#I can already see twilight from mlp being added

[fluffypigeonsandowls]

Just some little drawings I did for fun because tumblr made me want to draw my past hyperfixations (they still kind of are and I enjoy their little fandoms on this app/platform :D) and my favorite character from each of them :)

characters from top to bottom:

Astérix (from “Astérix” ofc)

Geronimo (from “Geronimo Stilton” ofc :) )

Laval (from “Legends of Chima”)

and Farran Leafshade (from “Secrets of Elvendale”)

[taiblogcomics]

Party Crashers

Hey there, unconventional lubrications. You know how it goes around here. Whenever we get in a new shipment nowadays, it usually means there's also another finale right around the corner. And one good finale deserves another, yeah? So let's all get into that last issue of our MLP crossover~

Here's the cover:

So, for our final cover, should we include any of the G1 or FiM characters? Nah, let's go with the actual stars of this miniseries: the S'monies. Let's face it, they've gotten a lot more screen time and character development than any of the ponies this crossover was supposed to actually be about. Look at them, descending from on high into a nightmare circus or something. Dunno where that bright light's coming from either, but it does not seem suitable for these characters~

Do we need a recap? Last time, we finally crossed the generation gap and had North Star and friends come visit Equestria to help look into their Smooze problem. We now continue with that problem still ongoing. Twilight, never one to simply accept a problem without scientific research backing it up, conducts a live test of the Smooze infection on "volunteers" Minty and Lickety-Split. Hey, they're not from her universe. Anyway, the trial works, and Twilight demonstrates her conclusions as well: how to use the Rainbow Locket to remove the infection without harming the possessee.

A new wrinkle enters the plan, unbeknownst to our heroes: the witches Grackle and Dyre flip their way into Equestria. They maintain their human forms, which, if you may permit me a moment of fan...being, I guess is because they're not from the Equestria Girls universe? So only that dimension switches forms on traveling between it? Given Grackle and Dyre already being technicolour humanoids that even Doug would be proud of, they would've blended in perfectly as ponies. But I guess that would've been too much story to tell, seeing as we're on the last issue already~

Anyways, the witches enter Equestria and... are immediately sidetracked by the smells coming from Sugarcube Corner. Can you blame them, they've been living off witch food and volcano tacos their whole lives. They even say they completely understand why the S'monies went off-mission, if confronted with smells like this. The pair drooling over the window quickly gets the attention of the patrons inside. And even if they weren't Smooze-infected, a riot chasing the witches out of town was probably inevitable. A literal witch hunt!

While the witches regroup and eventually meet with Black Belle and Shadow Storm, Pinkie Pie drops in on Violet Shiver, complimenting her on taking the initiative to decorate. She even gives her a gift, an outfit to wear to the Bestie Festie that night. Violet is so touched she's teary-eyed. Now she's got the conflicts of interest, lamenting she hates the choices friendship makes her take. Fortunately, the choice is taken out of her hooves when she herself gets infected by her own Smooze decorations. Well, we've got our final boss for the crossover now~

Shadow Storm and Black Belle show the witches around town, pointing out all the destruction and discord they've sowed. However, when a riot breaks out around one of Black Belle's prized students (everypony's favourite babby changeling Ocellus), she quickly steps in to protect her. The lot of them duck inside an oddly abandoned-looking Carousel Boutique and put together a disguise for Grackle and Dyre. It's a two-person horse costume, and the colouration and star cutie mark make it look a lot like the G1 one character Majesty. If you don't know, do yourself a favour and go look up some old stories and comics with Majesty~

Our heroes, both G1 and FiM alike, also turn up at the party. Twilight gives an introduction, adding a shout-out to our G1 cast. Before she can turn the announcements over to Rainbow Dash, though, very suddenly the Smooze tentacles all begin attacking the crowd. A big fight scene quickly breaks out, with the possessed Violet leading the charge. She and Twilight begin fighting, while everypony else runs crowd control. Even Shadow Storm helps, tackling the witches to get them out of harm's way, knocking their costume off in the process.

Black Belle strikes against her own friend Violet to protect Ocellus and Yona, and Violet backs off, if only to taunt Grackle and Dyre. Is this the kind of revenge they had in mind, she asks the witches, showing the various ruins and entangled ponies. And Grackle literally ignites with rage. What she wanted was to make their moms proud. But you see, what had been a prison for the witches' mothers was a home for them. Heck, the exile had caused the daughters to be born in the first place. Was that so bad? And Grackle and Dyre stand with the ponies against the Smooze-possessed Violet.

Grackle uses all her dark energies to turn back on Violet and burn out the negativity of the Smooze, combining the final blast with the Rainbow of Light. The Smooze-infused decorations all burn out, and even the S'monies are all struck down. Without the Smooze, though, they begin to fade out. It's half their genetic makeup, and they can't remain. It's very big tragic, even with Pinkie still hoping to wear her matching "Best Friends" shirts with Violet. And Ocellus leans in to give her beloved teacher Black Belle a hug, and...

The S'monies do not fade out and disappear. The Smooze that was part of their genetic makeup may be gone, but there's still enough good in the three of them to keep them around. And they do still need the help at the school, after all. North Star begins building a bridge with the witches, saying that they're stronger than their moms because they could break the cycle of revenge. They're not sure where they'll fit in now, but anywhere's better than that volcano. They just need to explore a bit and find their place. And the G1 ponies also want to see more of Equestria before they go back as well. But that's another adventure, for another time~

This is an... adequate miniseries at best. There are certainly some good ideas in it! But it may have been too ambitious in its scope for only a 5-issue series, or it might’ve been rushed to an earlier ending than they hoped. I pointed out most of the problems in the previous review, and they stand true here. I do like the ending, though. Having the witches pull a heel-face turn and break the cycle of revenge is very suitable for this franchise. It’s also a kids’ series, so having the S’monies not fade away is fine and not contrived as it could be. Plus, I like a happy ending, and they did get the most character focus in the series. We’ve certainly had worse stories, but we’ve had a lot better too.

Next week, we’re not done with the generational theme in pony comics quite yet...~

[poisonedlovedarling]

My MLP Gen 5 movie review and hope for the future.

SPOILER WARNING!!!! Lol...

If you haven't seen the MLP Gen 5 movie please do so, and not just because there are spoilers ahead.

First off I can't tell you how much I love this movie. It's well made and written, the music is catchy, and the story speaks to the viewers without being preachy. Each character is relatable and loveable.

The movie was adorable, well animated and the voice actors amazing. Above all the animation was so amazing it alone carried the story where it sometimes faltered. The story was a bit generic and the plot twists weren't exactly hard to see coming. Yet it was thoughtful and each expression of each pony was carefully thought out. From the main 5 characters each having their very own mannerisms to unforgettable facial expressions.

I think they successfully brought MLP back by not only adding a male character who isn't toxic, i.e. Hitch. But by adding a girl character that isn't super feminine but also doesn't shy away from cute stuff, i.e. Zipp. A character whose love for flying is so pure it shines as bright as a rainbow.

This brings me to the characters and what I hope to see happen to each of them. As well as what Element of harmony I think each represents.

Starting with my fav and now spirit animal, Zipp!

Anyone who knows me knows I adore Rarity. She was always my fav, but I really identify with Zipp. This is amazing because my preconceptions going into this movie were that Zipp was going to be a Rainbow Dash copy, and she isn't!

We were comparing her to Rainbow dash, not only the cool style she has and her love of flying but honestly. Between Rainbow and Zipp, I like Zipp better because she's not like Rainbow. My favorite moments with Rainbow in OG series were when she wasn't all about flying, but instead, the episodes about her love of a book series were my favorite things about her.

Sure Rainbow loved flying, obnoxiously so at times which was her character. A confidant sometimes snarky character, and we love her for it. But Zipp, Zipp didn't grow up flying. Her love for it is almost pure compared to Rainbow's love.

Zipp had to learn other ways to glide, or imitate flying. Zipps pure joy at suddenly being able to fly is adorable. However with her character. I could see her spending days never touching the ground just because she'd be afraid she'd never get up again.

Zipp has insecurities that Rainbow doesn't have, and it's mostly because of how she was raised in the castle. Hiding the fact that she can't fly that she had to use wire. Her mother loved her but Zipp always comes second best to her sister. Rainbow didn't have that Rainbow was raised flying and told how good she was, that helped make her the confidant person she was.

In fact Zipps mother showed her love to her sister more than for Zipp. Who honestly seems fine with that because her joy in life is flying. Though it be nice to see in the future a mother daughter bonding about how she wants to be treated a bit better by her mother. To be listened to and not shut down. Like she had been in the movie.

Zipp knows everything about flying as shown on her calk board in the movie. Rainbow never really had that spark of passion. Zipp is more insecure in herself, so basically Zipp isn't Rainbow and I love her.

Now as for where her story may lead. The Wonderbolts! We know them we love them and Rainbow was one of them.

Zipp only knows about Wonderbolts from a photo and probably some of the history she's been told. In fact, I could see her wanting to be one just not in the same way Rainbow did. Rainbow wanted to be one to prove she was the best. Zipp doesn't have that kind of view.

Mostly because they don't exist anymore. They more than likely were disbanded or rebranded when no one could fly. I could see Zipp having a mission to start the team up herself, not because of the status or the idea that Wonderbolts are the best of the best. She'd more than likely start it make friends all in an effort to share the love of flying with everyone. I doubt all ponies who can fly will try to fly. Whether out of fear or lack of confidence in themselves. I can see Zipp using the Wonderbolts as a jumping-off point to help show what wonders the sky holds for ponies. To share her spark with them.

I hope they don't shoehorn her into just a pony that is a girl but doesn't like frills. I feel like Zipp isn't the holder of the element of Loyalty like Rainbow, but instead, she's honesty. She hated lying to people sure she'd never abandoned her new friends but she knows the value of honesty and the distrust lying can bring to a kingdom when the truth is revealed.

***

Now for our second Pony, we have the pony I think could be any of the elements of harmony but more than likely is the element of Loyalty. The ever-adorable Izzy who at first we thought would just be a mash of Rarity meets Pinky, to make up for the fact that there are only 5 mane characters. Her cutie mark being something crafty and her personality being very bubbly.

Honestly, she is adorable and you can't help but love her. If Zipp wasn't so amazing Izzy would be my fav. Although Izzy may have looked like she was going to be a fashionista or party pony. She was far from what we expected and we love her for being her own pony.

Her recycling is an amazing idea, being a crafty pony and making fun things. Is such a great idea and sets her far apart from the fashion ponies and party ponies. She is a loveable goof who is helpful without being pushy. Her pure joy in making things for friends is what we love about her.

In comparison, Rarity loved the praise her fashions got, a perfect dress for every pony, and to make them all shine was her goal. Pinky wanted to put smiles on people's faces with parties and jokes, she wanted to bring joy to every pony.

Izzy just wants to make friends and share her stuff with said friends. I could see her setting up a shop, she could sell her friendship stuff like the bracelets. But I think her joy in life will come more from sharing special moments with a small group that with love her for her. In all her shiny sparkle ways. I see her more like a pony who will start a business that will allow ponies to make their own memories rather than sell pieces already made.

Izzy is a ball of sparkles that I hope doesn't become a character that's just there for the giggles. I can see her being the element of Loyalty because once you're her friend you'll mean more to her than anything in the world.

***

Now we all love a good strong non-toxic character, big mac is a good example of this. Hitch is another. He's strong confident and yet kind in his own way. He is the ideal male character. Someone who will be the voice of reason without making others feel bad. He is compared to Fluttershy in most ways because of the animals and I do agree that he more than likely will be the holder of the element of kindness. Yet he isn't Fluttershy.

I think the fact that he loves every living thing and wants them to live happily and as equals, why he'll be the elements holder.

Hitch unlike Fluttershy isn't an animal caretaker, but a protector. He has a stronger voice than Fluttershy, he won't back down from a challenge if it means protecting anyone or any creature that is under his care. He is a welcome addition to the pony cast. Giving the little boys who love ponies a pony that isn't a girl, but also isn't just a background character.

