Lauren Faust answers questions on Twitter

[Radiance64 7,059]

Source: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2013/05/lauren-fausts-twitter-questions-and.html

 

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet.

Anyway, yesterday Lauren Faust answered some questions about MLP: FiM on Twitter yesterday for charity. There's quite a bit of new and interesting stuff here, some of the best of it:

 

'Q: I've heard rumors that Trixie was initially a male character in planning, what were the original plans for this Trixie character?

A: Yes, Trixie was written as male in the premise. Hasbro requested a female character. Story was not changed at all.'

'Q: Not a specific question, but can you tell me something fun about Trixie that isn't known? Thanks!

A: She also went to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns'

'Q: Where was Celestia when NMM appeared? Don't answer if you never thought of it beforehand. Don't wanna destroy anybody's theories.

A: In my mind, they were still young and still lived in the same castle together--- perhaps with their parents. It was the ruined castle in the Everfree Forest that was featured in the premiere episode. Before she appeared in Ponyvile, NMM went to Canterlot to find Celestia and use magic to banish Celestia in the Sun. REVENGE!

 

I imagined them with parents, yes. I wish I could've made a series just about Celestia and Luna's youth. Sigh...'

'Q: Spike's age: teen, preteen, elementary age?

A: I think of him as about 8 in maturity.'

There's definitely a lot more than that there, I recommend reading the whole thing. Fascinating stuff I think, discuss.

Part 2: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2013/05/lauren-faust-q-part-2.html

Edited May 4, 2013 by SBB64

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

The one about Trixe being male was hilarious because Seth from EqD replied with nothing but a look of shock and horror XD. It reminded me of a scene in one of the Cinema Snob's reviews.  

Edited May 2, 2013 by Shoboni

[Orablanco Account 3,708]

Spike is only 8...

 

Yikes.

 

Also, I don't like the fact that Celestia and Luna were the only bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Like I said in another thread, kinda OP and makes the Elements just a bunch of mcguffins.

[GrooveBroove 681]

Trixie being changed to a female, i'd have to say was a good move on hasbro.

One of the few times I can think where the involvement to change something like that worked out.

[100 beasts kaidou 321]

lolz I bet Mlae trixie would get hated and nobody will try to make up excuses for his actions *sigh* this fandom is sexist some times.

anyways intresting fact that luna and celestia are confirmed tohave parents

[Champion RD92 8,658]

"Q: What was the thinking behind giving Spike a crush on Rarity?

A: When I was writing the scene in the pilot where Twilight met Rarity for the first time, I needed to get across the idea that Rarity was exceptionally beautiful. I came up with the crush at that point, and it stuck!"

 

Well no duh Rarity is exceptionally beautiful. You would be crazy to think otherwise...

 

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,697]

OH MY GOSH

 

This is actually stuff I've been wondering about!

 

"Q: Were Diamond Tiara & Silver Spoon meant to be interchangeable bullies, or were they different (leader/follower, or..?)
A: Meghan created those two, so she knows better. But I saw DT as the queen bee and SS as the follower. DT is slightly meaner and driven in my book. SS might have been nice if she made a different friend."

 

Hooray! I knew it.

[Leafeon 2,702]

Trixie was supposed to be a male? I, for one, approve. That's more Trixbolt-able. So thanks for posting this. Very informativee.

[Dzastur 1,719]

Q: Where was Celestia when NMM appeared? Don't answer if you never thought of it beforehand. Don't wanna destroy anybody's theories.

A: In my mind, they were still young and still lived in the same castle together--- perhaps with their parents. It was the ruined castle in the Everfree Forest that was featured in the premiere episode.

 

Part of my idea for an episode...

 

Right around Nightmare Night, a school rumor circulates that the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters in Everfree Forest is haunted!  The Cutie Mark Crusaders, thinking that they might earn their marks with bravery, decide to spend Nightmare Night in the castle ruins. But, upon arriving, they get second thoughts when the castle appears to really be haunted with all sorts of ghosts and spirits!

 

It turns out that the "spirits" are really a product of the Spooky and Powerful Trixie, who is staying in the dank ruins while working on her magic skills overtime since learning of Twilight's new form. She feels a special magical "presence" at the castle, and is attempting seances. Relieved and dismissing Trixie as a little nuts, the Crusaders prepare to go home when suddenly real visions appear, spurned on by Trixie's meddling. They involve past occurrences with Celestia, Luna, and Star Swirl the Bearded, all of them from ancient times at the castle. The visions ultimately create far more questions and hint at previously unknown transgressions...but Princess Luna shows up before any of them see too much.

 

As you can see, I've always been a little obsessed with that ruined castle. I think some major sh*t went down there, and I want to see some flashbacks.

