Pony Venting Thread

Mr.Myoozik
StarTrix Forever! - Derpi Supporter
Silly Pony - Celebrated the 13th anniversary of MLP:FIM, and 40 years of MLP!
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A Lovely Nightmare Night - Celebrated the 12th anniversary of MLP:FIM!
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Tree of Harmony - Drew someone's OC for the 2022 Community Collab

Music Connoisseur
@Northern Verve
I mean, I don’t blame people for already making comparisons between the two since like you said, it is making connections to FIM. My biggest gripe overall is the comparisons between the both of them quality wise since once again, G5 is just beginning and G4 has had a decades worth of material under its name does bring up some unjust comparisons to me. It would be one thing to prefer one over the other and to theorize what A New Generation could bring us with the connections it’s established.
Northern Verve

I can definitely understand you that comparisons on a quality standpoint are too soon.
G4 has a decade of material so it’s natural that the majority opinion is likely going to be that G4 is still better just based on the fact more people have seen it (Having been widely available in the early days when you could still get MLP episodes for free on Youtube where as the G5 movie is Netflix exclusive even if course there is pirating options for those without a Netflix account that really want to see it). This is an objective view on popularity even if someone did a more fair comparison by only comparing the G5 movie to the G4 two-part pilot and you come out with the opinion that the G5 movie’s way of beginning the series was better. More people have likely seen the G4 pilot then they have the G5 movie. Whether someone thinks the G5 movie is better or not then the pilot. The G4 pilot probably has a fair amount of more popularity. So most people are going to prefer G4
And when you get to considering the entirety of G4, it has peaks that G5 will have an uphill battle to match. And we’re not sure if it’s even an obtainable peak because part of FiM’s popularity was real lightning in a bottle stuff. The shock of a pony show actually having decently well-written and lovable characters plus a giant fantasy sandbox for all kinds of fandom material is part of what got it’s largest spikes. While with G5 since G4 existed, it’s no longer a surprise that an MLP thing has quality to it. Or looking at like this from the perspective of someone from a casual standpoint, back when G4 was new it was like “Pony show = good? Whoa! I better check out why this is all over the internet!” but now it’s like “Pony movie = good? Well… so was the previous show that ran for a decade.” The surprise good quality of a MLP-related media factor is gone, and thus might not bring as many curious eyes to it as G4 did.
And anyone who argues that G5 is already better has either a rather narrow view and/or became heavily jaded towards G4 for one reason or another. Because we only have one movie and the reasons for saying anything’s better then G4 might be speaking too soon. Such as the whole “Mane 6 eventually got flanderized, therefore they are less then the G5’s Mane 5 because we saw mostly their pro’s outside of Pipp (of which we saw more cons then pros. Or at least not enough screentime to really show off those pros) and Hitch (Who perhaps had the most balance of the 5)”. There’ll probably eventually be a time if G5 lasts as long as G4, that the Main 5 get exaggerated in some episodes or have an episode that doubles down on their flaws just like the G4 ponies had. So there’s alot that’s very premature at the moment.
So yeah, quality-wise depending which side you’re arguing for. If you prefer G4, it’s an unfair comparison for one movie to compare to a decade of media with an unobtainable peak even if G5 hits a good stride. And if you prefer G5 it’s too soon to not think that whatever flaws of G4 won’t happen again eventually for G5.
Though in an ironic sense, G5 itself is probably going to be on “G4’s side” on an in-universe sense of the argument since it’s going to (And basically already has) refer to G4 as if it was the good ol’ days. So it might be a little funny how those who prefer G5 will be all like “G4 had so many flaws, it really went downhill after (insert whichever fandom splitting moment is mentioned)” where as G5 itself is likely going to go like “It was a time where everything was perfect! :D”
QuirkyCapricorn

For my vent…Am I the only one who feels background pony naming has gotten lazier/less creative and cool this gen, in contrast to G4?
Back in Gen 4 we had names like Octavia, Lyra, Bon Bon, things that made sense and were good as names. Now we have names based on their accessories (like “Hat Horse” in French, calling the beatnik-wearing ponies something related to beatnik, or people trying to call the balloon pony Dream Works when as catchy as it is I don’t think would pass legal and is too much of a “This references something!” thing for my taste—not aying that my name for him (Ivory Cedar) is perfect or anything (I feel like Silver Cedar would actually work better for his mane, but I thought Silver was too close to Silver Spoon and Ivory sounded cool, plus I got the name combo from a generator and just liked it), but it’s spread around and at least sounds like a name and not just a reference to a real-life company) that make no sense as names parents would give their kids.
I know that technically Doctor Whooves is similar in the “referencing something” camp, but in that case the character’s entire appearance lended itself to the Doctor Who similarities and ended up leading to the fanon-made-canon on him being The Doctor as a pony. It’s not naming a character after a hat they’re wearing.
It’s not like ponies are born with accessories and clothes, so naming a pony after something they’re wearing seems lazy and ridiculous.
DerpyFast
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Non-Fungible Trixie -
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Wallet After Summer Sale -
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2018) - Celebrated Derpibooru's six year anniversary with friends.

