Dates and Love Life in Equestria: An Analyzis

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So, here's now the analyzis I announced yesterday.
In yesterday's episode, there was a very interesting, even though very subtle, detail that confirms something about Equestria's culture that was so far only theorized at best and that confirms a specific theory about Equestria that I developed last year in Summer.
I will explain this theory in this analyzis and explain how and with what it was confirmed in "Make New Friends but Keep Discord".
Before I do that, however, there's something I want to point out:

What I write here won't be to everyone's taste and not only that, it is something that will potentially gross you out while reading (aka this is your chance to stop reading now if you fear that you might regret continuing it), but even though what I write here is quite controversial for society on Earth here, I ask you for behaving in the comments. It is okay if you disagree with it and even if you just completely reject what I write here and you can say that in the comments. But insults or hateful comments towards me or anyone who answers here and supports or just accepts what I write here and who expresses that in a comment will be hidden by me upon sight and, if extreme cases of personal attacks should happen, I will keep it at my discretion to block you temporarily to prevent you from participating in the discussion any longer.
You might not agree with what I write here or even feel disgusted about it, but this does not mean that you can't answer and discuss in a respectful, civil and mature way. Please keep that in mind if you should decide to read my analyzis and to answer on it with a comment.
This paragraph is also to understand as a NSFW warning, I don't get explicit in this analyzis, but children shouldn' really necessarily read it anyway, so, continue at your own discretion and risk.

So, now that this is out of the way, let's start:


First, a little "history":  
  
Last summer, I was sitting here and thought about the Season 2 Finale. It was not directly spoken out by her, but Chrysalis implied in what she said that, if she continues to suck out Shining Amor's love and does so until she has sucked him dry from all his love, he will die because of this.  
This was something that showed us that apparently, love in Equestria is not just a feeling of affection towards somepony, but also an essential factor for the well-being and health of every pony, similar to like humans need vitamins:  
  
A vitamin deficiency can lead to the death of a human, a love deficiency can lead to the death of a pony.  
  
The way we saw the ponies in Canterlot being so immensely afraid of the changelings further supports this.  
That the ponies of Equestria have an enemy race of creatures that live off their love inside their body, by sucking it out of them, and how much these creatures are feared, is something that demonstrates that love is something incredibly important for a pony's health and that his or her life is on the brink if it does not have enough love in it.  
And this got me thinking:  
  
If a changeling sucks a pony dry off all of it's love, the pony dies, but what if the love of a pony runs out naturally? Considered that love is for ponies something like vitamins for humans, as mentioned above, it means that the love is used up by the body sooner or later to maintain the pony's healthy state. And what then? There must be a way how ponies in Equestria can refill the love inside their bodies, to prevent them from dying from love deficiency. A human can refill on vitamins by eating a food that contains vitamins, but what can ponies do to refill on love?  
Love is something that not only gets created by affection for someone, it also gets increased by expressing it. If you kiss someone, this increases the feeling of love towards someone, as well as the feeling of that someone towards you, and it generates more "love feelings" for both who are involved.  
Granted, if you kiss someone and he/she does not like the kiss then, it will generate not the amount of lovely feelings inside of that person like it would be if the kiss would make him/her happy, but still, due to the nature of a kiss, some small amount of feelings get generated anyway. Which is bigger if the kiss is enjoyed by both equally. The same applies to having sex, except that the love generated here is even a lot bigger.  
Kissing someone or having sex with someone is basically sharing and exchanging love with each other.  
Now, as I said, for humans, love is nothing more than a feeling of affection. A nice and warm feeling that makes you feel good.  
For ponies, however, love is more. It's a form of energy, a ressource they need to live and that needs to refilled regularly when they run out of it so that they will stay healty and don't die because of having not enough of it.  
If ponies share and exchange love like I mentioned above, with kisses and/or sex, it's not just a feeling of love that gets generated, it's a love energy, and while doing these things, this love energy refills the love reserves inside the ponies who are involved in the act.  
This is something that makes it essentially important for ponies to find a partner for life. Here on Earth, having a partner is a nice thing that makes you happy, and getting romantic with each other is something fun to do that makes you feel comfortable and loved, and nature wants to have it so for reproduction purposes, but in Equestria it is more.  
In Equestria, it's important for surviving to have somepony to literally "make love" with. If a pony doesn't have one, it will die sooner or later.  
Of course, it is not always necessary for a pony to share a passionate kiss with another pony or even to have sex with another pony to get the love it needs. Depending on it how much love it has still left, a hug or a small peck on the cheek may be enough to refill the love.  
If a pony needs more love or has even almost run out of it, especially considered that hugging or kissing other ponies is not always possible and would get tiring to do all the time to keep the love at it's full level, serious kisses or sex is necessary however. Which are both things that are generally done with your partner for life, not with random strangers or remote acquaintances.  
So, it's of utmost importance for a pony to find a partner.
But this generates one problem:   
   
