#they call her fluttershy 2 because she can take care of 2 animals

[thebirdgang]

Yall have no idea what this means to me

[xjulixred45x]

Can i request headcanons of hunter with a Romantic and platonic s/o that is like flutershy from mlp? Like,extremelly shy,meek and sweet,loves all animals no matter how dangerous they are and probably a beast keeper,i hope is not to much for you,keep doing good work and take care🫶

Oh yes! Yes! Thanks for the Request!

Hunter Noceda x Fluttershy! Reader

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: female

Warnings: this include Golden Guard Hunter so, he's kind of a adorable jerk sometimes, but it gets better, Reader is very shy and kind, Reader is a Beast Keeper, References to Belos but nothing grafic. Fluff.

As always a little context.

reader has always had a great connection with animals (perhaps her parents could have been farmers or already part of the beast coven?) and this was both a great advantage and a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, she could be quite safe in Bonesburgo compared to the average, since she could VERY easily tame the creatures that came across her, be they fairies, spiders, any creature.

Her family may even have been able to make a living from this lol

However, it also had its bad side since reader was not able to see that most of these animals and creatures were only friendly and docile to HER, generating incidents such as fairy infestations, bringing honeycombs of fire and causing injuries, things for the style.

Although, being bonesburgo, most people only saw readee as a very tender killing machine whom they should respect more than anything else xd.

Apart from that the affinity with animals only increased as she grew, drawing more attention.

reader joined the coven of beast keppers very early, gaining even more prestige, much to her bad luck.

Because precisely having had so much attention from such a young age made her become more shy and in a certain way reserved.

She simply doesn't like to be the center of attention, so she tries to be as discreet as possible.

More when sometimes she gets involved with famous creatures in smuggling or that Belos does not explicitly allow.

Maybe even thanks to this, reader tried to live as far away from people as possible, simply because that way she could raise her little animals and not so little animals in peace.

but obviously you can't always make a living from what you do in the garden (I would like to) and you go to the city from time to time for supplies.

NOW, I have two versions of how Hunter and reader may have met.

1- on one of these trips to the city or 2- the reader could be the apprentice of Eberwolf (the leader of the Coven to which she belongs).

For a certain matter of ease, I'm going for the second.

Training with Eberwolf is... strange, mostly because reader has to interpret everything he "says", but it's not as bad as one would think considering the feared reputation of the coven leaders.

Hunter would probably know at a superficial level about the existence of reader, mostly from the incidents involving her "little animals."

but I don't think they interact as such until the episode where Hunter wants to earn the respect of the Coven leaders.

There not only Hunter interacts with Darius and Eberwolf, but also with reader.

Maybe Eberwolf is trying to get Reader to go with Hunter to improve her social skills since they are both of a similar age, or maybe he just wants to annoy her, we don't know.

or even reader may be one of the few people who actually stay when Hunter calls the Coven leaders because well, he's the Golden Guard! He technically has a higher position than her and doesn't want to get into trouble.

and thanks to this small show of respect and "discipline" Hunter drags her with him to his mission as an "assistant" which, to the reader's discontent, involves interacting with people.

Regardless of how she has been assigned to Hunter, reader at first is used to just following him because she doesn't really know what to do in this situation, she is almost as socially inept as Hunter, so when they try to come up with ideas of how to get more people in to the emperor's coven, they unintentionally end up sabotaging themselves.

H: Do teenagers like the same things that we don't? rules, train-

R: fierce but cute animals? follow the strongest? silence?

H: animals that end our enemies for us? you are a GENIUS-

In a way they do bonding through their VERY WRONG ideas of normality and when they go to bring recruits they fail even more than in the canon.

(I imagine reader doesn't think much about FlapJack at first, she just can't help but see the Palismans as animals too, so she pretends she didn't see anything every time Hunter talks to him).

However, when the topic of the Flying Derby comes up, things definitely start to take shape.

I don't think Reader is weak basically, you have to have strength to handle wild animals even if they are tame, so when they practice a little, Hunter ends up QUITE impressed with how much weight she can actually carry.

(When he makes a comment about it he meant it as a compliment but it sounded ruder than he intended. He facepalmed for a long time).

Reader quickly becomes friends with Vinny and hee griffon, even telling her everything she knows about his specific breed type, diets, allergies, clothing size--

reader compensates her lack of speed with strength and her animals, speed is Hunter's strong point so they both complement each other quite well.

reader may even share a little of her philosophy with the animals (and people) to Hunter when they win, having a better understanding of each other and the "opportunities" they were given.

Even when the mission ends and Reader has to return to Eberwolf, Hunter continues to seek her out for other missions after that.

I would say that for quite some time their dynamic is like a "villain" that no one takes seriously with a faithful "servant", except that Hunter treats the reader as a sidekick or teammate. He doesn't feel like he can do the job without her.

especially when her positive affirmations become something he EXPECTS, or he gets used to having hair from whatever animal the reader brought with her that time, or when he learns to sharpen his hearing to hear whatever the reader murmurs when she thinks that He's not listening (which he's not doing! Not at all!)--

Let's say it's obvious to everyone except them.

If we talk about a relationship in general, it is a perfect balance.

Hunter wants to pretend for a long time to be the perfect guard, who doesn't make any mistakes and who is arrogant and so on. but in reality he is much more in need of attention and AFFECTION than he wants to admit.

reader is someone who evokes a certain tenderness and kindness, someone who you would think would be incapable of harming a fly, but is much stronger than she seems, she could perfectly turn all the fauna of the Boiling Islands against you--

Hunter learned quickly not to underestimate reader and sincerely likes that she can handle herself, of course, it doesn't mean that he doesn't like to show off a little and protect her from time to time, but knowing that she can protect herself leaves him very in peace.

Hunter wants to know as much as possible about the reader's interests to be more helpful when her "little animals" get out of control.

I honestly think Hunter is surprised how the reader can find any of the creatures on the Boiling Islands remotely endearing (except maybe King?) but he definitely understands how her connection to nature (which doesn't want to kill her) helps the reader.

Hunter supports any animal his partner brings in as long as it doesn't bite her off a limb.

although the Hunter post Time Skipe is definitely much more into the topic of animals and will happily introduce the reader to the WORLD OF WOLVES.

Hunter is happy to have a partner with so much empathy and who sees the good even in beings who objectively cannot see them that way, having lived with Belos all his life. Hunter is truly touched by how the reader takes care of the animals as if they were her own babies.

Hunter will definitely fight for the reader's animals (not only for her, but because at this point he is as in love with her as he is with the animals).

Hunter himself is shy, and although at first it was difficult for him to adapt to his partner's shyness, he quickly adapts and even feels safer with her because of it, because he knows that she will not judge him for having problems communicating certain feelings.

👏introduce👏reader👏to👏Darius👏both he and Eberwolf definitely saw it coming from afar, but Eberwolf still made good money.

READER TEACHING HIM HOW TO MAKE ANIMAL EMBROIDERY AND THANKS TO THAT HE DECIDES TO MAKE A FLAPJACK EMBROIDERY I CAN'T---

I know I just said that Hunter would not be overprotective, but I can see him being cautious in social settings since the reader's personality can be the target of either 1- teasing or 2- attempts to make her feel bad for that very reason, and Hunter ITS NOT HAVING IT.

Don't even get me started on unity day :,) Hunter would insist the reader not only not go to the congregation, but to RUN AWAY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE. If reader didn't do it and, worse, was with Hunter by the time the drain spell passed, both of them would be heartbroken to see the other in so much PAIN.

We could say that it is even the reader's personality that helps him in especially dark moments, like when he is in the human world (without reader) he probably tries to cheer himself up or tries to think of an alternative plan thinking just " What would do reader?" and so even if it's just being a little happy thinking that "she would probably hug a "bear" or whatever that thing is"

GHAAAA DURING THE COLLECTOR SPECIAL HUNTER WOULD BE SO WORRIED ABOUT READER AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO PHYSICALLY PREVENT HIM FROM COMING AFTER COLLIE IF HE TURNED HER INTO A PUPPET---

reader is like his TORCH of hope in the black sea where Belos left him, which encourages him to get out of there, see all the possibilities, be HAPPY. and Hunter wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING AT ALL.

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

[moodooivy]

So far I've only really done Undertale stuff. I've made Equustale and FnaFtale yeah, but that's not enough for me. I'm into other fandoms. So today, I present to eeryone... My MLP redesigns! (I haven't watched an MLP episode in a year so hopefully these are ok and don't contradict anything)

(I know I'm not the best at drawing, hopefully these designs aren't awful. Also I know I forgot the cutie marks. I'll design them in the future. I also plan to make some anthro designs and of course ship kiddies)

First there is Fluttershy. She is 2' 0'' (Petite to a whole 'nother level) to the top of her head. She is a Pudu Deer pegasus (Mom is a deer, dad is a pony). She is 27 years old. Fluttersy is very small and tiny. She can't fly well because of her thin tiny wings. She was held back in flight school as a filly.

Rainbow Dash next. Rainbow Dash is a thoroughbred pegasus, 5' 4'' to the top of her head, age 26. She has big ol' wings and is very light on her feet. She wears goggles because it helps her fly without the wind blowing in her eyes. Also because it looks cool.

Then Applejack. Applejack is a big and hefty Clydesdale horse, standing at a nice 5' 0''. She is 29. Applejack is weightier in her hooves and has some fluff.

Pinkie Pie! (I had the most fun designing her) Pinkie is the youngest at 25. She likes to paint her hooves, wear bows, and cover her mane in sprinkles and confetti. She parties in her spare time. She is nice and plumpy. A 3' 6'' Shetland Earth Pony.

Rarity is next. She is 29, slightly older than Applejack. She is very elegant and pretty and generally small for a unicorn, and is an Arabian breed. She is 4' 2''. I didn't give her a leonine tail or ancient unicorn horn I know. I just like this tail better.

Twilight Sparky now. She is not an alicorn. She is an Appaloosa Unicorn at 5' 2''. She is 28 years old. She has a feathery leonine tail. Twilight doesn't have really good eyesight and wears glasses. She has white spots all over her body to resemble stars.

Thought I was done? Nah. I also did the male mane six! Rather then make them the same but just boys I tried to make them their own characters somewhat.

First is Butterscotch. He is visually the opposite of Flutters. Tall, at a nice 5' 8''. I wanted to go for a gentle giant effect.. He is a Red Deer pegasus (Father is a deer, mother is a pony). He is 28, maybe a little younger than Twilight Sparkle. While Fluttershy is more in tune with animals and small critters, Butterscotch is better with plants. He knows how to take care of any type of flower, plant, or tree.

Rainbow Blitz next. He is a thoroughbred pegasus. He is 5' 9'' and 28, a little older than Twilight and Butterscotch. He is very feathery and so totaly manly. You can tell by the rainbow hoofpaint. Rainbow Blitz isn't as fast in the air because his wings are small, but he can run quite fast. He can run at a powerful 140 to 170 MPH. That isn't to say he's not a fast flier. He's just not as fast as Rainbow Dash.

Male Applejack. I refer to male Applejack as Applejax, so that's what I'm going to call him so that there's less confusion. Applejax is the biggest at a wopping 6 feet tall. He is a Shire horse and is 29, older than Rarity.

Bubble Berry next. Bubble Berry is an Irish Donkey (Mother is a pony, father is a pony. She gets the donkey from another relative). I saw somebody make Pinkie a donkey and I fell in love with the idea so I had to make someone a donkey. So Bubble Berry is the man. Bubble Berry is 4' 4'' and is 27, slightly older than Fluttershy. He has a super furry body. Bubble Berry likes to make smoothies, parfeits, milkshakes, and other drinks and fancy fruity foods.

Next is Elusive. Elusive is an Arabian unicorn. He is 5' 6'' and 30. He is the oldest out of everyone. Elusive is a fashion designer like Rarity, but while Rarity is primarily a feminine fashion designer who designs dresses and gowns, Elusive designs suits and tuxedos. He primarily designs fashion for the bulkier figures of stallions.

And finally there's Dusk Shine. Dusk Shine is a 27 year old Arabian unicorn, only slightly older than Fluttershy. He is 5' 4''. Dusk Shine is a librarian. He works very hard and puts off other things such as hygene (Hense the messy mane and tail) and eating, 'cause who needs to eat, so he can keep working on his studies in his spare time instead.

Here's a height comparison chart by their withers/backs.

I want to start making more art for other fandoms like My Little Pony and Pokemon, but I'm not sure. Should I just stick to Undertale? Would you guys be interested in other fandoms? Let me know.

MLP: Hasbro/Lauren Faust

[glapplebloom]

The Three Faces of Fluttershy...

So Fluttershy is minding her own business, having a Critter Picnic with her favorite animals. That’s when Rarity comes in with an emergency. She has a fashion show coming up and  is pulling in all her helpers (not Coco Pommel though, who doesn’t show up again in the series until the finale) so she needs someone to cover her Manehattan Boutique. Problem is nobody is able to cover her.

In order of appearance, she asked Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Starlight Glimmer, Big Mac, Cheerilee, Granny Smith, Vinyl Scratch, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Maud Pie, and I bet she even asked Boulder when Maud suggested him after Fluttershy. Spoiler, this is my focus for the Wednesday Comic. Still, Fluttershy is the pony for the job because she said yes.

Problem is Fluttershy may not be the best pony for the job. Even if she had faced her fears in the past, she’s doing a job she doesn’t have much understanding of. She sounds like she knows what she’s talking about in Season 1, and the IDW Comic shows her knitting, but this is high fashion and it’s a lot different than what she knows. She even tries to individually count the number of threads on a piece of clothing.

A Thread count is a measure of the number of threads woven into one square inch of fabric. So basically when he asked for clothing with nothing less than a thousand, he meant a thousand threads per square inch. I don’t know what the highest thread count in an outfit is, but anything above 600 would be heavy and crisp, warm due to heaviness, last 2-3 years with careful washing cycles and has durability and delicateness. So it definitely sounds expensive.

Before leaving, Rarity suggests a new outfit to get in the role as Shop Pony. Fluttershy takes this idea and creates a completely different personality. The Mankind of her personality is one that acts snobby. It seems to work as this allows her to be more confident since she’s speaking with authority. And luckily for her, the people buying things know as much about the mechanics of fashion as she does, so she can BS her way out of a situation.

That is until someone doesn’t care for the words. This calls upon a new personality. The Dude Love of the trio being more Valley Girl who unironically says woke. That covers those who are a different kind of snobby. And when we got a Goth entering the fray, the Cactus Jack of her personality shows up, Fluttergoth. Man, she looks good as a goth. I wonder how the show would be if she was like this from the start. But that’s a Twist of Fate for another day.

With these Three Faces of Fluttershy, things seem to be running smoothly. But eventually she gets too into character and tries to out snob the Manehattan Snobs. It gets so bad, she’s losing customers and calls her Raccoon allies Rodents. This is so bad, they rushed to Ponyville to get help. Luckily Spike is a Champion Dragon Charades Player (probably happened at that Dragon Wedding he attended) and the four stop what they were doing to help.

I’m guessing their schedules got freed up in time since they dropped what they were doing and none of it was brought up. So this could have been a few days since Fluttershy was put in charge. But so into character, she manages to kick out her friends from the shop. This got to the point where Rarity had to leave the Canterlot Royal Fashion Show early to solve the problem. And her solution: to fire Fluttershy...

And again...

And again...

