Parents & Families

[LyraHeartstrings 479]

So, we already know some of the pony's families, especially Pinkie, AJ, and Twi's family, but we don't know anthing about the other 3's.

 

So let's discuss what we think their families are like! Maybe they don't have a family! Maybe the parents live in canterlot, or manehatten. Maybe their brother is one of the wonderbolts!

 

And cannon families: discuss what they are really like. Why did Pinkie's dad own a rock farm? (besides the obvious) Or, do you think BigMac and Applebloom get along?

 

Now go! Discuss pony-family relationships!

[Slendermane 474]

I remember hearing something about their families and pasts being shown more in season 2, but I can't remember where I heard this. It may just be a rumor.

I think that Rarity grew up in Ponyville, but always dreamed of living in Canterlot. It could be that her family was once wealthy and from Canterlot, and she doesn't understand why they gave it up. Or they could be poor, simple ponies, and she just wanted more in her life.

With Rainbow Dash, she craves attention. She may have had either inattentive parents, or just had a lot of siblings.

It is hard to tell anything about Fluttershy's family.

[Lupus 127]

Did Applejack's parents die when she was young? Unless I am mistaken Granny Smith is her gran, and Big Macintosh her brother. Even when a teenager in The Cutie Mark Chronicles they are the only ones waiting for her when she returns from Manehattan. Her insanely large family would all seem to be cousins etc, apart from Applebloom of course, who must have been an infant if her parents did die...

 

Where does Sweetie Belle live? That would answer whether Rarity has her parents in town/nearby or not

[ryak 135]

I often wonder what happened to Rarity's and Sweetie Belle's parents. Why else would Rarity be taking care of her sister without any help when she is so young? At least that's what I think. Raising a child is a sensitive and difficult matter, and it seems that Rarity doesn't really have the time for her sister. Either that, or Sweetie Belle is visiting her sister's for some odd reason, but that wouldn't explain why she would be enrolled in school and always with the CMC. I just find it odd that we really don't know anything about the mane 6's parents aside from Twilight and Pinkie Pie.

[Doctor XFizzle 8,651]

Rarity/Sweetie Belle: Their parents are super busy entertainers who are traveling a lot (entertainment background, hence why Rarity is great at clothes making and Sweetie is great at singing). They have to pawn Sweetie off on Rarity a lot because of their busy schedule.

 

Rainbow Dash: I imagine she has two or more older brothers who are like ultra jocks and studs, and growing up as the youngest of all of them, she developed her tomboy qualities. In my fanfic, I portrayed her parents as a big, stocky former football player dad and a lean, slender former track star mom.

 

As for Fluttershy, who knows. In my fic I gave them like low-key, humble occapations. Fluttershy's dad is a Cloudsdale city accountant and her mom is an elementary school teacher. I'd like to think Fluttershy is an only child too.

[PlNKlE PIE 363]

I don't think anything happened to Applejack's parents. They're probably always traveling, peddling apples in foreign towns in Equestria. Because of this, Granny Smith was left to raise her and Big Mac, and them to raise Apple Bloom until they return.

 

 

 

As for Rainbow Dash, I presume from her mansion that she has a very wealthy family somewhere in Cloudsdale. I imagine she has quite a few siblings that are constantly competing with eachother, and that her parents are either the, or in some high ranking affiliation with the heads of the Weather Patrol.

[Tiaaaaa 174]

I love fandom characterization of Rainbow's family.

[Gummy 724]

I am very interested in seeing the mane 6's past. Particularly how Pinkie Pie got to Ponyville and more between Sweaty Belle/Rarity's relationship.

[Doctor XFizzle 8,651]

I'd also like to see more of Pinkie's family.

 

( This made me d'awww. the Pie Sisters tumblr is one of the many great pony tumblrs out there http://askthepiesisters.tumblr.com/post/10729582768 )

[SPLinux 374]

I Wonder about Scootaloo, its already been said she is not related to rainbow dash, i hear in the past gen's scootaloo was cheerilee's sister, but now there different kinds of pony's so it does not make sense any more.

[Glitterpen 40]

I'm currently thinking up a series of Mother's Day-fanfics (completely out of season, I know), so I've actually thought a lot about this. Here's the ones I've worked out so far:

 

Twilight Sparkle: An only child, her mother being named Twilight (senior?) and her father Nightlight, as the two resemble ponies by those names from previous generations. Both are astrologers.

 

Applejack: Disappeared father, mother died giving birth to Apple Bloom.

