It wasn't 100% bullshit what some of them said. And it's true that we got more of the princess side of Twilight (as a device for expanding the surrounding) instead of the side of Twilight we knew and fell in love with in the first place (as a character itself). Of course back then they wouldn't have known anything about these, but their concern kind of came true on some points. That's a risk of any stories expanding. Season 7 finale got so ridiculous, reviving all the legend pillars of Equestria like Naruto and making up a cliched villain to fight an epic battle, all 14 ponies gathering around for the fate of Equestria. (btw that's also fulfilling the male badass fantasy.) Now it got too big, it can't shrink down anymore. We got to see Dragonball Z stuff at season 4 finale, but it was too much of a fan service. The show is most efficient at itty-bitty everyday Ponyville stuff. "The show is expanding" : Well, the show is being a more big scaled story, but I don't think it fits the show being that way. It's more like the show being good 'despite of' her being an Alicorn princess. If she wasn't an Alicorn princess, it would still be great. Thankfully it turned out that season 4~7 were very well made seasons, but actually the show being good had less something to do with Twilight being an Alicorn princess. And 'being a princess can obscure the nature of her'. The other aspect of the argument is 'Twilight was a good character because of being a smart pony who is good at using knowledge and wits to solve problems'. Again, there is nothing wrong about it, but making a good story should come first, and checking if it fits is also required. The reason behind Equestria Girl's premise was also marketing and to fulfill the female magical girl transformation fantasy. It showed how the studio could be a total disaster and incapable of writing a good story and putting wings made the whole matter look worse. We can also see, even how good the season 3 finale was, how rushed it is.Įquestrai Girls didn't help it either. And also, prioritizing anything but story would definitely turn them off. Fulfilling the princess fantasy was exactly like being a cliched girly cartoon for them. And lots of the adult fan base was into the show because the show had good story, surpassing expectations by being more than a cliched girly cartoon. There is nothing wrong about it, it has been working well long enough among human history and it still will be, but the show was about 'there are lots of ways to be a girl'.
To delve into it deeper, it's also about the female princess fantasy. The most obvious reason why people hated Alicorn Twilight I think is because it was a decision made based on marketing, not by prioritizing the storytelling. Hasbro toy department had a pressure to make a pink princess toy (we all know the infamous pink Celestia and how Luna was treated because she was too dark for kids) and for them, the fact that the princesses didn't appeared that much on the show, and the main protagonist was not a princess was a problem requiring an improvement. I believe any open discussion would bring us to a better state. And of course I am aware of lots of people hates or likes something for stupid reasons. I just want to analyze stuff. It might be good for our mental health, it would be easy for someone to think that way, but it won't actually explain anything and won't get us anywhere. I also don't like the 'haters gonna hate' or 'they are stupid, they would hate anything' kind of attitude. The time Twilight being an Alicorn in the show is longer than when she wasn't. It might be way too late to bring it up again and analyze, but this might be a good time to do it because no rabid fan who would dumb things down would still be around by now. It's 5 years since Twilight became an alicorn.