Now that the Three Faces of Fluttershy have been put back in the closet, the true face of Fluttershy is here and apologizes for how she was acting. While Fluttershy was Rarity’s last choice, she was the last choice among people she KNOWS who could do the job. She didn’t want a Manehattan Pony to do it because they would be snobby. And after being reminded that Fluttershy had that confidence of them within her, Rarity gets inspired.

She debuts it at Rarity For You and we see one more Assertive Fluttershy moment before ending. Overall, outside the curious case of Coco Pommel it was a fun ride. Seeing the Three Faces of Fluttershy was a hoot. And makes it believable for when she takes up a role in the future in Season 9. As for how it fits in GLAB Canon, check out here.

[curiousoyster]

I THINK I HAVE FOUND THE TRUE RELATIONSHIP OF FUTURE FLUTTERCORD!

I have also included some concerns from antis and have them countered here. Anyway, here are my interpretations...

FS and DCs relationship just gets stronger over time to the point they decide to live together. Some people believe that FS is just using him as an uber XD! But I think not.

THEY DO LIVE TOGETHER. SAME HOUSE AND MAYBE… same bed ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (JK I just like how they are so physically close here lol)

Anyway, My points:

1)   Fluttershy is living with DC. She came out of his dimension and so did her animals. Coincidence of them having a tea party at his place seems unlikely, I mean, that day was scheduled for that important monthly gathering, plus it would suck if they cut their chaotic-fun tea time short.

2)  Discord handing a lunch bag is like ur mom (who lives with you) giving you homemade lunches before sending you off to school.

