear when 2 magic rainbows miraculously overlap after a storm. Then a new foal comes down gently to the world.
 
(Skip to 3:48 if you can't tolerate the whole thing)

(WARNING: Contains Rainbow Dash always dressing in style (though she does begin to exhibit some G4 personality!))
 
Now, it may be reasonable to think the process may differ slightly in G4 universe (and totally so in Equestria Girls), but unless clearly overridden by canon (and by that I mean the show showing a different method of conception), it's safe to assume it works pretty much like this.
 
I decided to post this, because the subject of where foals come from has been invoked in other threads, and now we have a base to use in those arguments. Plus it's fun piece of canon to know. Edited February 18, 2016 by WriteCodes46

[Frostgage 7,972]

Isn't this how all babies are made?

[Draxon 214]

I would be satisfied with this, but it doesn't explain how one member of a family is related to another.  This method seems to suggest that each pony is sort of their own individual clan composed of one member.  For instance, Mr. Cake was explaining how they could have a unicorn and a pegasus because they had distant unicorn and pegasus relatives.  If a couple of rainbows connected and they were born, how would that...?  Unless... one rainbow was from the Mrs. Cake side of the family, and the other was from the Mr. Cake side?  In which case...

 

:\

[AppleCore 41]

I would assume things in a variety of categories work differently in Faust's MLP universe.

 

As most fillies and colts share some visual characteristics with their parents, I think it is safe to assume foals are conceived naturally as they are IRL.

[[NULL] 906]

 

It's not at all obscure. What do you think they're doing in a hospital?

 

You see, when a man and a woman fall in love...

Edited May 16, 2015 by SpaceOnion

[WriteCodes46 178]

Unless... one rainbow was from the Mrs. Cake side of the family, and the other was from the Mr. Cake side?  In which case...

 

:\

That seems likely, that each magic rainbow is related to the parents somehow.

 

As most fillies and colts share some visual characteristics with their parents, I think it is safe to assume foals are conceived naturally as they are IRL.

Real life-like conception would imply something that is unsuitable to be canon in the MLP universe.

Edited May 15, 2015 by WriteCodes46

[Kyabetsuko 79]

I really think they are conceived in the regular way.

In "Pinkie Pride" Mr. and Mrs. Cake sang these lines in the first song:

 

She planned our first foal shower where we played all sorts of games

Having so much fun as we chose Pound and Pumpkin's names

 

So... yeah.

[AppleCore 41]

 

Real life-like conception would imply something that is unsuitable to be canon in the MLP universe.

 

And why is that? A lot of children's cartoons never discuss conception, that doesn't mean that everybody in such cartoons are brought in by a stork or something.

 

Its not strange at all that Hasbro and/or Faust decided not to divulge into such topics.

[WriteCodes46 178]

And why is that? A lot of children's cartoons never discuss conception, that doesn't mean that everybody in such cartoons are brought in by a stork or something.

 

Its not strange at all that Hasbro and/or Faust decided not to divulge into such topics.

But they did divulge into that topic, see the OP. Why should we believe it works in such an inappropiate way, when they have actually shown how it's supposed to work in that universe?

[AppleCore 41]

But they did divulge into that topic, see the OP. Why should we believe it works in such an inappropiate way, when they have actually shown how it's supposed to work in that universe?

 

So logical way is the inappropriate way? Also G3 and G4 are so completely different with their own styles that I cannot see much of anything crossing over from G3 to G4. Just look at the character development.

 

Also if you listened to the video, it was stated by one pony that the crossing of two rainbows is "where real magic is born". That is not the case in FiM, as the most powerful magic comes with and from strong Friendship.

 

Edit: Also, if you look at G1, ponies were able to actually walk and SLIDE on rainbows, I don't think that can be carried over to G4; especially since Rainbow Dash can actually create rainbows at will (with much needed effort)

Edited May 15, 2015 by AppleCore

[WriteCodes46 178]

So logical way is the inappropriate way?

I'll make it clear: If it was canon that conception worked in "the logical way", that would imply the existence of sexual intercourse in Equestria, which is incompatible with the MLP universe.

