My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic:: READ POST 11156/PAGE 558

[gato]

Sleep deprived gato is worst gato...

To the point I'm going to argue with myself for a while

I shouldn't be doing this now, I should be sleeping... Oh well...

Yes you should... I'm freaking exhausted and I still have to update the PSO2 thread. (I ignored that thing for 2 whole days of closed beta testing and videos and screens and stuff)

Thankfully today's fanfic time is going to be pathetically small.

Yeah...

I still can't see the difference, one was relevant to the episode in question and the other's weren't but it's still the same way they have been introducing characters (be family or not) since a long time ago.

I actually see Shinning Armor more like Gilda, the only (BIG) difference between these 2 is that Gilda didn't have a whole season to be introduced. (Nor she was family, but was close enough to Dash to be considered important)

I can't shake the feeling I did this in my awful state just to use Toro's love for the griffon.

After thinking about it for a while, I don't see how Gilda is as half as relevant to the story as Shinning Armor is. (her whole episode wasn't even focused on her, she was just an antagonist and we weren't supposed to care that much about her)

We also know why Chrysalis was acting. (survival of her whole species/family/army)

What I'm trying to point is that I can't consider Douche to be a deeper character. (he never did anything beyond "be a snob")

I'm going to expand on this, Toro stated that it would have been nice if Chrysalis had gotten at least some storybook intro like Luna and Discord had...

But the thing is, Douche didn't had any of that either, we know he thinks too high of himself and doesn't want to deal with the commoners but that's hardly any backstory (pretty much the same amounts as Chrysalis, we know she found Equestria and considers it a near limitless source of food for her army) so I can't see how is he any better than the insectoid queen.

Maybe what makes them different is that Douche's role is pretty much insignificant (mayor annoyance at best) compared to the one of the queen (main antagonist of the season finale).

I had a whole made up explanation about this, but since it's made up I don't want to bring it.

Let's just remember a few things.

1) Cadance was also raised in the palace so it's likely that Celly also trusts her. (the same could be said about the royal guard captain and this is important)

2) Twi has a streak of making some bad decisions and seeing problems where there are non (Lesson Zero, It's About Time, Bird In The Hoof, you might even want to count the other 2 parters).

3) Also, before scolding her Shinning Armor presented a bunch of arguments proving Cadance's innocence.

I think Octy has the right idea though, there were better approaches than the one which was taken (even if Tia was in her whole right to doubt of her student at that point).

I just wanted to add, Octy also criticized the mane 6 for abandoning Twiley like that which is something I disagree with, I actually think they had even more reasons to doubt of Twi than Celly (who as Toro said, has trusted in her student to save the day in more than 2 occasions) because they actually saw how she started to act the moment the topic of her brother came up... Which piles up to all the evidence that they had from Shining and their own experiences with Cadance.

Even Twilight doubts of herself after realizing how baseless her accusations were (channeling Pinkie in the previous episode?).

Also... Was it me or did Toro talked bad about the best song?

Ohhh, dem fighting words brah...

HA! HA! I'm having fun and you can't stop me!

EDIT:

>Goes to FIMfic.

>Already 3 Chrysalis fic in the featured list.

HOLY SHI-

Edited April 23, 2012 by gato

[Celestia]

This is perfect in every way. (So is the original, of course.)

[PeanutButterDimond]

Looks like I'm a bit late, but who cares?

1) It could have been handled like the Gala episode, send the invitation way at the beginning of the season.

Then make Twi (and only her) meet Shinning (and maybe Cadance) in the trips she took to Canterlot in Sweet and Elite (which I should remember it was her birthday) or Mmmystery On The Friendship Express, of course this would have detracted of the main Rarity story on the first one but I see no problem with the latter one.

Also replace the capes Rarity was making in Secret of my Excess with the dresses they would end up wearing at the ceremony (this contradicts what happens in the last episode but I'm playing in a what if the last episode didn't happen yet scenario).

Make the scroll Spike received in Dragon Quest a warning concerning an unknown threat made towards Equestria (though that would be dumb since they never got to read the scroll)

Mention in Baby Cakes that Twi used to have a babysitter and learned everything she knows about foals from her.

