Thoughts on pony sexuality and fanfic update · 4:00am Jul 2nd, 2014
I have finally started writing again, slowly, in the way someone who hasn't eaten in several weeks will start off nibbling on carrots and crackers. I am working on "Her Royal Highness: Fluttershy", the second part to the "Her Royal Highnesses" story. Not many people read it, but really I promise despite being an E-Rated comedy it's not as insipid as it may seem.
Anyhoo, it seems that some controversy has struck the fandom yet again. Personally I couldn't be happier or more proud of a move like this, especially with the fact that she probably could never have been allowed to do this without at least Hasbro's silent, gutteral approval under their breath while they try to convince the public they had nothing to do with it. Though it has brought up the topic of pony sexuality yet again among the fandom, so I thought I would weigh in on my thoughts on the mane 6's sexual orientation.
Speaking from a strictly canon standpoint, the subject of romance among the mane 6 has been brought up three times involving three ponies, pointing in the direction of a specific sexual tendency.
Rarity has fallen head over heels for both Prince Blueblood and Trenderhoof, pretty much painting her pretty solidly as straight.
Twilight fell in love with Flash Sentry, an event once believed to be non-canon until Flash Sentry began making cameos in both the comics and the later episodes of Season 4, leading us to believe the Equestria Girls movies are canon, just sort of held off to the side with one hand so they can't completely corrupt the original source material. So once again, straight until further notice.
Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash have shown no romantic inklings whatsoever at any point in the series. Yeah, you can make comments about some of the things Rainbow has done, like the slightly-too-long hug in "Daring Don't", but absolutely nothing she has said or done has actually pointed to romantic leanings. They are just as easily explainable by other means, like overeagerness and hero worship. From a fanon standpoint, any of the three could be of any sexual orientation.
Applejack though... Applejack is unique in that she has been the object of a stallion's affections, but she completely brushed him off without even giving the concept itself any thought whatsoever. Without even knowing who Trenderhoof was, she basically brushed him off repeatedly. It's not even like she took his personality into account, she simply showed no interest at all from the moment he looked at her. Her refusal to even give him a chance to ask her out says to me that she simply had zero interest in him on a fundamental level. This need not necessarily point to her being a lesbian, there are certainly other explanations, but given that this is the single, sole example of her romantic leanings in the entire series, it's not unreasonable to theorize that she may not be into stallions at all.
Personally though, the fact that this sort of thing continues to cause controversy saddens me. I raise a glass to Ashleigh Ball for her courage in posting something like this, and look forward to the day when love and happiness are no longer so damn controversial.
Huh. Didn't notice that AppleDash thing. Pretty cool to see that happen, even if I'm not a fan of the ship. Those analyses seem to make sense, yeah. They could all be bi, of course. Except maybe Applejack. She might actually be asexual (or maybe she's into apples).
Good to hear you're writing again. I haven't been reading a whole lot for a while, so now I have to catch up on some of your works soon.
Good point about Applejack, though I kind of thought of a less flattering explanation why Applejack would immediately be uninterested in a non-Earth Pony stallion expressing attraction to her. (WHAT barn Applejack?)