Prince Firemane

That's a problem I've had with slice of life episodes for a while. A lot of them are old rehashes of the same conflict and it gets tiring after a while. Applejack is bull-headed. Rainbow Dash is competitive. Pinkie Pie is hyperactive. Twilight Sparkle is a neurotic mess. Rarity is an overzealous drama queen. Fluttershy is... well, shy. These are facts, these are things we know. We get it, push on to something else. That's what made late season 1 and season 2 great, that the writers weren't afraid then to explore some of the darker sides to these characters. In Party of One, Pinkie Pie drives herself into bipolar depression over the idea of losing her friends. In Lesson Zero, Twilight was driven to a complete psychological breakdown over the idea of losing Celestia's favor. We saw the darker, more fragile and more vulnerable sides to them. I'd like to see a return to those ideas.

I addressed Discord in my previous post. I know that viewpoints on him as a villain versus him reformed are very mixed, but the majority opinion that I've seen, including my own, is that his character is worse for wear as reformed. Though he did have some development during Twilight's Kingdom, to me that development was soured in Meet New Friends But Keep the Discord. He seems to have gone back to his season 3/4 self where he's just arbitrarily fucking with ponies. He stirred up trouble at the Gala, brought a creature that could cancel out even Celestia's magic and threatened to send Tree Hugger to another dimension all because he felt like Fluttershy can't have any friends other than him and potentially the rest of the mane six. That makes no sense to me as he already learned the lesson of sharing and embracing friendship in Twilight's Kingdom. It just seemed like a thinly-veiled excuse by the writers to have Fluttershy give another "reason you suck" speech. The thing that made Discord so loved as a villain is that he was unique and though he was messing with the landscape, physics and biology of the Equestrian world, he was still psychologically tormenting ponies and remains to this day the only villain that has broken the bond between the mane six. He was cutting, dangerously genre-savvy and incredibly manipulative and people loved that about him. These were traits that have never been seen in such form before or since and the way he goes about them is uniquely Discord. My point is that reformation isn't something that should be thrown around as much as Hasbro does and that it should be only potentially given to characters that make bad villains. Or I suppose if it is part of the story, such as Nightmare Moon reverting back to Luna. But even then, it should be handled carefully.

Eh, I really don't think so; it'd be the reverse of Sunset Shimmer. She was a generic villain, she had no personal flair that could endear us to her. She had generic, unexplained goals and she had generic, boring ways about going about it. If she were replaced in Equestria Girls, none of us would miss her. But when she reformed, she became fleshed out and gained a third dimension to her character. She's vulnerable and eager to please and do right. She has her own flair and quirks that endear us to her. If she were replaced in Rainbow Rocks, we'd all miss her and want her back. Conversely, the Dazzlings are the opposite. They were really unique, endearing villains. They were deliciously evil and their interactions with each other and others made us want to see more of them, and definitely wanted us to hear them sing some more. Rainbow Rocks wouldn't have been the same without them. If they were reformed, they would just be generic reformed characters. Their journey to reformation wouldn't have the same impact as Sunset Shimmer's because they were so endearing and enjoyable to watch as villains and to strip that away wouldn't be a good idea. This is a trend that has been around since the very beginning of the series. Nightmare Moon was a bland villain who had bland goals, yet Luna is deep and intriguing. She's awkward and a bit archaic, yet she's still vulnerable and willing to essentially cast herself into eternal damnation in order to repent for what she's done. Discord, however, was so deliciously evil. He didn't have some backwater, generic excuse for doing what he did. He did it because he enjoyed it. But now what's made him so endearing as a villain has been stripped away and what's left is kind of a brat whose only purpose is a plot device to develop others while missing out on his own development. So, in essence, there is a dynamic here that Hasbro needs to keep in mind. If they make a shitty villain, then maybe give them a chance at redemption. But if they're a really good villain, leave them alone.