Make some extra episode that works as a preview for what is to come (Season 1 had Ticket Master, and I was expecting Mmmystery on the Friendship Express to be the one to fit this role in this season)

As you said all of this would have changed nothing in the main storyline of the final episode but it would have accomplished 2 key things. First, it would have helped to lift some peoples feelings about the whole thing being put together at last moment because Hasbro said so and give some extra time in the finale to flesh out more things, like Chrysalis.

Of course, this is nothing but a bunch of "what if's", considering what we had previous to this episode it would have been quite hard (or outright impossible) tome make something (even) more easy to swallow than what we already have.

You do have some good points, I shall give you that, gato. I certainly would have loved some more foreshadowing. However, even if they did that, there is one problem, there is still the fact that Shining Armor was an important part in Twilight's childhood and the fact that she missed him and her anger at him not telling her himself was what lead to the plot exposition and seeing Cadance(well, Chrysalis Cadance). Also, even if she did mention a baby sitter, she would still have to explain that it was Cadance and show off their secret handshake, meaning..

Not much time would be saved overall!

Certainly not enough to go in to much detail about Chrysalis.

2) At this point I hope you've already realized that I agree with you in most of your post but for some reason I find some sick pleasure to be at the recieving end of both sides of an argument.

Quite so.

I never said that! What I was trying to say is that if Shining wasn't Twilight's brother things could have worked too, but it would have to be a whole different episode, the whole emotional trip Twi had wouldn't be possible without having a strong bond with the groom and/or bride... And that time that wasn't spend in making Twilight suffer like she did should have been spent in other things, and that's when I suggested the extra characters.

But as I said before, that would have been a whole different episode to what we had.

Exactly! And as I said, if Shining Armor and Cadance weren't two of the biggest joys of Twi's childhood, then we wouldn't care about them! But let's not try to debate about an entirely different episode. That would be hard to debate about something that does not exist.

I wouldn't care about them, but I don't think most of the people who complain about Shinning and Cadance care about them even with their current status.

People didn't like Cadance when she was revealed to be a princess and this hidden babysitting backstory did nothing to change that.

People didn't care about Shinning Armor either but revealing him as Twilight's brother actually had a negative effect towards some fans, who now see him as a random excuse for the mane 6 to assist instead of a character of his own (and I'm actually kind of glad about that since he doesn't seem to have that much going for him).

Let me say now, that when i first saw Cadance and Shining, I didn't care for them whatsoever. Even when their connections were revealed in a synopsis.

However, when I saw how they executed bith connections in the episode, I did begin to care for them. You can say what you want about others but I as someone who has five older siblings and fondly remember my babysitters, could relate to Twilight's anger and joy. I certainly haven't seen as much hate for Cadance or Shining since the episode aired.

By handling this whole thing like the gala, they could have made time to gives us a more interesting character (and by that I don't necessarily mean Chrysalis).

Also, I can't avoid to notice how this had nothing to do with your original argument, you said it was cool to have a villain with no backstory nor personality or substance, since that was pretty much fanfic fodder for us. I disagreed because I feel having a such an empty character as the finale's big bad wasn't the smartest move from DHX's part, and while having lot's of space to speculate is something I actually appreciate I also feel that is better getting canon explanations for how things work instead of leaving the fans to figure it out,

I'm not entirely keen on handling like the gala as personally, I felt the gala was decently underwhelming besides Flutterage and the song. Other than that it felt more like a regular episode than a finale.

As for your opinion, I disagree. While I do love it whenever they explain more of the world and characters in the show, I also love it when we can have room to work with things ourselves.

I feel that the use of a more simple villain in the finale was a good move as it gave more time for Cadance, twilight and Shining and for the plot overall. It was also a nice change of pace from Discord and Nightmare Moon who did have backstories. Another thing to keep in mind is that the season 2 finale is a lot more grand then the series premier and season 2 premier and as such there's less room fro Chrysalis. This is something I feel NMM suffered from as she didn't feel as threatening as Discord and Chrysalis, who had time to show that they are no joke.

An expansive canon makes me appreciate the show a lot more than something full of holes that some random anon in the internet has to fill in order to make sense of it. (this has nothing to do with the episode in question, but I felt like stating this example just to make the point that I would take canon over fanon any day of the week, even if I sometimes don't like the official explanation very much)

I appreciate both. My favourite episodes are the ones that build the world up a bit more and develop the characters and introduce new things. However, I absolutely enjoy this talented fandom's theories and assumptions.

