Fleet of Ships

a ton of my favorite pony pairings/ships that are canon in the pandoraverse
i scribbled these quick at work, please pardon the sloppiness

Shipping is something I do for fun, and I've never understood why people get so bent out of shape about it. I've always just matched up characters whose personalities I thought would be interesting together, and I've never felt limited by gender, canon storyline, or even whether the characters in question have ever interacted in canon. Shipping is an exercise in imagination, and a matter of personal preferences.

when making the pandoraverse, i chose ships that i personally either loved or found narratively interesting. We have:

 Twilight Sparkle and Discord:
-OTPeeeeee

-Although Discord's had a bizarre fixation/crush on Twilight pretty much since day one (just look at how desperate he is for her attention, even annoying her to get it, like a schoolboy with a crush), Twilight was mostly just annoyed by him. But over time, as they began to bond over respective interests in magic, their relationship grew into something actually resembling friendship. Twilight realized what a fascinating magical creature Discord was, and decided to conduct research and write her doctoral thesis on the dumb old goat. Discord was quite happy to let her measure his horns and experiment with his shed fur and feathers and chit chat (possibly fabricated) details about his species to her over tea and daisy sandwiches.

-The real blow though, comes when the now teenage cutie mark crusaders concoct yet another love potion/poison for their own senior school project, and somehow or another, the love poison accidentally makes its way to Discord and Twilight, who immediately begin obscenely cuddling and cooing over each other in a disgustingly sappy show of affection. What a time the CMC and Spike had trying to break that love spell

-After the love poison spell is broken, Discord begins acting strangely and avoiding Twilight. Through concerned talks with Fluttershy and Spike, Twi is able to deduce that Discord's love poisoned lovey-dovey sweet talk that day might have maybe....been coming from a place of authenticity. Twi is flustered as she tries to discern her own feelings....then with trademark determination and starry eyes, she finally confronts the idiot draconequus, and informs him that this new side of their relationship....romance....will be their greatest experiment together yet.

-Years later, Twilight proposes, because Discord was too chicken to ask and damn it, she wanted to get married. Discord answered a squealing, tearful, ecstatic yes (though Twilight did have to convince him to let her be the one in the wedding dress)

 Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich:
-Despite their energetic personalities, Pinkie and Cheese had the most hassle-free romance of all the mane six. They just...clicked, feeding off each others' energy, yet balancing each other out. They were pen pals and party planner partners in crime, with Pinkie often joining Cheese as he traveled Equestria.

-Their parties together often ended with them crashing in exhausted, happy cuddle heaps together. Although they're loud and zany separately, they like to relax and be quietly loving with each other, using snuggle sessions as a chance to unwind and recharge their batteries.

-When Pinkie came up pregnant, the two were overjoyed and decided to get married (their wedding party was the biggest, most insanely awesome wedding in all of Equestria history). They adore each other and their children, and currently co-manage Pinkie Pie's Party Planning Emporium (and bakery), though they do occasionally travel to take care of party emergencies far away

 Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps:
-Bulk has had a crush on Flutters ever since she helped him overcome his fear of butterflies. While Fluttershy did consider him a good friend and like him quite a lot, she was a little put back by his volume....though that changed one night when she attended one of his violin concerts, and saw how soft-spoken, shy, and gentle Bulk could be.

-They both secretly fancied each other from afar for a while, typically blushing and bleating an excuse to leave whenever they caught sight of one another....until Discord got tired of this shit and set them up on what he called the most romantic and foul-proof date night ever, and he still takes credit for the success. Twilight swears that the whole thing would have failed if she hadn't meddled with Discord's meddling.

-When they got married, Discord insisted on being the maid of honor. Fluttershy adopted Bulk's son, Featherweight, and the colt was quite happy with this (having been smitten with Flutters from the start), and doesn't hesitate to call her "Mom". Much later, Bulk and Shy gave Featherweight a little sister, Rosemary.

-Bulk and Shy are raising their children in Flutters' cottage (which Bulk helped expand into a functioning veterinary clinic once Fluttershy became a fully licensed vet).

-Fluttershy loooves dem muscles. A lot. The pair have absurd, sugary-sweet pet names for each other, "Flutter-butter" and "Bulky-Bear". 

 Rainbow Dash and Dumbbell:
-jerk jocks in looooove

-Dumbbell was employed as a weather worker at the Wonderbolts cloud stadium when Dash was promoted to a leadership position in the Wonderbolts. When Dash found out her old school bully worked at the stadium her team was set to give a  few performance at, she immediately went to rub his big dumb face in her success....Dumbbell was unimpressed and said that the Bolts must be dropping the bar pretty low these days. Dash almost bit him. Still, Bell found himself watching all of her shows, and really was quite (secretly) impressed.