 

There's no reason to belive the method shown in G3 isn't still canon; it hasn't been contradicted so far. And unless you can find a quote from Lauren Faust or Meghan McCarthy stating how conception actually works in MLP, you'll have no evidence that it isn't still canon.

Edited May 15, 2015 by WriteCodes46

[Venomous 18,813]

I have seen this short before. It is disturbing.

[Shanks 10,811]

The stork thing is one of the common ways in which parents lie to their kids about sex because they don't want to tell them about it and I am a bit disgusted though not surprised that it got a variation on it in G3 involving "rainbows". I can understand why this subject isn't mentioned in MLP or "kids shows" in general but was it really necessary to create some variation of the stork bullshit story which has messed up countless kids by instilling in them the idea that sex is some dirty satanic curse? This is one of those issues where it is really best to leave the concept of where foals come from to clop because unless it states otherwise than the answer to the question of where foals come from probably wouldn't be that much different than the answer to the question of where human babies come from.

 

 

There's no reason to belive the method shown in G3 isn't still canon; it hasn't been contradicted so far. And unless you can find a quote from Lauren Faust or Meghan McCarthy stating how conception actually works in MLP, you'll have no evidence that it isn't still canon.

Of course there is reason to suggest that the G3 explanation isn't cannon in G4 because the last time I checked the Cake Twins were born in a hospital (see the episode Baby Cakes) which although isn't an explicit mention of ponies being born in the "logical way" is a strong implication of it. Sure we may not have seen Mrs. Cake go into labor and we certainly didn't see Mr and Mrs Cake make love but the implication though subtle was there.

Edited May 15, 2015 by Darth Bane

[AppleCore 41]

which is incompatible with the MLP universe.

 

How is it incompatible in the MLP universe? And if you say that its because they don't have 'parts', its a childrens cartoon and that is acceptable to exclude such things.

 

Remember that scene where Rainbow Dash woke Fluttershy up and she got embarrassed and covered what would be her 'parts'?

 

Or what about the fact that we can still distinguish the difference between male and female characters without seeing said 'parts'? If parts did not exist than gender would not exist in the MLP universe, which we know is untrue since Female ponies are called Mares and Male ponies are called Stallions.

 

 

unless you can find a quote from Lauren Faust or Meghan McCarthy stating how conception actually works in MLP, you'll have no evidence that it isn't still canon.

 

Do you have any evidence saying that everything from the past generations flows and is succeeded by the existing one?

 

If that is the case then you are saying that Humans exist alongside ponies in Equestria (despite them never being shown in G4 with the exception of through a different realm), and that Ponies can walk on Rainbows (from G3)

[WriteCodes46 178]

Of course there is reason to suggest that the G3 explanation isn't cannon in G4 because the last time I checked the Cake Twins were born in a hospital (see the episode Baby Cakes) which although isn't an explicit mention of ponies being born in the "logical way" is a strong implication of it. Sure we may not have seen Mrs. Cake go into labor and we certainly didn't see Mr and Mrs Cake make love but the implication though subtle was there.

Fine, then let's make it so the rainbows conceive a foal in the womb of the mother, instead of just making it appear on the ground. There's still no reason to believe sex exists in Equestria. The rainbows getting "confused" may actually be a valid explanation for why the Cakes, both Earth Ponies, had a Unicorn and a Pegasus.

 

If that is the case then you are saying that Humans exist alongside ponies in Equestria (despite them never being shown in G4 with the exception of through a different realm), and that Ponies can walk on Rainbows (from G3)

Those things have clearly been overridden by current canon. I think the situation is the same as with the comics: according to the show writers they're canon unless and until directly contradicted by the show. Edited May 16, 2015 by WriteCodes46

[Shanks 10,811]

Fine, then let's make it so the rainbows conceive a foal in the womb of the mother, instead of just making it appear on the ground. There's still no reason to believe sex exists in Equestria. The rainbows getting "confused" may actually be a valid explanation for why the Cakes, both Earth Ponies, had a Unicorn and a Pegasus.