*That moment when you realize you just talked about things like expansive canon and world building in My Little Pony*

It's just awesome, isn't it!?

I... Really don't see how having something explained could lead to the same number of arguments that something that was left in blank, the blank space can be filled with anything, while an explained event has a base and facts to be worked with.

One of your very own examples can be used to explain my point... Let's take a look at Vinyl's eyes.

They're magenta.

But one fan would disagree with me and state me hundreds of reasons about why is this wrong and I should feel wrong.

But they are still magenta. You can't argue against facts, even if you don't like them. (and even fi you can, there is not going to be a lot of people willing to get into an argument with you)

If Vinyl's eye color never was revealed this could have been led to an endless arguing about which color it is and why should we believe in this explanation, even in this almost miraculous case where a majority agreed to put them as red (because red is freaking cool) the dissenters opinion were still as valid as the ones from the majority because there weren't any kind of facts that corroborate the bigger group's opinion.

I... I really can't argue against this... you may just have a... point...

But just to bring the other side of the argument I'll take another of your examples, the purple rocks.

Instead of being something purely aesthetic the purple rock is something that actually got in the way of a player's experience, and their complaints about the thing were quite clear, the rock was still there, it's purpose as an obstacle to the player was obvious but people still didn't like it's presence calling it bad level design and poor mechanics that shouldn't be applied to a game.

We could say the rock was there and the complainers should deal with it but that doesn't make their complaints about bad level design less valid, since they really feel such an obstacle destroys the flow and a long etc (I really don't remember how that thing went).

But then again, not knowing the purple rock's purpose as an obstacle could be even worse, since we would have people calling it bad level design and others discussing what the hell is the rock doing there or what is supposed to be doing.

(though this might not be a proper line of thinking for me, since a purple rock's purpose in a game seems quite blatant compared to a narrative element that was chosen to remain ignored instead of explained)

Gah! How did you take a offhand comment I made and use it to destroy an entire one of my points!?

Me no speaka ingles.

Indeed, good sir, indeed.

I actually hate this...

I don't like to drag a specific topic for too long (ponies are like a bigger thing that includes many little topics on it's own). Makes me wonder why I get into this things in the first place.

*shrug*

It must be related to how I often try to handle both sides of the argument and defend (and attack) them all, like if I just can't stand to see one side labelled as wrong, I think everyone has a right to their own opinions and I try to defend that right.

Too each their own,I enjoy this. Especially with people like you who make really good points to argue against.

Edited April 23, 2012 by PeanutButterDimond

[Octarine]

Sorry to interrupt~

So Weird Al Yankovic's going to be on next week's Aquabats. There is officially no excuse for the lack of Al in Ponies.

[Celestia]

Weird Al guest-starring would be epic. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a few more special guest stars in Season Three. Come on guys, we need Patrick Stewart to voice Discord's opposite element. >.> <.<

On a completely unrelated note:

http://niban-destiki...kface-297908593

Oh Niban, you always make me laugh, if only due to the silly faces. XD

[Tornado]

> Makes big post.

> PeanutButter ignores it.

Feels Batman...

Also... Was it me or did Toro talked bad about the best song?

Ohhh, dem fighting words brah...

HAVE AT YOU!

[PeanutButterDimond]

EDIT: You have some timing, Tornado. For your timing, have a source of AA sprites.

http://www.doulifee....Storage/aceatt/

They're super fun to use in a debate.

>Tornado makes big post

>Make almost as big, if not bigger, post

If you have time to plan a wedding, you have time to send a letter to your sister who you apparently always had rather than have her find out through a middleman and have her be crazy pissed as a result. For Season One, they didn't just say, "Oh, BTW, we're going to the Gala in this episode;" and the more that I think about that subplot, the more outright badly written it comes off as. Like, Mare-Do-Well bad.

Which is a problem, because it is the logical foundation for a lot of Twilight's distrust of Cadence.

This does make sense. However...

Remember what Shining Armor said in defense of Cadance? He said that he was getting migraines because of the force field, of which she was healing him. He also said that she was stressed because with him making the field, "She's had to make all the decisions about the wedding". She checked the cake, checked the dresses, checked everything. Twilight was also organizing it. We didn't see Shining do one thing to help plan the wedding. From this we can conclude that he hasn't had the time. As he said in the same scene, Cadance had to make to the decisions because he's been busy. Therefore, taking what was said and seen in the episode in to consideration...

