The Herd

[Kobold King he/him]

Epic!Discord didn't take it so well. She giggled, but she wasn't happy about it.

 

It was sort of a surly, "I'm gonna turn your orange juice into acid while you're drinking it" kind of giggle.

 

Epic!Rarity eventually made an uneasy truce with him and made him a dinosaur, all while singing a parody of "The Art of the Dress."

 

It's a weird RP.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

It was sort of a surly, "I'm gonna turn your orange juice into acid while you're drinking it" kind of giggle.

Epic!Rarity eventually made an uneasy truce with him and made him a dinosaur, all while singing a parody of "The Art of the Dress."

It's a weird RP.

And then Epic!Discord kissed the ordinary guy she'd chosen as her boyfriend in the middle of the street, took him home, made bacon donuts, and chose a kilted Unicyclist in a Darth Vader mask with flaming bagpipes as her servant when she and Epic!Rarity seized power. No, I'm not making any of that up.

Kobold's wrong. It's a very weird RP.

Edited September 8, 2014 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[Edgedancer he/him]

It was sort of a surly, "I'm gonna turn your orange juice into acid while you're drinking it" kind of giggle.

 

Epic!Rarity eventually made an uneasy truce with him and made him a dinosaur, all while singing a parody of "The Art of the Dress."

 

It's a weird RP.

Please note that 30% of this isn´t cannon. Not that it stops all of this from happening in our heads.

 

And then Epic!Discord kissed the ordinary guy she'd chosen as her boyfriend in the middle of the street, took him home, made bacon donuts, and chose a kilted Unicyclist in a Darth Vader mask with flaming bagpipes as her servant when she and Epic!Rarity seized power. No, I'm not making any of that up.

Kobold's wrong. It's a very[/] weird RP.

Now this is 100% cannon. They are currently fighting a living diamond tyrant who just so happens to be Nighthound´s sister.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Edgedancer

[Quiver he/him]

Please note that 30% of this isn´t cannon. Not that it stops all of this from happening in our heads.

 

Now this is 100% cannon. They are currently fighting a living diamond tyrant who just so happens to be Nighthound´s sister.

 

Meaning 70% of it totally happened. The question is which is which.

 

And this Diamond Tyrant you're fighting right now doesn't remind me of MLP at all. 

 

I really need to read Oregon one of these days...

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Meaning 70% of it totally happened. The question is which is which.

And this Diamond Tyrant you're fighting right now doesn't remind me of MLP at all.

I really need to read Oregon one of these days...

It's the song. Surprisingly enough, there has not been a single big musical number.

Yet. :

[Kobold King he/him]

It's the song. Surprisingly enough, there has not been a single big musical number.

Yet. :

 

I'm totally gonna make an Epic called the Conductor whose power is making people burst into song. 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I'm totally gonna make an Epic called the Conductor whose power is making people burst into song.

*Nathan steps out on stage*

"These Epics just won't listen

No, not one little bit

They fight all around the town and throw their hissy fits

*Lightwards hisses-*

It's up to me to stop them

For plainly you can see

I'm the only one with common sense--

This treaty rests on me!

[Queen Elsa Steelheart she/her]

I'm totally gonna make an Epic called the Conductor whose power is making people burst into song.

That is the coolest epic I have ever heard.

[Lightsworn Panda he/him]

Aaaaand another thread annexed by Oregon. 

 

And then Epic!Discord kissed the ordinary guy she'd chosen as her boyfriend in the middle of the street, took him home, made bacon donuts, and chose a kilted Unicyclist in a Darth Vader mask with flaming bagpipes as her servant when she and Epic!Rarity seized power. No, I'm not making any of that up.

Kobold's wrong. It's a very weird RP.

 

"Very weird" is now officially an understatement.

[Kobold King he/him]

Aaaaand another thread annexed by Oregon. 

 

 

"Very weird" is now officially an understatement.

 

It is very weird and very awesome. You and everyone else should join right away.

[Voidus]

I'm totally gonna make an Epic called the Conductor whose power is making people burst into song. 

You have been long since ninja'd on that Epic Kobold

 

[Edgedancer he/him]

It is very weird and very awesome. You and everyone else should join right away.

It does help that pretty much all the Epics have a pony version. (and after boosting up its ranks with the Herd the Empire of Light will start it´s annexation of Newcago. Said Lightwards )

[Quiver he/him]

I just realized that, despite joining this forum nine months ago speciaifically to practice writing, I've only produced and posted two pieces of fiction in that time.

