#seaquestria and beyond

[mlp-beyond]

Heres some more species

- Merpony

- Siren

- Seapony

While all of them are aquatic, they arent the same species

Seaponies are specifically the Hippogriffs while Merponies are ponies (like when they went to the Seapony kingdom in the movie and the mane 6 turned into Merponies)

Sirens are related to Merponies, like cousins or something

Merponies are their own species but regular ponies can (obviously) turn into Merponies - but not all Merponies can turn into regular ponies

Sirens have no other form naturally (but if some powerful unicorn/alicorn were to transform them they could have a different form)

[swifthorne]

Storm War (mlp AU): character fates & plot changes

The opening of the movie remains the same, up until the invasion scene. Tempest Shadow (aka the Storm Queen in this au)'s plan isn't to enslave pony kind, but to corrupt it using dark magic (aka the Obsidian Orbs from the canon story, but instead of petrifying those it hits, it turns them evil). Starting with the Princesses.

Character Fates:

-Like in canon, Princess Cadence gets taken down first.

-Also like in canon, Princess Celestia manages to tell Luna to "seek help from the Queen of the Hippo(griffs) before being hit.

-Luna manages to escape corruption by performing a last minute duplication illusion spell, allowing her decoy to get hit while she teleports away.

-Fluttershy, Applejack and Spike tragically fall to the orbs' power during the chaos.

-Like in canon, Rainbow Dash manages to whisk Twilight Sparkle out of harms way with her super speed. However, there's a dark twist: unbeknownst to her remaining friends, Twilight still got hit in the neck with a single, minuscule shard. This will come back to bite our heroes later.

-Celestia becomes Daybreaker.

-Cadence becomes Lustful Frost. She feeds off love like a changeling, but possesses ice powers (a reference to her role as Princess of the Crystal Empire).

Plot Differences:

-The main (or should I say mane) heroic cast now comprises of Princess Luna, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Starlight Glimmer. Notice how I didn't include Twilight Sparkle?

-The main reason why the heroes must journey beyond Equestria (other than Celestia's last panicked request towards Luna) is because they literally cannot go to anyPONY else for help. The rest of their own people will inevitably be turned.

-The Kludgetown scene plays out exactly the same as in canon, but with one major difference. Twilight reacts much more viscerally to Capper's betrayal (despite the fact he regrets it) than she normally would. Her friends assume this is just out of stress and fear (due to the whole "we can no longer trust anypony" thing). But Luna isn't so sure.

-The pirate scene also plays out nearly identical, but with the exception of Twilight being far more peeved by Rainbow Dash going into song than in canon. This is very much out of character for her- she LOVES songs! Again, only Luna sees Twilight's behavior as a sign of something nefarious

-When the gang reaches Seaquestria, Queen Novo (a longtime friend of the Royal Sisters) is horrified to hear what happened to Equestria. However, Luna discretely informs her of Twilight Sparkle's increasingly un-Princess of Friendship-ly behavior. Together, they devise a test: have Novo deny aid, and see how the younger Alicorn reacts.

-Sure enough, Twilight uses Pinkie Pie to distract Princess Skystar, so she can try to steal the Pearl of Transformation. However, when she is discovered, she's thrashing in the tendrils which bind her, her eyes manic. Remember that shard which had secretly hit her in the neck? It'd been slowly corrupting her this whole time!

-Luna reveals this to the others, and Queen Novo decides to send Twilight to the surface before she turns fully (for everypony else's safety). Pinkie Pie, being, well, Pinkie Pie, tries to break through to her friend, only to be brought to tears by the following exchange.

PP: "Friends don't leave friends behind when they aren't feeling themselves!"

TS: "Well, then I guess I'd be better off without WEAK FRIENDS LIKE YOU!"

-Twilight is sent away and fully turns into a new, corrupted form. Tempest picks her up shortly afterwards.

-The remaining ponies team up with the Seaponies/Hippogriffs, along with the pirates and Capper (who, as in canon, both survived the destruction of Captain Celaeno's ship), traveling the lands beyond Equestria and recruiting other non-pony races for the coming war.

-Yes, even Discord gets involved. That broken-horned menace corrupted HIS dear Fluttershy!!!

-What follows is a Lord of the Rings style conflict.

-The good guys' ultimate goal is to find and produce a cure for the dark magic which corrupted the ponies of Equestria, and defeat the Storm Kingdom once and for all.

Feel free to make artwork of this AU and its characters if you'd like!

[glapplebloom]

Whoa, whoa... I gotta go... Back to school, again!

We have a movie that’s canon to the main series! You know how often we’ve seen movies that don’t affect the series? Because after the events of the movie (which you really don’t need to see to get this episode), we find out the Map of Equestria expanded beyond the previous to include the Movie Specific locations (which we will not see except Mount Eris/Seaquestria). Seeing how much more their reach goes, Twilight thinks they need all the help they could get. So instead of going to places to teach Friendship, there should be a place where others can learn.

And thus Twilight decided to open a School of Friendship. She goes to Celestia for advice but the Princess of the Sun suggests that she should seek the Equestria Education Association (EEA) for guidance. Problem is, you can tell they are going to be difficult to work with. Even without knowing what is going to happen, Neighsay’s desire for Ponies to learn to defend themselves really contradicts the idea of Friendship you’ve seen throughout the series. And when the School opens, you see that there’s going to be conflict with the EEA.

Welcome our new cast members: Smolder, Ocellus, Yona, Sandbar, Gallus and Silverstream. They’re the main students we’ll be following when it is school related. It’s a shame not all of them get a stand out episode like Smolder, Yona and Gallus, but I still find them enjoyable and they’re good stand-ins to let us know how this School is running. They do it in song but I can do it in one sentence: when it’s their way of teaching it works, when it’s the EEA’s... Eeeeehhhh.....

Basically, it’s the difference between a Normal School and a Specialized School. A Normal School teaches you the basics and multiple subjects in a similar way. A Specialized School needs more hands-on experience to really get these lessons down. Like trying to learn to be creative by reading the mechanics of the craft and not experimentation. And the Students think so too because before the Friends and Family Day meet up, the six decide to ditch class. Gallus calls it a mental health break. 

Problem is, Chancellor Neighsay is here to see if the School is EEA qualified and students skipping class is a bad look for that. The idea of the school works, as we see them pretty quickly become friends since they shared the same experience loving, then not liking, the School Curriculum. And it’s not like any of them needed convincing to skip class. But because of the methods, they wanted to skip class so they can actually get better at friendship. Too well as their day of fun ruins the festivities.

Neighsay is upset about this. While he does point out how it doesn’t follow the EEA guidelines like not qualified teachers and students skipping school, he really makes it clear that he’s more upset that there are non-ponies in the School of Friendship. So he closes down the school. This upsets Twilight and she escapes into her pillow fort. Her friends tried to cheer her up but they didn't work. Luckily Starlight Glimmer is there to convince her to give it a try and not follow the EEA.

Now if Starlight wasn’t here, could this have been done by anyone? I don’t think so. The five were adamant prior to class that they wouldn’t be good teachers. And having to follow the guidelines definitely sold them on the fact they shouldn’t. Starlight on the other hand is a success story of Twilight. How Twilight’s teaching methods actually worked. She turned this former cult leader into a leader that saved Equestria and reformed the Changeling Nation. And Twilight didn’t follow any sort of guideline from Celestia to do this, she did it on her own. 

So seeing that this School of Friendship needs a different way to each Friendship, she is convinced that it can work as long as they do things their way. So they’re going to open it EEA Approved or not. They just need to get the students back. Too bad five of them (our Foreign Students) ran away to be together with each other. Positive, it shows the School of Friendship working. Negative, we may see World War Pony and I’m afraid considering how the movie portrayed an invasion it would just be a series of slap fights that makes Eric Vs Kyle look like Anakin Vs Obiwan. And I expect better from the Dragons at least.

The girls try to figure out where the five of them go just about the time Sandbar went to pick up a lot of cupcakes. Thanks to Pinkie Pie suggesting what she would do if she was told that they were never going to see their friends again, they put two and two together and figure out Sandbar is probably bringing supplies to the others since he’s friends with them too. And they were right as they are all hanging at the Castle of the Two Sisters. This will be a familiar location to them in the future.

They were having a great time until the Puckwudgies came in. Think the Critters only multicolored. Luckily for the Students our crew showed up to save the day. They apologize for how the school was and promise it would be better if they come back. They agree and the School is back open. Neighsay shows up saying this is still not EEA approved but Twilight tells him that while it may not be, it has to be something new. And I want to quote something said in this episode...

I promise you, Chancellor. My school will help protect Equestria.

