/pony/ - Show Discussion

I think the moment that someone took the time to count the number of consistent stallions in Ponyville scenes was the one that two different ideas as to what it means for Equestrian relationships.

The first idea based on behaviours of actual horses lends to the idea of a Herd mentality. That there is natually more mares than stallions, thus they would naturally form herds with a single or so stallion at their core and several mares (or stallions, based on the headcanon) around them. One fiction I read, Of Mortals and Dragons, goes into good detail about how this would work and I like how it is described and is a sensible system.

This idea runs into a problem because it is never expressed within the show. While someone might handwave it as 'well it's a kid show', we have canonically two monogamous relationships, the Cakes and Shining Armor and Cadence.

The second idea is based on the ideas that (A) Ponyville is a farming community and (B) traditional roles might be in strong effect. This means that the reason why you never see any males excepting holiday episodes is because they are all working. Either as laborers on Applejack's Farm or on their own farms or ranches. Perhaps even behind closed doors in their shops while the mares operate the stores that sell what they produce. This theory would then surmise that relationships are commonly monogamous much like human relationships as there is a balance between mares and stallions. I like this theory because it gives a lot of life to Ponyville. Not seeing males means that the economy of the town is strong and thriving, they are working hard and earning bits and knowing that makes the setting feel a bit more real.

The main problem wit this theory is that it is based on conjecture and assumption. We never see these ponies, thus we can not assume that they must be working elsewhere because we can't see them. (Lack of evidence is not evidence)

What do you guys think?