Edited May 3, 2013 by John Mellenclop

[SparklingSwirls 21,606]

I wonder how Trixie got into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Maybe she acted less arrogant back then? I find it surprising that Trixie was a student there.

[Blue Moon 6,345]

OH MY GOSH

 

This is actually stuff I've been wondering about!

 

"Q: Were Diamond Tiara & Silver Spoon meant to be interchangeable bullies, or were they different (leader/follower, or..?)

A: Meghan created those two, so she knows better. But I saw DT as the queen bee and SS as the follower. DT is slightly meaner and driven in my book. SS might have been nice if she made a different friend."

 

Hooray! I knew it.

YES! I knew my theory about Silver Spoon being nicer if it weren't for Diamond Tiara was correct. Silver Spoon is an awesome little filly.

[Dzastur 1,719]

I wonder how Trixie got into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Maybe she acted less arrogant back then? I find it surprising that Trixie was a student there.

 

Trixie had promise, but she kept getting shown up by Twilight, and let her jealousy get the best of her.

 

They eventually had a magic duel near the end of their time in the school, and Trixie screwed up badly. The class made fun of her and, sarcastically, gave her a nickname: "The Great and Powerful Trixie". To her credit, Twilight ran after her, but Trixie wouldn't stick around and went into hiding.

 

(Maybe?)

[RockinRarity 1,605]

I wonder how Trixie got into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Maybe she acted less arrogant back then? I find it surprising that Trixie was a student there.

Considering that the School for Gifted Unicorns is the equivalent of a hoity toity prep school IRL, I have a feeling that many of the students at that school were arrogant. Trixie may have graduated at the top of her class. Lauren didn't say that Twilight and Trixie went there at the same time (in fact since Twilight was Celestia's personal student, she may not have really known anyone at that school).

 

Princess Celestia is humble, and taught Twilight one-on-one, which is why Twilight is humble as well. I do not imagine, however, that most of the rest of the unicorns who went there learned how to be humble.

[SparklingSwirls 21,606]

Considering that the School for Gifted Unicorns is the equivalent of a hoity toity prep school IRL, I have a feeling that many of the students at that school were arrogant. Trixie may have graduated at the top of her class. Lauren didn't say that Twilight and Trixie went there at the same time (in fact since Twilight was Celestia's personal student, she may not have really known anyone at that school).

Princess Celestia is humble, and taught Twilight one-on-one, which is why Twilight is humble as well. I do not imagine, however, that most of the rest of the unicorns who went there learned how to be humble.

That actually makes a lot of sense. It could be interesting to see more students from Celestia's school, and see if they're generally more arrogant as well.

[RockinRarity 1,605]

That actually makes a lot of sense. It could be interesting to see more students from Celestia's school, and see if they're generally more arrogant as well.

Indeed. One of the many other things about this show that I would like to see more of.

 

Wouldn't it be spectacular if Lauren could be signed by Hasbro to do a mini-series about Celestia and Luna from when they find the Elements of Harmony until Celestia has to imprison Nightmare Moon? Don't think that Hasbro would find that spinoff profitable, however. :/

[Orablanco Account 3,708]

My head canon for Trixie has always been that she isn't satisfied with her exceptional stage magic and special effects talents because something at a young age (an event or a pony) convinced her that it wasn't "real magic". Within my own sick, deluded mind, she may have attend the school in an attempt to strengthen her magic ability, but she wasn't satisfied with the results and went on the road as The Great and Powerful Trixie.

[Zygen 6,066]

Well this is pretty interesting actually. Always nice to hear little background info you normally never hear about like this.

 

I kinda figured the explanation for Celestias disappearance was some form of imprisonment, but the sun sounds much worse a place to be banished then the moon to be honest.

 

Trixie being male is a cool little tidbit to.

Hope to hear more of these in the future .

[I am Lunar Fire 198]

I am going to improve on this Q&A by making it a QAC (Question / Answer / Comment)
 

Q: Who came up with Big Macs Eyup and what are you most proud of from your contribution to MLP?
A: I did. Proving a "girl show" could be enjoyed outside it's core audience.

 

C: Well Lauren, congratulations!

 

Q: Where did the concept of parasprites, and Pinkie’s music to lead them away, come from?
A: It was inspired by The Pied Piper and Trouble with Tribbles.

C: So Lauren's a Trekkieand she knows about 17th Century tales. Two things I learned from her
 

Q: I've heard rumors that Trixie was initially a male character in planning, what were the original plans for this Trixie character?
A: Yes, Trixie was written as male in the premise. Hasbro requested a female character. Story was not changed at all.

 

C: Brace yourselves, R63 of Trixie will start to appear everywhere!