And anyone who argues that G5 is already better has either a rather narrow view and/or became heavily jaded towards G4 for one reason or another.
This is me. As far as comparisons go, while it is a good idea to wait and see, it’s also not unreasonable to assume that a show will keep doing what it’s already doing. It’s also fair to make comparisons as long as you preface them with “so far”.
Because this is the second time I’ve gotten excited about a pony show that still has its whole life ahead of it. I made this post awhile ago, and any comparisons I make have less to do with objective, definitive quality, and more to do with how justified I feel about getting hyped.
I’ve been looking for an excuse to write up my comparisons, so here we go:
Big Questions
Back in Season One, the fandom wanted to know all about Princess Luna, the dragons, the zebras, the griffons. Aside from Luna, it’s clear that the staff didn’t have anything planned. In the trailer for A New Generation, Sunny asks “Why can’t we be friends anymore?”, which is really asking “what the hell happened between G4 and G5?”. While this doesn’t guarantee anything, the fact that Sunny basically asked the question on everyone’s mind makes me optimistic.
Speaking of species and big questions, it’s a bit weird that by the end of the first season, we were pretty much taking mythological creatures for granted, but were fascinated with Zebras of all things. I like that all the big questions point back to the three basic pony types, and to the current world’s history.
Worldbuilding
I’d argue Zephyr Heights already has more interesting worldbuilding than anything in G4. It incorporates an idea from ancient Greek theatre, Bread and Circuses, and the embedded meaning that Art Deco has. Even if that’s it, it’ll still be a shining example of pony-themed worldbuilding.
Ergonomics
They make it clear that ponies have magnetic hooves that can hold things, and those hooves have enough dexterity to solve a Rubik’s Cube. Everything in the setting feels like it was intended to be used by the ponies, and the rules for how ponies use objects are a lot clearer.
Alicorns
What’s the logic behind Twilight becoming an alicorn? Who the hell knows? What’s the logic of Sunny temporarily(?) becoming an alicorn? She re-united the three species, so now she gets to embody them. Bam! Simple.
Dead parents
Applejack’s parents were conspicuously missing from the family reunion in the pilot. It took them until Season Three to acknowledge them being missing, and until Season Seven to talk about them. Argyle’s death is acknowledged seven minutes into the movie, and we see exactly what an influence he had on Sunny, and more than a glimpse of how his death affected her.
I guess my point is that G5 seems to be better conceptually, or at the very least more in line with what I was hoping G4 would be.
QuirkyCapricorn

Too be fair, Gloomy Sonnet is one that makes sense to me and isn’t dependent on what she’s wearing (a sonnet is a song), so it doesn’t blatantly reference the subculture she’s representing which wouldn’t have been a thing she’d embody at birth. It’s a reasonable name.
I’m talking about a lot of the other names some people were coming up with based solely on what the characters were wearing or had with them.
Pony wearing a hat. “Let’s call her Hat Horse, in French! That’s funny, right?”
Two ponies made a Pegasus kite. “Peg and Sis because they made a Pegasus!”
Pony got his cookie stolen. “Let’s call him Cookie Crumble!” (Though this one isn’t as bad as the rest and it sounds like a realistic pony name, but it’s still an example)
Balloon pony has balloons. “Lets name them blatantly after a company that is a painfully obvious reference, wouldn’t pass legal, and would make it hard to search for that pony in art, all because of an accessory we’ll likely never see him have again”. I’d be okay with something Dreamworks adjacent if it were a little different, as I do like the first name Dream, but if the name was Dream Workstep or Dream Workshine or something added into that name, it could reference it without being blatant. As it is, it’s blatant.
I get that it’s hard to come up with character names. But names should make sense as something a parent would give their child. Basing their name after accessories is so line-of-sight name it’s lazy and uncreative.
At least in G4 the pony names were creative, sounded good, and made sense as names.
QuirkyCapricorn

That one I actually liked, because since ponies have some more human names in G5 Clyde is a perfectly reasonable and cute name that’s realistic for the setting regardless of the reasoning for it.
Background Pony #92F3
I don’t like Chancellor Neighsay, and not just for the reasons I’m supposed to dislike him.
I don’t like him because he’s barely even a character. He’s mostly a strawman who exists so Twilight can be in the right.
Latecomer

