• Community Soapbox - The Pros and Cons of Future Pony, Popstar Pipp, Applejack, and more!

    If you are bored and have pony opinions, send a soapbox in! We are low on them again for the first time in a while. As always, these are the opinions of fandom members, not us here at EQD. If you'd like to submit your own soapbox, hit up this post for infos.

    Have some headlines:

    • Pipp: Just a Popstar or Something More?
    • Friendship is Magic Miniseries Applejack
    • The Pros of What's Coming!
    • The Cons of What's Coming!
    And go read them below!
    Pipp: Just a Popstar or Something More?
    By Alexrioponylover95

    Hello everycreature!

    Now you might be thinking… “Alex, there’s no way you can write a full soapbox for the least developed main character of A New Generation!” To that I say… Challenge accepted!

    So from our new mane 5, Pipp got the shortest end of the stick when it came to her development in the movie, even less than her own sister, Zipp. All we really know is that Pipp is like a social media and popstar, creating her own following in Zephyr Heights. And she really didn’t do all that much when she joined the group, only really encouraging Sunny during the dancing game with Alphabittle. And well she really didn’t help during the confrontation with Sprout…

    In an earlier soapbox, I talked about the development that the new Mane 5 would have and well I couldn’t really think of Pipp all that much I will admit. However sometimes the characters we least understand can have the greatest impact and I think the same can be true for Pipp. I’m sure she will surprise us going froward in the upcoming specials and series.

    Going back to Pipp being a social media star, I have to wonder… While Pipp has this huge following with the pegasus ponies of Zephyr Heights and maybe now the Earth and Unicorn ponies, how often does she really connect with her fans on a personal level. You see Pipp is all about having parasocial relationships from what we can tell, not really looking at her fans as individuals, rather just a collective group.

    Now I point this out because Pipp could have this huge change in her character for the better, using her position as an influencer to help bring others together. And maybe Pipp could learn something new about herself, interacting with her fans on a closer level. I once read a comic (Don’t remember the exact title or drawer) about how Twilight met somepony who admired her, but who was also bound to a wheelchair. Upon meeting this pony Twilight feels bad and wants to do something to help the young pony, so she makes a decision that changes both of their lives… She gives up her wings and grants the young pony a chance to be free and enjoy life.

    I could see the same thing happening with Pipp, maybe not on the level of giving up her wings, but seeing a young fan who loves her, but has a problem he or she is trying to overcome. Pipp could find that sympathy she didn’t know she had before and try to lend any help she can.

    One more thing I would like to mention (And yeah this is my historian side talking…) is that Pipp’s style is heavily influenced by the Flapper style of the Roaring 20’s. Flappers being young women who dismissed the “proper lifestyle” of the 1800’s, doing things like wearing short skirts or having excessive makeup, intending to make a bold statement and break away from established gender roles and norms.

    And while Pipp is more feminine than her sister, Pipp could break away from her established role of being a princess and well turn to being a full time pop or media star. Which would also be a big development for her character, especially before when I once suggested Pipp could become jealous that her mother didn’t pick her to be the next queen of Zephyr Heights. (P.S., I hope we get a parody of the Lion King song, except this time it’s “I don’t want to be queen.”)

    Well that’s all from me about what I hope to see regarding Pipp, what do you all think about her!?
    Friendship is Magic Miniseries Applejack
    By Double C

    For this miniseries we will talk about Applejack.

    Applejack has the largest family then any of her friends. While we know almost every member of the Apple family but we have yet to see any from the Pear family. Its unknown how many there are especially Buttercup’s siblings. Also unknown if some still hold the old grudge against the Apple’s. The best way is to have another Apple family reunion where Applejack invests both of her parent’s side of the family.

    I’ve always see Applejack having the most trouble adjusting to new things and one would be on top, her sister-in-law Sugar Belle. They had a rocky start in one area that they are both good at, cooking. Seeing the two argue on who will be cooking and what should be added would be a challenge for primarily the Apple’s. Applejack and Sugar Belle would compete with each other on who cooks the best in either their home kitchen or at a competition. This would result in the food being ruined and the kitchen being set on fire. While Granny Smith and their friends would straight them out but I would like to see Big Mac do his part. This would give him more of a full sentence role in order for his wife and sister to try to get along.

    If there was one touchy subject that could be tackled it is dealing with death. The Last Problem showed that Applejack is wearing Granny Smiths scarf which hints that she pasted away. Hasbro and IDW would never talk about a subject like this but we all have to deal with it regardless of how old we are. While everyone in Ponyville would mourned her passing but Applejack would take it the hardest. It must have been long and hard for her to get over Granny Smith’s death. Applejack’s friends, family, and love interest helped her moved on despite her not wanting help.

