Roughshod

So does anyone here know of a canonical source or decent fanfic that explains how Fluttershy got her cottage? Did she have it built or buy it? Or did she just find it abandoned and restored it?

One of the concerns people have been raising is that many television shows that target themselves towards male viewers only incorporate prominent male characters. Even in so called 'gender neutral' shows the cast is often slanted towards the male spectrum because masculine targeting is considered to have a wider appeal than feminine. Reversing this situation with an overwhelmingly female cast does not resolve the issue but simply reinforces the 'pink and blue' status quo. The creators and fans of MLP:FIM often pride themselves on the show's history of challenging stereotypes and changing perceptions. Yet it still follows many of the same tropes and patterns of thinking that it likes to criticize. Even though the primary demographic is young girls that shouldn't necessitate that other characters who aren't female should be given such little attention simply on the basis that members of the main audience don't share their gender. This isn't even considering the fact that the show makes virtually no attempt to introduce characters that maybe don't fall on one side or the other of the gender spectrum, such as those that might identify with the LGBTQ community. I like MLP for lots of reasons, but the fact that most of the cast is female is not one of them. Although it's not such a big issue that it prevents me from enjoying the show or any other aspects of the franchise or fandom. However when I see that male characters are often only included so they can be used as little more than comic relief, bland villains or one dimensional love interests it really makes me wish they tried a little harder and broadened their horizons. This great show really shouldn't be restricted like that.

Mmmmhmmm. I'll testify to that. Although I still like unicorns better.

It was just some harmless headcanon. I believe there's a strong chance she'll appear in the next film with human Twilight. It'll serve as a throwback to EQG 1.

Well I would hardly call her redeemed if she's a murderer. What if at the same time the Equestrian Sunset entered the human world, the human version of her found a means to enter Equestria? That would balance it out, and create a pretense for their lack of interaction.

And EQG 3 may give us Sunset Shimmer's human counterpart, who's likely as bad as the original pony version. It's possible.

I have to say it was pretty comical to watch a G1 video with Evanescence as the music. I guess setting up that race was some pretty intense stuff.

I don't hate this series entirely, at the very least it has room for growth which is always appealing to me. Call me optimistic. Also, I've been thinking, so far all the antagonists in the EG movies have originated from Equestria. What if a villain was instead a human(s) from the human world? Perhaps bent on exploiting or harming Equestria? That would at least be interesting to me. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Maybe she could teach them all a thing about generosity.

Noooooooooooo! It can't be! It just can't be!

That sounds like a very convenient excuse not to do anything at all. Those princesses are just lazy in my opinion. And we've already seen Twilight go all out against Tirek in the season four finale, and I doubt I'm alone when I say it was much more entertaining than seeing another generic rainbow blast. Despite the fact that it only ended in a stalemate and it eventually did take yet another rainbow to defeat him.

The guard thing doesn't work because Celestia just gets Twilight and the remane five to do all her dirty work. Now I know that they bear the elements of harmony and thus are very powerful together, but is that really a good enough excuse to do almost nothing anytime something happens? Now that Twilight is the 'Princess of Friendship' and has her own castle Celestia and the others are all but obsolete when it comes to protecting Equestria.

"Justify"? I don't know about that. I'd say it helped salvage the series to some extent. If the next EG is as good or even better then perhaps that mess will have been justified to a degree.

The way you describe the guards makes the princesses look like tyrants. Which I personally tend to think they somewhat are. If for no other fact than that they're unelected, nearly omnipotent, eternal sovereigns. Benevolent dictators basically. And I wouldn't try to take on an alicorn unless I myself was one. Otherwise I'd have to resort to some type of strategem or the use of a different source of magic or technology.

So if I was a unicorn or other type of pony fighting against Celestia or another princess I'd basically be screwed? If they're so powerful then why do they need all those royal guards? Those guys are practically useless! I think Tirek may have had some amount of magic initially. I think he'd have to just to be able to absorb the magic of others. Just a hunch though, he may just be a leech with none of his own.

Despite the fact that it's been shown several times that alicorns aren't invincible. Since alicorns possess the magical traits of all three types, and it was originally the unicorns who used to raise the sun and moon, and Tirek matched power with Twilight after they both absorbed magic I have to wonder if there is a ratio of magical power between alicorns and other types.

More world building for Equestria, more development for supporting characters like the denizens of Ponyville and the Princesses, better and more interesting villains and more complex stories and lessons. And also some returning characters and cameos would be nice as well. Cheese Sandwich and Chrysalis maybe? Not together of course, although I bet that would be a funny mix.

Yes, but the same can be said of pegasi like Rainbow Dash and earth ponies like Pinkie Pie. Most pegasi can't pull off a sonic Rainboom and most earth ponies don't have a pinkie sense. Personally I'd much rather have telekinesis than not have it, even if it means I probably won't be able to fly or buck apples. I'd strive to learn as much magic as I could.

I'm definitely pro unicorn. But unlike the other types they don't have a general responsibility for themselves. They just do what they want to, they have the most freedom of the all the ponies. Granted not all earth ponies grow food nor do all pegasi control the weather. But some of them have to. Unicorns though? They just use their magic to show their swag.