SHINING ARMOR REALLY DIDN'T HAVE TIME!

They didn't make an episode written around, say, Rarity's parents. It was clear the second the synopsis was leaked that the episode was largely going to be about him and her (albeit I doubt anyone expected it to be that focused on them), and they didn't even bother to have the other characters be surprised that Twilight had a brother. The episode basically presented it as "Hey, my brother that I always had and you all already knew about before is getting married. Teh shockers! Oh, and by the way, he was the most important figure in my childhood which I never bothered to mention until now."

Which is pretty much the absolute worst way they could have done it.

Again, this is another thing to do with foreshadowing which would have been much preferred over the none we got. Still, I personally didn't mind. I actually really found Shining Armor likable and as someone with older siblings himself, could relate to his and Twilight's relationship. I felt it could have used some foreshadowing and mentioning but I think with what they did, it was well executed.

"Oh, by the way, the other character that I knew (and just forgot to mention when I said my brother was my only friend growing up) when I was young and who also helped shaped me to be the mare I am today is marrying him!"

Twilight's past relationship with Cadence was so tacked on and blatantly unnecessary to the episode (because even if we aren't forced to bond with Cadence, we would anyway through her love of SA) that it doesn't even seem like they decided to do it until they were already halfway done writing it. In fact, having Real Cadence win Twilight over by proving how much she loves her brother would have been a much better way of doing it, because the emotional impact would be a lot more real and the audience wouldn't be forced to swallow a backstory as it is required for the plot.

GAH! I keep being hit with that contradiction the song made!

HOWEVER!

Cadance's connection to Twilight wasn't unnecessary. The whole big point of part one was that no one but Twilight knew there was something bad about Cadance and her first indicator of this is the fact that she doesn't react to their secret dance. This is also the first sign to the audience that something is up with this pony who is now a bitch instead of the loving pony who looked after Twilight. It is necessary!

Also the real Cadance did win over Twilight by proving her love of Shining Armor. Look at This Day Aria. When Cadance is trying to push the cart, she's singing about Shining and how she she's thinking about him, they cut to Twilight's face which goes from surprise to a small smile with tears in her eyes, after which she helps Cadance in to the cart and pushes it down the track. It's subtle but it's there.

"My faithful student, who I have personally relied on to save the world twice now and who I pretty much raised and trust explicitly:

I know you have concerns that something is happening behind the scenes at this wedding, and I know that I'm worried enough about some unspecified threat against the very wedding you are worried about that I and my sister are personally watching for threats, put up a giant bubble sphere with constant armed guard patrols and have established rigid security checkpoints for everyone trying to get into the castle...

But seriously, stop being such a clingy bitch."

There's a few reasonable explanations for Celestia not believing her.

1. Cadance probably has a close relationship with Celestia. they are related after all. Celestia probably trusts her a lot.

2. Shining's explanations were pretty good. To the point where some were doubting themselves on their own guesses.

3. Twilight isn't perfect. She has a problem of being rash and assuming. That combined with it being her brother that the accused is marrying and.. yeah. It's easy to see why she might not have hold too much stock in to what she said.

and since gato is not bringing up his made up explanation and since I have a semi-decent idea of what it is, I'll go ahead and say it...

Considering Celestia's past, accusing one of her relatives to be evil probably isn't a good spot with her. Having someone burst in and accuse a loved one of being evil, which not only was told off with reasonable explanations but also certainly brought up bad memories, realistically...

CELESTIA WOULD BE PISSED!

Overanalysis is problematic for any show. I don't think it takes anywhere near what most people would call "overanalysis" to break this episode down.

I overanalyzed the first two episodes of the show whose names I always forget (because TNTNE). I overanalyzed Return of Harmony (because Pony POV). I wrote a fan fic whose basic purpose was me overanalyzing Boast Busters (because... I dunno). And you bet your fucking ass I overanalyzed Griffon The Brush-off (because Best Pony).

This episode I'm just thinking about.

Then I really don't want to see your overanylisations because honestly I really thought about the episodes and I never thought of any of the things your complaining about. Though I am also an optimistand incredibly stupid but still, the target demographic would never think of the things we do.

Why are we supposed to care about them now?

