Are the mane 6 above the princesses? Are they villains? What are they?

[ManaMinori 4,143]

I don't even know. The show constantly tries to portray the Mane 6 as protectors of justice, keepers of peace, the good guys. You know. But even good guys can do bad things or just plain go bad and over the edge evil. I'm not saying that the mane 6 are evil, thought.....they just make stupid as heck decisions sometimes, and seem to come off scott-free in the end. One fine example- Twilight. Always using magic as a be-all-end-all solution, and many times it backfires (Bats!, Swarm of the Century, Lesson Zero). The others have also had their share of eff-ups that led to the destruction of Ponyville or Clousdale, or whatever, on some occasions. (Fluttershy stupidly keeping that one last Parasprite, which snowballed- again, Rainbow Dash sabotaging Clousdale's weather factory, Apple Jack being stubborn and causing all those disasters in Applebuck season, Rarity's power trip in Inspiration manifestation, Pinkie Pie's AU selves destroying everything and causing chaos in Too Many Pinkie Pies....I could go on....)

 

But here's the thing- they have to be above the Royal Sisters, in spite of all they've done. In spite of (mostly) all of them being regular ponies who aren't princesses. Why, you ask? Well.....just look at Luna. She's a princess AND Celestia's own sister, and when SHE made bad decisions that threatened the pony populace's well-being and safety, SHE got dealt with, and promptly punished for it, based on that one time. She got her flank sent straight to the moon. One of the Mane 6 try to bring eternal summer, which would no doubt cause sufferring and likely death for many ponies. Luna does the opposite with the same effects, and guess who gets preferential treatment? When the mane 6 do something that threatens Celestia's beloved subjects, in some shape of form (and they've done it fairly often), all is forgiven, no punishment is issued, and bias and favoritism everywhere, because Mane 6. Heroes of Equestria! (so I guess Luna's contributions to saving Equestria alongside her sister, before the mane 6 came along don't amount to squat)

 

Didn't Celestia clearly state in the Journal of the Two Sisters, that she saw herself (and wanted other ponies to think of her) as the guardian of all whom she ruled over, once she became a princess? And the mane 6 are going around right under her nose and doing things that endanger her people...er...ponies? Where do we draw the line?

 

Are the royal sisters just that incompetent and blind to the situations that go on?

Can they really be called protectors and guardians if all this is happening on a near daily (weekly) basis?

Are the Mane 6 in higher position than the alicorn sisters, to have continuous passes on all of their disastrous 'drawbacks'?

Which of the mane 6 (if any) have learned (enough to where they know not to do it or something similar again) from any of the disasters they might've been the cause of?

How do you think the citizens of Ponyville, Clousdale, ect- being victims to much of the mane 6's disasters- feel about them?

What are the mane 6 to you? How do you see them?

[The Awesome One 1,314]

They are definitely not villains, that much is clear.

 

They have saved Equestria more than once and that makes them heroes in the eyes of everypony in Equestria (except for maybe Prince Blueblood). Sure sometimes they might get a little carried away and cause some destruction but they do much more good than bad so Celestia lets it slide every time they do mess up.

 

Also, the Mane 6 seem to be pretty young and they learn from the mistakes they make. If they didn't do that then it would be a cause for concern.

[sweetolebob18 724]

This comes back to the nature of the Elements of Harmony.  In Princess Twilight especially it was made clear that the Elements have at least some free will & their own agenda.  It is at least as true to say the Mane 6 belong to them & are their power source as it is to say the Elements belong to the Mane 6.  Celestia misused them & they turned on her.  The Mane 6 found them & reactivated them.  In Return of Harmony it is shown that almost anyone who is not trying to use them for evil can use them BUT their power depends on how closely their wielder(s) follow the virtues they embody.  Celestia couldn't reform Nightmare Moon because (at least by that time) she didn't embody their virtues well enough & banishing her sister was Un Harmonious enough that they turned on her.

 

As to the Mane 6 acting against their virtues.  I would point out that many Christian saints had personal lives that weren't very nice (St Dismas, patron saint of thieves, was crucified w Jesus.  He said he believed in Jesus & became a saint) (Just one of many examples of poor behavior on a saint's part)

 

So , no, the Mane 6 are often all too fallible.  But the point is, they have good intentions & do show their virtues (most of the time)

[Justin_Case001 4,855]

The Mane 6 are like Kal-El in the Man of Steel franchise.  They cause a lot of destruction, but get away with it because they save Equestria so often.  Maybe in an upcoming episode, we will see Twilight's stained glass likeness in Canterlot spray painted with "false goddess."  (Kidding.)  But I get what you mean, though.  I think they should be held accountable now and then.  It would go a long way if Rainbow was suspended from her job until she repaired the damage she did.  Things like that.  But to be fair, many of their "eff-ups" were just accidents or mistakes, but not malicious.  And I don't think they are suppose to be above the Sisters.  But perhaps the Sisters do actually cut them slack, because they know that Equestria needs them.  Mane 6 = House, Celestia = Dr. Cuddy.