Majesty in my fanseries.

[MJNSEIFER]

Hello everyone.

It probably won't see the light of day for years, but as some of you may know, I am in the process of creating a My Little Pony fanseries with a friend.  The fanseries takes place in Equestria, and is set after some of the events of G4, so it has to obey at least some of G4's rules.  However, it is most definitely not a G4 only series, as it will contain several homages to the previous generations, including characters.

Most of the time, pony types are not changed when they are ponies who came from previous generations.  However, the G1 pony Majesty is an interesting case.

I am aware that even in the G4 world, a royal pony does not have to be an alicorn (Princess Platinum appears to prove this), but it seems to be a general acceptance that they usually are.  However, Majesty was a unicorn in G1, so I'm sure that G1 fans would prefer her to stay as such, but on the other hand, keeping her as a unicorn, while other ponies (at least two of which having weaker magic than her) are alicorns may look strange, especially if we keep the fact that she has powerful magic.

If Majesty is used in my fanseries (which I hope she is), is there a general preference to keeping her as a unicorn or making her an alicorn.  Also, I am not sure if she'll be a queen or a princess either (I'm torn between what sounds more fitting, and what makes more sense in the setting of Equestria.)

[RoseNoire]

I think leaving Majesty as a very powerful unicorn queen is more fitting than making her an alicorn. Alicorns are a bit too god-like in my opinion. Plus, having this kind of monarch would actually be more interesting. She doesn't need wings to be a respected and noble ruler, something along the line, I don't know.
As I like Cadence and Twilight, making them alicorns and all because they are queens is a bit too far fetched of a reason to give them this god-like posture.

There, that was my opinion. Have a nice day ! =)

[LadyMoondancer]

I think she'd be fine as either a unicorn or an alicorn.  I think unicorn is a bit more 'classic' for her character.

But at the end of the day, it is YOUR story.  So if you have a preference, that is the way to go.   

I get asking for opinions, I've done that with fanfics too . . . But I've also had cases where I asked people "Should I do A?  Or B?"  And a bunch of people were like "Oh, do A!"  And reading their responses made me realize, wow, actually I wanted to do B.  So I did B.    You are the author, you have supreme control to manifest your vision.  Mwahahaha.   

I did once get a comment on a G3 fic early on (like the first year G3 was out) from a very entitled 'fan' who complained that I wasn't following canon.  Which indeed I wasn't, as I had gender-flipped about half the ponies, renamed G3 Moondancer to Moonlight, and written Rainbow Dash as a stoner.  (He was also a dude.)  They were deeply offended.  So I made sure to stray even farther away from canon in future chapters.

Edit:  Also think about if one option is better for the others narratively. 

Like, if you want to delve into the process of ponies becoming alicorns and explore that, then making her a unicorn who became an alicorn might be best.  Whereas if you wanted to introduce a plot of "actually Flurry Heart is not the first naturally born alicorn, but this other alicorn was born outside of Equestria and no one knew about her before now" then you could have Majesty be born an alicorn.  Or maybe she was a unicorn, became an alicorn, and then sacrificed her wings in order to [insert great magical deed here] and became a unicorn AGAIN.  Etc.  The sky's the limit!

Can't wait to see your fic.    (Double-edit:  Assuming it is a fic, I guess fanseries could mean videos or something.  Anyway, looking forward to your creative endeavors.)

[Leave a Whisper]

Why bother to change her up? Why should only Winged Unicorns be considered royalty or be powerful enough to protect their people?

Majesty shouldn't hafta follow G4 rules only, because she's not one. Other people in other stories have kept the past queens,  princesses and princes just the way they were in their cross gen stories.

 What's next? Queen Rosedust being made into a winged unicorn because Flutter Ponies aren't good or strong enough to lead their own?

I find that very annoying. Royalty and leadership should never be determined by one single species of pony. If other species were good enough before, they are good enough in their current incarnations now.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I went with keeping her as a unicorn, but it would be interesting to hear how she ascended if you choose to go that way. 

[Taffeta]

I think leaving Majesty as a very powerful unicorn queen is more fitting than making her an alicorn. Alicorns are a bit too god-like in my opinion. Plus, having this kind of monarch would actually be more interesting. She doesn't need wings to be a respected and noble ruler, something along the line, I don't know.
As I like Cadence and Twilight, making them alicorns and all because they are queens is a bit too far fetched of a reason to give them this god-like posture.

There, that was my opinion. Have a nice day ! =)

I agree with RoseNoire pretty much exactly

I think that you could get a lot from Majesty by keeping her as a unicorn. You could explore why she's still a unicorn, what the old traditions might be, and so on.

But I also think that Majesty being anything other than a unicorn would then no longer be Majesty. You might as well come up with an OC to fill the gap, as Faust or Hasbro did with Celestia...if that makes sense.

LM is also right though. It has to be you following your gut.

[LadyMoondancer]

I am interested if he will go with Majesty's book / comic symbol (flowers) or her toy symbol.  They're quite different! I think her toy symbol is inspired by heraldry.  Like look at this "ermine" background:

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I mean, it's not a perfect match but I do feel stuff like this was part of the inspiration.

[Taffeta]

Majesty isn't the only one with a floral symbol that became less clear on the pony, though. Starflower was also always drawn with flowers, but she didn't have them. I wonder if flowers were somehow a problem for basic glittery symbols...?

Not that I really know why Majesty would have flowers either...