Twilight did an infodump in song for her brother, and then basically just listed some characteristics of Cadence (some of which basically go against stuff from two other episodes). There's no build-up for them. There's no emotional bond with them through their actions. Twilight basically told us that we are supposed to feel this way about them, then the episode basically told us that they love each other, and then it told us that their love is the strongest thing, like, ever.

When a problem a lot of the people had going into the episode was how it would handle the revelation, and when it handled it by clumsily acting as if it isn't a revelation at all (and in Cadence's case, basically just ignoring the question everyone really wanted answered and focusing on clumsily pushing her into Twilight's backstory too), you can't expect that explanation to be enough to make people automatically care for the characters in question.

You do make some good points. However, why? Well, the fact that they are the most important parts of Twilight's childhood certainly doesn't hurt. The fact that I can relate to not see a big sibling in a while and the memories of a good and loving babysitter as a child certainly made me relate to how Twilight feels and care for the characters as a result.

But there are two things I want to ask.

1. What were the contradictions that came from some of the characteristics of Cadance?

2. What was this question that "everyone really wanted answered"?

It would have taken... 30 seconds for some sort of backstory to be given to her. "I attacked Celly at some unspecified time in the past, and she fucked me up proper, but now I've got my plan for revenge." They had 44 minutes to find it, and they could have shaved most of that from the bit before the first full commercial break in the first episode.

So, giving her a backstory as thin and flimsy as a piece of paper is better than having no backstory? gato mentioned that the whole "no backstory" thing as canon fodder and honestly, I would prefer it to be that over such a weak reason. If you're going to give a villain like her a reason, make it have an impact. There would be no reason for an explanation if her reason was that shallow and useless to the plot and it would have just wasted more of the time for the episode. How would the episode, story or even Chrysalis herself be made any better by it being a bland as hell, run of the mill revenge plot.

You might as well make it "Celly took my apple juice when we were fillies, now she and her people must fall!".

*cough cough* Canon Luna *cough cough*

To be fair, most seemed to expected that to start more arguments due to the many fanfics that would be ruined, but it didn't so fair enough.

EDIT: Oh look, I missed a spot!

You don't need to establish a 40 page backstory for every bad character. But even Blueblood is a deeper character than Chrysalis was, because you can at least tell why he acted that way. Chrysalis was basically just a cut and paste set of character design ideas ganked from a generic Disney-esque movie (villain song and all) in a show that had to this point done so much to make their characters stand out. And other than being more competent than NMM, she never did anything beyond "be evil."

And... is this really a bad thing? I liked that she didn't have a backstory or some reason. She was just evil. I found that refreshing. Every other villain had a reason. NMM wanted revenge on Celestia and the other ponies and Discord wanted to spread chaos and be a dick. Chrysalis? Just evil. I really did like that. Unlike you and gato, I don't see it as bad writing as much as a refreshing change of pace.

NightMareMoon was a sympathetic villain who felt unappreciated by the ponies for they never saw her nights, who planned to enact her revenge by making it eternal night.

Discord was the spirit of chaos, imprisoned by the two princesses long ago, who planned to wreck everyone's lives in Equestria, and most likely the world, just because he enjoys spreading chaos.

Chrysalis was a changeling queen who planned to use Shining Armor's love for Cadance to her advantage by fueling off it while pretending to be Cadance so she can break Shining's magic shield and take over Canterlot. Why? She's evil.

You say too little substance, I say change of pace.

EDIT Two: I missed another one!

They did know her brother, or at least knew enough about him that they felt it fit to comfort Twilight by commenting on his character when she got depressed over it. The only thing they didn't know was that he was the head of the Royal Guard.

And considering the episode was trying to sell us on the premise that he was there all along and everyone knew about him,anything in the way of an off-hand mention, or, hell, mere acknowledgement of his existence would have gone a long way towards alleviating the problems with his introduction.

Edit: Plus, as Gato mentioned above, they could have done a lot more than just that.

Sorry to say this, Tornado, but I think you made a mistake. In your quote there is a contradiction to the episode!

You say that they knew her brother but just didn't know he was the captain of the royal guard. But the episode clearly contradicts this statement. Right after Twilight finishes her song, Applejack comforts by saying "I want to tell you that i think your brother sounds like a real good guy".