What if a pony has no partner for life, for whatever reason? What if it hasn't found his or her special somepony yet? What if a pony is too young to have an interest in a serious, romantic relationship?   
Or, more problematic, what if this partner is not here when the love is low and the need to refill it is urgent? Or when an emergency happens and a pony was almost sucked dry of it's love by a changeling and needs to get it refilled immediately? 
  
   
If this happens, there is only one way: Another pony has to jump in and give the pony in question the love it needs.   
Which brings us to the core of my theory and what my theory exactly about:   


Based on what I explained above, my theory is that love in Equestria is universal. If you read this analyzis on Equestria Daily under the Episode Followup and have followed my comments a little in the last months, you may remember from a discussion post about shipping a few months ago a comment of mine where I already said that love in Equestria is universal and has no restrictions, without further explaining what I mean exactly.   
What I meant with it is exactly what you're probably thinking now if you have read until this point:   
   
While in our society, sex or even just romantic kisses between certain partners, be it because of an age difference, between children and adults, or a difference in regards to biological relationships, between brother and sister for example, is generally frowned upon in society or even completely prohibited and forbidden and punishable by law, something like this is not existent in Equestria.   
The things I mentioned in the sentence above are referred to as "pedophilia" and "incest", however, terms like this don't exist in Equestria. And neither do terms like "gay", "lesbian" and "bisexual". Since love in Equestria is universal, such terms are simply not needed.   
In Equestria, it is allowed and encouraged by society for ponies to have sex with each other and to maintain intimate, romantic bonds with each other.
Be it a classical relationship between a mare and a stallion, a little bit more unusual relationship between a stallion and another stallion or a relationship that would cause, if lived out on Earth here, a massive outcry by society and huge problems for the ones involved in it, a relationship between a brother and a sister, a relationship between two young fillies or even a relationship between a grown-up stallion and a little filly, it does not matter in Equestria.   
The social standards are different there and every kind of relationship and love, no matter which gender the partners have, how they are related to each other or how old they are, is allowed there, both by law as by the society itself.   
This social standard evolved over time, because of the need of equestrian ponies for love to survive. In critical moments like the ones I mentioned above where a pony needed love urgently, but where it's life partner it is in a relationship with was not around to help, there was no other choice than another pony jumping in and helping out.   
Perhaps a mare was running out of love and another stallion than the one she was engaged with was helping.
Or a little filly had almost no love anymore and was on the brink of dying and was saved by another filly, who was the only pony around at moment, by hesitantly giving it the sexual and thus, love treatment, she needed to survive, because it was an emergency and there was no other choice.   
This was certainly something that was unsual and weird for the ponies far, far in the past, at a time where Equestria not even existed yet and the ponies lived still in the land that we've seen in "Hearth's Warming Eve" in Season 2.   
But occasionally, emergencies like that happened that left the ponies with no other choice than to do it and over the generations, the ponies got used to it and realized that it is a necessity they can't avoid.   
Which lead to it that slowly, tolerance and acceptance for having sex with literally everypony, regardless the age or blood relation, originated, when the ponies saw that this necessity is not harming their society as they had feared and even created a deeper bond between them that made their society more stable, because things like betraying your partner by having sex with somepony else, jealousy when you suspect your partner of having done that or ponies raping other ponies out of having the desire to have sex with a partner of which society says they can't have was simply not possible anymore.   
Over time and many, many generations, this kind of love life became a major part of the ponies' society and lead to the social standard that I explained here.   
It originated out of a necessity to stay alive and survive, but over the course of time, it became appreciated in their society, because it made the joys of love more present among them and brought them much more together emotionally.
This does not mean that sharing love and exchanging it, kissing each other and having sex with each other, is only earmarked and a task, rather than a joy, in Equestria and that it does have no romantic component anymore. Ponies may have sex with each other for fun and to enjoy the positive and harmonic feelings that doing that causes with a pony they like and some maybe even choose to have this special moments strictly with their special somepony, unless a life-threatening emergency happens.  
It is not just a task out of necessity, but said necessity has still become a major part of equestrian society.  


