• Community Soapbox - Overreactions, Hitch is a Greast Character, 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:

    • Do Bronies Overreact Too Much?
    • G5 with not too much G4
    • Why Hitch was Always a Great Character!
    • Friendship is Magic Miniseries Fluttershy
    And go read them below!



    Do Bronies Overreact Too Much?
    By IronYoshi

    "Oh Yosh, are you doing another critique against the fandom? Haven't you done that enough already?" I hear you say. Well this fandom has been so much of a trainwreck for the past few years that it just needs to be to be observed. Just you wait till I tackle how bronies never took the lessons of the show to heart. But that's not what we're here to discuss that.

    Bronies seem to have a habit of overreacting to everything. Now this is pretty typical of any fandom, but out of all the fandoms I've seen, bronies seem to do it the worst, only topped by the Star Wars and Transformers fandom. What do I mean by overreacting? I mean treating any decision or announcement as if its going to be the end of the franchise and that it will "ruin everything". Any rational thought is thrown out the window in favor of doom and gloom. It was pretty evident when the G5 YouTube spinoff series was announced, and fandom meltdown ensued. But the strange part is that we've been through this song and dance before.

    Lauren Faust leaving, Alicorn Twilight, Equestria Girls, Starlight, Flurry Heart, Friendship School, Season 9, Pony Life, and even the G5 movie. What do all these have in common? These were all instances where the fandom reacted in a way that was overblown and felt like it was the end of the entire world. They act like it's the coming of the apocalypse and the franchise is "ruined forever" when in actually, it really isn't that big of a deal. In fact, much of the stuff that was listed had grown to be quite beloved (albeit heatively divisive), so that begs the question. Why treat these decisions like they're a personal attack on yourself? There's a few reasons why bronies were made fun of back in the day, and I'm pretty sure this was one of them.

    There's a fine line between being skeptical towards an addition or new thing and blowing it out of proportion. You can feel skeptic over something, but don't act like it's going to be the franchise-killer that you blow it up to be. I mean, you all are getting worked up over cartoon horses for Celestia's sake. The sad part is that this whole thing of bronies overreacting to everything will probably go on forever, no matter how many times their exaggerations fold in on themselves. The cycle will continue, and it'll be the same schick of hating the new thing, then warming up to it when it comes out, then relegating it as a classic, then another new thing comes out, rinse and repeat.

    I guess all I'm trying to say is... chill out. It's not the end of the world. You can be wary, but just because something is new doesn't mean everything is "ruined forever". Just take a chill pill. Though given this fandom, that's easier said than done.
    G5 with not too much G4
    By: FlareGun45

    Hey, it's been a while, hasn't it? Anyhoo, I wanna talk about some hopes I have for G5 that are kinda divided amongst the fandom.

    Now sometimes I hear rumors about King Sombra returning in G5, or maybe the Villain Trio - old villains returning for revenge and stuff like that. I'm actually kinda hoping that DOESN'T happen, know why? Because even though G5 and G4 are pretty much in the same universe (unless that theory of G4 being a fantasy creating by Sunny's dad is true), then there runs the risk of many G4 stuff returning to G5, and honestly, I'm really hoping that G5 has the capable to stand on it's own without using too much G4 content.

    This isn't Doctor Who where we have the same villains coming back and having the Doctor fight them again - if it was the Mane Six coming back too, then that'd be a different story, but now we have a whole new set of characters, and then a thousand years later, we have these characters fighting the SAME villains as the Mane Six, and while they moved on, we have to have the same villains coming back too?

    This is all a rumor, mind you, and hasn't been confirmed, and to me, I hope it doesn't. This is a new generation - the Equestria of old is gone, so with the brand new main cast comes a brand new set of problems with brand new villains, but probably similar scenarios just like before. Sprout is kinda similar to those of Trixie and Gilda - not exactly an all-powerful monster, but a regular pony being a huge nuisance, and of course there will be new monstrous villains coming back - but does it hafta be the ones we always knew? It might be a bit tougher for the writers, but how tough is it gonna be getting the same VAs to return for these characters?

    My point is, I am hoping for not too much hoof-holding in this series. The characters in past are gone, but the friendship lives on amongst these ponies, and I am hoping that gets more focus as a remberance of G4.
    Why Hitch was Always a Great Character!
    By Alexrioponylover95

    Hello everycreature!

    So when we were introduced to our new main cast of G5, along the ponies was Hitch… A stallion and not a mare. Now some of you may be thinking… “Okay Alex, why are you pointing this out?” Well it’s because G5 did something that G4 never did… And that’s making a stallion a part of the main group of characters.

