I'm Back...with News, an Explanation, and Other Information · 8:49pm Jun 8th, 2017
Hey everyone...
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Especially for those of you who have been following “Princess Rainbow Dash”...you might have wondered at some point where I had gone and if I was coming back. And...I’m back. To be honest, I never really left, but...well, I’ll just start at the beginning:
My personal life has always been hectic. My parents pressured me to be the best student I could be in school so that I could get into a good college. Both of them, especially my father, didn’t condone my love of “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”. To appease them, I spent less time with the show and on fan sites, including this one. I had always planned to come back, though, and continue “Princess Rainbow Dash”.
Here’s something you need to understand about me and the show: I discovered the show at a delicate point in my life: high school. At high school, I was bullied by everyone. Everyone: not just the students, the teachers. The teachers would laugh when I walked into class with a “Kick Me” sign taped to my back. They would watch the other students torment me, and they’d do nothing. I would tell my parents about this, and they would do nothing. I had to escape reality...and I did that through the ponies. Maybe I was too attached to the show. (Dad likes to tell me that I obsess over things because I’m autistic and therefore not normal.) But the show comforted me. And through the fandom, I met one guy who I dated for five months. After our breakup, the ponies comforted me. When I learned that my pen pal and best friend had passed away, the ponies comforted me. The show was like a visual stress ball for me. And as an aspiring writer, I adored the writing on the show and the characters.
But then, things began to change when I started my first semester at college, and not in the way I expected.
It began with the introduction of this character:
When she first appeared, I wasn’t sure what to think about her. But I decided on one thing: if there was going to be another villain named “Sky Thing Shiny Adjective”, she had to be treated like Sunset Shimmer...but I’ll get into this later.
Speaking of Sunset Shimmer...the next “Equestria Girls” film was released soon afterwards. I had mixed feelings on it...but most of it came from the merchandise. Twilight Sparkle’s human counterpart was depicted with Alicorn wings, even though the film (and future installments) makes it clear that she isn’t yet worthy of ascension, like her pony counterpart. In “Friendship Games”, the climax reminded me of Princess Cadance’s ascension to Alicorn:
An evil pony enchantress named Prismia lived alone nearby. She rarely came out of her cottage because she felt nothing but jealousy for the other ponies in the village—the way they loved and took care of one another. And yet, she had nopony who cared for her.
Prismia always wore a powerful necklace, which she cared for more than anything else in the world, and it served to amplify the evil and jealousy within her own heart. When Prismia’s bad feelings and the power of the necklace finally overtook her, she cast a spell on the villagers that leeched all the love from their homes. She hoped to capture some of that love for herself. Everypony was distraught and sad.
Cadance decided that she couldn’t let that happen, so she went to see Prismia. Luckily, the
enchantress’s powerful necklace also amplified the power of Cadance’s love, and she soon defeated Prismia with her incredible gift of compassion.
Once Prismia changed her horrible ways, Cadance was surrounded by magical energy and transported to a strange place—a place that nopony except Princess Celestia had ever been! So when Celestia discovered special little Cadance in that mysterious location, her fate was sealed. The princess brought her back to Canterlot to raise her as her very own royal niece—the special and loving young Princess Cadance.
Sunset Shimmer, in a way, had her Magic amplified by the powers of Twilight’s amulet. She used this to reform Twilight. I was convinced that she was ready to become an Alicorn princess...but that didn’t happen. I felt like she was screwed as a character. But I shrugged my shoulders and told myself, “We’ll see what the next installment brings.”
Towards the end of my Fall semester, I saw the season five finale of “Friendship is Magic”. I was not happy with it. Starlight Glimmer had overreacted after losing touch with a friend, which set her on the path of destruction. But Twilight BEGS her to not destroy the timeline, and when Starlight agrees to not go through with her plan for revenge, she’s rewarded with the position as Twilight’s student. I didn’t care for this finale at all, or for Starlight as a character, but I gritted my teeth and told myself, “You know, maybe things will be different with next season. If she does end up with a lot of screen time, maybe she’ll turn out to be okay, like Sunset Shimmer. And hopefully Sunset Shimmer will get the recognition she deserves!”
But THEN...this happened:
So after Princess Mary Sue was added to sell toys, I decided I had had enough. Since her debut, I haven’t seen a full episode of “Friendship is Magic”. But once a fan, always a fan...I have read the descriptions of the episodes of season six and seven, as well as the “Equestria Girls” shorts and “Legend of Everfree”. In this way, I’ve kept in touch with the fandom.
But I couldn’t watch the ponies anymore without feeling sad about the decrease in the overall quality of the show. I’ve turned to other shows since then: “Steven Universe”, “Star vs. the Forces of Evil”, “Wander Over Yonder”, “Adventure Time”...and I’ve been focusing on the real world, now that I no longer face daily abuse. I felt like leaving behind the pony show was helping me...but I couldn’t leave everything behind yet.
Because there’s something I need to finish first.
I’m going to complete “Princess Rainbow Dash” soon. The chapters will cover everything up to “Twilight’s Kingdom” and “Rainbow Rocks”. I’m considering this act my farewell to the Brony community. My FIMfiction account will remain active, but once “Princess Rainbow Dash” is complete, I won’t be uploading anymore stories. If you all still want to remain in touch after my departure, you’ll be able to find me on other sites. This is my main fanfiction place now:
Lulu Calliope Archive of Our Own
Thanks for reading this rant/explanation/lengthy blog. Stay tuned for the next chapter of “Princess Rainbow Dash”!