 

Pinkie Pie: As in the show, except her parents have now retired and left the rock-farm to Pinkie's blue-haired sister, in my head called Rockabye. Pinkie's dark-haired sister grew up to be beloved background-pony Octavia.

 

Rainbow Dash: The youngest of 5 foals. Her mother, Sun Shimmer and father, Rainstorm, had a painful divorce, leaving all 5 of the young ones in the care of their father. Their mother is a former model, now fashion photografer and is named after a G3-pony, their father is head of the weather patrol and his name is fanmade. By me, that is.

 

I'm still vague on Rarity and Fluttershy, but I think the former would come from an average family, while the latter is from an upper-class, possibly famous family. Hence their behaviour. Just my thoughts.

[Doctor XFizzle 8,651]

Just had an episode idea.

 

Fluttershy visits her parents for the first time in a while. They surprise her with a filly brother and they need her to take care of him while they go on vacation. Fluttershy doesn't know how to deal with it so she goes to Applejack for consultation on how to be a good big sister (since Rarity is too busy with a fashion order to help).

 

Fluttershy family reveal + Fluttershy/Applejack relationship development (since it's one (plutonic) 'ship that hasn't been shown yet) + cute new filly = ratings.

[Lupus 127]

I was wondering whether Peachy Pie was a cousin or something of Pinkie? In most cases the names don't seem to have family type surnames, but if Pinkie's full name is Pinkamina Diane Pie then Pie could be acting as a surname. Peachy's clearly not a sister tho, so cousin would work

[Pinkie Prectar 43]

Okay, I've been wondering a bit concerning this matter. The parents in Equestria. Most of all, the parents of the main characters.

 

Okay, we've seen the parents of Twilight Sparkle, just once in the flashbacks of how she got enrolled as a personal student of Celestia. But why havent we seen or heard from them since?

 

We've also seen the parents of Pinkie Pie. They´re "amish" and probably doesn't approve of her new way of life.

 

What about Rarity and her sister Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle is after all still a filly, why havent we seen or heard any of them?

 

Moving on to Fluttershy, still no word of the parents, relatives or anything. Was she abandoned as a small filly, and that is why she is somewhat insecure?

 

Apple Jack, Apple Bloom and not to forget Big Macintosh. They live at the Apple farm, which have been in the family for quite some time, and the only real adult seem to be Granny Smith. Then they have relatives in Manehattan. Are the parents dead? Or what's the deal? When Apple Jack went out on her "cutiemark quest" when she was just a filly, we see Granny and Big Mac who back then appeared to be her only close relatives, so where does Apple Bloom get into the picture?

 

Then we have Rainbow Dash. There is neither any information concerning her relatives or her parents. Is she also a sad fate, maybe like Fluttershy, who just came out as a tough exterior? Is there a link with the Pegasus and parents here? If we take a look at Scootaloo, who is also a Pegasus, we havent heard anything of her parents either, and she looks up to RD. So is there some connection here with the Pegasus?

 

Just something to ponder.

[Sheogorath 1,155]

Applejacks situation is obvious: Her parents are owners of different farm and very busy on that, their children are helping out on Granny Smith's family farm as they will inherit that one day, it is the largest farm the family owns and foundation of the entire family so it has to be tended for actively. Her parents started their own farm elsewhere together to make a life together, and as soon as the kids were in working age they got sent to granny, Leaving likely few siblings behind to mom n' Pa' farm. This means Applejack and Big Mac are not only kids of the apple family, just oldest, and Applebloom is with them because she likely wanted to be with applejack due hero worship.

 

Then there's Rarity, another clear cut case: Her family is in one of the larger cities living high society life as artisans or something similar, but Rarity wished to stay in her hometown of childhood age because her friends were there and it is near the capital (Canterlot) allowing her easy access to the markets and fashion world of the capital.

 

Pinkie Pie is a bit of mystery, her background is veiled and obscured so that there is something I look forward to get more info on. (The fact that she has / had two sisters and two parents on a rockfarm somewhere near Cloudsdale means that there might be some future episode more relating to her family situation)

 

Rainbow Dash likely is some sort of orphan or has only one parent. She likely was sent to institute sort of boarding school and has always had to fend for herself, not having parental guidance and comfort, so she's developed a strong surface ego to protect herself.

