I don't know if I'm the only one but, why do I find the fact of Rainbow Dash being a fan Pirates alarming?

[Jerry246 43]

I mean pirates are criminals and criminals are people not to be admired or idolized.

I really wish there was a story or at least a fanfic where RD's view of pirates is challenged and ultimately changed once she is exposed to the unsavory real life aspects of a pirate's life and the criminal nature of such a life. Like the captain of the crew she joined would seem at first to be the kind of pirate she idolizes, but later on, shows their true colors of being a ruthless monster. Forcing her to participate in the sacking of a coastal city and being forced to prove her loyalty to the captain by murdering a child in front of them cold blood.

And during her whole time as a pirate, there are no treasure hunts and she is forced to kill innocent sailors whenever they attack merchant ships as well as having to participate in skirmishes with the ships of a very pissed off Naval Power that is actively cracking down on piracy. Doesn't anymore seem adventurous when you have to run from the law all the time and a ship representing the future of naval combat ruthlessly pursues you.

The next thing that would challenge and shake her admiration for pirates being the moment she is caught and arrested by said angry Naval Power and fears for her life upon seeing the ultimate punishment for being a pirate: being executed and having your corpse hung in a gibbet cage at the mouth of a harbor as a warning to others who think that being a pirate is the coolest and awesomest thing. Her being spared from that fate thanks to Twilight negotiating with the naval power for her friend's freedom.

And then after that, she spends a rather long time questioning and reconsidering her moral compass, especially after she foolishly joined a gang of criminals into a life she thought would be awesome and full of adventure, only to be forced into committing atrocities against her will and almost dying at the hands of the law in the end.

[SharpWit 2,751]

Four things.

Rainbow Dash loves a bit of danger and adventure. Her exposure to Pirates has probably only been in what she's read, which may have been in a positive light. Their may be some naivety in that, thinking it's all just a game to her, but that's the work of fiction.

To admire a criminals work isn't necessarily to approve of their actions, but respect for their capabilities, particularly when the odds are against them.

Plenty of wrong has been committed by Pirates, but history reveals aspects to celebrate them. It wasn't uncommon for sailors to be forced into service for petty crimes or outright kidnapped at sea, and then suffer abuse from their officers. If you have the skills and there's enough of you, why not overthrow them and take the ship for yourselves? Better yet, why not take revenge and go after other naval ships to free other victims and discourage such practices? This wasn't the case all that often, but such things would've been inspiring to or been inspired by the American Revolution to ancerta8n extent. Stories of sailing the seven seas were most popular while they were occurring. Piracy is remembered largely for what it came to represent. An expression of freedom. And lest we forget, during times of war, pirate crews would sometimes be recruited to sack enemy trading vessels to break supply chains.

And finally, tell me you've seen Pirates of the Caribbean and didn't think those were fun movies?

[Dawnshine Wonder 885]

2 hours ago, SharpWit said:

Four things.

Rainbow Dash loves a bit of danger and adventure. Her exposure to Pirates has probably only been in what she's read, which may have been in a positive light. Their may be some naivety in that, thinking it's all just a game to her, but that's the work of fiction.

To admire a criminals work isn't necessarily to approve of their actions, but respect for their capabilities, particularly when the odds are against them.

Plenty of wrong has been committed by Pirates, but history reveals aspects to celebrate them. It wasn't uncommon for sailors to be forced into service for petty crimes or outright kidnapped at sea, and then suffer abuse from their officers. If you have the skills and there's enough of you, why not overthrow them and take the ship for yourselves? Better yet, why not take revenge and go after other naval ships to free other victims and discourage such practices? This wasn't the case all that often, but such things would've been inspiring to or been inspired by the American Revolution to ancerta8n extent. Stories of sailing the seven seas were most popular while they were occurring. Piracy is remembered largely for what it came to represent. An expression of freedom. And lest we forget, during times of war, pirate crews would sometimes be recruited to sack enemy trading vessels to break supply chains.

And finally, tell me you've seen Pirates of the Caribbean and didn't think those were fun movies?

I'm pretty sure Rainbow Dash learned the harsh realities of what pirates do in the movie, including slave owning.

Fairy tales are one thing, but to be shown the reality of what criminals do is another. I don't believe RD would support such a thing if she knew.