Sure the stereotype of the Sherriff being a male pony is a little, overdone. Yet Hitch is a kind person who only wants to help and protect and he does things even if he knows may not look cool because it make a friend happy. Like the scene where he does the secret hand shake with Sunny. You just can't help but love Hitch and hope he isn't to be the only male in this group for the entire show. Perhaps getting a male friend probably a unicorn or another creature like a dragon to balance the main cast.

I hope in the future we get to see just how he protects not just his friends but every pony without being aggressive but by being kind. Showing people like Sprout that there is away to help without overdoing it or forcing it.

***

Then there is Princess Pipp who I think is the holder to element of generosity. She is a girly girl but also speaks to the Gen that she is aimed for. Always on social media and on her phone. She's a soft jab at how the real world is in a way. Sure she could be compared to Rarity, but her love for music and phone sets her apart. I can see her story being about who to make the world better. Showing how the effect of love and humor can altered those around her.

We know Zipp is next in line for the throne, so what does the future hold for Pipp. Perhaps a career in music or something about how no matter how famous and rich she becomes it doesn't help with her sense of completion. How her close friends are where she'll find true happiness while helping others find that same sense of belonging. Will she help those around her by giving them what they not just want but what they need. Weather they know what that was or not. That's what I hope to see in her story.

The good and the bad, the outcome of just handing people something like fame or a big break. Learning the lesson that you can fail at what you don't want and might as well take a chance at what you love. I can't wait to see what they do for our new princess.

***

Sunny...what to say about Sunny? First she's not Twilight, in any way shape of form. Sure she got an alicorn body at the end of the movie, but that doesn't make her a princess. She is a good example of the fact that this isn't gen 4.

On the subject of her new horn and wings. I doubt she'll keep that form. I wouldn't mind if she did because it's cute but it also doesn't seem fully deserved. Sure she brought magic back, but she played no more a bigger part than Izzy. If anything Izzy played a bigger part. Izzy ventured out while Sunny only took the time to change her corner of the world. Sure I love Sunny her story is amazing but I feel like she needs more fleshing out. Like the world she leaves us with so many unanswered questions.

Sure I love that she was an activist and protester, she went about trying to spread love without really being pushy. Which is nice she was amazing and you can't help but love her. Yet she seems too naïve, her gaining the abilities of someone equal to Twilight seems a bit much. In fact the only element of harmony I wouldn't give Sunny is, magic.

She's funny but the element of Laughter isn't her goal. She wants everyone to be happy but laughter isn't what she's after...lol...She's kind but Hitch is more suited for that element, just like Loyalty is Izzy.

Sure Sunny would never leave a friend behind, and Loyalty is rather close to being the element for her but she also understands after years of bullying that not everyone is her friend.

As for generosity, she isn't exactly someone to just hand things to people without thinking. She'd happily give someone a cupcake but I doubt no matter what would happen she'd never hand over her note book or father necklace to just anyone because it make them happy. As for honesty she lied to Hitch her friend without remorse, enough said about that.

Now that leaves only magic, sure her pure hope for friendship and to find a place among her kind is likely to be equal to magic. I don't think the element suits her. I think if anything Sunny is the seventh element the lost element of harmony.

The element of Acceptance.

(Also seen in MLP Equestira girls being Sunset shimmer.)

I think in the future I want to see Sunny spend her time uniting the world, making friends and helping everyone learn the new world that she has set in motion. How she will show the world that their is a value in friendship. I also hope she seeks out the truth about the past and answer the many questions movie gave us.

(Sorry for the long pose... But why don't you tell me what you think in the comments. What would you like to see in the upcoming show and what element you think each character might be.)

[tirimsil]

“Alicorns” are dumb

Please see “How fantasy works: Symbolic magic / thematic magic” for context.

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In Friendship is Magic, there are four basic pony races, defined here as cartoon horses who normally have cutie marks:

Earth pony, look like normal cartoon horse, much stronk, good w/ plants

Pegasus, have wings, can stand on clouds, fly, generate wind currents

Unicorn, have horns, can do telekinesis & other magic stuff

Stronk + wings + horn, eventually called “alicorn”

When the show was first conceived, the only “yeah I’ll take everything” ponies were Celestia & Luna, the mysterious Princesses of Equestria. There was no special term; both were considered unicorns in early promo material.

Lauren Faust made them like that to symbolize that they were unbiased representatives of all three pony races.

Because they were all three races at once, and so far as anyone knew at that time they always had been, and they were the only two around, they could not be racist in favor of their own race.

... of course, due to Half-Elf Syndrome, this would not completely stop racists from hating them for being two-thirds another race... but it’s a big help.

Now let’s get into the nomenclature of “alicorns”...

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The word “alicorn” originally referred to the material composing a unicorn horn, or to an entire horn intact. In ancient times, swindlers would pass off various animal body parts as alicorn, claiming that alchemical mixtures containing it would promote health and long life. The most popular actor to play alicorn was the spiraled tusk of the narwhal, and today unicorns are almost exclusively depicted with very similar spiraling horns.

Sometime around 1984, fantasy author Piers Anthony re-appropriated “Alicorn” as the personal name of a specific winged unicorn; he apparently saw it used in reference to a statuette of a winged unicorn in an ad, and had never heard of the word before then.

Anthony was a prolific enough author for this errant usage to quickly spread into the fantasy vocabulary of several languages - as in, several besides English, the only language where the word already meant something. Like “Pegasus”, it quickly changed from the name of an individual to the name of a species.

"Alicorn” eventually found its way into the brony fandom, where it became one of those words used obsessively to make sure everyone knows you know the word exists, even though Celestia and Luna are all three races and not only the two covered by the term, and the show lifted it from there.

Oh, right, let’s talk about that.

───────────────────────────────────

We’re all aware that Twilight, originally a unicorn, later became an “alicorn” (with the first in-show use of the term uttered by Rarity) thanks to a Deus Ex Machina. “Here’s a song, have some wings, OK bye”.

I got childishly butthurt about that like everybody else, but I realized in hindsight that it should have been very predictable: The most popular MLP toys were always the most princess-y ones, and Twilight was the main character and easily the most popular of the six both with little girls and with poonhounds, so of course they’d make her a Princess (at least in form) so they could release a whole second toy to make, to use the industry term, “a buttload of money”.

Twilight transforming into an “alicorn” was only mildly a problem unto itself:

It questioned the viewers’ natural presumption that “alicorns” were always that way and not a transformation to begin with.

It threw off the balance of two to a race the main characters had.

It worsened the narrative underuse of Rarity’s unicorn magic by making her even more obsolete in favor of Super Twilight.

It was a very clumsy end to a very clumsy season.

Still, it opened the door for further alterations to the “alicorn” concept.

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What walked in the door was Cadance. She ruined everything.

Faust originally designed Princess Cadance (supposedly a royal family member) as a normal unicorn, the same way that Prince Blueblood (supposedly a royal family member) was a normal unicorn. I distinctly recall Faust’s immediate reaction to first seeing Cadance with a horn and wings was grumpy drunk-Tweeting, but don’t take my word for that.

The spinoff novel Twilight Sparkle & the Crystal Heart Spell, which was obviously written to send back in time to a little girl from the mid-1800s, clarifies that Cadance was born as a pegasus. She just kinda worldspawned in the woods like Minecraft. She beat an evil witch with the witch’s own magic that Cadance turned into love magic despite not being a unicorn and then Celestia showed up out of nowhere like Gandalf to just POOF make her “an alicorn” because apparently Celestia can just do that.

Also Cadance is adopted.

The adopted pegasus is an “alicorn” whereas the actual blood relative of the “alicorns” is just a unicorn. No wonder Blueblood has nothing but contempt for all living things.

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The malafest pit of corruption that is Cadance’s uterus had to make her kid (Flurry Heart) “an alicorn” right at birth.

Celestia and Luna said they’d never heard of a pony being born as an “alicorn”, which means Celestia and Luna weren’t born that way either.

This destroys the entire reason “alicorns” were ever conceived.

If Celestia and Luna were once any of the normal three races (presumably unicorns), then they are no longer race-neutral; racists will still treat them like the race they started as, and the public can accuse them of bias in favor of their original race, all the same as if they were never “alicorns” at all.

Of course, Twilight (unicorn) and Cadance (pegasus) would suffer the same obstacle, with a mild advantage to Cadance in that what her original race is may not be public knowledge since that happened off in the magic fairy forests of horse-Germany and only Celestia, Princess of Trolling, is a credible witness.

Only Flurry Heart, 15+ years down the line, could reasonably claim to be race-neutral... but who’s going to believe her? That’s never happened before. The greatest living minds and oldest memories of Equestria, Celestia and Luna themselves, said they’d never heard of such a thing. The public will much more likely forget any proof they ever had of Flurry Heart’s birth and presume that, like every other “alicorn”, she wasn’t originally one and that she’s trying to hide “what she really is”.

After all, racism is founded on delusion; it doesn’t matter what race Flurry really is, merely what parody of race she can be plausibly dubbed as.

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Race-neutrality was the only reason to have any “alicorns” at all and none of them can fulfill that purpose; not even the one who’s actually race-neutral.

Here’s what we got in exchange for that blunder:

Absolutely nothing

"Alicorns” gained no consistent lore or mechanics for how they occur, nor any clarification of how or even whether they differ from unicorns in magic or from pegasooses in flight.

There is no clear meta-reason why the writers even need them, other than as bland children of destiny, drivers of toy sales, and general fanservice.

None of the events centering around the game of Who’s The Next Alicorn adds anything particularly profound or even consequential, and none of the characters seem to really give a damn about “alicorns” in general. Nobody is even all that surprised to see Twilight’s transformation; they just go “Wow cool!” and roll with it. The only strong reaction is the characters’ horror when they see Flurry Heart’s wings and realize the show officially doesn’t give a shit anymore about making sense or having cohesive themes.

It doesn’t even benefit the people who make bad Mary Sue OCs on DeviantArt, because they were already making “alicorn” OCs when it was only Celestia & Luna. That’s where the show got the term from, after all.

What a complete waste of potential.

[stagmanparty]

So I finished watching MLP Season 8 and...

….it´s actually not bad.

Yeah, I´m the first to admit I have to eat my words and agree the show hasn´t really gone down as much as I thought after the movie. I still hate it but the show itself remains good. Yes, there are more than a few mediocre or outright horrible episodes there but the good ones more than compensate.

I do believe that Dubuc is kinda out of her element on ponies, which may explain her use for an entire new cast aside from hasbro´s orders. The friendship school thing is done better than I though tough I still think is kinda stupid at moments.

Overall the balance is...fine.

I was expecting worse but it was an okay season.

I do hate that they explicitly mention the events of the movie but they´re STILL refusing to acknowledge the Equestria Girls ones. Come on Mccarty, stop being embarrassed ot the BETTER story!

Below the cut is my personal opinions of each episode with a dose of sarcasm if u want to read them but for the season as a whole I´ll give a 7/10 it was regular to me.

701-702:  “Girls, I want you all to work on my new school!”

“We have lives, Twilight”

ROLL CREDITS

So this wasn´t bad. I though Twilight was gonna be more selfish but she actually makes some fair points and owns to her mistakes here. What´s funny is that she doesn't act this way the rest of the season…

I still think the students are kinda lame but I like how they interact with each other and the episode itself was well handled.

Still, Twilight isn't perfect either since she refuses to have zebras or buffaloes or talking cats on her school. Hell, there aren´t even crystal ponies so she´s almost as bad the racist snape guy.

Kinda standard but good episodes.

7/10

703: “So sis, when are you gonna leave?”

“The town?”

“The show…”

I said it once, I´ll said it again, Maud overstayed her welcome. She´s no longer funny and feels like a creator pet by now.

That said the episode itself is actually really good.

