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shadowinthelight wrote:Yes, Equestria lucked out to have gotten such a benevolent dictator in Celestia.
Assuming that she was both complete head of state and head of government (not much of anything is ever really made clear about their government structure). Of course, now they apparently have a duarchy instead. One in which they've managed to sidestep Machiavelli's dilemma of whether to have the head of state be loved or feared, because Luna seems to be good at terrorising the peasants.
What is more confusing politically is having the Kingdom of Equestria (which ought to be ruled by a king or queen) being governed by princesses (thus meaning it ought to be a principality), with another princess running an empire (so she ought to be an empress) yet being subordinate to the princesses in Equestria (which makes Equestria the empire). It ought to be the Principality of Equestria and the Crystal Principality, together being the Empire of. . .Equestal? Crystria? I dunno. And with Celestia and Luna holding dual titles as Princess and Empress (unless though they're both princesses of Equestria, only one is also Empress). Or something like that. So either there's been a whole lot of major political reorganisation going on and nobody's gotten around to changing the titles and names to fit, or else somebody's been randomly grabbing titles out of a box.
Catawampus wrote:...somebody's been randomly grabbing titles out of a box.
If you ever read history you'll find that this sort of thing is depressingly common. Stuff that made sense a few hundred years earlier gets written down and kept long after the original conditions have mutated into something else.
For example, a viscount was the administrative deputy to a count, but it's now a title on its own. "Count" itself comes from comites, household hangers-on to Roman emperors; they got the nobility upgrade too (google Comes Litoris Saxonici per Britanniorum). Ranks and titles can be conflated, too; it might not be obvious that Vice Admiral Smith and CINCPAC (Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command) are the same guy, and if the USN adopted hereditary offices the distinctions could be blurry in a few generations.
Equestria has a fairly straightforward system, in that their immortal god-empress has declared herself a princess and everyone can work outwards from there bickering over lesser titles.
Wyvern wrote:Equestria has a fairly straightforward system, in that their immortal god-empress has declared herself a princess and everyone can work outwards from there bickering over lesser titles.
Indeed. I wonder who would want to be a Baronetess?
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Wyvern wrote:Equestria has a fairly straightforward system, in that their immortal god-empress has declared herself a princess and everyone can work outwards from there bickering over lesser titles.
Not to mention that the title system seems to hinge on mutations that one experiences. After all, from what I have seen to be a princess you must be a winged unicorn.
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Wyvern wrote:Equestria has a fairly straightforward system, in that their immortal god-empress has declared herself a princess and everyone can work outwards from there bickering over lesser titles.
Not to mention that the title system seems to hinge on mutations that one experiences. After all, from what I have seen to be a princess you must be a winged unicorn.
Not mutations really -more like crossbreeds. Mr. and Mrs. Cake, both (IIRC) Earth Ponies, had a baby unicorn and a baby pegasus due to delayed expression in their respective family lineages (Episode: Baby Cakes). And Twilight didn't express her pegasus genes until the end of season 3, and only after performing very rare magic.
I think my geekdom is showing.....
"Imagination is more important than Knowledge" - Albert Einstein
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it DOES rhyme" - Mark Twain
"Always. Expect. Ninjas." - Syndey Scoville
Wyvern wrote:Equestria has a fairly straightforward system, in that their immortal god-empress has declared herself a princess and everyone can work outwards from there bickering over lesser titles.
Indeed. I wonder who would want to be a Baronetess?
On one hoof, Rarity would be all over titles of nobility. On the other hoof, baronetcies are the lowest hereditary title, the holders being gentry above knights. (In modern England; things have been done differently.) And who do we know whose family has been granted land by direct action of Princess Celestia? Behold the 4th Baronetess of Ponyville, Dame AppleJack!
My 