And not only will it do it by Season’s end, it does so by Series end.

With another song celebrating the School’s return, we conclude the episode with the new status quo established. Overall, it is enjoyable. We get to set up the conflict of the series and introduce us to some new characters to follow. I do wish they get more chances to shine, but what can you do? Still, there’s a lot of fun to follow and I am looking forward to seeing more.

Fun Fact: notice how fast Gallus went for the hug in the last song? Like if he never experienced such kindness before. Not even in the Blue Moon Festival where it was the one day Griffons act as nicely as they can. Hint Hint for a future episode... Click here to see the original review and how it fits in GLAB canon. The TL:DL, Celestia opened the school.

[diamond-song42]

Card Shark 92: Spike, Master of Ceremonies

Happy new Card Shark day! As Spike Day was this past week, I thought I’d look at one of his most innovative cards, an Ultra Rare from Seaquestria and Beyond! (Though I think we’re all in agreement that it should have been Songbird Serenade instead of Spike.) Here’s my take on “Spike, Master of Ceremonies!”

Creatures, get ready! This cool-looking Spikey-wikey is... not cheap. 4 AT and 4 White req for 4 White power. What could an Ultra Rare that expensive do to warrant that cost? Well, you may be aware that when you play Song Events, you can only choose one of the options presented on the card. Effects can vary like dismissing a Friend or Resource, reducing Problem confrontation requirements, or even challenging a Troublemaker, among many others. With Master of Ceremonies, you don’t need to choose one. When you play a Song card while he’s in play, you can activate all three effects on the Songs you play! That prospect is mind-blowing, even with uncommon Song cards like It’s Gonna Work and A Changeling Can Change. The cost of Songs only ranges from 1-2 AT, and all three effects on a Song card can be a lot to activate with 1-2 AT (and the necessary color req)! Plus, unless your opponent dismisses/banishes/frightens Master of Ceremonies or runs cards like Octavia, Harmony and Dissonance and Wake Up Call, they can’t easily stop those three effects from activating before you play the Song! (Not to mention there are ways to prevent Master of Ceremonies from leaving play, but I won’t get into those here.) I wouldn’t say you can easily build a deck around usage of Songs, but that is nifty! (And to be fair, the 4 power on Master of Ceremonies doesn’t suck either.) Super cool!

The lack of Songbird isn’t the only disappointment. It’s not that I dislike this card, really. But compared to other Ultra Rares, it... just isn’t that intimidating? Song cards by themselves are good. I’m not sure if you’ll ever frequently encounter a situation where you’ll want to activate all three effects, though. And that’s including some of the Super Rare Songs. Let’s take I’m the Friend You Need, for example. What are the odds that your opponent will have a Friend in play that you want to banish, you’ll want to put a certain Troublemaker into play face-up, and you’ll want to discard the top five cards of a player’s deck (either player’s deck), all on the same turn? Not that I’m suggesting it can’t be done, but it just feels a bit ludicrous to have all three. Depending on the Song, I can understand wanting two effects at the same time. Look at In My Head Like A Catchy Song. Put a Friend of any power from your discard pile into play and force your opponent to flip 1 fewer cards during Faceoffs until the start of your next turn? Um, yes please! But alas, you can’t have two. It has to be one effect or three. That’s right, Master of Ceremonies does give you the option to just choose one effect. But let’s be real: if you weren’t activating all three effects when you play a Song while Master of Ceremonies is in play, why else would you be using Master of Ceremonies? This card has a lot of potential, but unfortunately it just can’t always get the job done.

Instead of giving a list of cards to go with Master of Ceremonies, here are, in my opinion, the three best Song cards to play while Master of Ceremonies is in play:

*The Wonderbolts Rap. This Song just makes things so convenient for you. You get a drastically discounted character move, two free draws (which can be useful depending on your play strategy), and a nice price reduction on the next Friend you play that turn. (You know how many Friends you could play for free with that?!) It’s that nice. May not be a White Song, but I still believe it could be worth it.

*Hearts Strong as Horses. I just love everything this Song can do. You retrieve a card with 3 or more power from your discard pile (yes, it can be any card type), you force your opponent to discard two cards from their hand, and you give one of your characters an additional 3 power until the end of the turn. It’s just all so USEFUL, and you may not have to wait for just the right moment to play it since it is rather versatile. Not to mention it’s Orange/White, which is one of my favorite color combos in the game. :)

*Friendship U. This one is chosen over In My Head Like A Catchy Song solely because you may not need to search your deck for a Friend depending on what you have in your discard pile and may not have the resources to effectively use it after finding it. Friendship U, on the other hand, is pretty random yet pretty fun. Move up to three of your characters anywhere! Force your opponent to retire a random Friend (which can be better than it sounds)! Banish a Troublemaker! There’s some weird combos capable with this Song and I love them all.

Thanks for reading this installment of Card Shark! I’ll be returning to Leaders and Legends with the next Shark, looking at what may be one of the oddest Resources from the set. Start making your guesses as to what it will be! Diamond out!

[mlp-merch]

Time for our Third MLP CCG Sequestria and Beyond  Reveal Post. Lot's of pretty new cards revealed! Find them all here:

https://www.mlpmerch.com/2017/11/monday-ccg-reveal-3-seaquestria-and-beyond.html

[cloudchaserandflitterexplain]

Cloudchaser and Flitter Spoil: Seaquestria and Beyond

Awww, you weren’t supposed to guess.

Well I got mine too, so it wasn’t hard to guess.

Oh, good point.

But anyway, I’m really excited about my card and I want to show it off to everypony!

You? Excited about spoilers for your favourite thing in all of Equestria and beyond?

I never would have guessed!

Yeah, yeah.

Anyway, spoiler time!

Oooh, a super rare!

Yup! We’ve never spoiled anything higher than rare before, so I’m pretty excited! And this card is pretty neat.

Well tell us all about it!

So this card is pretty neat and there’s a ton of interesting stuff that happens when you have Capper out. Though most obvious of which is it stops the common trick of using Hasty Friends and Princess Luna: Dream Warrior to DFO for less AT than normal.

Similarly, Capper also stops Thunderlane: Unsung Hero from confronting multiple problems by himself.

Shouldn’t that make you hate the card? Aren’t those some of your favourite ways to DFO?

I know! Isn’t it great?

Uhhh, come again?

Those kinda plays have been around for ages now, and it’s getting a bit predictable. The game gets boring if the best plays are always going to be the same, you know? I think Capper will spice things up nicely.

And it’s not like he makes those cards worthless or anything. They’re still very strong! It just happens to be a good counter to their best applications. Good counterplay is important.

It’s making me think about how best to make my next Blue aggro deck keeping in mind he’s around. And I’m a bit excited to try a few different things.

Anyway, there are a few other interesting things here. For example, Capper also stops Forced movement so you can use this to protect your aggro strategy! If your opponent wanted to play Frozen in Magicite, she’d have to do it before the score phase. And Cutie Pox Scare simply won’t do anything at all.

I really like this card! It seems really well designed.

Even though it hampers one of your favourite strategies.

Especially because it hampers one of my favourite strategies.

Well, I’m not entirely sure I understand your rationale...

But I can’t argue with your enthusiasm!

This set is going to be so awesome!

I guess that means it’s my turn!

Tada! Princess Skystar! Also, the Transform mechanic!

Huh. That’s interesting.

Now that’s a lot of reminder text, but what it boils down to is you can return another Princess Skystar Friend to your hand to only have to pay 2 AT to play her instead her full price.

Though not this exact one. Which means you need a different Skystar.

Wonder why they have that restriction? It’d be kind of neat to keep replaying these to keep making seashells over and over. Not the best plan in the world, but not awful either.

Well, you can’t transform into your same form, Cici. That’d be silly!

I… Guess?

Anyway, it says here Transform is on a bunch of cards, so look out for that!

What a good spoiler session! You got to spoil a new mechanic before anypony else, and I got to spoil a Super Rare! That’s awesome!

Well, about that…

I got two cards!

After all, it wouldn’t make sense to just showcase one Princess Skystar, right? I mean, she does have both her seapony and her hippogryph form!

And now she can transform between the two of them at will! Provided you have the AT of course.

Er, Cici? Are you okay?

Fine…

You don’t look fine. Are you sick? Did something happen?

No… It’s just...

I wanted my super rare spoiler to be special!

Oh is that all?

Well look at it this way, silly. Who spoiled their super rare first? Before we had any other super rares spoiled at all, even!

...Me?

Yes you, silly! And isn’t that plenty special?

Okay, I guess that is still pretty awesome.

Sure is! But let’s get back to talking about Skystar and Transform and what makes them neat.