I think you're on point with most of your theory, but to outright say that FiM wouldn't have happened without Sunset Shimmer seems a bit of a stretch for me. She didn't influence Twilight's desire to enter Celestia's school, she didn't influence Twilight's tremendous magical output and subsequent cutie mark appearance. I believe if Sunset Shimmer hadn't turned her back on Celestia, Celestia still would've taken Twilight on as her protege. Twilight's cutie mark is not only a dead ringer for the Element of Magic, but it's also surrounded by five other stars that could very easily represent the five other Elements. Celestia would've known that. Moreover, if she had taken on both of them as students, I think Sunset Shimmer still would've turned her back on them. I imagine she would see Twilight as getting more attention. Let's be honest, she would. Celestia would always keep the Tree of Harmony and its Elements in mind while mentoring Twilight, while Sunset Shimmer seemed to have no overt potential destiny like that. However, I believe that regardless of what events may or may not have occurred, it was always Sunset Shimmer's destiny to turn evil. Her cutie mark pretty much dictates it. Her entire cutie mark has a distinct yin/yang motif and I see that as her walking the fine line between good and evil, especially now that she's experienced both. But I do agree that Sunset Shimmer's downfall was a direct influence on how Celestia mentored Twilight. She didn't focus enough on the merits of friendship with Sunset Shimmer and took steps to make sure Twilight avoided the same path. But the key difference is that while Twilight was an introvert and solely focused on her studies; Sunset Shimmer was blindly arrogant about her position as Celestia's student. So, did Sunset Shimmer play a role in how Celestia mentored Twilight? Absolutely. Would the series have never happened without her? Probably not.

Just because people may feel that way in our world doesn't mean that ponies feel that way in theirs. Not every Earth Pony, Pegasus or Unicorn has a talent in their aligned fields. There's a higher instance of talent alignment of course, but it's by no means a requirement. Lyra has a talent for music, not one that's centered around magic. Derpy's talent involves bubbles somehow, not the first choice for a Pegasus. Octavia also has a talent for music despite being an Earth Pony. Fluttershy herself would much rather be "in tune with nature" than fly our cause explosions just by thinking about them. It's a lot deeper than "you're this, so you do that", the fact that many ponies have talents that aren't regulated to their subspecies shows a good lesson that you don't have to be boxed into a certain area based upon traits that at the end of the day don't mean shit.

An interesting idea, but remember when Celestia and Luna were captured by the plunder vines in Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Sun and the Moon hovered stationary in the sky without their influence, splitting into half day and half night. Not to mention that in Twilight's Kingdom, Twilight herself lowered the Moon and raised the Sun, so they are definitely controlled by magic.

I agree, but yet, this show has already demonstrated a lack of free will involvement when it comes to destiny so that really could be the case. Even if anypony could've ended up with those marks, they would still be bound by their own predetermined destiny as dictated by the Tree. I always figured that the Elements, and by extension the Tree, have a degree of sentience that allowed them to pick out their bearers by how far they could spread the virtues of friendship and harmony. I figured that they allowed themselves to be used by Celestia and Luna as they were the two ponies most capable of restoring harmony during Discord's rule, but abandoned Celestia and Luna during the Nightmare Moon incident; as the greatest duality of balance in the world turned against itself and destroyed its harmony. When they chose the mane six, they saw not only the potential for spreading harmony and friendship, they say the true embodiments of each of the Elements themselves, so much so that they were able to evolve beyond the physical Elements, that they embodied their virtues so much that they were able to transcend to Rainbow Power. I like your Avatar analogy, I never thought of that before but it's a pretty interesting idea.

Earth Ponies don't seem to be disadvantaged to me, and they certainly don't express any inferiority complex ((that I recall)). Earth Ponies are ((don't hit me)) down to earth than Pegasi or Unicorns, the don't seem to care about recognition or impossible goals like Pegasi and Unicorns do. They do what they do best and they're happy with it. Not to mention, it's strongly implied that just as only Pegasi can truly control the weather, only Earth Ponies can truly farm and grow produce. They not only fit the land/sky/space dynamic, but they also serve a great socioeconomic purpose that equally rivals that of Pegasi and Unicorns. Even Alicorns represent Earth Pony magic in their larger statures.

