Races and Nations

[Deleted]

So, we currently have the following canon races:

Ponies
- Earth ponies
- Unicorns
- Pegasi
- Bat ponies(?)

Buffalo

Donkeys

Horses

Zebras

Changelings

Diamond Dogs

Dragons

Griffons/Gryphons (which spelling is preferred?)

Minotaurs

And I'm pretty sure cows, pigs and sheep have all been portrayed as being able to talk and hence technically...

And then, besides Equestria, we have the following nations at least implied:

Buffalo Nation
Crystal Empire
Griffon Kingdom
Saddle Arabia
Tenochtitlan ("Daring Don't" -- ruled by Ahuizotl)
Zebra Lands

Here is a spiffy official map of Equestria. I shall take it as the basis of my proposed geography.

- The Buffalo Nation exists south and maybe southwest of Equestria, overlapping somewhat witht he southern frontier in the San Palomino Desert and McIntosh Hill regions. Actually... I'm sure there'd be more than one nation, although the buffalo could have united under a single Great Chief in response to pony colonialism.

- Crystal Empire -- does not currently exist thanks to Sombra's curse, but would be located in the Crystal Mountains.

- Griffon Kingdom - The map indicates that it's located tot he east of Equestria. Personally I've always thoguht of it being to the northwest... but I guess it could be to the northeast, perhaps on an extension of the Crystal range.

- Saddle Arabia - I imagine this to be in the southeast, below the Badlands. It is inhabited by true horses.

- Tenochtitlan - According to "Daring Don't" this is located in ... the Frozen North. Which makes no sense. Assuming y'all want to keep it, I'd suggest rather the southwest. It's a jungly region, based on Meso-America. In the episode it's ruled by Ahuizotl, and again i'm not sure we want to follow canon and make him (and Daring Do) real. I do like the idea of a Quetzalcoatl Empress though -- quetzalcoatls could be another race and have a nation in this region, whether we call it Tenochtitlan or not.

Zebra Lands - I'd imagine these as being off across the sea to the southeast. Based on Africa with the zebras living in tribes.

Another idea for Saddle Arabia is to also have it across the sea, on the assumption that the world is a reflection of the real-world -- from the map it's fairly obvious that Equestria is mostly an analogue of the U.S. So African (zebra) and Middle-Eastern (Arabian horses) cultures, as well as European (I have imbibed the idea that the griffons are more European) would be to the east, and "Oriental" cultures would be to the west.

So, on to those countries. I would propose at least two: a Japanese-themed one and a Chinese-themed one. Having an Indian/Southeast Asian-themed one would work too.

- China (Land of Dragons): Ruled by Chinese dragons, very civilied. Would probably have a pony population alongside Asian creatures. Due west of Equestria.

- Japan (Land of Sunset): Ruled by a fox emperor, and inhabited primarily by foxes/kitsune, nekomata and tanuki. Northwest of Equestria.

- Spice Islands: Based on India and Southeast Asia, ruled by an elephant emperor -- because elephants were status symbols. Southwest of Equestria.

For European-like countries, there could an analogue of Greece where Minotaurs come from, and could have some other mythic Greek creatures such as satyrs (which could be anthro goats).

And then, perhaps... Renardy could be a French land of normal foxes, and Vargland a Scandinavian country of wolves. You could also have Shetland as a land of Scottish Earth ponies.

These countries would not actually appear for the most part, just be background info as places where characters could be from or have travelled too, and if we want provide diplomatic entanglements.

[Deleted]

I kind of got ahead of myself. ^^; Races should come first I think, then we can discuss what other nations we want -- though I really want a Griffon Kingdom and some Asian analogue. Also I'm open to renaming Saddle Arabia -- a direct rip from the Middle East makes me somewhat uncomfortable, even though it justifies talking about "Arabian horses" in-character.

So, first big question: animals other than ungulates. Now I am assuming all ungulates (hoofed animals -- equines, kine/cows, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, etc.) are intelligent and therefore playable. But all other creatures are portrayed as unable to talk and I assume of less intelligence -- although Angel and Owlowicious seem pretty smart, moreso in some ways than their mistresses.

So how do we handle this? Make them non-playable? Make them playable but try to stick to the show's portrayal of them as inferior to ungulates? Which would be kind of like Pokémon where the Pokémon are sapient but act like animals in contrast to the humans. Or just disregard the show and make equal to ponies?