 

 

 

(Or rather, I've lost motivation for my life. Same difference.)

[Kobold King he/him]

I just realized that, despite joining this forum nine months ago speciaifically to practice writing, I've only produced and posted two pieces of fiction in that time.

 

 

 

(Or rather, I've lost motivation for my life. Same difference.)

You posted fiction?

Links?

[Quiver he/him]

Here's the first one! And...

 

...And huh. I've posted even less than I thought. The shame spirals deepens.

 

I've talked about stuff I want to write on this forum; there are topics here and there in the creators forum talking about ideas I have, which I've never really developed. And -for my brony street cred- I did write two chapters of an MLP fiction, both of which are really rough and which I keep meaning to go back and edit.

 

I find it hard to focus on stuff. Hence... life control has been lost.

[traceria she/her]

So, we got my father-in-law to watch the first two episodes, and it was quite hilarious.  He sat there with one hand over part of his face throughout the entire 40-some minutes.  We bought him a pegasus ornament (they had no actual MLP ornaments at the Christmas shop) to commemorate his watching of the show with us.

 

Now my mother-in-law, she'll totally watch any of it with us.  I think this is a first and last for FIL, though.

 

Liking the new profile pic, Quiver! 

[Lightsworn Panda he/him]

Here's the first one! And...

 

...And huh. I've posted even less than I thought. The shame spirals deepens.

 

I've talked about stuff I want to write on this forum; there are topics here and there in the creators forum talking about ideas I have, which I've never really developed. And -for my brony street cred- I did write two chapters of an MLP fiction, both of which are really rough and which I keep meaning to go back and edit.

 

I find it hard to focus on stuff. Hence... life control has been lost.

 

Hey, least that's better than me. I mean, I've only written... not a single one. Huh. I was quite sure... Nevermind. 

 

And no, if I ever write fan-fic, it probably won't feature pandas, as unlikely as it seems. 

 

I don't think I can watch MLP again after watching various parodies of it. 

[Quiver he/him]

So, we got my father-in-law to watch the first two episodes, and it was quite hilarious.  He sat there with one hand over part of his face throughout the entire 40-some minutes.  We bought him a pegasus ornament (they had no actual MLP ornaments at the Christmas shop) to commemorate his watching of the show with us.

 

Now my mother-in-law, she'll totally watch any of it with us.  I think this is a first and last for FIL, though.

 

Liking the new profile pic, Quiver! 

 

I fully admit it might just be because I didn't care about the show before, but I would swear that MLP merchandise only started appearing in local stores in the past week or so.

 

I mean... I don't know if I'd actually buy any of it. The toys always strike me as looking really strange; probably the problem of going from animation to a three-dimensional piece. I wouldn't mind some of the rather neat t-shirts I've seen online, but I suspect those are only purchasable online, and it might be hard to explain to my family why I'm wearing a t-shirt with a grey Pegasus holding a muffin.

 

Though, since this seems to be the unoffical pony thread, I suppose I have to ask... did anyone go to see the movie yet? Lol

 

Hey, least that's better than me. I mean, I've only written... not a single one. Huh. I was quite sure... Nevermind. 

 

And no, if I ever write fan-fic, it probably won't feature pandas, as unlikely as it seems. 

 

I don't think I can watch MLP again after watching various parodies of it. 

 

I have written a pony fiction with ponies! It's not posted here, and it's not finished, but it does contain ponies, meaning I have written more pony-fiction than you have panda-fiction. And that's why My Little Panda never got past the pilot.

 

Though I am sort of curious as to which specific parodies you saw. There is a lot of pony-related material floating around after all, and I can certainly think of a few things which might make watching it... uncomfortable.

[traceria she/her]

I fully admit it might just be because I didn't care about the show before, but I would swear that MLP merchandise only started appearing in local stores in the past week or so.

 

I mean... I don't know if I'd actually buy any of it. The toys always strike me as looking really strange; probably the problem of going from animation to a three-dimensional piece. I wouldn't mind some of the rather neat t-shirts I've seen online, but I suspect those are only purchasable online, and it might be hard to explain to my family why I'm wearing a t-shirt with a grey Pegasus holding a muffin.

 

Though, since this seems to be the unoffical pony thread, I suppose I have to ask... did anyone go to see the movie yet? Lol

I've seen it cropping up more and more around here.  The only ponty merch we have at this point are some Ty Beanie Babies of the Mane 6, which I picked up at various locations - a pharmacy, a card store, and a craft store.  I did find a Christmas ornament later online, but that's going to be a stocking stuffer.