Confalone GETS pinkie and gives he an actual character and this was honestly better handled that with Twilight.

Hell for a second I thought Pinkie was gonna have to deal with her own since her meeting with the guy has all the elements of a meet cute scene =P

I could live without the stupid opening scene but it seems even Pinkie realized Maud was being offensive to her audience there…

A really fun Pinkie episode to add to the pile

8/10

804 “thank you for calling me, Rarity. I can surely help you with all my sewing knowledge”

“Oh for this episode I´ll need you to forget about all that, darling and be completely useless”

So yeah, this was a waste of time.

So the mane six can´t help Rarity with her store but have plenty of time to go yell at Fluttershy?

And if Rarity hates the ponies of Saddle Row so much why does she enve sells them clothes?

I actually hate how they´re all portrayed cause they´re feeding the stereotype that people into fashion are shallow and petty and the whole point of Rarity´s character was to subvert that!

I only laughed at one joke in the whole episode.

So yeah another terrible fluttershy episode to add to the pile

2/10

805 The real reason Rainbow flies so fast...to escape her gay for applejack thoughts.

So a perfectly okay episode.

In other seasons it would have gone unnoticed but in this one it stands out for having solid writing.

It was fun and rainbow was very likeable here since she honestly seemed more concern about the grannies than anything.

It feels a bit stretched out but this is normal for a pony episode.

I do hope she kicks Applejack's behind the second she came back to town though…

A fun Rainbow episode.

7/10

806 “Girls, while you wasted time trying to help that kid with divorced parents I acciBURPddentally destroyed a scared statue so we better run, you bastards!” then Twilight pulls a rick an actually leaves them behind =P

SO yeah a complete waste of time.

I understand the point but it doesn't work for me since it seems like they made the problem way too simple.

I also dislike the hippogriffs on principle since i find I them really lame characters so…

Oh and this episode has the WORST song in the entire show. Hell is not even a song, is just words with music behind it.

So yeah, pretty lame episode.

2/10

807 “See Twilight, Sunset would have just told me things straight to my face! Then try to stab me in the back but the point remains…”

I already talked about this back when it aired and yeah, my opinion hasn't changed.

This isn´t a Celestia episode, is another of Twilight´s poorly made panic attacks ones.

We learned absolutely nothing about Celestia, she learns nothing at all and we wasted twenty minutes of our lives.

For a fan of the character, waiting nine years for this is nothing but an insult.

The saddest thing is knowing that the show will end without having a proper celestia episode.

So yeah, a total waste of time with only the adorable sunbutt to save some face

4/10

808 “You noticed all the wanted posters for you on the way here, Starlight?”

“No, actually not”

“yeah me neither, good thing you´re friends with a princess…”

Really, how come Starlight is NOT a wanted criminal? The episode could have dealt with her hometown disowning her but nope, is just a kinda lame sitcom situation.

Hell, it would have been better if we´re told the parents hooked up and now Starlight and Sunburst feel all kind of awkard but nope.

i suppose there´s like a moral lesson in here but the episode was so dull I don't even remember it.

It could have been a better story but it amounts to nothing.

3/10

809 “And to think this all started over a parking lot…”

“you don´t even need the parking lot, Rainbow!”

THAT would have been a better premise…

So yeah, remember season 1? Cool ,cause this is the exact same episode. Nothing new added and nothing interesting happens.

Go watch the leaf episode instead, is way better.

3/10

810 “Wait, Big Mac has a what now? How come nopony told me? Do I look like a jealous sister or something?”

“the shotgun isn't helping, AJ…”

Have they really interacted these two? I mean, don´t want a repeat of the same storyline. Infact, showing that Applejack and Sugar whatever get along well will be an interesting episode.

Far more interesting than this for sure.

I was bored the entire time and shut up, sweetie Belle. You'll be lucky to have Snips…

Another time waster.

2/10

811 “Spike, can´t you just masturbate like a regular teenager? I mean you have your own room now so it won´t be weird for me anymore…”

Again, remember season 2? Go watch that instead.

It even made more sense back then but now spike not knowing “how to dragon” has become a huge plot hole cause there´s absolutely no reason for him not to know these things so this entire conflict is pointless.

Oh and him having wings is something I don't really like.

Explain how he didn't have those during season 2 when he grew, hasbro! ANother lame Spike episode to the bad spike episodes pile.

2/10

812 “Girls, you rather go to a school where you dont´do any homework, play games all day, het to eat delicious food..actually I´m leaving too, school closed!”

So yeah do they do anything at Twilight school other than waste time? No wonder the CMC want to go there! Wasting time is their entire MO nowadays since they have their marks!

Prety standard episode, is honestly just to introduce the villain.

The only really fun thing is the “your mom” bit, I would have approved her out of that alone.

It´s okay, sadly can´t say more.

6/10

813 “Evil clones, what was I thinking? Dinosaurs, that´s a proper supervillain plan!”

MEH I mean it´s an okay episode but when you get to it is just repeating stuff from the first discord episode, nothing new. nothing gained.

That should be the motto of this season.

MEH

6/10

814 “Discord, what part of go to hell don´t you get?”

“The part where you forgot to tell me to stay there”

This episode is horrible!

What´s the moral lesson, be an asshole and get away with everything?

WHy the hell does Starlight apologizes? Why is HER problem that Discord feels bad? The idiot should take it on Twilight and she ahs a perfect reason not to let him in the school..Discord is an asshole! As this episode demonstrated!

Can he just...leave, please?

Worst episode of the season.

1/10

815 “Twilight, shouldn't we invite Zecora one of these days?”

“You wanna explain Kwanzaa to the viewers, Rainbow?”

ZZZZZZZZZ

Oh what? Oh yeah this episode.

Look I get the point and being objective there's nothing wrong with this episode but my god, tiw as boring!

Just the same bit repeated over and over and over and over…

Whatever, technically there's nothing wrong with it but I didn't like it.

6/10

816 “So mono means one and rail menas...no wait, wrong scam. Calls dismissed!”

“Slow down bro, so who´s the princess of friendship then?”

“The one with the eyepatch!”

“BLAST!”

So...a perfectly normal episode.

Again, this show always suffers from not having a b plot going on so the conflict get  a bit stretched but as an episode, it was well done.

Hey snape is right that Friendship IS a weapon in this universe, glad someone finally mentioned it.

There´s actually a good moral lesson about how no matter if the lessons are good if the methods are fraudulent which coming from Hasbro is the ultimate irony.

Flim Flam are kinda overdone at this point but it still works.

7/10

817 “Remember that time you left me in the desert with pinkie?”

“Oh sure, everything looks bad when you remember it…”

Actually a pretty good episode.

I mean the premise relies on twilight´s students being borderline sociopaths (guys, is not that complex of an idea, friends can disagree on things) but the episode itself it was really fun and the Raridash wa adorable.

I honestly liked it.

8/10

818 “I mean we could have get you a teacher and encouraged to get better through a montage but insulting you and hurting your feelings seemed like a better idea, pinkie”

Way to handle a problem, girls!

What part of this is supportive” pinkie? Your friends were assholes to you that made you feel bad so you stop bothering them and then come looking for you because is a problem for THEM?

There´s a better lesson about admitting you may not have the talent for something, which is a lesson that kids DO need to learn but since the problem is solved with a “who cares?” the moral lesson doesnt´work and nobody really learns anything here.

Who approved of this crap?

2/10

819 “I say someone must have  said a funny because your mother is in stitches hahaha! I´ll leave you to your grief, Starlight.”

Finally a good episode!

Actually an excellent one. Coupled with a catchy song and really good dialogue, my man Haber can make a really good episode when he wants.

I have zero complains this was the best episode of the season.

10/10

820 “That´s it I´m taking you to your parents or in its defect your lesbian aunts that cannot be seen in the show due to television censorship policies!”

I´m sorry but cootalo was a brat the entire episode in need of a good spanking.

Rainbow did absolutely nothing wrong and that gid set gogin around here is full of lies.

If anything she was a bit rash over the fact that yeah, the little girl she sees a sister suddenly is throwing her away...again, cause she did it with the maredowell thing also. Funny they didn´t mention it, probably to appease the fandom.

As an episode is nothing bad, Rainbow actually comes out great here so yeah, Scootaloo, you're grounded..as in put in a hole in the ground.

Good episode

8/10

821 “All me friend are long dead…”

“Yeah yeah, lovely. Fill this form here, big guy…”

What's wrong with Twilight this episode? Why is she such an insensitive idiot?

It was pretty clear the obvious solution was just giving him a classroom with no walls and guess what, that´s what she does alter on so what gives?

And why are SPike and SMoulder allowed to burns the school every day?

An dhow come Rockhoof has no job in “modern equestria”? there used to be plenty of things wanting to eat the ponies every week, did they disappear in between seasons or what?

Really stupid episode that only works by everybody bieng assholes to an actually nice guy.

2/10

822 “Look at the bright side Rainbow. We got replaced by a new cast but at least we didn't die horrible on the movie like the transformers did…”

grumble grumble this is actually a really good episode.

I mean I could argue they have already dome similar stuff but it make sense here. The tree of harmony finally gets some light on it and this actually helps make the students look less lame by giving them character so...yeah, it´s actually really good.

Damnit.

9/10

823 “Oh shoot we forgot to invite them to the school!”

“It's okay, Twilight forgot to invite like half of the country as well…”

grumble grumble another really good episode!

I honestly though this episode was gonna suck but it turns out to be one of the best.

It´s obviously a previously unaired episode that they managed to shove into here but is actually a really good so I have zero complains about it.

The kirin is actually really cute and I liked the song so…

9/10

824 “So kid have you seen stuart little?”

“No.”

“Then this whole thing is gonna be new for you…”

So yeah...as an episode is okay but I´l argue that even the target audience could saw this coming a mile away.

My only real problem is that Spike barely apologizes to TWilight despite hurting her so much. Why is he such a brat? Twilight is nothing but a loving and supportive sister to him, look at that opening scene, si so lovely an touching!

Why does the show keep treating Twilight caring for her sibling and treating him like an equal as a bad thing? She even offers to let him go and learn more about his culture, she is supporting and loving why do they keep treating her like she´s doing a bad thing? and again kind of a big plothole nowdays  with dragons going around Equestria with no problems.

Other than that is a fine episode.

7/10

825-826 “Since we´re stuck here where the little filly´s room?”

“There is no little filly´s room in tartarus…”

“NOOOOOOO!”

Really, who built this prison Barry allen? Give them a bucket at least .

Again...actually really good episodes.

The action was good,the stakes were high, while that poor manticore shouldn't be there I still like the good detail than monsters have been kept her since past seasons and than the mane six honestly don´t hold a grudge against them, hope there´s an actual redemption arc down the line and they don't just forget about them like with the other villains,

Speaking of that, Cozy is probably the best vilian on the entire show.Hell, she´s better than Thanos cause she doesn't have an stupid justification, she just want s POWAAAAA! And she´s damn adorable and effective, she almost won.

Still They missed a chance to say that the missing magic was going to the human world to tie things up with Equestria girls for once and who the hell delivers letters to tartarus anyways?

The finally more than makes up and gives almost everyone a chance to shine so I like it. The mane six were treated with a LOT more respect than in the damn movie that's for sure.

Good solid episodes.

8/10

So that´s season 8, is not that bad honestly.. Had they had a better focus it would be better. Continuity is still a bit of a mess and just saying past stuff doesn't count but hey they´re trying.

Now I have like 40 Equestria Girls episodes to catch up though…

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff ~ Stray Thoughts -{MLP} Fake It ‘Til You Make It

I hate that I watched the Boss Baby series yesterday and now I’m coming back to Fluttyshy getting into business. [sigh] Let’s do this.

Aw yeah, her animal park. And all the animals are happy! Even Angel. Oh, joyous day.

Rarity, how dare you? Also I surprisingly got...

This wonderful shot

Fluttershy tries and I love her for it

Sassy Saddles? I FORGOT YOU EXISTED!!

