What is Twilight's whole Princess of Friendship role supposed to entail?

[Slashy 101]

By "What About Discord?" and "No Second Prances" she clearly still has trouble with her own title, that's a good thing it makes her easier to relate to.

Is her title supposed to imply that most good-natured ponies are supposed to want to be friends with her?

Does she lose it if she somehow instigates or exacerbates a conflict between two friends?

 

I feel like this title stops most internal conflicts regarding her from happening, which just sucks.

[Yufery 205]

Since Friendship is the most powerful magic in MLP, it's basically more of the equivalent to a war general than a political leader. It's moreso meant to say that she's the most powerful wielder of Friendship Magic, due to her Element of Harmony.

 

You could argue that the Mane 5 should be princesses too since they also represent the Elements of Harmony, but bare in mind that Twilight represents the most powerful one; Magic. While I can't recall if that's been explicitly stated, it has been implied, what with it being the centerpiece of the Elements, it being the largest one, and well literally representing magic. So it'd make sense that the most powerful pony of the Mane 6 gets the wield the honor of being the Princess of Friendship.

 

I'd argue against it stopping internal conflicts; if anything, it expands upon them even more, as we've seen throughout S4 and in S5.

[powerpuff-tsubasa 448]

By "What About Discord?" and "No Second Prances" she clearly still has trouble with her own title, that's a good thing it makes her easier to relate to.

Is her title supposed to imply that most good-natured ponies are supposed to want to be friends with her?

Does she lose it if she somehow instigates or exacerbates a conflict between two friends?

 

I feel like this title stops most internal conflicts regarding her from happening, which just sucks.

i agree with you. she could've give them a second chance. she's far too bossy about not letting starlight being friends with trixie so she better be careful on handling other ponies' interactions

[Concerned Bystander 2,904]

The idea is that she is supposed to bring friendship to where there is conflict, bring harmony to where there is disharmony.  The whole cutie map arc of episodes was about either her, or other members of the mane six as her representatives, resolving disputes or otherwise bringing the magic of friendship to places that were in dire need of it.

[Slashy 101]

Since Friendship is the most powerful magic in MLP, it's basically more of the equivalent to a war general than a political leader. It's moreso meant to say that she's the most powerful wielder of Friendship Magic, due to her Element of Harmony.

 

You could argue that the Mane 5 should be princesses too since they also represent the Elements of Harmony, but bare in mind that Twilight represents the most powerful one; Magic. While I can't recall if that's been explicitly stated, it has been implied, what with it being the centerpiece of the Elements, it being the largest one, and well literally representing magic. So it'd make sense that the most powerful pony of the Mane 6 gets the wield the honor of being the Princess of Friendship.

 

I'd argue against it stopping internal conflicts; if anything, it expands upon them even more, as we've seen throughout S4 and in S5.

The elements of harmony are stuck in a tree.

 

If this is the case what is Love supposed to be? Because remember Shining Armor is supposed to be the one who is actually a war leader. Also we've seen her as a political leader several times, most obviously in Princess Spike.

 

 

The idea is that she is supposed to bring friendship to where there is conflict, bring harmony to where there is disharmony.  The whole cutie map arc of episodes was about either her, or other members of the mane six as her representatives, resolving disputes or otherwise bringing the magic of friendship to places that were in dire need of it.

 

 

She didn't get the map until an entire season after she became the Princess of Friendship, and now seemingly stopped doing that once again. When it comes to this season Ember and Glimmer have both been learning from Spike rather than Twilight, and didn't forget the friends they had back in Canterlot either.

Edited May 23, 2016 by Slashy

[Shanks 10,816]

"Princesses" in the MLP universe kind of remind me of gods/demi gods in that they seem to govern a particular concept which isn't always something tangible. Celestia is the day, Luna is the night which are very powerful forces, we also have Cadence with the force of love which is also powerful but for different reasons. I see friendship as the other side of the coin when it comes to love, it is not the same as romantic love which Cadence mainly deals with but it can be said to be a kind of love as well much like how day and night complement each other. There are concepts for various deities which are far far stranger, the Japanese have goddess of the bathroom for example and it even discusses her origin story in this one anime called Folktales From Japan which deals with Japanese legends and folk stories. Also even before the whole alicorn princess thing Twilight was growing into that sort of role gradually, the Elements of Harmony was Equestria's most powerful weapon but after it came under the control of the Mane 6 they could only all use it together and it heavily implied that Twilight's elements was a combination of the other 5.

