Comfort in Equestria

[Steel Accord 6,658]

So I'm watching Forgotten Friendship, finally trying to catch up again. Just got to the scene where Sunset Shimmer goes to Equestria and I just found something kind of funny and wanted to know if it's shared by anypony else. I actually feel more at home and comfortable in the scenes in Equestria than I do the scenes on "Earth." Ever since all the way back in Rainbow Rocks when Sunset first penned her message to Twilight and it flashed back to Ponyville and we just see the Mane Six chilling out in the castle, I said aloud. "Oh it's good to be home again."

Just found it kind of strange in hindsight that of the two worlds, the one with humans and modern digital tech is the one I find strange and alien whereas the fantasy world of cloud cities, crystal empires, and an ever increasing bestiary of mythological creatures both sentient and otherwise feels more familiar. Anyone else feel the same way? If not, why? Or even if, why?

[cuteycindyhoney 13,285]

I know what you mean about coming home during the scenes in Equestria. The "world building" was done so well for MLP:FIM, that it seems more "real" than that of the human world. (I refuse to accept it as Earth). We know next to nothing about the Human World's society. We know what holidays they celebrate, and why in Equestria. We even know a lot about how ponies are ruled. We know nothing about how the Human World is governed. Details like that make a huge difference.

[Ganondorf8 11,144]

I see the scenes in Equestria as Equestria Girls means of connecting back to the show and to remind the audience that Sunset was once a pony before she went through the mirror after her falling out. Despite there not being as much EQG content given how it was released prior to the animated shorts, I prefer the human world as I see it as a world filled with untapped potential that's just begging to be looked at. With Equestria itself, a similar approach can be applied though not to the same extent as much is already known.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,153]

I think it's inevitable that most would feel like that. Granted the EqG series has it's fans and some prefer it over FiM, but for me, while I do love EqG for what it is, the world there lacks any sort of depth or history. Of course we're just talking 4 movies, 4 specials, and a multitude of character-based shorts versus 7+ seasons and a movie of character development and world-building for FiM. As such familiarity will win out in this case.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

To be clear guys, I wasn’t saying I prefer one franchise to the other. I was just remarking upon the irony that the world that is markedly closer to my reality is less intimate to me as a viewer than the fantasy world.

[HereComesTom 2,243]

27 minutes ago, Steel Accord said:

To be clear guys, I wasn’t saying I prefer one franchise to the other. I was just remarking upon the irony that the world that is markedly closer to my reality is less intimate to me as a viewer than the fantasy world.

Do you suppose that's because that's the world you're used to?

Or maybe because it's the world that has the characters and world you've really gotten to know over the last seven or eight years?

[Steel Accord 6,658]

1 hour ago, HereComesTom said:

Do you suppose that's because that's the world you're used to?

Or maybe because it's the world that has the characters and world you've really gotten to know over the last seven or eight years?

Probably a combination of the two. As much fun as the EQG movies and specials have been, they also have a kind of disorienting effect on me. Which works to their advantage a lot of times because it means I'm more open to whatever surprises they have in store rather than me actively trying to parse out the plot as it happens with that sense of comfort that comes with familiarity. Like, if you watch Star Trek to the point of being a certified trekkie, then you can sort of guess or at least have a theory of what the heroes are going to do when a problem arises because you're familiar with their skills, procedures, and past exploits. As a certified brony, I'm not outright precognizant but I can sort of hazard a guess as to how the Mane Six will react in a given situation because I know them that well.

One would think that the same would be true for the Rainbooms except they A ) don't have the specific histories even if they have their names, personalities, and some broadly related powers. B ) They aren't just complete echoes of the Mane Six, and in rather subtle ways that once again, kind of put me out of my comfort zone. Which again, I stress is actually kind of a feature, not a bug.

[Lunar Glow 674]

Its nice to know that I'm not the only one that feels this way.  I think maybe it's because we were introduced to the "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" franchise in Equestria, and stayed there for a long while. I like to think of it as "growing up" there, so being released into this new world isn't as comfortable as the womb-like fantasy land we came from originally. I have noticed as well as I'm now more comfortable with ponies than humans (in regards to the show), but I agree with the other posts on this thread that I don't really view the EQG's home as "Earth." It is just as much as a fantasy land as Equestria, but with less familiarity. This is just how I personally feel, though.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

2 hours ago, Lunar Glow said:

Its nice to know that I'm not the only one that feels this way.  I think maybe it's because we were introduced to the "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" franchise in Equestria, and stayed there for a long while. I like to think of it as "growing up" there, so being released into this new world isn't as comfortable as the womb-like fantasy land we came from originally. I have noticed as well as I'm now more comfortable with ponies than humans (in regards to the show), but I agree with the other posts on this thread that I don't really view the EQG's home as "Earth." It is just as much as a fantasy land as Equestria, but with less familiarity. This is just how I personally feel, though.

