Equestria Girls 10th Anniversary - An Autist's Thoughts · 5:18am Mar 22nd, 2023
Friendship is Magic, a show made for kids, made me a fan of these lovable pastel characters that we all know and love.
What solidified my love for them was a human world spin-off made for teenagers.
"Sorry it had to be this way, Princess!" - Sunset to Princess Twilight Sparkle
Apparently, Equestria Girls the movie (and thus, the show in general) is 10 years old this year! 
I think I had discovered the show via the first movie on YouTube. I do know that when I first watched it, I was hooked!
Twilight's reaction to turning into a human, her initial nervousness when surrounded by a swarm of students, the surprise appearances of Human versions of the FiM characters (including the Mane 5!), and so much more made the film an enjoyable watch for me.
Yeah, the story has an issue or two, but they don't detract from the quality of the film too much. Heck, one of those issues (Sunset's mighty quick change of heart) is handled well in the sequel!
But, instead of doing a review of the movies, shorts, choose-your-own-adventures and multi-part specials, I'll give my thoughts on some of the things about the Equestria Girls show in general that stand out to me as a writer.
"What are hands?" - Pony Rainbow Dash
When looking at the Human and Pony worlds that the G4 shows depict, I find them to be an interesting example of a concept that the video game Bioshock Infinite tackles: constants and variables.
I won't wax poetic like a pretentious brony, so I'll give you all a quick rundown instead: It's believed that in the multiverse, there are things that are the same across multiple universes as well as things that are different for each one.
Let's take, for example, our two Twilight Sparkles.
Equestria's Twilight is a Unicorn Pony who is a student of magic, starts off by learning from royalty, becomes an Alicorn that may or may not be ageless (depending on who you ask), etc.
The Human world's Twilight (we lovingly call her Sci-Twi) is a student of every science ever, starts off by learning from a toxic school (buck you, Abacus Cinch), is more of a nervous wreck in the beginning than Pony Twilight ever was, etc.
That's more than a few variables right there! As for the constants:
Both Twilights are marvelous students of their respective fields, love books, are mildly neurotic, and, most importantly, they are avid learners of friendship. Oh, and they have a lovable companion named Spike as well as their own BBBFF (Best Big Brother Friend Forever).
As a writer, I LOVE the idea that these two worlds are so similar and yet so different from each other in numerous ways, and not just with the characters. The whole 'constants and variables' thing extends to the places in each world too. For example...
Constant: both worlds have their own Canterlot.
Variable: The Pony world's Canterlot is a medieval-themed city built on the side of a mountain, while the Human world's Canterlot is a metropolitan city not too far off from how the Pony world's Manehatten is set up.
It leaves me to wonder what The Human world's Manehatten looks like. Imagine Trottingham, or Saddle Arabia!
My point being that, with the whole concept of two worlds having similarities and differences from each other being put to use in the Equestria Girls show, my mind is firing up with ideas on how to really leverage that concept!
Example: We never see the Human world's take on Sombra or Cozy Glow. What are those two like in that world? Are they even evil back there?! What about the Human Gilda? What's she and her Griffons up to? Where even IS the Human world's Sunset Shimmer?! This last bit actually brings me to the next topic...
"We really need to find you a mirror." - Spike the Dragon Dog
Equestria Girls introduces the concept of multiversal doubles of existing G4 characters (think: two Celestias and two Pinkie Pies for example), which opens the door to so many story possibilities. Particularly, the idea of said doubles meeting comes to mind and, heck, Equestria Girls gives us two glimpses of this happening with both Twilights meeting up in both worlds! Sadly, the series never really expands upon this (darn it, show cancellation!), but the idea is appealing to me as a writer!
Imagine it:
Both Trixies meeting up and challenging each other to see who is the greatest and most powerful Trrrrixie of all time.
Both Spikes trading Twilight stories together, much to their Twilights' chagrin.
The Mane 6 of both worlds having the mother of all friendship meetings.
Both sets of CMCs crusading together, thus causing chaos that Discord would approve of.