3)  They share the same house bc why would Discord give her that lunch bag? He wouldn’t know if she needed the baggie/didn’t bring lunch with her if she lived in another house.

~~~~~~~~`~~~~`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I mean, come on. They got a strong-ass bond. It is NOT AN IMPOSSIBILITY that they do cross over romantic boundaries sometime in the future. I will prove that these CAN contribute to something that isn’t fully plain friendship. Plus, many years have passed so what are the odds???

INEVITABLE RELATIONSHIP BEHIND CLOSED DOORS/the staff…

1) Doesn’t anypony see the appeal of an immortal/mortal ship? Strong relationships can bud from strong friendships, too...

2) Discord’s view on FS may have changed slightly… and the writers (show and official comics) are pushing it.

A. Spike calling out Discord he isn’t just about the tea (which is fairly obvious). DC now not wanting to sound like a hypocrite in front of us and MAYBE confused about his feelings (in the context of love), becomes defensive:

Big Mac rolling his eyes at him (ikr (¬_¬)):

B. Discord fidgeting and isn’t strongly defensive on Baast’s (ex fling possibly) insisting doubts:

Cat girl gets jealous:

we can theorize that his view on her was slightly blurred but still inclined into seeing her as a friend bc he may be still be confused or that that portion of his mind is still too small to focus on unless questioned (and bc the show is only about stressing friendships and not romantic ones)

3) · Boy literally almost died bc of his overthinking that girl wouldn’t feel comfy with his chaos, so he changed himself for her. In the end, FS has always loved the way he is. FC makes sense to the both of them when the whole world don’t think so *condescending look towards antis*.

4) Of course, he has interacted, made friends, cared for others other than fluttershy… but she will always be his "favorite" and top priority. Boy would take a “magic” bullet for her, too (The beginning of the End). Heck, he can even sense if she’s in danger even if he doesn’t have his magic!

5) Writers put “I wanna marry Discord”. Now, I know it was Angel Bunny who said that in FS’s body but it still could mean something. It can’t just be Angel making fun/joking about Fluttershy; He’s trying to pose as her. He’s saying all the things that he thinks that’ll make him pass off as the real FS. If it was Angel just being a prick/joking around, then the stuff he says before the “marrying” thing should also be false/absurd, but instead tries to state what he thought to be the obvious about her: “see how SHY I am? I TALK TO ANIMALS, I wanna marry Discord…”

So the reason Angel had to add that is because on his part, he probably was annoyed on how DC and FS hang out all the time, or maybe FS allowed herself to express her feelings about DC to angel but he concluded it as being in love with him.

Reason from the writers to put that “out of nowhere” sudden line is probs they know about how lots of ppl ship them 😉 (aww they support us), and according to DRWOLF001, the writers decided to do what they want since the show is coming to an end, they don’t really have much to lose if they added hints like that about one of the mane 6. https://youtu.be/J0mqOuUZ1wg

and if asked if this was an indicator of a future romance, Josh Harber replied "could bee" with a wink.

6) Andrea Libman in FS's voice "I have a liiittle crush on Discord" after being asked what dark secret's the mane 6 would have. (they just love to support us right uwu)

7) This is not a toxic relationship, well not anymore. It grew and developed and is one of the most developed relationship in mlp. They are happy n healthy. This relationship is right for this show, for kids, as they educate them on what friends should and should not do; it educates them as they witness the fixing and making healthy this flawed relationship. If u think this should be labelled toxic forever, get urself checked.

8) Not pedophilia bc they are both adults. And plus, I never understood the age gap issue. Discord doesn’t treat her like an object instead acknowledges her feelings, Fluttershy isn’t submissive nor afraid/uncomfortable around him (unless he does something bad that hurts others). They are both contributing to their relationship.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's true that there were no explicit romantic interactions or blatant declarations. So I will make sense and conclude their "true relationship" based on canon, what was given to us, and practicality.

But… I’m kinda glad they didn’t deny/shoot down Fluttercord (unlike Dislestia LOL XP) and left it ambiguous. I feel like the staff already gave us the answer.

ok so considering all that's above, what they feel towards each other is a love that isn’t (and canonically never was even till the end of the continuation of season 10 comic) rooted with the Krazy chemicals in the brain, attraction, and temporary fiery passion but rather from trust, connection, and eventually a choice: To share their lives and happiness with one another. It doesn’t sound romantic or platonic either, I mean, based on what society deems as romantic or platonic.

SO imagine their relationship to not be overly romantic/passionate/fiery but rather pure and pragmatic, but still slightly touching on what people consider romantic; A wee bit further from best friends...? A QPR (QueerPlatonic Relationship- a relationship that blurs the lines between what's romantic and platonic) fits this category (AMBIGUOUS and untraditional) as it would make sense based on canon and in real life. A relationship that is not so romantic nor driven by it but by thoughtfulness and intimacy/love; sweet cuddles and fluff and cute silly dates (no red roses and petal hearts and wine, sexy time etc), and possibly raising children you normally don’t see from platonic relationships (das why its called queer)

…@. @ uGH My brain hurts. I know there shouldn’t be a middle ground in discussions/research but this is all I can conclude (┳Д┳)…

This is why I come up with a notion that the reason why making fluttercord openly canon would be a stretch especially to the kids and everyone else who isn’t too knowledgeable/understanding of their true relationship, ambiguous & an untraditional one (sounds like some draconequus we know). But relationship where two parties are happy to be in with their partner in life...

YIS. And I like to think he gave her that bluebell. Why a bluebell? It says that bluebells signify everlasting love and constancy, it can also mean gratitude. I feel like he chose that for her… that he is grateful for her impact on his life, and the everlasting love part signifies their love that stays forever… or if he doesn’t know anything behind flowers, just simply thought it looked good on her lol.

Forever… everlasting… FS is not forever, she has bags under her eyes… discord however will stay longer… but the feelings stay with him… A N G S T ◕‿◕

Feel free to give concerns^^

[prismy-sprout]

O&O Classes

Sci-Twilight Sparkle ⚙:

- Artificer: This class choice pretty much explains itself, Sci-Twi main attribute is having quite a handle when it comes to technology and creating gadgets, so playing a class that can create equipment and weapons it´s quite fitting.

- Wizard: Despite not being focused on magic as much as her Equestrian counterpart, she has a good understanding on how magic works on her dimension, making this class not that weird for her.

- Ranger: It´s a bit odd having a class that most of the time spents it´s time on the wilderness for a girl that pretty much lives on a lab, but, rangers can be seen as strategists aswell, by placing traps and gaining advantage over battlefield while staying on the back-line supporting her allies.

Pinkie Pie 🎈:

- Bard: Pinkie was born for being a bard, this class is designed to raise the party´s morale by the use of songs and rhythm, while also excelsing at roleplay moments such as getting their way by words and being overly charismatic.

- Cleric: Every adventurer party is always down to have a member that can keep them safe with healing and boosts, and since a safe party is a happy party, Pinkie is prone to doing things to make other people happy, so it wouldn´t be strange seeing her on this role.

- Barbarian: Barbarians are seen the most of times as unstoppable forces of anger and destruction, that mixed with Pinkie´s wild card-y and crazy attitude, can make for a small ball of anger and sheer hilarity.

Rarity 💎:

- Sorcerer: Sorcerers are pretty much like wizards, but instead of extensively studing the art of magic, they are naturally born with skills for using their disciplines, that fits Rarity in the sense that she got quite a lot of talent for what she does (fashion, as an example).

- Rogue: Not so much as the kind of rogues that she could consider as “ruffians” that go through the night pick-pocketing people and engaging on “dirty work”, but as the kind that with their high charisma are able to get valuable information from someone with a single conversation, or infiltrating on big events.

- Cleric: Some clerics are seen as part of the royalty and most of them uses gold accessories as part of their outfits, two things that Rarity totally has on her “favorite things” list.

Fluttershy 🦋:

- Druid: Fluttershy checks every single box on what a druid should be, since her first priority are the animals and nature itself, being able to communicate with them and even stopping their actions with “the stare”.

- Ranger: Rangers are like druids that take it upon themselves to protect the land on their own as forest keepers instead of only being part of the forces of nature, taking out her assertive side when needed.

- Cleric: Clerics have the main purpose to aid the injured, and Fluttershy being known for caring so much for her friends, it´s natural of her to be there to heal their wounds after an intense battle.

Applejack 🍎:

- Barbarian and Fighter: These 2 classes fall under the same category since they are all about going on the front-line and dealing a lot of damage to hordes of enemies, which fits to a strong girl such as AJ.

- Monk: Follows the same logic as Barbarian and Fighter, but, it has something else that would totally re-asure the idea of playing this class to AJ, and is the option of instead of using weapons, being able to fight with her bare hands, something that the user of the strenght geode might find as a good time.

- Paladin: Along with Fluttershy, AJ is the one from the Mane 7 who´s willing to put herself on the line if that means she´ll protect the party, but instead of protecting them by healing during the combat or at the end of it, she shields them, avoiding them of receiving any damage.

Rainbow Dash 🌈:

- Rogue: Having a natural rainbow colored hair is not the best attribute to go around without being noticed, but, who needs to go around sneaking when you are so fast and agile that no one nor their projectiles will be able to reach you or even strike you down.

- Ranger: It takes the agility from the rogue, and harnesses it to use a bow or a crossbow and strike down enemies that might be a problem to get from a close combat.

- Fighter: It takes the speed from the rogue, and put it on the front line by quickly taking on enemies and defeating them even before they have the chance to throw an attack of their own.

Sunset Shimmer 🔥:

- Warlock: Warlocks are seen most of the time like “bad guys” of the caster classes because their source of powers comes from selling their souls to a patron, which fits with Sunset´s past, BUT, it doesn´t mean that all warlocks has said conection with evil, such as the Feykind and Celestials, which fits to a redeemed Sunset.

- Fighter: Spell casting might be cool and all, but Sunset may not refuse the chance of instead of boringly stay on the backline where not that much happens, going out and fight sword to sword with hordes and hordes of enemies, where all the fun is.

- Paladin: It seems a bit like the other side of the coin considering her first class option is Warlock... because it is, but, Paladins are seen as wardens, and it fits perfectly to someone who bestowed upon herself the duty of stopping the magic leaking into her dimension.

Trixie Lulamoon 🔮:

- Wizard: She´s Trixie, therefore she´s obsessed with all that comes with magic, it being stage magic, or arcane magic.

- Sorcerer: Remember when I said that magic came to sorcerers just naturally? well, it´s quite fitting for someone who calls herself “great and powerful” to harness impresive magic skills.

- Warlock: Sometimes your own powers are not enough, so it doesn´t harm to take some powers from a source of questionable origins, like an amulet, right?

She might even multiclass all 3 and go all Wiz-cer-lock

(Trixie is pretty much the kind of friend who loves DMing)

Twilight Sparkle ✨:

- Wizard: Who´s the unicorn who has spend all of her life studing magic and even was granted to go beyond her limits and become an Alicorn? that would be Twilight, magic is her entire life, and so is wizard´s.

- Artificer: She might rely more on magic than anything else, but she clearly does not fall behind when it comes to technology, she even figured out how to keep the portal to the school yard permanently opened.

- Ranger: Same logic as Sci-Twi here.

[afterspark-podcast]

My Little Pony/Transformers: Friendship in Disguise, Part 2 Transcript

[This can also be found on AO3!]

[Stinger]

O: [laughing]

S: Like, I told you about this before.  You- you know my reasoning, you know where it comes from.

[Intro Music]

O: Welcome back to our April Fools’ Special!

S: For the My Little Pony/Transformers crossover.

O: Today we will go through issues 3 and 4, which will finish this little series and now on to part 1 of issue 3- Fluttershy makes friends, or [clears throat] um, ‘Pet Sounds’.

S: Fluttershy and Discord are in Fluttershy's house having a tea party, when they hear a very loud noise outside.

O: Discord, for reference, is a reformed villain in the series.  He's basically just Q from Star Trek if Q were an amalgam of a bunch of different critters all smooshed together.  (Including being played by the same actor.)  Ah, but he's good friends with Fluttershy at tha- this point in the series, presumably.

S: Outside in a crater, Soundwave emerges concluding that this world is ‘illogical’.

O: Fluttershy asks Discord if he's trying to play a trick on her, but he says even he can't think of something this bizarre.

S: Soundwave scares several of Fluttershy's animal friends, who flee into her house for safety.

O: Fluttershy attempts to calm them by saying, “No one's all bad!”  Before she catches sight of Ravage, Ratbat, Rumble, and Laserbeak.

S: Her first instinct is, “I can bond with this person!  He has PETS!!!”

O: Pretty much.  Fluttershy gathers up a few of her animal friends and flies directly over to Soundwave to introduce herself.

S: Said animal friends do not appear to be happy about this turn of events.

O: I don’t blame them!

S: Soundwave does not detect a threat from Fluttershy, but correctly detects a threat from Discord.

O: Meaning Soundwave can scan for chaos magic.

S: Well, considering Starscream, I'm pretty sure he can just scan for chaos in general.

O: [laughs] That's not a bad way of looking at it!  Soundwave begins attacking Discord, while the cassettes make a beeline for Fluttershy

S: Rumble, being the only one who can presumably speak in this group, starts badgering Fluttershy for information about this world's defenses.

O: And also, “Why does everything smell like lavender!?”

S: The Decepticons… I guess, know what lavender smells like.

O: I think the question is, do the Decepticons like what lavender smells like?

S: Very good question.  Discord proceeds to make a nu- a nuisance of himself to Soundwave, transforming into a metallic version of himself.  With puns even!

O: [snorts] Fluttershy, being Fluttershy, spots a scratch on Ravage's nose.

S: Or a booboo, as she calls it.

O: And pulls out some ‘booboo cream’ to tend the wound.

S: Ravage looks rather disarmed by all of this attention.

O: The rest of the animal cassettes all gather around Fluttershy, while Rumble is in the background getting more annoyed as he protests that it's not a ‘booboo’ it's ‘battle damage’.

S: Rumble backhands the cream out of Fluttershy's... hand?  Hoof?

O: Hoof, probably. [laughs]

S: To the shock and chagrin of the rest of the cassettes, Discord, and all of the animals in the vicinity.

O: Fluttershy gets upset because she was, “Trying to be nice!”

S: The other three cassettes turn on Rumble, as Discord transforms Fluttershy's animal friends into little robot versions of themselves.  Surprisingly menacing ones!  And they all attack Soundwave.  Soundwave gets to learn what being attacked by a dozen rabid little bunnies feels like.

O: Rumble attempts to dissuade his fellow cassettes from murder, invoking the ‘f word’.  The ‘f word’ being ‘friendship’ here.

S: Fluttershy immediately changes her tune and asks if friendship is what they really care about.

O: Soundwave responds with, “Unquestionably: Friendship superior.”

S: While being covered in a bunch of tiny, rabid, metal animals.

O: Yes.  The fighting stops, as Fluttershy says they can start over and be friends.

S: Discord points out that he could just turn them all into little pretty ponies, but doesn't.

O: The animal friends are returned to normal, and Rumble apologizes to Fluttershy.

S: Megatron coms Soundwave at this point, and tells him to meet up with the rest of the Decepticons.

O: Soundwave responds in the affirmative, but with the caveat of, “Eventually.”

S: And the final panel has Soundwave sitting down and looking on at- as his cassettes and Fluttershy frolic.

O: It is a stupidly cute panel.

S: Mm-hmm, Rumble has a bunch of bunnies in his arms.

O: Ravage is playing with a birb.

S: Laserbeak and Ratbat are both giving tiny animals rides.

O: And Discord is giving Soundwave a thumbs up.

S: It's happy communication all around.

O: Right!? Like, this is what Soundwave deserves, okay!? This is my humble opinion- Soundwave should just stay here and be happy.  I actually would pay good money for a crossover- like, a crossover fic of them.  Just Soundwave helping with like, Fluttershy's animal hospital thing.  That sounds so cute! [laughs]

S: It would be a relaxing vacation for him.

O: He deserves a relaxing vacation.  My boy deserves a relaxing vacation!  Also, just going to pause- if you guys hear creaking, I am super sorry.  But we- my neighbor is moving around a lot for some reason, and there's a lot of cranking going on here.  So, sorry you can hear that.

S: Issue 3 part 2, “The Flying Fox Trot,” begins with Rainbow Dash reclining on a cloud and chomping on an apple, content with life.

O: At least until Windblade zooms by, dissipating Rainbow's perch.

S: The two introduce themselves to each other and rainbow proclaims herself as, “The fastest in Equestria!”

O: To which, Windblade, seasoned warrior, plane with literal jet engines, asks, “Until I showed up?”  Of course, the only way to settle this is with a race, apparently.

S: Considering Rainbow Dash's personality, yeah.

O: Yeah.

S: At the starting line we get cameos from some horse-based Transformers, Mach Kick and Battle Unicorn.

O: Which, honestly, since one’s a horse and one's a unicorn, I'm just amused that these exist at all- in a toy line for boys.  And also, I kind of want them on principle.

S: They're-

O: They look amazing. [laughs]

S: With very convoluted transformations.

O: Apparently.  Because apparently, you can't, you- you- you- can take the horse out of the organic but you cannot take the horse out of a horse.

S: [laughs]

O: I know that wasn’t right.

S: You can take the organic out of the horse, but not the horse out of the robot.

O: Yes.  So it's, uh, anatomy is just about as bad as a real horse is what I'm getting at here. [laughs]  Windblade and Rainbow Dash take off and are neck and neck, figuratively speaking, since Windblade doesn't have a neck right now, but whatever.  Until they run into a gaggle of Decepticons.

S: Misfire and the Rainmakers not- well, to be specific.  And honestly that just sounds like a band name?