    With G4, the main group of ponies are all mares, with not a single stallion and yeah… That doesn’t include Spike, because in general most of us say, “The Mane 6 and Spike”. Now yes later on we would have the Pillars and Young 6, where there were male characters along those two groups. However it did take some time to get there and even than those two groups still didn’t have the same amount of attention as the Mane 6 did.

    And yes, we did have some prominent male characters in G4, along those being Spike, Shining Armor, Big Mac, etc. and they did have their moments to shine and fail, however those moments are few and far in between unlike the mares.

    The fact that G5 will finally have a male character in the main group means they already have fixed a flaw from G4, giving a chance to the stallions, which is a welcome thing in my mind. Not that I find anything wrong with an all female main cast since My Little Pony’s main target is little girls, so that makes sense, however too much leads to it being boring in my opinion.

    And well Hitch turned out to be a very good character already in the movie, having a lot of development and change in him from start to finish. I enjoyed how he came to realize the error in his thinking that the Pegasus and Unicorns are evil and well figuring out himself (Well with some encouragement) that the Earth ponies could make peace and be friends with the other pony kinds.

    And he showed he was willing to fight for what is right when he tried to stop Sprout from destroying the lighthouse, (Although he did almost “hurt” Sunny and Izzy to put it lightly because of his actions) and what I find interesting is that Zipp followed him. In general from G4, it would be the other way around, with the stallions often needing the help from the mares who take charge.

    I hope we see Hitch taking more of a leading role in the series and specials coming up, showing more strength and willingness to take charge when others can’t. And if not… Well I did have the idea of him being jealous that Maretime Bay is paying more attention to Sunny and Sunny comforting him that he is still important to others.

    Oh and one last thing… I really hope we see why animals take such a liking to Hitch, maybe he was once a boy scout (Would explain why he decided to become Maretime’s Bay sheriff) or… He’s related to Fluttershy!

    Well that’s about it on my end, hope I didn’t trigger anyone too much and what do you think about Hitch and if he’s a great character or not!?
    Friendship is Magic Miniseries Fluttershy
    By Double C

    For this miniseries we will talk about Fluttershy.

    Her passion for animals both big/small and friendly/scary has made her successful. What I liked about Gen 4 was that it introduced many creatures from mythologies of many culture but primarily Greek and European. I can see her going out to new land to discovery new creatures that have not been discovered yet just like scientist do today. So there are many that could appear especially in Gen 5.  Even with her dream animal sanctuary, it can only handle few due to its size and help. But like with Rarity, Fluttershy could establish new ones in different reigns since many animals can only stay in one environment.

    But the one thing that fans enjoy the most is her relationship with Discord. While they are very good friends but they are the number 1 ship couple in the fandom thanks to the work of DisneyFanatic2364. Throughout the show since season 3, they have maintained their friendship despite many challenges including him being a backstabber. In She Talks to Angel when Angel was in Fluttershy’s body mention that the actual Fluttershy wants to marry Discord. What I’ve heard that fans were existed that the staff may have hint of romance since Spike also hinted about the 2. But this Angel who is perhaps among the biggest jerks which he may either be series or mouthing off. In The Last Problem it showed her coming out of a portal and given a lunch bag which hinted that she may have moved in with him and perhaps got married. But like what Jim Miller said it’s up to the fans interpretation.

    While FlutterCord is still the most popular but I see other ships that are in my opinion just as good. The guy that would be best is someone who can get along with Discord since we saw how jealous he was with Tree Hugger. So seeing her on a date would cause him to be both overprotective and jealous which could show if Discord has romantics feeling for Fluttershy. My favorites are Thunderlane and Bulk Bicep. Flutterlane is another ship where they are opposites with him using his strength to protect her while they both can help each other where one is weak. Flutterbulk is to fans an example of them having a strong friendship that could possibly develop into love later and their easygoing and awkward nature goes well together. An interesting thing is Fluttershy and who ever she hooks up would ask Discord to be their foal(s) godfather. In my opinion, Discord is more of a fun uncle than father due to his personality and habits but would enjoy caring for Fluttershy’s children.

    Just like to talk about a ship called TimberShy that Ronald Pagar talked about and I think it could work out better then with Sct-Twi or Twilight. Both love nature with Fluttershy caring for the animals while Timber caring for the plants. I can see her hiring both him and his sister Gloriosa Daisy to work on her sanctuary. They have a more balancing personalities that could play off one another; Fluttershy's gentle influence can help him to tone down his ego while in return Timber's confident ways could  potentially helped her learn to be more assertive. So thank Ronald for opening another possible ship for Fluttershy and for what the pony Timber would do if he ever appears