Now you may say that means that she mentioned him to them earlier, before the episode took place, however, it's clearly a reference to how much Twilight praised Shining Armor in her song.

You may also be referring to AJ's "You're his sister, he'll always make time for you" line. But that isn't a "comment on his character". It's a sibling speaking from experience. AJ has a big brother and knows the bond siblings have. She has a big sibling and a little sibling so she both understands Twilight and Shining's point of view.

You may also say that if they didn't know she had a brother, they would have been more shocked. But let's look at this realistically. If you were friends with someone for about the same time, the rest have known Twilight(Say about a little over a year, a little under two years at the latest), and they suddenly get an invitation to a sibling's wedding, would you be in shock or would you congratulate them on the good fortune of their sibling? Well I think most, especially if you're the element of honesty like Applejack, you would be genuinely glad for the good fortune your friend's sibling. I mean, people have relatives. It's not uncommon so why would they be shocked?

So, with that in mind, I think we can safely conclude two things. One being...

The rest of the Mane six didn't know of Twilight's brother before the episode!

And considering the whole basis of your complaints were how "the episode was trying to sell us on the premise that he was there all along and everyone knew about him" and that foreshadowing would have explained how they knew him, I can safely say that, with this decisive evidence...

YOUR COMPLAINTS DON'T HOLD UP!

Edited April 24, 2012 by PeanutButterDimond

[Nix]

I don't even know what's happening anymore, but I see Ace Attorney and I like it.

[Snatcher2047]

I'll leave the debate to the experts. In other news...

How can something so beautiful:

...make me feel so dirty?

Need to clean my mind:

GO LUNA GO.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Snatcher2047

[SweeCrue]

Flash animation!

...Um, I should problably go ahead and say that this is nsfw.

Last warning, NSFW!

http://www.newground...tal/view/594335

I lol'd, that is all.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Sweecrue

[gato]

I'm so NOT joining into this right now...

I'm still only halfway through my PSO2 (go check that thread, I need attention) update and I haven't had time to even read the latest chapter of Background Pony and post about it here...

But I like what I see...

FANFICTION TIME! ("Last Monday" edition)

I'm moving this back to the Tuesdays from next week onward.

Also, freaking short edition.

Derpy's Diary: (One shot)

This one is cute...

I think that's all it has going for it, but I kind of like it... Maybe because it's a breath of fresh air after reading The Mailmare.

Also, I didn't like the icons used, mostly because they are ugly, and should have went with better ones. :V

Rating: 3 Stars.

For Her: (One shot)

I'm not such a big fan of this one (the narration seems odd, especially at the begining, but I think it gets better later) but it presents a quite shocking piece of headcanon that I'm still not sure if I should incorporate or not.

Basically, Celestia made people forget about Luna and hate Nightmare Moon so the next bearer of the elements of harmony doesn't hold any feelings towards her and has no doubt about attacking the mare in the moon with all his/her power. And not only that, she also takes some really questionable actions in order to get a new bearer of the elements ready (some of this decisions kind of backfire into something good like unintentionally creating the Equestrian educational system).

At the end she pretty much gets her sister back out of sheer luck. (And I'm not sure how should I feel about that, the element bearers pretty much were served into a plate for her and I find that to be kind of weak writing).

Rating: 3 Stars

The Steadfast Sky:

This one is shorter than what it looks like (but still quite the long tale)

It's basically a story of how Celestia, Luna and Discord become friends and try to use the elements of Harmony in order to defeat the dark power ruling the land...

It also makes you wonder how the heck Discord got to be what he is now but I can guess the author will explain this near the end.

This one is a realy nice story (narrated in first person, should I add) but there are some flaws that irk me a bit.

The first one is not such a big deal but is about Alicorns, here Celly and Luna start as regular unicorns... Which kind of clashes a bit with Cadance...

Oh yeah I went there... (and I'm not sure if I should expand about this, truth to be told I don't feel like doing so)

But the most glaring flaw I find here is the timeline, we are talking about what for our current ponies would be almost pre-historical but what I've seen here is not so different than the current FiM world when it comes to technology, politics and all that stuff (hell, I would say pony society is more advanced than how they were shown in the Hearts Warming Day story)... This either means the author made some awful mistakes when using the FiM timeline or something went horribly wrong after Discord becomes the Draconeequs we know today.

I'm not discarding the latter option so I'm willing to give Potter the benefit of doubt.

