Who are you, little Cadence?

Do NOT post my work on Ponibooru. The watermark is there for a reason, art thieves.


EDIT: Cadence's backstory has been decided. Click here for her history: [link]





This is mostly a design page for me, but I really loved how I drew everyone here, so voila XD Plus, I thought I'd give you guys some insight into the ideas I've got floating around to explain princess Cadence, and get some opinions over which one sounds most appealing.



Idea 1. Cadence going to the daughter of Celestia and Luna's long dead sibling - who died during some tragedy back in ancient times, I just haven't figured out when. *because in my fanon an alicorn only has an alicorn child once; and that child becomes their heir.*
The sister (the green Alicorn with the blue mane) is goddess of earth, as Celestia is the sun and Luna is the moon (also, Artemis, their mother, is associated with the hunt/earth.) When their sister dies, Cadence is very young, and is taken in by Celestia, but because of the destruction caused by Discord (provided that's the incident), can't raise her, and so assigns her nurses at the time to raise the young princess. This continues over time until Cadence is old enough to take care of herself. She stays in the Castle, but because she wasn't raised by a princess, doesn't act like one/feels more at home among other common ponies. Perhaps a leftover trait from her mother; being in touch with the world and those in it.
Her mother is green like the earth and her mane is supposed to represent the sky.



Idea 2. She's their youngest sister (either still child of Helios and Artemis (like Celestia and Luna are) or child of Aphrodite and Helios. not sure) I don't THINK this idea is the one I'll go with, since she's more inclined towards love and things that Helios and Artemis aren't associated with.


Idea 3. She's the spawn of Discord, born a millenia ago but somehow lost her memories so she can't remember and when her father was imprisoned. It was Celestia's decision (her first real decision as official ruler of Canterlot) to erase Cadence's memories, and spare her, as she was just a child. There are a few problems with this, however. In my headcanon, Discord is actually Star Trek's "Q" in a new body, so how he spawned a child, even though he's a "Q," I've yet to figure out. Also with who. I'm thinking Aphrodite again, only because Cadence's gifts seem to lie in the "love" area, but I don't see what "DisQord" would gain from seducing the goddess of love, (when I'm pretty sure Q is in love with Picard...) even if he has a son with a fellow "Q" in a novel...
But we'll see.


Idea 4. Simple, and probably the most logical: Cadence is Aphrodite's daughter, due to the whole "love thing" probably her child with either Ares or Hephaestus, and in turn, that makes her Celestia's cousin, but she's called "neice" because she was born much later, and is younger. I'm thinking she's Ares' daughter, and thus would anger Hephaestus, Aphrodite's husband, as well as Zeus (though Zeus is NOT one to talk about that kind of thing). She's Aphrodite's only Alicorn child (because again, Alicorn's only have one Alicorn child, and that becomes their "heir") but becaues the goddess of love doesn't rule over Equestria, Cadence is a princess by association and her godlike status. Why she's still around instead of other Alicorn children, however, I've yet to figure out. Unless Aphrodite retired presiding over love later on, which is entirely possible for her. However...this idea isn't very fun...at least, compared to some of the others. Oh well.


Idea 5. (inspired by my friend.) Cadence doesn't use her wings often at all, and this could be because of a defect that makes it painful for her to do so. While it's uncommon for gods to have physical flaws, one god, Hephaestus, IS physically lame, and while he isn't born that way, it's possible the fall from Mt. Olympus (from which Hera tossed him) could have damaged him in certain areas/somehow for him to pass on a defect to his daughter. Which would mean that Cadence could be the child of Aphrodite and Hephaestus, instead of her and Ares. As Hephaestus is unequipped to raising a child and Aphrodite would rather spend her time with Ares, Celestia stepped in and decided to raise the young Alicorn instead.


More on Celestia, Luna and Discord's backstory as they appear in my headcanon: [link]
My Little Pony (c) Bonnie Zacherle, Hasbro
Friendship is Magic (c) Lauren Faust
Star Trek (c) Gene Roddenberry