Now something that’s particularly important to know is that the friend you’re transforming can be anywhere. So if you have a Skystar friend at home, you can totally still return her to your hand to play either of these Skystars to a problem for cheap.

Also, you get to count the power of the friend you’re transforming when playing the new friend, despite returning her to your hand. So if Making a Splash is your only Pink character, you can totally still transform her into Air and Sea no problem!

Basically everything is maximally convenient for you!

Yeah, that’s neat! It’ll be interesting to see what other Transform cards there are.

Well like I said, there’s a whole bunch! And they obviously play well with cards that do something when they come into play.

It says here there’s also some other Skystar cards without Transform, and that they’re all great Transform choices for either of these Skystars!

I can’t wait!

But to be honest, right now I kind of just want to get a million AT and have these two Skystars transform into each other a whole bunch.

Uh... why?

Cause it’d be fun, silly! First she’s a seapony, then she’s a hippogriff! Seapony, hippogriff! Seapony, hippogriff! Not to mention you’d make a million seashells, hehe.

Though it’d be difficult coming up with names for all of them. Shelly and Sheldon are obvious, but what else would you name a Seashell?

I really have no idea.

It’s quite the puzzle.

Anyway, I think that’s it for our spoilers! Hope you all enjoyed them!

I certainly did.

You always enjoy spoilers, Cici! That harldy counts.

Well I can’t help it! Spoilers are exciting!

And I love talking about them.

Like that new Spike card. Now he’s interesting. There’s a whole bunch of songs that could work well with him and—

Bye everypony! See you next time!

Later! Hope you all have a good prerelease! Now like I was saying about Spike, there just might be a deck focusing around him and I can’t wait to see what people do with him. Oh, and Brian? Now that’s an interesting card...

[chaptersofnow]

The Children of Queen Novo and Princess Celestia.

Arcturus, Vermilion Plum, Skystar, Haven Bay and Salina Blue.

Bios under the cut

Name: Arcturus   Nickname(s): Archie, snowball, 'Mister ray of no shine' Age: 26 Pronouns: He/Him Identity: Cis gay boy crush/relationship: Parents: Celestia, Queen Novo Sibling: Skystar, Crimson Plume Special Talent: Sun magic Occupation: Royality, student Location: Cantorlot Likes: working hard, doing small activies with his sisters, getting people to like him Dislikes: exercise, outdoor activities, sweet food, crowds Bio: Queen Novo and Celestia had been interested in one another and often writing each other love letters before the storm king events happened. Afterwards when hippogriffs returned to the land and Novo settled into their half seapony/hippogriff society her and celestia married. Skystar is the oldest daughter of Novo with an old seapony Novo was once married to before their passing, Skystar will take over the hippogriff/seapony empire counsel one day. As for the first born of Novo and Celestia, Arcturus is set to be heir to the house of the sun. to one day claim Celestia's powers as the ruler of the sun and run the kindgom by the side of one of Luna's children. Arcturus has worked hard and learned well in Cantorlot etiquette, learning and applying magic, as well as keeping up with all the duties that will be asked of him when he is made ruler of equestria. The one thing holding him back however is his extreme social anxiety, he struggles to talk to anyone that he didn't grow up around and often isolates himself. He adores the idea of being able to walk up and speak to his subjects and be the ruler they deserve but knows that as he is right now that it is nothing more than a fever dream. He wishes he could pretend like everything is going alright but is n early 30 years old and still needs to ask for help placing orders to the bakery if he has to talk to someone face to face. Plus its not like he isn't hearing the whispers of the workers in the castles, he knows they talk about how sad it is that he worked so hard but will never be able to step up to the throne of cantorlot the way he is. Not to mention his sister Vermilion Plume. His younger sister, bright pink, smart, friendly and very expressive. She can do all the things he wished he could, she was out going and trying new things all the time without being afraid to fail. Everyone loves her and the people have made it clear their desire for Vermilion to take the throne instead of Arcturus. All he can do is keep studying, be the best he can in the places he is good at and hope that its enough. 

⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅

Name: Vermilion Plume     Nickname(s): Sunny Age: 25 Pronouns: She/Her Identity: Cis Bi girl crush/relationship: Parents: Celestia, Queen Novo Sibling: Skystar, Arcturus Special Talent: Cooking Occupation: Royality Location: Cantorlot Likes: going out and doing hobbies, taking classes at the community center, hanging out with her family Dislikes: how hard it is to connect with her brother, heights, struggling to be good at a hobby she wants to be into Bio: Youngest of three, Vermilion Plume is second born to Celestia and Novo. She has no claim to the hippogriff/seapony or the Cantorlot heir line, and to be honest she couldn't care less. Vermilion does whatever it takes to not even hear a word about this 'political stuff' and is more interested in gallivanting around cantorlot trying out all the new stores that pop up, taking classes on some thing she never even heard of or taking a spontaneous trip on the next train to anywhere. As far as she is concernedm nothing at the castle has to do with her. She 'won the lottery' so to speak by being born second, and thank goodness for that. Who even wants to be a princess just look how stressed and tired Arcturus looks all the time! Vermilion likes to think she is pretty good friends with Scroll Flame (Scroll Flame would disagree) and one of the cleaning pony Crystal Clear a pony from the crystal empire who moved to Cantorlot to pursue her dream and is working at the castle until she lands it big. Crystal has been in the castle since vermilion and her both were teenagers and Vermilion has often gotten the two of them into trouble by sneaking off to have fun despite Crystal insistence to stay and work. 

🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚

Name: Skystar   Nickname(s): Age: 37 Pronouns: She/her Identity: Bi cis girl crush/relationship: engaged to Celaeno Parents: Queen Novo, Celestia (adoptive mother) Sibling: Arcturus, Crimson Plume, Haven Bay, Salina Blue Occupation: Royality Location: seaquestria/Hippogriffia Likes: singing, festivals, fireworks, her friends, playing Dislikes: plans getting cancelled, work keeping her busy, missing her cantorlot siblings Bio: First born of Queen Novo's clutch. Novo was married to another seapony when Skystar was born but her father died when she was young, said to have protected them from an attack of angry sirens. Skystar has two siblings Haven bay and Salina Blue born not long after her. the two were shy and weak unlike Skystar who openly greeted strangers and often wandered too close to the surface and wondered what laid above the water. Skystar got a taste of that life when Novo started writing letters to her old equestrian friend Princess Celestia. It said long ago the two were friends, but after Luna was banished Celestia stopped talking to most ponies unless she had to, even to Novo the last connection Celestia had on the were abouts of the hippogriffs. However when Luna returned Celestia began to write again, even warming up to visits to her dear friends the seaponies. Novo still refused to leave the waters in fear of the storm king, even with Celestia insistence on their safety. But these moments when celestia visted and Skystar got to meet her at the surface it was this small window into the life of surface ponies. Skystar often would visit this spot just to sing, write and do things above water and dream of the life hippogriffs must have led long ago in these ruins. then one the  element of harmony appeared in this secret spot. One thing led to the other, skystar befriended pinkie pie and friends. The storm king was defeated and once again the day was saved, and the hippogriffs would finally return. To modern day the land of Hippogriffia is separated down the middle by land and sea ruled over by a diverse council of both Hippogriffs and seaponies. Queen Novo leads the councils and Skystar currently is working under her wing and learning everything she can to one day take over the spot. Skystar has two younger siblings in cantorlot, Born of Novo and Celestias affairs. the two are more pony than hippogriff or seapony and have chosen to stay living in the cantorlot castle, though Skystar's now youngest sister Vermilion Plume often up and leaves Cantorlot with little warning and will sometimes make her trips out to the sea/hippogriff kingdom and stay with Skystar and Novo. Skystar is currently engaged to her long time girlfriend Celaeno, the two met early after the return of the hippogriffs. Celaeno a pirate women out at sea seeing the faint shape of a merpony in the distance and the soft singing voice of an angel. Celaeno fell hard for the beauty of the sea in an instant, a very classic tale of a pirate falling for a mermaid. The two have been dating for many years and have been engaged for one a year now, the two wish to be together but their work and lives have kept them busy with the world going through constant changes.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Name: Haven Bay Nickname(s): Age: 37 Pronouns: She/her Identity: Lesbian demigirl crush/relationship: married Parents: Queen Novo, Celestia (adoptive mother) Sibling: Arcturus, Crimson Plume, Skystar, Salina Blue Children: Five daughters, one son Occupation: Shop owner Location: seaquestria Likes: treasure hunting, spa days, shopping Dislikes: storms, getting sick, vermine Bio: last hatched from her clutch. her bio parents are Queen Novo and her late husband. Haven Bay and Saline Blue are quieter compared to her sister skystar, thought the two share her interest for thinking about what could be able the water they never ventured too far from the kingdom often trying to stay by their mother or aunts side. Haven Bay has chosen to stay a seapony and lives with her wife and their six guppies.

🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️

Name: Salina Blue Nickname(s): Age: 37 Pronouns: They/Them Identity: Aromantic Agender pony crush/relationship: Parents: Queen Novo, Celestia (adoptive mother) Sibling: Arcturus, Crimson Plume, Skystar, Haven Bay Occupation: Shop owner with Haven Location: seaquestria Likes: crafts, chimes, talk shows, day trips Dislikes: their stuff getting disorganized, arguing Bio: Saline Blue, middle child hatched from Queen Novo and her late husband. Saline Blue is a quiet and shy pony who once believed ever seeing the world beyond the ocean was a fever dream. Now Salina Blue travels to and from Hippogriffia and seaquestria collecting beautiful shells, stones and other items to sell at their and their sisters combined land/sea shop. Salina unlike their sisters much prefers to stay home and read, often avoiding going out to do stuff when Vermilion Plume visits and tries to get everyone to come out and party.

[mylittlenanaki]

Fun facts about your favorite My Little Pony characters!

Twilight Sparkle is afraid of quesadillas and ladybugs.

Rarity has worn more outfits than any other character.

Rainbow Dash is almost always shown flying, even in situations where she doesn't necessarily needs to be. Not only does it help show off her personality, it also allows for better group composition shots.

Applejack named her hat Tallulah. It was given to her by her deceased father.

Neither Spike nor Gallus know their birth parents.

The reason Princess Celestia keeps losing fights is because she's always restraining herself, and if she cut loose and used her full potential, nothing in Equestria could stop her.

Trixie was likely the product of a one-night stand in Las Pegasus.

Princess Luna is haunted by the guilt of betraying her sister and home, and once that guilt became so powerful it manifested into its own dream-corrupting monster.

The reason Tempest’s horn seems to randomly flicker sparks is because her body is instinctively trying to use magic. These sparks are difficult to control and put Tempest into some dangerous situations prior to the Storm King recruiting her.

Pear Butter and Grand Pear never made amends before Pear Butter's death.

When Coloratura performed "The Magic Inside", it was likely the first time in years she had heard her own voice without it being autotuned.

Silverstream was traumatized by the destruction of her home at the hands of the Storm King, and her love and fascination of the world beyond Seaquestria conceals her lingering fear of the Storm King taking away everything she loves again.

Princess Amore still hasn't been resurrected since being murdered by King Sombra, making her the only ruling Princess in Equestria's history to not be accounted for in the present.

For the nine wonderful years that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has been airing and been enjoyed by viewers around the globe, it has won very few awards despite hundreds of nominations, has been mocked by mainstream critics and media simply for being a show for little girls, and in the end proved that we have a long way to go before media for girls is recognized with the same level of respect as media for men.

Pinkie Pie got her cutie mark of balloons from throwing a big party!

[journey2maya]

Narratology: Second Draft

Analyse your chosen narrative with close reference to the Hero’s Journey or another appropriate template

For this essay I have chosen to talk about the narrative structure of the 2017 film My Little Pony: The Movie. I will be making a structural analysis with reference to the Quest plot type as described in Cristopher Booker’s The seven basic plots. [1] to paraphrase; in any quest story there is always a priceless goal which drives the hero’s passion to succeed. The hero and some companions must embark on a perilous journey filled with monsters, temptation and helpers, to reach their goal. The story is unresolved until the overriding objective has been secured.[Booker 2004 pg 69] I will be taking a look at how the animation enriches the narrative through choice of design and also touch on how the songs drive the narrative at certain points.

The movie was produced by DHX media in collaboration with AllSpark pictures using Toon Boom Harmony production software [2] which specialises in integrating 3D elements with 2D characters. [3] the film emphasises traditional animation and is supported throughout with modern 3-D solutions. The TV show is animated using flash and along with this change of animation software there also came a change in art style. To quote Art Director Rebecca Dart; for the feature film, the characters became more volumetric overall, meaning they have more of a roundness and softness for the 360 degree world of Equestria and beyond that we created for the movie.” [4] This extract from the ‘art of’ book shows a comparison of the two styles.

Figure 1. A style comparison. Page 20, 2017 [4]

These small changes really make the difference on the big screen and giving the ponies’ ears an inside fold allows the ears to swivel and be more expressive, closer to real life horse ears. The shimmer of the eyes also adds to the depth of emotion and these small changes are an example of how small changes really make the difference.

The plot of the movie is as follows; Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity embark on an epic journey to save Equestria from the tyranny of the Storm King. Along the way, the Mane 6 meet new friends and face challenges as they travel beyond Equestria for the first time ever. From this summary we can pick out the key features of a quest story. The call; a sudden threat has arisen that gives purpose to a journey. [Booker, 2005 pg. 70] for this story it’s the threat of the Storm King.  The hero’s companions; Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity, along with the dragon assistant spike, accompany Twilight on her quest. The journey; the essential party of any quest story where our hero and their companions go through a series of terrible ordeals, receive help and guidance and are met with challenges they must overcome [Booker, 2005 pg. 73]. For the mane six this spans most of the movie. They go to a range of locations that play respective roles in pushing the narrative and I’ll be looking at each location in further detail. The helpers; characters that serve as an aid to the hero and her companions [Booker, 2005 pg. 77] ( the new friends they meet along the way) the helpers in this particular movie are quite important as they not only help during the journey but they also in what booker calls the ‘final ordeal’ it is the last battle between good and evil, where the hero comes to the edge of their goal [Booker,2005 pg. 78].

At the start of the film we see the ponies preparing for the first official Friendship Festival in Canterlot, Equestrias capital. Everywhere is bustling. The event is highly anticipated and each of the mane six are helping prepare by putting up decorations,and erecting tents and booths to sell many different wares through this we get introductions to our characters, including spike, to show a little of their personality. This is important because it makes the characters seem more real. They’re not just an accessory to Twilight's adventure, they’re individuals and they’re part of it in a big way.  Twilight Sparkle, the unofficial leader of the friend group, is being true to character and is worried that the festival won’t be perfect. As the Princess Of Friendship the pressure is all on her to make sure that everypony has a good time. Twilight’s friends rally around her in an attempt to reassure her that everything will be fine in the form of the song ‘We Got This Together.’

This song highlights the mane six’s teamwork and interpersonal relationship as strong. This Song also carries heavy foreshadowing as it implies that true to form, of a quest story, everything is certainty not going to go to plan but that the mane six will indeed face any problem together. However the genial atmosphere is cut with a knife when dark clouds loom over Canterlot, blackening the perfectly clear sky. Normally this wouldn’t be anything to worry about but in the lore of MLP, Pegasi ponies can control the weather. Twilight even gets frustrated because she “ordered perfect weather.” It’s a huge contrast to the previously established setting.

We are introduced to our first antagonist: Tempest Shadow. A jaded unicorn motivated by anger and a wish to be whole again. She is dedicated to being the Storm Kings Hench-pony and chief bounty hunter, all so he can retire her horn after she delivers on the promise to retrieve the magic of the four princesses for the Storm King’s use. Tempest is supposed to look different and like an outcast because it relates to her story arc and past. She has a darker palette than we would normally see which instantly makes her read as an antagonist. She doesn’t look like the other characters and we don’t know her so we shouldn’t trust her. A great example of changes the design department made were for the better.

Figure 2. Design concepts for ‘Cosmos’ as Tempest was originally going to be called.Pg 46 2017 [4]

Tempest asks for surrender which, of course he princesses refuse. This is when things go from bad to worse. An army of Storm creatures are revealed as their air ships emerge from the fog. They come down on Canterlot, capturing ponies who dare to flee.

Tempest turns Three of the  princesses,Celestia Luna and Cadence, into obsidian statues.

Figure 3. Cadence is about to be engulfed [5] 2017

Figure 3. Twilight saves Princess Luna from smashing to pieces [5] 2017

The final words of Princess Celestia, to her sister Luna, is to fly south and seek the help from the queen of the hippo…

She is unable to finish what she was going to say and Luna I’m unable to carry out the mission as they are both encased in an obsidian prison.Twilight is the only princess left and so, with her friends, they all make a daring escape over on of the waterfalls that make up Canterlots architecture. Unequivocally this is what Booker refers to as ‘the call’ [Booker, 2005 pg 70]] Tempest's arrival and disruption is the reason why the mane six must embark on the quest the Friendship Festival has gone terribly wrong and the stakes are high. Twilight and her friends have to make this journey to set things right. As said in Booker, ‘surrounded by an atmosphere of menace and construction, the Quest hero and her friends feel under intense compulsion to get away.” [Booker 2005, pg 71]  This is exactly what has happened to the mane six and we now have a definite goal- to save Equestria from the Storm King and Tempest Shadow.