Antoher question -- carnivores. I assume we're playing it straight and making them eat meat, although apparently Fluttershy feeds veggies to some weasels and they eat it happily, so maybe they don't. Either way it has implications for playable carnivores -- would they see ponies as a menu item, or at least horrify ponies by eating "innocent woodland animals"?

And, what about animals not shown on the show -- namely, foxes and wolves? Should they be dumb (unable to talk) like other animals, or could they be exempted? In the case of wolves this makes no sense since they're same species as dogs, but we could overlook that. Of course if all animals are intelligent/sapient this isn't an issue.

And finally, member-created races. After the site is launched, do we want to leave the option for memebrs to apply for custom races? I don't have any strong feelings on this either way.

[Deleted]

*Ahem.* My own answers to those questions.

- I would go for a Pokémon-like relationship between ponies and other animals. The idea has come to me that perhaps many of these other animals could have developed their own civilization had they not been coddled so much by the ponies.

- Carnivorism: I'm still really divided on this, but I'm pretty sure dragons do eat meat. On the other hand strict real-world carnivores are shown eating plants. I was thinking perhaps, in Equestria, the ponies' magic makes it so animals that would otherwise have to eat meat can live off plants instead, part of the "harmony" the ponies maintain.

- Player-created races: Right now I lean towards giving the members freedom.

[Empathy]

All three points are fine with me.

[Deleted]

: p You're fine with me beig divided over carnivorism?

I guess the other option I see is to make carnivorism optional for all creatures. Dragons are just mean enough to indulge in it.

Like I said, I don't know which I prefer. And I'd some other suggestions (on every issue actually, not just this one).

[Empathy]

I thought the idea with carnivores being magically turned into herbivores was fine. Some may feel the need to go back to the old natural ways, however.

[Deleted]

Hm... I'm not sure carnivorism would be "natural" in a world where every creature (barring fish) is sapient. But... okay, since you like that idea, we'll go with it. But I don't think the pony civilization would be the only one able to use the power of friendship to quell carnivorism.

Well, now I'm going to put up the races that I really want to see and which i am happy to do info for:

Ponies
[*] Earth
[*] Pegasus
[*] Unicorn
[*] Alicorn
[*] Bat*

- Buffalo: Plains Indians.
- Changelings: Use love to power their magic and as secondary food source. Can turn other races into Changelings. Cute and adorable.
- Diamond Dog: Cool potential to be an orc-like race.
- Dragon
- Griffon: European, specifically Norse/German.
- Horse: I like the concept of Arabian horses even if I'm not thrilled about actually using the term "Arabia". Would have normal horse colours but would have a cutie mark(?).
- Minotaur: Greek?
- Zebra: African tribal.

Proposed:

- Barghest: "Demon" dog with horns and spade tail a la the Pokémon Houndoom.

- Bat Ponies*: Similar to Pegasi but adapted for the night and without weather powers. Live in Canterlot Mountain and Everfree, but fairly rare.

- Carbuncle: Mythical felines said to dwell in South America. Have gems in their foreheads, which would allow for unicorn-like abilities. Would be part of a Meso-American/jungle culture.

- Coyote: Clever dwellers of the desert, rivals to buffalo.

- Deer: Friends of ponies. Enclave in Whitetail Wood.

- Frost Dragons: Pale dragons that live in the Frozen North, breathe ice instead of fire.

- Dragon Ponies**: Ponies with dragon wings, horns, eyes and teeth. Strong and can breathe fire (or ice), but lack pony magic and are dislike dby both ponies and dragons.

- Fox: Very intelligent, but tend to avoid Equestria due to their love of freedom.

- Hippogriff: Gentler cousins of griffons and/or pony/griffon cross.

- Jackal: Advanced Egyptian culture.

- Kitsune: Slightly larger than related foxes; have fantastic colours like ponies. Have foxfire and shapeshifting plus an individual magic talent, and can infuse stones with their magic to create star jewels. Long-lived and gain more tails as they grow in power, up to nine. Would have a Japanese/Asian kingdom.

- Merhorse: Mermare/hippocampus. Forequarters of a horse, tail of a fish.

- Nekomata: Two-tailed cats with psionic powers and the ability to assume an anthropomorphic form.

- Oriental dragon: Serpentine dragon with control over water and weather, very civilised. Might have wings, flies by levitation if not. Also can create star jewels.

- Owl: Regard themselves as wise guardians of the night. Parliament of Owls in Everfree Forest.

- Peryton: Winged deer. Hostile to unicorns.

- Raven: Intelligent birds with the ability to use magic.