Pie season? Oh no, there be stooges about!

Twilight’s making a curriculum? I thought she had that covered

My Little Pony: Friendship is Having a Last Resort

Wait, wasn’t this season gonna be about friendship school?

Rarity, those backdrops look the same

Oh no, the first customer I see, and I already want her gone.

Know what I don’t like about customers? Being unnecessarily demanding.

“Are you asking me how to do your job?” Well, instead of yelling at her to get what you want, why don’t you go look around to find what you want first? What a bitch, am I gonna have to deal with ponies like this for the entire episode?

Conquering shyness doesn’t equate to knowing the fashion industry and how divas are in a sole minute, Rarity.

OH NO! I can’t....Rarity, please stop standing like a human. I don’t wanna imagine you having a crotch any more than usual

I forgot she had other workers besides Sassy Saddles.

FLUTTERSHY AND COON FAMILY CELEBRATORY REUNION HUG!!!!

A light teal suit? Nice. Niiiiiiice.

2nd customer in, and he’s already a douche. Who cares about thread count? What, are you gonna flex a string theory around it? God, I wanna slap him. Where’s Yona when I need her?

Fluttershy trying to act like Rarity. This is the most glorious of days. And she looks lovely, too.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Bluffing Your Way to Success

Fluttershy is with looking stern like how I am trying to look interested around other people

I’m surprised that customers didn’t care that raccoons were in the shop

Ugh, yelp reviewers! Somehow less worse than critical blogs. Glad they added that scene with Rarity, though

I hope when I get a job, I can bullshit my way around a sale.

SCREW YOUR RULES, I HAVE PINK HAIR!

Don’t push it further, Fluttershy. You’ll become them.

She just threw a whole rack on her head. HO HOOO

Okay, I am digging this one pony’s clothing. The red top, blue short bottoms with the waste scarf and gold bracelets and necklaces. I’m diggin’ it.

Oh no, she stumped Fluttershy, and is looking good doing it

No. Fluttershy, no. Don’t go the way of the stereotypical post modernist, gentrification loving, Buzzfeed worshipping millennial.

Fluttershy said..... WOKE. Thank you Hamilton, somebody came around

Holy shit, the edge. Surprisingly less edgey than Varian from Tangled, but still. (And he has a snowflake cutie mark. Oh. Wow.)

Fluttershy is rocking the goth style

NO! I knew this was gonna happen! Flutters has become an REALITY TV CHARACTER!!!!

Flutters just committed hate speech. I don’t know how to feel about this.

My Little Pony: *sniff* Friendship is Consuming Yourself to the Dark Side

I mark Spike playing Charades as a highlight of this episode

Okay, I’m getting a mimic madness style personality crisis. I’m scared how she’s able to change clothes that fast.

“That is hate speech, Templeton.”

Fluttershy has become more of a friendship villain than any other. I’m actually scared.

I love that the same customers are still at the shop, now getting shitted on for being there too long

So that’s it? Just fire all the “characters” and real one comes back? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmkay. Honestly, makes sense here.

Where did Softpaw get a respirator?

FLUTTERSHY AND COON FAMILY CELEBRATORY FORGIVENESS HUG!!

OOOOOOOOH, Rarity made Flutters a goddessssssssss! I got butterflies in my SMILE!!!

YEAH FLUTTERSHY!!! SHUT THAT BINCH DOWN!

You’re still the best, Fluttershy, never forget that.

Good episode overall.

So what did we learn, ya’ll? We learned that, in retail, customers can be fucknuggets and you should never be submissive to their commands. Yet, you also should never let your assertiveness towards customers get the better of you because you’ll not only lose your identity in lieu of somebody you think is better suited than you, but unintentionally lash out on the ones you love. Stand tall and proud, yet never stop being respectful.

MY LITTLE PONY: Friendship is Saying “Fuck You” Responsibly

[princess-of-the-corner]

Okay, so, a while back I did an MLP Headcanon on Dragons. And while I mentioned it there, I want to talk a little more about Dragons and their hoarding tendencies/Greed.

So, a lot of this has to do with Dragon’s Magic. Dragons have some spellcasting abilities. Obviously they Fire abilities(fire breath, heat/flame immunity, being able to warm themselves in the cold unlike other reptiles), but they can do other spellcasting as well. 

For example, Spike’s ability to send letters through his firebreath is a spell. Celestia taught it to him when he first became Twilight’s assistant(Because while she could’ve done the journal thing like Sunset had, Twilight was more likely to accidentally ignore messages for a good read). The spell also has variations like an alarm sound to get the attention of the one it’s sent to(because again, Twi and her books.)

They can obviously cast several other spells as well, but I’m not going to go into a list of what all they can do. Although, out of all creatures that can do Spellcasting, Dragons and Unicorns have the widest range of spells. 

Dragon Magic is closely tied to emotions. Different emotions create different spells, that sort of thing. It’s different than Crystal Pony emotional spellcasting, having more of a range of ability than just elemental, and the fact that they can’t sense emotions or radiate them. 

However, like all creatures whose main magic is tied to Emotions, there are downsides/dangers. For Dragons, it’s Greed. As a species they already have natural hoarding tendencies, so using Greed Emotion is easy for them to slip into a bit of madness. AKA, Greed Berserkers, which is what Spike did in ‘Secret of my Excess’.

They can still use Greed in spells, it’s just a bit dangerous. I mean, to put it one way, how about I quote the most appropriate character? Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist. “Greed may not be good, but it’s not so bad either. You humans think Greed is just for money or Power, but everyone wants something.”. Essentially, they’re allowed to want, allowed to use that emotion, but they’re more likely to go out of control. 

Now, I’ll come back to the Greed Berserker in a bit, because first I need to talk about Dragons and their hoards. 

All Dragons have something they like to collect/hoard. It’s not just gold and jewels either. In my previous post I referenced those drawings of ‘Uncommon Dragon Hoards’, and it’s pretty accurate to what I mean. Dragons just find something they like and start collecting them. They’re very protective of their hoard, and care for it well. That protectiveness can be a little overboard sometimes, making the Dragon upset and sometimes aggressive when someone messes their hoard, but it’d take a lot for them to attack. 

Here’s where the differences between regular hoarding and Greed hoarding come in. 

Regular hoarding involves the Dragon collecting a specific set of things and treating them very carefully. However, a Berserker will take anything and everything, not caring for the state its in. While a normal hoard can be one of gold and jewels, a Berserker’s hoard will likely have a lot of gold and jewels because those type of things can survive the Berserker’s roughness. This is why the ‘hoard of gold and jewels’ is considered ‘common’. 

I made the example before with the red Dragon in ‘Dragonshy’ and the green Dragon in ‘Owl’s well that ends well’. The green Dragon is a Berserker while the red Dragon is a loner who just happens to have a hoard of gold and jewels. 

(Side headcanon, the red Dragon’s hoard is actually (mostly) legally gained. Some he found dropped or abandoned, some was pirate treasure(I said mostly legal), and some he actually sells stuff for. Alchemists, potion makers, apothecaries and the like will pay a lot of money for various Dragon parts (Scales, horn and claw clippings, etc.).)

Overall, Berserkers are also much more beast-like, not quite sapient anymore. The only thing that matters to them is collecting their hoard and keeping it. They’ll attack anything and anyone that messes with what they’ve collected with no mercy. It doesn’t matter who it is. Even their loved ones aren’t safe from them. 

Meanwhile, as I said before, while a normal Dragon can be overly protective of their hoard, they do still have their minds. They can, you know, realize they’re being overprotective and not murder their cousin for touching their teacups. 

It’s difficult to get a Dragon out of Berserker mode. Loved ones have the closest chance to being able to talk some sense into them, but are still in danger. In theory, if you can disrupt their Magic somehow, it would return them to normal. Going back to when Spike’s situation with going Berserk, it wasn’t just ‘liking Rarity’ that snapped some sense into him, but also her Magic as the Element of Generosity. (She didn’t realize it, but she was tapping into her Element Magic when she talked him down, and essentially Generosity cancels out Greed.)

Now, onto some other headcanons, important Dragons and what their (normal)Hoards are!

Spike - Some think it’s books, since, you know, he’s a lot like Twilight and does live in a library too. But actually, his hoard is very strange. Spike’s hoard is friends/family. 

As I said, it’s very strange because unlike other hoards, he can’t just put them all in a room and protect them. Well, he can, but they might not like that. But his hoard is a bunch of sapient beings, some of which he doesn’t see often. They’re spread out all over the world, and even in another Dimension(Or in one case, other Dimensions and Timelines).

It makes him more and less dangerous when someone messes with his hoard. On one hand, he won’t be upset if a stranger interacts with them, and he does, you know, recognize them as sapient beings that can do whatever the hell they want. But when it comes to the various villains that wish to cause them harm, the usual feelings of ‘I want to protect them because they’re my friends/family and I love them’ are enhanced by the Dragon instinct to say ‘those are Mine!’, and it can make him more dangerous in battle.

Ember - This is mostly because I find it funny. So, Ember didn’t really /have/ a hoard before she met Spike and started interacting with Ponies more, and going into Pony towns. 

She has a hoard of plushies. Everyone finds it adorable and she’s grumpy about it some of the comments, but she just finds them so cute she can’t help but collect them. 

Torch - Oddly enough, his hoard is scepters. Well, scepters, staffs, wands of sorts, any kind of Spellcasting stick is added to the collection. His hoard is smaller since, well, those type of things are hard to find without stealing them. So he either has to find one abandoned(like, some kind of Daring Do-esque treasure), or shrink down and go into a town to buy one. Well, I say ‘buy one’, but it’s rare to find one in a shop. Maybe some kind of secondhand shop or something, but usually to buy a Magic Scepter/Staff you have to commission someone with the specific skills to make them.

The Bloodstone Scepter was strange to him, as part of him wanted to consider it part of his hoard, but it’s only temporarily his due to the fact that he’d have to give it to his successor. To consider it part of his hoard would count as ‘stealing’ in a way, and as I mentioned, only Berserk Dragons steal for their hoard. 

Garble - He likes rocks. I know you’re probably expecting him to have something badass or ‘edgy’ because he’s in that ‘asshole edgy teen phase’ or whatever but no. He just likes rocks. They’re not even gems(well, some are). He’ll just be walking along and see a cool looking rock, pick it up, and take it home. Honestly? relatable. I’ve done that. One of the cool rocks I found was actually a lighter. not the weirdest thing I’ve found on a walk. That goes to the bag of cooked pasta on the side of the road. 

[m3atl0afman]

My Thoughts Regarding Raven VS Twilight...

So at the end of the Season 5 premiere of ScrewAttack’s DEATH BATTLE, it was revealed that the following match was going to be featuring Raven, of DC Comics’ Teen Titans, facing off against My Little Pony’s Twilight Sparkle.

As a fan of both characters and the idea of the match, many have actually approached me wondering what my thoughts are on this upcoming episode. I grew up watching Teen Titans and people know me for being a brony, so one can imagine I would be excited.

Unfortunately, and perhaps to the surprise of some, I am actually... honestly not happy. For a number of reasons.

Now just a disclaimer, I am a fan of DEATH BATTLE, and this column is in no way meant to come off as negative or disrespectful towards the showrunners, RoosterTeeth, and others involved with the show. However, I do feel the need to express my extended thoughts on this matter, as unknown to many, the announcement of this episode... kinda unintentionally threw a wrench in the works. Also, please be aware that I’m not writing this article with the intent of seeking sympathy; I would like to think of this more so as an informative “what could have been” type of entry. You’ll see why momentarily.

So... I’m going to drop one heck of a bomb. This is something I wouldn’t normally do, but I figured because of how rather... coincidental this ended up being, I may as well be open about it, especially as some of you are probably going to want to know more reasons as to why I wouldn’t be happy about this episode being produced. For those of you who follow what I do, I think you guys will understand instantaneously when I post this one image:

...Yeah. This was... originally going to be a future episode of Crossover X’s Battle Royale. Not a bonus episode, not a Patron-Punch Out or anything; a full-on researched episode planned for our first season. ...How awkward. Heh. (Side note, yes I did get permission from my partner and higher-up to openly discuss this.)