Peter Pan is a story about pirates, Captain Hook notably, but Peter Pan wasn't exactly good either, as he took children to a world filled with danger knowing the threat Captain Hook or people like him, were to them. That story hasn't really aged well, if this were an adult that consented, that's different, but he took children to that realm knowing full well the horrors that exist in his world. Part of the reason why the atrocities pirates get ignored is because of moral ambiguities such as this, where even the protagonists of the story are criminally negligent.

That would be like someone from the world of My Little Pony FIM taking children to the fantasy kingdom of Equestria from our world if it could happen, thankfully it cannot. Not that any of the Mane Six would endorse kidnapping mind you, I don't believe they would take anyone to their world without their consent, if they did, they would not be heroes anymore, they would be thugs.

[Megas 27,828]

Because pirates are fucking cool

[ZiggWheelsManning 11,500]

Rainbow's parents are fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates when it's baseball season, so pirate fashion stuck to her.  Fitting that Spitfire and the Wonderbolts are Philadelphia Eagles fans  

[Jerry246 43]

1 hour ago, Megas said:

Because pirates are fucking cool

that is until you get caught by the law and publicly executed, which was the fate of many real life pirates.

[Dawnshine Wonder 885]

1 minute ago, Jerry246 said:

that is until you get caught by the law and publicly executed, which was the fate of many real life pirates.

Cool is not what I would describe pirates, interesting yes, but not cool. What they did and why they did it is nothing to celebrate, they were some of the most prolific slave traders back in the day, and it took the effort of human rights activists in the United States to abolish slavery of Africans.

[Jerry246 43]

8 minutes ago, Dawnshine Wonder said:

Cool is not what I would describe pirates, interesting yes, but not cool. What they did and why they did it is nothing to celebrate, they were some of the most prolific slave traders back in the day, and it took the effort of human rights activists in the United States to abolish slavery of Africans.

and many pirate "golden ages" ended with one or more maritime nations waging naval campaigns and operations against piracy. Essentially hunting them down to extinction. One example being the barbary wars (1801-1815) in which the US, Swedish and Sicilian navies fought against the pirate strongholds of the Barbary States .

And also, take a look at the Somali Pirates. Do they look like people you would see as  cool and awesome?

Edited March 14 by Jerry246

[Dawnshine Wonder 885]

11 minutes ago, Jerry246 said:

and many pirate "golden ages" ended with one or more maritime nations waging naval campaigns and operations against piracy. Essentially hunting them down to extinction. One example being the barbary wars (1801-1815) in which the US, Swedish and Sicilian navies fought against the pirate strongholds of the Barbary States .

And also, take a look at the Somali Pirates. Do they look like people you would see as  cool and awesome?

I don't know, it speaks volumes about the sad state of our world when people idolize the most violent and depraved criminals though. The glorification of pirates, similar happens with gang culture, and while I do think there is still a place to tell a good story about them, fictional or based on real life history, the truth of the matter is what these people did was not fun.

I don't remember enough about My Little Pony Friendship is Magic to know whether or not Rainbow Dash really does think pirates are cool or if she was simply saying a story book about them was cool, there is a difference though. I mean, I wouldn't want people lampooning me for watching Pirates of the Caribbean films. Yes I know RD is a fictional character, but if she was simply having an opinion on an old story, that doesn't necessarily mean she would want pirates to go around slave trading Equestrians.

[Jerry246 43]

2 hours ago, Dawnshine Wonder said:

I don't know, it speaks volumes about the sad state of our world when people idolize the most violent and depraved criminals though. The glorification of pirates, similar happens with gang culture, and while I do think there is still a place to tell a good story about them, fictional or based on real life history, the truth of the matter is what these people did was not fun.

I don't remember enough about My Little Pony Friendship is Magic to know whether or not Rainbow Dash really does think pirates are cool or if she was simply saying a story book about them was cool, there is a difference though. I mean, I wouldn't want people lampooning me for watching Pirates of the Caribbean films. Yes I know RD is a fictional character, but if she was simply having an opinion on an old story, that doesn't necessarily mean she would want pirates to go around slave trading Equestrians.

There was also that moment in one of the early comics where a group of pirates almost held Twilight for ransom.

If they did this to any other country, the MLP equivalent of the Barbary Wars would have happened. especially since not all nations are spineless cowards who would pay that ransom. Especially if it's a ransom that threatens to bankrupt their economy...

6 hours ago, Dawnshine Wonder said:

I'm pretty sure Rainbow Dash learned the harsh realities of what pirates do in the movie, including slave owning.