- Seapony: Shoo-be-doo!

- Silver Wolf: Lupine equivalents to the Diamond Dogs: Bigger, smarter, and more aggressive.

- Sphinx: Would be along the lines of the Greek sphinx -- leonine body, hands, and wings, but would dwell in the Egyptian area.

- Werewolf: Large wolves with the ability to shift to an anthropomorphic form. Gain increased strength and regeneration under the full moon. Can infect ponies to create wolfponies.

- Wolf: Independent of pony control, could maintain their own culture outside of Equestria.

- Wolfpony: A pony infected with lycanthropy. Looks normal most of the time but gains lupine traits under moonlight.

Bunnycorn - Rabbit with a unicorn horn.
Cu Sith - Magical dog.
Cait Sith - Magical cat.
Kelpie - River-dwelling shapeshifting horse.
Moggle - Moogle without pom-pom.
Moonhare - Anthro lapids with an affintiy for the moon.
Vampire - anthro bat
Vampire Bat Pony
Vaporeon - Would be renamed. Feline/dolphin hybrid.
Shetland pony - Earth ponies with mundane colouring, shaggy coats, and Scottish accents.

*Bat ponies are shown pulling Luna's chariot in "Luna Eclipsed". So they are canon, they just aren't fleshed out.

**I know Feathers cited dragon ponies as an example of an overpowered race, but the way I conceived them I don't think they'd be over-powered and I'm hoping she will agree.

[silv]

I feel like having too many options is almost worse then having none. Especially when we're going to start out small. Maybe, instead of worrying too much about this right now, it would be better to focus on the ponies and the creatures in their direct proximity and then make the others playable after a plot discovering them or something? I mean, gigantic worlds are great, but only when you have the people to populate them. Plots can expand as the site does.

On a side note: Sea ponies! Those and the flutter ponies were my favorites as a child.

[The Shadow Pony]

Oh my biscuits! Silv's profile pic scares the Pony spirit out of me O.O

Also I agree with Silv's paragraph about having too many choices being bad since we are starting off small.

Think about it, if we had 20 people doing this and each one made a different race how would they really interact.....I mean none of them would really be 'normal' or 'strange' given that each one of the different races would be there. Ya know what I mean?

[Deleted]

Mar 6, 2014 23:06:33 GMT -5 The Shadow Pony said:

Oh my biscuits! Silv's profile pic scares the Pony spirit out of me O.O

Oh dear. : p

Well, I take Silv's points. THis is just brainstorming for what might be included...  also I forget to note that the third set, these:

Bunnycorn - Rabbit with a unicorn horn.
Cu Sith - Magical dog.
Cait Sith - Magical cat.
Kelpie - River-dwelling shapeshifting horse.
Moggle - Moogle without pom-pom.
Moonhare - Anthro lapids with an affintiy for the moon.
Vampire - anthro bat
Vampire Bat Pony
Vaporeon - Would be renamed. Feline/dolphin hybrid.
Shetland pony - Earth ponies with mundane colouring, shaggy coats, and Scottish accents.

Were not something I was as interested in, but thoguht I would put out there anyhow. *Shrug.* But the thing as a whole was to put out a bunch of suggestions and see which ones people thoguht worth pursuing, now or in the future.

Of course, what races are closest to the ponies has yet to be determined... and which ones make the most sense depend on the plot.

Apart from the three main pony races, we need to define zebras and griffons I think. Then I really want Bat ponies, werewolves, foxes and kitsune.

[silv]

My pic is from the old theme of the site, Shadow, and I'm too lazy to change it. So deal with it. =P

Anyway, maybe it would be easier to figure out the first site-wide plot to see which of the other races need defining first? I mean, zebras, griffons, and buffalos were in the show. That makes them obvious choices for selectable races. If the first plot doesn't introduce a new race I think we should just leave it at those three and then the three main pony-types.

Players will come up with new and exciting things that interest them. You don't need to overwhelm them with options, and we don't need to waste time discussing them. If you still want to keep options open you can make it so that any other race from the show, or toyline, is playable with admin permission. This cuts out most of your list, and the complications, but still leaves players open.

Once we have a lot of people the whole foxes from asia thing might be cool. I know you're partial to foxes. And bat ponies would be easy to incorporate. But I don't understand the wolf thing, because in the show there are timber wolves. They are quite literally wolves made of wood and very dangerous, but they don't seem to be sentient. So, if they bite you does it make werewolves? Or is this going to be a lycanthropic plot all by itself? Or is this not even a plot?