Now just to clarify before a particular group of people jump to conclusions: first of all, yes, this is something we had planned months before DEATH BATTLE announced it. And no, DEATH BATTLE did not "steal" our idea. They couldn't have, as no one outside the team has access to our private documents and no one afaik has really talked about this match outside our team. In fact I’ve been told that apparently this was actually a popular suggestion among fans, and it’s possible DB may have even began developing this long before us. Really, this is all one big coincidence. A pretty shocking and surprising one at that. And so with the episode becoming a DEATH BATTLE, it seems like it’s no longer on the road to being a BR.

That said, I did want to do something interesting to commemorate both the cancellation and announcement of this match: the behind-the-scenes development process!

Firstly, just to show the proof that we did have this planned long before DB announced the episode, here are a couple of screenshots that date how far back we're talking:

This here is the project folder where most of the assets were kept. Sprites, character renders, etc. Kept this on a handy flash drive.

This is the research document put together in anticipation for the BR episode.(For some reason, someone switched around their positions in the thumbnail and title, even though properly it would have been known as Raven VS Twilight.) Because I spent a number of years looking into Twilight through the show, as well as various threads on different websites, I was able to contribute a wealth of information to her side of things. Additionally, I had acquired every episode of the Teen Titan animated series, as well as access to the tie-in comics made for the show, and was looking through the first season for Raven.

Research and assets weren't the only thing I was contributing to the episode however. I was also in the process of creating unique sprite edits for Twilight.

To explain, Twilight Sparkle was originally a unicorn before Season 4 of the Friendship is Magic cartoon. After the Season 3 finale, she had become an alicorn and acquired a pair of wings, granting her flight (and making her slightly taller). Unfortunately, there aren't really many (if any at all) sprite sheets specifically of alicorn Twilight. At least from what I was able to find. Sheets do exist of unicorn Twilight however, but her new wings would have to be manually added.

These are sprites from urimas, who was originally making these for a now cancelled MLP RPG fangame. Since the cancellation, the sprites were apparently made available for public use as long as credit was given, so I selected these sprites for the battle. (The art style may seem familiar to those who have seen Starscream VS Rainbow Dash: this is the same sprite artist who had made those sprites for Rainbow.)

On top of that, there were additional assets released that allowed others to add wings, a horn or more to custom made pony sprites. Using those wing assets, I recolored them and applied them to Twilight, though my job was not finished here.

For those who haven't noticed (at least if you’re an enthusiast of the show), the style of wings are actually that of a standard pegasus, but they don't match that of Twilight's wings: they take on a unique style all their own. And I did not want to do the character injustice by just lazily leaving the sprites as is.

So I began work on redesigning her wings and applying them to each individual sprite. Thankfully, while there are no sheets of alicorn Twi, there were plenty of other pixel art and renders of her for me to study and recreate her wings from.

Overall this is something I've been working on for almost 3 years. These were originally meant for use in Timmy vs Twilight, a researched fight I'm writing for DeviantArt, and were also used in Spike vs Bowser Jr as Twilight makes an appearance in the fight's story. When I learned that my desired fight for Crossover X's Battle Royale was greenlit, I immediately got to work to revamp the sprites' wings for the animation.

Raven was actually the third opponent I had in mind for Twilight. Originally I thought to Hermoine Granger from Harry Potter, but then realized it wouldn’t really be a fair contest. A popular suggestion I’ve seen from fans was Robin, the avatar from Fire Emblem: Awakening vs Twilight, which ended up being my replacement idea for a good while; but then I learned my friends and co-workers on the team had other ideas for Robin, and it also didn’t seem likely he/she would have been able to easily counter Twilight’s power either. At least from what I gathered. So I settled with Raven, but only her animated counterpart like how Fatal Fiction approached Starfire. Which made the match all the more closer and interesting in my opinion.

I had a lot planned for the fight itself, including the plot, character interactions, ideas for how the battle would've ended for either character winning, etc. I even had something special planned in regards to who I wanted to bring on for voices, and hypothetically, a particular real-world location this episode could have premiered at.

Buuut sadly, from the looks of things, it seems like we probably won't be handling this episode anymore. Welp.

[throws all of that work and plans in the garbage and sets it ablaze]

...Nah, I kid I kid. But still, it is pretty shocking and also disappointing to me because I had such high hopes for making it one of Battle Royale's best episodes despite how one would have viewed the announcement of such a match.

Now I know some of you guys are probably going to go "So what? Why not just go forth with the episode anyway?"

Well honestly, I don't know how we can. I imagine some are going to see it as a sort-of "response or disagreement" to ScrewAttack's version of the episode. Some are gonna call it unoriginal. It's weird too because when I pitched the episode, I DID NOT THINK this was a match-up the folks at SA had any interest in doing, given that at least from what I've seen, it hasn't really popped up in many areas as a popular suggestion. The match-up obviously has its close, tight connections. I guess I just underestimated the power of fans in this case.

At the same time, I can't say that I don't have my concerns for the episode. I won't cite who, but I've been told that the research being utilized for Raven will be that of a composite, and not specifically the Teen Titans animated series, an incarnation of her which is arguably more closely related to Twilight than the others. This raises concerns as the mainline DC Raven, at least from what I’ve been informed (I could always be wrong as reports are conflicting) is pretty powerful, quite possibly way too much for her opponent to handle, which kind of ruins the idea of the match for me. Not even because Twilight may potentially get stomped, but for the fact that it’ll feel like another “David vs Goliath” match where David sadly loses and faces a horrible fate for the enjoyment of others.

This was my worst fear of the match going in, which is why I wanted to limit Raven to just her animated counterpart, who is already impressive enough on her own and actually makes the match more closer. I'm not sure why different versions of her are being involved, but it is what it is. (And yes, I know DEATH BATTLE often involves multiple continuities in research, but there have been instances in the past where a character was limited to a single continuity and its tie-in media, especially due to differences in interpretation and for fairness on both ends.)

I'm surprised that Raven wasn't pitted up against other popular opponent ideas for her, such as Marvel's Scarlet Witch (whose movie counterpart will be reappearing in Infinity War this May), or Jean Grey (who is the focus of the upcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix film releasing in November). Opponents such as them probably would have justified the decision to use mainstream Raven, but I guess they wanted to take things in a different direction, and I guess doing another Marvel vs DC fight after Black Panther VS Batman could have been jarring to some viewers looking for variety. I'm additionally surprised that we're getting another MLP character so soon. Twilight is someone I have wanted to see (and also use) in vs matches, but I didn't expect to see her in the second episode of Season 5.

I will be pleasantly surprised if Twilight SOMEHOW pulls this off (the only way I see how is through hax abilities, but even then I do believe Raven holds the speed advantage). I also imagine DEATH BATTLE may not be including the x4 alicorn boost, Rainbow Power, or anything else that could help Twilight. But honestly, at this time, it's really hard for me to believe Twilight stands a chance. Which is kinda disappointing.

Then again, I don't know what the plan for the episode is beyond that. I'm currently unsure if I should even watch the episode, but I will come to a decision before it comes out.

Still, to those in charge of the project from a research, animation, production, performance and direction-standpoint, I wish thee well with the episode. I'm personally uneasy with the initial direction the episode is heading towards (which could be my bias talking honestly), but I'd rather not let that blind the creative freedom of others. Even if said freedom could potentially lead to the undeserving, gruesome (but at least non-canon) death of one of these characters.

...Now I just need to find out what to replace that BR episode with. Months of planning and preparation are now down the drain and I need a new idea and strategy. I've been given suggestions on what to replace it with from my team (who have been supportive of me upon learning the bad news; love you guys & thanks again ❤), but I'm not sure yet. I guess until then, stay tuned?

[Shout-out to DJ for proofreading this post and Strunton for the DB thumbnail.]

[marvelandponder]

This Month’s Theme is...

Whoops... my Sunset bias is showing.

In my defence, Sunny’s colour-scheme is the most Octobery without using colours I’ve already used for banners (purple was taken last month, orange was taken in July because I didn’t plan these well lol). But hey, you know I’ll take any excuse to use this movie-style Sunset vector by Lime-Dazzle!

Anyway, October is finally here! And at the time of this post, the movie is only 3 days away!!! Even though Sunbutt Jr. there likely won’t have a cameo (PROVE ME WRONG, HASBRO), I’m beyond excited to see the show we love so much on the big screen.

And, of course, that means there’ll be Year of the Pony stuff to go with it, along with the FOUR character spotlight days I’ve got planned for this month!

And, behind-the-scenes, all the prep-work will be done to start work on a story that, while in development, is called Twilight’s Exile. You won’t see the finished product until December or January, but I like teasing stuff all the same.

And, as an added bonus, I plan on finally bringing back the Top 10s and the Elements of MLP! Because that series died way too early for my liking. I’ll be picking up right where I left off, with this:

(Very spoopy, non?)

I’m also working on the mini-reviews as we speak to finally catch-up on my backlog of season 7 reviews.

And, yes, there is a reason I very much want to get those reviews done. It’s because this October is absolutely packed with Pony, starting the month with the mcfreaking Movie, and ending it with the season finale of season 7 (which is said to feature a character I’ve been dying to see)!!!

October Airing Schedule: "Once Upon a Zeppelin" - October 7, 2017 "Secrets and Pies" - October 14, 2017 (Uncommon Bond may or may not air in Canada on the same day) "Uncommon Bond" - October 21, 2017 "Shadow Play" (Part 1) - October 28, 2017 "Shadow Play" (Part 2) - October 28, 2017

When planning out this year, I knew from the start October would have to be a sort of climax to everything. I have post-season fun planned to keep November and December from being boring, of course (I once teased that I would do a top 10 for every season of MLP, culminating with a top 10 of the series, for instance, that’s in November), but this is the month I’ve gotta be on my game.

As always, how much of my content that comes out depends on how much I can reasonably do, but this is basically the finale boss battle. This is what this year’s been all about.

- Marvel

[ask-de-writer]

INSURANCE! : A Grumpy Goat *tail*(Part 9 of 18): MLP Fan Fiction

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INSURANCE!

A Grumpy Goat *tail*

Part 9 of 18

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

28307 words

New to the story?  begin reading from the start, HERE

© 2021 by Glen Ten-Eyck

All rights reserved. This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions, provided that such things are done without charge. I will allow those who do commission art works to charge for their images.

All sorts of Fan activity, stories, art, music, cosplay or any other activity is actively encouraged!

///////////////////////

We went our way as soon as I changed back to my usual handsome goat self. The armored wagon was waiting at the railroad station. The station itself showed signs of the recent riot. There were broken windows and dents in the woodwork where stones had been thrown. A torch had been tossed onto the roof but had rolled off and guttered out on the stones of the pave.

We went around to the station platform. There had been some rioting here too. We were none too early. We could hear the engine cylinders puff-hissing as the engine was braking from her top speed. As she pulled up to the platform, her big double cylinders releasing a near continuous blast of steam as she braked, her slowing drive wheels making a metallic scream against the iron rails, the engineer brought the machine to a stop exactly at the platform. Medics in Ponyville Principality Marines battle dress came from the station and waited by the armored freight car.

When a sentry on top of the car cleared it, the sliding door of the armored car opened with a bit of a squeal of metal.

The medics went in and shortly returned carrying two on stretchers. In response to Romaine's penetrating questions, they replied, “No, their injuries do not appear to be serious. This is just a precaution until we can get them properly checked out. They were injured during the attempt at an ambush.”

After the casualties were taken care of, the car clerk emerged with my shipment acknowledgment. It stated the amount loaded aboard the train, that this was a transfer, and shipment would only be complete after a matching count done at Ponyville Trust and Loan. Being careful that I was signing nothing else, I put my signature to the document.