 

Fluttershy hails evidently from a wealthy family. She is altruistic, caring and generally not very practical personality yet she has land in her name, houses and feeds a lot of animals and we know she was in flight academy with Dash,( who likely was in there under sports scholarship) Which generally can be assumed to be costly undertaking. Her non-materialistic care and abundant generosity also speak of someone who hasn't been tight on currency in her entire life.

 

Now why haven't we seen these parents? Well here's why: We only see in this series little segments of their lives, festivities, social events and moments of crisis. The parental interaction is mundane in comparison so unless they undergo a family crisis (which I am predicting for Pinkie Pie to be coming) We likely won't be getting much info on the parents.

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

What Pencils said xD

[Pinkie Prectar 43]

It all sounds likely, but I doubt it is that simple.

[Sheogorath 1,155]

It all sounds likely, but I doubt it is that simple.

 

Well I have another theory here that is more relevant to the population ratio figures of ponies. But this theory is contrived and complicated so I will only offer a summary:

 

As we have seen, the prevalence of female ponies in Equestria is high, it in a way coincides with the population of equines of our world where male to female ratio is strongly skewed towards female dominated population leaving only few males to seed the new generations. So all ponies have mothers and grandmothers but only few can afford also a father in the family to sustain and provide to the population growth, so most males are not allowed to pair off with any specific pony lady but are expected to seed offspring with several mares to provide to population and genetic diversity in order to sustain a functional society.

 

This results into a family structure where there are a lot of single mothers with a child or two, if they get a male offspring they are allowed to have more offspring as chance of males then is higher. And to sustain a family there may be two mare couples taking care of each others offspring, and in the case of Mr. and Mrs. Cake, it could be that Mr. Cake is sterile and therefore allowed to couple with Mrs. Cake. (no verified offspring for them) So they instead have taken care of Pinkie Pie to relieve the stress on Pinkies parents as they likely are supposed to have more children than they could feed, and then children are distributed to other family members, as seems to be the case with apple family too. You saw how large that was.

 

Now this would mean that some mares would be likely to adopt children to help the overburdened families and also get to experience parenthood as a result, explaining some off-species children like pegasi on earth pony families etc. Cases like Scootaloo, without parents, in the foster care of the community also might be more common in Equestria explaining certain other questionable sights.

 

Due severe lack of male offspring males more often are not then allowed partners and are needed to remain single, leaving them able to only connect and group with other males as we see them in the series conversing in small groups with other males. Also resulting to more significant connections of familiarity happening more among buck-to-buck relationships where two bucks may end up caring for a filly or two to experience parenthood without limiting their relationships to a single mare.

 

Rarity ties in to this in a sense that she has moved out of family home where her siblings, likely many are numerous and her mother then "gifted" our little dictionary to Rarity as foster offspring without having her to undergo the pregnancy. While she then has chance to care for another sibling of Rarity's.

 

So in a sense fatherhood and motherhood in Equestria might be quite a bit different then in human society where offspring division is near to 50/50

 

Another sociological and statistical aspect that supports this theory is the lack of wars and other armed conflicts in Equestria. A scientific study (http://ssi.sagepub.com/content/43/1/115.abstract) indicated that ratio of male births during and prior (addedum study) to war were increased, and higher than those of females. So in Equestria, which has the very reverse order war is almost impossible occurrence and matriarchal rule enables more prevalent diplomacy as idealized conflict solution. This also contributes to the stress levels (lack thereof) and other gestational factors in pony mothers resulting into even more extreme female offspring ratio.

 

So yes... as a summary this will have to do for now unless you have something specific you want me to cover of the theory #2 which I actually submit to more keenly but dare not mention due all the homosexual connotations and entailment of that scenario which might either fuel more slash enthusiams as well as make it even harder for some bronies to like the show with that knowledge.

[Pinkie Prectar 43]

Interesting indeed. I sure think there is more to Equestria than we know at this moment, and I can't wait to find out.

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

Well from Hasbros eyes I would guess having parents would conflict in some way, so rather than include them they set the mane 6 as the maternal figures.

[Marshmallow 1,134]

Fluttershy and Rainbow's parents probably live in Cloudsdale.

 

Aside from that, I'm not too sure, but the protagonists are all young adults. They are completely autonomous and they don't live with their parents anymore.

 

As for Rarity and Sweetie Belle, I don't feel like Sweetie Belle lives with her sister. She probably only visit once in a while.

[Slendermane 474]

Very interesting ideas, Pencils, but I'm not sure on a few points.

