Help! My Heart is Full of Pony! - Angel · 2:55pm Sep 4th, 2019
Well, My Little Pony has gone and done the impossible: they reformed Angel. (Believably!)
True, he's hardly a villain, but for 9 years, he has still been a complete and total jerk - borderline abusive! And now, after all this time, he doesn't have to be that way anymore. It's the redemption story we didn't know we needed.
As Season 9 slowly wraps up all its little loose ends, it delights me to know that somepony took the time to say, "hay, what about Angel?" It blows me away that, for once, they redeemed an unfriendly character by actually addressing the root of the negative behavior, and demonstrating a legitimate path to reform - a real life solution! More importantly, it horrifies me to learn what Angel has been going through all this time. His brattiness, territorialism, his possessiveness over Fluttershy - it was all the desperate cry for help of a sentient being trapped in one of the most nightmarish situations imaginable.
Angel cannot communicate with anyone except for Fluttershy. At all.
It's bucking heartbreaking. How lonely a life this must be. How terrifying! To be so dependent upon the kindness of a single friend, that without them, you are utterly helpless!
Think about it. Angel is completely and utterly screwed without Fluttershy. No wonder he's so demanding of her attention. No wonder he lashes out when he doesn't get it. Looking back on everything we thought we knew about Angel Bunny, the entire series seems different now.
I'm not excusing Angel's abusive behavior, but rather, marveling at this new depth to his character - wondering what horrors lie inside the psyches of every soul (in real life) I've ever judged.
For our own protection, it is important that we draw boundaries, and not accept abuse from toxic people, no matter how much we may pity them. I want to make that 100% clear. That being said, my heart breaks for this cruel little bunny, and now, I'm also truly happy for Angel - the only character in the series who had to wait 9 whole years to learn how to make friends! He needs them more than literally any character we've seen so far.
Stay strong, my friend.
-Sprocket
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