 

MOVIE?!?!  We've seen the brony documentary, but is there an actual MLP movie?!

[Quiver he/him]

I really should watch that documentary sometime; only problem is that the only place I've seen it is for sale. I generally prefer watching something on television, or at least renting, before purchasing.

 

As for there being a movie... there is. Kind of. For a given value of "MLP" movie.

 

Let me explain.

 

Between Seasons three and four, Hasbro released a film, called My Little Pony: Equestria Girls. It re-imagine Equestria as a human high school setting when Twilight travels through a magic mirror to retrieve her stolen crown, and the most important words in that sentence are "human" and "high school". 

I don't want to talk too much about it, since I want to save my comments for whenever I get to that part of my analysis thread... and wow, I need to get back to that. But as a movie, it... is not very good. Aside from the main character being Twilight, and short scenes at the beginning and end set in Equestria, the movie doesn't have very much to do with the ethos of the show. The characters are named after the mane six and co, but removing the fantasy setting really does damage it a lot. The animation style is something I don't care for either. Humanised Mane Six fanart existed before Equestria Girls was announced, but... well, the movie doesn't have the same spark of creativity and enthusiasm for it's concept that the show does. Personally, it feels like what it is: a project that got made because Hasbro wanted it made, and not because there was any real love for it.

 

To be fair, it does have some interesting ideas. The comics took the magic mirror, for instance, and created a really cool story-line involving a mirror universe Equestria. The villain of the movie has a potentially fascinating character and backstory.

 

Anyway, there was a sequel released recently, called My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks. The new film is based around a music contest/battle of the bands style thing in Canterlot High. I haven't seen it, but to be fair, reviews I've read of it seem somewhat more positive. I've seen screen shots, teasing a lot more cameo's, fan references and such, but I'm waiting for a release date here or- more likely- picking it up on DVD.

[Lightsworn Panda he/him]

 And that's why My Little Panda never got past the pilot.

 

(Spittake)  . How did you know!? 

 

 

Though I am sort of curious as to which specific parodies you saw. There is a lot of pony-related material floating around after all, and I can certainly think of a few things which might make watching it... uncomfortable.

 

Shed.Mov and Smile Hd. One of my friends showed it to me as part of an emotion-scarring contest between us. He almost won, but I played the Shrek is Love card.  I highly recommend not searching them up on Youtube.   Reverse psychology! Mwahahaha!

 

 

I really should watch that documentary sometime; only problem is that the only place I've seen it is for sale. I generally prefer watching something on television, or at least renting, before purchasing.

 

As for there being a movie... there is. Kind of. For a given value of "MLP" movie.

 

Let me explain.

 

Between Seasons three and four, Hasbro released a film, called My Little Pony: Equestria Girls. It re-imagine Equestria as a human high school setting when Twilight travels through a magic mirror to retrieve her stolen crown, and the most important words in that sentence are "human" and "high school". 

I don't want to talk too much about it, since I want to save my comments for whenever I get to that part of my analysis thread... and wow, I need to get back to that. But as a movie, it... is not very good. Aside from the main character being Twilight, and short scenes at the beginning and end set in Equestria, the movie doesn't have very much to do with the ethos of the show. The characters are named after the mane six and co, but removing the fantasy setting really does damage it a lot. The animation style is something I don't care for either. Humanised Mane Six fanart existed before Equestria Girls was announced, but... well, the movie doesn't have the same spark of creativity and enthusiasm for it's concept that the show does. Personally, it feels like what it is: a project that got made because Hasbro wanted it made, and not because there was any real love for it.

 

To be fair, it does have some interesting ideas. The comics took the magic mirror, for instance, and created a really cool story-line involving a mirror universe Equestria. The villain of the movie has a potentially fascinating character and backstory.

 

Anyway, there was a sequel released recently, called My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks. The new film is based around a music contest/battle of the bands style thing in Canterlot High. I haven't seen it, but to be fair, reviews I've read of it seem somewhat more positive. I've seen screen shots, teasing a lot more cameo's, fan references and such, but I'm waiting for a release date here or- more likely- picking it up on DVD.

 

 

Well, it's got an IMDB score of 6.1... Not sure what to think of it...

[Quiver he/him]

As I said, I didn't want to say too much, since I do hope to eventually get to that in my Rewatch/Analysis thread... but...

