04-28-2015, 03:45 PM
Wow, these are some very thorough answers! It's good to see that everyone is studying up, to some degree, on how the worlds from around and beyond relate to this one.
As for the Equestria I know...I have to admit, I'm somewhat loathe to post about it. One of its most salient features is somewhat embarrassing to talk about for a gentleman who concerns himself with propriety (though I know Applejack would probably laugh at me a little for that still!). All the same, I suppose this is as safe and understanding a place as any to talk about it, so here goes:
The Equestria I know is essentially as we see it in the television show, save perhaps that it's a bit quieter on a day to day basis. That's not to say that I don't see my share of wacky adventures (I don't think I'll ever forget that time Twilight Sparkle got it into her head that Appleoosa would be better off as a factory farm operation...), but it does mean that seeing the rise of a villain the likes of Discord or Sombra is a very, very rare occurrence (which is not to say I haven't seen it happen).
In terms of its mores, Equestria is a vastly more gentle and kind place than the earth I have arrived from. You don't tend to see violent entertainment like you do in, say, the movies and video games of my earth; it just doesn't register with the sensibilities of ponies, who generally tend to wonder why the heck you'd want to hurt things like that. It's a tad difficult to adjust to, having been raised in a world where Doom and Mortal Kombat are seen as perfectly acceptable pastimes...but in some ways, I guess I appreciate it.
It's probably in the realm of those mores which, as it were, are as the lilies and hyacinths which grace the entrance to the temple of Venus, that one finds the most difference from the familiar human world. In Equestria, or at least that part I am familiar with, that passionate rite which, in our realm, serves most often as the sign in flesh of the communion of two spirits in the valley of love, bears no such significant weight. It is a pastime for close friends, a game of pleasure and frolic, without any of the shackles of that shame so familiar to the human condition attached to it. You play it for its own sake, as a fun way to pass the time with somepony whose company you enjoy. Furthermore, in the human world there is often talk of particular "orientations" which people adopt, orientations which determine the living altar of man or woman at which any individual's hymeneal mysteries are wont to be manifested. In Equestria, there is no such sense. Whether one is stallion or mare is of no importance; it is only the dictates of the pony soul that lead it into the everyday glory that is friendship which determine taste.
What, then, is romantic love to the pony if it is not sealed by the same pact of caresses which we are familiar with in our world? It is something that lies far beyond the mere and transient veil of flesh, something which operates on the same mystical level as the Cutie Mark in shaping the destiny of a pony. To be in love is to see in somepony else the completion of the Great Work that is one's life. Shining Armor and Cadance remain perhaps the most accessible example of this process in action. And true love and faithfulness is therefore something that cannot be ripped asunder; those who love at this level beyond friendship are perpetually drawn together as the northern pole draws the point of the compass.
This is how I've come to know Equestria. Certainly there's more I could learn. But I think this paints some picture of what it is like there for me.
...and I really hope that Applejack doesn't see that fifth paragraph or the start of the sixth. A silly, flowery phrase like "the lillies and hyacinths which grace the entrance to the temple of Venus," is not something I'd hear the end of from her...
even if, deep down, I think she would kind of like it
As for the Equestria I know...I have to admit, I'm somewhat loathe to post about it. One of its most salient features is somewhat embarrassing to talk about for a gentleman who concerns himself with propriety (though I know Applejack would probably laugh at me a little for that still!). All the same, I suppose this is as safe and understanding a place as any to talk about it, so here goes:
The Equestria I know is essentially as we see it in the television show, save perhaps that it's a bit quieter on a day to day basis. That's not to say that I don't see my share of wacky adventures (I don't think I'll ever forget that time Twilight Sparkle got it into her head that Appleoosa would be better off as a factory farm operation...), but it does mean that seeing the rise of a villain the likes of Discord or Sombra is a very, very rare occurrence (which is not to say I haven't seen it happen).
In terms of its mores, Equestria is a vastly more gentle and kind place than the earth I have arrived from. You don't tend to see violent entertainment like you do in, say, the movies and video games of my earth; it just doesn't register with the sensibilities of ponies, who generally tend to wonder why the heck you'd want to hurt things like that. It's a tad difficult to adjust to, having been raised in a world where Doom and Mortal Kombat are seen as perfectly acceptable pastimes...but in some ways, I guess I appreciate it.
It's probably in the realm of those mores which, as it were, are as the lilies and hyacinths which grace the entrance to the temple of Venus, that one finds the most difference from the familiar human world. In Equestria, or at least that part I am familiar with, that passionate rite which, in our realm, serves most often as the sign in flesh of the communion of two spirits in the valley of love, bears no such significant weight. It is a pastime for close friends, a game of pleasure and frolic, without any of the shackles of that shame so familiar to the human condition attached to it. You play it for its own sake, as a fun way to pass the time with somepony whose company you enjoy. Furthermore, in the human world there is often talk of particular "orientations" which people adopt, orientations which determine the living altar of man or woman at which any individual's hymeneal mysteries are wont to be manifested. In Equestria, there is no such sense. Whether one is stallion or mare is of no importance; it is only the dictates of the pony soul that lead it into the everyday glory that is friendship which determine taste.
What, then, is romantic love to the pony if it is not sealed by the same pact of caresses which we are familiar with in our world? It is something that lies far beyond the mere and transient veil of flesh, something which operates on the same mystical level as the Cutie Mark in shaping the destiny of a pony. To be in love is to see in somepony else the completion of the Great Work that is one's life. Shining Armor and Cadance remain perhaps the most accessible example of this process in action. And true love and faithfulness is therefore something that cannot be ripped asunder; those who love at this level beyond friendship are perpetually drawn together as the northern pole draws the point of the compass.
This is how I've come to know Equestria. Certainly there's more I could learn. But I think this paints some picture of what it is like there for me.
...and I really hope that Applejack doesn't see that fifth paragraph or the start of the sixth. A silly, flowery phrase like "the lillies and hyacinths which grace the entrance to the temple of Venus," is not something I'd hear the end of from her...
even if, deep down, I think she would kind of like it
Applejack, the apple of my eye
![[Image: P2gVYQb.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/P2gVYQb.jpg)