When I think about it, I kinda wish silver spoon was a unicorn, and tiara was a pegasus, so along with babs seed, they could be an antithesis to the CMC in race as well as in story.

Erfspoon > Pegaspoon > Unispoon

6134367
Ladies and gentlemen, here we have an example of an opinion/preference that is objectively wrong.

Lets see how many different ways we can point this out!

First off, Babs Seed lives in Manehattan, not Ponyville. She has visited twice, though nothing says she couldn't have visited other times since then but those visits were not story-worthy. Regardless, it is hard for her to be part of a trio that is antithesis to the CMC when one third of their trio is absent most of the time, if not nearly always.

Babs is also a poor choice of antithesis in that by the end of Bad Seed, she ditched Diamond and Silver. An opinion like this one flies in the very face of the lesson of the episode she was introduced in and a necessary component of forming the opinion to begin with. Your opinion is presented as if it where a design choice that would work in a general sense, but it would, at best, work only for part of one episode.

Speaking of limited scope, Diamond Tiara (and presumably Silver Spoon, though we haven't really gotten material to confirm this) has turned over a new leaf. Back in Season 5. So their being any kind of antithesis is limited to only those episodes from early Season 5 and before. Most of which don't contain Babs Seed. So you're basically trying to say that episodes like Ponyville Confidential or Flight to the Finish would be somehow improved by making the tribe/race of Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara different. No, not really.

So lets move on to how this is basically racism. Flight to the Finish made note of the fact that the CMC represent all three tribes, and that's something to generally celebrate in Ponyville. We can see how places like Cloudsdale and Canterlot have (likely) skewed populations, and Ponyville started out as an "earth pony town." We also see various other pairings/friendship among the kids such as Snips and Snails both being unicorns, Twist and Apple Bloom both being earth ponies, Toola Roola and Coconut Cream both being earth ponies. Yet we also see random pairings like Noi (and earth pony) and Bloo (a unicorn) together, and so on. It seems that kids make friends with other kids, and those friendships form for a variety of reasons. Maybe being the same tribe/race makes it easier for a budding friendship to form, but often it seems to have nothing to do with it, as we can see various friends share more prominent interests.

Trying to say that friendships must conform to some kind of diversity that includes all three tribes is as racist and bad as saying that tribes must stick to their own. You are making race the issue, rather than letting it be an unimportant factor. "Sorry, can't be friends with you. We already have a unicorn. Go find some other group to join."

It reminds me of the old arguments back in S3-S4 hiatus and beyond, how Twilight being an alicorn broke the "perfect symmetry" of two of each tribe among the six. That was a shitty argument back then, is still a shitty argument, and frankly everyone making it should feel bad. Not to mention that hey, we have that symmetry back with Starlight Glimmer. Shouldn't that make everyone happy, eh? eh?

So, no. Not only does the idea have nothing of value to add to anything, it would involve and/or imply a lot of changes to no good end. It also carries with it a lot of implications of some very wrong thinking and a generally shitty perception on how things ought to be. This isn't an opinion along the lines of, "I like chocolate ice-cream better than vanilla ice-cream." This is more like, "We should have tobacco flavored ice-cream, made with real tobacco, and serve it at children's' birthday parties. Extra nicotine please."

6134497
Yeesh, little condescending much? Guy was just posing an idea, a thought and even if you deconstructed the idea could have been less rude about it.

6134515
Totally worth an entire thread that pushes other conversations down the page. Mmmhmm.

6134515
I used a friendly ice-cream analogy. Your objection is invalid.

6134497

Please don't be rude to people. The OP's post is fine; trying to shame someone for sincerely venturing an idea is antisocial and uncalled for.

6134367

I was intrigued by this idea because I just love exploring alternate universes which mix things up. And I also did enjoy the tribal balance that the Mane Six used to have before Twilight got winged up. There's actually arguments I can make for both Spoonicorn and Pegaspoon:

Spoonicorn: I tend to see unicorns as intrinsically more dainty than their rough-and-tumble pegasus sisters, and Silvy can pull off refined and dainty in her sleep. Diamond, on the other hand, is the more active instigator of the two, so she could use the wings. (She'd be able to literally look down on the CMC!)

Pegaspoon: There's a fanon theory, promulgated largely by Camopony, that Silver Spoon is the daughter of Silverspeed, a similar-looking background pegasus:

So that gives Silvy a ready-made pegasus heritage, should she need one. I like to imagine that a pegasus Spoon would be a Fluttershy-like reluctant flyer.

In canon, though, I do actually like that DT and SS are earth ponies, and I wouldn't change it. An "anti-CMC" group feels like too much of a manufactured opposition, whereas Diamond and Silver are very much their own characters who just happened to pick on the CMC. Additionally, Diamond's lineage is historically earth-based, going back all the way to Ponyville's founding, which parallels Apple Bloom's family line nicely, so I wouldn't want to lose that.

6134818
My post is also fine. Disagreeing with someone is not being rude. Not appreciating racism is a valid and appropriate response. You should chastise the OP.

I anticipated people trying to claim "it's just an opinion" in my post. It isn't relevant here. This is an objectively wrong idea. Just because you find it tolerable, acceptable, or mildly similar to your own ideas involving AU's doesn't make the OP's post fine.

There is a stark difference between "I like to think of alternate realities with different background, culture, and even species for Silver Spoon" and "I think they ought to be different to conform to my warped sense of diversity/conformity." Don't put words into the OP's mouth that he didn't speak, and then try to defend him on those grounds. And don't talk down to someone just for disagreeing, then grasping hard for justification.

6134891

And don't talk down to someone just for disagreeing, then grasping hard for justification.