The list goes on and on! But I need to get the next topic before I ramble any further! This one is a topic that, frankly, cuts into the heart of the show: how a tale handles remorse, redemption, and growth.
"I'm so sorry... I didn't know there was another way..." - Sunset Shimmer post-Rainbow Laser
Let's get the bug bear out of the way: Yes, Sunset Shimmer's change of heart in the Equestria Girls movie happened way too quickly for it be believable initially, magic or no magic. 'Initially' being the keyword there. The writers recognized the problem, so, for the sequel movie Rainbow Rocks, they tackled that issue, but not in a way that's obvious.
Early in the film, Sunset Shimmer is clearly looked at with distrust at best and disdain at worst by many of her fellow students. Remember what I said about her change of heart happening too quick to be believable? Many of those students recognized that too. The writers tackled that fault in the plot not by sweeping it under the rug (which would have been enough if the writing itself stood strong enough to cover for the sweeping).
They turned it into a plot point without even saying it in the movie! No dialogue references the unbelievable aspect of her change of heart, but it is very much inferred by the other Wondercolts. Yet, we all can see from way Sunset handles herself, right down to her movements and dialogue, that her remorse over her misdeeds is genuine. Anyone who knows something of how one's past actions can come back to haunt them will likely catch that aspect of the story with a smile.
Then there's Sunset's redemption, which can be seen throughout the film. Gone is the bitter, controlling, and self-absorbed Queen Bee of Canterlot High. Gone is the ambitious, proud, and vengeful former student of Princess Celestia. What's left is a repentant, hurting, and miserable soul looking to make things right with those she had wronged, yet it is those she had wronged who won't give her the time of day at best. If she were all alone, there would be dark days for the lady. Luckily for her, she wasn't alone: she had five friends to back her up. She was content with standing at the sidelines while helping out here and there for most of the film. She said it herself: she didn't see how she could fit in with the group. This became more evident when Princess Twilight arrived to help the girls out. But, when her new-found friends started to argue with each other terribly enough to make poor Twilight retreat into herself, Sunset found the strength to speak up, to push her friends to work on those little issues that had built up. Sunset had acted as a friend in a critical moment. Her redemption was in full swing at that point, doubly so when she found the heart to sing with her friends.
I've been wondering for the longest time: how DID Sunset earn the friendship of the Humane 5? I mean before The Dazzlings strutted their way through CHS's doors? Oh, how I wish that story was tackled, because it sounds so juicy!
Anyway, Sunset's growth as a person can be seen throughout the show, with big examples being her actions during the Friendship Games and Forgotten Friendship. Oh man, do I have THOUGHTS concerning Forgotten Friendship (nothing horribly negative, mind you), but I want to save most of them for my stories. For now, let's look at the Friendship Games: Sunset gets more than a little snippy with Sci-Twi, which hurts more than it helps. Thankfully, she recognizes this and doesn't get snippy with her a second time. Heck, in a classic case of coming full-circle, she uses a huge abundance of magic to transform in the hopes of saving Sci-Twi from acting as her own she-demon. The bacon-girl even gets her own angelic form for good measure!
During this scene, she offers the troubled egghead her hand in friendship, in spite of everything that happened before. I'd say she learned something from a certain Princess of Friendship, no? Thankfully, Sci-Twi accepts the offer and the two become great friends. The latter would go on to transfer from Crystal Prep to CHS and become a permanent fixture in the school's beloved group of friends. None of this would have happened if Sunset hadn't grown as much as she had. I can see why Sunset became such a beloved character in the fandom.
Not bad for a girl who was once a self-glorified bully with a dumb revenge scheme, eh?
I have one more topic to tackle: the music!
"And when the music comes alive, we sing our songs to left us up, so we can shine!" - Sunset while singing Shine Like Rainbows
True to G4 form, the music in Equestria Girls is heartfelt and fun! Most of the songs are positive, as expected from MLP, but a few pieces break from that mold. 'Under Our Spell' by The Dazzlings as well as their parts from 'Welcome to the Show' are classic examples of this alongside Gloriosa's 'We Shall Stand For Everfree". But, there are two songs in the show's discography that have stuck with me.