Yeah that makes a lot of sense. Equestria was the world we got familiar with and understood and then we're thrown into this other world that's familiar to us yet at the same time, not.

To be clear, I didn't emphasize that the human world was Earth, I called it that with parentheses because it was a shorthand.

Edited May 21, 2018 by Steel Accord

[Lunar Glow 674]

4 minutes ago, Steel Accord said:

To be clear, I didn't emphasize that the human world was Earth, I called it that with parentheses because it was a shorthand.

Oh yeah I know I was mainly addressing some other comments on this thread. 

[Will Guide 21,331]

@Steel Accord

As much as I love the "human world", I never called it "Earth", I call it "Equestria Girls World". Mostly because unlike our real Earth, the humans are just as technicolor as the ponies of Equestria.

To be fair, there's good fan fiction out that develops the EQG world more than the official EQG spinoff stuff. Some even give the world the name "Terra" to contrast with the commonly used fanon name of Equs for whatever planet Equestria is on.

Your response?

Edited May 21, 2018 by SwitchGuy2018

[Steel Accord 6,658]

35 minutes ago, SwitchGuy2018 said:

@Steel Accord

As much as I love the "human world", I never called it "Earth", I call it "Equestria Girls World". Mostly because unlike our real Earth, the humans are just as technicolor as the ponies of Equestria.

To be fair, there's good fan fiction out that develops the EQG world more than the official EQG spinoff stuff. Some even give the world the name "Terra" to contrast with the commonly used fanon name of Equs for whatever planet Equestria is on.

Your response?

None really. As it wasn't the point I was trying to make in this thread. That being the feeling of love and familiarity in Equestria when contrasted with the sense of unease or at least less comfort when in the other world.

[Will Guide 21,331]

20 minutes ago, Steel Accord said:

None really. As it wasn't the point I was trying to make in this thread. That being the feeling of love and familiarity in Equestria when contrasted with the sense of unease or at least less comfort when in the other world.

I get your point of no comfort in EQG world, but..

I feel like you're missing the point I was trying to make, which is Some good fan fiction has brought more interesting things to that world. They help make EQG feel like a neighboring country with untapped potential. 

I always said wasted potential ideas in the canon show is just potentially good fan fiction waiting to be written.

 

Edited May 22, 2018 by SwitchGuy2018

[Steel Accord 6,658]

6 minutes ago, SwitchGuy2018 said:

I get your point of no comfort in EQG world, but..

I feel like you're missing the point I was trying to make, which is Some good fan fiction has brought more interesting things to that world. They help make EQG feel like a neighboring country with untapped potential. 

I always said wasted potential ideas in the canon show is just potentially good fan fiction waiting to be written.

 

I never missed your point. It's just not what this thread is about.

[Senko 459]

On 4/7/2018 at 10:10 AM, HereComesTom said:

Do you suppose that's because that's the world you're used to?

Or maybe because it's the world that has the characters and world you've really gotten to know over the last seven or eight years?

The song in the first movie does it best I think.

I've never seen a place That's quite like this Everything is turned around This crazy world is upside-down Getting on my feet It's the hand that I was dealt But I don't have much time with them Got to learn all that I can They don't use any magic or fly with any wings I don't get these funny clothes, skinny legs or tiny nose Everything's confusing when it seems so new But I look a little closer and it starts to feel familiar too What a strange new world (strange new world) I'm trying to make heads or tails of this strange new world (strange new world) Sorting through the small details of a strange new world

We've been following FIM for 4 seasons before we got Equestria girls so to us we know the ponies how they act, how they look. Equestria Girls is just different they're close enough to what we're used to but they aren't what we're used or what we live with but somewhere inbetween. So they feel alien because we see some of the worlds we're used to Earth and Equestria but its not one or the other. Instead its a weird merging that just feels off and keeps getting reinforced by the little things that don't quite fit.