Expect these posts normally every Tuesday at 2:00 PM PST. To submit your own, see this post.
Note: These soapboxes do not at all reflect the ideas of EQD. They are an open forum for anyone to post whatever crazy theory they want.
Your headlines this week:
Does Spike Have a Secret?
Why I Ship SoarinDash
Ranking Pony Wealth
Princess Dream of Sheep - Reflection
MLP Movie: The Red Pill
And get your soapboxes below!
Does Spike Have a Secret?
By: MegaSean45
Spike to me is the most interesting character in the entire show, and I have my reasons! Spike is the best friend anypony could ask for! He's loyal to his friends, and he seen them at their worst, and yet he still helps them and doesn't complain about it, and doesn't ask for reward or thanks! And yet, he never met his parents (nor do I know if he's close with Twilight's family), he doesn't know how he came into Celestia's possession, and he doesn't know his potential destiny in Equestria yet, nor cares it seems. Even though he hangs with the Mane Six all the time, they like him, and he likes them, but do they really understand him? I mean there are reasons why he doesn't feel like going on the Mane Six's adventures all the time, and why he invited Discord to hang with him and Big Mac, and a reason why he was so keen on having Thorax accepted to pony society.
Spike is always so cheerful, and sometimes snarky, and yes he does make mistakes, but he is quite mature for his age! But do you see the bigger picture here? There are not many ponies he relates to, and alot of times, he keeps to himself. He is so keen on making his friends happy, and helping them out with their problems, and he's just so selfless, and he's so content with his life! The point I'm trying to say is: Spike's the most mysterious character in the entire show, and I think he might be holding in some kind of emotion and doesn't want his friends to know about it, and I'm not talking about just the greed thing. I can see it, even if the writing staff don't. This is the kind of episodes we need from him - more in-depth character development, like in the even-numbered seasons!
Why I Ship SoarinDash
By: StarlightForPrincess
Out of all of the ponies in the show, I think we can all agree that Rainbow Dash is the one who has been shipped the most, even more so ever since season 6 provided two new ships for her in the form of BreezeDash and Quibble Dash.
However, out of all of those ships, SoarinDash has been, and forever will be, the one I stick with, for a few reasons:
First, SoarinDash was one of the first ships I ever encountered when I started to become more of a fan of the show.
Second, out of all of the ponies she's met, he's the one she's known in some form the longest, seeing as becoming a Wonderbolt was her dream for most of her life.
Third, now that she actually IS a Wonderbolt, that's more time for Dash and Soarin to bond.
Fourth, while it IS a popular thing to ship her with the rest of the mane 6, I just can't see any of them becoming more than friends.
And finally, 90% of the time these two have shared screentime/dialogue, it was downright adorable. That's a better ration than she has with any of the others.
Ranking Pony Wealth
By: Frames
Twilight is very clearly wealthy since she hails from canterlot, the elite hollywood-esque capitol of equestria as well being close to and eventually becoming royalty, though the series hasn’t touched on what either means for her finances, if anything.
Rarity had humble seemingly lower middle-class roots before becoming a successful business owner with growing establishments all around the country.
It’s debated if Rainbow’s family is rich but I don’t think they are for several reasons:
1.They live in middle class Cloudsdale, lack servants and don’t resemble regal Canterlot elite or other rich ponies,plus if they were elites than all of Dash's Bullies would have been assassinated by now.
2.Fluttershy’s family has similar nice things.
3.Clouds are probably cheap and abundant especially for someone that works with them for a living along
4.Rainbow Dash’s first seen home is a normal sized cloud house while her second home is a Cloudominium Condo and not a mansion.
5.Dash’s money is a combination of prize money, being the head of the weather patrol and a Wonderbolt, all of which bring in money and explain her spending ability.
Still, I can’t say they aren’t rich until it’s stated or we learn about her parent’s occupations.
Fluttershy has the vague job of animal caretaker(and Pony Tone) and lives a cozy middle class existence like most ponyville residents.
Pony farmers are a different story since the apple family is the only one shown to have financial problems, Pinkie though is a wingnut that seems to just pull anything she needs out of the Aether. I think Earth-kin are more capable of earthly self-sufficiency.
Starlight is living the life of a college socialist right now with no apparent job in Twilight’s rent-free castle.
It should be noted that Equestria is very much like the American Dream since almost anyone can become successful through work and talent.
A Reflection on “Do Princesses Dream of Magical Sheep?:” A Forgotten Low Point of the Series
By: EquestrianGeneral
For me personally, the mid-season finale of Season 5, taken either individually or as part of the larger context of the show, was incredibly disappointing. It was a genuine low point for not just Season 5, but for the show as a whole. What surprises me, however, is that people did not seem to acknowledge many of the glaring flaws of the episode when it was released and, on top of that, still seem to view it as possibly one of the best episodes. I want to take a moment to explain my thoughts on this episode and ultimately ask what people really think of it and why.
“Do Princesses Dream of Magical Sheep?” is a perfect example of wasted potential; honestly, it might be the most disappointing individual episode in the whole show. Luna as a character has a lot of potential within the canon (as seen in many of the fanon works that have been created over the years), but the episode turned out to simply adhere to the “tortured loner” archetype for her instead of actually fleshing out her character. The reasons for the Tantabus existing are both flimsy and only serve to reinforce this stereotypical characterization; for example, it could have easily just been created unconsciously as a result of Luna’s guilt, but instead we get a boring, trite explanation. The largest missed potential, and the biggest indicator of the creative bankruptcy on display, was the dream sequence of the Mane 6. A dream sequence, especially involving nightmares, gives the writer a perfect chance to show a facet of a character that we might not have seen yet or to reiterate key character traits (i.e. Pinkie being afraid of losing her friends, Rainbow Dash being afraid of failure, etc.). Instead, we got evil books, evil cakes, and evil dresses.
There were several more key problems, but these two were the main deal-breakers. What does the community think of these episodes and why?
MLP Movie: The Red Pill
By: FillyCheezSteak
Everyone loves pony. That’s why this site is here, that’s why our fandom exists, and that’s why a movie is being made for it. But I don’t think that the movie has much of a chance. From what we know of the movie, there’s already sky-pirates, sea-ponies, anthro characters, a couple new villains/allies, and more, which is an ambitious, but great thing! The inevitable problem, however, is how you can pull this together. There’s too much going on, too long of a movie to accommodate all that we know about, plus some, all whilst maintaining the target audiences attention. Now, this isn’t me saying that the MLP Movie will inherently be bad, but what we have right now sounds like copious fan service, and that doesn’t ever make for a good movie. My advice would be to make these things into seasons of their own, it would certainly keep the audience riveted, and make the movie be the authentic pony we all know and love, rather than an amalgamation of ambition.