 

Q: What is a plot that never made it into production? (My name is on the contributor page.)
A: The ponies meet a pony who was raised by deer and thinks he's a deer. AJ and RD argue over whether to tell him the truth! He found out on his own, and decided to stay with the deer who raised him.

C: Well, I guess all quadrupedes are welcome in Equestria. It now houses ponies, zebras, wolves, buffalos and now deer.
 

Q: more conceptual question, where do all the rainbow's go that leak from RD's house? Should she call a pegasus plumber?
A: They dissipate into the atmosphere. Her house was designed before we conceived how rainbows are made. Would have done it different.

C: Well, that explains the lack of explanation for that question. Thanks, I did I get it now...

 

Q: Does Luna still have Nightmare Moon in her? because when she transforms into Luna, the color of her coat and cutie mark switch
A: NMM is the jealousy residing inside her that came forth. Perhaps it could be sparked again-- or jealousy in someone else.

C: Hints at S4?? *wink* *wink*

 

Q: Why did Pinkie Pie come to Ponyville? Do her parents know?
A: I'm afraid I don't have a ready answer for that! But, if it were up to me, I'd say that though she loved her family, she was simply bored and wanted to go someplace where she could meet more people and have more fun. She didn't belong on a rock farm.

 

Q: Any more backstory to AJ's parents? They aren't ever really mentioned as an entire part of her backstory.
A: Don't know what the final canon will be, but they had passed away in my book. Never thought of how, though....

C: With so few explanations as to what happened to everypony's parents, expect her to answer those questions for a long time.

 

Q: What would have happened if Princess Celestia never sent NMM in the moon? Would NMM have won?
A: Yes. Celestia had no choice but to banish her sister or night would last forever. She did so with a heavy heart.

C: I always thought this was clearly explained in the first two episodes.
 

Q: In ep1, the NMM legend says 'the stars will aid in her escape' and we see 4 stars 'freeing' her. Was there some lore behind this?
A: It was meant to sound like lore, but specifics were never figured out. It would be something fun to figure out. Are they other creatures that were banished? What did they do? Who banished them?

C: I guess that's another explanation for: We wanted it to sound cool.

 

Q: Not a specific question, but can you tell me something fun about Trixie that isn't known? Thanks!
A: She also went to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns

 

C: Shortly after modesty and honesty were notions added to the course.
 

 

Q: What was the thinking behind giving Spike a crush on Rarity?
A: When I was writing the scene in the pilot where Twilight met Rarity for the first time, I needed to get across the idea that Rarity was exceptionally beautiful. I came up with the crush at that point, and it stuck!

 

C: Why did she even need to? It was clear from day 1 that Rarity was majestic. It does make for some of the funniest moments of the show.

Q: My question is, when developing Manehatten, would the other boroughs have been included (Ie. Bronx, Queens etc)
A: We didn't develop the city that far. If a story were to take place there and called for boroughs, we would have figured it out at that time. It seems like a good idea.

C: And eventually someday, a whole representation of the Equestrian New York Metropolitain Area. That would take a ridiculous amount of work.

 

Q: How does it feel to have the power to inspire others to make the world a better place?
A: Pretty amazing and unbelievable.

C: Modesty: Drink with moderation.

 

Q: You told me you had a name for Berry Punch when we talked @BronyCon. Care to share that name on record? =D
A: I called her Pinot Noir! My drink of choice while working on MLP. Got me through a lot of late nights.

C: And yet you wonder why so many fannon depicts her as an acholohic. She was based on a wine bottle.

 

Q: "A Bird in the Hoof" Why did Fluttershy have Twilight's and Pinkie Pie's gala dress?
A: Oooooh! Ok. I'm afraid the answer is boring. It saved the artists time to put pre-designed clothes in the closet. It was for practical, cost-saving purposes, not creative.

C: Well it does tell us about the amount (or lack) of work put in by some of the animators.
 

 

Q:  Were Celestia and Luna the only wielders of the Elements of Harmony? or did they have 4 others? What Elements did they represent?
A: Yes. They discovered them. They each had 3, but I never thought about who got what. Once Celestia used them on her sister, she could not wield them anymore. She had to wait for Twi and friends to reignite them.

 

C: I guess this was an afterthought like a lot of things in this Q&A apparently. They designed the Elements of Harmony for the Mane 6 and tried to apply it to the princesses afterwards.

 

Q:  I heard but saw no proof that Ditzy Doo was actually a different pony then our Derpy. Is this true?
A: Yes. Ditzy Doo was written into Winter Wrap Up before the Derpy phenomenon started. I kept the name in my back pocket in case we ever needed a ditzy character again. When the fans started becoming obsessed with a certain cross-eyed background pony, I thought she could be Ditzy, but then you all named her and I didn't want to step on that. There was just a name, but no design for Ditzy Doo.