BTW, I should probably mention that so far Luna is Generosity and Discord is Kindness (Celly has no element yet), make of that what you will.

Feather Of Fire:

It looks like we are finally getting over with the flashback.

Can't wait to see where this goes (and I'm calling that unicorn waitress that was introduced in the latest chapter will become relevant to the story)

The Mailmare:

It seems like this one was going to be longer than what I (and the author) expected...

But that's not something bad, this last chapter was hilarious!

I can already see Luna and alcohol being mixed into some unfortunate incidents.

And now I can't shake the feeling that this fic's cover picture is quite relevant to the story, when it was started it looked like just a random pic but now I see where it comes from.

And... That's it? Next week I'll try to talk about foundations, Trixie on the run, wibbly wobbly timey wimey, Trixie and Fluttershy living together without a [shipping] tag and pocket ponies (gotta catch'em all!).

Now I gotta go back to PSO2! Allons-y!

[Snatcher2047]

Flash animation!

...Um, I should problably go ahead and say that this is nsfw.

Last warning, NSFW!

http://www.newground...tal/view/594335

I lol'd, that is all.

DAMMIT! I just got finished cleaning my mind of such dirty going ons.

But yeah, that was damn funny.

[AdventChild]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f94ryI4uAwA&feature=g-all-c&context=G2ca886eFAAAAAAAAAAA

[SweeCrue]

Rainbow Dash is best mount.

[SuperStingray]

Seriously. HAVE you seen the price of batarangs these days?

[Nix]

*closes Gimp*

Tornado, I have never felt so terrible for drawing fan art.

Whoops.

Well that was fun.

Edited April 24, 2012 by Pinkamena

[Snatcher2047]

^ Very nice. Oddly enough, I was listening to "This Day Aria" on loop for like twenty minutes just before coming here. And I mean REALLY listening. Oh man, do I want to do a cover of this song... AND I'M A GUY.

Edited April 24, 2012 by Snatcher2047

[Emperor Robrainiac]

FANFICTION TIME! ("Last Monday" edition)

So, lets see what we have this time around.

Derpy's Diary: (One shot)

This one is cute...

I think that's all it has going for it, but I kind of like it... Maybe because it's a breath of fresh air after reading The Mailmare.

Also, I didn't like the icons used, mostly because they are ugly, and should have went with better ones. :V

Rating: 3 Stars.

I read this not too long ago. T'was cute, I agree. I like diary style stories, so this one was definitely a good read for me. Shame it was a oneshot though, I'd like to see more.

For Her: (One shot)

I'm not such a big fan of this one (the narration seems odd, especially at the begining, but I think it gets better later) but it presents a quite shocking piece of headcanon that I'm still not sure if I should incorporate or not.

Basically, Celestia made people forget about Luna and hate Nightmare Moon so the next bearer of the elements of harmony doesn't hold any feelings towards her and has no doubt about attacking the mare in the moon with all his/her power. And not only that, she also takes some really questionable actions in order to get a new bearer of the elements ready (some of this decisions kind of backfire into something good like unintentionally creating the Equestrian educational system).

At the end she pretty much gets her sister back out of sheer luck. (And I'm not sure how should I feel about that, the element bearers pretty much were served into a plate for her and I find that to be kind of weak writing).

Rating: 3 Stars

Hmmm... Yeah, doesn't seem like the story for me from what you said in the summary. I think I'll pass.

The Steadfast Sky:

This one is shorter than what it looks like (but still quite the long tale)

It's basically a story of how Celestia, Luna and Discord become friends and try to use the elements of Harmony in order to defeat the dark power ruling the land...

It also makes you wonder how the heck Discord got to be what he is now but I can guess the author will explain this near the end.

This one is a realy nice story (narrated in first person, should I add) but there are some flaws that irk me a bit.

The first one is not such a big deal but is about Alicorns, here Celly and Luna start as regular unicorns... Which kind of clashes a bit with Cadance...

Oh yeah I went there... (and I'm not sure if I should expand about this, truth to be told I don't feel like doing so)

But the most glaring flaw I find here is the timeline, we are talking about what for our current ponies would be almost pre-historical but what I've seen here is not so different than the current FiM world when it comes to technology, politics and all that stuff (hell, I would say pony society is more advanced than how they were shown in the Hearts Warming Day story)... This either means the author made some awful mistakes when using the FiM timeline or something went horribly wrong after Discord becomes the Draconeequs we know today.