O: Jem and the Holograms’ new rival! [laughs] I like- great- okay, okay, I know- I know- I know that we were talking about this in our warm-up, not in the actual episode but if you want to get into weird things you can that like, fit into the Transformers-verse, arguably Jem and the Holograms takes place in the fit into the same continuity.  And in fact, there was a G.I. Joe character whose entire backstory is that he was a roadie for Jem and the Holograms, and G.I. Joe definitely takes place in the same universe as Transformers.

[Okay, so like, I’m not wrong per say, but arguably Transformers, Inhumanoids, G.I. Joe, and Jem and the Holograms all take place in the same universe due to the presence of Hector Ramirez in all four series. ~O]

S: And considering the comics, which definitely have had multiple G.I. Joe crossovers.

O: Yeah, but not Jem and the Holograms.  Like, I think the last IDW Jem and the Holograms was kind of weird because it didn't- it didn't tie in with the rest of like, the Hasbroverse.

S: Mm.

O: Anyway, I'm sorry, tangent!  It just cracks me up that's all.

S: [laughs] The Rainmakers popped up in a season one episode, in G1, when the Autobots had to visit Cybertron.

O: Misfire doesn't show up in G1 till like, very late season four, and by late I mean, season four only has like, what?  Three episodes?

S: Mm.

O: But, you know what I mean!  And he's more widely known from his IDW appearance with the Scavengers, who are ‘sirs not appearing in this comic’.

S: And also for his incredibly bad name-

B: [laugh]

S: And also for his imp- incredibly bad aim, for which, poor Misfire gets his name.

O: Rainbow Dash suggests doing the ‘Flying Foxtrot.’

S: Which Windblade, understandably, is not familiar with.

O: And I'm half convinced that Rainbow Dash made it up, but whatever!  This entire thing seems to be baiting the Cons into shooting heat seeking missiles at the two of them, and then nyrooming behind them so that the missiles hit the Cons instead.

S: The comic ends with Rainbow Dash and Windblade agreeing to a tie and sitting atop a pile of Rainmakers and Misfire.  Who all look like they are regretting their life choices.

O: They were defeated by a pony, [speaks while laughing] I would hope they were regretting their life choices! [returns to speaking normally] Issue 4, part 1, is, “Strength in Numbers,” featuring Applejack and the Insecticons.

S: It opens with Applejack being very upset that there are some giant ass bugs in her orchard, eating everything.  And, I mean, she unfortunately has a super big pest problem here.

O: Which is a bad thing when her entire income is dependent upon farming.

S: Yep.  The Insecticon horde is very happy, and surprisingly cute as they munch on delicious apples and trees.

O: Applejack attempts to chase them off in multiple ways… none of which work.

S: Spraying them with the hose, hitting them with rakes, spraying them with the hose again, and then trying to push them off the apple trees.

O: Back inside her house, she brainstorms more things to try when Discord appears out of nowhere and she too is like, “Are you playin’ a prank, Discord!?”

S: Well, if i lived in ponyverse or-

O: Equestria.

S: Equestria, I think that might have been my first thought too.

O: I mean, fair.  Giant insects are eating her apples.  Like, who else could do that but Discord on a normal day? [laughs]

S: Mm-hmm.  However, Discord says that this stuff is too mundane to be one of his pranks.

O: Applejack asks for his help.  He declines, as he'd much prefer to watch this madness, but he does summon all of the Apple Family to aid Applejack.

S: The Apple Clan is here!

O: No, really, like, ALL of them are here.  And I am not listing them off, because it's pretty much every single Apple character that appeared in the show at some point.

S: So all of the Apple Clan charge in, and I'm kind of wondering now if he like, showed up and briefed them all- just-

O: [laughs] I think they all saw through the portal, and saw bugs eating apples and were like, “My people are calling me!” [laughs]

S: My- my home needs me!

O: My home needs me, exactly.

S: Babs Seed, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom take out an insecticon by themselves by kicking it,

O: Which are Applejack's cousin, older brother, and little sister, respectively.

S: Several other Apples take out other Insecticons with ropes.

O: And an elderly Apple accidentally kicks one of Bombshell's Cerebral Shells back onto him and then orders him to go away while she's sort of flailing.

S: Accidental mind control, here we are!

O: And the day is saved thanks to the Apples, and we move on to the final chapter of the crossover fittingly called, “Finale.”

S: We open in the Crystal Empire with one of the other princesses of Equestria, Princess Cadence, as several of Twilight’s students report back to her that the Decepticons are nowhere to be found, but are likely planning an attack according to the Autobots.

O: Speaking of attack!

S: [sighs] The wall is smashed in as Megatron, Queen Chrysalis, and their allies arrive and demand that they hand over all the magical artifacts.

O: Twilight Sparkle and Optimus arrive just in time.

S: Optimus attempts to get Megatron to leave with politeness.

O: Surprising no one who's dealt with Megatron for more than 10 seconds, he declines. [laughs]

S: And with a combined call of, “Transform and trot out!” and, “Till everypony are one!”  …Oh, so grammatically incorrect.

O: [laughs]

S: The Autobots and their allies go on the offensive.

O: And I get secondhand embarrassment from those lines existing in a printed form.

S: Pinkie Pie throws a pie in poor Soundwave's face.

O: And we get a pretty great two-page spread where a variety of things are happening...

S: Rarity is riding in Arcee's vehicle mode as they launch themselves at Shrapnel.

O: Optimus is punching the crap out of Starscream.

S: Megatron orders Shockwave to just get some magical shit already!

O: Bumblebee goes on a tangent about Equestria's tasteful decor.

S: More bickering back and forth, and went- then Twilight summons the orange cap of shame onto Megatron's Fusion Cannon.

O: For reference, this is referring to the fact that Megatron with his original alt can't normally be sold without said orange cap identifying that he's not a real gun.  Which was a thing that was put into place after- or like you know, late 80’s, early 90’s.  Um, at least, you know, he can't be sold without this in the states and personally I think it's fucking hilarious.

S: And through the powers of friendship and Spike's awesome skills, the Space Bridge opens and Spike and Grimlock come through and assist.  And this is dragon Spike.

O: Yes.

S: Not human Spike.

O: Oh- to which, dragon Spike is wearing adult human Spike’s exo suit though.

S: Mm-hm.

O: To make this more confusing, how many Spikes would you like to go around?  That sounds really dirty within the fandom- and I'm gonna move right along!

B: [laugh]

S: Twilight and Optimus use alicorn magic and the Matrix in tandem to send the Decepticons home.

O: One delightful tea and Energon party later… the Autobots arrive back home themselves.

S: Optimus then explodes the space bridge behind them to protect Equestria from the Decepticons.

O: Much to the sadness of the Autobots, who enjoyed their time with their new friends.

S: Unfortunately for the ponies, Shockwave might have figured out a way to bring them to Cybertron instead.

O: And on that sequel bait, the crossover ends.  And yes, there is actually a sequel that's been announced.  In fact, I think the first issue or two might be out, and we're definitely looking forward to reading it at some point.

S: I feel like I've definitely seen a cover…

O: Other than that, what were your thoughts and feelings about this crossover?

S: The colors and such were really nice, but the cartoony style that the My Little Pony artist used for the robots didn't really work for us.

O: And we want to add, we're not saying they're a bad artist!  It was merely a stylistic option that didn't mesh well for us, specifically for the robot characters.

S: Mm-hm.

O: Um, this was further compounded by the fact that normal- like, Transformers artists that we are more used to doing comics, were also involved in other issues.  And so, they were drawing the robots better, and then the ponies also didn't look like terribly off model or something.  So it was just less distracting when they were doing it.

S: Mm.

O: Overall the special was good, and we recommend it to you if you like Transformers and My Little Pony.

S: Not that you should, you know, wait for our recommendation or anything.

O: [laughs] Uh, the Fluttershy/Soundwave chapter was a standout for both of us.

S: It was very cute, and I really enjoyed how emotive the non-speaking cassettes were.

O: I loved seeing the poor man have to deal with Discord's nonsense.

S: I feel like... we could have done with something longer having him deal with Discord’s nonsense.

O: I- yeah, it was constrained in the way that they did this, where each- there were only four issues, and each issue was- was split into two parts.

S: Yeah, and it's only 24 pages an issue or something.  So it's very- they're very minimal and very constrained.

O: Right.

S: It's just an issue with the medium.  I also really enjoyed the Spike/Grimlock chapter, because it was nice to see them both admiring each other's qualities, and supporting each other, and just being so uplifting.

O: And cute!

S: Mm-hm.

O: My second favorite was probably the Pinkie Pie chapter though, because it was just completely batshit insane.  Uh, just- again, Shockwave had a whisk and a spatula, because he was planning on eating the ponies.  I- where do I go with that?  How do I make that better!?  I can't, that's the answer! [laughs]

S: Shockwave just really wants to- to practice his, um…

O: Culinary arts? [laughs]

S: Yeah. I don't know, the implication that Cybertronians have culinary arts is- it just kind of weirds me out.

O: [continues laughing] Yeah, but- but Gauge was like, “I have a recipe!”

S: I know!  Well, that's the entire implication, it's just like, oh.  Mm.

O: I love that we probably got more actual like, culinary cannon from a fucking My Little Pony crossover than any of the other Transformers comics combined!

S: Yeah.

O: That's weird! [laughs]

S: I mean, the fact that it does come from effectively a pre-war era does mean that we'd potentially get more culture.

O: Eh, yeah.  I mean, but I don't think this was pre-war.  It seemed like it was mid-war?

S: I know, but just the fact that the uh, IDW2 is mostly pre-war.

O: Ah, that's true, that's true.

S: The characters all felt in character, the relationships were entertaining and sweet, and barring the one artist everyone was very expressive.

O: And with that, thanks for joining us for our April Fools’ special.  We hope ya’ll enjoyed, join us next time as we go back to business with episode 43, The Golden Lagoon.

S: Yay.  And that just about wraps it up for us today.  Remember to check us out on Tumblr or Pillowfort as Afterspark-Podcast, for any additional information, show notes, or links you may have mentioned.  You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter at AftersparkPod (all one word), and various other locations by searching for ‘Afterspark Podcast’ such as AO3, iTunes, Spotify and Youtube, just to name a few.  And feel free to send us questions on Tumblr, Youtube or AO3.  Till next time, I'm Specs!

O: And I’m Owls!

S: Toodles.

[Outro Music]

[chopsticks-pony]

My vision of the Mane 6 as characters. It can be hard to distinguish the details in my character designs without having a bunch of them standing together, which I don't do very often. The characters I do aren't cookie-cutter shapes. One thing I do enjoy in art is giving attention to details for characters to stand out uniquely from each other. This includes their height and body shape, width of hooves, how frizzy their manes are, length and size of wings and horns, eyebrow shape, fluffiness, and shape of fluff. However, I do prefer thinner, shorter necks and thinner limbs with large hands/hooves. The downside to this is that characters aren't drawn very consistent, which means the sketch-build stage takes significantly longer and it's nearly impossible to animate together in motion.

Some people think I have a "Tim Burton" style, but there's loads of artist who also do this sort of deal, and far deeper than I. But while Tim Burton wants to make cute things be creepy, I just want to add creepy elements to something cute, while keeping something creepy if need be. . PINKIE PIE Size - Average Build - Average Fluff - Rounded frizz Eyes - Rounded, cute Mane - Very frizzed, looped, puffy I draw Pinkie Pie with a gold tooth. This is because I imagine her as needing one after discovering sweet treats and not caring for her teeth very well—on purpose—to get the gold tooth instead of a natural replacement. Most artists (and there's very few) who do draw ponies different sizes often make Pinkie Pie "thicc" or plump due to her diet on sweets. I would, except I think her hyperactivity burns so many calories that she's able to maintain an average weight and size. Her hair I imagine to be the likeness of frizzy cotton candy. . FLUTTERSHY Size - Taller, small wings Build - Thin and awkward Fluff - Short and sift Eyes - Oval tall, cute, pretty dark Mane - Silk smooth but frizzed Oh, poor, dear Fluttershy! I give her characteristic dark circles; doing this draws a lot of attention to the eyes and makes them ‘pop out’, giving a sense of PTSD and alertness, like something isn’t quite right. Yep! Fluttershy suffers from PTSD as she’s so easily startled. And Fluttershy’s general lack of sleep caring for animals all the time adds to the dark circles. She has smaller wings and she's fluffier do to being a bird-horse. I also put her on a tall body with flared hooves to make her appear awkward and clumsy. She thinks Rainbow Dash is taller than her, but as a gentle giant, she doesn’t know how tall she is! . TWILIGHT SPARKLE Size - Average, long horn / wings Build - Average Fluff - Average Eyes - Average, dark Mane - Straight but slightly frizzed Book horse I think is a mainstay (pun) source for all things average IMO, except her eyes and hair. Twilight's extremely busy lifestyle and constant stress I feel warrants her to have darkened eyes of insomnia. This is a pony who could sleep for 12 hours and still not wake up rested. I also don't think she'd spent a lot of time on her appearance, letting her mane and coat remain brushed at minimum. .

RAINBOW DASH Size - Short, long wings Build - Sma... "aerodynamic" Fluff - Sifted Pegasi-fluff Eyes - Average Mane - Slightly Frizzed Suffering from spunky case of "little mare syndrome", this is what we call "smol dash". She's spunky, larger, stronger wings help carry her through the air. She's missing a tooth because of her activities and her hooves aren't nearly as polished as the others. She doesn't brush her coat often unless to be presentable as a Wonderbolt. I also try to make sure Rainbow Dash is a bit more flat in the chest. . APPLEJACK Size - Very Tall Build - Large Fluff - Rough and unkempt Eyes - Wide Mane - Coarse and straw-like The apple-bucking farm pony. She's strong and well-built, with somewhat sharp angles I usually reserve for stallions. Very poorly-tended hair and coat. The ponytails of her hair are dense like a mace and weapons in their own right. Like Dash, I also give her stiffer eyelashes and 2 instead of 3 lower lashes. . RARITY Size - Tall, long, thin horn Build - Thin and trim Fluff - OCD Brushed Eyes - Oval Mane - OCD Brushed Rarity is perhaps the most opposite of the stylistic choices I make with most of the Mane 6 because she's so clean and well-groomed. I also slim down her appearance. Unlike some other artists, I draw her (and her sister) tall instead of short and petite; she just has that air about her. I also felt she needs elf ears.

[digikate813]

My Little Pony Re-Watch: Episode 48 Hurricane Fluttershy

*This episode is so good, it almost makes up for all the sins of Putting Your Hoof Down. Almost.

*First of all, Fluttershy dressed as a tree. Aside from Derpy being in the show a lot more, that was probably the first instance where the show actively referenced a fan favorite moment.

*And in the process they created a new fan favorite. The overly muscled up pegasus, dubbed Snowflake by the fandom and then later officially named Bulk Biceps. Which honestly makes more sense. But Bulk Biceps is probably the most popular “background” character to come out of Season 2. Please tell me someone has done fan art of Big Mac and Bulk Biceps interacting? I’m sure it was a riveting conversation.

*Plus there’s a lot of new pegasi characters in this episode. Which is a nice upgrade from Season 1 where they just stuck wings on Ponyville ponies. I know it takes more work to design so many new characters, but I tihnk it makes a difference.

*Like I’ve said, I always get a kick out of learning more about the mechanics of this world. And the pegasi have some of the most interesting jobs of the bunch. In this case having dozens of pegasi fly around to create a vortex, that will lift up a reservoir of water to the weather factory. It’s a pretty cool idea.

*Plus I love the old timey educational video explaining all of this!

*So Fluttershy’s main conflict in this episode is overcoming her past fears to try again. This might seem like a bit of an exaggeration to some, but it’s very realistic. When your bullied and called names for something your already insecure about, it can make you hesitant to ever do it again. Nevermind doing it well. And a good display of what makes Fluttershy such a great character is that after a bit of a pep talk from Rainbow Dash, she decides to at least try, since doing this will help her oldest friend. Showing that she’s willing ot put aside her fears when it counts, which takes guts.

*I also appreciate how supportive Rainbow Dash is in this episode. Considering how important this is to her, she could be way more abrasive towards Fluterhsy and her fears that she doesn’t really understand. Instead she takes the time ot encourage Fluttershy, and that’s what’s going ot get results in this situation. And even when it doesn’t, she doesn’t lose her temper at Fluttershy, but sad that there doesn’t seem to be anything she can do to boost he confidence.

*Fluttershy’s first attempt is also great. She tries a bit and even gets into the flight test for a moment, but then gets lost in her own head swirling with fears of humiliation and teasing that she stops short. Too scared to really try. Which is very realistic. In fact this episode comes with probably one of the most accurate visual depictions of anxiety, ever. Like everybody is staring at you and judging you even if, realistically, most of them probably don’t care much at all.

*You know, we see a lot of Fluttershy caring for the animals in this show, but it’s nice ot see the animals caring for and supporting Fluttershy when she needs it. Even leads into a fun and cute little training montage of Fluttershy trying ot improve her skill. I especially appreciate seeing Angel bunny be so comforting. Almost makes up for what a brat he was in Putting Your Hoof Down. Almost (I am not letting up!)

*Another touch I really like is despite how much Fluttershy trains, and how much she’s determined to be at the top with the other pegasi, she only slightly improves her wing power. and not even coming close to most of the other pegasi. It’s kind of a sobering moment. I don’t think it’s showing that Flutterhsy’s fears are holding her back here. There’s no indication that her fears hindered her at all in the second test. But it’s a moment to show that no matter how hard you try, sometimes you just won’t be as good as the others around you. And that’s an important life lesson that can be tough to portray. But here, it’s incredibly effective. Feeding on Fluttershy’s insecurities of to being good enough