[LadyMoondancer]

Yes, I've noticed that about Starflower!  It's strange, because Surprise and Heart Throb have combo of glittery + non-glittery symbols (the string / hearts are non-glittery on them), so you'd think it would work for Starflower too.  I do wish they'd done the white "flower" parts of her symbol, her name is kind weird since she ended up with a lot of 'star' on her butt but no 'flower.'

Edit:  My assumption is that the white parts of Starflower's symbol were supposed to be non-glittery.  But, I don't have any evidence.  It's just what I've always assumed.

[MJNSEIFER]

At the moment, it appears that the option to keep her as a unicorn is the favorite, but I will let this hover for a bit to see if anything happens, but it seems safe to say that that is what people would prefer in the long run. 

I think she'd be fine as either a unicorn or an alicorn.  I think unicorn is a bit more 'classic' for her character.

But at the end of the day, it is YOUR story.  So if you have a preference, that is the way to go.   

I get asking for opinions, I've done that with fanfics too . . . But I've also had cases where I asked people "Should I do A?  Or B?"  And a bunch of people were like "Oh, do A!"  And reading their responses made me realize, wow, actually I wanted to do B.  So I did B.    You are the author, you have supreme control to manifest your vision.  Mwahahaha.   

I did once get a comment on a G3 fic early on (like the first year G3 was out) from a very entitled 'fan' who complained that I wasn't following canon.  Which indeed I wasn't, as I had gender-flipped about half the ponies, renamed G3 Moondancer to Moonlight, and written Rainbow Dash as a stoner.  (He was also a dude.)  They were deeply offended.  So I made sure to stray even farther away from canon in future chapters.

Edit:  Also think about if one option is better for the others narratively. 

Like, if you want to delve into the process of ponies becoming alicorns and explore that, then making her a unicorn who became an alicorn might be best.  Whereas if you wanted to introduce a plot of "actually Flurry Heart is not the first naturally born alicorn, but this other alicorn was born outside of Equestria and no one knew about her before now" then you could have Majesty be born an alicorn.  Or maybe she was a unicorn, became an alicorn, and then sacrificed her wings in order to [insert great magical deed here] and became a unicorn AGAIN.  Etc.  The sky's the limit!

Can't wait to see your fic.    (Double-edit:  Assuming it is a fic, I guess fanseries could mean videos or something.  Anyway, looking forward to your creative endeavors.)

Thank you for all this, LadyMoondancer.  I'm pleased that someone is okay if I end up just doing what feels right (be it preference or storyline based - I totally get the idea of doing things a certain way, because it fits the narrative better.)  The idea of an alicorn having to give up her wings is an interesting concept, so I will consider it (sorry if I don't use it, but I like the idea.)

I'm glad to hear you're interested in my fanseries - it will be an animated series, albeit obviously fanmade.

Why bother to change her up? Why should only Winged Unicorns be considered royalty or be powerful enough to protect their people?

Majesty shouldn't hafta follow G4 rules only, because she's not one. Other people in other stories have kept the past queens,  princesses and princes just the way they were in their cross gen stories.

 What's next? Queen Rosedust being made into a winged unicorn because Flutter Ponies aren't good or strong enough to lead their own?

I find that very annoying. Royalty and leadership should never be determined by one single species of pony. If other species were good enough before, they are good enough in their current incarnations now.

Very good points.

I think leaving Majesty as a very powerful unicorn queen is more fitting than making her an alicorn. Alicorns are a bit too god-like in my opinion. Plus, having this kind of monarch would actually be more interesting. She doesn't need wings to be a respected and noble ruler, something along the line, I don't know.
As I like Cadence and Twilight, making them alicorns and all because they are queens is a bit too far fetched of a reason to give them this god-like posture.

There, that was my opinion. Have a nice day ! =)

I agree with RoseNoire pretty much exactly

I think that you could get a lot from Majesty by keeping her as a unicorn. You could explore why she's still a unicorn, what the old traditions might be, and so on.

But I also think that Majesty being anything other than a unicorn would then no longer be Majesty. You might as well come up with an OC to fill the gap, as Faust or Hasbro did with Celestia...if that makes sense.

LM is also right though. It has to be you following your gut.

Both of you also make good points (though I will say, I personally find the Twilight/Cadance alicorns to be less "God-like" than the Celestia/Luna ones), especially Taffeta's point about how it might as well be a new character if I changed her.

I also like the point about "exploring why she's still a unicorn", as part of me does want to get across the idea that "not all royals are alicorns, and not all alicorns are royal", and as it happens, the fanseries already does the latter (though becoming an alicorn is still a rare occurrence) in one planned storyline.

I am interested if he will go with Majesty's book / comic symbol (flowers) or her toy symbol.  They're quite different! I think her toy symbol is inspired by heraldry. 

It will be the toyline version.  For one thing, I actually missed that they'd changed in the books/comics.  As a side note, the symbols on that shield look like they could be cutie marks of their own, so I'll keep them in mind if it ever makes sense for one of my ponies (side note: "cutie mark" instead of "symbol" is one of the liberties I will be taking, just thought I'd give you all a heads up - don't think that this is a "G4 is superior" thing, because it's not, it's just that I like the term cutie mark better, and I'm even taking liberties with G4.)

Thanks for responding.   

[Taffeta]

In your story the terminology has to be what you want to use.

Besides, you already said it was set in a largely G4 world xD.

It will be interesting to see what you decide to do

[LadyMoondancer]

The idea of an alicorn having to give up her wings is an interesting concept, so I will consider it (sorry if I don't use it, but I like the idea.)

Absolutely no problem if you don't use it, it is your story!    Happy writing!