Ah I remember this fic. It's been quite a while since I last re read it. It's a good time to do so again!
I get what you're saying here. Times gave been tough all around on my end too, and I actually deleted a few things I wrote on this site during that time as they were just reminders of how horrible I felt. Without saying too much, I know very well how that time must have been for you, and I'm terribly sorry there are such cruel people out there. I guess one of the only differences that even though I was disappointed to the same little annoyances with Sunset and the like, I clung to the show and just kept watching cause I had nothing else to think about or to escape with. Can't wait to read what you have planned for the remainder of this story.
I'm glad to hear that you're doing better these days, since I can sympathize and kind of empathize. I didn't have a lot of bullying in school, but I had no friends and was neglected on all fronts, having to weather everything on my own.
As for Flurry Heart: as many legitimate issues as there are, with and without context, her being a Mary Sue is a new one to me. I mean, she's a baby. Her being cute (adjectives may vary) and a plot device is cheap, and she puts into question/contradicts continuity or cheapens/muddles further the existence of alicorns, but she's treated as I'd expect a baby to be treated. It's certainly more appropriate treatment than what I got when I burned down my grandparents house (the hub of my father's side of the family) when I was three.
Anyway, it's nice to hear that you're going to finish something that you started. It's a good quality to have! That I get to benefit from it has nothing to do with anything.
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For me, Flurry Heart falls under the category of a Mary Sue because OMG SO UNIQUE AND PRECIOUS! Like other Mary Sues or poorly designed OC's, she doesn't look like any other pony. Why are her wings and horn so large? Who cares, it's precious! And that's the thing: everything she does is "pwecious" (like certain Mary Sues appear sexy or desirable, even if they've been through hell). But for me, the biggest thing that defined her as a Mary Sue was her power. OF COURSE she's going to be more powerful than most baby Unicorns. #AlicornsAreTheMasterRace OF COURSE she's going to be able to fly, even though she's less than a month old. #AlicornsAreTheMasterRace And when she sneezes or cries, she creates SO MUCH MAGIC OMG. And who cares if she destroyed the Crystal Heart, she's just a wittle pwecious baby.
...so yeah. I'm calling her a Mary Sue, and even if she may not be the textbook definition of one, she has a lot in common with them. And in any case, she's an awful character who was created to sell toys, and her ridiculous design isn't even making it subtle.
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I'm with you about shoving her in for toy sales, but that's the unfortunate state of the show in general: to sell toys and merchandise.
I'm still not seeing a legit case being made for a Mary Sue. Your personal hangups aside:
#1: She's scarcely a main character in one or two episodes, not a protagonist, is merely used as a plot device, and isn't treated in a way that's exceptionally better for a baby by the cast. "Precious" is pretty much an expected adjective for babies within the context of this kind of show.
#2: In this case, uniqueness is as meaningless as the fastest car that has no fuel, because it's been irrelevant thus far. Even if that changes, though, good storytelling (AKA explanation) can easily take this off of the Mary Sue table.
#3: If she had been exceptionally powerful for an alicorn, I'd be with you, but she's not. By this point I think most people have come to the conclusion that alicorns are generally more powerful than other ponies, and here she's only being compared to a newborn unicorn.
#4: Pound Cake was able to fly at least at a month old, and possibly sooner, so she's not one-upping a pegasus.
All that aside... If calling Flurry Heart a Mary Sue is a font of happiness for you, well, live and let live. I got to be selfish by giving an outlet to my Fact Nazi tendencies, anyway. However, my one real criticism of your response is this: "And who cares if she destroyed the Crystal Heart, she's just a wittle pwecious baby."
It's fine if you don't like her, but don't let it get in the way of your ability to reason. This is a baby we're talking about. She's a day old. We shouldn't expect her to know what she's doing, or being in control of her powers (beyond anything unconscious). She seems to be the first alicorn that's been born, so what to expect from her is limited on top of that. The other characters that had been present, as far as I'm aware, aren't mind readers. Just what, exactly, were they supposed to do about/with her after she broke the Crystal Heart, that she would be able to understand and learn from?
Anyway, sorry for derailing this thing. I wish you well and anticipate the next update to your story.
Man, sounds like you went through a lot.
I on the other hand have different opinions on the show, including Starlight and Flurry. For me, things are getting better and better as the series progresses, with the exception of a few episodes that I don’t really like all that much.
I’m sorry that things haven’t been to your liking as of late, really I am. I also just hope that you don’t hold my own opinions against me.
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Oh, no, of course I don't! If you still like the show, that's awesome, more power to you, but...just don't expect me to talk about anything past season five.
For me, the show ended with "Twilight's Kingdom". (Although some season five episodes, like "Amending Fences", "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" and "The Mane Attraction" were excellent.) "Friendship Games" was the completion of Sunset Shimmer's redemption and ascension; as a result, I consider it to be the ending of the "Equestria Girls" franchise. Like I said: if you really like show and movies still, that's awesome, and don't let me ruin it for you! It's just my opinion! XD
And as far as my personal life is concerned...I'm in my last year of college. I don't have a job yet, and my father essentially crushed my sense of self worth in August by saying that he and my mother are "prepared to accept that they're going to have to take care of me for the rest of my life". Like he genuinely thinks that I won't be able to get a job, my own apartment, get married, take care of myself and for my own family one day...so completing college and finding a job is my number one priority at the moment.