@Myoozik
How about comparing it to the G4 pilot, though? Or even the pilot plus Ticket Master?
@Northern Verve
Er, no. While connecting the movie to G4’s Equestria is a source of all sorts of issues, that the new generation would be compared with the old is not one of them, but rather an utter inevitability that I’m pretty sure people were predicting back when we thought FIM would end with 65 episodes.
(And here’s one such comparison - G4, unlike G5, did not introduce the characters and setting and then leave us without anything to follow up on that for months, or even a year. G5 has. I would say that G4’s approach is superior here.)
Latecomer

@DerpyFast
I do hope you’re right, even if my own hopes are somewhat lower. (In particular, as I feared, the setting seems as small and stifled as most non-pony homes were in G4.)
Mr.Myoozik
StarTrix Forever! - Derpi Supporter
Silly Pony - Celebrated the 13th anniversary of MLP:FIM, and 40 years of MLP!
Shimmering Smile - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of Equestria Girls!
Solar Hero - Went above and beyond for the Solar Deity, drawing from the power of the sun itself to bring balance to the fight against the Lunar Insurrection (April Fools 2023).
Flower Trio - Helped others get their OC into the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
King Sombra - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of The Crystal Empire!
A Lovely Nightmare Night - Celebrated the 12th anniversary of MLP:FIM!
Princess of Love - Extra special version for those who participated in the Canterlot Wedding 10th anniversary event by contributing art.
Tree of Harmony - Drew someone's OC for the 2022 Community Collab

Music Connoisseur
I leave for work and I come back with a lot to read and discuss, dug my own hole there.
@Northern Verve
I don’t expect G5 to reach up to the same quality as FIM was like the earlier seasons but it doesn’t need to. Like what’s been said again and again, A New Generation can be good on its own right rather than to be lived up to the same expectations as its predecessor since like you said, FIM’s success story was a lightning in a bottle story. To expect otherwise would only end up disappointing themselves unless they want it to be like the earliest seasons which could be possible but it is still doubtful.
It’s a pretty blasé opinion nowadays to say that the later seasons of FIM isn’t as good as the earlier ones, but that’s a given when it comes to long runners. If G5 gets to that same level, then who’s to say it won’t suffer the same fate unless they end it early by around its third or fourth season. I also get those who’ve become jaded at the decrease of quality in FIM but want to stay loyal to the My Little Pony fanbase and expect A New Generation to succeed to relieve them back to the old days of being new pony fans, but like you said, already saying that G5 is better than G4 is a pretty narrow minded view but what can you do?
Overall, I’m excited for G5 myself and I’m definitely going to stay in the ride when that time comes, but my heart will forever be in FIM despite its ups and downs and untapped potential that they sadly didn’t explore. Guess that’s normal for any other show, you have potential that you want to use but don’t end up using it for multiple reasons but I digress. FIM will forever be unmatched in the realm of animated series, but that’s not to say the other installments can be just as good.
@DerpyFast
I think that right there was a problem, expecting too much. Even scratching past the surface, FIM wasn’t trying to be some grand epic adventure in the same vein as Adventure Time or Gravity Falls despite the creative freedom they had with the source material. G5 will likely be the same or have the same story telling as G4 was, the only difference is that it has new writers with newfound knowledge on story telling skills. I’m just theorizing since there’s no way for sure and surprises could come from every corner. With that said, FIM was still a great show and we wouldn’t be here discussing with each other without it, and I think even with the unanswered questions, it shouldn’t ultimately take away the entire series itself.
@Background Pony #92F3
Just like Zesty Gourmand and how her character was just one big strawman for Rarity and Pinkie Pie to be right.
@Latecomer
Then that’s different, I was referring to all of FIM since that’s the comparisons I keep seeing the most.
Helix988

@Background Pony #92F3
This isn’t an original idea as I’ve heard this a million times from a ton of others, but I’ll repeat it here all the same: Neighsay and the school board should have been the season’s recurring antagonist as opposed to Cozy Glow. It wouldn’t have been the most original idea and wouldn’t have subverted expectations, but it would have made sense from a narrative stand point.
RogueBadnik
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).
Non-Fungible Trixie -
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Wallet After Summer Sale -
Not a Llama - Happy April Fools Day!

⌜Ω⌟
Just a question, but who is the “creator” of G5 show? Remember when everyone worshiped (and some still do) Lauren Faust due the changes of MLP? Who’s gonna be venerated this time? I havent heard of anybody yet.
Background Pony #5F4A
@ichiban iceychan 1517
Oh, I didn’t know the original creator of G5 is a dude this time.
I guess Hasbro is letting more men (and later adds a stallion into the mane cast) to involve into MLP ever since G4 days due to the very G4’s fandom back in its early days.
Cosmas-the-Explorer
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
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Explorer in Training
I’ve neglected my duties of watching Season 3 of MLP. I still have not watched that Lightning Dust episode. I need to complete my quest of watching every episode of MLP!
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