Since a bunch of soapboxes came in for a specific trailer, I'm putting a s9 spoiler tag on this one.
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. To submit your own, see this post.
Headlines this week:
Is Flash Sentry needlessness targeted?
Are the Friendship Lessons Meant to be Taken Seriously?
King Sombra is Extremely Underrated
The Shadow Behind the Pony of Shadows
And get your soapboxes below!
Are the Friendship Lessons Meant to be Taken Seriously?
By: FlareGun45
Sometimes I kinda wonder about the lessons of friendship in this show. Is it meant to be taken seriously? I do take it seriously! I treat everyone as my friend, cause they are, whether they like it or not! ;) But sometimes I just don't see it within the fandom or even the staff completely. I mean here I am trying to have just a decent conversation with one of the staff members, not even talking about the show, just life in general, and some of them don't say a word to me. Not that it bothers me, I'm sure this show is just a paycheck for half of them and they don't take their morals seriously. Hey, their choice! The fandom too! I mean I kinda take it a little more personally here cause I thought this was place a safe haven from the tyrannies of aggressive dislikes, or getting ignored, or feeling leftout or an outsider, and be there for us whenever have problems. Does the "love and tolerance" symbol of our fandom mean anything to you? I'm sure it does! I always give people the benefit of the doubt! :)
I mean basically the show is telling us: everyone is friends, and if they're not, they're antagonists! I don't really care what the show is "implying" cause implications can mean anything! Unless the actual words are said, then friendship will always be magic! Have a great day, ol buddy o mine!
King Sombra is Extremely Underrated
By: PrincessOfPancakes
I agree that King Sombra is disappointingly defeated before the fear and hype built up around him can have a satisfying payoff. And sure, his Sauron-esque design makes him not as theatrical or hammy as Discord or Nightmare Moon. But when you look past that, King Sombra was an excellent presentation of a villain waiting in the shadows for his prey to come to him. In fact, he trumps every MLP villain in terms of cunning: he pre-emptively hid away the Crystal Heart and erased the crystal ponies' memories of its existence, taking care of the thing needed to defeat him (whereas Discord and Nightmare Moon spent their premieres trying to stop the Elements needed to defeat them). He implicitly tore out the page from the history book that would've explained what the Crystal Heart was. He hid the Heart in his castle because he knew his subjects would be too terrified of him to try and look for it there. He hid the chamber's entrance in his throne room and made the only way to open to be using his dark magic. He set up that doorway trap at the bottom of the stairs that entrances you with an illusion of your worst fear. And he set up that anti-magic security system around the Crystal Heart that traps whoever got that far at the top of the tower, unable to use it, and spreads his dark crystals inside the castle. If Spike hadn't joined Twilight on her journey, she would've remained hypnotised by the doorway trap and Sombra would've WON. He came within an inch of winning and he didn't even have to lift a hoof. Bottom line: this guy deserves more credit.
The Shadow Behind the Pony of Shadows
By: Drag Orion
In the comics detailing how the Pillars came together and Stygian’s fall into darkness, we learned the Pony of Shadows was originally from another world. In Nightmare Knights we learned that the Pillars from that other world failed to seal him away in Limbo, due to their Spirit of Chaos, Eris, interfering, allowing him to take over, corrupting their Celestia and Luna in the process. After that, he attempted to corrupt the Celestia and Luna of the world we know, only to fail, but, in doing so, discovered his alternate self who he would later turn into the Pony of Shadows too.
So, does this mean similar events happened to that other Pony of Shadows, that he was turned by his darkened self from another world to conquer his world and spread his influence to an alternate Stygian. If so, how many times has this repeated? Why was the loop broken this time around? Was it because Discord did not interfere or some other differences the world possessed? Is some greater darkness behind the Pony of Shadows, using him to destroy all worlds, and if so, will we ever see it appear now that the chain has been broken?
My thoughts on King Sombra's eventual return in season nine
By Moonlit Stones
To quote another talking horse about the new season nine trailer, "No sir, I don't like it." It's quite an easy explanation for me to talk about as we march closer to the premiere of the season in April.
The problem for me is King Sombra, former tyrant ruler/Sauron as pony of the Crystal Empire. It's not that I don't want him back, but it's given me a lot of second thoughts about the course of events that will transpire.
I've always had it in my head, along with many other fans that the comic books from IDW Publishing really made Sombra a more believable character, showing his past leading to his and the Crystal Empire's exile, and showing the aftermath of his first defeat. We do seem to care about him and what he wanted to see but couldn't because of his Umbrum nature. Seeing him return and realize that he still had a choice to save his friends or rule as emperor was good conflict. And we saw him be reborn as a regular pony thanks to his sacrifice.
Seeing an evil Sombra again in the trailer has made me very upset at what will happen soon
Is Flash Sentry needlessness targeted?
BY: Nightmare Muffin
Back in 2013 the first Equestria Girls movie dropped, and with it, came the introduction of Flash Sentry. With his introduction, however, many of the fanbase targeted him as a “waifu thief” and haven’t stopped antagonizing him since. It’s the year 2019, folks! Did Flash really do anything wrong? Twilight Sparkle is still single, has all but forgotten him at this point, never makes any effort to contact him, hasn’t been on a date with him. Why are we, as a fandom, still attacking him? If anything, Flash is deserving of pity and love- his girlfriend turned out to transform into a raging she-demon, he then fell for a girl who turned out to be a pony princess from another dimension, and then fell for a girl who looked like the purple pony Princess from another universe, but didn’t have feels for him at all. On top of it it all, he gets blown off by his she-demon ex when he tried to just be friends with her again. The guy really has it rough. Isn’t it time to back off?