Well as it currently stands, it's most reasonable to assume that Alicorns are Princesses by default. Alicorns have incredible longevity if they aren't outright immortal, not to mention that if their power isn't constant and degrades, it does so very gradually, to the point of 1000+ years of age and constant use doesn't make a noticeable difference. Thus, Alicorns as powerful and benevolent as Celestia and Luna would be the appropriate choices for potentially-eternal rulers. The same standard applies to Twilight ((and Cadance if you consider The Crystal Heart Spell as canon)), this is proven by the fact that they were crowned Princesses immediately after they were ascended. If a non-Royal Alicorn ever shows up in indisputable canon, then I'll change my tune. But at this point, I find it really pointless to debate it. I'll own the fact that Celestia made a leap of faith when she ascended Twilight, but that has been Celestia's MO from the beginning. It seems reasonable that Celestia would figure that Twilight would be okay with it. During her song, Twilight seemed a bit excited at the prospect of a higher calling and a bigger destiny, that and the chance for higher studies that being a Princess would be to her. Twilight was apprehensive and a bit scared, but she was never discouraged or appalled, even when she was glowing and floating in the air. She wasn't appalled when she discovered her new wings and seemed amused by Rainbow seeing a new flying buddy in her. She never seemed disgusted with the idea of being a Princess, she met it head-on and was excited and even humbled to be chosen for such an important title.

Well, yes, but their marks were on the Tree before any of them bore the Elements.

I see the Tree of Harmony as the concentration of positive magic based upon emotional character traits held together by the catalyst of magic. It could be Equestria's metaphysical anchor as it does have a real, tangible effect on the world around it. One thing I've always wondered though is why exactly does it have Celestia's and Luna's cutie marks on it as well as the six Elements themselves? Why has the Element of Magic always taken the form of Twilight's cutie mark while the others have changed shape? Why is Cadance's cutie mark the only Alicorn mark to be excluded from the Tree?

If you just want to make an OC than of course it's that simple. But if you want to make a well rounded character that can easily be seen as canon, than it really is not that simple. However, since we're going around in circles with no end and since you're selectively ignoring points I've made, I'm choosing not to continue this debate with you. Good day.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who felt that way while watching the episode. The trait about them being greedy enough to rival dragons was thrown in from so far out of left field that it feels like it was just added so we think that ponies are better than griffons.

Well, actually, I did answer your question, I'm sorry that I was unclear. Celestia has blind faith in the Elements of Harmony and the magic of friendship, and why wouldn't she? They have a pretty good track record. Why wouldn't she turn them all into Alicorns when a Big Bad shows up? Simple, the defeat of the villain isn't the only thing affected by the existence of new Alicorns, it uproots the dynamics of Equestria as a whole. But if Celestia did transform Twilight herself, why is that a stab at her competence? No, actually, it is relevant to the nature debate. You asked me to defend and explain my point, now I'm asking you to do the same for yours. Um, no, I'm using common sense. I'm sorry, but if you're gonna drop a character into a world that is not of your own creation then you need to follow the rules of that world. Some things can be changed up, things that aren't important to the species or don't affect the world at large. Others however cannot. And yes if you want to nitpick, since there is no according-to-Hoyle rulebook of Equestria, everything is speculation. However, if a certain trait is deemed important, relevant and/or supported by source material, then it's safe to say it's an established trait. Basic deductive reasoning needs to come into play. You know, I was just thinking how strange it is that Cadance's cutie mark isn't the only one that isn't represented on the Tree of Harmony.

I'd have to go with Adagio. She's cunning, manipulative, intelligent and refreshingly aggressive. She is the mastermind and the most developed of the Sirens. Sonata is the plucky, ditzy comic relief who's there to give us a laugh. Aria's there to give interior tension, to show that their "friendship" isn't true and thus inferior to that of the mane seven. But Adagio is also the only one who tells a legitimate story about what they're trying to accomplish, she looks to the main goal of the group and mostly ignores or dismisses Sonata's airheadedness or Aria's brazenness. In essence; Adagio is Azula, Sonata is Ty Lee and Aria is Mai.