*And also the touch of Twilight and Rainbow Dash trying to support her and try to get her to see her increase in wing power, minimal as it is, as an improvement and accomplishment. It’s little touches like that that make this episode a step up from most other TV shows like it.

*I know this is Fluttershy’s time to shine, but this is also a great Rainbow Dash episode! On top of the amazing support structure surrounding Fluttershy that I’ve mentioned, Rainbow is a great leader to the other pegasi. And when it’s revealed that they’re short several pegasi and may not even be able ot get the job done, never mind break any records, Rainbow still keeps going. Motivates the crowd and is determined to get the job done, even if it won’t bring her the glory of breaking a record. This is by far one of Dashie’s best outings of the early seasons, if not the series!

*Although why Spitfire is just standing on the sidelines doing nothing is anyone’s guess. I get not wanting to interfere when they were trying to break a record, but when the whole water supply is in danger of not getting transferred, maybe a skilled flyer like a Wonderbolt should fly in and help out? No? Alright. Whatever,

*And the moment where Fluttershy decides to join them in the effort is pretty triumphant. A lot of people say this episode is about Fluttershy overcoming her shyness, and while her anxiety is certainly part of the problem, that’s not quite true. This is about Fluttershy overcoming her own self doubt. Thinking that she shouldn’t try at all because she’s not as good as everypony else. But when she summons the courage to try again, she realizes the contribution she can make does make a difference. Even it’s not as big a contribution as the others. She doesn’t reach the same wing power as everyone else, but she does improve, despite her fears of failing. And it’s that push that saves the day.

This is fantastic! Really the only weak point is Spitfire’s lack of assistance, but that’s a very minor nitpick in what is otherwise a very well made episode. The production went the extra mile with the various pegasi, there were points where it was adorable, funny, somber and triumphant. A great look at a fear of inadequacy which most people face but very few pieces of media present the process of dealing with it as well as this episode. I may be biased because it features my favorite character, but this is an episode i would easily recommend to someone who wants to know what makes Friendship is Magic so special. Next Time: Ponyville Confidential!

[heloflor]

I don't know if you've watched the full S8 finale yet, but what are your thoughts on it?

(Sorry foranswering so late, I was kept busy >_

So I didwatch it entirely and, if it may not be my favourite finale, it’sdefinitely a really interesting and entertaining one (and hey ! It starts withDerpy so it can only be good !). Now, for my thoughts of it, here’s some kindof review :

First off,I like the way they made the story. It’s interesting to have two differentplots, making it possible to focus on the school while still making the Mane 6be active (but I must admit “To Where And Back Again” is my second favouritefinale and the mane 6 are barely doing anything, but it’s true that the contextwas different). Although, the mane 6 plot feels a bit too rushed in my opinion.Like, by the end of the first part, the only thing left in their plot was totake magic to open the door while at the same moment Cozy Glow still hadn’ttaken over the school. But despite it, it’s still a good way to make the plotaround the school and justify the mane 6 absence while still having their questbe shown.

Now, forthe scenario, in the little scenes I saw before the entire thing, one of themwas the scene with Rarity complaining about being unable to brush her tail andI must admit seeing only this scene made it hilarious because this is so much asituation in which you can have 2/3 of ponykind being like “geeze, it suresucks to live like a pegasus or earth pony, you know, what we are -_-“. Buthonestly the episode made a pretty good job to avoid this “unicorns/alicornsare superior” cliché thanks to scenes showing that magic is actually everywherein their world, like how we see Pinkie’s food not lasting or Rainbow sayingshe’s unable to move the clouds. So yeah, it’s another good thing.

As for themagic disappearing plot, it’s an interesting one. It’s great to see howEquestria would actually struggle at all levels without magic (although itfeels like they may still be able to survive, it would just need some bigadaptations, especially in terms of making food last or dealing with anunpredictable weather) and I like how they tied it with Tirek, a magic stealercreature; which makes sense to accuse him. Though, I’m kind of weird out as tohow the artefacts are able to take magic like that. I know Tirek told Cozy howto do it so there must be something behind it but still…and speaking of it, howdoes Tirek know about the power of 6 artefacts coming from species he may notknow nothing about ?? (considering he wanted to take Equestria’s magic in atime when ponies were enemies with other species (Changelings, Dragons,possibly Griffons) or didn’t care about them (Yaks, Hippogriffs) )

Now, I wantto talk about Cozy individually so let’s skip the school part for now and talkabout Tartarus. It’s really interesting to finally see this place after yearsof knowing it exist. However, I kind of have two issues about it. First of, itlooks so small ! I mean, it’s true that there’s some kind of path on the cornerof the screen in one scene but overall it’s just a long corridor with Tirek’s prisonat the end of it ! Isn’t it supposed to be the equivalent of hell or at leastsome big prison ? And my second issue, also partly related to what the place issupposed to be : why are there so many creatures from Everfree ?! What are theydoing there ? Sure, they attacked the ponies but when you think of it they’rejust wild animals living in a forest who is known to be threatening; andhalf these animals have been tamed in the past by Fluttershy who says here thatthey aren’t monsters !

Seriously :

- thechicken thing (Cockatrice in French but I’m not sure of the English name) canbe easily tamed and lives in Everfree which, again, is considered as adangerous place that ponykind should avoid.

- theManticore is the same deal but less dangerous (because you don’t instantly diesby looking at them)

- theTiger/Goat/Serpent chimera lives in a random place full of fire and I’m prettysure not a lot of ponies go there (well, yeah, you have Starlight, Trixie andthose mail ponies but like Applejack they probably know how to remain safes)

- thebugbear seems more of a threat but can still be defeated and sent back toEverfree

Also areyou telling me that random animals are sent in hell because they arepotentially a threat but next to that actual threats like Chrysalis arefree ? Really ? So yeah, I’m sorry but having these creatures here just feellike the creators being too lazy to create new species (although it’s true thatwe see other cages with creatures but they aren’t put under the spotlight)

- and yetthe Timberwolves, the ones who were seen as the most dangerous animals inEverfree, aren’t here

…You knowwhat ? When you consider it, these animals being here actually get rid of oneplot-hole : Everfree being a forest with no creatures and “pretty littleflowers” in “The Mean 6”  X)

But despitethese two points, the scenes in Tartarus are very interesting. The moments withFluttershy are just amazing. Honestly, the scene when she comforts thecreatures and the one with Cerberus are adorable and her expression when sheencourage the creatures is just the best ! Also, when Twilight drains the magicof the others, I find it quite interesting to see them being actual differentseparated animals when magic-less…and then I started to think of how much of azoo it would be if Discord had to give his magic like that and now I can’t stopimagining the bunch of animals that he is all snuggling against Fluttershywhile a grey stallion with a tornado cutie mark (and a grey horn instead of ablue one I guess since the antlers would have given an other animal ?) would belooking away, blushing while saying something like “I swear they all have amind of their own, it’s definitely not my feelings rubbing on them !”. (sorry;I’m a shipper)

Anotherthing I love about these scenes is the moment they decide to weaponize PinkiePie. It’s just always funny when her randomness is used to make people loosetheir shit (and hey ! At least we know that Pinkie still has her magic in sucha crisis !) and, as badass as Tirek can be, it still fits to see him beingharassed by Pinkie. But honestly we need more situations with Pinkie or evenFluttershy being weaponized (and with Flutters, it would be her cuteness, likeher puppy eyes in “Fluttershy Leans In”). Seriously, you know you need toweaponize someone when you have episodes like “To Where And Back Again” inwhich the enemy uses one of the protagonists as a weapon (aka theFluttershy trap).

Now, aboutthe student 6…to be honest, I didn’t find their appearance to be as “strong” asin some previous episodes. I mean, clearly they are the ones saving the schooland we see them working together and all; but, in my opinion, Cozy is the onewho completely steals the show in the school plot. Although, I like how, foronce, we saw a bit more of Sandbar; and I like how his first thoughts againstthe Chancellor was to make sure to be out to get help, giving him kind of aclever side. Also, random detail but I like how he’s called a child but isvisibly taller than the CMCs, reminding that the trio are still pre-teens, like11-12 while Sandbar is probably like 15. And speaking of the CMCs, it’s good tofinally see them in a premiere/finale; but their role is kind of limited,making it a bit sad.

But I mustadmit, the student 6 are still a delight to watch and their interactions arestill great and adorable. Though, a little thing that kind of bothers me is howthey don’t trust Cozy from the beginning. I mean, coming from Smolder or evenGallus, I’m not surprised considering where they come from. But for the others,it just feels like they don’t trust her because they’re main characters; andeven if at one point they show Sandbar liking how friendly she is, if Iremember correctly the feeling is quickly dismissed by the rest of the group.

One last thingI really liked is this shot at the end with the princesses and an entire army,including both day and night guards, which is a good touch. Although I do havean issue about this scene but I’ll talk about it later on the post.

Now, withmost the story said, I wanted to go back to two characters : the twoantagonists (god is this post going to be long)

First off,Tirek. When I saw him in the SDCC trailer, I was really hyped to see him again,and honestly I wasn’t disappointed. Sure, he isn’t as badass and intimidatingas he previously was, but that was the point of it; and if they did add humoraround him, he still feels like a good character. He’s clearly in a badsituation, put into a cell with no way to escape. So when a random pony askshim about how to steal magic, it’s not surprise that he finds it funny andcan’t resist helping her out. After all, he has nothing to loose; and seeingthe mane 6 in a bad situation surely feels like revenge to him (at least untilthey reminded him that they were stuck with him and they deployed Pinkie onhim). And despite that bad situation, he’s clearly in control in his firstdialogue with the group since he’s the one with the answers they seek; and heclearly has fun about it (and even making Pinkie uncomfortable…sighs I swear if people made fanart of Pinkieflirting with the statue in Griffonstone, there’s going to be weird shit aboutthis episode…). However, I found it a bit sad that none of his previousappearance was really mentioned. Seriously, if someone starts the show withthis season (like kids who only watch on TV), all they will no about him isthat he once was a threat and stole magic. But they won’t know anything abouthow he stole magic and was able to use it, about how he manipulated Discord oreven how Twilight had to face him with all alicorn’s magic in an epic fight.The only callback we have seems to be how Fluttershy was the most scared aboutthe idea of Tirek coming back, considering that Twilight and her were the oneswho went through the worst during Tirek’s attack (with Twi having to deal withthe biggest responsibility alone and Flutters going through Discord’sbetrayal); and even so I think she’s shown as being terrified because she’sFluttershy, not because of what happened in the past…

So yeah,good appearance and personality but maybe more callbacks may have been good(and heck, in “Twilight’s Kingdom”, Tirek teams up with Discord before beingbeaten by friendship and here he’s penpals with Cozy. Honestly there wasmaterial for a small callback)

As for thesecond villain, Cozy Glow, gosh is she great ! Honestly it was obvious thatshe’s the manipulative little kid but damn ! It’s almost Gideon’s level(character from “Gravity Falls”); and I just love it ! Especially forone detail I think : she’s powerless. Until now, all antagonists were eithermagic beasts with their own abilities (Discord, Tirek) or had a horn to usemagic (Nightmare moon, Chrysalis, Sombra, Starlight, Stygian). But Cozy Glow ?She’s a simple pegasus. So it’s understandable why she would try to puteveryone on her side, especially considering she actually seeks friendship forpower. And her ways to manipulate are really felt. When she talks to theChancellor or the student 6 in front of the rest of the school, she doesn’thesitate to cut the others and she clearly has full control of theconversations. Also her evil laugh just sounds creepily crazy and it’s great.But um…maybe the skull and the mane 6 dolls were a bit too much…

Anotherthing I really like about her is how she’s the reasons Neighsay had achange of heart through some good cruel irony : during the entire season,Neighsay had been shown to fear the student 6, claiming that they would usemagic as a form of power against Equestria. But suddenly, he finds himself infront of a pony who is doing exactly what he feared (and thenlater on the student 6 helping him surely made him truly see they don’t wishany harm). And speaking of that, little detail but I like how Cozy is actuallymad when the Chancellor push away the student 6 files, because to her they aremembers of the school that she can use.

But yeah,Cozy truly is a good villain who really knows how to keep control over thesituation. Also, it’s kind of genius how they still reminded us that she’sstill a child with how she used fricking duct tape to stick the school’slogo on her crown. One last good thing I could say about her is how she mayeasily go into the category of strong villains and one of the things making itpossible is that, when you think of it, she doesn’t have a backstory (unlikeactually all the others pony threats), making her being evil just to be evil.

As fornegative points, honestly I would give just one : the fact that Celestiadecided to sent her to Tartarus, literally hell while next to that youstill have Chrysalis on the run, Chrysalis who isn’t a child unlikeCozy.

Finally, Iwanted to point out some random details that I find a bit bothering but theyare more stuff like what you may find in a “Everything Wrong With” video so it may be a bit picky :

- Why isYona always the one who almost die ?! Hasbro, what do you have against thatpoor adorable thing ?

- It mayjust be me who wanted it to be more explicit but the way the three days are putis a bit confusing. Like, when they went to Canterlot, it was the first day.But then, when they leave the school, we only see one night happening andbefore it creatures already lost their power so does that mean they went awayon the second day ? Again, it’s being extremely picky but it kind of bothers me(and again, these points are the kind you can find in “EWW” videos who aren’tpopular to never be picky).

-Additionally, it means that the mane 6 took less than 24 hours to reachTartarus, which is who knows where.

- So by thetime they are in Canterlot and get Starswirl’s letter, it’s the first day,which means that creatures still have their magic…I know it has always been abig plot-hole but why couldn’t Fluttershy or Spike call for a noodle godex-machina ? Or at least mention him or saying something like him sending aletter telling them that he refused to try solving their problem if it meantrisking loosing his magic or something (and speaking of this, if the Chaosrealm is affected by what happens, considering the creatures living in it, I’mpretty sure Discord almost died after the second day).

- Twilighttelling Rarity that she finally learned that she couldn’t save the worldalone…um…guys…you’re doing an episode with Tirek in it and yet you forgot about“Twilight’s Kingdom” ? You know, the episode where the mane 6 say about how inthe past they were standing the same way in front of the Everfree forest andTwilight said something like “And at that time I was foolish enough to think Icould do it alone”; or how Twi wanted to warn her friends about the shit happeningbut Celestia told her to keep it secret. So yeah, Twilight learned likefour seasons ago that she needed her friends, and they are aware of it.

- Twilightsays at one point that she went to Tartarus in the past, but when ?? Was itwhen she brought back Cerberus in season 2 or did we miss something cool thatwasn’t shown ?

- How doesTirek know that Twilight is the princess of friendship ? Wasn’t she called thatway after he was defeated ?

- Sandbarbeing out of apples in an apple farm…I’m sorry but he just wanted tokill Apple Bloom (heck, looking at the episode to write that part of the post,he has a fricking anvil next to him !).

- Soapparently there’s a fricking mail system in hell ? And no one checks theletters of the most dangerous creature kept here ? Really ?

- As saidbefore, how can the artefacts take magic like that ? And how can Starlight betrapped in it ?

- The treeex-machina. Honestly I already found it confusing to have the three being underthe school (how did it get here ?? From Twilight’s castle ?) but having himacting and even making the elements out of the student 6 just feels like someex-machina save (although I easily forgive it because the elements being someex-machina stuff has always been a thing)

- Celestiaand Luna being like “An evil centaur trying to steal magic ? A god of Chaos ?An evil king ? meh, let’s get rid of it by ourselves. What ? A child with nomagic took over a school full of ponies who will surely listen to us, theleaders of the country, rather than this kid ? WE NEED THE ARMY !”. Seriously,what the heck Celestia ? It’s a kid ! And she’s not even an unicorn !

- Alsowasn’t it shown from Rainbow that pegasis can still fly ? Why didn’t theprincesses went to the school flying, possibly with some pegasis guards ? Andwhy do they start flying the moment they get their magic back ?!

- Again,they sent a kid to hell ! What the heck Celestia ?! EvenTirek is like “wait what ?” !

Phew, well here are my thoughts about this episode !I hope it’s not too annoying to read considering how long it is !  

[peculiar-bonds]

Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind - Chapter 2: Dark Rumours

Synopsis: While Mane 6 are on a research mission in a small town from another world called 'Earth', they learn about an old myth among the inhabitants: the Slenderman. What is the ugly truth of this haunted town? Will they survive the monster's deadly grasps?

Warning: This chapter contains a few swear words.

The girls found the principal’s office in no time; luckily, there was a sign, because the door looked like it was camouflaged within the entire high school, almost the same as a secret chamber, where nobody is allowed to walk into.

“So, who’s going to knock?” Pinkie asked, feeling slightly uneasy.

Twilight sighed. “I will do it…it’s my duty to finish this task after all,” she continued in a dramatic tone.

“The door won’t bite, you know?” Rainbow Dash added, amused by her friend’s unreasonable anxiety.

Twilight glared at her teasing remark, then turned back to the door. She knocked slowly, almost silently. When she was starting to think no one was there, a voice called from inside:

“Come in!”

The youngster startled a little, then took a deep breath and opened the door with her small, trembling hands.

“Good morning, Sir. We’re the new students that transferred here recently, and we have some questions to ask, if it’s alright…” Twilight said nervously, almost staring at the man in front of her.

Xavier Barnes, the principal of ‘Waukesha South High School’, was different from most humans; his skin tone was significantly darker, and he had distinct features unlike the others: thick lips, a wide nose bridge and baldness. Still, his expression showed a hint of kindness and good intentions towards all of the students, even the new ones.

“Yes, of course! You can call your friends in as well!” the principal answered with a calm tone.

The teenager called the others to come inside the office . One by one, they filled the room in no time.

“Please, take some seats,” the principal kindly invited them.

Almost everyone found a few chairs to sit down, except Rainbow Dash and Applejack, but they didn’t seem to mind.

“Alright, girls, so what are the questions that you need to address me? Do you wish to request a tour of the school, or your timetables, perhaps?”

“Yes, we need those too, but we also…want to see our transfer files…if you have them, of course…” Twilight pointed out.

“I just received them this morning. I didn’t actually get the chance to have a look at them and approve them…but considering that you’re all here at this moment, we’ll discuss them together, shall we?”

“Of course!” Twilight approved.

“Alright, then; let’s see yours first…” he said while taking a folder from the drawer and opened it to find a multitude of papers that described their new human identities. Twilight peeked on the documents, fully astonished and confused at the same time; how was it possible that they managed to disguise themselves without any effort? Did Princess Celestia take care of all the details, or is it a phenomenon that usually happens during interdimensional travels? Either way, she was relieved that the humans didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary.

Meanwhile, the principal started reading the papers aloud:

“Name is Tara Sparkle, born on 15th September 199-; says here that you were a straight-A student at your former school; congratulations on your performance, and I hope you will achieve the same results in our school!”

“Thank you, Sir” Twilight replied with a soft smile. “I’ll try my best not to disappoint anyone here.”

“Very well, then…and please call me Mr. Barnes.”

The young girl nodded. Principal Barnes took another folder and looked at Rarity.

“As for you, miss, your name is Rachel Damon, right? Born on 5th October 199-; you seem to have a passion for fashion design, and we’ll surely need students with such abilities; maybe you could come up with a new design for the cheerleader’s costume, who knows?”

“Oh, certainly!” Rarity nodded.

The principal kept looking through the files, then nodded at Fluttershy.

“Florence Woodheart, born on 17th March 199-; selfless and willing to help others, particularly the animals. We have some volunteering activities here, if you’re interested.”

“Oh, thank you! I’d be glad to help,” Fluttershy replied with a soft voice, but feeling very excited on the inside.

“Alright; the next one is Rebecca Dash, born on 1st April 199-. It seems like you have an aptitude for sports in general; we’d gladly invite you to join one of our teams: basketball, voleyball, track, anything that you wish to do.”

“Wow, sounds great!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, truly eager to try all of the sports in the near future.

“And here we have the last two: Penelope Diane Pie, born on 29th May 199-, and Anne-Jay Smith, born on 12th December 199-. I see you both made several contributions to the former school, such as organizing events. I’d be happy to see more students like you as a part of the school's development committee.”

“Thank you, Mr. Barnes! We’ll do our best!” Pinkie confirmed with pure joy. “Right…Anne-Jay?”

“Yep, sure thing!” the country girl replied, almost confused by the situation.

“Alright! In this case, I wish you a warm welcome to our high school! Here are your timetables,” the principal said while handing six pieces of paper to each of the youngsters. “Good luck in these years that will follow!”

“Thank you!” Twilight replied, then left the office along with her friends, each of them wishing the principal a good day.

“Look, Twilight! We’re in the same class! You too, Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash announced with excitement while walking through the halls.

“Woo! This is great!” Pinkie squealed behind them.

“Yay, seems like we’re in the same class, Rarity…” Fluttershy continued on the other side of the corridor.

“Wonderful, darling!”

“Aw, I’m alone in another class though…” Applejack pointed out, quite disappointed by the outcome.

“You aren’t alone, Applejack! We’re still in the same school!” Pinkie replied, then hugged her friend to comfort her.

“That’s true, can’t deny it,” Applejack chuckled.

“What’s our first class, Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked while starting another conversation with the friend in front of her.

“Geography…Oh, great! It’s a good way to learn more about Earth”

“And also a boooooring one!” the reckless teenager sighed. “Did I tell you that I haven’t missed school AT ALL?”

“Oh, come on, we don’t have time to whine about this! Let’s go!” Twilight replied while grabbing Rainbow Dash’s arm.

“Wait for me, Twilight! Bye, girls! See you later!” Pinkie Pie called, waving ‘goodbye’ to her other three friends from behind.

The three girls arrived in the middle of the class, panting and apologizing simultaneously for being late. While introducing themselves, Twilight noticed that the class was filled with a disciplined atmosphere, but for the first time, she felt awkward and very uneasy. After they finished the introductions and occupied their seats, the teacher returned to the lesson. Twilight listened attentively while looking at the World Map. She took notes from any word that her new teacher said, feeling more eager to discover Earth from its depths…

When the bell rang and the teacher left, the atmosphere of the class changed drastically, from calm and disciplined to lively and almost chaotic. Pinkie Pie didn’t wait more than five minutes until she befriended nearly half of the class, along with Rainbow Dash, who started having a conversation with one of the jocks. Still, Twilight remained at her desk, studying the new notes that she took from the Geography class. From time to time, she turned her eyes from the papers to observe the environment; while having a look to the right, she noticed one of her classmates who seemed as lonely and isolated as herself. Unlike the other ones, this girl was of a paler complexion which was in contrast with her short and dark blue hair that had a few faded neon pink and green strikes. Her clothes were also very dark, like she was trying to get out of the colourful routine of ordinary people. The expression, highlighted by the black makeup, showed a slight feeling of disgust towards her classmates, whom she considered ‘ignorant’ and ‘blind’ in front of a potential horrific reality.

Twilight wanted to talk to her and introduce herself, but she hesitated due to the apparently aggressive nature of the strange girl. Surprisingly, it was her classmate who started the conversation:

“You must be new here…but looks like your pals went ahead of you with the integration”

“To be honest, I don’t really care about socializing at the moment. There are more important things for me than having pointless conversations,” Twilight explained, visibly annoyed by the attitude of her other two friends.

“I know how you feel, um…Tara? Right? I usually forget new names at the beginning.”

“Yes, it’s Tara.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Emma, or the ‘emo freak’, as the others usually call me”

“I don’t think you’re a freak…You’re just different from the majority, from what it seems”

“Wow, that’s the first nice thing about me I’ve heard this week…” Emma answered with a faint smile.

“Glad to help, Emma,” Twilight nodded.

“Why did you choose Waukesha out of the other cities from US? Cities that are significantly better…”

“I’m not sure exactly, it seemed the only choice that I had…”

“A bad choice, more like.”

Twilight was puzzled by Emma’s last remark. She paused for a few seconds, then leaned closer to her classmate’s desk.

“What do you mean by ‘a bad choice’?”

“Girl, you have no idea how cursed this place is…Miles away from Waukesha, there is a huge forest, and in this forest lives a grotesque being. It is creepy as Hell, if you ask me: tall as fuck, very pale, faceless, and wears a black suit. Rumour has it that this creature hunts to death the ones who trespass its domain; it also has a thing for children, especially the very curious ones. Once they enter the forest, they’re kinda forced to collect eight pages from different spots; nobody knows precisely who scribbled those pages though. It might have been an unlucky victim, or the being itself. As for the page hunt, if you lose the ‘game’, you’re gonna have a terrible fate, I tell you…even I fell for this shit, and I have no idea how I escaped from that Hell. I swear I saw it RIGHT in front of me, and even though it didn’t have a face, I could sense an expression that almost pierced my damned soul, and then…”

“Hey, emo freak! Are you for real?”

Emma’s storytelling was interrupted by a girl’s call; suddenly, there was an exchange of fiery glares between each other. Right after the mocking question was asked, all the other classmates, including Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, turned their heads to Emma, who felt like bursting with hatred and anger towards the one who interrupted her.

“Um, excuse me? What’s your damn problem if I talk to her?”

“None, freak! It’s just that you scare her with your bullshit about the Slenderman, or whatever! He’s not real, for crying out loud!”

“He’s as real as possible, bitch!”  Emma yelled, counterattacking viciously the remarks of her classmate.

“Oh yeah? Prove it, then! If you claimed that you saw it, why don’t you have photos?”

“Because I was too busy showing him this!” the emo girl replied while showing the middle finger to her classmate. “FUCK OFF!” she yelled while storming out of her desk, getting out of the class and slamming the door behind her.

The others suddenly came back to their usual routines, with the addition of gossip about Emma. Both puzzled by the whole argument, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie went to Twilight’s desk.

“What in the name of Celestia just happened there, Twilight? And who is this ‘Slenderman’ they kept talking about?” Rainbow Dash whispered, deeply curious about the situation.

“Can we discuss about it after school, please? You know why…” Twilight replied while subtly pointing her head at the other students, who seemed very offended by Emma’s unusual beliefs.

“Alright, then,” Rainbow Dash nodded, going with Pinkie back to their seats. The bell rang again, and it was time for another class, but without Emma.

*after school, at Twilight’s studio* (dialogue only)

(Twilight prepared some tea for her friends, because a very long discussion was about to start soon.) TWILIGHT: So, how was your first day? Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack? RARITY: Oh, it was really delightful, darling! We’re actually going to stay in the dorms while we study here. Fluttershy and me in a room, and Rainbow with Applejack and Pinkie in another one. RAINBOW DASH: Wow, really? Didn’t have the chance to check that out today. Well, at least I have my own bed from now on. FLUTTERSHY: (sees Twilight with a thoughtful expression while taking a sip from her cup of tea) What’s wrong, Twilight? You don’t seem very content. TWILIGHT: (sighs) Oh, nothing special…just had a discussion with a classmate. She told me a weird story about a local legend … RD: And a whole scandal happened. RARITY: Oh my, what happened? Is the girl alright? TWILIGHT: I don’t really know…Haven’t seen her since she stormed out of the class… FLUTTERSHY: Goodness! There was also a boy in our class today who kept rambling about a man in the woods… TWILIGHT AND RD: ‘A MAN IN THE WOODS?’ APPLEJACK: Can somebody explain to me what’n the hay’s goin’ on? RD: (screaming) It’s a ghost in the forest that takes people, Applejack, like what’s so hard to understand? TWILIGHT: Calm down, please. Whether it’s true or not, I think we should explore that area… RD: Are you nuts, Twilight??? TWILIGHT: Just listen. I’m saying this because Princess Celestia gave us a mission, and she didn’t mention anything else; maybe this is our main task. RD: You got it all wrong! She just told us to study the humans, not solve their issue with that…thing. Plus, we don’t even have our powers anymore, like our wings and horns, your magic… TWILIGHT: Maybe, but we don’t know if we don’t try. RD: I tell you this is a very bad idea! TWILIGHT: Are you scared? RD: Not at all, egghead. It’s just…well… TWILIGHT: I know it’s hard, I’m a bit scared too…but we have to stay together. This is one of the main points that Celestia advised me on in private before we left. (There was a pause. Rainbow Dash thought for a few seconds about the consequences, then the lack of loyalty that she showed in front of her friends at that moment. There is no place for fear when it’s about duty, not at all.) RD: (sighs) Very well, then…I’m coming with you. FLUTTERSHY: If Rainbow is coming, I’ll come too. AJ: Me too. PINKIE: MEEEE TOO! RARITY: Absolutely! RD: But if anything bad happens to us, it’s just your fault, Twilight… TWILIGHT: Don’t worry. Once we see something out of its place, we simply run away. RAINBOW DASH: (mutters in distrust) Ugh, if only it would be that easy…

[ialwayscomewhenyoucall]

Some of My Favorite Ladies

I was tagged by @fangirlingtodeath513 to share some of my favorite female characters...and wow, this was hard. If I could just pick ten, it would be easy as pie, but the rules say from ten different fandoms and I am a good girl who never breaks the rules. ;) I managed, but it was a close thing. (Honestly, I wanted to pick nearly all of them from Doctor Who...!)

Anyway...

The rules are to list ten of your favorite female characters from ten different fandoms and then tag ten different people.

1. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Battlestar Galactica) - I may be 39 years old, but I still have days when I say “I want to be Starbuck when I grow up.” Yes, she is deeply flawed. But she is strong, and she cares deeply, and when she has a task she throws herself into it with her everything. She is my patronus, my spirit animal, and I will always cry when I think of “Maelstrom” and the BSG finale.

2. River Song (Doctor Who) - What can be said about River that hasn’t already been said? So much of her story is some dude saying “you can’t do that” and her saying “watch me,” kicking ass while reapplying her lipstick or flirting with the Doctor. She shot a Silence she couldn’t see (behind her)--or even remember--all because she saw that Rory had a scared look on his face [”Day of the Moon”]. She loved her parents, she loved the Doctor, and she did the hard things even when she knew what was coming after. ((I need a hug))

3. Charlie Bradbury (Supernatural) - Of course. Charlie rules. But I’m not bitter. Clever, funny, adorable, just snarky enough when it’s needed...Charlie is (I refuse to even think the past tense) perfect.

4. Olivia Dunham (Fringe) - Oh Chuck how I miss this show. (And yes, I know I just mixed my fandoms. Deal with it.) Olivia is the perfect mix of strong and vulnerable. She is way badass and can take down any bad dude you throw at her, but she is so soft with Peter, or Walter, or any child who needs help. She takes the insanity of Fringe division in stride, and she survives the alternate universe on her own. Seriously amazing.

5. Luna Lovegood (the Harry Potter books) - Luna, I’ll admit, reminds me of me. Quirky. Unconcerned with what other people think. Fiercely loyal. Bookish. She is, I think, smarter than me, but she’s fictional so I don’t feel too bad about that. ;) I love her. I’ll admit it: when I re-read the series, I find myself thinking, “okay, but when do we get to Luna again??” as I read the earlier books!

6. Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - this one was easy, but also not. Easy because BtVS was my first true obsession, television-wise. It was the first show I watched over and over and over, the first show I could quote long sections of, the first show I actually cried when it ended. But it was not easy too, because I also love Willow with my whole heart. And if you’d asked me to choose fifteen years ago I almost certainly would have chosen Willow. But these days I identify more with Buffy. No, I don’t have a weighty destiny or super powers (I wish), but I do have three children, and that in itself puts what sometimes feels like the weight of the world on my shoulders. Fifteen years ago I didn’t know what it felt like to be truly responsible for the life of another. Now I’m responsible for three (along with my husband, of course). It’s not the same, I know, but since my first son was born just about ten and a half years ago I find myself identifying with Buffy more and more. It’s funny how perspectives change.

Anyway, personal introspection aside, Buffy saves the world. A lot. Do I have to say more?

7. CJ Cregg (The West Wing) - Okay, I know this show has been off the air for ages. I don’t care. I love CJ. She has an impossible job and she does it with grace and courage with the whole world watching her...and then she gets an even more impossible job, and she’s even better. And she’s not afraid to speak her mind to the president, or whoever needs to hear it. Awesome.

8. Alanna of Trebond and Olau (Song of the Lioness quartet and other books of Tortall by Tamora Pierce) - And here’s where I delve into places it’s likely fewer people have gone....but really should. I first picked up Alanna: The First Adventure, the first book in the Song of the Lioness quartet, when I was 12. I found it on a paperback rack in my middle school’s library. I was instantly hooked, and I’ve never looked back. Ten year old Alanna and her twin brother, Thom, have a problem. Alanna is supposed to go to the convent to learn to be a lady. Thom is supposed to go to the palace to learn to be a knight. But Alanna wants to be a knight and Thom wants to study magic. So they trade places. Alanna becomes Alan, hiding her sex. (Thom is lucky; at the convent they train boys to use magic as well as training up girls to be young noblewomen.) It is never easy, but the lesson is a good one--not that “boy” things are better, but that one should be free to choose whichever path they want in life, if they are willing to work for it.

I’ve read and re-read these books over and over and over again. It was actually difficult to choose my favorite of Pierce’s heroines (each quartet focuses on a different character but they all take place in the same world and interconnect). Alanna will probably be my favorite forever just because she was the first, but I also love her daughter, Aly

9. Lirael, daughter of the Clayr (the Old Kingdom books, by Garth Nix) - These books are very, very high on my list of all-time favorites, and Lirael herself is a big part of that. For a long time she struggles with finding her place in a world that doesn’t seem to want her, but when she finds her true calling she steps into her place without hesitation. It’s beautiful to “see”. Plus she starts out as a magic-wielding, crossbow-carrying librarian. Awesome.

(Okay, feel free to laugh at me for this last one, I can take it...)