[Yufery 205]

The elements of harmony are stuck in a tree.

 

If this is the case what is Love supposed to be? Because remember Shining Armor is supposed to be the one who is actually a war leader. Also we've seen her as a political leader several times, most obviously in Princess Spike.

 

That doesn't mean the Mane 6 stop representing them. It just means that the physical elements themselves are in the tree.

 

Love is likely a powerful magic too, though not as prominent as Friendship. Shining Armor isn't a war leader either; he's just the head of Celestia's guard, if I recall correctly. 

 

I never said Twilight didn't have political duties, I just said she was more like a war general than a regular leader. Yes, she still has political duties, but they're more formalities and at public events, which is hardly the bulk of it. I wouldn't doubt that she may help the Princesses with royal duties, but Celestia, Luna, and Cadance are the main ones who handle all that. Twilight is just sort of someone who handles the lesser events that aren't as significant as the ones the more politically involved Princesses get involved with.

[Slashy 101]

That doesn't mean the Mane 6 stop representing them. It just means that the physical elements themselves are in the tree.

 

Love is likely a powerful magic too, though not as prominent as Friendship. Shining Armor isn't a war leader either; he's just the head of Celestia's guard, if I recall correctly. 

 

I never said Twilight didn't have political duties, I just said she was more like a war general than a regular leader. Yes, she still has political duties, but they're more formalities and at public events, which is hardly the bulk of it. I wouldn't doubt that she may help the Princesses with royal duties, but Celestia, Luna, and Cadance are the main ones who handle all that. Twilight is just sort of someone who handles the lesser events that aren't as significant as the ones the more politically involved Princesses get involved with.

So what exactly are the duties of being a princess of Friendship? Unless it is leading others who do most of that friendship work for you, since it seems like Spike and Fluttershy make a bigger effort to spread friendship across Equestria than she does.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,699]

>what does being the princess of Friendship entail?
Selling toys.

[Yufery 205]

So what exactly are the duties of being a princess of Friendship? Unless it is leading others who do most of that friendship work for you, since it seems like Spike and Fluttershy make a bigger effort to spread friendship across Equestria than she does.

The duties, I'd imagine, are to spread Friendship across Equestria, which Twilight is doing just fine. However, just because she's the Princess of Friendship doesn't mean her friends (i.e Spike and Fluttershy) can't do it too.

 

To be honest, I really don't see what your argument is here. I'm not trying to be rude, but it more looks like you're just arguing for the sake of it, or at least that's how I see it.

[Shanks 10,816]

Love is likely a powerful magic too, though not as prominent as Friendship. Shining Armor isn't a war leader either; he's just the head of Celestia's guard, if I recall correctly. 

It is heavily implied that guard captain is Equestria's equivalent of a 5 star general mixed with Secret Service head so if there was a war in Equestria Shining Armor probably would have had significant influence on how the war was conducted. Since he got married to Cadence and they rule over the Crystal Empire, someone probably took Shining Armor's place as guard captain and I am curious as to who it is.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Shanks

[Yufery 205]

It is heavily implied that guard captain is Equestria's equivalent of a 5 star general mixed with Secret Service head so if there was a war in Equestria Shining Armor probably would have had significant influence on how the war was conducted. Since he got married to Cadence and they rule over the Crystal Empire, someone probably took Shining Armor's place as guard captain and I am curious as to who it is.

That is true, however that doesn't mean Twilight isn't more akin to a general than a politician (albeit she still does serve some political roles).

 

Now that you bring it up, I am interested to find out who, too.

[Shanks 10,816]

That is true, however that doesn't mean Twilight isn't more akin to a general than a politician (albeit she still does serve some political roles).

Yes and no, as a princess Twilight would be able to give orders to the guards including in wartime as it heavily implies that the princesses act as commander in chiefs much like a president or a prime minister but with her limited knowledge of military affairs she would likely strongly consider the advice of the guard captain and other experts. We saw Twilight in fact give orders to the guards in the Princess Twilight Sparkle two parter when Celestia and Luna went missing.

[ManaMinori 4,146]

>what does being the princess of Friendship entail?