I'm not discarding the latter option so I'm willing to give Potter the benefit of doubt.

BTW, I should probably mention that so far Luna is Generosity and Discord is Kindness (Celly has no element yet), make of that what you will.

Looks like a cute little origin story. I think I'll give it a looksee sometime soon.

The Mailmare:

It seems like this one was going to be longer than what I (and the author) expected...

But that's not something bad, this last chapter was hilarious!

I can already see Luna and alcohol being mixed into some unfortunate incidents.

And now I can't shake the feeling that this fic's cover picture is quite relevant to the story, when it was started it looked like just a random pic but now I see where it comes from.

Oh crud! I forgot this updated! Better take a look at it as soon as I can.

Now I gotta go back to PSO2! Allons-y!

Well, have fun. Me, I gotta get to back to work on my final projects.

[Tornado]

It's time for my monthly E-Penis bragging time:

Gravekeeper's new story (A.K.A. the GTP Bronies conspired personally to delay Ballad by that much more) just went up on FiMFiction about an hour ago.

Also, I have it on good authority (by which I mean that I've read it because Corey asked me to) that the next chapter of the Tapes is inbound sometime this week (probably Thursday). So get your bodies ready.

And RE: Stuff: I'll get to it tomorrow or something.

Edited April 24, 2012 by Tornado

[Nix]

Also, I have it on good authority (by which I mean that I've read it because Corey asked me to) that the next chapter of the Tapes is inbound sometime this week (probably Thursday). So get your bodies ready.

inb4eyecolorshenanigans

My body is ready, I'm not sure if my mind is yet.

[Stritix]

My little pony, so skinny and bony.

[Jeffhog]

My little pony, so skinny and bony.

Non-contributing/off-topic/spam posts can and will get you in trouble.

[Old dead account]

For you fearing the between seasons drought, TOM (or at least a good replica) has a few words for you.

Edited April 24, 2012 by Prince Solaris

[Toothpaste]

Haven't posted in this thread for a while, but man that finale was amazing. Had to post something even if it's a bit late. Like lots of other people have been saying, definitely classic Disney-tier stuff. I'm glad I didn't spoil too much for myself. I'll just drill through my highlights in no particular order:

-The Party Cannon being used as an actual weapon was great. Never thought that would happen.

-What I did see coming was Cadance not being the real Cadance - seemed pretty obvious to me - but that didn't make Queen Chrysalis any less awesome.

-Glad we got to see Celestia fight, crazy to think that the power of love can even defeat a goddess.

-Loved that the Elements of Harmony wasn't what defeated her. Sure the "Love Conquers All" is cliche, but at least it wasn't the same thing used for the third time in a row.

-Colgate spoke!! Okay so did Lyra, but that I expected to happen eventually.

-Stay indoors, Twilight Sparkle. Do your homework. Remember to eat from all 4 food groups. Brush your teeth at least twice a day or Colgate shall scold you.

-Luna did appear after all. She must be a really deep sleeper. At least her not being there for all the action was poked fun at this time around. Oh, and she's a great dancer too.

-Didn't expect so many songs! This Day Aria blew my mind. Got a tear in my eye when Cadance tried to push the mine cart.

-Rainbow Dash pulled off the Sonic Rainboom much easier than before. I'm sure she'll be recruited as part of the Wonderbolts eventually, it's just a matter of when. I'm guessing she'll join, get too caught up in her dream career to see her friends, realize it, and then leave the Wonderbolts to go back to her friends. Or in the series finale she does join the Wonderbolts and stays, and the rest of the mane 6 + Spike go their separate ways (but occasionally meet up and reminisce about their times together).

-The ending party was a bit rushed but still decent. Not going to join the whole Vinyl Scratch eye colour debate, don't really care.

All in all, best episode(s) in the series so far. I like how different this was from the season 1 finale. The Best Night Ever was more about personal development while A Canterlot Wedding was an event of epic proportions. This finale could have worked really well as a full-length movie, but I'm glad it was at least spread out across two episodes.

In non-royal wedding-related stuff...well, I'll just leave this here.

[LATER BUDDY]

My little pony, so skinny and bony.

My little spammer, keep it up, you'll get the hammer