Fairy tales are one thing, but to be shown the reality of what criminals do is another. I don't believe RD would support such a thing if she knew.

Peter Pan is a story about pirates, Captain Hook notably, but Peter Pan wasn't exactly good either, as he took children to a world filled with danger knowing the threat Captain Hook or people like him, were to them. That story hasn't really aged well, if this were an adult that consented, that's different, but he took children to that realm knowing full well the horrors that exist in his world. Part of the reason why the atrocities pirates get ignored is because of moral ambiguities such as this, where even the protagonists of the story are criminally negligent.

That would be like someone from the world of My Little Pony FIM taking children to the fantasy kingdom of Equestria from our world if it could happen, thankfully it cannot. Not that any of the Mane Six would endorse kidnapping mind you, I don't believe they would take anyone to their world without their consent, if they did, they would not be heroes anymore, they would be thugs.

And how do you suppose she would react at the sight of pirates being publicly hung by an angry maritime power? Or better, finding herself about to be hanged for piracy. especially when she cant just fly off either because she's tied to weights or her wings are bounded to prevent escape.

9 hours ago, SharpWit said:

Four things.

Rainbow Dash loves a bit of danger and adventure. Her exposure to Pirates has probably only been in what she's read, which may have been in a positive light. Their may be some naivety in that, thinking it's all just a game to her, but that's the work of fiction.

To admire a criminals work isn't necessarily to approve of their actions, but respect for their capabilities, particularly when the odds are against them.

Plenty of wrong has been committed by Pirates, but history reveals aspects to celebrate them. It wasn't uncommon for sailors to be forced into service for petty crimes or outright kidnapped at sea, and then suffer abuse from their officers. If you have the skills and there's enough of you, why not overthrow them and take the ship for yourselves? Better yet, why not take revenge and go after other naval ships to free other victims and discourage such practices? This wasn't the case all that often, but such things would've been inspiring to or been inspired by the American Revolution to ancerta8n extent. Stories of sailing the seven seas were most popular while they were occurring. Piracy is remembered largely for what it came to represent. An expression of freedom. And lest we forget, during times of war, pirate crews would sometimes be recruited to sack enemy trading vessels to break supply chains.

And finally, tell me you've seen Pirates of the Caribbean and didn't think those were fun movies?

does that bit of danger include the risk of getting captured and executed by an angry maritime power cracking down on piracy?

Edited March 15 by Jerry246

[SharpWit 2,751]

17 hours ago, Jerry246 said:

does that bit of danger include the risk of getting captured and executed by an angry maritime power cracking down on piracy?

In Equestria, the answer is generally no in regards to execution.

I thoroughly enjoy a deep dive into the real world implications in unreal world settings, but this discussion is leaving me with more of a  feeling than a  one, so I shall depart depart these waters.

on a final note, I'm not familiar with the comics, but I think Season 1, Episode 19, "A Dog and Pony Show" serves as a good example for how these sorts of things would play out.

[Megas 27,828]

On 2025-03-14 at 4:44 PM, Jerry246 said:

that is until you get caught by the law and publicly executed, which was the fate of many real life pirates.

Uhhh, I’m pretty sure talking about pirates in a fantastical manner doesn’t correlate to real life. Take it easy

Edited March 16 by Megas

[Jerry246 43]

On 2025-03-15 at 5:48 AM, Dawnshine Wonder said:

Cool is not what I would describe pirates, interesting yes, but not cool. What they did and why they did it is nothing to celebrate, they were some of the most prolific slave traders back in the day, and it took the effort of human rights activists in the United States to abolish slavery of Africans.

so why was RD a fan of them despite being all of that?

[Dawnshine Wonder 885]

On 2025-03-19 at 1:01 AM, Jerry246 said:

so why was RD a fan of them despite being all of that?

Ignorance, I guess. Rainbow Dash would've learned of the brutality of pirates in the movie though, I doubt she liked pirates very much after that. I mean, Storm King's thugs literally kept Ponies as slaves.

[Mlaatr fan2 222]

Well she will/regain pirate love after watching One Piece.

[SkarletVoid 103]

Maybe she just likes pirating Nintendo roms

[Mlaatr fan2 222]

4 minutes ago, SkarletVoid said:

Maybe she just likes pirating Nintendo roms

She got a little too invested in captain King k rool

Edited March 29 by Mlaatr fan2