 

 

I'm not surprised. That's actually a higher score than I would have given it. I didn't exactly want to try influencing Traceria's opinion too much before seeing it, which is why this is in spoilers, but...

 

Equestria Girls. Sweet Sunbutt. That movie is awful.

 

As I said, it has some things which are kind of interesting... but those things are only really interesting outside of Equestria Girls. The movie introduces the idea of a magical mirror, which allows characters to travel between worlds. Where it comes from, why it works the way it does, how it plays into the villains plot are never mentioned. 

The spin-off comics, on the other hand, took this concept of a magic, reality-traversing mirror, and made it awesome. The fifth volume of the comics shows how Celestia and Starswirl the Bearded used the mirror to travel to other worlds, going on adventures, exploring strange new world, and bringing back technology and magic to advance their society... not to mention kicking off an epic, thousand-year long romance.

Also, My Little Dino.

 

The villain had a lot of potential, with a fascinating background. She was Celestia's former student, one who turned away from her teachings to become a villain because she felt Celestia was holding her back... so yeah, pony Darth Vader. The toy biography suggested that she went on her own adventures in the worlds beyond the mirror. She is the reflection of Twilight, emphasized in her introduction and her name. There is a short sequence when we see what appears to be her fall into darkness. 

The movie takes all that potential, and turns her into a petty high school bully. The first-chosen apprentice of a God... became a high-school bully. And then the movie wraps everything up by redeeming her in the last few minutes of the movie.

 

...Eh... okay, I have to say, that's a mess. I really can't phrase my comments on Sunset Shimmer properly, since she might be the biggest example of wasted potential in the franchise. Apparently Rainbow Rocks expands on her characterization a lot, but... based on the movie, she is a very terrible villain. It's especially disappointing since this was following other epic fantasy-style villains, like Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis and Sombra, but this character- the Darth Vader of the FiM- is on the level of Trixie.

 

(For what it's worth, I actually quite like the concept of Sunset, enough to want to do a series of Sliders-style pony stories with her. Slight digression)

 

The story-telling, and the story itself is... bad. It feels very disjointed, jumping from one scene to another, with only the most tenuous of connective tissue- scenes which mostly focused on either milking the schoolyard drama, shackled to a plot which is... weak. At the very least.

 

Really, the best parts of the Equestria Girls movie either took place in Equestria- which negates the whole point of the movie and the setting- or the occasional funny moments, like the Trixie cameo.

[Kobold King he/him]

As I said, I didn't want to say too much, since I do hope to eventually get to that in my Rewatch/Analysis thread... but...

 

 

I'm not surprised. That's actually a higher score than I would have given it. I didn't exactly want to try influencing Traceria's opinion too much before seeing it, which is why this is in spoilers, but...

 

Equestria Girls. Sweet Sunbutt. That movie is awful.

 

As I said, it has some things which are kind of interesting... but those things are only really interesting outside of Equestria Girls. The movie introduces the idea of a magical mirror, which allows characters to travel between worlds. Where it comes from, why it works the way it does, how it plays into the villains plot are never mentioned. 

The spin-off comics, on the other hand, took this concept of a magic, reality-traversing mirror, and made it awesome. The fifth volume of the comics shows how Celestia and Starswirl the Bearded used the mirror to travel to other worlds, going on adventures, exploring strange new world, and bringing back technology and magic to advance their society... not to mention kicking off an epic, thousand-year long romance.

Also, My Little Dino.

 

The villain had a lot of potential, with a fascinating background. She was Celestia's former student, one who turned away from her teachings to become a villain because she felt Celestia was holding her back... so yeah, pony Darth Vader. The toy biography suggested that she went on her own adventures in the worlds beyond the mirror. She is the reflection of Twilight, emphasized in her introduction and her name. There is a short sequence when we see what appears to be her fall into darkness. 

The movie takes all that potential, and turns her into a petty high school bully. The first-chosen apprentice of a God... became a high-school bully. And then the movie wraps everything up by redeeming her in the last few minutes of the movie.

 

...Eh... okay, I have to say, that's a mess. I really can't phrase my comments on Sunset Shimmer properly, since she might be the biggest example of wasted potential in the franchise. Apparently Rainbow Rocks expands on her characterization a lot, but... based on the movie, she is a very terrible villain. It's especially disappointing since this was following other epic fantasy-style villains, like Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis and Sombra, but this character- the Darth Vader of the FiM- is on the level of Trixie.