The unloading was well underway when a small crowd began to gather. A half dozen armed and armored Twilight's Royal Guard stepped out of the Station. Crossbows were readied while the crowd watched. Several of them quietly put aside cudgels and other such improvised weapons.

When the loading of the armored wagon was complete, the Guard followed it to Ponyville Trust and Loan. We all arrived just in time to see Windy emerge, a smile on her face, and trot off in the direction of the Assembly of the Twins.

Mister Greenbriar came out to watch the unloading with me. He gave a sideways smile as he whispered, “We followed your instructions, Mister Wholeheart. The paperwork for acquisition of Windy's land will be done in only two more days. We have already contacted Houser about rebuilding her place of business.”

I replied, “Good. I will be so glad when the last of this windfall is safe in your vault. You already have my permission to use up to 60% of the total for business and personal loans. I do know that you will use it wisely.”

With a sideways grin, I added, “Oddly enough, you already have in your vaults more gold than those crooks in Equestrian National have in theirs! They got caught being part of defrauding policy holders at Canterlot Casualty and Life. Now they get to pay on the policies that they tried to withhold or reduce payment on. Mine isn't the only big one, either. Just the biggest and first to be paid.”

Mister Greenbriar gave a considering glance at the bulk of the Equestrian National Building, several blocks over and a block or two up. “From what I have been hearing, there is a good chance that they my be forced into bankruptcy. Do you know anything about that?”

“Not really. I know that Celestia is auditing them and has found a direct connection between CC&L's bad policy payouts and EQNB. There is something about a land grab in Bleatin' Hallow that I know that they were involved in and I heard Celestia say that she had uncovered a literally treasonous plot to defraud the Kingdom by the sale of substandard supplies to the Baltimare Naval Yard.

“About bankruptcy, I don't know. A major shake up for sure, perhaps even a full restructure of the bank. I personally think that last is the most likely. The EQNB is too valuable to the kingdom as whole for many large and widespread operations to allow it to be entirely destroyed, for instance, the Royal payrolls and benefices for the Royal Roads, the Equestrian Defense Bureau, and civil retirement benefices paid all over Equestria.

“Now CC&L is a whole different kettle of spoiled fish. If they just set up a trust to honor all of the current policies, they could wipe that nest of vermin off the face of Equestria!”

My money seen to, I trotted on up to Caramel Treat's for the snack that I did not get earlier! I was surprised to be greeted warmly by a pony that was not Peanut Brittle but one whom I recognized.

Windy bobbed her head politely to me and asked politely, “Good day, sir! Welcome to Caramel Treat's Sweets! What can we get you?” I could see Peanut watching, with a smile on her face.

I nodded politely back to her and pointed, “I am a regular here. If it has not already been taken, I usually sit there.” As she seated me, I added, “I would like to start with a big Trottingham Clotted Cream milkshake. For my meal, the clover top burger with the house special big onion rings and sweet/sour dipping sauce.” I paused, pretending to read her name tag and added, “Thank you, Windy.”

I watched Peanut showing Windy the ropes about tray setup. Shortly, Windy returned with my big milkshake. As she set out my shake, she informed me, “Your burger and onion rings are cooking now and will be ready soon.”

I nodded, “Thank you, Windy. You are doing a first class job.”

Shortly Romaine wandered up. She smiled and took a seat at my table. She was bubbling over! “Grumpy! I got the best pony-interest story out of the riot at the station! It still needs some work but it is a really good one.”

Windy interrupted to give Romaine a menu and take her drink order. She too read the name tag and replied, “Thank you, Windy. I will have the pineapple and pomegranate cocktail and asparagus salad and for an entree I will have the clover top steak with snowstar sauce and vegetable medley in butter sauce.”

Turning back to me, she went on, “Somepony in the mob threw a torch into a recently opened ice cream parlor and burned it to the ground. According to witnesses, a small business suited pony met her there in her burned out business. They talked briefly and she set out for downtown.

“I checked with Mol at the Hall of Records and found out that the business was called Windy's Ice Cream and that the land was in the middle of a title change from Snobbin Realty to Ponyville Trust and Loan. I cross checked with business insurance and found that CC&L had insured it. The claim was already processed and there was a notice of a double indemnity payment being processed. It was approved over Princess Luna's seal!

“Since the land was going to PT&L, I dropped by there and talked to Mister Greenbriar. The land is being given to the mare and the architect Houser has been engaged to rebuild the place for her.

“That is all being done as a free gift to the mare Windy . . .” 

She paused and looked at our waitress again!

Windy was bringing out our orders on a big serving tray.

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS ~ NEXT==>

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[taiblogcomics]

Friendship is a Fickle Thing

Hey there, shrimp lycanthropy. As usual, I don't have much for the preamble here. The preamble ramble, I guess you could call this part. As teased, though, it's the beginning of a new MLP miniseries! I think this one is setting itself up really interestingly. But we'll get into that in the review proper~

Here's the cover:

As you might guess, this mini focuses on the Student Six. Did you guess that? Because the cover is kind of blatant about that, and not much else. I guess it's kind of a nice green, though. And all the characters are faily dynamic, with the exception of maybe Ocellus. Which suits Ocellus, frankly~

It should also be noted that the “Flynn” credit there is for Ian Flynn of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book fame. I never read much Sonic, but I’ve loved what he’s done with the IDW series. This is his first foray into the MLP comics, so let’s see how he does with it~

Naturally, a series starring the Student Six will open at the School of Friendship. Oh yeah, if you're not caught up on at least season 8, please become so before continuing with this review. We get our title drop right away, as Twilight introduces her plans to start up the Feats of Friendship, which is basically a friendship Olympics. Equestria Girls already did this for their third movie, guys. Anyway, naturally she's reached out to the Student Six specifically, mostly to introduce to them a new student to be added to their team. Meet Swift Foot, an earth pony mare with a silvery coat and big swirly green mane and tail. Sandbar is very taken with her, if you know what I mean~

The group volunteer to help set up the events, though Smolder immediately regrets doing so after. They all introduce themselves to their teammate, and Swift Foot introduces herself back. However, something very mysterious happens as she does so. She replies that she's from "some sunny little pony village" in kind of an evasive way, and the panel shows instead some storm-torn, jagged island with terrifying statues. None of the Student Six pick up on her inflection or can read her mind, so this is clearly for the reader's benefit only. Sandbar is still very tongue-tied in response, and Gallus ribs him on it. They resolve to split up to get the tasks done individually, while Swift Foot moves between them so she can get used to getting around and get to know everypony (I still refuse "everycreature") a bit better. She says this with a dramatic close-up, so that's more sinister things for the reader's benefit~

And so goes Swift Foot (what's a foot, anyway? Shouldn't it be Swift Hoof?) between each friend, sowing a bit of dissent amongst their friendship. She's very subtle about it, and I honestly didn't really pick up on it until about her second or third interaction. She puts a seed of doubt in Silverstream about the Mane Six not saving her kingdom from the Storm King until their own kingdom was threatened. She plays into both Smolder's pride and Gallus' ego. She gives Yona doubts about how much her friends are interested or even respectful of yaks. She preys on Ocellus' fears of being accepted. And Sandbar? She doesn't even have to do anything with Sandbar, he's already crushing on her and thus easy to manipulate.

The group reunites at the end of the day, but the bad feelings and dissent spread between them cause them to all go separate ways. Sandbar, the only one who hasn't been fed negativity, is very confused. However, he agrees to walk Swift Foot home. Oddly, she's staying in a nearby hotel/boarding house instead of the campus housing, which she plays off as having registered late. Swift Foot asks Sandbar to ditch the Feats of Friendship and show her around town, but fortunately his loyalty to his friends wins out over his crush. She exits inside, and he still feels pretty bummed anyway. Once inside, Swift Foot peels off some sort of sticker, revealing a completely different cutie mark. This same symbol appears over her face, as she contacts someone she calls "Father", declaring that she's successfully infiltrated...

This is a very interesting setup to the comic. If you thought this was going to be a miniseries focused on the titular Feats of Friendship in question, perhaps you’re pleasantly surprised to find that it’s not, like I was. I was already intrigued by her evasive response, and although maybe going the villain route is a little cliched, I’m still interested to see her backstory. We’ll have to see what comes of her in the remaining issues~

[marvelandponder]

Wow, So Supportive!

So, you might be able to tell, but I’ve been kind of figuring out this series as it’s gone along. The first had more behind the scenes info, the second more comparative analysis, and now this topic comes along which requires something entirely new.

Well, not all that new, but enough that it’s an honest to goodness challenge to tackle a topic so terrifically tremendous in size: the entire population of the planet that we’ve been introduced to so far.

I could just spend this time geeking out about my favourites, and I will warn you now, it will probably come to that, but what I want to know is what this pretty pony populous does for the show.

And, I mean, with such an expansive cast that will no doubt only grow in the coming season, there’s quite a lot of characters to cover! But, as sure as I’ve overdone it on the alliteration already for no particular reason (I’m in a mood), there’s certainly something to be gained by examining what the background cast has to offer!

World-Building

Aside from giving our main characters other personalities to play off of, supporting characters give a greater depth to the world they live in. To the audience, the variety of viewpoints and personalities isn’t just fun, but indicative of a living, breathing environment.

It’s part of the illusion. If there’s characters out there besides the protagonists that are fully fleshed out or even just feel like they could be, it adds to the believability that this is a whole world. In fact, with a good supporting cast, not only can other characters with conflicting viewpoints to the main characters be in the right, but they can have their own lives that don’t feel like they’re in service of a plot of the main character(s)’ story at all!

It tells you more about the world the main characters grew up and currently reside in. Seeing what characters outside the main six value and how they conduct their lives gives us context for how they act, what makes them so special (or in some ways, not special).

And in a world this big, you can even get perspectives from outside the country. We might’ve assumed everyone was as friendly and kind as the ponies, but in fact they’re known for being soft and weak among the dragons and having a “typical pony hero complex” and a weird tendency towards singing and hugging among the griffons (who via contrast show us what the rest of the world is like, more on this soon).

So, yeah, finding characters who’ve had their own experiences apart from our favs helps the world feel more real, and certainly more interesting.

The season 6 finale is the perfect example of that fact in action. Watching these side characters approach something that’s usually only handled by personalities we’re all very familiar with was refreshing---plus, there were character dynamics we never dreamed we’d get to see (Trixie and Discord being the big example)!

To use a pretty specific example of how cool this is, check out how terrified Trixie is again:

Throughout the entirety of this two parter, Trixie’s constantly showing the audience how terrifying this situation actually is to a normal citizen of Equestria.

And that’s so cool! We get to see by contrast how brave and well-worn our favourite heroines have become---even Fluttershy can mostly handle herself these days (at least, with her friends by her side) without too much panic.

At one point Trixie even refers to a possible changeling invasion as “princess level stuff.” Even better, the second Starlight tells her about it, she immediately says they need to tell Twilight---which both shows the character development from No Second Prances (as the two of them grew to respect one and other), but also shows the audience this is serious to her: in a crisis Trixie’s first instinct was to get help from her rival.

This kind of perspective on things can only come from a source outside the main cast: contrast.

Parallel Characters

Here’s something you’ve no doubt noticed MLP loves to do: base entire characters around the antithesis of one of our main character’s traits.

This is pretty obvious when it comes to Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer, and how they operate as warped versions of Twilight (you can’t spell it out better than following the same naming scheme). In various ways, both of them demonstrate by contrast how well Twilight understands friendship and Harmony, among other things.

Discord is the same way.

It’s kinda like how Lex Luthor is the perfect counter to Superman: the mild-mannered boy-scout that will always try to do the right thing meets the embodiment of greed and capitalistic folly. Lex is the self-made man lead astray by his own desire for power, and yet Superman seems to prove that despite being alien, his down-to-earth morality is what ends up representing the best of humanity.