10. Fluttershy (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) - Yes. My Little Pony. I started out watching this with my little girl...but I kept watching it on my own. I’ve seen every episode...more than once. Shh! It’s our secret, okay?? ;) All of the mane six have qualities that I admire, but Fluttershy is my favorite. Again, she reminds me most of myself. She is quiet and reserved, keeping mostly to herself unless she is around her friends. But if you wrong one of her friends or her animals--watch out! She becomes a force to be reckoned with. I love that, and I can so relate.

Honorable mention: Jody Mills (SPN), Rose Tyler (Doctor Who), Donna Noble (Doctor Who), Amy Pond (Doctor Who), Willow Rosenberg (BtVS), Hermione Granger (Harry Potter), Astrid Farnsworth (Fringe), Keladry of Mindalen (Tortall), Aly Homewood (Tortall)

Because who cares about the rules

And now I tag...

@bend-me-shape-me @bold-sartorial-statement @starsinursa @gneisscastiel @aldehydean @nera-solani @heyitsmebee @wanderingcas @magicknightriderjellyfish @allofmystudentsrunaway

[estro-gem]

Black and White in Grey: Chapter 23

Author’s note: Hey, it’s been a while and a lot has happened. I finally found it within me to work on this story again. I didn’t want to rush it just to get it done. I probably should have announced a hiatus or something, but like I said, things happened.

To by honest, I don’t even know if anyone’s reading these. Oh well, I write these for the fun of it anyway! It’s great knowing that something I made, irrespective of how well it’s done or how many people like it, is out there.

Stay safe out there, whoever ends up reading this.

CHAPTER 23: CHAOS

In Twilight’s Castle, there was a meeting among the Mane 6, but they were still waiting on Rainbow Dash – the fastest member of the group, yet always the one to be late.

Spike was almost glued to Princess Twilight’s side since she came back from Canterlot after meeting with Princess Celestia. Twilight was weaker, but still lively. Powerless after lending her power to Celestia, Spike insisted on making sure she had everything she needed. She was his family, after all.

While he had his own concerns, the ponies were almost vibrating in uneasiness as they voiced their concerns. The other mares of the Mane 6 were already there.

“What in the name of Celestia is going on with the weather?” Rainbow Dash cries in frustration upon entering Twilight’s Castle, “The clouds evaporate before they even leave Cloudsdale – and mentioning Cloudsdale, the whole city is evaporating! Ponies are losing their homes!”

“I know!” Twilight held a hoof to her forehead, “It’s been 2 days and 8 hours of constant sunlight. If this keeps up, everypony will have a serious case of heat stroke.”

“The apple trees are drying up and burning the daylight out of the leaves. They’re about to kick the bucket!” Apple Jack lamented, while taking off her hat and holding it to her chest.

“The animals are all so exhausted and thirsty, but the dam is drying up by the second. They are all hiding in any shaded spots they can find.” Fluttershy teared up, “Those poor innocent souls…”

The mares all look to Rarity and Pinkie Pie for their input, but to their surprise to two remained silent, if not slightly deadpanned. Pinkie decided to speak up after sharing a glance with the fashion diva, “We can’t say anything without sounding like cruel, selfish business ponies. You can imagine that the weather is bad for business, right?”

“Her frosting is melting and ponies wouldn’t wear clothes in this heat.” Rarity deadpanned before anyone could say anything. Twilight looked to her little dragon and spoke in a more calm tone than before, “I guess you have no problem with the crises either? Spike?”

“I’m cold blooded.” He simply shrugged.

Everyone shared a moment of silence. It wasn’t awkward, but it was a great opportunity to think about what was said. For a moment, all urgency of the situation was lost, only to come back at full force after a the fact.

“With the sun constantly in the sky, the air, earth and water doesn’t get a chance cool down. Water evaporates, scorching heat – if this keeps up we’re goners. That’s why it’s so important that the Canterlot Princesses raise and lower the sun in the constant, orderly shifts as they did! I need to get to Princess Celestia to find out what’s going on…” Twilight when silent for a moment, as if she realized something, before she muttered softly, “Oh no.”

“Twi…” Apple Jack spoke in a warning tone, “…don’t you dare start-“

“WHAT IS PRINCESS CELESTIA IS MISSING?” The princess of friendship cried out in panic. Her friends all sighed hopelessly for the rant she was about to serve to them, but to their suprise, she took a deep breath.

“Ok, girls, we need a plan!”

“Hello!” Rainbow Dash spoke incredulously, “Who are you and what have you done to Twilight?”

“Panicking won’t help anypony now. It’s time to step up and do whatever we can! There are lives at stake. I plan to go to Canterlot and see what’s happening there. If I can’t find Princess Celestia, I need to find Princess Luna.”

Despite the ponies being taken aback by Twilight’s sudden developed character, her last statement rose concern to Rarity, “Why Princess Luna? She can’t lower the sun.”

“No,” Twilight confirmed, “…but she is the only pony that can block it.”

“A Lunar Eclipse!” Fluttershy breathed, “That’s brilliant, Twilight!”

“I’m so happy a have an egghead for a friend!” Rainbow Dash teased while hugging the blushing purple pony.

“We’ll come with you!” Pinkie Pie winked, suddenly perky as ever, “That’s what friends are for!”

“I would want nothing more than that, but I need you all here.”

“Why do you always push us away when we offer help?” Apple Jack lifted an eyebrow in judgement.

“That’s not what I’m doing! I need you all to help everypony to get to the Frozen North, to the Crystal Empire and Yakyakistan. It’s should still be surrounded by frozen mountains there, though the ice is probably melting little by little. “Fluttershy, round up the animals and tell them to spread the news among themselves to head North. Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack and Rarity, you gather a team of fit ponies to help guide everyone along the path and assisting anyone with water supply. Rainbow Dash, I need you to round up the Pegasi to use any clouds you can to form a shaded path to the Crystal Empire and Yakyakistan.”

“Aye-aye, Captain Twi!” Pinkie saluted the Princess.

Twilight turned to Spike, “Spike, I need you to send a note to Cadence…”

“TWILIGHT!” The Princess of Love called after suddenly teleporting on to of the very table were the Mane 6 were sitting. Her panicked, shallow breaths changed the atmosphere of the throne room.

“Cadence!” Twilight shot a wide-eyed look to the pink princess, “I was about to write to you-“

“Twi, listen to me, we are ALL in great danger!” Candance stammered with a shaky voice. Only when Twilight properly locked eyes with the panicked pony, she saw the pure fear and glassed-over look of her former baby-sitter. Cadence jumped down from the tabletop and walked a distance, before turning around and looking about on the floor as if she was looking for something. She was lost in her own world and the Mane 6 exchanged worried glances. Twilight recognized Cadence’s state.

She knew what she was going through, because she felt it before. Disturbance of one’s element. Twilight felt it every time friendships faced hardships or even ended – it came with the royalty of being a princess… and she could only guess what Cadence was going through. It obviously involved the Princesses. She could kick herself for not being able to detect anything herself while her powers were still within Celestia.

“Cadence.” Twilight spoke softly, careful not to startle her, “What’s really going on?”

Cadence locked eyes with Twilight again, her voice barely a whisper, “Celestia.”

An icy chill founds it’s way down the Princess of Friendship’s spine, but she carefully continued to pry, “What about Princess Celestia, Cadence?”

“There’s nothing…” she mumbled, pacing up and down, eyes still searching for something only she could see, “Nothing… nothing…”

Twilight shook her head, unbelieving. She turned to her friends – all with faces of deep disturbance. “We can’t lose focus,” her voice was still quiet, but the authority in her voice never seized, turning to Cadence once again, “Cadence, listen to me. We need the get everypony to the Frozen North, because the sun in turning Equestria into an oven. Will you allow ponies into your Empire?”

Cadence still had her gaze averted, but she nodded definitely – profusely. It was clear that she approved, despite her state. Whatever the problem was regarding Celestia, messed with her element and power to the extent that her mind barely comprehended it – the smart pony theorized. It must hold a massive amount of power.

“Girls, we stick to the plan. Pinkie Pie, you should scout ahead  with the first section of the migrating subjects to speak to the Yaks. I’ll handle Cadence and get to the bottom of this.”

Everyone shared a nod, before the 5 ponies rushed out the door. Spike stayed with his Princess.

“Cadence, you need to calm down and you need to tell me what’s going on. I can’t help you otherwise. The kingdom needs you now. I’m here, ok?”

It felt odd the Twilight had to be the adult in the situation. After her firm, yet gentle speech, Cadence blinked a few times, before looking at Twilight. Her breathing calmed down slightly.

“Twi, why are your powers drained from you?”

That was something that she did not expect to hear, but the younger pony answered anyway, silently thinking that it was a good sign that Cadence could recognize such things. She was still Cadence.

“I gave lend my power to Princess Celestia. She was struggling and practically begged me. She looked so tired…”

“This is worse than I thought,” Cadence said more to herself than anything else, then to Twilight “There’s something I need to tell you… it’s a bit of a story, but I’ll narrow it down as much as I can to make you understand all this.”

“I’m all ears.”

Hesitantly, Cadence opened up about everything – the sisters, Luna and her dealings with Discord.

Everything.

Next: Chapter 24 

Previous: Chapter 22 

Masterlist 

[cdc1345711]

Rick And Morty/My Little Pony Crossover-part 1

(It was a typical day in the life of Rick Sanchez and his Grandson/sidekick Morty Smith,Rick planed to steal some interesting tech only to have lead to a laser fight)

Rick:(Shooting the aliens)Get us out of here Morty”

Morty:(Trying to use Rick’s Portal Gun)I’m trying Rick”

Rick:(Shooting 3 more aliens)GODDAMMIT MORTY PIC SOME DIMENSION”

Morty:Okay Rick(after mashing different buttons he finally opened up a portal)I did it Rick”

Rick:Great-now let’s get the fuck outta here”

(They go through the portal but they end up falling out of the sky to their deaths)

Morty:Oh SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT”

Rick:GODDAMMIT MORTY-GRAB THE PORTAL GUN”

(Morty and Rick try to grab it but sadly they can’t but luckily the two hit a tree and end up with ‘minor’ bruises)

Morty:Ow”

Rick:(Sees his broken portal gun)Awe what the fuck-the portal gun is fucked up now”

Morty:I’m sorry Rick”

Rick:Okay whatever Morty time to see which Non-Existing God forbidden Hell you brought us to so we can fix this fuck up you did”

(They look through the bushes to see........PONIES,Earth,Unicorn and Pegasus)

Morty:HOLEEEEEE SHIT Rick-we’re in Equestria”

Rick:(Looking at Morty in a confused expression)What?”

Morty:Equestria?-land of ponies,home of the Mane 6?,My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic?(Rick is still looking at Morty)The show me and dad watch when you were shitfaced drunk”

(A few months ago)

Rick:(Seeing Morty and Jerry watching My Little Pony)What the fuck are you guys watching?”

Morty:My Little Pony Friendship is Magic”

Jerry:It’s a show about friendship and togetherness”

 Rick:(Not giving a shit)GAAAAAAAAY-wake me when they finger or in this case ‘hoofing’ each other”

Jerry:(Disgusting)You’re sick Rick”

Rick:Don’t give a shit Jerry(passes out drunk)”

(Present)

Rick:Okay since you’re the expert here Morty-what should we do?”

Morty:Well the logical move is to find Princess Twilight who is a genius(Rick makes a loud ‘HA Bull-Shit’)but we’re new so we’ll probably be introduced to a certain pink party pony in 3........2........1″

(Somewhere at Twilight’s castle the girls are having fun while Pinkie Pie feels something)

Pinkie Pie:(Feeling the presence of 2 newcomers)Oh my GOSH-GIRLS,WE GOT NEW ARRIVAAAAAAAAAAAAALS(zooms out to find them)”

Twilight:Wow-sometimes Pinkie scares me a little”

Rainbow Dash:(Chilling on a cloud)Eh-it’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie”

(Back with Rick and Morty)

Rick:Okay Morty where’s this ‘Pink Party Pony’ you talked about?”

(Pinkie Pie magically appeared there and yelled)

Pinkie Pie:Oh new arrivals-WHERE ARE YOOOOOOOOOOU?”

Rick:(Covering his ears)JESUS CHRIST-SHUT THE FUCK UP”

Pinkie Pie:GAAAAAASP-This is a kids show also hey I’m Pinkie Pie”

Rick:I can tell by your squeaky high annoying voice you’re the ‘glue snorter’ of your group?”

Morty:RICK!!!!Hello I’m Morty and this is Rick and-”

Pinkie Pie:You’re a Grandpa Grandson duo who go to different dimensions and planets and crazy,zany and ultra violent adventures with just you two or your sister or parents even though they did separated but since got back together and you’re stuck here because your do-hickey that allows you to go to different universes is broken and you need my help to get you back home(she makes a big smile)”

Rick:(Shocked she knew their predicament)What kind of glue did your parents let you sniff as a kid?”

Pinkie Pie:I never sniffed glue but I have sniffed flowers(Rick mutters ‘bet one of those ‘flowers’ was weed’ to Morty)and sorry I don’t know much about sciencey stuff but my Friend Twilight Sparkle might help”

Morty:Yes-please take us to her”

Pinkie Pie:Okay follow me(she leads the way)hey how come you don’t call Rick ‘grandpa’?”

Rick:Wow new record only met you 2 minutes and already I don’t like”

Pinkie Pie:Ha ha silly-you will once you get to know me”

Morty:Trust me Pinkie-you DON’T want to know Rick”

(After a long hour of Pinkie’s rambling-and Morty making sure Rick doesn’t stab her in the neck-they finally arrive at the castle)

Pinkie Pie:Okay-I’m gonna let my friends know you’re here so leave it to me(she walks in)”

Morty:(To Rick)Now Rick I know you have a ‘history’ with royals but please don’t do anything to make Twilight upset”

Rick:Oh please Morty-she must what in her 20′s? she’s too young for me”

Morty:Actually she’s 18 but still don’t mess up”

Rick:Whatever(drinks his flask and enters the castle)”

(Rick and Morty enter the castle and the Mane 6 come to introduce themselves)

Twilight:Hello Rick and Morty,I am Twilight Sparkle Princess of Friendship”

Pinkie Pie:And you know me”

Rainbow Dash:I’m Rainbow Dash-fastest pony in Equestria”

Rarity:I’m Rarity the most fashionable pony from Ponyville to Manehattan(Rick thinks to himself ‘Jesus Horse pun names for places)”

AppleJack:I’m AppleJack honest member of the Apple family”

Fluttershy:And I’m Fluttershy,I take care of animals(she says in a soft shy voice-because she’s not quite good at being calm in front of new people)”

Spike:And i’m Spike the fire breathing dragon”

Rick:Wow I just met you and I know all your parts of the group-”

Morty:Rick please”

Ricky:(From order of introduction)You’re the high and might smart-ass,still the glue snorter,tom-boy,primadonna,country bumpkin,the pansy and............the sidekick”

Morty:(Slaps his face)Dammit”

(The Mane Six are disgusted by his comment)

Twilight:High and mighty ‘Smart-ass’”

Pinkie Pie:I said I never snorted glue”

Rainbow Dash:Tomboy?”

RarityWell I never-”

AppleJack:I may be country but I ain’t no bumpkin”

Fluttershy:But why am I a flower?”

Spike:I’m more than a sidekick(Rick mutters ’Doubt it’)”

Rick:(Seeing Morty’s mad face and makes up a good BS lie)Sorry-I just worried I won’t get back home”

(They slowly forgive him then they inspect his broken Portal gun and are at a lost for words)

Twilight:I’m sorry I don’t know much about this ‘advanced’ technology’”

Spike:Oh man if Twilight can’t fix it-who will”

Twilight:But maybe we could use my portal to my Canterlot high friends world to help”

Morty:Don’t bother Twilight it’s too advanced for that world too”

Rick:Wait you got a portal here?”

Morty:Yeah(and whispers)from those horse-shit ‘Equestria Girls’ movies”

Rick:Show me(he inspects the portal and comes up with a solution)well it looks like if ‘crap’ and ‘shit’ got together and made an inbred dumb-ass but it might work-with the right tools and equipment”

Twilight:Then it’s settled-I’ll send a letter to the other Princesses to help”

Rick:Other Princesses? how many of you are there?”

Morty:So far 4-five if you count Cadence’s baby Flurry Hearts”

Twilight:My lovely niece”

Rick:God-okay let me shit,then sleep till your princesses answer your letter”

Twilight:Okay”

(Rick and Morty go to their rooms)

Rarity:Rick is such a vulgar being”

AppleJack:Yeah-he’s even worse than Discord-and that’s saying something”

Twilight:Still it’s our duty to help them-no matter how much of a pain it is”

Fluttershy:Morty is a nice boy though”

Rainbow Dash:Yeah he is”

(In Rick and Morty’s room)

Morty:I hope they can help us Rick”

Rick:Meh-my portal gun is far too advance for their tiny pony minds”

Morty:Just don’t piss off the other Princess’ tomorrow Rick-we need to get home”

Rick:Okay okay fine get off my ass Morty-but know if they try to lock us up i’m turning them into horse meat”

Morty:Dammit Rick”

(The two go to bed hoping their new pony ‘acquaintances’ to help bring them back home)

THE END

(Int he Real World)

Justin Roiland:Hey since when did Rick and Morty become part of the My Little Pony show?”

Tara Strong:I don’t know-maybe a crossover for fans of both shows?”

Justin Roiland:Maybe-God have mercy on the poor ponies of Equestria”

Tara Strong:You said it”

THE END-for real

[rantsaboutponies]

My Little Pony: The Movie

Yes, this is the 2017 one I’m talking about. I’m not going to pull a switcheroo and review the 1986 one. Like I said, bad title.

If you want to read along while watching the movie, you may do so as long as you’re not in a theater. DO NOT LOOK AT YOUR PHONE IN THE THEATER. I don’t care if you turned the brightness down or if you hold it in your lap; EVERYONE CAN STILL SEE IT. YOU’RE BEING AN ASSHOLE.

Anyway, on with the review! Spoilers abound, so fair warning!

Oh, and this movie is rated PG for “mild action”. What the hell is wrong with you, MPAA?

Good lord, the absolute grandiosity of the title logo... All right, all right, I’m not going to nitpick something as minor as the logo. Calm down.

My thought process: “Hey, this synth bit sounds kinda like the intro to ‘We Got the Beat’ by The Go-Go’s. I wonder if they realize that.”

Two seconds later: “OH, FUCK, IT IS. IT IS THAT SONG. NO. STOP. STOP RIGHT NOW. RRRRRGGGGGHHHH.”

Well, THAT threw me for a loop! Holy shit, am I glad the show’s budget isn’t large enough to include covers of popular songs.

Ah, we’re showcasing the new animation with a flyover/through of Canterlot. I’m not going to be mentioning the animation quality every other paragraph (even though I could), so instead I’ll just say everything up front. I mentioned in an earlier post that it looked like the animators were suddenly unaware of how to use the program, as though they had all traded jobs or something. It turns out that wasn’t far off! According to sources, the animation software being used on this movie is Toon Boom Harmony, not Flash, so the animators working on this movie are either 1. the same animators using an unfamiliar program, or 2. different animators who are used to working with Harmony but are not used to animating this show. And if you look at the stuff they’ve worked on, they’re all either just 2D (The Simpsons, The Congress) or just 3D (The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water), not anything that has attempted to integrate both. The opening shot of the ponies flying through the clouds and through Canterlot looks like 2D assets trying to move through a 3D environment! It doesn’t help that the 3D assets (like the buildings and the landscape) are all really, really cheap-looking, like they were resources saved from a movie from 10-20 years ago and never updated. Also, the 3D assets tend to move fluidly (like 3D assets do), whereas the 2D assets attached to the same figure move with a lower framerate (like 2D assets do), which is a little jarring.