 

(For what it's worth, I actually quite like the concept of Sunset, enough to want to do a series of Sliders-style pony stories with her. Slight digression)

 

The story-telling, and the story itself is... bad. It feels very disjointed, jumping from one scene to another, with only the most tenuous of connective tissue- scenes which mostly focused on either milking the schoolyard drama, shackled to a plot which is... weak. At the very least.

 

Really, the best parts of the Equestria Girls movie either took place in Equestria- which negates the whole point of the movie and the setting- or the occasional funny moments, like the Trixie cameo.

 

I despise Equestria Girls.

 

My three-year old sister adores it. It is the only movie that she can lucidly explain to her siblings; she will go on and on at length describing how Sunset Shimmer steals Twilight's crown, how Twilight gets it back, etc.

 

Due to her insistence on watching it every other day, I've gotten exposed to large swaths of he movie--though oddly enough, I'm still not entirely sure how it ends. I had a vague idea that Sunset was redeemed at the end of it, but I tended to assume that her redemption was part of a long process that was built up over the whole movie. Perhaps I gave the writing team a touch too much credit this time.

 

My main criticism has been the same one you addressed: Sunset Shimmer and her somewhat... unambitious way of attacking Earth. I mean, really Sunset; you are an alien creature from a distant world, with knowledge of magic and the cosmos sufficient enough for the living demigod who rules your world to make you her personal pupil. Thrown into a weak and unprepared world, the best you can manage is... seizing control of the nearest educational institution?

 

No, Sunset Shimmer didn't even seize control of it. Not true control. "Principal" Celestia still rules; Sunset's only conquest is rising to the top of a petty and ultimately meaningless adolescent hiearchy. (As a side note, with all the humanized Mane Six being around the same age, I have to wonder why Principal Celestia didn't expire from old age a thousand years before the movie began. Unless she has access to the same immortality magic on Earth as she had in Equestria....)

 

With all the build-up about the harm Sunset could do to our world, I'd just expect her to wreak a little more havoc. Let me steer your imagination for a minute; what devastation could Nightmare Moon have wrought on our world? What about Princess Chrysalis, infiltrating the highest levels of our governments with her changelings? Sweet Celestia, what damage could Discord leave in his wake?

 

The movie is ultimately founded upon a gimmick. A gimmick which could have been handled exceptionally well, to be sure; but the high school gimmick was cheap, forced, and uninspired.

 

My verdict:

[traceria she/her]

I honestly don't know if we'll ever watch it anyway (still avoided the spoilers, though).  Ponies are WAY cuter than little animated girls made to look like their pony counterpart!

[Quiver he/him]

If it helps with the decision, the movies are more or less ignored by the show. The only thing the show really took from the movies (as far as I'm aware) is a minor character, who... didn't really appear in the movie much either. Not seeing the film isn't exactly a great loss.

 

And yeah, Sunset's redemption is... just all kinds of awful. It's one of the most tacked on morals the show has ever done; she's evil right up to the ending, when she takes a rainbow to the face... at which point she starts crying and begging forgiveness.

 

It's... poorly done. As I say, the sequel (supposedly) gives her actual characterization, but the first film really botched it. 

 

I think it's intended to be another parallel to Nightmare Moon; the whole EQG film is built on call-outs to the past. Except Luna had a sympathetic back story, and a moment where she and Celestia both admitted they were wrong and reconciled. Up to that point, Luna was acting like a maniac, arguably one who was going to destroy the world... but we understood why she was doing it. She wanted appreciation, respect for what she was doing; she thought no one cared about her and lashed out. It's one of the reasons I think Luna is so popular; a big part of the fandom is made up of artists of one stripe or another, and having your work be ignored like that really strikes a chord with them.

 

Sunset Shimmer, on the other hand, get's one line of backstory from Celestia, mentioning she was a former student who wanted power. Sunset has no back story in canon, meaning her descent into darkness doesn't really resonate with anything, and her turn at the end is similarly unbelievable because it comes, mostly, out of nowhere. 

 

Frankly, the ending is exactly what the show had always avoided to that point. A villain who is defeated, and in the process learns to appreciate the power of friendship; the closest the show ever came to this before hand was Discords reform, which was played as a much more somber event, was more physcologically believable. Sunset Shimmer's eleventh hour reform, with a tear-stained face and proclaiming that she didn't understand the power of friendship feels like a parody of the show, and a validation of every critics opinion on how silly the concept is.