Unpopular opinion time

@Latecomer  
Mostly I’m against telling little kids that whining to get their way is “witty and clever and how you outshine others” :/
 
They’re a lot less special though you gotta admit. They’ve gone from “these two mystical creatures are our leaders and they raise the sun and moon with godlike power” to “we need another princess can you swing by the convenience store and get another alicorn?” XD
 
@Meanlucario  
That’s totally true too. They got their butts wiped so many times that they’re debatably in the “weak” tier of characters XD

@Badumsquish  
But the get less special ever time we treat them as nothing special. Sure, the’re ponies like anyone else - but the aren’t, can’t be, ordinary.
 
(Well, unless Twilight deals with her immortality b cracking mass ascension…

@Latecomer  
I hope the comics will deal about Twilight’s “ascension” one day.

@[Ω]
 
Twilight ascended like 7 years ago and nobody’s bothered.

@Dustcan  
Well, apparently we still have another one, and is Twilight getting “magically streched”

@[Ω]
 
That’s not an ascension, that’s a growth spurt.

@Philweasel
 
Was this the fanfic in question?
 
(I’m at least 80% sure it is so)

@Badumsquish  
There’s more to stregth than just combat abilities.

@AC97  

 
Yeah, that was it!
 
I loved that story. A real blast from the past, 2013, goddamn.

@Meanlucario
 
Like how Cadance actually has a better onscreen track record than her apparently more powerful adoptive aunts, speaking of alicorns.
 
(no, seriously, after doing some thinking, I’ve decided I unironically likely would rather take her into a fight/war than Celestia and/or Luna; I think it’s a great expression of “Love” to be quite willing to fight next to those you care about, personally [not like she canonically has anything against killing if she has to, either]; probably doesn’t hurt that she seems to have an interest in magic in and of itself)

@[Ω]  
Deal with how?

@Philweasel
 
Yeah, it really was a classic.
 
…wow, actually seven years ago. How time flies.
 
pay no attention to the fact that I wasn’t watching MLP until like 3-4 years later

@AC97  
Seeing as Celestia has made a world where her citizens can grow and prosper without fear or restraint, you’re dreadfully underestimating her.

@Meanlucario  
There’s plenty to fear and a few restraints.

@WyrmSpawN  
Outside of bullies and other, much more aggressive races, I don’t see what you mean.

@Meanlucario  
All the monsters and stuff? And easily accessed magical dangers that go unregulated?

@WyrmSpawN  
Monsters will happen, since most of them are wildlife, and most of the magical stuff are sealed or hidden. Equestria is still a great place for growth and development, especially compared to the other nations and races. We also need to remember that the land isn’t overrun by the other races and wildlife, so towns like Ponyville have some protection, and were even created due to Celestia giving the Apples land for a farm. That’s more than any of the other races, or even Cadence, ever did.

@Meanlucario  
Monsters are one way Equestria is more dangerous than most first-world countries, though, since only a few of those have common serious predators of humans.
 
As for how much of Equestrian idyllicism can be credited to Celestia, or how much of it’s flaws blamed on her - well that goes into a lot of stuff well outside the scope of the show.

@Latecomer  
Equestria is also in a fantasy world, which naturally comes with magical dangers. And I don’t think anyone wants to cause an extinction.
 
I think the flaws are overplayed, especially the ones focused on her being defeated many times, which I think are counterpointed by there being others to win the day if she falls (not just the Mane Six, as the past-antagonist team and the Student Six has shown). It’s not perfect, but nothing is, nor should be for there to be a story worth telling.

@Latecomer  
Idk, this is more a personal thing. It bugs me that Twilight is as now taller than other common pony.

@Meanlucario
 
I mean, you aren’t wrong. It’s probably more likely she was a good ruler if Equestria didn’t fall apart under her solo millennium rule, than if she was an idiot, due to her likely having to deal with threats herself.
 
I’m mostly talking from the perspective of the show, and its onscreen habits, its Worfing habits (Celestia and Luna mostly tended to be effective in flashbacks), even if in the end, it can be argued that at least half of their respective losses came down to luck (or the lack thereof) and/or “the plot willed it,” or something along those lines.
 
In the end, I guess the point that could be made here (if anything) is that it’s a shame they didn’t get to do more cool stuff onscreen, but that’s just the nature of the show, and what fanfics are for.
 
Cadance is still an underrated character tho

@Meanlucario  
I think there are probably some creatures ponies could do without. And the dangers do affect livability.
 
And Celestia is beaten cheaply a bit too often, but that doesn’t have much to do with her quality as a ruler or Equestria’s as a country.

@[Ω]  
I don’t get it either. It was one thing when she got *slightly* taller after becoming an alicorn, but Celestia-sized Twilight makes no sense. Assuming an alicorn’s size is somehow related to their magic power, she shouldn’t be that big, she doesn’t have all of the Sisters’ power.

@GenericArchangel  
I don’t like the ‘slightly taller’ body either as it means she’s a bad vector reference, but also I just don’t think the neck looks good on her. Those are nitpicks tho I know.
 
But yeah, agreed. I think if they wanted to go with ‘taller and fancier’ they should have given her Cadance or Luna body (those are different, mind) instead. less jarring of a change.

@LightningBolt  
Honestly her normal alicorn body would’ve been fine if they gave her the wavy hair and maybe a longer horn. I actually really like the handful of shots where she got the magic hair, and I’m a little sad they didn’t use that beyond like one episode.