A thought about Twilight's change that I haven't seen a million times. · 11:41pm Feb 9th, 2013
Maybe other people have said this, but I read a lot of essays and blog posts, and I haven't seen it:
Okay, so there are actually a number of things I like about winghorn Twilight. I like this refreshing take on being a princess, I like that they're adding a regular princess character without shoehorning a new pony in. But I realized something else that I like: This is a reset for Twilight's character.
In the beginning, through most of the first season, the show was about Twilight dealing with new things she didn't really know how to deal with. She was learning about having friends, and living in a town with ponies instead of a literal ivory tower. After a while, the show kind of let her move away from that, subtly. She became established in Ponyville, she knew how to deal with her friends.
The way I see this change, it lets us go back to the start with Twilight. Now she has to start learning again, rather than lecturing.
I'm basing this on the (I think pretty valid) assumption that Twilight will continue to live in Ponyville, and there will still be episodes that focus on the rest of the mane six and CMC. I think if they were planning a full re-structuring of the show, they would rename it and you'd see more shake ups in the production staff and toys for more new characters, but what we're hearing about season four so far seems to be pretty much the same as previous seasons and the toys are still focusing on the mane six.
There's no reason this can't work. Twilight is a young princess. When Cadance was a young princess, she was Twilight's babysitter. There's no reason Twilight can't be a librarian and a princess for a while, until a new lost-kingdom opens up. (This isn't totally unrealistic, either. Look at Prince Harry's military service. Royals who aren't ruling sometimes find stuff to do, other than sitting around and being rich.)
So, that being said, I think season 4 will have its episodes for Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. It will have its episodes for the CMC. And it will have its episodes about Twilight, which will once again be episodes like Winter Wrap-Up and The Ticketmaster, except about her finding where she belongs and how she fits in with her friends as a princess, rather than just a new pony with new friends.
You know, I think this could be cool.
I'll admit that I didn't want Twilight to change and I was shocked at the change. But after seeing some people's level headed responses to it, I too managed to calm down enough to see sense.
I'm a little nervous, yes, yet I'm also excited at the same time. This can open up so many story opportunities for the show. For now though, we have to sit tight and fasten our seat belts as we await the episode where everything changes (maybe).
Yeah, our Prince Harry is a pretty cool guy for a royal.
Hey, random show/fic idea along those lines: Twi (with the others?) has to attend some sort of function with Blueblood and similar high muckety-mucks. Hilarity ensues. Twicorn could work...
My biggest fear is that Hasbro and the writers will screw it up. Sorry, but S3 was a big disappointment for me, compared to the first two seasons, which I loved.
812142 Prince Harry is one Royal I have a deep respect for. This guy did NOT hide behind his royal upbringing, but instead, he saw that if he were to be looked upon as a potential future leader, he BETTER be willing and able to LEAD! And he did so, even to the point where he was willing to refuse orders to stay with those he led. (assuming I have pieced together accurately the bits of news I did catch concerning him)
I'm entirely on board with the idea if they decide to not do one little detail. They shouldn't increase her lifespan
I'm incredibly excited for this new season. I love the current one, and winghorn Twilight is going to be awesome!
812169
You do realize that they have never once mentioned the lifespan of Celestia, Luna, or Cadance, right?
The only thing that implies that winghorn ponies are long lived is the first episode. Since then, they've said nothing about it. I seriously doubt they will ever say anything about how long Twilight can expect to live.
So just pretend that she has a normal lifespan for a pony, and you'll be fine. Of course, you'll probably be fighting fandom on that one. Folks do seem to love their alicorn headcanon.
As long as they don't change too much, I'm actually okay with it, despite previous posts claiming otherwise. It could definitely be cool. We'll just have to wait and see.
812175
You're alive! I haven't seen you around in forever!
812156 I've heard people say "Trust the writers", but honestly, the writing team has given me no reason to trust them. They've done some great stuff, but they've also made me say "DOH!" more times than any other TV show. You would never see a Buffy episode in which Buffy suddenly has a new little sister who's never been mentioned before.[1] I don't think they care about the show as much as we do. I get the feeling they have little respect for the ability of children to detect consistency in story and character.
If Princess Twilight is still adorkable, and has newly-rejuvenated insecurities about now being a princess, that could work.
[1] Or if you did, like in that Buffy episode in which Buffy suddenly has a new little sister who's never been mentioned before, it would all turn out to have been planned brilliantly from the start.
812182
I will try and ignore the age thingie. That's about my only grip with it.
You're right: There's no reason Twilicorn can't work. But there are sooo many ways the show can screw this up.
We don't actually need a new princess when we have Cadence being such a unique and interesting character...
Ok, point taken.