 

Rarity seems to have grown up in Ponyville. When she first meets Twilight, she says that she always dreamed of living the high life in Canterlot. It seems to me that she resents her middle class upbringing, and wants fame and fortune. And of course there is her dream to marry wealthy.

 

I like your explanations for Applejack and Fluttershy. Fluttershy doesn't like to talk about her past, and has a freaky knowledge of sewing.

 

With Rainbow Dash, she definitely wants to be noticed. This could either be she was an orphan, or that her parents ignored her for work, or that she had many siblings. For some reason, she didn't get enough attention as a filly.

Edited October 30, 2011 by Slendermane

[Finesthour 7,284]

Well I have another theory here that is more relevant to the population ratio figures of ponies. But this theory is contrived and complicated so I will only offer a summary: As we have seen, the prevalence of female ponies in Equestria is high, it in a way coincides with the population of equines of our world where male to female ratio is strongly skewed towards female dominated population leaving only few males to seed the new generations. So all ponies have mothers and grandmothers but only few can afford also a father in the family to sustain and provide to the population growth, so most males are not allowed to pair off with any specific pony lady but are expected to seed offspring with several mares to provide to population and genetic diversity in order to sustain a functional society. This results into a family structure where there are a lot of single mothers with a child or two, if they get a male offspring they are allowed to have more offspring as chance of males then is higher. And to sustain a family there may be two mare couples taking care of each others offspring, and in the case of Mr. and Mrs. Cake, it could be that Mr. Cake is sterile and therefore allowed to couple with Mrs. Cake. (no verified offspring for them) So they instead have taken care of Pinkie Pie to relieve the stress on Pinkies parents as they likely are supposed to have more children than they could feed, and then children are distributed to other family members, as seems to be the case with apple family too. You saw how large that was. Now this would mean that some mares would be likely to adopt children to help the overburdened families and also get to experience parenthood as a result, explaining some off-species children like pegasi on earth pony families etc. Cases like Scootaloo, without parents, in the foster care of the community also might be more common in Equestria explaining certain other questionable sights. Due severe lack of male offspring males more often are not then allowed partners and are needed to remain single, leaving them able to only connect and group with other males as we see them in the series conversing in small groups with other males. Also resulting to more significant connections of familiarity happening more among buck-to-buck relationships where two bucks may end up caring for a filly or two to experience parenthood without limiting their relationships to a single mare. Rarity ties in to this in a sense that she has moved out of family home where her siblings, likely many are numerous and her mother then "gifted" our little dictionary to Rarity as foster offspring without having her to undergo the pregnancy. While she then has chance to care for another sibling of Rarity's. So in a sense fatherhood and motherhood in Equestria might be quite a bit different then in human society where offspring division is near to 50/50 Another sociological and statistical aspect that supports this theory is the lack of wars and other armed conflicts in Equestria. A scientific study (http://ssi.sagepub.com/content/43/1/115.abstract) indicated that ratio of male births during and prior (addedum study) to war were increased, and higher than those of females. So in Equestria, which has the very reverse order war is almost impossible occurrence and matriarchal rule enables more prevalent diplomacy as idealized conflict solution. This also contributes to the stress levels (lack thereof) and other gestational factors in pony mothers resulting into even more extreme female offspring ratio. So yes... as a summary this will have to do for now unless you have something specific you want me to cover of the theory #2 which I actually submit to more keenly but dare not mention due all the homosexual connotations and entailment of that scenario which might either fuel more slash enthusiams as well as make it even harder for some bronies to like the show with that knowledge.

TL:TR

Lol.

Everyone knows parents abandon their children in equestria :3

[Sheogorath 1,155]

Very interesting ideas, Pencils, but I'm not sure on a few points.

 

Rarity seems to have grown up in Ponyville. When she first meets Twilight, she says that she always dreamed of living the high life in Canterlot. It seems to me that she resents her middle class upbringing, and wants fame and fortune. And of course there is her dream to marry wealthy.

.

 

Well, who is to say the middle class life still isn't something of a higher society level in the larger cities where her family might have moved to to gain access to wider variety of customers (improving their living conditions). Rarity staid back and gained control over old family establishment and made it into a dress shop. Her dreams to make it big might just be pure ambition to one-up her other siblings and family to prove her abilities and worth.

 

TL:TR

Lol.

Everyone knows parents abandon their children in equestria :3

 

Isn't it a bit silly to quote the entire wall of text you deem TL;DR?

[Finesthour 7,284]

Why yes, yes it is :3