You can compare quite a number of iconic villains to their heroes that way, by seeing what each of them represent. Hans Gruber and John McClain from Die Hard. Ganondorf and Link from the Legend of Zelda. Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. That’s one part of what makes them so memorable---a perfectly fitting contrast to the forces of good their meant to fight.

In the same way, Discord’s very obviously the counterpoint to our Element of Harmony wielding heroes. Not just the whole chaos and harmony thing, but because of how their values clash. Discord only ever cared about getting a laugh and shaping the world in his own nonsensical image, whereas the girls only care about each other and the ponies of Equestria. The conflict is natural from that point on because Discord’s character was constructed to make it so. More than that, though, his defeat isn’t just good triumphing evil, but instead the things the Mane six value triumphing over the view that directly opposes them.

Tells you they’re in the right by showing you how awesome it feels for them to win, essentially.

Lightning Dust is yet another easy example of a character that exists just for contrast. She’s been likened to season one Rainbow Dash many times, and it just goes to show you how far season 3 Rainbow Dash had come in comparison.

So, side characters won’t just give you different perspectives about the main characters verbally, but through their actions. Even when they only get a wee bit of screen time, relatively speaking.

Minimalism and Imagination: A Writer’s Greatest Tools

That’s sort of how an episode like Slice of Life happens.

Filler background characters with interesting enough superficial attributes (like designs, occupations, or implied character traits) give us just enough personality to work with that our imaginations can fill in the rest. To an extent, all side characters function in this way.

It’s the same way a non-main character can go through an arc off-screen. I know, off-screen development sounds terrible---for important characters, who get a lot of precious screen time.

What happens, essentially, is we’re presented with the bookends to an arc: the beginning and the end, and in between is mostly filled with our imaginations.

The example that pops to mind first is Trixie, between her first appearance her second.

Last we see her, she’s leaving Ponyville with her ego bruised.

Next we see her, she’s acquired an evil amulet and is ready to not only humiliate Twilight in kind, but take over the entire town and turn it into Trixieville.

So... a step up from embarrassed.

The reason we buy that elevation has to do with both the story Trixie tells about hitting rock bottom (at a rock farm, no less), and the amount of time in between.

We’re not given very many details other than her career being impacted and her perception that she was humiliated everywhere she went, but it’s been two seasons since we’ve seen her---there’s enough of those little details and time in between for us to imagine a gradual change that made her decide to seek out straight up revenge, no matter the cost.

In a similar vein, I also find it interesting to see how characters differentiate themselves, with such little screen time.

For some, it’s definitely a matter of great design and/or voice acting that really makes them pop out at you. In addition, there’s usually either some adherence to an easily digestible archetype, like the (...*grunts*) tsundre Dragon Lord Ember or the timid Coco Pommel (which sounds bad, like I’m saying they’re cliched, but archetypes can be pretty useful for side characters yet-to-be-developed because it tells us a lot about their personality instantly). Or, a twist on archetype.

For an example, let’s get fancy: Fancy Pants and Filthy Rich both should be greedy and/or power hungry, or just generally thoughtless based on the rich, money-focused business character stereotype. Instead, seeing how Fancy Pants will make conversation easily with anyone and warmly accept those of a lower class than he is, and how Filthy Rich will be a tough but loving father to his daughter (as opposed to spoiling her) and will go out of his way to be nice to the Apples makes them feel like more complex characters.

Playing to our expectations and then twisting them even just slightly makes them feel less like cardboard cut-outs there to fill the insert snooty rich character here role, and more like well developed characters---all just with a few small actions.

Don’t even get me started on characters who say one thing one time, and we fixate on it to the point that it’s central to their identity. Sometimes, it’s because we treat it like a meme; like, Sonata kinda liking Tacos is a thing the same way Derpy like muffins is a thing. And let’s be clear, Sonata also talks about punch at some point in the movie, concerned with the fact that she added too much of one flavour. But the juice thing isn’t a big thing tied to her character in the fandom like tacos are, and why? Tacos are funnier, I guess.

And let me clear: it’s not some failing of the writers that they haven’t developed these characters, or the fandom getting too obsessive over small details. It’s intentional. Of course, there’s quite a few side characters that do get on-screen development (Big Mac, Thorax, the Wonderbolts, etc.), and still others that remain a mystery intentionally.

Zecora remains a character I’d LOVE to see explored, for instance, because there’s still a number of questions surrounding her. Did she have a family once? How much magic does she really know? How did she learn all of it?

Sometimes the answers aren’t as fascinating as a lack of answers. The MLP staff knows this full well apparently, since they’ve always had a policy about leaving things open-ended just in case they want to develop them later, thereby letting us fill in the blanks.

Which reminds me of another great example: Applejack’s noticeable lack of parents. From literally nothing, we created entire personalities, stories, and character motivations---to the point that when it’s explored in canon now, they have HUGE expectations to live up to.

The role of imagination in developing this world is intentional. That’s what good writers do---give you just enough to let you fill in the blanks.

But that’s what’s so wildly inventive about all these characters. So many of them are so memorable---either through what they tell us about the world, the main characters, or even just as characters in and of themselves (whether that be developed through a bit of trickery with our imaginations or actually developed in the show). There’s so many I’d love to see again, and so many more I’d love to meet in the future!

And, because of them all, like the Mane 6 at the end of Slice of Life, I feel quite lucky to know who I do.

Editorials? What are those? I don’t know, but I’ve written a bunch over here for you. Maybe the three most recent ones will jog my memory (check out the other Elements of MLP posts with the Year of the Pony link):

Derpy Editorial, Top 10 Redeemed Villains, and Starlight Editorial

Year of the Pony

Header Image Wouldn’t Be Possible Without:

Trixie Vector by Comeha Elements of Harmony by SpiritoftheWolf Elements of Harmony by TechRainbow

Chiggity-check out those hard-working artists, yo!

They’re All Main Characters in My Heart, Dammit

[marvelandponder]

You Might Wanna Stop That, Glim Glam

Or maybe not? 

Dark magic in Equestria is a subject I’ve been pretty interested in since its first appearance in The Crystal Empire Parts 1& 2. Especially seeing how our introduction to it involved this:

And, what’s scary about all that is that it’s pretty easy to pick up. Just based on that very vague description about hatred and fear and the demonstration, Twilight was able to replicate the spell later in the episode (keeping in mind she’s still a unicorn, so it doesn’t even take alicorn power levels).

So, not only is Princess Celestia able to cast some dark magic, our main character has been capable of casting dark magic spells for 3 going on 4 seasons now. A fact which has never been questioned once.

Dark magic, as the name so helpfully suggests, usually has some morality issues attached to it. Or at least some grey areas. As opposed to white magic (which Wikipedia tells me is what it’s actually called), dark or black magic is often depicted as some kind of ritualistic practice usually used for sinister and/or selfish gain.

Hell, just look... pretty much anywhere else in pop culture. In the Harry Potter series, the dark arts are practiced by Voledemort and his sordid crew, it’s something to be defended against if you’re a good wizard. In Lord of the Rings, dark magic is used to forge the One Ring---’nuff said there.

And yet, there seems to be some grey areas when using dark magic in the land of Equestria.

Often, enchanted objects like the Alicorn Amulet or the cursed spell book use some form of dark magic to corrupt the user. I mean, at one point Trixie wanted Rainbow Dash to “writhe in agony.”

And yet using dark magic in small doses like Celestia and Twilight do in The Crystal Empire doesn’t seem to have consequences. It also takes a while to be addictive, like it is for Rarity, because Twilight uses it at least twice in the episode, and then again a season later to use Zecora’s memory potion in Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1.

So with that established, it seems to be a powerful, non-alicorn could learn to use dark magic in small doses and not feel the effects Trixie, Rarity, or even, to use an extreme, King Sombra did.

And who do we know that can justify the use most any kind of magic, if put under enough pressure?

Starlight Doesn’t Play Well with Others--- Just Magic

I think in particular there’s three aspects of Starlight’s character I personally like most and that’s:

1) The snarky and even cynical sense of humour she manages to sneak into the most optimistic show I know (without taking away from the light-heartedness), 2) The anxiety she has about socializing in general despite being a Friendship student (this, as Gamelink Reviews so awesomely pointed out, makes the most sense as Social Anxiety Disorder)--- which kinda helps explain the whole never tried visiting Sunburst thing, by the way. and 3) Her fun interpretation of morality when it comes to magic.

Every Little Thing She Does was a lot of fun for me because of how it incorporated all three. She’s very obviously in the wrong, but as the episode shows you instead of just telling you, she’s still extremely dependent on her natural aptitude towards magic, so that’s the solution that makes the most sense to her.

Especially when she’s anxious about disappointing her teacher and new friends (seriously, go watch Gamelink’s theory, it makes so much sense). She means surprisingly well for someone who can justify actual mind control to get a task done.

And, by the way, that habit of combining spells seems to be something she and Sunburst share. If you remember, Sunburst’s solution to the problem in The Crystalling was to combine the relic reconstitution spell with a whole whack of other spells and the Crystalling itself. Plus, Starlight never would’ve been able to do all that time-travel magic if she hadn’t combined Starswirl’s time-travel spell with the map’s Harmony magic!

This, by the way, makes me wonder if Starlight was ever really as powerful as Twilight. Like, it kinda makes you scratch your head when you see an alicorn and a unicorn reach a stalemate in a magic duel--- Twilight should be more powerful than Starlight, right?

But perhaps Starlight’s natural abilities in magic are actually just about the same as Twilight’s were when she was unicorn---except, when Starlight uses strategies like combing spells to make them more powerful, she can match wits with her.

That would certainly make more sense to me (you would have to be a very masterful spell caster to do that, so she’s still quite a powerful unicorn and it’s not something just anyone could do---in fact, in the Crystalling, Sunburst gives all those different spells to a number of different magic users).

Combining spells is a simple yet awesome concept, but that does bring me back on topic, at long, long last: Are any of the spells Starlight has used so far dark magic? And if so, are there any implications to that?

[Light spoilery sentence ahead] I might need to update this post when season 7 comes out judging by those spectacular teasers, but for now, how’s about we go for a spin on Glim Glam’s wild ride?

Starlight, Starbright

Let’s start back at the most logical place to start: the beginning, and Starlight’s Cutie Mark Stealing spell.

By the way, should any of the spells she uses be dark magic, it might explain why she’s able to perform them. Like I alluded to earlier, as naturally gifted a magic user as she is, she’s still just a unicorn. Dark magic spells, on the other hand, seem to give the user access to a greater amount of power that they wouldn’t have previously been able to use on their own. Just look at Trixie.

It’s sort of like the Dark Side of the The Force from Star Wars, except it’s used a lot less frequently in MLP.

So, the Cutie Mark Stealing spell.

Watch this scene again and tell me if you notice any out of place details.

Wow, you already caught it? Geez, you guys are smart, what am I even here for?

Well, I’m still going to ramble on, just so I can hear myself type! As you remember from watching the episode, the Staff of Sameness there is just an old piece of driftwood Starlight found in the desert, just a lightning rod for her magic---meaning, all magic used in this scene comes from her.

But not all magic she uses in this scene is the same colour.

We can see that the light from the Cutie Mark vault is thrown over everything, so it might be easy to miss if you’re not looking for it, but when Starlight levitates the staff of sameness, the magic she’s using is her own light teal.

However, when she uses the Staff of Sameness as a conduit for the Cutie Mark Stealing spell, the magic is an entirely different colour and comes out in a powerful blast. It’s more... baby green, if you will. Kinda sickly looking.

Kinda exactly like the magic Rarity used in Inspiration Manifestation, or at least the parts around her eyes.

Sure, they’re different spells, and dark magic has come in a few different fashionable colours, but that’s a pretty dead on match in my books.

But... the eyes have it, don’t they?

Whenever dark magic has been used by someone in this series, there’s usually a pretty easy tell, but Starlight’s eyes are clear. Welp, that’s my theory busted. Go home, everybody!