Hold up, you're trying to call off supported evidence, yet are also trying to convince us to take your theories as absolute fact? Come on now, you can't quote me conjecture without admitting your own. Well there's obviously more to it than just slapping on wings and a horn. Celestia has to weigh how they can handle the power of an Alicorn, how the public would handle a new Princess, how good of a leader they would be. Celestia put Twilight through certain circumstances to test all of these points, which Twilight passed phenomenally. True, her becoming an Alicorn alone does add a certain distance between she and her friends, but that would've happened regardless of how she became an Alicorn; regardless of whether Celestia deems them ready yet or if they haven't had a sufficiently powerful epiphany yet. But allow me to flip it around: if your theory is correct, then how come Twilight didn't become an Alicorn when she realized she had friends? When she summoned the Element of Magic? When she knew Cadance was fake? When she decided that the citizens of the Crystal Empire were more important than her own desires? It doesn't matter that her ascension came first, the point is that you can't definitively say that Twilight would've become an Alicorn without becoming a Princess as well. But I can definitively say the opposite. Why? Because the show supports it, every other canon Alicorn is a Princess, there are no Alicorns that are not Royal. One Royal Alicorn is unique. Two is a fluke. But three or more is a pattern. The addition of a fourth just supports the pattern. When making a good Alicorn OC, you have to follow the dominant traits in order to make them seem like they really could fit in Equestria and I'm sorry, but Royalty is one of those traits.

I personally believe the idea that Celestia did indeed transform Twilight directly. Does that make her an amoral monster? Absolutely not. After all, Twilight's never voiced any objection to being a Princess. She's been understandably uncomfortable, sure; but never once has she stated to Celestia, her friends, Spike or even herself that she didn't want to do it. It may be cheap to bring this up, but so be it: why is it so hard to think that Celestia had an off-screen discussion with Twilight about this very thing? A whole bunch of other shit in Magical Mystery Cure happened off-screen, why not that? Like I said, Twilight's never voiced any objection about being a Princess. If she hasn't voiced objections in the season-and-a-half since Magical Mystery Cure, it's safe to say she doesn't have them. When it comes to the other ponies, who's to say who's deserving of ascension? Celestia, that's who. She and Luna have saved Equestria multiple times and have led it into a period of prosperity for well over a thousand years. They have shown multiple times across whole generations that they truly do know what is best for Equestria. Also, I must note that Celestia's decision to ascend Twilight wasn't solely hers, Luna was in on it too. Why would she only ascend Twilight and not the others? Like you said, she's not any better than them. But she's the one who is currently ready. Perhaps the others will be ready in their own time and will join Twilight in ascension. She decided to ascend Cadance, doing so led to the current prosperity of the Crystal Empire. If she could make a good choice like that before, why couldn't she do it again? Celestia is perceptive, intelligent and quite possibly gifted with prophetic visions. If anyone is capable of making said decision, it's Celestia; and it seems quite a bit more beneficial than just leaving the ability to quite literally control and dictate aspects of the physical and psychological worlds up to anyone having a sufficiently powerful epiphany.

Even if Celestia was a figment of Twilight's vision, which I really don't buy, the real Celestia still gave Twilight her title immediately after her ascension and did the same for Cadance, thus still supporting my point. I never said that Royal ponies have to be Alicorns, but what I am saying is that unless it is disproved in canon, Alicorns have to be Royal ponies.

Eh, my inner weakness for all things adorable would force me to let her keep snoozin'.

I imagine they are a little bit. After all, their leaders are responsible for the day/night cycle and potentially for the continued existence of life in their world, so a little bit of imposed superiority isn't to be unexpected.

Um, the simple fact that Twilight and Cadance were automatically made Princesses when they gained their wing and horn respectively pretty definitively proves that Alicornhood equates Royal status. However, Royal status doesn't equate Alicornhood just as you said. But as for Shining Armor's eligibility to marry Cadance, well just look at Kate Middleton. She was born as a common citizen, but was able to marry Prince William. As he is the Duke of Cambridge ((As it is his highest true title)), she subsequently gained the title of Duchess. If she could marry a Duke and become a Duchess, why can't Shining Armor marry a Princess and become a Prince? The only reason you see Princesses instead of Queens is because Hasbro had the Disney "Queen = Evil" mentality. But still, Kings and Queens do exist in Equestria, at least historically. Griffonstone had a line of Kings, the Crystal Empire had a line of Queens. Circumstances made it so they're not the ruling body, but the titles aren't unknown in Equestria. Twilight doesn't currently have traditional ruler-ship, sure; but Celestia, Luna and Cadance do, having the same title as Twilight but rule Equestria proper and the Crystal Empire respectively. Twilight arguably has a higher calling than straight-played political rule as Equestria is and always was stable without her. But she has taken it upon herself to spread friendship across Equestria; friendship is magic after all.