And holy crap, look at those two characters walk towards the screen! That’s some first-year animation student work right there!

Okay, okay, I said I wasn’t going to harp on the animation the whole time. Fine. Instead, here’s a complaint I’m sure will sound familiar to regular readers: Wow, you really like your exposition dumps right out of the gate, don’t you, writers? Except this time, you don’t have the excuse of “Well, we only had 22 minutes, so we had to get all the information out there quickly!” This movie is 99 minutes long! That’s four-and-a-half times the length! At this point, it’s just sloppy!

Random pony: Princess Twilight is great under pressure!

Twilight: Oh, my goodness, I can’t handle this!

Trombone: Wah-wah!

Oh, goddamnit, are we bringing back the wah-wah jokes? Son of a...

GAH! That closeup shot of Twilight is just creepy! Adding more details just because you’re closer to a subject isn’t always the best idea!

“What’chu talkin’ ‘bout?” FUCK STOP FUCK STOP FUCK STOP FUCK

Still creepy! Why do her eyes look like that? This is unsettling! Please stop focusing on her face!

Ha, Pinkie Pie was blowing a balloon into the camera, and then she turned and revealed it’s actually a really long balloon, but we couldn’t see that because of the angle we were watching from! Ha ha ha! ...Was...was that meant to be a joke? Because I really can’t figure out what other reason you would have to show it that way. These new animators are bizarre.

Oh, hey, she was making Discord! He’s not actually in the movie, but, you know, fanservice!

All right, Angel dressed as a parrot made me chuckle, but why the hell would Fluttershy force him to do that?

“Faster if I do my Sonic Rainboom!” How? How would that help you complete this task any faster? What sense does that make? Oh, wait, don’t tell me...fanservice.

“Raised in a barn!” Yes, thank you. You have beaten that joke thoroughly into the ground by now. Please move on.

Ah, good, Pinkie Pie is continuing her trend of being loud, irritating, and making things worse by opening her stupid face. Some things haven’t changed.

Okay, this is two songs in the first eight minutes. Just how many are there?

“Eeyup!” HE SAID IT.

Yeah, you can show me Cheese Sandwich all you want. I know “Weird Al” isn’t in this movie.

Security guard #1: “Do you have visual on the buttercream?”

Security guard #2: “Visual confirmed, go for cleanup.”

...

Audience: *cough*

I mean, they left in a pause for laughter and everything. They were expecting that to get a laugh.

Balloon: *gets squished*

Random background pony: Bryan! Noooooo!

Me: 

I don’t...I’m not...are these...jokes? I’m...I...

You’d think they’d have heard of this villain. He seems like he has a wide sphere of influence.

“There’s one of you! And hundreds of us!” Yes, Luna, I’m sure they brought that giant airship because there’s only one of them. This is why you’re not in charge.

Wow, the, uh...the crystals forming over Cadence are, um...am I allowed to say anything more about the animation?

DURR HURR IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY GOT TWILIGHT BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY DERPY AND ANYTHING INVOLVING DERPY IS FUNNY. FAAAAAAANSERRRRRRVIIIIIIIIIICE.

Every word out of this minion’s mouth makes me want to punch him. It’s Michael Peña’s best role since CHiPs! Apparently he ad-libbed most of his dialogue. It shows.

“Yay.” SHE SAID IT.

“Boingy boingy boingy boingy!” UGH.

Pinkie Pie: “Anypony up for a game of I Spy?”

Everypony else: “UGH.”

See? SEE?! I’m not the only one! She’s even starting to annoy the other main characters by this point! What are you even doing?

So Tempest got...a phone call...except it’s not a phone call, it’s a potion that you pour into a brazier...but it still has a ringtone...and it sounds like a dial-up connection... How do they use it more than once? Also, FUCK YOU WITH YOUR STUPID FUCKING

Why does the Storm King’s emblem look like the Starcraft II logo?

“Sorry, bad spell service.” FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Meanwhile, in the town from Assassin’s Creed...

“Hmm. Interesting.” Well, I know someone who’s getting a lot of furry fetish fanart made of him!

“I’ll take the picture of your sister!” Heh. Okay, movie. That’s two.

Wow, Taye Diggs’s voice does not fit that character design.

“...parts will fall off.” Did the guy immediately grab for his crotch when he said that? Wow, movie! Where’s your PG for “mild rude humor”?

Someone should tell the animators that Spike isn’t pursuing Rarity anymore. Since, like, Season 2.

Oh, god, don’t sing! I was kind of starting to like you, Capper! This doesn’t really seem in-character!

Why does it seem like this character would have been Discord if they hadn’t “redeemed” him like three times by this point?

Yes, Fluttershy is afraid of bats. Great knowledge of the character there, movie.

“Ooh! So many fun breakables!” Fuck you, Pinkie.

Good lord, Emily Blunt really could be intimidating if she weren’t undercut by Michael Peña at every fucking TURN! It’s the slugs from Epic all over again!

Yes, “The Girl from Ipanema”. A common song all throughout Equestria or the Badlands or whatever. The random popular songs interspersed throughout a movie (based on a show that does not HAVE them) that also has its own original songs really do not fit! They really don’t! Just because you can afford it now doesn’t mean you have to do it.

“WAIT!” *random cat noise* That...might have made sense if you didn’t play those two sounds at the same time. I’m not sure how he could talk and yowl simultaneously. Come on, sound editors.

Boy, how convenient that Tempest found them at that exact point, huh?

Y’know, showing Pinkie Pie grinning like an idiot as they’re all running for their lives doesn’t exactly endear me to her, animators.

Oh, no! Pinkie fell! What a tragedy! Maybe if you let her die, she wouldn’t keep fucking up your shit!

GOD, I HATE THIS FUCKING MINION.

Bird Guy: “We scar ‘em...”

Rarity: *gasp*

Bird Guy: “...emotionally!”

Fluttershy: *cries*

Pff... All right, you got me! That one was actually worth an audible laugh! That makes you three for...I don’t know, fifty?

I have a serious question. Was this supposed to be released in 3D, but then they dropped that for some reason? There seems to be a lot of “stuff coming straight toward the camera” action.

Are we seriously still doing the “people trying to kill each other stop when the shift whistle blows” joke? That was old 50 years ago!

I’m not sure I’ve seen a musical with songs this...out of nowhere. I mean, I’m sure worse examples exist, but none that I’m familiar with.

Are these pirates supposed to be...giant parrots (because, y’know, pirates and parrots)? Why does this world have giant parrots? Everything in the entire series is the size it is in the real world. Including the parrots we saw earlier in the movie! Why giant parrots?

Ah, good, Rainbow Dash is still a FUCKING IDIOT. Glad you’re keeping that change from the show, too!

So let me get this straight. Storm King is concerned about projecting an image of fearsomeness and strength...but he sells bobbleheads of himself as merchandise? You know, you don’t have to be this stupid, movie! You don’t! You really don’t!

GOD, they need to stop showing closeups of their faces. THEY’RE. SO. CREEPY.

“Oh, this is inteeeeeense!” WELL, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN IF YOU HADN’T SAID THAT. LET A MOMENT LAND, MOVIE. LET. A MOMENT. FUCKING. LAND.

Oh, good, here’s where that terrifying shot from the trailer comes in.

And Rarity stopped to look at herself in the mirror while falling to her death. HURR HURR HURR.

Oh, look! Pinkie is about to get them killed again! GET RID OF HER.

“That’s it! I simply cannot even!” Oh, fuck off. Whoever wrote that line, fuck off.

“I hate epic adventures!” I’m sure starting to.

Wow, Twilight, you held your breath for, like, 10 seconds. Good job.

Well, here it is. We knew it was coming. Seaponies. Honestly, even though I should be annoyed (because FANSERVICE), they actually fit this world pretty well (way better than giant anthropomorphic cats or whatever the hell the inhabitants of that Badlands city were).

But then they turn the Mane Six into seaponies.

And I’m reminded of “The Crystal Empire (Part 2)”.

And you only introduced these characters to sell new toys of the Mane Six, didn’t you?

And fuck you.

“Yay.” SHE SAID IT. AGAIN.

Don’t sing. Please don’t sing. I think what makes these songs even more out-of-nowhere is the fact that all the other non-pony characters are immediately in on the song, no matter how they were feeling or what they were doing right before it started.

Um...Twilight’s not wrong, you guys! Everyone you’ve come across so far has tried to fuck you over! Including the seaponies! Why wouldn’t she just try to steal the thing?

But, of course, she wouldn’t get captured if everyone else didn’t leave her all alone to mark the act break. The rest of them are even seen sitting on a gray and dismal seashore afterwards! Jesus Christ, it’s like all the tropes from Scriptwriting for Children’s Movies 101 are in this thing! You are allowed to try harder than this, you know!

Twilight: Why are you doing this? You’re a pony, like me!

Me: I’m nothing like you!

Tempest: I’m nothing like you!

Me: Come on!

Oh, god, don’t sing. I can hear the lead-in. I can see you want to express your emotions and fill in your backstory so badly! Please don’t! Please don’t please don’t please don’t AGGGGGHHHHH

Man, I bet when the Ursa Major scratched her face, Tempest bled so! Ha! ...I’m sorry.

Are you kidding me? She has the same character motivation as Starlight Glimmer? Her friends (all two of them) left her in one particular incident, so now she’s sworn off friendship forever (instead of just, I don’t know, finding new friends? You had to have had more than two.)

Hold on, did Tempest...beam that flashback into Twilight’s head? Because otherwise, I don’t know how she would have gathered that information.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in! Himself!” Um...burn?

NO. BULLSHIT. HOW DID THEY ESCAPE? HOW? IT DOESN’T COUNT IF YOU DON’T SHOW IT. WHY WOULD YOU CUT OUT A POTENTIALLY AWESOME ACTION SCENE FOR THIS SHIT? NO. FUCK YOU.

Then again, there are only five pirates left. I guess the rest were slaughtered.

Honestly, the Storm King just looks like Tirek. They might as well have reused him.

Boy, I haven’t seen Liev Schreiber play such an nonthreatening villain since X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Blast from the past! I’m glad he’s been in the movie so much up to this point so that I actually give a shit about him being the main bad guy for the last 20 minutes!

Uh-huh. And where were the other two pirates hiding? Only three jumped out of that cake.

The guard was taken down by...cupcakes. Do you even care anymore?

HOLY FUCK PINKIE’S FACE IS TERRIFYING. NEVER SHOW ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN. YOU ARE SERIOUSLY GOING TO GIVE CHILDREN NIGHTMARES.

And he’s using Spike like a flamethrower. He can’t...oh, whatever.

Why does she even need her horn restored? She seems pretty powerful as she is.

“Why are you saving me?” “Because this is what friends do.” No, this is what decent fucking people do! if you’re about to watch someone die and you can do something to prevent it, you don’t have to be their friend to do so! You just have to be not a sociopath!

Oh, no! Twilight flew off with the main villain! She’s dead for sure! Oh, what? She’s not? What a shock. Nice heavy-handed angelic imagery, by the way.

Couldn’t she have blasted the XBOX rock out of the way or grabbed it or something instead of letting it hit her?

“So...now what?” “Now we rebuild.” No, wait, that’s the ending from San Andreas. A much better movie, I might add.

OH, THE FIRST ONE THEY DECALCIFIED WAS DERPY. EVERYTHING IS DERPY. DERPY DERPY DERPY.

Okay, who the hell was the “Way to go, guys!” pony? That was very obviously supposed to be someone specific, but I am unaware of this behind-the-scenes tidbit.

So they unfroze everypony, but they still didn’t fix Tempest’s horn? What a bunch of dicks!

“You know, your horn is pretty powerful, just like the pony it belongs to.” Didn’t I say that? What the hell was the conflict here?

That’s what you end the movie on, eh? Pinkie Pie’s squealing? Okey dokey then.

AND DERPY’S IN THE CREDITS TOO HERF DERF WERF LERF

And, of course, no kids’ movie would be complete without LUKAS GRAAAAAAAHAM.

Wait, Rachel Platten sang that cover of “We Got the Beat”? The singer who gave us “Fight Song”? Well, no wonder it sucked!

Rating: 1/4 stars.

This movie had a review embargo on it on Rotten Tomatoes until the release date. That’s never a good sign.

I think maybe they thought that, by making the movie darker, it would make it more suitable for theatrical viewing. It doesn’t. It’s just...odd. Especially when they add really stupid jokes to lighten the tone.

I can say that you can probably see the movie without having seen the show, which is a positive. There aren’t any plot details that require outside information to understand, but WOW is there enough fanservice if that’s what you’re looking for. In fact, it might be better if you haven’t seen the show because boy, oh, boy, do they introduce a lot of characters that the ponies on the show would definitely be aware of if this made any sense. On that note, if this is set in the canon Equestria from the show, then holy shit are the ponies the most callous and/or oblivious sociopaths I’ve ever seen in a children’s program. Not only are they all apparently completely unaware of the fact that everything outside of Equestria is complete shit (aside from the fact that everywhere seems to be impoverished, they’re all totally oblivious to the fact that the Storm King has taken over THE REST OF THE WORLD), but they don’t actually fix that by the end! I guess the hippogriffs can come out of hiding now, and the Storm King’s faceless henchmen all seem to be good guys at the end since they’re all at the party, but for all we know, the badlands are still inhabited entirely by goblin monster things and their shady black market shit! We never saw what happened to them! And if the parrots are now all pirates instead of merchants, does that mean they’re going to start robbing everyone? Congratulations, Rainbow Dash! You’ve significantly increased the amount of crime across the entire world! Good job, you fucking idiot!

Twilight is ridiculously selfish, which is really odd considering we know she knows better by this point. Her moral in this movie is that she has to learn to rely on her friends and not just try to do everything based on her own effort and ideas. Y’know, AGAIN. How many fucking times has Twilight had to learn this lesson over and over and over again? And people say that Fluttershy’s episodes are repetitive.

I was hoping that at some point I would become used to the animation. For comparison, Fantastic Mr. Fox has a really ugly animation style, but you don’t really think anything of it after the first 20-30 minutes. That never happened with this movie. Every time I thought I was getting used to the animation style, someone would turn or move or make a face, and it would just look creepy or just plain awful again.

You know what’s kind of sad, though? Emily Blunt is really good in this. She’s really putting in a lot of effort for this character, and the design is pretty good, too! She’s actually kind of awesome, especially compared to Liev Schreiber (who so could not have given less of a shit about his role) and Michael Fucking Peña, who are just terrible. Even if I didn’t entirely understand her nonsensical motivation, Tempest was honestly the best part of the movie.

Boy, between this and Leap!, if an animated movie advertises that it “features an original song by Sia”, run!

[fimflamfilosophy]

So how about that new episode, "Fluttershy Leans In"? Did you suffer greatly? Did you throw your arms up in exasperation and anguish? Did you put your head in your hands and weep softly? Please tear this episode apart to give me the strength I need to go on.

Allow me to provide a synopsis!.Fluttershy visits the local vet and discovers her widespread social influence of “almost complete isolation” has caused all animals from koalas to giraffes to travel to Ponyville in order to live at the vet’s office. This is especially astounding because most real animals live in abject fear of the vet and would do anything to be anywhere else. So of course, Fluttershy decides she wants to help by doing the same thing we always assumed she already did: run an animal sanctuary..Rarity suggests contacting the rich ponies she met by being effortlessly successful so that Fluttershy can also catch “boring character disease” and end the closest thing she has to a non-emotional struggle. “I’ve learned to be confident,” Fluttershy lies to other ponies as she proposes this idea. “We’ve learned to unconditionally invest in the main characters of our cartoon show,” reply the Canterlot elite, who have figured out by now that they’re in a cartoon where the heroes always win..The elites proceed to ignore Fluttershy’s every request and build a completely different project. “No, listen,” Fluttershy tries to explain, “My vision was to build a forest in the forest so that the animals would be living in the woods where they belong. If we build cages, the bear will get herpes”. And sure enough, as if on cue, the bear shows up and instantly gets herpes. The bear knows he’s in a cartoon and that the mane 6 are always right. He had no other choice. Not even the raccoons and ferrets are able to live comfortably in the structure that was being built, mainly because they don’t like the color of the drapes..So Fluttershy fires all the trained experts and hires her friends to help her build a forest in the forest, and at the end of the day we can take away a few messages:1. Deer are not sentient like buffalo or cows. They are dumb animals and you were all wrong for assuming that wouldn’t be the case.2. Giraffes are also dumb animals3. If you are an expert and your client has a vision for something, like if they want a show where the main character becomes a princess and lives in the crystal castle play set, then don’t argue. Just do it. Just cooperate and sell their princess toys like they wanted or they’ll fire you and replace you with their friends. At least that is one way you can interpret the moral here. The other way is to view this as yet another desperate plea for help from the writers of “My Little Pony”. I feel like they’ve had a few episodes now where the inspiration is “we don’t have any creative freedom but we wish we did”. They’ve also done one or two “stop criticizing us, we didn’t even want to entertain you anyway” episodes..It really does crack me up whenever I feel like the writers are trying to send a message to their own bosses. It also cracks me up seeing exactly how often the “don’t interfere with [analogue for the writers]” gets greenlit as a story idea, because that means it must really resonate with someone involved in the process who gets to call those shots. I do feel sorry for MLP, and I hope that some day we have another revival of the 90′s golden age of cartoons, where there was a lot of creator-driven ideas full of passion and vision..As for the final rating for the episode? Neutral out of ten. I assumed Fluttershy already took care of animals and I don’t feel like there was much rising tension. The episode before it wasn’t bad, though. We got some characterization from Glimglam - a rare gem for anything in MLP these days - and Ponko was the antagonist. I think even a good writer would have a hard time working on MLP show these days with how mangled the setting has gotten and how badly the interplay between characters has been diverted, but for what remains, “Rock Solid Friendship” did alright.