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Issues with Twilight's portrayal in Friendship Games


Ardsman

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Hello everyone,

 

I've decided to make this post because of...issues I'm having. A year ago, like many of you, I tuned in to watch EQG: Electric Boogaloo...I mean, EQG3: Friendship Games. For the most part, I enjoyed it like mostly everyone else as well. Except, there was something about it that has made me feel so...I don't know, uncomfortable? Confused? Annoyed? Frustrated and Angry? All of those apply I believe and I have reached a point I don't really know what to do to deal with it. Maybe airing my thoughts here can help somehow. Spoilers ahead for EQG3 and potentially 4 (on that note, please do not give spoilers on EQG 4, I haven't seen it yet, but intend to. If anything in it happens that should help me resolve my issues though, you can at least mention as such, just not what exactly it is.)

 

So, my issues that stem from this film revolve around Human Twilight. To be frank, I do not like how she was treated. At all. Especially what happened to her at the end. I mean, here is the alternate human version of a character who we've seen save Equestria many times, has generally positive relations with everypony else (even before moving to Ponyville and especially after) and has confidence in herself but without ego. Yet, while the rest of the Mane 6's human counterparts in the EQG verse are practically humanized teenage versions of the originals with no real difference other than their species, age (possibly) and current life setting, Twilight seems to get the short end of the stick by going to a school where shes's surrounded by assholes, (a little spaceballs reference for anyone looking), having an insipid, vile monster as her principal/mentor replacing Celestia who  manipulates Twilight for her own ends and lacks a lot of the confidence that her pony version has, making her out to be this meek, nearly Fluttershy-esque distortion of what she normally is.

 

What? Why? I thought the difference behind this universe was that the ponies were humans, not "the ponies are humans and Twilight is miserable." If I wanted an imperfect version of any of the mane six, I rather go to a custom made universe for that, or even their mirror universe.

 

Now I could accept that if that was the end of it, If the movie ended with Twilight breaking away cleanly from Crystal Prep. I'd still be a little annoyed, but not so much that it bothers me. But instead, we get Twilight becoming Midnight Sparkle and it just...

 

I didn't like it. It just feels wrong. She didn't deserve that to happen to her. She already had enough bad stuff happening to her but that was a step too far.

 

I mean, the idea of Twilight turning into a villain, at least for a while, isn't a bad one. Hell, I'd actually be quite interested in it if this had been in the show itself with Pony Twilight or any of the Mane Six there. I mean, this kind of thing has happened in other shows, movies, games, books etc many times before and I usually find quite exciting. With the hero corrupted and its up to the hero's friends or even former enemies to rescue them, that an exciting concept that flip the status quo on its head!

 

But I feel that the way it was executed here didn't work. This wasn't the main Twilight who already has plenty of experience and goodwill built from her past adventures or some dark, evil reflection of Twilight from the mirror Universe that you could expect to become Midnight Sparkle. This was a version of Twilight who we've never met before, has never had any of the adventures Princess Twilight has had, nor does she have the kind of experience dealing with friends or being part of something strange and amazing and bigger than her. Yet she's still as good a person as her pony counterpart, she just  happens to be human, living in a human society and sure, like I said earlier, less confident.

 

So to have this happen to her, to have this be her first step in her story, it just isn't right and I need answers. Was Twilight's mind being corrupted by the magic? Was it amplifying her negative emotions, essentially forcing her into thinking more darkly and impulsively, whilst suppressing her positive traits and her conscience? Was it basically a form of mind control altering her mind and that, once lifted, Twilight's natural morals and way of thinking kicked in and she realised what she was doing, making her horrified by her what she had been doing? I would much prefer that to be the answer, rather than the alternative. That Twilight....gave in basically. That just having power and knowledge in and of themselves made her willingly think, of her own volition,  "Well this is actually pretty cool. I think I'll just start punching holes into another dimension just to satisfy my own curiosity, even though I was begging Cinch just a minute ago that something bad could happen. Sure I didn't want to hurt anyone earlier and I do have family that I cared about, but they don't matter to me anymore, now that I've got these nifty powers and knowledge filling my brain, they can go suck it!"

