Baby pony question

[princess]

I haven't watched the cartoon in forever, forgive me if it's explained in that.

Is there any explanation for why babies like Glory, Fifi, Quackers, Firefly, etc, look exactly like their mother ponies, and share their name?  I thought, at first, that they were just those ponies as babies, since the babies in the family pony sets weren't exact clones of the parents and there are some babies without parent ponies, but then I saw them existing at the same time in the few comics I've read, and being mentioned as mother and daughter on some of their back cards.

So do ponies just have children that look exactly like the mother, or is there some other reason there's all these little baby clones?
 

[MintyMyndi]

From what I've heard, in the UK comics there is a story where the ponies look into a magic mirror and special babies to love step out... I don't really get it either.

[Aadra310]

I would guess the babies look like the mothers as a marketing strategy for the target audience.  Little girls identify/want to be like their mothers (generalization) so a baby pony that mimics the mother is something to relate to or just makes a lot of sense in a little girl's mind- you grow up to be like Mommy!

I don't think it's probably any deeper than that.  Baby ponies would need a mother and it would just make sense to have them look like an existing adult.

Personally, as a child, I thought it was weird there were no fathers!

[princess]

Thanks for the info about the mirror!  I found the comic, it's actually quite cute.

[ponyqueen]

Also from a genetics perspective (brace yourself for some over-thinking here, they are just toys...) ...

Some breeds of animals, be it horses, dogs, cats etc have more genetic diversity that other breeds with natural variation in phenotype, the physical expression of genes. For simplicity, imagine a rottweiler dog- they will always produce offspring that look more of less identical to the parents (barring a mutation.) They should have the same coat patterns and physically be about the same size and proportions. This feature is known as "breeding true" and is desired - it is one way of asserting that the breed is a breed... Your rottweiler puppies should come out looking like rottweilers- black and tan- and grow up to still looking like rottweilers, and not dalmatians or poodles or greyhounds.

Greyhounds on the other hand- have a bit more variation. Any two parents can produce a litter with solid coats, particolored, or brindle coats. Colors options include black, white, grey, tans, browns, and reds... pretty much anything goes, yet they are all greyhounds.

So to wrap this up, I never thought it was odd that mom ponies had baby ponies that looked like them, and I quite prefer it... I think it is one of the cutest things in ponyland and I would like to see more of it!

[MoondancerMilkyWay]

who invited the biologist?
 


seriously though folks, I always loved that the babies looked just like mommies. i think it's just the cutest thing ever!

[hathorcat]

Yes there is no explanation in the show but they were also very clever in trying to feature either the mum or the baby...mainly due to release years not really coinciding, i.e. Baby Firefly was not necessarily on shelves at the same time as Firefly (although there is some cross over).

If you go by the comic version its all just magic. I find "magic" covers pretty much everything you need explained in MLP