Unpopular opinion time

@Itsthinking  
I both love and hate her in show characterization, mostly because of how she’s being handled as of recently in order to help progress the story the writer wants to tell and for no other understandable reason, which is Twilight gets a new kingdom, or Twilight learns a lesson, or insert Twilight achieving something as the result of Celestia’s questionable actions.  
It’s bad for her pre established character and it’s fucking redundant..
 
even that which you mentioned in the IDW comics strikes me as the same issue from the show, a writer using the character as a tool and not a character, in order to progress the story the way the writer wants to tell it, aka, romance.  
tbh, I’m actually more satisfied with the fact that IDW took her character and actually tried to take it somewhere, I don’t necessarily like what they did with her, but compared to the current show runner, that at least shows a great deal of more care to Celestia than I’ve seen in years from the show..

@toxicitzi  
“You may have taken my kid on a dangerous, high-speed drug run, but it’s the most action she’s seen in months.”

@PonyPon  
hey, if my kid was only standing next to a computer for over a year, that would make me somewhat happy.

@toxicitzi  
To be fair, a lot of the magically-talented are getting that characters are getting that  
Celestia is now a plot-driver  
Zecora was a convenient world-building excuse in S4 premiere  
Even Luna, the damn fan favorite since before she appeared on the show, has been reduced to somewhat of clone of her sister in her S3/S4 appearances

@Frank West’s Dirty Laundry  
IDW would like to have word with you on Luna.

@Villain Pony And my fists would like to have a word with them about her appearances there.  

@Villain Pony  
And I would like to have a word with you so that it goes full circle

@Frank West’s Dirty Laundry  
That’s one of my biggest problems with the show recently,making many side characters exposition devices and if they aren’t,they have minor roles.

@DJDerpy2013  
Yeah. Why don’t we get major roles by secondaries and antagonists like the Buffaloes, Chief Thunderhooves and Little Strongheart, and the Diamond Dogs?

@SeraphimDawn  
Hell,where have those characters been?That’s another thing I forgot,if they aren’t for exposition or demoted to extra,they’re forgoton from the show as regular one-shot characters,which is not the 1st show I’ve seen suffer from having interesting characters disappear forever.
 
Remember when the intro showed all those side characters this past season,when they rarely appeared and if they did they had little purpose?

@DJDerpy2013  
I had a thought about that just yesterday.
 
“For all the work they do to save the world, we don’t get to know it very well.”
 
Or maybe they’re saving the world, not the people in it.
 
Something like that applies here, I’m sure.

I think by now, the fact that the interesting supporting characters and the world they live are being utterly neglected in favor of close-ups of the mane 6’s faces is a very popular opinion. I say we start an angry mob.

@Bolan  
The familiarity is starting to breed some contempt.

@PonyPon
 
I mean, yeah we get it, their friendship is super important, that’s been bashed into our faces for 4 seasons now… but who the hell are all those other ponies? What do they do?

@Bolan  
Ambience not worthy of being considered pawns.
 
Ignore them! Your seven heroes are all you need!

@Bolan  
I say they should just drop this whole An Aesop thing, and instead, try to focus on better stories.
 
Those little whipper-snappers don’t need a show to teach them lessons. That is something they should learn in school or from parents and friends.

@SeraphimDawn  
I’d say from here on out we don’t need that format anymore. We and the kids have learned just about everything that needs to be known. How many more unique aesops can they squeeze out of this show now?
 
Hell, they covered just about everything including holidays in the first 2 seasons. They need to start livening up the mix with more character studies and small adventures or it’s going to get stale.
 
@PonyPon  
And if they don’t start deviating from the main characters perspective, I’m going to start getting sick of them. CMC episodes don’t count because those three are almost as overexposed, but on the filly level.

@Bolan  
Why should I care who those other ponies are? No. Really. Why? How does it improve the narrative, how does it avoid just being tossing away old characters in favor of the new flavor of the week?
 
I agree that the show needs to freshen itself up somehow, either that or end while it still has its dignity, but I disagree that taking the tactic of either replacing the main characters or adding a bunch of one shots is the way to go.
 
EDIT: I apologize for misunderstanding the gist of Bolan’s and Ponypon’s words. Left so their replies have context. The only thing I will say in my defense is that the general contempt for the mane six usually expressed here saddens me because I lack perspective. It makes me feel like people don’t like the show because of them and I feel a need to defend them.

Remember that the Simpsons started losing its luster when they decided to add so many new characters.

@gasmaskangel  
You keep thinking that new characters have to replace old characters. It’s not like that. Energy doesn’t leave the system, it just goes somewhere else. If you want it to be all about the 6 mane ponies and their dragon, fine, go watch the last 91 episodes. I’d like to explore some uncharted territory. We have the time. Applejack won’t suddenly become a background character just because Big Mac can suddenly speak for himself.

@gasmaskangel  
Adding isn’t what I had in mind.

@Itsthinking  
Or maybe it’s the fact that they are on their 25th season. YOu can’t stay fresh forever.

And remember, they plan to continue this show for five more years. If they keep the current style up for that long, this show is going to rot to its core.

It’s not like I hate the mane 7 or I want the series to focus a lot more on the supporters,but I’d like to see characters whom been introduced (examples:Alicorns,Cheerilee,Shining,ect.),or at least for the show to expand upon the mane 7 pasts.And I don’t mean adding new unannounced previously siblings(Maud got real lucky),I mean stuff like their childhood or their parents.We barely know about most of the characters life before the show,hell,we barely know anything about characters like Flutters or Spike.

@DJDerpy2013  
it can’t hurt.
 
I distinctly get the impression people avoid challenging me on Rarity. When I do want the truth and I want to test my tastes. I feel there are quite a few things she can improve on and I don’t want to be blind to more of them.