This brings me now finally to the latest episode "Make New Friends but Keep Discord" and to the subtle confirmation of this theory:  
  
During their preparations for the Grand Gallopping Gala, Rarity says that Sweetie Belle, her little sister, Applebloom and Scootaloo are their "dates", talking about it that they are the "dates" of her, Applejack and Rainbow Dash for the Gala.  
The term "date", if referring to a person who accompanies you to a certain event while using it, has generally a romantic meaning:  
  
www.urbandictionary.com/define…  
  
Which makes it a sign for it that, to keep the example to one sister pair, indeed something romantic is going on between Rarity and Sweetie Belle.  
I know what you're thinking now. This is nonsense, because sometimes, the term "date" in regards to a person accompanying you is also used ironically, to describe it that someone accompanies you to an event without being romantically involved with you in any way, while knowing that the term "date" is not exactly fitting to describe this as it is not true to the real meaning of the word to use it that way, as the entry in the Urban Dictionary above explains too. Which is something that can be used for silly, little jokes.  
There is also the other term that Rarity uses later on: "plus one". Which is nothing more than a term for someone who accompanies you as a guest to an event, and thus, completely neutral and not saying anything about if there is a romantic interest between you and this guest:  
  
www.urbandictionary.com/define…
  
However, there are specific reasons for it why Rarity meant it in a romantic way, both with "dates" and "plus ones".  
If someone uses a word in an ironic way, then said word gets emphasised while speaking it out. If Rarity would have meant "dates" in an ironic way, she would have emphasised the word, by either increasing her voice a little when saying it or by saying it in a silly tone, but she didn't.  
Rarity was speaking out the word completely neutral, she simply said it, without any emphasis on it that would indicate irony. The same applies for "plus ones", there was no emphasis that she put on this word with her voice. This shows that she meant the word "dates" completely serious in it's real meaning.  
Now you could argue that the term "plus one" means, as shown above, simply a guest who accompanies you to an event, and thus, that Rarity made clear that she wanted to say something different with the term "dates", which makes sense.  
But, strictly speaking, "date and "plus one" are two words with different meanings. And if someone uses two words with different meanings to describe the same thing in the same sentence, than the second part of the sentence gets separated from the first part with a little pause or maybe even turned into a second sentence entirely.

Let's assume for a moment that Rarity realized, after using the word "dates" to describe it that Sweetie accompanies her to the Gala, that it was rather suggestive and wanted to avoid that anypony thinks she has romantic interests in her little sister. 
If that would have been the case, she would have have reacted embarrassed and showcased an embarrassed expression, maybe even blushed, and then said: "Uh, I mean, plus ones, of course, ha ha!", with a strong emphasis on the word "plus one". 
Or, let's assume she realized how suggestive the term she used was without getting embarrassed by it, but wanted to correct it anyway, for the sake of avoiding that other ponies think what I said above. 
Then, she would have not showed an embarrassed reaction, but she would have separated the second part of the sentence with "plus one" from the first part with "dates" and again emphasized on "plus one", by saying: 
 
"They are going to be our dates, or rather, our plus ones!" 
 