 

That's horrible, that feels like character betrayal to me. It would be the same as  how Anakin Skywalker turned to darkside, not all that believable. I don't think Twilight, even this version, would get corrupted by just having power or knowledge, not immediately anyway. If that was all that was happening, no mind alteration involved, I'd think she would've been just floating up in the air thinking "Oh god, what's happened to me? Why can't I stop ripping holes in the reality with only my hands? Someone help me!" As such, to me, the only way things could have unfolded the way they did was if Twilight's mind was being forcibly altered in some way, there can be no alternative.

 

Since then, the whole thing has just kept bugging me. I don't like thinking about it but I can't seem to get it out of my head. Even if I try to distract myself doing something, anything, like playing video games, talking with friends or focusing on work, the thought of it just strikes out of nowhere. Every time I see Twilight, even Pony Twilight who wasn't even involved in this, I get somewhat uncomfortable now, like anything to do with her has been tainted somehow.

 

I just have to ask, is there anyone else who feels like this, at least somewhat? Maybe not with Twilight but with others characters who turned bad guy for a while? Like Rarity into Nightmare Rarity in the comics, or Fluttershy in to Flutterbat, or even anything unrelated to MLP? Please, say, I'd really like to know how you dealt with it and if you found a way to move on from it.

 

I also would like to get some answers, perhaps from the crew on the movie themselves. Are there any quotes or sources where they discuss what happened to Twilight when she became Midnight? While I do believe that her mind was being tampered with, no one in the movie said anything to support or deny this. Maybe getting some solid, definitive evidence from the people who wrote it could help.

 

I just want to finish by saying I don't blame anyone for this giving me issues. I'am not  angry with anyone who worked on EQG: FF or anything like that. You did something you thought would be interesting and that's it. And normally, I'd be quite happy with this kind of story. But in this scenario, I'am not. And its left me in a weird spot I'd rather not be in. 

 

So sorry for this rant and all but yeah. If any one could help, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Thanks.

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Hey @@Ardsman, your thread's title was changed to better describe your topic.

 

I'd say it comes down to headcanon. You could say the magical energies corrupted Twilight's mind, or that they amplified her negative emotions while suppressing positive ones, or that she just got fed up with everyone treating her like crap and stopped caring, or (Spoilers for EQG4 below)

 

 

could be an inner demon of sorts, similar to Nightmare Moon. In LoE, Twilight Sparkle and Midnight Sparkle were treated like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - that's the vibe I got, at least.

 

 

 

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I go with the interpretation that similar to what happened to Sunset in the first EQG movie and 

Gloriosa in Legend of Everfree

that by using Equestrian magic but not fully understanding it leads to the corruption of the user.

Sunset's quest for power and desires to become stronger and lack of understaning friendship lead to the magical energies to corrupt her.

While Sci Twi's quest to understand magic got overwhelmed with her being tired of being treated awfully by everyone and her immense loneliness.

 

Gloriosa's desperation to save Camp Everfree took over her, and the lack of using the magical geodes responsibly lead to he being corrupted and becoming Gaia Everfree.

 

 

So I go with the headcanon that in the human world, Equestrian magic amplifies the user's emotions good and bad, but the more negative emotions combined with a lack of understanding how magic works, can lead to corruption and becoming some kind of monster.

Edited by cmarston1
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Do remember that Human and Pony Sparkle are not the same characters. A lot of people keep forgetting that the Human counterparts are not the same person from Equestria. Human Sparkle is a perfect example of how the characters can turn out different based on society and environment.

 

I always thought that Midnight Sparkle represented Human Sparkles inner turmoil. She is sad, lonely, unfulfilled and is constantly being bullied and disrespected. She acquires magic she didn't mean to acquire and is told to use it as a weapon by her peers and superior as a weapon against her will. This says to me that not only has the magic been perverted, but that it is being brought to bare by someone submerged in darkness, hence why the magic envelops her and transforms her into this dark mockery of herself. She has felt weak and helpless, now she is all-powerful and do whatever she wants. I like to think it is a combination of magical compulsion and Twilight herself acting on her negative emotions, I suppose I'd say it's like the magic coerced her into acting negatively in response to her bad experiences.

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Human Twilight fanboy here, so I have prepared a wall of text to answer your thoughts with mine (don't worry, I am not triggered by your post!). Also my post is spoiler-free for EG4, minus something from the first teaser which is just the first minute of the movie.

