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What being a Princess means


Zoraxe

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Being a princess means protecting and guiding one's subjects. Seems like a simple concept,but it is actually a lot more fluid than one would think. Everyone thinks of directly literal protection against whatever supernatural threats there out there, but I think it more or less focuses on being a teacher and example to others more so than any political responsibilities that we seem to try define the title by. It also apparently means being willing and able to pick up the responsibilities of others should something prevent them from doing as such. So to put it in simple terms the title means whatever the heck the staffs and show wants to do with it.

 

The show does not treat the title of princess in a conventional fixed sense, so perhaps we need to see as a more of a fluid dynamic as Twilight's responsibility seem to range from the extreme such as in Twilight's Kingdom to something a little mundane such as in Trade Ya for example

 

It does seem like Twilight is going to find what out  more of what it means to her as she sets forth to spread her mission with her friends, and early sneak clips shows her owning up to it by having her refer to it as "my mission."

 

It's fluid in terms of adding new duties and responsibilites depending upon the story. The four princesses are everything we think they are and more: leaders, Royals, protectors, etc. Trying to define them badly misses the point. 

 

Agreed.

Edited by UnknownFry
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My theory on this is quite simple.  Celestia is God, Luna is Lucifier, and Twilight is Jesus Christ.  This casts Cadance's role as the Holy Spirit and the remaining mane6 as apostles.  The term princess is just a traditional honorary title (and more accurate than using the term alicorn, which is actually the term for the horn of a unicorn) from the days of Princess Platinum.

 

I could go into paragraphs on this, so I'll keep it quick.  Celestia is the elder sister --the all-powerful deity.  Luna rises against her and is banished.  Twilight Sparkle is killed by the elements at the end of S3, taken to Purgatory, meets God, gets a flashback of her life, and is reborn in a flash of light from on high where she descends to the realm of mortals now with wings (*cough* angel *cough*).  Death for what she believed in, and a resurrection in a more powerful form.  This casts Cadance as the all-loving Holy Spirit to complete the Trinity.  And with Twilight being Jesus that makes her friends the followers --the apostles.

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My theory on this is quite simple.  Celestia is God, Luna is Lucifier, and Twilight is Jesus Christ.  This casts Cadance's role as the Holy Spirit and the remaining mane6 as apostles.  The term princess is just a traditional honorary title (and more accurate than using the term alicorn, which is actually the term for the horn of a unicorn) from the days of Princess Platinum.

 

I could go into paragraphs on this, so I'll keep it quick.  Celestia is the elder sister --the all-powerful deity.  Luna rises against her and is banished.  Twilight Sparkle is killed by the elements at the end of S3, taken to Purgatory, meets God, gets a flashback of her life, and is reborn in a flash of light from on high where she descends to the realm of mortals now with wings (*cough* angel *cough*).  Death for what she believed in, and a resurrection in a more powerful form.  This casts Cadance as the all-loving Holy Spirit to complete the Trinity.  And with Twilight being Jesus that makes her friends the followers --the apostles.

 

?

 

I'm going to have to say that this is unlikely. For one Celeatia has gotten her Flank kicked and regular Unicorns have raised the sun.

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?

 

I'm going to have to say that this is unlikely. For one Celeatia has gotten her Flank kicked and regular Unicorns have raised the sun.

 

It might be best if I started a separate topic on my musings on the allegory of Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Twilight, and the mane6 rather than derail this thead.

Edited by Sintanan
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That's a fair question. In the early days of the show it seemed pretty clear-cut: to be a princess, you had to:

(1) be an alicorn, apparently from birth

(2) be in charge of something extremely important

(3) be named Celestia or Luna.

 

Princess was really just an honorary title; it was what Celestia and Luna did for Equestria that made them special. But Twilight's coronation contradicted much of what we took as canon, since she:

(1) was not an alicorn from birth

(2) is not officially in charge of anything besides a library, which was destroyed

(3) looks very different from the other 3 princesses and is probably less powerful.