But Rarity did neither. She neither did show an embarrassed reaction because of the double meaning of the word she used in regards to her little sister, nor did she correct herself in using it. 
She used the term "plus ones" not only in the same sentence as the term "dates", she also said it in the exact same way as she said "dates", with the same tempo, tone and volume of her voice, which is only done with two terms used to describe the same thing, if those terms have the exact same meaning. 
The way she has spoken out these two terms shows that, unlike on Earth here, the term "plus one" has the same meaning as the term "date" in Equestria; a partner who accompanies you to an event out of a romantic interest, and that Rarity used two different terms to describe the exact same thing, that Sweetie Belle is her literal "date" for the Gala. 
The happy, cheerful and proud tone in her voice with which she said that sentence, both when at the term "dates" as well as when at the term "plus ones", also further shows this: 
 
She said happy and cheerful, with a touch of pride", "They're going to be our dates, our plus ones!", without ironically emphasizing the word "dates", without reacting embarrassed or ashamed over using this term for her little sister, without correcting herself by emphasizing on "plus ones" later on and she said the sentence in one swoop, without pausing or changing the tempo, tone or volume of her voice one single time. 
 
Rarity expressed here, in the most subtle way possible, that she has a certain romantic interest in her little sister, as well as that Applejack and Rainbow Dash have this interest in their respective little sisters. 
This does not mean that Rarity and Sweetie Belle are in an actual romantic relationship, and not necessarily that Applejack and Applebloom or Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo are; we know from one of the comics that Sweetie Belle has a crush on Spike and even if you don't believe this, we saw that Rarity had definitely a crush on Trenderhoof in Season 4, so, a romantic relationship between the two can be ruled out entirely.
But, since love has a very different meaning for the ponies in Equestria than for the humans on Earth, it still makes sense for Rarity to talk about her sister in a romantic way:
 
Even when two ponies are not in a romantic relationship and even if they engage in sexual activities solely for the purpose of refilling their love when it's necessary, to survive, a sexual activity like this, or even just kisses, still contain romantic implications, as this is the nature of such activities. 
And since refilling their love is so important for ponies in Equestria, a mare who does not have a stallion, or any other pony, as a partner for life, as a special somepony, but a little sister instead, who is often around, she will turn to this little sister of hers to get the love she needs and so does Rarity with Sweetie Belle. Which is of course mutual, Sweetie Belle does turn to her too when she's around and needs her love refilled. 
Rarity and Sweetie Belle are not in a romantic relationship, but they are sisters who love each other very much, as it's usual for sisters, and they see each other often and can count on each other, and so, they turn to each other if their love needs to be refilled and do with each other whatever is necessary to refill it.



Does this mean now that Foalcon is part of the show and has to be considered an element of it? No. Definitely no.
The definition of Foalcon is "Under-age fillies and colts participating in inappropriate sexual activities, either with other foals or with adult ponies" and this is something we will never see in the show.
And neither does it mean that DHX or Hasbro endorse sexual relationships and activities between children and adults or that they want to encourage such relationships with Rarity's line in this episode.
However, the creators of DHX have shown to us an aspect of Equestria's society that is vastly different from Earth's society, and completely frowned upon here, in a neutral way, without making any statement about it, by subtly hinting at it with letting us hear this one little sentence of Rarity, and for doing this, for taking this risk to show us this, by human standards controversial, part of Equestria's society, they have my utmost respect, and that they did this is exceeding my wildest expectations I had for this show by far.
 

I don't know yet how you think about that, and most of you who read this are most likely completely weirded out and disgusted by now, but I raise my hat to the creators at DHX for building this into the episode.
And I hope that you, even with this being the case, don't give them any crap now for confirming this and that you don't think any less noble about Equestria and the culture there now.
It may be weird for us here on Earth, but Equestria is different and it is their own, distinct culture and we must respect this.
© 2015 - 2024 CMC--Scootaloo
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KlarkKentThe3rd's avatar
So, 10,000 years later, I read this. While I could get into the mechanics of "sucking love out of someone until death", and whether it is just pure love, or, let's say, love + "energy", or whether death will be caused directly by the action or indirectly....... it would not really matter. Because there is something more important.

Love does not have to be sexual. Which is something members of all "fandoms" seem to have trouble with recognizing. I mean, just look at all the shipping and R34, dating to the earliest fandom for a show: Star Trek, in the 60s! While I don't believe celibacy has any intrinsic value, I also understand that love is not inherently sexual.

You can also love flowers, the sun, the moon, and trees. And rocks. And yourself. Yes, loving yourself, a common problem in all worlds, including our own.