 

C: Well, that clears the Ditzy Doo confusion on Lauren's part.
 

Q: Thanks for doing this! What was going on when Twilight was hatching Spike's egg and her magic went crazy?
A: Whoah! I didn't think anyone would ask! And just under the wire too! She had a power surge-- her first. She couldn't control it. Celestia sensed this HUGE magical ability, rushed over, and put a magical "cork" in it. She then decided to train Twilight personally, hoping she would one day learn (through friendship) how to control this magical power herself.
Q2: So Celestia had an ulterior motive!
A2: She knew Twilight would be the key to reigniting the elements.... and other stuff I planned that didn't come to be.

C: Lesson of the day: Ponies are actually robots. Twilight's power dissipation circuit glitched and a surge happened. And that's how Equestria was made!

 

Q: Why did Doctor Hooves have wings in episode 16? in season 1?
A: Unless the directors had some plan I'm not aware of, it was just easier to slap a pair of wings on an already-designed earth pony than to design and build a brand new character. It was just to save time and money

C: Afterthought, once again.

 

Q: Spike's age: teen, preteen, elementary age?
A: I think of him as about 8 in maturity.

C: She the one who created the character, but I would have guessed a little higher on Spike's age.

 

Q: Were Diamond Tiara & Silver Spoon meant to be interchangeable bullies, or were they different (leader/follower, or..?)
A: Meghan created those two, so she knows better. But I saw DT as the queen bee and SS as the follower. DT is slightly meaner and driven in my book. SS might have been nice if she made a different friend.

 

C: It as always been my intuition. I always saw Diamond Tiara as the leader.
 

Q: For an aspiring cartoonist like myself who's stuck in the Navy for a short bit
A: The best advice I can give is to never stop drawing. Imagine you have 10,000 lousy drawings inside you that you have to get out before you're any good. Don't get discouraged, practice guarantees improvement. Keep learning. If you can't take classes, pick up art books or take online classes.

 

C: I guess we can always sum it up to this: Practice, Practice, Practice.

[Radiance64 7,059]

What would you even call male Trixie? Tricky? Trickery? I really don't know lol.

Trixie was supposed to be a male? I, for one, approve. That's more Trixbolt-able. So thanks for posting this. Very informativee.

 

No problem, I really should make topics more often.

Considering that the School for Gifted Unicorns is the equivalent of a hoity toity prep school IRL, I have a feeling that many of the students at that school were arrogant. Trixie may have graduated at the top of her class. Lauren didn't say that Twilight and Trixie went there at the same time (in fact since Twilight was Celestia's personal student, she may not have really known anyone at that school).

Princess Celestia is humble, and taught Twilight one-on-one, which is why Twilight is humble as well. I do not imagine, however, that most of the rest of the unicorns who went there learned how to be humble.

And it took Twilight to teach Trixie just that... kinda.

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

lolz I bet Mlae trixie would get hated and nobody will try to make up excuses for his actions *sigh* this fandom is sexist some times.

anyways intresting fact that luna and celestia are confirmed tohave parents

I'd be more than approving of it, i love Trixie, male Trixie would have the fangirls

 

I don't see how it'd be sexist, considering the fandom is made up of mostly males.

[Righteous Fury 344]

Always thought Celestia seemed really flat compared to the other characters. Would like to see her original concept, that sounds interesting...

[100 beasts kaidou 321]

@Fyre_flye indiegogo.com/projects/wildl… Were Celestia and Luna born as alicorns?

@kolmoslink In my book, yes

@Fyre_flye Also are they gods in your book

@kolmoslink No, but just extremly magical and powerful

[Radiance64 7,059]

Suddenly a part 2 is up: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2013/05/lauren-faust-q-part-2.html

:o

@Fyre_flye indiegogo.com/projects/wildl… Were Celestia and Luna born as alicorns?

@kolmoslink In my book, yes

@Fyre_flye Also are they gods in your book

@kolmoslink No, but just extremly magical and powerful

That's just a taste of some of the good stuff on this one, not as many questions as the first one but there's definitely quite a lot of stuff I've seen people wonder about, check it out.

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

I have to say, I was shocked to hear Spike is about 8. He's way younger than i expected as I thought he'd be about 10 or 11, maybe even 12. This does affect the way I think about him being with Rarity who is like 18 at least but it's a cartoon so it doesn't matter.

 

Trixie should have stayed male lol. Then people would really ship the heck out of him and Twilight.

[Scootalove 10,692]

I figured so that Trixie was in Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns. It is good to hear it from a reliable source, especially from Lauren Faust. But about Trixie who was supposed to be male, is pretty funny. People would still like her even if she was male or not. Good idea to post this.