The next stage, perhaps one of the most defining of a quest story that Christopher Booker has identified, which is certainly present in the movie, is that Twilight isn’t alone in the journey she has to take. Twilight is accompanied by her friends who each have their own virtues and abilities that contribute to the success of the adventure. Or to the detriment.

Pinkie pie is a particularly important part of Twilights company as she represents one of the 4 basic forms that a hero’s companion should be. A subtle alter-ego whose role is to serve as a foil, displaying qualities of the opposite of those shown by the hero.[Booker 2005 pg 72] for example in the ‘Epic Of Gilgamesh’ whenever Gilgamesh displays assets of courage and confidence it is Enkidu, his brother, who expresses fear and doubt. [Unknown, C.1800 BC tablet 2] In the MLP Movie when Twilight shows concern and worry, Pinkie Pie is only concerned about how much fun can be had and she derails the situation with her silly antics.

Through all the obstacles that the Mane 6 face. Their arrival in seaquestria is the most crucial. It is where Twilight is faced with one of the specific obstacles that Booker notes must be present. Twilight succumbs to a temptation. Seaquestria is the underwater world that the hippogriffs were forced to inhabit to hide from the Storm King. The Queen of the hippogriffs used a magic pearl to turn her subjects into sea ponies. Pinkie pie makes friends with Queen Novos daughter, Princess Skystar and Twilight realised that the pearl can transform the ponies of Canterlot into

An army that can defeat the Storm King however Novo refuses to give her it. The mane six go to leave but notice that Skystar is sad because her new friends are leaving. Twilight, surprisingly, encourages Pinkie pie to cheer her up with a song. When the song is finished we find out that this was just a ploy so everyone would be distracted whilst twilight tries to steal the pearl.

Figure 4. Twilight is tangled in the jellyfish cage that guards the pearl. [5] 2017

This leads to The mane six’s forced exit from seaquestria and more importantly Twilights downfall. Because Pinkie Pie was able to cram a lifetime of fun into one song the hippogriffs were going to give them the pearl as a thank you. Twilights lack of faith in her friends causes a big argument between her and Pinkie Pie which leaves twilight sitting alone on a greyscale beach. This makes her look even more isolated and alone as she is the only colourful thing in the scene. She is captured by Tempest who has been on the groups tail since the start. Tempest shares her backstory with Twilight. This gives us an insight into tempests motivation and creates a vulnerability in her. and she is taken back to Canterlot where we finally see the Storm King in full glory as he is able to steal the magic from all four princesses, channelling it through the staff of succannas, becoming omnipotent in the process. The Storm King casts Tempest aside, refusing to restore her horn as he had promised he would.

After Twilight is captured and left weak without her magic we get the last stage of a classic quest story; the final ordeal Where the heroes come to the edge of their great goal [Booker 2004 pg 78] Twilight’s friends engage in an epic battle against the storm creatures with the help of Skystar and some other friends they made on their journey. Near the end of the battle the staff creates a wretched Storm that takes Twilight, the Storm King and the staff away. Twilight's friends are of course distraught but this is the part in the story where our hero has her last ‘thrilling escape from death’ [Booker 2005 pg 83] and returns with the staff and settles the skies.

Unfortunately the fight isn’t over as the Storm King also survived the storm. it seems like he has the upper hand and is about to turn the mane six into obsidian statues. Tempest jumps in front of the mane six to save them, reforming  herself and pushing the Storm King over the edge so he smashes to pieces. The mane six save tempest and together the seven of them release the princesses and save equestria. Our hero Twilight has reached her goal and so the quest has ended.

This version was more focused but it was still too detailed. I took out the images that weren’t needed and I went in a slightly different direction. Choosing only to focus on one of the locations the mane six voyage to so I could focus on it more and make a more detailed and structured analysis. 

[thegeneralsnotebook]

May Feature: Manes That Scale

The recent change to the Block structure is a meaningful change in a whole bunch of ways. Most immediately, it adds a whole set, and a very good set at that, to the developing metagame of the new Block. Defenders rightly contains some of the most powerful cards in the game today, and it shakes up what was Beyond Block in a big way.

But for me, the change has instead brought up thoughts of what you might call “New Core”. Officially, it’s unknown where exactly the next set boundary is going to be defined at. It could be between Set 10 and Set 11, and that would make some sense given the current structure of 4-3-3. Or it could come a bit later, if circumstances dictate otherwise. We simply don’t know at the moment. But it seems safe to say that it’s probably coming a lot sooner as a result of this change. The new Block would cause only the second set rotation that this game has ever had, as Equestrian Odysseys, High Magic, and Marks in Time would no longer be legal in the Core Format. It will be a brave new day, rife with experimentation and ready to be conquered anew by whichever deck fights its way to the top.

The most natural thing to do might be to prognosticate about what decks or cards those might be, but instead I want to use this opportunity to talk about a concept that the rotation could demonstrate well: some Manes scale, while some do not. In this case, when I say scaling, what I mean is that the value and viability of some Manes depend on having a diverse set of cards that they can synergize with. The more cards that they have to work with, the better those Manes tend to be. Thus, as sets get added to a format, the Manes get more and more viable over time. With a set rotation coming up, knowing which Manes scale and which ones are static becomes very important.

Scaling is Something All Cards Can Do

All cards can be placed on a continuum between those with values that are mostly static to those with a value that mostly scales based on the size of a certain card pool. The classic example of a scaling card, one that I keep coming back to over and over in this blog, was Eff Stop. Infamously, that card got better and better every set as the pool of Events grew larger and larger. Another great example is Interdimensional Portal, which was just fine when it first came out, but also scaled with Enters the Board triggers, and went on to be the poster child for a whole family of decks in what is now likely its final form.

But I don’t want you to come away with the impression that scaling is something that every good card needs to have built into it. The history of the game is filled with static cards that were just as great. Getting back to the topic of Manes, two of the most prolific ones in the game’s history were both static cards: DJ and Ambassador AJ. While Applejack certainly scaled in a rather literal sense, the fact that she didn’t scale with a larger card pool can be concluded from the observation that her deck didn’t really change as new sets came out. Similarly, while DJ has been used in almost every kind of deck under the sun, we can’t point to a card pool that made her better as it grew. Every deck that’s included her has done it for the same reason: exhaust to draw is really good.

So, with the set rotation probably just around the corner, identifying which Manes in the new Defenders Block mostly scale and which are mostly static carries with it some interesting information. This is because the scaling ones will probably be hurt when they lose access to three sets worth of card pool, while the static ones have the potential to keep on doing fine. Over the course of the new releases, though, it will be the scaling Manes to watch out for, as each new set offers them another chance to climb the ladder. So, let’s see what the Defenders Block Manes have to offer.

Blue

Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolt -- Static

For the most part I’m not going to say all that much about the static cards, because it’s pretty self-evident why that’s the case. It always comes down to one question: is there a certain type of card that, should we have more of it, this Mane would get better? And with Rainbow here the answer is no. That’s not to say, by the way, that the Mane itself won’t fluctuate in popularity and viability as things change. New cards will impact the kind of decks that Wonderbolt will find itself in, but the card itself will not be seeing its value change.

Captain Celaeno, Swashbuckler -- Scaling

Remember what I said above, that static versus scaling goes on a continuum? To some extent almost all cards scale at least a little bit, in that you can usually name a card type that will help them out. For example, even Rainbow up above will scale based on Starting Problems that are easy to confront because that will make her early game easier. But I don’t find that particularly worth mentioning because it’s not a huge part of what makes the card tick. Celaeno is mostly the same, except for the fact that her whole viability right now rests on ways to flip her back to Start, and the existence of that pool will impact her a lot.

Gallus, Full of Surprises -- Scaling

Triggers are a fine place to start if you’re looking for cards that scale. A trigger necessarily scales with cards that can trigger it, and Gallus is no different. The size of the pool of Hasty Friends and Immediate-speed Events that he can draw on directly impact the value that this Mane can bring to the table.

Orange

Applejack, Tooled Up -- Static

While here we have an activated ability that can only come up in certain circumstances, I wouldn’t really say that Applejack scales based on the number of cards that can create those circumstances. The ability to start lots of faceoffs might make sure that you can use AJ’s ability every turn, but unless those faceoffs are important they probably won’t get you much.