812192
Yes, when you compare the show to brilliantly run shows, it falls flat on its face. But do you really think they do a worse job than the typical sitcom, in that respect? I mean, thinking back to shows like Daria, I think most people who watched it casually had no idea that Jane had siblings other than Trent, or that her parents didn't live with them. The Cosby Show famously added a daughter in the second (or third?) season. . . And I think most sitcoms play pretty fast and loose with characterization when it comes to the "rule of funny."
I've said before in other places, so I'll say it again here: my one concern with changing Twilight's physical appearance was that it would drastically affect her relationship with her friends in a way that runs counter to the show's message. Yes, people change, sometimes physically, and I'm glad to see the show is dynamic rather than static. But with something like this it will be very easy to skew the character balance that has existed for three seasons that so many fans, myself included, enjoy. As long as the writers understand "friendship is magic" and as long as Hasbro doesn't meddle too much, allowing this creativity to continue, then I don't care if Twilight gets turned into a twenty-foot slime mold. If season 4 turns into "My Little Pony: The Adventures of Twilight Sparkle and Friends" then I will be disappointed. My stance remains wait-and-see. I'm optimistic because the writers have proven themselves before and they deserve the chance to present their vision.
I still keenly remember a time less than two years ago when I said "My Little Pony? You mean that banal 80's cartoon show for little girls? Yeah, I can't see myself liking that." Amazing what can happen when you give things a chance.
Hmpf. I suppose this rational argument towards the benefits outweighing any particular detriments mentioned previous does quell my initial concerns about a complete pony meltdown. Maybe this is a fresh new start rife with limitless possibilities rather than the Equestrian equivalent of Ragnarok.
All I know for sure is two things: business caters to business first, meaning the matters of investors are priority, and we as fans of the show only serve a purpose where merchandising is concerned - we shall be lightly pandered to as the corporate systems deem it a profitable endeavor, though ultimately we're NOT very important. The show exists solely as a half hour advertising for cheap hunks of multicolor plastics, and that's proven a winning formula for decades.
The only things that've sufficiently changed are the manners in which the adverts are presented, this iteration of the My Little Pony franchise possessing a good deal of modern story writing and complex characterization to make it more broadly appealing.
As a fan base, aside from the entirety representing a novel and curious thing for the press to stare and smirk at, we're nothing but horse-loving furry Trekkies propagating an ideal that only exists to make money. Heck, fan writers are even less useful for their bastardizing the product Hasbro has so expertly molded.
Yep, great. Good times for everyone. Bring on the change.
I'm kind of in the same boat as 812156. Mostly in that Hasbro has made some moves lately that have raised a lot of eyebrows. Still, Twilicorn has a lot of potential and I'm looking forward to what the show has in store in season 4.
Totally relevant. i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7025863936/h7DBA5675/
812182
Didn't they mention that discord was imprisoned centuries ago by Celestia and Luna as well? That, and the "how Equestria was made" episode had a flag of them in the flashback as well, IIRC. That should imply a pretty dang long lifespan.
I just don't like princess Twilight for the simple fact that magic is a deus ex machina from hell. It's always filled with things like, "Oh, why didn't I just conjure demonic spiders at the start of the fight, rather than wait until I got the crap knocked outta me first?" Granted, Mlp hasn't had that many fights, but still. Magic is a Cop-out in most media, and I hate the idea of more get out of jail free cards.
812331 Speaking of S4... Saw a new baby Alicorn toy in Walmart. Makes me think that Twilight's gonna be an aunt soon.
812340 The Princess Skyla thing? You mean this?
4.bp.blogspot.com/-IopiN8LTqYA/UEkaLlhDjaI/AAAAAAAA20c/tA22ECmwIuY/s1600/spin_prod_728088312.jpg
It kind of creeps me out. I think it's the whole gen 3 thing it's got going on.
I think you're right though, about Cadence and Shining Armor having a baby. Maybe Twilight will get stuck babysitting for her babysitter.
812361 You know... after seeing what the Cake twins can do, I suspect that a baby Alicorn would be more dangerous than the CMC in their more creative moments!
Lets see, you have an twelve hoofed category four hurricane granting Ponyville permanent Natural Disaster status, or a bright, bouncing baby bundle of broken Canterlot bouncing the Royal Guardponies off the walls like Hulk with Loki, all the while causing everypony in a fifty mile radius to die of massive D'AWWW attacks. In my judgment, Equestria is FUCKED!
812332
Despite Twilight's strenuous objections, the Hearth's Warming pageant used a modern, more-recognizable version of the Equestrian flag instead of the historically accurate princessless version.