The first one is Invisible by Wallflower Blush.
Again, I'll save most of my thoughts on Forgotten Friendship for later, but I can at least talk about her song here. The song speaks of her feeling and outright being invisible in the eyes of her peers and how much that hurt her. This is a very real problem for many an introvert, especially young folks in school and other social places, so I'm glad that this song exists to give them something meaningful they can relate to. The lyrics by themselves allude to Wallflower's mind being in a rather dark place. But, a key part of the song that I won't soon forget is one I'm almost sure was not used in the actual show.
Invisible invisible
Won't be long before I'm gone.
There's alluding to a heavy topic and there's almost bucking saying it! That part made me want to hug the plant-girl SO BADLY! 
I can see why Hasbro would not want that part of the song to be on TV if they had actually cut it out (kid demographic and all that), but man, can you take a guess as to how many kids, how many people, would relate to THAT part of the song? While we're on the subject of things that are hard to deal with, let's go into the second song.
The song in question is Let It Rain by Sunset Shimmer.
Now, unless I am mistaken, this song was released after Forgotten Friendship. Even it wasn't, I see it as a companion piece to it for one good reason: in my mind, the song is Sunset's response to the Memory Stone Incident, specifically, how she and Wallflower handled it. Let's be real: SunShim was angry at Wallflower and rightly so! But, she was so angry, in fact, that she had let her temper get the better of her. Dear Luna, she was regressing back to her old self at one point! Thank goodness for memory magic, am I right? Wallflower was angry as well, not to mention bitter and not really thinking things through. I imagine that, once the dust had settled, those two realized that they really needed to do better at working through those emotionally charged moments, with Sunset expressing the need to do so through song. The song itself is beautifully written and performed, with its message shining through: we all have those moments where the manure hits the fan and it feels like it's gonna get worse, but when we take the time to work through those moments in healthy ways (and let me assure you, that can be mighty tough to do), we tend to find the sun behind those grey clouds.
These two songs hammer home to me how hard, and how important, it is to tackle heavy subjects in one's writing in ways that are meaningful and tactful to readers. A lot of writers will get this wrong at least once, heck I'll probably get it wrong too. But, when such subjects are handled well, the writing is made all the better for the effort involved. Let It Rain and Invisible deal with their heavy subjects in ways that are beautiful and, above all else, real. Make no mistake, they are already sources of inspiration for my stories!
As for whether or not Wallflower and Sunset truly buried the hatchet, look more closely at the music video for Let it Rain: notice a certain green-haired girl with freckles in the audience?
Not so invisible now, isn't she? 
"Few things last, that's all I know. But friendship carries on through the ages!" - The Rainbooms to Sunset while singing Friendship Through the Ages
Simply put, Equestria Girls is the G4 show I choose to write about first because it, in its own way, solidified my love for MLP as a whole. Between its heartfelt handling of Sunset Shimmer as a character, the showing of love for some of the background characters in its shorts, the rockin' music, and its handling of heavier subject manner, there is a lot for me to love about the show. A shame it never got an official ending thanks to Hasbro's never-ending love for keeping its toy sells up at all times to the determent of its stories. Heck, I could go on and on about my thoughts and feelings concerning Equestria Girls as a whole, but this blog post is already long enough as it is!
Besides, it would take more than a oversized blog post for me to properly articulate my thoughts concerning the story that produced this:
Soon, you divisive can of worms, soon... 
Happy 10th Anniversary, Equestria Girls!
At the very least, none can claim that they love EQ girls as much as you, GJ! Finally having given the show a heartier watch recently thanks to your stories, I'm appreciating it more and more. I always thought it as a nice little branch off for Gen 4, and generally liked that they kept to the main 6 since the alternative could've been completely irrecognizable to the ponies I started on. They adapted them pretty well and made them feel unique enough to not feel like human shoe-in counterparts. And while I wasn't to keen on the animation and character designs initally, it really grows on ya. Especially with some quality moments shown throughout.