Grubber, Royal Announcer -- Static

I can save some time here by saying that the Seaquestria Manes are by and large static purely by design. Each of them is predicated on the idea of getting a big effect once, and maybe once or twice more over the course of the game. There aren’t usually that many conditions or interactions necessary to get there. It’s true that this Mane recently got a big boost thanks to Fume, but a one-card interaction is a combo, not a scaling effect. We would literally need more Fumes for this card to scale on anything.

Smolder, Culture Shock -- Scaling

Smolder I’m willing to throw into the scaling category because hand attack is a real thing, and the fewer cards your opponent has in hand, the more her ability is going to hurt. Thus, like all scaling Manes, in New Core Smolder is going to care a lot about whether her hand attack cards from the old Block get replaced.

Pink

Pinkie Pie, Cruise Director -- Static Princess Skystar, Out of Her Shell -- Static Silverstream, Everything’s New! -- Static

We can actually make some interesting points by considering all of these cards together. Firstly that, as I mentioned above, being static versus being scaling isn’t a judgement about whether a card is good or bad. Within this list we have one Mane that’s great, one that’s terrible, and one that’s merely on the good side of average. And neither of those stands to change much as new cards get added, which is unfortunate for Pinkie, I suppose. Silverstream’s decks could stand to benefit a lot though, which goes to show that just because a Mane doesn’t scale doesn’t mean that it’s consigned to its initial spot in history. But even so, expect that if Silverstream does break into the really big time, she’ll still be doing the same thing that she is now. Because her value to her deck is not going to change.

Purple

Princess Twilight Sparkle, Professor Sparkle -- Scaling

Twilight lives and dies by her AT supply, so I couldn’t honestly say that she isn’t going to scale up and down as time goes on. If more sources of AT keep getting added to the game, then naturally Twilight is going to benefit from them.

Tempest Shadow, Storm Commander -- Scaling

Tempest is in a really strange position on here, because while purely based on design we can say that Tempest absolutely should scale, I can also say with a lot of confidence that she’s not going to scale. Tempest’s early game is almost certain to always look the same, and she scales based on how much value she can get out of her Troublemaker. Yet as we probably all suspect, Tempest and Grubber are going to be joined together at the hip until they both rotate out together. And honestly I think that’s a bit of a shame, because this card could have been really cool if the choice of which Troublemaker to pair with it had ever been a difficult one.

White

Rarity, Fashion Mogul -- Static

For some of these cards there isn’t all that much to say, and unfortunately for Rarity she’s one of them. To some extent, it’s possible that some of these static cards actually do scale, and it’s just that no one’s figured out how yet. But from a straightforward analysis it’s tough to see what sort of interaction this card is going to leverage if it’s going to get ahead. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, after all, it’s that there’s no accounting for what the opponent is going to do.

Capper Dapperpaws, Charmer -- Scaling

Capper better hope that there’s some scaling up in his future. For this Mane the math is pretty simple. As things currently stand about 58% of the cards in Core have even Power, and if that ratio keeps up this Mane’s absolute power is going to be related to the number of cards available on a fairly linear relationship. Yet there’s plenty of room above his current position, so I guess there’s gotta be hope, right?

Ocellus, Knowledge is Power -- Scaling

Ocellus is actually the Mane which inspired me to write this article in the first place, because while she’s not in a particularly great spot in the current Core metagame, this card scales hard. All it needs is cards that have higher Power than Cost, and nearly every set has some of that. It’s one of the reasons why I’ll always have this card in the back of my mind for New Core. It’s likely to get shellacked a bit on the rotation, but something tells me that a few Sets on Ocellus will certainly have her day.

Yellow

Fluttershy, Nurturing Nature -- Scaling

The fact that Fluttershy scales is actually kind of scary. You wouldn’t necessarily know it by lookingat what she’s been up to lately in constructed Core play. To some extent that’s because her pool of scaling cards is huge: there are Problems that are easy to confront and also cards that work to make her more powerful. Both of them are Yellow mainstays, so it seems safe to say that even if Fluttershy gets whacked a little by the rotation, she’ll be back with a vengeance soon enough, and it won’t be long before she’s all of the way back on the top.

Thorax, The Changed Changeling -- Scaling

Unlike Ambassador Applejack, Thorax is a great example of a card that scales both literally and figuratively. Like Fluttershy above, Thorax has a really large pool of cards to work with, just any card with printed Power of two or less will do. That pool is unavoidably going to grow larger as new sets get released, and isn’t likely to get reduced too far even after the rotation. Interestingly enough, Thorax doesn’t have a particularly high static value. His power comes almost entirely from synergizing with his scaling cards. But the vastness of that pool seems likely to turn him into a formidable force in New Core.

Queen Novo, Sea Sovereign -- Static

And unfortunately, we end off this list with something of an anticlimax. Novo really is more of the same Seaquestria territory trodden over again. It’s true that to some extent she’ll scale based on ‘on-move’ triggers, as those will make her flipping over into a much more impactful event. Already we’ve seen based on Beyond Block that flipping her early wasn’t a necessary course for a good game strategy. Yet I wouldn’t say that this modification will be enough to fundamentally change her value to the decks that might want to use her.

Conclusion

As I said at the top of the article, it’s still a mystery as to when exactly New Core is going to arrive. It could come as early as Set 11, or at the latest probably after Set 12. I can’t imagine it possibly lasting longer than that. Once that comes around, everything that we thought we knew about Core is going to change. Hopefully, by looking at this list and by how things develop with the new set, it will be easier for you to identify the dark horses, the Manes that might not stand out right away, but will surely gain in power and viability as the new rotation moves on.

[whirlwindflux]

Undersea Adventure: TrotCon 2018

TrotCon is a little special to me - it’s my local Brony Convention. When I say my local Brony convention, I say it with a little bit of sarcasm. At 6 hours away by car from my home in Ontario, most people wouldn't classify it as local, but it is the closest one in operation to where I live! I like a good road-trip and navigating to Columbus is fairly simple and straightforward.

I know it has been more than a month since the convention, but here is how my weekend went! Continue below for a large wall of text!

Last year was my first visit to TrotCon and if you read my weekend review of TrotCon 2017, you’d know I had a fantastic weekend! I was worried that maybe my expectations were set too high and 2018 wouldn't be as awesome as TrotCon of past, but I am proud to report, the weekend was as great as I had hoped it to be! Good news, even with BronyCon and GalaCon occurring the next weekend, attendance stayed level, with new and old faces alike at about 800. For those of you wondering if you saw me during the weekend, I was the guy carrying around either the life-size Blackjack or Little Pip plushie.

Before talking about the convention, I want to talk about the weather we had during the weekend - to say it was wet would be an understatement. It almost felt as if the weather knew the convention theme and wanted to play along. Heavy rain, high humidity, and the sound of cell phone emergency alerts for flood warnings could be heard throughout the weekend. Not sure if anyone else had this problem, but humidity levels in my guest room at the Crowne Plaza were so high that any paper based merch I purchased ended up curling something fierce. No doubt, it was the perfect weekend to be inside, at a convention being held in a hotel with attached convention space.

With good weather while on the road Thursday and no rivers to drive through this year, I arrived in Columbus at 3pm and was able to check in and make my way up to my room. I've always been a fan of the little touches, and the room keys were customized again this year, with a cool play on the con theme and the movie Jaws. The Thursday afternoon/evening LobbyCon experience this year felt a little muted (possibly due to other events going on in the hotel) in comparison to last year, but overall it was easy to find your friends and wait for pre-registration pickup to start.

I learned last year that it was a good idea to get in line early - so I did, and it payed off! I was able to collect my sponsor loot chest and make my way back to my room for the night. Of all the cons I have attended, TrotCon gets top marks for sponsor perks and presentation. This year, the sponsor perks were presented in beautiful hand-stained, customized and packed wooden chests. With all prepaid perks inside and some surprises, this presentation is one of my favourite things about being a sponsor for TrotCon! Also, love the design of the cool tie-dye shirt, it’s unique and stands out in a crowd! I couldn’t believe how many I saw the weekend after at BronyCon! Can’t wait to see what awesome ideas are in the works for next year!

This year, Friday started right on time with Opening Ceremonies. This included the public reveal of the first half of this year’s comic, introductions to our weekend VIP’s and welcoming Guests of Honour. Somehow, I already knew we were in for a great time! Just as the raffle started, I figured it would be a good idea to step out and get my Guest of Honour signatures before the onslaught of long lines later in the weekend. Not only was I able to get right into the autograph lines, they were short, meaning I was able to have a great little chat with everyone present! While TrotCon only invites a few show staff guests, it seems they pick ones that are ready to party and enjoy the weekend to its fullest! Originally I had blocked off a lot of time to get these signatures and ultimately didn't need it. This meant more time for me to browse the Vendor hall, Traveling Pony Museum, Video game room and catch up with friends before my next scheduled event.

