As revealed a while ago, soapboxes will now happen once we get enough submissions for it. Send them whenever, but also expect them whenever!
If you'd like to submit one, hit this post up.
This time around, your headlines include:
- The Next Evolution of Friendship
- Why IDW Sombra is Better than Show Sombra!
- Who is The Richest Background Pony?
- Criticisms about Pony Life
- Sweet and Confused?
Get the articles below!
The Next Evolution of Friendship
By: Lord Blu
We all know about the Elements of Harmony. And with the introduction of the Pillars of Old Equestria, we learned of the six "Virtues" these legendary heroes possessed, virtues which were used to create the seed that became the Tree of Harmony, which in turn bore the Elements.
From what we've seen in the season 8 and season 9 finales, it seems the Young Six are destined to become another team of six heroes. So what attributes will come to define these six? I have some ideas:
Gallus - Unity: At first glance, Gallus seemed like your typical anti-social griffon. But over time, he grew to truly appreciate his new friends, to the point where he sabotaged Hearth's Warming in a bid to be with them just a little longer. And in "School Raze", the rest of the Young Six all leapt to aid him when he was in trouble. Like Twilight, Gallus is the one whom friendship has affected the most, and a fitting candidate for the core of the group.
Sandbar - Acceptance: Right from the beginning, Sandbar was an open-minded colt, attempting to befriend Gallus in their first meeting, and having no trouble reaching out to the rest of the Young Six. He was willing to form an alliance with Chancellor Neighsay despite his hostility to non-ponies, and even asked Yona to be his "pony pal" because he liked her for who she was. Like Fluttershy, his big heart is his greatest trait.
Silverstream - Optimism: Silverstream has a tendency to look on the bright side, mostly due to her habit of being amazed by everything she finds on the surface. Like Pinkie Pie, this positive attitude helps to lighten the mood for friends, and keep them in high spirits.
Yona - Integrity: Stubbornness is something of a shared trait with yaks. And while it can lead to problems, it can also drive one to stand by their choices, and this is something Yona does well. She steadfastly stands by her decisions, which also means she stands by her friends, much like Applejack.
Smolder - Compassion: Like Gallus, Smolder didn't seem to be much of a friendly creature at first, but this changed when she started connecting with others. Her interactions with Ocellus in "What Lies Beneath" and Spike in "Father Knows Beast" have shown her reaching out to them, identifying with their problems and helping them through those problems. Like Rainbow Dash, nothing can stop this dragon from helping her friends.
Ocellus - Wisdom: Ocellus has always been a bookish sort, dealing with her initial shyness by burying herself in her schoolwork, gaining great amounts of knowledge as a result. And much like Rarity, she is always willing to share what she has gained through her work with her friends. And those smarts have come in handy, such as in "School Raze", when she figured out how to stop Cozy Glow's magic-draining spell.
Of course, this is just my opinion. Let me know what you all think.
Why IDW Sombra is Better than Show Sombra!
By Alerioponylover95
Hello everycreature!
When it comes to the villains in Friendship is Magic, I think probably one of the least developed ones is none other than King Sombra and yet in the comics I would say he is definitely one of the most developed and well that Sombra really should have been in the show instead!
I mean sure Sombra’s goal is to reconquer the Crystal Empire and enslave it to his will and make them obey him… But that’s really it in my opinion… Just look at his very first appearance in The Crystal Empire, he was really just a shadow saying, “Crystals” several times… Oh what a villain… I mean other villains like Tirek had a backstory and a real motivation to take over Equestria and Chrysalis was more cunning and patient by hiding in plain sight in Canterlot before revealing herself.
Now Sombra in the comics is a more, well fleshed out villain, such examples like The Siege of the Crystal Empire, his backstory in Fiendship is Magic Issue #1 and even Reflections which presented an alternate Sombra show a better Sombra. And I know that these particular issues at the same time has caused quite a stir in the fandom and well resulted in a lot of negative reactions. However to be honest I really don’t understand the hatred these issues get, because these issues are along my most favorites from the comics.
For example, The Siege of the Crystal Empire, to me it was what The Crystal Empire Parts 1 and 2 really needed to be! It is by far a much better story because it gives so much character for Sombra. We see his motivations, the real reasons as to why he does the things he does in order to achieve his goals. We know the origins of the king, which his issue in Fiendship is Magic has explored even more in depth, so we know what he has gone through in the past.
And not only that, but well we see his struggles and conflicts with, in my opinion, the best comic exclusive character, Radiant Hope. And Radiant Hope should have also been introduced into the show, she represents a very interesting antagonist, in that she’s not exactly evil, she just wants to make her friend, Sombra, happy and even gave up her own destiny in order to bring him back.
And just like with some of the villains in the show, Sombra ended up being reformed and forgiven (Although a bit quickly…) and well has a new future set for him as with the end of The Siege of the Crystal Empire, he sets out to find Princess Amore’s pieces with Hope. And well that’s my last point, in that I really wished we could have seen that journey in the comics, gave reformed Sombra at least one more issue of his travels with his friend.
But which Sombra do you like better? And what is your opinions on him from the comics!?
