My friend made this, it fills me with joy and good emotions. I think the idea of a "comfort character" is lost on a lot of people outside of fandom culture, and even to those within it.
With MLP G4 rising back into a viral sensation, a lot of people are using this to point and laugh at G5. "G4 got trending to beyond its peak in some spaces, and G5 is blah blah blah". That's fine, I don't think there's a problem with comparing old nostalgic good thing and new flashy 'not as good' thing. It's just part of our biology I think, to OVER value the old and UNDER value the new. But I do think a lot of the popularity G4 has been receiving recently is manifesting into people becoming bullies, ironically using the same lame talking points people did against G4 when it first came out and Bronies started leaving the dark pits of 4Chan. "The animation is bad!" "It's for kids" it's too this it's too that it's just trying to sell you toys. It's cute. It's funny. It's fun.
When I was 10 years old my best friend told me a story about a group of six magical ponies who went on adventures while we did classwork under the computer desk. It was so incredibly enticing, he would tell me all about the nerdy one, and the silly one, and the shy one, all of them. He would tell me about their adventures and I couldn't believe it! I laughed at them and I was so suprised that a show that his sister should be watching had them fight big monsters. He told me about Applejack, and I knew right then from the start that she was my favorite pony. She was a silly cowgirl who loved her family no matter the obstacle; and although I may have waivered, she is still my favorite pony to this day and forever more.
It's hard to properly explain well exactly WHY I love her so much. I mean, beyond why she's just my favorite character. Applejack is a lesbian orphan who grew up poor and has to raise her kid sister and has to struggle to be everything all at once and is constantly desperate for to prove herself and for approval because of her tramua and tries to be everything for everyone and still manages to smile and have fun. She grew up too fast and HAS to please everyone always. No job is too small to give 110%, and that includes jobs bigger than she can handle. The fandom called her the "mom of the group" and like yeah she kinda is. She basically was a mom before she graduated high school. She had to step up, and she did. I often think of the lullaby AJ sings to Apple Bloom every night when she tucks her in. Or the Apple Family Reunion episode. Or the entirety of Somepony To Watch Over Me. Behind that unwavering love there is fear, fear of time slipping through her proverbial (and non-existent) fingers. Fear of not making that 110% most out of every instant, fear of losing again.
AJ keeps it all inside, and in my giant list of things I wish they did an episode on, I really wish they did one where the lesson was it's okay to feel sad, sad about things even if they happened a long time ago. I think it would have worked really well with AJ and the rest of the Mane 6 in season nine. You can't keep it all inside, you gotta be honest with yourself. I guess that's what fanfic is for though.
Applejack is more than just a fictional pony I love, to me she is the closest thing to being real as anything fake can be. Seeing her, thinking about her, it literally makes me happy. It's like an old friend I grew up with over the last 12 years, and we still check in on each other time after time. No matter how much I change, she will always be the most loyalist of friends and the most dependable of ponies. I can count on her to be there by my side. Those crazy Tumblr folk are right, it really is more like a kinship.
I'm very happy my friend likes Misty, the same way I'm very happy my other friend loves Trixie, and Fluttershy, and Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, and Twilight, and Dashie, and all the other little ponies all my friends like. Finding that one character you can cling to and who speaks to you is magical.
Back in say 2013 or 2014, people did not love Applejack or appreciate her at all. She would be bullied constantly by fans and no one would take her seriously at all. That is no longer the case, and although she will never be as liked as the rest of her friends, something tells me that doesn't bother her too much.
I saw a lot of Misty hate online today, and I just don't get it. I've seen very little G5, but she's so cute and fun! I could have watched nothing at all and you know what, I bet she'd still be cute and fun! Because she's a magical pony. And she means the world to many people, and THAT'S awesome.
I think the idea of a "comfort character" is lost on a lot of people outside of fandom culture, and even to those within it, but I think it can be explained to people at least within the same fandom. I'd do it like this: "you know how we all feel any My Little Pony? Well, I feel that way about this character, within My Little Pony." These worlds mean the world to people, and so do three characters inside them. I know she makes me feel safe and calm, anyway. A little crazy, but so is all of this anyway.
I hope G5 only gets better, and I hope everyone stops being so mean to people who love their ponies a little bit different than what they are used to.