As I had a sponsor badge, I was able to attend the sponsor only pool noodle fencing and dueling class. Since the numbers were kept small, it was easy to have a few turns at each to get a feel for it all. Unfortunately, what I learned was I had no aptitude for either, but all in all, had good fun with it. I am glad that more live action events are being tried, explored and added to the weekend - it’s an awesome addition that adds to the TrotCon experience!

Later on, I took some time to stop in at the Canterlot Art Institute panel, getting an easy to understand lesson on expression and pose in drawing. While I have a technique that works for me when drawing, learning from people who have much more experience is always welcome! I find the process of other artists and their techniques very interesting as they always have little tips and tricks that can make a big difference!

The remainder of my Friday night was spent listening to some great live music in the Main Events hall. Although there seemed to be a few issues with sound-check at the beginning which delayed the start of the event, the AV team was determined in getting things sounding right and they did a great job! A shout-out to everyone who performed and everyone behind the scenes that made it possible. Thank you for all that you do!

While Friday was quite chaotic and busy, most of Saturday was quite a bit more laid back and straightforward. Starting my day in the vendor hall, I was able to talk with many wonderful artists and creators. Beyond making purchases, I’ve always found a lot of inspiration in talking with others about their craft and process. Fun fact: It was last year at TrotCon that I was encouraged to try making plushies - it has become one of my favourite hobbies!

The Saturday schedule was perfectly designed with 3 back to back panels I wanted to attend in the Main Events hall. First up was a 2018 variant of one of my favourite events from last year, the panel featuring Heather Breckel. With no particular theme or description, you never know what type of discussion will start! It’s a laid back discussion about comics, art and video games - what more could you ask for? Next up was a voice actors panel featuring Kyle and Lauren. All of our questions were answered by the voice actors of our favourite reformed changeling and student six hippogriff. This discussion was fun and light with Lauren and Kyle playing well off each other! With time flying fast, Elley-Ray and Brenda now took the stage, and while I didn’t know it at the beginning, this would soon be my favourite panel of the weekend! The best way I can describe this panel is that it was food for the soul. A discussion of love, passion, friendship and positivity. By the end of the panel, you felt spiritually recharged! Both Elley-Ray and Brenda had so much knowledge to share with the audience and played off each other perfectly. Before any of us knew it, the panel was over and it was time to find something else to do.

Now was as good a time as any to grab something to eat and take another visit around the vendor hall. After a few more great conversations, and purchases, it was time to attend a few evening panels! From a mythological discussion at the Beasts of Seaquestria panel to a more scientific and mathematical breakdown of the Equestrian Royal Guard, both panels were quite a success! After these panels, it was off to the rave for some great electronic performances! One unique thing about TrotCon is that the convention doesn't sleep - it runs from Noon on Friday to 6pm on Sunday - there is always something to do. Unfortunately, sleep is also important, so most overnight events are lost to me. Maybe one day!

Sunday started with an MLP trivia panel; obscure questions were asked about our favourite cartoon horse show and, for once, I actually knew some of the answers! Uniquely, so called prizes were given to those of us who got the answers wrong - nice twist guys! There was time for a last minute visit to the vendor hall and video game area before the plushie meetup. Piled into a small room with a big table, everyone brought their plushies along to the meetup and after arranging them on the table, we took pictures of the plushie pile. What did you think was going to happen?

With time ticking down to the end, the charity auction began and was full of unique items, all to raise funds for charity. This year, the gimmick was marshmallows. Elley-Ray made a guest appearance to assist the auctioneer and was the life of the party. She kept the crowd lively and bidding all the way through! The end of the charity held quite the surprise; a ritual was performed upon an item to draw away all the negative energy of the weekend and pay it forward, as a gift, to BronyCon. The highest bidder won the item with the stipulation of delivering it to the BronyCon lost and found so it could be located by staff and auctioned off there. Although I wasn't able to make the charity auction at BronyCon, I did hear a rumor that the cursed item made its way. Thanks to the winner for following through and ridding TrotCon of that cursed item! Closing ceremonies brought everyone in and for another year we said thank you and goodbye to our Guests of Honour, VIPs and Con Staff. The TrotCon theme for next year was revealed and I am excited to see what it will bring!

Thank you to everyone who made this weekend possible, and see you again next year!

Want a TL:DR? Here it is, if you haven’t (or have in the past), go to TrotCon, it’s awesome!

[marcuserrico]

'My Little Pony: The Movie' Exclusive: Here's the Toy Version of the New Pony Queen

Queen Novo (Courtesy of Hasbro)

Here’s one for all you Bronies out there: My Little Pony: The Movie is set hit theaters Oct. 6, and Yahoo Movies has the exclusive first look at an upcoming toy set featuring one of the new characters — and the brand new equine land — created for the animated feature.

Related: Check Out ‘My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic’ Concept Art (Exclusive)

The Canterlot & Seaquestria Castle Playset, to be unveiled by Hasbro at this weekend’s New York Toy Fair, includes Queen Novo. Voiced by Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black), the queen rules over the underwater realm.

(Courtesy of Hasbro)

Here’s the official description:

Fans can recreate adventures from the movie with Queen Novo and Spike the Pufferfish figures, and this 2-worlds-in-1, 29-inch playset. Place the figures on the slide or in the bubble-shaped elevator and have them ride from Canterlot [the capitol of the ponies’ homeland of Equestria] down to the kingdom of Seaquestria or on the dance floor and spin the light up tower. The figures can also fit on the spinning octopus ride. Kids can push a button to open the treasure chest and jellyfish chandelier to hide treasure inside. The set includes 30-plus accessories for bedtime, beach time, tea time, and more!

Based on the original Hasbro product line, the TV series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has become a phenomenon since its debut in 2010, spawning a cottage industry of merchandise beyond toys that includes the spin-off Equestria Girls, multiple soundtracks and related albums, books and comics, video games, trading cards, apparel, and even housewares. There has even been a documentary about bronies, the hard-core fans inspired by the show’s positive messaging. But My Little Pony: The Movie will be the first theatrical foray for Twilight Sparkle and her pals.

The film will find Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie transformed into sea ponies (which explains why Spike, normally the ponies’ dragon sidekick, is a pufferfish in the playset) as they travel from their homeland of Equestria into Novo’s aquatic kingdom.

Spike the Pufferfish (Courtesy of Hasbro)

My Little Pony: The Movie features the voice cast of the Friendship Is Magic TV show — Tara Strong (Twilight Sparkle), Ashleigh Ball (Applejack and Rainbow Dash), Andrea Libman (Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie), Tabitha St. Germain (Rarity), and Cathy Weseluck (Spike) — with several A-list additions, including Aduba, Emily Blunt (Tempest Shadow), Kristen Chenoweth, (Princess Skystar), Taye Diggs (Capper), Michael Peña (Grubber), Zoe Saldana (Captain Celaeno), Liev Schreiber (Storm King), and singer/performance artist Sia (Songbird Serenade).

The $99.99 Canterlot & Seaquestria Castle Playset will be available this fall in stores and online.

[sweetberryworld]

Some more Mlp CCG cards to my collection :3

Bought two Seaquestria and beyond  booster packs recently

[glapplebloom]

It was when Twilight and her friends united that activated the Elements. But what if it was a different group.

What happened after Nightmare Moon took over.

With no Twilight figuring out how to get the Elements, Nightmare Moon slowly took over Equestria. There were towns trying to fight but with no sun their fighting spirit dimmed. Discord was destroyed as a statue. Sombra tried to conquer and failed. Tirek escaped was quickly snuffed out. No one freed the Pillars and thus not the Pony of Shadows. There were seemingly no opposition within Equestria to threaten Nightmare Moon.

And of the Student Six?

((Image by giulio)

Queen Chrysalis knows she couldn’t defeat Nightmare Moon head to head so the only way is to find out a weakness. So she sends a young and promising Changeling to infiltrate Nightmare Moon’s main ground to find a weakness. And that was the non-Reformed Ocellus.

While Equestria is under Eternal night, The Dragon Lands have the opposite effect as they experience only daylight. While its not a big deal to them, others do miss the night. Especially the older dragons who told the younger dragons how good it felt to sleep under the night sky. Smolder is one of these young ponies and decided to try it out for herself.

Yakyakistan is under that eternal night. They heard rumors of a Pony being responsible for it but they can only send in one as the rest have to fortify their home. Yona proves herself to be the Yak to bring sun back to Yakyakistan. 