-Dash is practicing stunt maneuvers in the stadium one day when she accidentally lets loose a rain storm. Bell is pissed (he'd worked hard making those rain clouds and the rain wasn't even scheduled until 4pm that day). Dash caves to his bitching and helps him clean up the mess, but it ends with the two of them exhausted....and soaked with rain. They get an eyeful of each others' wet bodies and turn red, and try not to make eye contact as they share the stadium team shower.

-Over time they become friend-rivals, and often make bets against each other on all the sporting events at the stadium. Eventually, Bell bets her a date...and Dash finds herself agreeing to it

-Their relationship is one filled with snarking, swearwords, vicious fights over the honor of their favorite hoofball teams, and secret nuzzles when they think nopony is looking

-Bell still calls her Rainbow Crash, or just Crash. Dash counters by calling him "Dummy", though usually they're used less as insults and more as fond pet names

-Bell has a secret heart shaped splotch of pale fur on his forehead, usually hidden by his hair. Dash likes to push aside her hubby's bangs and press kisses to it to embarrass him

 Trixie and Maud Pie:
-Trixie knew Maud from back during her brief stint working on the Pie family rock farm when she couldn't find work as a magician.

-Years later, Maud finds a homeless and pregnant Trixie and takes her in:  It was supposed to just be for a few weeks, but the two end up bonding, and Trixie comes to view Maud as a literal rock in her currently chaotic life. When Trixie gives birth to her son Moondancer (sired by Prince Blueblood), Maud helps care for him, and the three ponies end up forming something of a family unit. Moondancer adores his mama Maudie, and when he's a colt, Maud nervously asks for his blessing to marry his mother Trixie....from little Moony's joyous squeals and hooves clamped around her neck, she supposes she's got all the blessing she needs. Trixie and Maud marry, and Maud officially adopts Moondancer.

-it was and their insidious MaudTrix comics that got me shipping this. Give their gallery a look!

 Applejack and Rarity:
-these two are practically canon in the show anyway ("Good things are better when they're a Rarity.") i mean c'mon

-One year at a Hearth's Warming Eve party, Rarity (having had several glasses of red wine), spots Applejack under some mistletoe, then saunters over to give the startled earth pony a smooch. When she recovers, Applejack points out that that isn't mistletoe above their heads, it's a piece of parsley, and she saw Rarity taping it to the doorway five minutes ago for this "kiss trap". Rarity tells Applejack to shut up and kiss her, and AJ does.

-Although they do bicker on occasion, their love and friendship always wins out over squabbles, and they always have a lot of fun making up. Rarity's favorite game is to fluster AJ, though Applejack's learned some flirting tricks of her own (she learned to speak a little French to woo her beautiful snob horse wife)

-They took a long time to marry, because AJ would turn into a stammering, nervous moron every time she tried to propose. Eventually Rarity got tired of it and tackled Applejack in the apple orchards, smothered her with kisses, and asked "Oh, won't you marry me, Jackie?"

-Via some magic through Discord, the two had a daughter, Magnolia May. AJ was the birth mother (Rarity was temporarily magicked into a stallion to do this. Discord deliberately missed Applejack with his spell for shits and giggles)


 Fleur de Lis and Fancy Pants:
-Have been married for a very long time. Have had ups and downs in their relationship, and several short breaks, due to fights over Fancy being away on business often, and Fleur being insecure about feeling like a trophy wife.

-During one of these breaks, Fleur was targeted by Prince Blueblood and gave into his advances, partly because she was missing Fancy quite badly. Fancy was hurt by this decision (and even more so when Fleur came up pregnant by the Prince), but the two had a long talk about their relationship and regrets, and they came to forgive each other and make an effort to start over, as a better, more loving partnership. The two have since rebuilt their marriage and are happily raising their daughter, Vogue. Although she isn't Fancy's biological child, he has adopted her and loves her as his own. Blueblood is quite jealous of Vogue's love for Fancy.

-Fleur and Fancy love each other deeply and are very supportive and affectionate with each other. Fleur enjoys Fancy's rather sad attempts at French, and she has become a partner in his charity work in Canterlot. Fleur has moved away a bit from her supermodel work to focus on her true passions, philanthropy and linguistics (she loves volunteering as a French language tutor for the children of Canterlot)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

aaaaand that's all folks, hope you enjoyed my ship rambling