That is even dumber than the G3 clip you showed and probably not how Mrs. Cake got pregnant and is still a "stork story" variation the problems of which I already mentioned. Some things are just better left unsaid and this is one of them. MLP is not the only "kids show" with primarily non human characters yet it is the only fandom revolving around a show like that that I ever heard of where some in it have gone out of their way to develop theories like that. G3 is your only evidence and frankly G3 and G4 are so different from each other and every succeeding generation is a reboot with different rules it is not applicable at all.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Darth Bane

[Yoshi89 5,289]

Pound and Pumpkin just happened. Before "Baby Cakes", it was never explicitly mentioned that Mrs. Cake was pregnant. Her absence in the hospital scene at the beginning of the episode only vaguely implies that she was.

 

 

 

In "Pinkie Pride" Mr. and Mrs. Cake sang these lines in the first song:

 

She planned our first foal shower where we played all sorts of games

Having so much fun as we chose Pound and Pumpkin's names

 

That still contradicts what Pinkie Pie knew at the beginning of "Baby Cakes". She didn't know they were having twins until after they were born.

[Manman20x6 359]

Back in season 1, Lauren Faust herself said that ponies do reproduce sexually.

 

Having pregnancy in the show is not inappropriate for children, many children's shows have shown pregnant characters. So long as we don't explicitly see the act of conception itself, it is definitely g-rated.

 

And the previous generations of ponies are set in different universes with no canonical links between them. Note how Rainbow Dash no longer dresses in style, and Applejack is much less silly.

[WriteCodes46 178]

Some things are just better left unsaid and this is one of them.

But they wouldn't have to be left unsaid if they used a kid-friendly approach like the one I've mentioned. If they actually made an episode of Friendship is Magic showing a pony getting pregnant like that, would you blast it for doing that? Would you rather be left in the dark about that part of the MLP universe (because natural conception certainly isn't canon)?

 

Back in season 1, Lauren Faust herself said that ponies do reproduce sexually.

Source? I have a hard time believing she would publicly state something like that, specially while she was still involved in the show. Edited May 16, 2015 by WriteCodes46

[Shanks 10,811]

Pound and Pumpkin just happened. Before "Baby Cakes", it was never explicitly mentioned that Mrs. Cake was pregnant. Her absence in the hospital scene at the beginning of the episode only vaguely implies that she was.

It is possible that pony gestation could be shorter than human women and probably is shorter than real life horses (11 months). So it is possible though a relatively short time skip that it didn't indicate that Mrs Cake was pregnant until the hospital scene.

 

 

But they wouldn't have to be left unsaid if they used a kid-friendly approach like the one I've mentioned. If they actually made an episode of Friendship is Magic showing a pony getting pregnant like that, would you blast it for doing that? Would you rather be left in the dark about that part of the MLP universe (because natural conception certainly isn't canon)?

If a pony got pregnant due to some ridiculous explanation like rainbows coming together than yes I would blast it without apology and I am sure many other fans would too because it would be a complete and total insult to the audience. And for what reason? We don't need to get into where foals come from in the show because the implied is both more than enough as well as the fact that it creates the can of worms I mentioned earlier that plays into the problem of lying to children about this sort of thing. It is sounding to me like you don't like clop and that is fine but you seem to be taking it to such a ridiculous extent that you are trying to manufacture a possible cannon explanation for how ponies supposedly don't do the deed.

[AppleCore 41]

Those things have clearly been overridden by current canon. I think the situation is the same as with the comics: according to the show writers they're canon unless and until directly contradicted by the show.

 

When was locomotion on top of rainbows every overridden by FiM? By your logic, Fluttershy should surely be able to walk atop Dashie's Rainboom! And since you seem to request sources so often, how about you pull out a source for what you said the show writers said?

[Skullbuster 1,906]

Lauren Faust herself confirmed that ponies reproduce via standard mammalian  reproduction, she used that exact phrase

[Grepper 3,192]

I'm looking up the reference from Mrs. Faust right now, I'm just having a hard time finding it. It was on Deviantart, as far as I recall.

[Shanks 10,811]

I'm looking up the reference from Mrs. Faust right now, I'm just having a hard time finding it. It was on Deviantart, as far as I recall.

Look no more because I already found it.

 

[Fractured 2,683]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edN

Uh... factual evidence that any of the previous generations are in any way canon to G4? It feels like you're really reaching here.