*UPDATE* Starting this weekend, Pony Soapbox will happen a second time a week on Saturday due to the large load of soapboxes coming in! Come discuss crazy pony stuff this weekend! And check the formatting again, we require a new setup to make it easier.
Community soapbox time, where opinions from around the fandom are dropped down below for you all to discuss and debate! Expect these posts normally when not late every Tuesday at 2:00 PM MST And now Saturday at 2:00 PM MST. 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:
- Has MLP written itself into a corner?
- Other Trees? Other Elements?
- AJ's parents get the Hey Arnold Jungle Movie Treatment
- What is Twilight's family to Spike?
- Starlight is replacing Spike’s role but in the best way possible
And get your soapboxes below!
Has MLP written itself into a corner?
By: Nightmare Muffin
The thing that having the characters achieve their dreams is that it really doesn’t work for the kind of story Hasbro and its writers are pitching; not to mention the constant swapping of writers damages the show’s original lore and character development. We never see the sacrifices that these large decisions bring, for these ponies. Twilight’s a princess, and rarely do we see her overworked with princess duties. When she is, like in “Once Upon a Zeppelin”, it’s brushed under the rug with having Spike take care of it. Mosrso often, she whines about how bored she is, rather than being invested in making new friendships outside of her remane and Starlight. Rarity owns all these outsourced franchises with her boutiques, but we never see her having problems with money, business competitors, or running 3 boutiques. Rainbow Dash is a Wonderbolt, but we never see her sacrificing her time with her friends to train harder and stay in peak condition, or have problems with flying to others’ flight patterns, as should a real professional team that is a serious career. On top of it all, these ponies save the world about once a week, which is no easy feat.
Other Trees? Other Elements?
By: ShadowWriter45
I've heard different things when it comes to Shadow Play recently; some like it, some hate, some are mixed about it. I liked it since it added to the lore of Equestria's history and the tree's origin. I know people don't like it but given what MLP is and how they've been doing things, I never expected anything super awesome or grandiose to begin; sometimes I think people put too much expectations on this show. That being said, I do think this brings to question if there is something like the Tree of Harmony out there in Equestria that Celestia and Luna don't know about even after all these years; this includes places outside their boarders in undiscovered locations. If that is the case, then it would explain why harmony and light has been around for so long and how darkness hasn't full taken over Equestria by now even with it just being Celestia. As for why we haven't heard of these things yet, well ponies aren't the biggest communicators like we are so there is that. Ultimately, this is a food for thought type of thing that would need more evidence to prove such a thing.
AJ's parents get the Hey Arnold Jungle Movie Treatment
by: ShadowWriter45
If you haven't seen the Hey Arnold Jungle Movie by now, then don't read this. But if you have, then you know that Arnold's parents turned out to be alive and are living with him again. After seeing that happen, I began to wonder if they could give Bright Mac and Pear Butter a similar treatment. I know that's heavily implied that they are dead by the ponies that knew them and one of the writers did say this; but we aren't exactly told what happened and people higher up may want to change that if they felt like it.
As for how they would to that, I would go with them being kidnapped and imprisoned by some dark force, take away because they created their own "element", or trapped in limbo for some reason like the Pillars were. However, I wouldn't accept them just being brought back to life with magic like that; that is where I would cross the line.
Also, this wouldn't change the Apple Siblings characters drastically if this happened ; it didn't for Arnold for his parents. If they did it for his parents, they can do it for their parents.
What is Twilight's family to Spike?
By: MegaSean45
Now there's one thing that I really felt bothered about S7E22, Spike staying behind. Now I will not deny that Twilight and Spike do consider themselves family! Whether it's mother and son, brother or sister, or otherwise is yet to be determined. However, what is Spike to Twilight's family? We know Spike has accepted his adopted pony family, but he rarely interacts with them and never bonds with them. The little time he has interacted with Shining and Cadance, they see him as a hero of the Crystal Empire and someone to ask to do a favor, like looking over Twilight while she sleeps or giving him Flurry's baby supplies. Which brings us to Flurry, what is she to him? A niece, a cousin? What are Twilight's parents to him?
There are just too many wasted opportunities to see Spike interact with Twilight's family as his own. Since Shining has played O&O as a colt, it makes us wonder if he taught Spike that game. It would be pretty cute if he did! So if Spike is Twilight's family, that means Twilight's family is his too. It just seems sad that it only looks like Spike only has one family member: Twilight. Lots of friends though, but only one family member.
I don't count the Mane Six, that's more of an "AJ considers the Mane 6 family" kind of family from S2E15.
Starlight is replacing spike’s role but in the best way possible
By: Chris
Whenever you have kids show that focus on morals you have the main character and the main charters best friend. In my little pony the main character is clearly twilight, but twilight doesn’t have 1 best friend she has multiple best friends. If twilight were to be closer to one of the main 6 then that would be disastrous since each friend represents an element and I don't think the writers want to make one element more important or to have one of the main cast have more attention. So, the answer is spike. That’s why in season premiers/ finales it’s twilight and the main 5 or twilight and spike. But if spike were to be a family member to twilight it would ruin the shows dynamic. So now if starlight were to replace just his role as the “best friend” then that would leave him free to be expanded on. And it seems that the fandom really wants to see a deeper family connection between twilight and spike. Which is why I think starlight is the best thing for spike. In fact, since starlight’s bigger role is the first time you see this hinted at.
