Hmm · 5:42pm Nov 28th, 2017
I got to thinking last night that I’m really hard on Sunshine.
So far, she’s been twisted into a demon, been kidnapped and mentally tortured, had a wing shorn off (it was made of magic, but still), been melded with her counterpart who was dating a different pony and was tipped in two directions, and told that she couldn’t naturally bear children.
I haven’t touched on her bullying from CPA since it’s a non-issue by the time Homecoming kicked off and she starts to be self-confident Canonically by Movie Magic to the same level as pony!Twilight more or less, not to mention the fact that their bond made some of Sunny’s confidence and snark bleed into her.
Thinking I might want to ease up on the girl. Of course, I did just start Entropy, so fat chance on that! She’ll be the royal consort for a bit.
Injury tally:
Sunset: abdomen scars from Acerak, some mental damage from the Conjunction, mild guilt at disposing of Neighlin like she did.
Sunshine: listed above.
Pony!Dash: broken ribs, legs, wing, cuts and bruises muscles from getting swept into rapids retrieving AJ’s hat.
Adagio: belly scarring from Acerak
Azure: broken hip and infertility, busted ribs, killed (got better)
Gleam: killed (got better)
Sorla: possessed, flash burned and blinded, kidnapped, physically tortured and interrogated, merged with an alternate worlds version of herself. (See Insurgent Thoughts by Wolfkin)
Chrysalis: went mad, got blowed into a subplanar prison
Sunny Flare: saw the pony counterparts of her parents die. They got better.
And that’s not counting what might happen in Entropy.
Other Continuities:
Fluttershy still contends with her Flutterbat form in the three nights of the full moon.
Tabula Rasa basically has no memories of her past.
Princess Luna: poisoned by a Tarrasque.
I’m horrible.
Well, they do say the essence of storytelling is “how can I make things worse for the character?”, after all.
To quote Pinkie(from Friendship Games), "Wow! That's a lot to take in when you say it all at once like that!"
Oh, and thanks for the nod!
4736815
No worries.
It's what makes for good stories, as Dave pointed out. While I thoroughly enjoy watching Sunshine make a nice Paella to share with her girlfriend, it's the hardships and struggles in your more epic tales that show us the real struggles they face and are so important. It's been long established that the magical world of sunshine, merriment, and adorable pastel ponies has a very dark side.
The show itself has to stay within certain boundaries for the sake of the younger audience mainly interested seeing their fantasy world of toys in cartoon form. You, however, are writing for adults who know full well what the real stakes are in life and the price that sometimes has to be paid so that others can prance around singing happy songs. Frodo Baggins saved Middle Earth for everyone else but lost it for himself and had to sail away to a land of solace. At least Sunshine and Sunset have come out the blazing furnace a bit worse for wear, but annealed into something stronger.
Keep going, Ally. You're doing some very fine work here.
4738481
I like the Frodo comparison. Thanks for the kind words.