    Even though it looks like she and Rainbow Dash are together but to me they are still friends since Jim Miller left it up to the fans. We all have our opinions, for me Blueblood, Rockhoof, and Trouble Shoes are my favorites. Bluejack shows that even opposites can be attracted to each other while teaching the other on improving themselves. Rockjack shows that they both are strong, honest, and good with stories. Troublejack shows they are Wild West theme, strong despite size difference, and love rodeos. I also like the idea of her falling for a Gen 4 adaptation of Tex from the Big Brother Ponies of Gen 1.

    But if there is one best thing is Applejack and her family is dealing with the Flim Flam brothers. It’s always enjoyable to see what scam the brothers cook up only for Applejack to foil it. She seems to enjoy ruining their plans to which she mentions it in The Best Gift Ever. It kind of makes feel like that’s her dark side. It be more fun with Sugar Belle, the Pear family, and Applejack’s love interest to help out and perhaps final ending the brothers scams for good.

    The Pros of What's Coming!
    By Alexrioponylover95

    Hello everycreature!

    So February 17th marked a big day for everyone, the first big dump of concrete information regarding everything coming with G5 of this year. And just when I was really wondering if we would get any info at all too!

    And with that, I decided I want to talk about the pros and cons of the news that came!

    With the pros first, we have the news of not one, but two series! One being MLP: Tell Your Tale and the other being MLP: Make Your Mark.

    The Tell Your Tale series will be a 2D style and will be on both Youtube and Netflix, which is great because you don’t need a Netflix account to watch it. And it will be 70 episodes so far. (Although each one is only five minutes) While the Make Your Mark series will be the same 3D style as the movie, which is really awesome, means they’re really going to put in the money and effort into it! And each episode is 22 minutes, the same as FiM episodes, (Although it’s only 8 episodes so far) also the fact that Gillian Berrow, who also worked on FiM, will be developing the series is a nice bonus!

    Next we have the news of two specials, Make Your Mark (A bit confusing to have the series titled that too…) and Winter Wishday, both of which will be the 3D style too! Along with the same 44 minute runtime that The Best Gift Ever from FiM had. Again, the fact they’re putting in the money and effort for the 3D is really great!

    And finally we have the news that IDW will also be adding in their own comic series, just like FiM had, along with the series and specials, with an interesting setup too!

    I’m glad that we have all these things to look froward to, there is something for everyone to enjoy throughout this year. I’m certainly looking froward to all the 3D stuff, I mean the movie’s animation was great and again the fact they’re going to spend the budget to keep up that great work is amazing! So get ready to spend a day marking your calendars if you haven’t already for everything coming!

    This news is surely welcome and it seems we’re off to having a great year full of things to look froward to! So what are your pros of what’s coming, I’m sure it will be the same as mine!

    The Cons of What's Coming!
    By Alexrioponylover95!

    Hello everycreature!

    So last time we talked about the pros of what’s coming with the big information dump, but now it’s time to talk about the cons and yeah there’s a lot to worry about despite all the good stuff…

    First off is the different voice actors for our new Mane 5, Sunny, Pipp, Zipp, Izzy, and Hitch, no news yet of all the other characters. This will be difficult to accept since we have already associated the voices of the Mane 5 from what we heard in the movie and if the voices are too different, it could be a bit concerning. Maybe it will fit with the 2D series, but with the 3D stuff, it’s going to be a little troublesome. And well this is a huge problem with hiring celebrity voices for the characters in the first place if you were not intending to keep them in the long run.

    However if the voices aren’t too different, than it will be fine I guess, as long as the new VAs manage to pull off the voices, than everyone will be okay with the change, we just have to wait and see.

    Moving on, we have the 2D style of the Tell Your Tale series and you might be asking… “Alex, you had this in the pros, what’s the cons?” Well it’s the style itself… Sure we really only got one promo image, but that image is telling, because the style is very much Pony Life like… And I have seen others comparing it to Pony Life and well… We all know how Pony Life turned out.

    And while it will be on Youtube and hence completely free to watch, if no one is going to watch it thinking it’s the Pony Life of G5, than what’s the point of it? However as long as it’s not as wacky and crazy as Pony Life was, than I think this con will turn to a pro, again we have to wait and see.

    And finally we have the series and specials and the only con here is that it will be exclusive to Netflix, meaning that if you want to watch them (By legal means that is) you have to have a Netflix account. However if you’r’e willing to do so, that con is easily resolved!

    Now I don’t mean to be all negative with these cons, I’m sure some of them will turn to pros when they release, again have to wait and see what will become of these things. So what are your cons about everything coming up!