 

Firstly something to consider is that [human] Twilight grew up in a different environment than [pony] Twilight (as far as we knew). [Human] Twilight's environment was suppressive and demanding, where she was surrounded by jerks, as you said, and with a manipulative principal. That is going to have bearings on how her personality develops. I think it makes sense for her to be more shy and reclusive than [pony] Twilight was even in episode 1, given her upbringing. (Which [pony] Twilight was clearly shy in a sense, given her awkward rejection of Moon Dancer's party). On top of that, of course, all the [human] Mane 6 have not grown and matured as much as their pony counterparts yet, like [human] Rainbow Dash's arrogance in Rainbow Rocks.

I actually think it makes more sense for [human] Twilight to become evil over her pony version. [pony] Twilight simply knows better than that by this point. Right now I can't think of anything that would make her lose her grip and go evil, save perhaps the death of her friends, which would potentially invoke extreme vengeance on the killer(s). As for it being the first step in [human] Twilight's story, I think it works well and sets her apart from the path of her pony version. If you've seen the teaser for EQ4 you will know the mental baggage from Midnight Sparkle's emergence does not simply vanish, but is an ongoing struggle for her. It offers character develop for her, though whether it's recycled from Sunset's arc is another matter. I also felt it made for a good story and a good plot twist. I don't know about you, but I expected Cinch to become the witch if anyone, not [human] Twilight. xD

Now, as for what Midnight Sparkle herself actually was... I agree that, unfortunately, the definition of what caused [human] Twilight's behavior here is ambigious at best. It's different from what happened to Sunset Shimmer, who always wanted to become a "goddess." It does seem somewhat like "Equestrian Magic" has a will of its own, to the point where it wishes to dominate and spread its influence by using its host as a vessel. A kind of chaotic force that is very difficult to hold down and control and prevent from acting on its own, if you will. (At least, if you do not harvest it in its purest form [Friendship Magic] like Sunset did to defeat Midnight).

That said, I personally believe the truth is in the middle. The magic had an influence on [human] Twilight, but she was also willingly along for the ride to some extent. Even power without a will of its own can have a surprisingly negative influence on a person. [Human] Twilight seemingly did not think outside the moment. She may have thought something like, "I have everything I've been wanting, I have all the answers I've been stressing over, screw everything else!" Plus she also had some guilt issues going on with Sunset Shimmer and the gang and wanted to cast that aside by making up for it through her new abilities and knowledge. Exhilaration through achievement of dreams, in a sense. Though one could always take the view that the magic amplified her negativity, though I don't think that's ever occurred to me. Either way, perhaps seeing Spike again helped her remember she was still in fact a human, and pulled her back to her old mindset.

So yeah, that's my take on it. Hope this helped you and hope my post didn't take too long to read. xD

Edited by PonyMage
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Is it canonically supposed to be an alternate universe where "all the ponies are human girls, same hearts and minds"?

From what I've seen, it's just a different universe that just so happens to have a connecting gateway between itself and Equestria. Not all the characters are the same. I seem to recall someone on the staff saying they didn't just want to make mirror copies of all the Equestria ponies, so they made new ones. From a logical standpoint, that would mean it isn't a mirrored universe where everything is supposed to be the same. Of course, plot and canon proceed logic (a point I feel is strongly ignored by a multitude of fandoms)

I agree with Twilight becoming corrupted by power because she did not have exposure to it beforehand, while Eq Twilight had always had a handle on things and a mentor for when she didn't. Twilight was downright manipulated into thinking she needed to win in order to get her.. recommendation? Or something. I don't remember what it was exactly. But Principal Queen B**** could probably push anyone over their limit, except maybe Fluttershy's parents but that's another topic.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In Friendship Games, I was pretty content with this different form of Twilight developing differently due to growing up in a different environment. My only hope is that she starts to act just a little more like her pony counterpart, because the meekness which is rapidly becoming her defining character trait (for reasons I can't begin to understand) isn't terribly compelling. However, in Friendshp Games,  the clear cause of this was that her environment was constantly putting her down, and that she was confused by these other ponies recognizing her. 

 

As for why she transformed, though? Not a clue. My best guess is that the sudden rush of power which, by all means, probably shouldn't exist in this world overwhelmed her brain and shut down some of her logical thought processes, and the adrenaline rush caused her to lash out and do... stuff, I guess. Exactly what her intention was is unclear to me, as "I want to understand all the magic!" is a particularly confusing motivation. So it's not just you that doesn't understand why she transformed like that. 

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