So Princess Cadance is Princess Celestia's niece?

[sd_dreamcrystal]

What really gets me is Shining Armor... How did no one even know about him till now? I mean we would have/should have known a little something more before now

[scarletjul]

Yeah, I wish the show would be a little less random with the suddenly appearing families. Ponies! Why do you make no sense!?

I've watched soap operas (none currently, though) so this doesn't bother me - they're always introducing new family members that have never been mentioned before. 

The fact that Twilight never mentioned Shining Armor before bothers me slightly more but hopefully they'll explain that in the episode - though I don't expect them to do so.

[Sunset]

What really gets me is Shining Armor... How did no one even know about him till now? I mean we would have/should have known a little something more before now

This doesn't bother me in the least.  I have brothers who live out of town.  I don't go running around talking about them all the time either.  I am presuming that Twilight *has* mentioned her brother to her friends before, just not during the show.  Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy haven't mentioned their families either but I don't presume that to mean that they are both orphans.  The one time that we have seen part of Twilight's family (the day she was being tested for magic) was in a situation in which it would make perfect sense that a sibling wouldn't be present.

[Eviecorn]

When you've lived for 1,000 years, who knows what your family tree might end up looking like >.>;

I was JUST going to say that.  The family tree is pretty broad by this point, so who knows just how many are out there?

[Taxel]

What really gets me is Shining Armor... How did no one even know about him till now? I mean we would have/should have known a little something more before now

This doesn't bother me in the least.  I have brothers who live out of town.  I don't go running around talking about them all the time either.  I am presuming that Twilight *has* mentioned her brother to her friends before, just not during the show.  Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy haven't mentioned their families either but I don't presume that to mean that they are both orphans.  The one time that we have seen part of Twilight's family (the day she was being tested for magic) was in a situation in which it would make perfect sense that a sibling wouldn't be present.

This! So much, this!

I keep seeing people complain about Twilight never mentioning her brother so it makes no sense, but that complaint is the real thing that makes no sense. I don't know anyone whose sibling(s) are a main focal point of their life if they don't live together or are twins or some other circumstance like that. Plus not everyone even likes their siblings. Based on the preview I saw Twilight loves her brother, even though that still means she's not required to have him as a huge focal point in her life. Even siblings who love each other don't necessarily bring each other up all the time.

I'm also sure that Twilight has spoken to her friends about her family, like Sunset mentioned, but there has so far been absolutely no reason for him to come up during an episode.

[LadyMoondancer]

When you've lived for 1,000 years, who knows what your family tree might end up looking like >.>;

I was JUST going to say that.  The family tree is pretty broad by this point, so who knows just how many are out there?

Yeah, my headcanon is that she had loads and loads and loads of nieces and nephews, although none of them are very "strongly" related to her anymore.  (52 times removed.)   I've been assuming Fleur (Fancy Pants' friend) is a niece of Celestia.

[sd_dreamcrystal]

What really gets me is Shining Armor... How did no one even know about him till now? I mean we would have/should have known a little something more before now

This doesn't bother me in the least.  I have brothers who live out of town.  I don't go running around talking about them all the time either.  I am presuming that Twilight *has* mentioned her brother to her friends before, just not during the show.  Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy haven't mentioned their families either but I don't presume that to mean that they are both orphans.  The one time that we have seen part of Twilight's family (the day she was being tested for magic) was in a situation in which it would make perfect sense that a sibling wouldn't be present.

This! So much, this!

I keep seeing people complain about Twilight never mentioning her brother so it makes no sense, but that complaint is the real thing that makes no sense. I don't know anyone whose sibling(s) are a main focal point of their life if they don't live together or are twins or some other circumstance like that. Plus not everyone even likes their siblings. Based on the preview I saw Twilight loves her brother, even though that still means she's not required to have him as a huge focal point in her life. Even siblings who love each other don't necessarily bring each other up all the time.

I'm also sure that Twilight has spoken to her friends about her family, like Sunset mentioned, but there has so far been absolutely no reason for him to come up during an episode.

Sorry if it seemed like a complaint, it wasn't meant to be taken that way. Mostly I'm reflecting off of some other statements I've seen elsewhere. No a sibling doesn't need to be a focal point in someone's life but I'm more analytical now than I used to be and it was just something that crossed my mind as I always assumed Twilight was an only child.

[Starbright]

I...

But...

A niece or nephew is by definition your sibling's child.

Your parent's niece or nephew would be your cousin.

Unless I have misunderstood something...Hasbro, you keep using these words and I don't think they mean what you think they mean.

Heck, maybe they just call cousins nieces/nephews in Equestria. O.o

[Dragonflitter]

Well remember it's been said that Blue Blood is a "nephew many times removed." The same could be true for Cadance.

I've only seen 'removed' in terms of cousins before, but it denotes that you're talking about a different generation than your own.

For example, in my family my mother has a sister, Sue, she's my aunt. She has a daughter Julie. Julie is my cousin.

Julie's two daughters, Annie and Debbie, are my cousins, once removed. They're one generation away from me. If Annie and Debbie have kids, those are my cousins, twice removed.

If *I* ever have kids, Julie's kids and my kids would be "second cousins" to each other. Not 'removed', because they're the same generation.


So if Celestia is really over 1,000 years old, I think it would make sense for her to have nephews/nieces many times removed. Probably from really old family members from hundreds of years ago lol.

[Starbright]

I can't wrap my head around it, because a niece/nephew a generation "removed" is your cousin. My mother's brother's daughter is my mother's niece, but she is my cousin. My grandmother's brother's son is her nephew, but he is my twice-removed cousin. So Blueblood and Cadence would be Celestia and Luna's distant many-times-removed cousins, in my figuring. But I guess cousin didn't sound as good as niece/nephew.

Oh, whatever. If two earth ponies can have twins that are a unicorn and pegasus, Equestria geneaology is not necessarily going to make sense and I don't wanna break my brain over it, haha.

[Dragonflitter]

lol true dat

[sd_dreamcrystal]

Ok -now- my brain hurts