Canterlot High was irresponsible and Principal Cinch had a point (Friendship Games analysis) - please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this
Okay so before anyone says anything, I know Cinch is not a good person. She manipulated Twilight, she's arrogant, and the way she handled everything was wrong. But that doesn't mean she was completely wrong about the magic situation. Hear me out. The magic gave Canterlot High an unfair advantage The Equestria Girls' magic appeared randomly and uncontrollably during the Games. Whether they meant to use it or not doesn't change the result: they had supernatural abilities that Crystal Prep didn't have. Think about it like this: if you're in a swimming competition and someone accidentally has flippers on the whole time, it doesn't matter that they didn't put them on on purpose. It's still an advantage. The other competitors have every right to complain. The adults knew and did nothing meaningful This one really gets me. Vice Principal Luna didn't say "don't use magic." She told Sunset to "keep it under control." That's like seeing someone driving drunk and instead of taking their keys, you just tell them "be careful." They had already seen in previous films what uncontrollable magic could do, and still let those students compete. And the easy solution was right there: just don't let the students with powers participate. No giant plants, no portals, no Midnight Sparkle. A safe and fair competition for everyone. Where did Midnight Sparkle's magic even come from? This is the part the movie really glosses over. Twilight's device absorbed magic directly from the Equestria Girls while they were using it during the Games. So the magic that almost destroyed the world? It came from the protagonists using their powers in the competition. You can't really blame Cinch for unleashing magic that only existed in that device because the other team was already using it. The movie protects its protagonists from their own consequences Cinch saw girls growing pony ears and wings mid-competition and said "that's not fair." And the movie treats her like she's the unreasonable one. Both principals watched dangerous magic happen right in front of them and chose to keep the Games going. The difference is the movie only holds one of them accountable for it. Cinch was wrong in how she acted. But she wasn't wrong that something unfair was happening. Am I the only one who sees this?