Who is The Richest Background Pony?
By: A Shy Brony
Several months ago, I wrote a soapbox about who is the richest Mane Six, as a lighthearted soapbox submission. It was a lot of fun, so I decided to do it again, but this time with the background ponies! Specifically; Lyra, Bon Bon, Derpy, Doctor Whooves, Octavia, and Vinyl Scratch/ DJ PON 3. Just like last time, this will be more about who’s net worth is the greatest, not who has the most money. Also, some assumptions will have to be made with some of these background ponies, but I will keep all assumptions tied to the show, and disregard any fan works.
Going from least to most wealth, I would put Derpy as the least wealthy of the six. Derpy is a mail mare, but at the same time, she seems to make mistakes frequently. Constant mistakes should result in a reduced paycheck I would think.
Lyra would be next. We don’t know what occupation Lyra has, but she does have a lyre as a cutie mark. So, we can safely assume she probably does something musical for a living. Perhaps she is a street musician, living off of tips from generous pedestrians? We can’t know for sure, which is the main reason I put Lyra so low on this list.
Doctor Whooves is essentially the Twilight Sparkle of this list. He has several weird inventions, and a laboratory to store them in, so he must have some wealth. But where does this wealth come from? Inheritance? A well paying job? Maybe he’s like Spider-Man, and he’s smart enough to take trash, and turn it into neat inventions! He has an hourglass as a cutie mark, so we can assume his occupation is something time related. But given all this uncertainty, I’m placing Doctor Whooves in the middle. He could be very wealthy, or he could be very poor, we don’t know.
Bon Bon is who I place next on the list. If Bon Bon was still a S.M.I.L.E agent, I would probably rank her the most wealthy of the six. But S.M.I.L.E is gone, and she lives in Ponyville now. Given Bon Bon’s cutie mark, we can assume that Bon Bon runs some kind of candy business. Whether it’s just a simple stall in Ponyville market, or a full candy store, is impossible to say. Using her earnings from S.M.I.L.E, I could see how Bon Bon would have enough money to have her own physical store, if she so desired.
This means our finial two is down to Vinyl and Octavia. It’s hard to place one higher than the other. DJs don’t make much money, but Vinyl is clearly one of the best DJs in Equestria: She lives and performs in Ponyville, performed at the royal wedding in Canterlot, and works at a club in Manehatten. (She may even own this club, it wasn’t explicitly said she doesn’t.) Octavia on the other hand, performs in high class gatherings, like The Grand Galloping Gala, which must rake in big money. In my opinion, it comes down to whether or not Vinyl owns that club in Manehatten. If she does, I think Vinyl would actually be the richest background pony. If she doesn’t own that club, than I would pick Octavia to be the richest of the background ponies.
This is all just my opinions though. Who do you all think is the richest background pony?
Criticisms about Pony Life
By TheMadHatterBrony
Ok by now we all have seen the first Episodes of Pony Life, to get this out of the way I think it´s good and the last two episodes have potential. But now to the actual theme of this here Soap Box rant: The criticisms. I have heard a lot o people say stuff like “I don´t like the Animation”, or “The pacing is way too much for me”, which are totally valid opinions but I also saw a lot of comments saying, “They are just milking the G4 characters for money!!!”, well yes, yes of course! Hasbro is a company like every other company and there final goal is to make a lot of money so of course they are keeping the characters who work, after all the whole MLP franchise is just a very well made toy advertisement and as the saying goes “Never touch a running system”, and another criticism I heard way to often was “This is not G4 therefore it´s bad” or “x is different than in G4, so I don´t like it” which is another stupid argument and just to clarify I don´t mean the “x was made way better in G4 and kinda ruins PL”, that is a valid criticism, I really only mean the “x is different (no matter in what way) and because of that PL is bad”, so to end this rant let me say: Yes Hasbro wants to make money with what they make, get over it and just because something is different than in G4 doesn´t automatically make PL bad. Have a good day and here´s to hoping that by the time G5 rolls around people learn to actually have arguments against it and not just the stupid stuff listed above. Brohoof everypony /)
Sweet and Confused?
By: Toad256
Sweet and Smoky, the episode which introduces the dragon’s idea of egg hatching grounds where the dragons put their eggs together to heat up, while the Dragon Lord watches. I understand. The parent dragons take care of their eggs for the most part until they are ready to hatch. Taking them to the hatching grounds is a tradition. The Dragon Lord watching them is a symbolic thing of blessing the new born into the kingdom. But the confused part I thought is, Whose hoard made the eggs? Ember’s or Torch’s hoard?
For Torch’s hoard, I thought a reason would be another test for the new dragon lord.
But the reason against Torch would be an odd sequence of events. “The previous generation will give youngins for the new generation to help them grow.”
On Ember's hoard, the reason for being from her hoard is during the episode, we only saw dragons from her hoard show up. But the reason against her is they look like late teens too and I don’t picture them making those eggs.
So who’s hoard you think made those eggs? Ember’s or Torch’s hoard?
Bonus Question: Say 100 newborn dragons have entered their molting phase. What is the percentage of them surviving?