I maintain that the rest of the mane six will become Alicorns by the end of the series. I know, bronies are gonna flip their shit because every little change ever since season 2 is horrible. While making the mane six Alicorns would probably not be a good idea, it would probably be much better received if the writers actually answered some questions about Alicorn lore for once instead of just dropping in random bits of new and useless information.

Speaking as someone who has an Alicorn OC, I feel the desire to weigh in here. The problem with most Alicorn OCs is that people experimenting with writing fanfiction choose them because they're the most direct way to implement ones' ideas into Equestria. However, Alicorns are exceptionally hard to write for, you have to come up with a lore that makes sense and you have to make people want to care about your character; which is already even harder than usual because most people are so jaded against Alicorn OCs. People love to dissect people's Alicorn OCs because they feel its some kind of violation or taboo that's meant never to be crossed. Because of this lack of writing experience and desire to cut corners, most Alicorn OCs come off as rough and garish to look at and many people will blindly and sometimes hostilely defend them, considering legitimate criticism as absolute hatred. A very large problem that has been growing for a while is the fact that a lot of people aren't willing to own certain traits which make the Alicorn in a thinly veiled attempt to avoid the dreaded Mary Sue label. People see the wings and the horn and think that's all there is to it. But there's a lot more. For example, people love to make Alicorns that are not Royalty. That doesn't make sense, it doesn't happen in Equestria. Why? Because Twilight was a regular citizen when she was a Unicorn. When she became an Alicorn, she automatically became a Princess. Same thing happened to Cadance in The Crystal Heart Spell. Therefore, non-Royal Alicorns don't currently exist in Equestria. Perhaps an Alicorn could step down from Royal status, but they would never be able to blend seamlessly into a setting like Ponyville. Making your character do so ironically adds "special snowflake syndrome" to the mix as they're denying a trait that every single canon Alicorn has. It'd be like removing their horn or their wings. Which brings me to my next point, what the hell is with the tendency to make Alicorns that are unable to perform magic or fly? Why make an Alicorn at all at that point? Now, the base idea behind this is actually a really good ground for character growth. Tackle them learning to do something they were never able to do before, show their growth. Twilight did it. She was barely able to get off the ground in Princess Twilight Sparkle and by Twilight's Kingdom, she was able to fly competently. Keeping your character at the same level of non-growth just gets stale and again adds a level of "special snowflake syndrome." Now for the Alicorns who have broken horns... just stop. Please. Despite my criticisms above, creating a good Alicorn OC is possible. Alicorns are indeed naturally incredibly powerful. Celestia and Luna can sling celestial bodies across the sky each and every night for well over a thousand years. Cadance can alter the mindsets of ponies. We all know how powerful Twilight is. You can't ignore that, nor can you ignore the fact that they're not going to blend in seamlessly into a slice-of-life setting. Owning these traits while balancing them is the key. Your Alicorn can't be able to take down Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra and Tirek all on their own; but they shouldn't be able to be knocked down like a punk bitch either.

It's difficult to say, honestly. FiM is currently so different from G1 that Megan's presence isn't actually needed. Also, throwing a human into the mix would upset the dynamic this world is shown to have, as humans don't exist in Equestria. True, FiM has borrowed or done shoutouts to previous generations, but I imagine a character like Megan would be a little "too-nail-on-the-head" to be met with any kind of positive reception. If she does ever have a presence in FiM, I think it would be best if there would be a background pony that looks like her, or give her a background appearance at Canterlot High. But giving her an actual narrative role I think would be a bad move as FiM is very distant from previous generations.