Griffonstone is practically deserted. Every Griff there went to find a new place to live. With no family to call his own. Gallus decides to head towards Equestria to hopefully find a new life.

Seaquestria, on the other hand, recently found out about the Storm King’s defeat and sent the young Silverstream as an ambassador to thank them, unknowing that she put even their kingdom in Eternal Night. And Sandbar is just your average pony in Ponyville wishing for one day to be free.

How will they meet?

As Silverstream heads towards Equestria, she runs into Gallus. She asked him about the location off the Capital of Equestria and seeing an easy mark offers to take her there for a price. He figured it would be easy enough to find a castle and take her there. As for Sandbar, he meets a filly his age he never met before. She wishes to see the castle for a report and Sandbar, always helpful, offers to take her to a place where you can see it 

They head towards the Everfree Forest, more dangerous than before. But Sandbar knows a path that is protected thanks to a Zebra’s last action. As they travel, it seems something is plowing through the Everfree Forest. It was Yona, who traveled on foot from Yakyakistan to here, hearing stories about how Ponyville are super loyal to this Nightmare Moon. So when she plowed through the forest, she found Sandbar and the mysterious pony and attacked them.

Above, Silverstream sees the fighting and wishes to go down to stop it. Gallus, not wanting to give up a payday, reluctantly helps. Yona is fighting them all while saying she is going to give Yakyakistan sunlight again. When not trying to avoid Yona, Sandbar couldn’t help but think Yona look cute. Between Yona’s love for her home and Sandbar’s crush, the pony Sandbar was helping revealed to be the Changeling Ocellus.

Between the screaming and fighting, a sudden blast of fire caused them to stop. It was Smolder who was sleeping near there who stopped the fighting. Sadly this turned the physical fighting into a verbal one as each one complain about something while Silverstream gets a sudden lesson that Nightmare Moon may not be the best person to meet as an ambassador. But Sandbar seeing all of them wanting the same thing gave them a suggestion: Find the Elements of Harmony.

Sandbar visited the library and found the book about the Elements of Harmony. He figured if they could find them, then they could all get what they want. They all reluctantly agree to work together for now. Like the originals, they all face numerous challenges. First is the cliff challenge. Most of them could fly while Yona and Sandbar found a path down below. Gallus got his wing clipped so he’s hanging on. Sandbar promises to catch him and Gallus reluctantly agrees. Sandbar proved that he was honest to Gallus, a first for the griffon.

Next is an attack by a Manticore. The others are fighting him but Ocellus figured that manipulating it was the better tactic. She transformed into a bigger Manticore and it showed his paw to her. Seeing the thorn, she took it off and helped the Manticore. It felt good to her. In the woods, the trees look horrifying. They fight back but they just can’t seem to get it. Silverstream bursts out laughing, saying this is the most fun she ever had. The others agree and the laughter spread and defeated the trees.

At the River, the tides are strong. While most can go over by flying, Sandbar and Yona can’t. And there is no way for them to go around. They find a serpent crying about a mustache and Yona is reminded of an uncle who lost a horn. She makes a makeshift mustache and Steve Magnet loves it. So he not only calms down but allows them to cross using his body.

As they reach the castle, Sandbar knew of a way around back. He always theorized there was a way to enter that way and they head there. As Smolder passed by, she found an unclaimed Hoard. She could be set for life in more ways than one. But thinking of her allies and her family back home, she decided to keep following the group.

Confronting Nightmare Moon

They manage to find a chamber with pillars, but beneath those pillars seemed to be shattered objects. Nightmare Moon arrived, saying she has been spying on them, waiting for this moment to show how fruitless their actions were. Despite that, Five of the Six refuse to back down as they have come too far to stop now. Gallus is the only one who hasn’t. That’s because he figured it out. 

He realized that the Elements of Harmony aren’t objects, but symbols. Each one proved to be a part of the Element mentioned: Ocellus Kindness, Smolder's Loyalty, Sandbar's Honesty, Yona's Generosity and Silverstream's Laughter. While Nightmare Moon says there is one element missing, he said there isn’t. The travel they been through, the experiences he shared, they’re friends despite all their various differences...

As if it was magic.

Now with the Power of the Elements, they defeat Nightmare Moon and allow Equestria to experience Sunlight for the first time in a long time. With Celestia freed and Luna her weakened state, Equestria is back to a peaceful existence. Not wanting to split up, the six decide to travel across Equestria and beyond to continue to share their experiences together and with each other.

But there are still dangers out there, and that’s a tale for another time.

[diamond-song42]

Card Shark 49: Grubber, Minion

Howdy, fellow CCG enthusiasts! Welcome to an all-new installment of Card Shark! I’ve been getting over a bad cold this week, so apologies for the late posting. Today we’re shifting to Seaquestria and Beyond to look at a Troublemaker that has become a favorite for many players, and for good reason. Let’s take a look at “Grubber, Minion!”

He is ready to eat sponge cake and kick your ass. Okay, maybe not the second part. When Grubber enters play face-up or is uncovered (this will be important later), your opponent discards a card. But the circumstances of that discarding can vary. Regularly, your opponent chooses the card to be discarded. But if you have a Tempest Shadow card in play, any Tempest Shadow card? Your opponent reveals their hand to you and you pick the card that is to be discarded. That’s... scarily powerful. Usually a 5 power 0 bonus Troublemaker wouldn’t be super threatening, and Grubber isn’t Faceoff-wise. But his printed ability can’t be stopped. He can enter play regularly (playing directly to the Problem, face-down), through a card like Starlight Glimmer, Apprentice Sorcerer, or even flip-flopped with Untested Magic Fireworks, and as long as you have a Tempest Shadow card in play, he can discard an opponent’s vital card. Tempest can be a Mane Character, Friend, or Troublemaker, but no matter what type she is, she won’t be friendly too much longer. That’s a lot of work for one pony - maybe she needs a sponge cake break.

So what’s the problem here? It’s a cute trick you can pull with Grubby McGrubberPants, sure... but it’s not something you can build a deck around. Players have options if their cards get discarded, and chances are there’s another copy of the card you discarded in their deck or in play somewhere. Discarding a card is far from the end of the world. Heck, some players even like to have their shit discarded! Cards like Redeeming Qualities and Find the Music in You can put Friends into play if they’ve been discarded. Cards like Rarity, Radiance and Sweetie Belle, Cutie Mark Crusader can fetch discarded Resources. Even Hoity Toity, Discerning Eye, which banishes cards that would be discarded, can’t get around this since he can only banish cards actively in play. And let’s not forget how Maud Pie, Rockin’ gains power for each type of card in your discard pile! Ultimately, there are things that can make discarding less fun for the discarder, but the number of ways to make something good out of discarding is much higher. Do your discardy tricks wisely, my friends!

Besides the obvious Fizzlepop Berrytwist, here are a few other cards that can share Grubber’s cake:

*Sweetie Belle, Most Traditional. This card can do a different kind of discarding than Grubber, discarding directly from the deck instead of the hand. It might not seem like much, but two discarded cards every turn or so add up over time! It significantly reduces your opponent’s options for cards to play, especially when you keep three of these in play at once and discard six cards a turn. You’ll be tearing up the match in no time!

*Dreamseized. Here’s another card that allows you to look at your opponent’s hand and discard a card you find there. What I like about this card is that it specifically targets cards with 3 or more printed power, which most strong cards have. Though this and Grubber can’t discard a lot of cards like Sweetie Belle, Most Traditional can, it can isolate those cards that you know might be a threat to your strategy and get them out of the way fast. You can also copy this Event with Starlight Glimmer, Magic Instructor if you’re so inclined, but that’s a strategy for another Shark.

*Balloonoculars. This suggestion is less about discarding and more about seeing what’s in your opponent’s hand at all times. Sure, you see their hand anyway when you pick and discard a card, but you’d be surprised how things can change when the contents of the hand are out in the open 24/7. It’s also a nice reminder of what you have to deal with. Oh, and the hand bonuses for yourself aren’t bad either, but you knew that already. :)

Thanks for reading another installment of Card Shark! I’m super excited because next week is the big 50th Card Shark, and I’ve got a Shark talking about one of my favorite Ultra Rares to celebrate! Which UR have I chosen? You’ll just have to come back and find out! Diamond out!

[mlp-merch]

New Post! Every Monday we compile all the teased cards for the new Seaquestria and Beyond CCG Set by Enterplay LLC. Are you exited for this set as well? Find all the new cards here! + Info about the (pre-)release!

https://www.mlpmerch.com/2017/10/monday-ccg-reveal-seaquestria-and-beyond-info.html