 

Cadence, Prince Blueblood, and Princess Platinum were all a little hard to explain, but it was the S3 finale that really muddied the waters. It suggests that to be a princess, all you really have to do is be liked enough by Celestia that she gives you a problem to solve and boom, you're promoted.

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(edited)

I just re-watched 'Games ponies play', and Shining Armor mentions something rather interesting to somepony he thinks is Miss. Harshwinny "I'd think in your line of work you meet Princes all the time". So that settles it then, Equestria has lots of Royal families, probably Republics too (I head-canon that Manehatten is a republic). Non-the-less, I think Celestia and Luna are a different class than the others and are atop the totem poll.

Edited by Zoraxe
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  • 3 years later...
On 3/19/2015 at 9:28 PM, Zoraxe said:

Non-the-less, I think Celestia and Luna are a different class than the others and are atop the totem poll.

Well, the most recent episode shows that ponies definitely see the Sisters differently:

("Princess" princess: best line in the whole show, btw.)

So, I've always taken a bit of issue with the term "princess", and how it's used on the show.  As you pointed out, they seem to have multiple definitions, as we have princes and princesses that are actually part of a royal family, and others for whom the term princess is a title, rank, and position of responsibility.  I have long argued that they should never have used the word "princess" for the Sisters, Twilight, or Cadance.  It's very confusing since the only real princess on the show is Platinum, the daughter of a king.  We all know that they chose the term "princess" purely for the marketing prestige attached to the word.  Slap "princess" on a girl's toy, and you're gonna sell more.  Simple as that.  I think it was a poor choice to cave to this cliché.  I happen to think it sends a bit of a bad message, actually.  It suggests that being a princess is special and coveted, when in reality the entire concept of "royal blood" is hollow and meaningless.  Why do girls (and other people as well) love princesses?  It's because they're associated with beauty, grace, charm, intelligence, (and often living in a castle).  All of these qualities can be had without any sort of particular bloodline.  I think it would have been better to ditch the word "princess" and show than anyone can have these qualities (well, except for the castle).

Moreover, on a lore-based, in-universe level, I really think they should have chosen a term that better defines what these particular alicorn ponies actually are.  We know that for the Sisters, Twilight, and Cadance, the term "princess" is a title denoting an appointed rank or position of responsibility.  I believe they should have called them guardians.  That's the term I recommend, and I think it best describes them.  If you think about their jobs and what they do, the word guardian describes them quite well.  Their jobs incorporate guardianship, stewardship, teaching, protecting, and guiding.  They should have been the Guardian of the Day, Guardian of the Night, Guardian of Friendship, and Guardian of Love.

Incidentally, this is the term that the Sisters actually wanted for themselves.  This is a direct quote from the Journal of the Two Sisters:

"It's not every day that you're asked to rule over an entire land.  Actually Luna and I clarified that our role in Equestria wouldn't be as rulers and we will not think of the ponies of Equestria as our subjects.  That would be very awkward.  We will be Equestria's guardians.  That sounds much friendlier.  We will serve and protect, watching over Equestria's lands and skies, keeping them peaceful and safe."

It's kind of funny and also a little depressing that this idea didn't really stick.  And I'm talking about in-universe, here.  The ponies of the land all call the Sisters rulers.  That idea seems completely entrenched.  I noticed a line Celestia's bio in the Elements of Harmony companion book that is really funny and sad when compared side by side with the Journal.

So, here's the relevant Journal line again: "...our role in Equestria wouldn't be as rulers and we will not think of the ponies of Equestria as our subjects."

And the EoH bio: "Celestia is the wise and kind ruler of Equestria, governing her subjects from her castle..."

Awww, dude!  That's terrible.  Pretty funny, though.  And everypony calls them rulers, too.  My headcanon is that Celestia kept correcting ponies, telling them that they were guardians, but it was just too irresistible for ponies to call them rulers.  After a century or so of this, Celestia said, "No!  We're not rulers!  We're....ugh....y'know what, nevermind.  I'm not gonna fight it anymore.  Just forget it.  Call me whatever you want."

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