Selling toys.

so in effect, all the mane 6 are princesses of friendship

 

*insert "everyone is a princess" G3 memes here*

[Yufery 205]

Yes and no, as a princess Twilight would be able to give orders to the guards including in wartime as it heavily implies that the princesses act as commander in chiefs much like a president or a prime minister but with her limited knowledge of military affairs she would likely strongly consider the advice of the guard captain and other experts. We saw Twilight in fact give orders to the guards in the Princess Twilight Sparkle two parter when Celestia and Luna went missing.

That is true however she still is one of the top dogs when it comes to fighting an enemy, as we've seen plenty of times.

 

General might not have been the best term to use, but hey, I'm not really knowledgeable on military terms

[Shanks 10,816]

That is true however she still is one of the top dogs when it comes to fighting an enemy, as we've seen plenty of times.

No doubt about it, Twilight has some fairly deadly spells that would help greatly in a battle and her organizational skills would also prove useful in strategy.

 

 

General might not have been the best term to use, but hey, I'm not really knowledgeable on military terms

I used the term "commander in chief" but that terms meaning depends on the country, in many western nations like the US there is separation between the civilian government and military with civilian leaders in the legislature as well as the executive (congress/parliament the president/prime minister) being in charge of the military as opposed to many third world nations where the military is in charge of the country examples include but are not limited to Cuba under Fulgencio Batista (the government that Castro overthrew), Vichy (Nazi occupied) France, and Uganda under Idi Amin. In Equestria there seems to be a similar separation between civilian leadership and the military even if it is not as obvious, in other words the princesses could probably over ride any authority the guard captain and other military figures would have. I tend to picture Equestria as a constitutional monarchy similar to England except with the difference being that the "princesses" in Equestria wield much more overt power instead of all this behind the scenes stuff that people often don't ackowledge about the British royal family and the princesses all seem to share power as the executive making it a triarch with Celestia, Luna and Twilight all sharing power though with Twilight likely having less authority due to not having as much experience.

[cmarston1 5,960]

Something that we probably aren't going to see a lot of due to the nature of the show and its intended audience.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,699]

That is true however she still is one of the top dogs when it comes to fighting an enemy, as we've seen plenty of times.

 

General might not have been the best term to use, but hey, I'm not really knowledgeable on military terms

 

Going to be honest, given how useless the royal guard is, that's not hard

Rarity's a Fashion designer and she's a better fighter than like 90% of the royal guard.

 

 

so in effect, all the mane 6 are princesses of friendship

 

*insert "everyone is a princess" G3 memes here*

EVERYONE IS AN ALICORN!

>INB4 that's the plot of the movie

[Yufery 205]

Going to be honest, given how useless the royal guard is, that's not hard

Rarity's a Fashion designer and she's a better fighter than like 90% of the royal guard.

 

Hey now, don't underestimate the power of well constructed clothing. It's a dangerous weapon!

[Unlikeable Pony 2,699]

Hey now, don't underestimate the power of well constructed clothing. It's a dangerous weapon!

Only if she has her Radiance powers

THAT was freaking perfect, since she was basically pulling out fighting is magic tier fighting moves and weaponizing her creativity; Unfortunately, Unless they give Rarity an artifact, she's not anywhere near that level of Magical skill.

 

Still would rather her have Gemkinesis than Radiance style abilities though

[Cwanky 17,643]

At the risk of sounding overly religious, Twlight's role, and by extension the Mane 6 (or 7/8) is to be an ambassador of friendship. She does this by spreading the virtue of friendship through word and more importantly, example, like a prophet, like Jesus and others. 

 

Twilight's alicorn status and magic ultimately are more just status to reflect her title and role, much as Jesus and many deities had powers. Its important however to note that Twilight's powers don't define her status as Princess of Friendship - her actions do. Discord was defeated not by her magic, but by bringing her friends back together which enabled the Elements' magic. Likewise Twilight's actions of forgiving and befriending Discord were ultimately what led to the defeat of Tirek, not her godly enhancement of alicorn magic.

 

Much as we see deities and figures like Jesus exemplifying themselves through their actions, in his case charity, compassion, and ultimately sacrifice on the cross, Twilight herself as and before defines herself as Princess of Friendship through her own actions of helping others. This is why the whole story of Twilight forgiving and befriending Starlight is so crucial now. 

 

I would hope that ultimately Twilight doesn't need to self-sacrifice herself, but that would make for the ultimate way that Twilight can demonstrate friendship to others.