But, then again, this isn’t the Alicorn Amulet, Rarity’s book of curses, or the hate and fear thing. It’s not coming from an external source, and it’s not coming from emotions deep within. This is a specific spell with a specific purpose.

In the same way that Friendship and Love magic turns the users’ eyes white, it might be true that there are some spells more powerful than others on either side of the spectrum, and those are the ones more likely to have an effect on your physical appearance.

There’s also the fact that Starlight’s very methodical about how she presents herself to the ponies in her village. Every night, she uses make-up to cover up her cutie mark.

Starlight’s magic being in two different colours is a small detail, but if her eyes were to glow green or something of that nature, don’t you think that would make it harder for her villagers to buy into her beliefs? Oh, we’ll definitely trust the pony with the sinister glowing eyes!

... Unless there’s an added bonus to using that piece of driftwood. Some way to hide the effects so if she is using dark magic, ponies can’t see it in her eyes.

Maybe the only reason Starlight is levitating that stick is so she has something to levitate. As in, maybe she’s using a levitation spell to cover up the fact that she’s using dark magic.

Come to think of it, Starlight’s now famous for combining spells, so we know she can cast more than one at once. If a simple levitation spell keeps the magic around her horn bluish teal, maybe it can also keep her eyes clear.

When she had it, Rarity used her dark magic for everything, including levitation, but Starlight has reason to hide it. So, she’s really just levitating the staff to appear as if the dark magic in the Cutie Mark Stealing spell isn’t effecting her. Both hiding the fact the she’s not all that equal to the others and that she’s using something far more sinister to take away their cutie marks.

So, the first spell we’ve examined and already we found our answer: Starlight has used dark magic. We’ll talk about what that means in a sec.

For now the question becomes, does she still use it, even after being reformed?

We already mentioned how the time-travel spell she uses is really just a combination of two powerful types of magic (hence how she could do it and not another great wizard like Starswirl the Bearded), and both of those are on the up and up, I think. The map’s Harmony magic doesn’t need our scrutiny, and Starswirl’s time travel spell originally didn’t do any harm---it’s supposed to be a paradox-correcting time-spell.

But that’s not the last time Starlight dabbles in powerful magic, and here’s where things get even more interesting.

You would think the spells Starlight’s using in Every Little Thing She Does would qualify as dark magic. Together, they make a mind control spell, and even on their own they sound pretty sketchy. Fiducio Compellus? Persaudari? Those sound like the kinds of spells some evil royal adviser would use in a Disney movie.

But, even when those spells are combined, Starlight’s magic doesn’t change appearance in any way. And in fact, when Starlight completes the spell, her eyes go white.

Now we’ve definitely seen that before:

But hang on, that doesn’t mean Starlight’s spells are necessarily good---this just in, mind control: still evil, free will: kinda important.

Instead it seems to indicate “white” or Harmony magic we would normally classify as good, and the dark magic we know corrupts most every user it comes in contact with after prelonged exposure, aren’t necessarily coded as Good magic and Evil magic.

One tends to be righteous and good and the other not so much, but there can be grey areas. Less powerful spells here and there that fall under the categories of either white or dark magic, but can be used in ways other than they were intended to be used, if the magician is resourceful like Starlight. 

This is important because, this sort of gives us some context as to why Starlight would try to combine these spells. They’re not inherently bad---none of them are dark magic spells. It’s just, the way she uses them that makes them a wee bit evil.

That makes a ton of sense, given her experience. Back when Starlight was a dictator, she used a dark magic spell to get what she wanted, but, she felt, in small enough doses or infrequently enough that it wouldn’t effect her too much.

We can’t know how much it actually affected her but even if it did, Starlight’s always been good at justifying morally questionable things for a good cause. And especially if there are smaller less powerful dark magic spells that don’t corrupt the user---meaning, it’d be easy to justify using Evil/dark magic if you can use it in a good way. 

... She’d kick ass in debate club, let me tell you.

In my recent Top 10 Reformed Villains list, I suggested Starlight might have developed this debate-winning ability because of the cycle she trapped herself in after Sunburst left---which was a catalyst, to be sure, but not the actual reason she was alone. With Gamelink’s helpful diagnosis of Social Anxiety, I would wager Starlight developed that reasoning the more she isolated herself.

After all, even in real life the more you isolate yourself, the more insecure you get that if you did try to reach out, you’d only be rejected. Which means you go into social situations looking for that rejection, and that in turn makes social situations a much more nerve-wracking process.

But, knowing Starlight, I suggested in those lonely years she’d be looking for something to blame other than herself or Sunburst, who she still thought fondly of, it seems. And that’s where the cutie mark thing slowly developed---as a way to push the blame anywhere but on herself.

It’s why Twilight’s line at the end of the Cutie Remark is so effective in getting Starlight to reform:

Twi: “So try again! Make new friends! And if something happens that you can’t control changes things, work through it together. That’s what friendship is! ... Just imagine all the friendships waiting for you if you just give them a chance.” Star: “How do I know they won’t all end the same way?” Twi: “I guess it’s up to you to make sure they don’t.”

And at that point, Starlight decides to take responsibility for her relationships, for everything. Even though she ended up getting off too easily in the punishment department (probably), she wasn’t going to blame anyone or anything else for her failures.

No more going after Twilight in a twisted, sadistic way to get back at her for ruining her perfect village (eye for an eye justice; how Babylonian of you, Starlight)---she knew she was a dictator/cult leader, and the ponies took their marks back by choice because they wanted to.

And even though she’s had to deal with her fair share of anxieties going forward into season six, she’s still living by that motto. 

She reunited with Sunburst. She made a new friend in Trixie decided to followup after their first fight. She, uh, tried to follow Twilight’s instructions and not let her down (even if she still misses the point sometimes). And in the end, assumed the responsibility of a leader again without the crutches of magic or throwing the blame elsewhere if something were to go awry.

So, knowing that, it’s easy to see why she could justify some messed up spells.

First and foremost, like we said, they probably aren’t dark magic, if for no other reason than the fact that I think after taking responsibility for her usage last time, she’d probably want to avoid it. At least, so long as the situation isn’t truly desperate. 

Second, justification should really be her special talent. She can convince herself of anything.

Third, she obviously shouldn’t have used magic at all, but that’s the point: we know her anxiety (whether you agree that it’s actual Social Anxiety Disorder or not) clouded her ability to see what Twilight actually expected of her was just to spend some time with them. 

Starlight’s anxieties and doubts can still make normal social situations into pressure cookers, if she worries enough. It really does make her a regular Crazy Twi.

You know, season 2 Twilight, who famously decided to make a friendship problem by... using a ‘Want it Need it” spell which... in hindsight seems a bit close to mind control in and of itself.

And that time she was so stressed about and impending disaster she wanted to stop time itself forever?

On Equestria Daily, (correct me if I’m wrong) but I believe it was Sethisto who explained that Starlight’s appeal to him was that she reminded him of the mad scientist aspect of Twilight’s character from the old days. I, for one, definitely agree.

Starlight’s unique in other ways (for instance, a constant fear of rejection that Twilight never really had), but in that respect she really does take after her teacher. An anxiety-prone lunatic with god-like powers and the intellect to work around their own limitations.

That’s what makes this snarky maniac so interesting to me. She’s certainly complex. Despite the fact she means well and genuinely does want to make friendships, she’s our gateway into some really dark, questionable areas. Or, depending on how she uses magic and why, maybe just grey areas. It’s what makes her redemption worthwhile to me.

Well, that, and the cute friendships she’s made along the way, of course.

And with that said, here’s to a new season! May we see her wrestling match with morality and friendship develop new and interesting ways.

MLP editorials? You want them? I’ve got loads! In fact, this post marks the 20th MLP editorial I’ve written (I just get a kick out of the fact that it’s releasing on March 20th), and you can find them all right here! Or if you’d rather, here are the most recent three, right here for the clicking:

IDW Comics, Derpy Editorial, and Top 10 Redeemed Villains

Year of the Pony

Header Image Wouldn’t be Possible Without...

Magic Circle by BlackPaperMoon-95 Canterlot Background by EStories Starlight Vector by Osipush

All the part of that image were edited to fit together, as usual, but these are the people who made them beautiful to begin with! Go check out those talented artists!

Transmutation and Summoning Circles Only Ever End Well, Obviously

[marvelandponder]

I didn't hate Poof either. Looking back on it, from what I remember, while there were dumb episodes with Poof, there were some good ideas used with Poof involved. At the very least, it was a brand new obstacle for our 3 leads to face. But while FOP tries to change with Chloe and Sparky, it refuses to grow. Something I admire about MLP is that it's grown with it's target audience, but even though FOP could so easily do that, for some reason, they just don't seem interested in doing that.

I totally agree. Adding new characters to a show that’s been running for a while can be done well, and it can be done poorly.

The absolute best example a character added in partway through a show, to me, is Toph from Avatar: the Last Airbender. Not only was she her own fully-realized, well-developed character, but she brought something to the Ga’ang and we got to see her play off of Aang, Sokka, and Katara (along with other characters) in new ways. And after a very short while, she stopped feeling like a new addition, and just felt like part of the team.

As hotly debated as Starlight’s redemption and backstory are, she’s also a pretty great addition to the cast. She’s definitely a challenge for Twilight specifically, but also a fun, well-developed character in her own right. And she has great dynamics with other characters, too. For instance, I know for you you never really had the love for Trixie beforehand, but in No Second Prances and the season 6 finale especially, Starlight’s relationship with Trixie helped develop her, and she became really enjoyable character for you in those episodes—Starlight’s relationships can provide something awesome and new.

And Poof, as much of a non-character as baby characters tend to be (again: not a bad thing, it’s fine to have them as plot devices or even silent protagonists if you can manage), worked fine. No real umbrage here.

Sparky, on the other hand, was a redundant character from the start—forget the voice or overly wacky design. From what I can tell, his defining character trait is that he’s stupid (although to be fair I haven’t watched him in a long time). We already have Cosmo, though, who does stupid in a much better, much more nuanced way (or you know does when he’s not being flanderized). Sparky didn’t add all that much in terms of character, and maybe he was a new obstacle for Timmy and the rest, but I don’t particularly care to watch at that point. He’s not an especially enjoyable addition.

Chloe, by nature of being a co-star with (from what I’ve seen) very little character, actually takes away time that we could spend with other characters. She doesn’t add anything, really, so all she’s really doing is filling up screen-time.

What makes the difference between a show that grows over time and one that stagnates even if it’s adding new elements isn’t even intention. I’m sure the writers room thought Chloe and Sparky were great, funny additions. But, to make permanent changes for the better, the choices have to add up to something with potential.

Going back to Starlight because I’m an MLP nerd, after getting to know reformed! Starlight I want to see her develop more. I want to see her get more one-on-one time with different members of the mane 6, little cameos throughout the season (like you said in your review), and have more lessons with Twi. I want to see if they take her character arc anywhere in the long run—I don’t know if she needs to be a princess for the accomplishment to feel big, but who knows what Starlight’s going to do in the end? 

I think especially after season 6, there’s a lot you can do with Starlight going forward, both in terms of overarching storylines and one-off slice-of-life episodes.

With Chloe, I mean, I really haven’t seen enough to judge completely, but from the little I do know about her, she’s a one joke character. She’s better than Timmy. That’s it. And I mean FOP is even more slice-of-life based than MLP, but to have a comedy show, you at least need characters that have flaws that can be exploited and explored in funny or maybe even touching ways. If there’s just one recurring joke, that can’t last long.

And that’s why MLP’s still going strong even with a few missteps here and there, because with the changes they’ve made (and even some of the things that have remained the same; Celestia still can be explored as a character more, and AJ’s DADGUM parents are a thing I’d like to see), they have potential to grow. 

As it stands right now, Fairly Odd Parents doesn’t, which sucks of course because we’re all fans of it here, but it’s the truth.