I wasn't criticising you for disagreeing. You're perfectly entitled to do that. I was criticising you for being rude. As far as I'm concerned, the OP's post is just a cute, idle idea; somehow, you managed to turn that into a scornfully-delivered diatribe. I don't particularly care what your issue with the post is, but I do care about, you know, not driving people away with needless hostility.

Don't put words into the OP's mouth that he didn't speak

You're kidding, right? You spent a whole page lambasting the OP based on your understanding of what you think they meant. And then you accuse me of "grasping for justification", which is a baseless insinuation. You're literally the only person putting words in peoples' mouths here.

6134891
It's the first sentence of your post that sets it off on the wrong foot. It's one thing to construct an argument as to why it wouldn't work or isn't necessary, but something completely different to start off on something akin to

And then there's the whole thing about tribal balance, when the OP was most likely just thinking in terms of rivalries.

Anyway, let's take another look at the idea:

It would definitely require changes to Babs and other things as well. But that's sort of to be expected, since the idea would change how the characters interact and therefore change the nature of CMC episodes. So not really something to completely naysay the idea about. To make it work, Babs would most likely need to move to Ponyville. She'd also need a different backstory, or at least one that wasn't revealed until an eventual reformation episode, as "bully because bullied" wouldn't play out well long-term, given the frequency and quantity of CMC episodes. Likewise, for the idea to have enough episodes to be worthwhile, DT's reformation would also need to come later.

I do think, however, that instead of Babs, another foal would be a better choice. I'm thinking of Rumble. Adding a colt to the mix changes things up slightly, with one male in the mix. Like Babs, he's a more physical character, which fits well with Scootaloo's own physicality. With DT, you'd have to change her personality a bit if you wanted to work that in. DT also already works really well as a foil to AB, and there's the whole family connection. So by using Rumble instead, you gain a good, physical pegasus. And Babs can stay Babs, no need for the family squabble. Though if one did want to use Babs, it'd make more sense to make her the pegasus rather than DT. One could even make her being a pegasus part of why she wants to distance herself from AB... she (literally) considers herself above farming and such.

To me, the idea seems like it would mostly open up on thing: the show could focus more on tribal lines. A magic using episode focused on Sweetie and Spoon. A physical/wing using one with Rumble/Babs and Scootaloo. And a growing stuff one for DT and AB. Yeah, that last one does seem like it would require a bit of change to DT, to make her more, well, earthy, but that isn't the case. She could have a fancy garden, perhaps in a greenhouse, one more focused on beauty/flowers rather than crops/farming. This would allow the show to explore what it means to be a member of each tribe a bit more, something it doesn't really do much of.

For that to work well, though, I expect it would need more episodes focused on the rivalry. Every single CMC episode would need to use the characters. No Sweetie and Rarity episode, not unless Spoon figures in somehow as well. This is because, as the show used the CMC, their tribe didn't matter. Only in a single episode, Flight to the Finish, was tribal identity an issue. Which meant the tribes of the TT didn't matter either. Not even in FttF. So if you're going to play up that angle, you'd need more CMC vs Terrible Threesome episodes.

And the way the episodes play out would change as well. As it was, a typical CMC + Terrible Twosome episode used the TT in just three scenes. One to set up the situation and generate sympathy for the CMC to make us root for them despite whatever stupid thing they are going to do, one to crank it up the stakes and/or reinforce the situation, and finally a comeuppance scene after the CMC finally stop being stupid. The rest of the time was spent with the CMC. With a focus on these tribal contrast, on the specific matchups, that would have to change. It wouldn't be a CMC episode. It'd be an AB vs DT episode, a Sweetie vs Silver Spoon one.

As to the value of the idea, while I think it would be nice to explore tribal identity more, and that that would allow for a bit more world building, I don't think it would improve it the show overall. The CMC as friends fits the Friendship is Magic theme better than rivalries, and if the show did want to explore tribal heritage, it could easily do so without needing to involve rivalries, either by exploring the Mane-6's past, by introducing a single episode antagonist, or by using a mentoring episode (Sweetie + Twilight, Dash + Scootaloo, AJ + AB). And with the limited amount of episodes the CMC get, it would mean the loss of some of my favorite episodes, like Sisterhooves Social and Sleepless in Ponyville. Though on the plus side, it would mean no latter two CMC+Luna episodes ;)

So overall, I'm going to agree with Cryosite that it wouldn't add much to the show, and detract in other areas. It could, however, allow for some potential for "Alternate Universe" fan-fics in which one could explore the tribal side of things, while using known antagonists to shortcut character creation.

I for one also like the idea of Silver Spoon as a unicorn.

Unicorn spoons?

--Sweetie Belle

6134818
The idea doesn't really feel right to me for a couple reasons.

Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom really do parallel each other, so they should both be earth ponies. If Diamond was a pegasus, she should be Scootaloo's competition instead, and having somepony that could actually fly for a rival would totally change the dynamic for Scootaloo.

I think that'd make Silver Spoon my rival, which... would be okay, I guess? And Babs as Apple Bloom's. And Babs doesn't really work well in there, because she lives in Manehattan. If she did move to Ponyville, she's probably end up on or near Sweet Apple Acres, too.

And, of course, at this point Diamond's redeemed, anyways, and I'm not sure if Silver Spoon really needed redemption. What would be more interesting to me is if the cmc plus Diamond and Silver Spoon, as they are now, had to band up and work together because of new rivals coming around, maybe from out of town.

Of course, if you really want Diamond Tiara as a pegasus and Silver Spoon as a unicorn, why not do a body swap thing, and actually swap Diamond with Scoots and Silver Spoon with Sweetie Belle? Body swap hijinks are always fun.

--Sweetie Belle

6135106
A spoon full of ShimGlim helps the medicine go down.