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.
Headlines for the week:
- Should There Be Further Exploration of Equestria's History and Character Backstory?
- In Defense of Flurry Heart’s Magic
- I Hope MLP Gets Kirins Right
- Justifying Starlight's Actions in "A Royal Problem"
- Why Sunset Shimmer Won’t Become a Princess
And get your soapboxes below!
Why Sunset Shimmer Won’t Become a Princess
By: Nightmare Muffin
Around the time of the Hasbro short “My Past Is Not Today”, many speculated whether Sunset was becoming an alicorn princess. This carried onto Friendship Games, when it appeared that she had an alicorn form as DaydreamShimmer. This was debunked in “Mirror Magic, when it showed her still as a unicorn back in Equestria again.
I’ve never desired to see Shimmy as princess, and doubt that she’ll ever become one. Her original motivation for wanting it was ambition and to be the best, even if it meant succeeding Celestia. But throughout EG, we’ve seen those motivations fade and her true personality come out. Sunset likes going out exploring, getting her hooves dirty when it comes to solving problems, unlike Twilight who’s more bookish. Sunset appreciates a challenge, which is why she chose to stay in the human world rather than taking the easy way out, going back to instant forgiveness and acceptance back in Equestria. She also learned humility, so its likely that when offered with ascension, she’d turn it down; being content with who she is, and having more opportunity to do as she likes, rather than being confined to a castle and throne like the other princesses.
Justifying Starlight's Actions in "A Royal Problem"
By: Cyborg Sun
"A Royal Problem" was generally well received. Despite all of this, there are still fans who don't like it simply for that fact that Starlight used magic on the princesses without their consent, and supposedly got off scot-free. I would agree with you... if not for a couple of important details. First of all, the spell she cast wasn't entirely planned. What do I mean by this? Well, remember how in "All Bottled Up," Starlight explained how she draws her magic from her emotions? I felt this small moment was quite important, as it explained how she was able to go toe-to-toe with Twilight in the Season 5 finale, among other things. Anyways, Starlight DID try to reason with the princesses, a detail that people who criticize her actions seem to miss. However, they kept on arguing, which frustrated and probably even scared Starlight. If anything, her casting the spell was an emotional outburst, a gut reaction in a tense situation. But, she still wasn't punished... was she? Actually, she was. How? Well, remember her nightmare where she fears what her actions would cause, almost destroying her psyche? Yeah... I feel that is "punishment" enough.
I Hope MLP Gets Kirins Right
By: The Realm Of Athena
It’s a huge misconception in the fandom and west in general that Kirins are DragonHorses, but this is based on confusing Qilin for Longma, Qilin/Kirin being Mythical versions of Giraffes like Unicorns and Pegasi to Horses or Perytons to Deer. Kirin is a wholly inaccurate mistranslation of Chinese folklore and therefore very wrong. So with how well researched the show is and Hasbro’s attempts at appealing to China I hope the series understands that true kirins are in fact a breed of mythical giraffes and if the show does feature a Dragon/Pony hybrids I hope they're either called Longma or given a more original western name.
In Defense of Flurry Heart’s Magic
By: Wordplay
A lot of people claimed, after “A Flurry of Emotions”, that Flurry Heart is overpowered. However, the amount of power Flurry Heart showed is entirely plausible. For one, she is an Alicorn, so she would have more basic magical ability than a mere Unicorn. But also, did you know that infants can swim?
This may sound random (and please don’t throw your baby into a pool), but it’s relevant. Human infants are instinctively able to swim at birth. This fades, though, as the baby grows older. The same applies to Flurry Heart. Her magic is instinctive. Notice that none of her spells are intricate or even particularly deliberate. Everything she casts is either to get something she wants or to protect herself. When she does use a spell (like telekinesis), it’s uncoordinated and inelegant. You can see this when she tries to mimic Twilight’s dancing teddy routine, and when she’s throwing beds looking for her Whammy. An overpowered character would have mimicked the dancing bear perfectly, and would have controlled her magic better at the hospital. Flurry Heart’s power, at its core, is simple, instinctual. She will have to develop her skills just like any other pony as she grows.
Should There Be Further Exploration of Equestria's History and Character Backstory?
By: Mystery Artist
“The Perfect Pear” was an instant hit in the fandom. Fans left and right praised the episode’s story concept of revealing how the apple’s parents met and many now claim it as the best episode so far this season. Of course I can see why. The episode was simple, yet extremely sweet and made many of us cry of how beautiful their relationship was and even the new song.
So this makes me wonder; would it be best if there were more backstory episodes? We are currently on season 7 and approaching season 8, but very little had been revealed and explored in Equestria’s history and only more and more questions have been raised with very little satisfactory answers. Such as how do the prophecy of Nightmare Moon’s return come to be? Or Luna and Celestia’s origins? Of course many are also curious about Starswirl the Bearded and how he influenced history and knowledge in magic.
I personally hope that the MLP team will come up with a clever way to weave Equestrian history and ponies’ backstory into future episodes like they did with “The Perfect Pear”. However I want to know what you think in the comments! Have at it!