812332
The same episode said that the unicorns were raising the sun and moon, and made no mention of them among the rulers of the tribes. Equestria's world building leaves something to be desired, which I've been trying to explain to a lot of people recently. When it comes to background details like this, you have a dozen different writers tossing out puzzle pieces that we label canon, and I'm pretty sure they're not all from the same puzzle, yet we cling like crazy to the stuff we make up to make them all fit together.
Which brings me back to what I said to DbzOrDie. Canon is like Chekov's mantelpiece, nothing is going to be set there unless it's important to that episode. So I doubt they'll ever say specifically that Twilight is/isn't immortal.
Yeah, but that's always been there. And I don't think Twilight is getting any power upgrades that she didn't get from Zecora and the plot of this upcoming episode. The show has always played fast and loose with forgetting about Twilight's magic. I suspect that will continue, and I reject the hypothesis that Twilight's getting "god-like" powers out of this. The episode synopsis reads like she's getting winghorned because of the talent she already has in magic.
812375 CMC definitely has a talent for demolition. Maybe after enough destruction and mayhem, princesses get sent to the moon for a few years for some time out.
Twilight gets an extra two limbs, what are her new hindrances to balance this?
812386
That can lead to some fun fanfiction to explain it though.
Shameless self promotion incomingLike my Zap Apple Jam story to explain the continuity error between Winter Wrap Up and Family Appreciation Day.I said this.
812419
That's what I love about what McCarthy said about princesses. Her hindrances are that she has to live up to the title of Princess, which McCarthy makes clear is a responsibility in Equestria, rather than just an honor. Along with that, it puts Twilight in a new situation where she has to negotiate new social issues. Both of these things work beautifully with Twilight natural flaws of being insecure, cracking under pressure, and being socially awkward.
That's why I think this could work.
812439
I'm sorry. I must have missed it.
Obviously, I agree with you.
812420
Absolutely. As long as you remember not to get mad if canon contradicts it at some point. That's all I'm saying, there's nothing wrong with making this stuff up, but don't get the impression that you're discovering some hidden plan that the writers were hinting at.
812419 Twilight with wings now... hmmmm...
MORE EROGENOUS ZONES TO PLAY WITH!!!
(sorry)
812399 Does that include Twilight? If so, who shall run the place? PLEASE don't say Blueblood!
812446
Basically my opinion is this: Same production company, same writers, same entire staff, the only thing that changes is a new concept. A new concept is good because - quite honestly - every episode was the same thing over and over again. I was content with the same old same old, but a change is still an improvement if done well. Hell, they made me like a little girls show. If they did that, they can make Twialicorn work.
That actually is a good idea. Also once again I apologize for sending you random insomniac induced story ideas
812469
Ah, yes. I agree with that, but I was pointing out that it's not just a change randomly mixing things up (as useful as that can be) but a change that brings us back to the heart of the character, as she was at the beginning. It's like how every now and then they have to kill someone else close to Batman, to make the core of his character important again. I think every few years it's good to totally change up Twilight's social position, to keep her awkward and give her more to learn. This is actually a good way to do that.
812455 Of course
It's silly to get upset when cannon contradicts fanon. We can't expect the whole writing staff to notice and eliminate inconsistencies. it is a kids show after all, not some sweeping epic. It only issues the challenge to create further explanation until that is proven incorrect. 
812468
And sure why not, slap some wings on Blueblood.
I'll get the popcorn. We can have front row seats to the end of Equestria! Now that would make for some messed up episodes.
812511 Actually, I could see Monty Python doing the Blueblood thing
812490
Huh ... that's probably the best I've heard anybody put that.
812540 That would be glorious. Make it so!
Well, I'm guessing that bronydom will live on. That's good, I'd really miss it otherwise.
812182
Celestia still looked pretty spry in the episode when Granny Smith flashbacks to when she was a girl. I'm assuming the princesses live longer, as they had to deal with Sombra a thousand years before, as well. And maybe something was mentioned in the Discord episode too, but I'm not sure. But yeah, depending on how the writers handle Winghorn Twi (love the term by the way
) it could be really good, or maybe not so good. Same with any change being made, really. I've actually really liked all of season 3 so far (Apple Family Reunion being the weakest for me in terms of interest's sake, but I still fully enjoyed it) so hopefully the finale and season 4 can really beat a lot of people's expectations and be even better. I still wish the episodes could be just a few minutes longer, though. Really good episodes could be made great if there was just a little bit more time to expand on certain things.
Also - anyone notice that Twilight's voice was a little...lackluster in the latest episode? I get that she was supposed to be calmer and everything, but it just seemed sorta flat sometimes. Eh, maybe its just me. Still loved the episode, regardless
*Slow clapping* Thank you!
812361
That box makes me cringe. The art is just Cadance-colored Sweetie Belle with a tiara badly photoshopped on!