CloudFyre

It's a kingdom, but the prince/princess titles follow from Disney's portrayal of "everyone with the title of 'Queen' is evil". It's less an issue of wording and more of an issue of stereotypes. :/

It's a step I suppose, but whether I can define it as "good" or "bad" is up for debate. I hear lots of talk about "gender stereotypes" (which I can understand to an extent), but is there a possibility that we're reading into this a little too far? I have a hard time imagining a retail chain owner sitting in a corporate office musing to himself on the idea of gender roles. Black-suit-and-tie-guy: "You know, I bet we could promote gender stereotypes and hinder the progress of society if I label toys as 'girls' and 'boys'." Underling: "Yes yes, that sounds like a brilliant plan! Perhaps we can upset society by this ploy!" Seriously? I think this is a much more plausible scenario: Black-suit-and-tie-guy: "Hmm, according to our recent purchase statistics, boys tend to buy 'X' toys, and girls tend to buy 'Y' toys. To improve customer satisfaction and make things easier for them, we're going to help sort them into their respective groups." Underling: "Great idea boss! Hopefully this will make things smoother for our customers." Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather keep those sections. It was handy to have when I needed to quickly run and grab a birthday present at the last minute. Look for the word "Boys", and I'd be directed to 95% of the toys in the store that said birthday boy would enjoy using.

Hmm...that's a tough one. I have a fascination with each pony for different reasons, and I've almost lost the concept of a "favorite" pony. There are definitely some that seem to strike a chord with me to a larger degree than others, but I'd enjoy spending time with each one for various reasons. While my top picks would probably be Princess Luna or Fluttershy, my other (more surprising) choice would most likely be Princess Celestia. I'm always curious as to why a large portion of the jokes/fanart of Celestia is focused around a mean, strict, or otherwise mentally unstable princess. I've found no canon reasoning behind it... Aside from the fact that she's a member of the royal household, she's usually portrays a mother-like air about her. At the same time, she lets a tiny bit of her inner child show through every so often - and that combination shows me that she's serious when she needs to be serious, and is laid back when the situation allows it. I'd be very interested to spend a couple of days just watching how Celestia lives her day-to-day life, and see if she's actually a little more outgoing than we all think.

MLP is unique in it's own respect because it gives the audience the information that is vital to the show, and leaves everything else open to interpretation (within reasonable boundaries). The very fact that they didn't bore us to death with a full history was the single best thing they could have done for the show. To put it a different way: who here would actually like to see a full genealogy for the Mane Six, or a full family/blood relative list for the royal family? If I'm to guess correctly, I think most of you would pounce on that opportunity the second it appears - but I would ask you to pause and consider the ramifications of doing such. If the writers were suddenly to hand you all of the conceptual ideas behind Equestria, including histories, locations, naming conventions, etc., it could - no, it most certainly would - gash a huge wound the virutally infinite sea of creativity that this community has produced. Would people keep writing works of fiction? Of course they would. But would we, the readers, ever be able to see it the same way? I doubt it. Knowing the truth makes the luster of the fantastic fade a ever so slightly. Luckily for us, such a thing is a near impossibility. I once asked one of the writers whether Equestria was a country or if it was a planet, as it was a relatively popular topic of debate a year or so back. To paraphrase her response, she replied that Equestria was labeled as neither country *or* planet - it was left open to interpretation for the sake of creativity, because "...whether it [Equestria] is a land sitting in a sea or a planet in and of itself, it is it's own 'world.'" So would I personally change anything? That depends on how the course of this season goes. The characters are relatable enough to make them seem like good friends, yet the world is so vastly different that it draws us in. Perhaps it's the two unique facets on that dual sided coin that made it such a success. I'm not sure if I'd be ready to change those dynamics quite yet.