PulseWave

The whole generation wouldn't exist without the show, for the first thing that Hasbro wanted in the new MLP generation was an animated series that the new generation would be based on. They wanted to outsource the whole development of the new generation to some poor sap animation producer whose soul they'd just have acquired. Then they wanted to sell the pony toys based on that show as merch. They did the same with Transformers, remember? First they had Michael Bay make a Hollywood blockbuster movie, and then they sold the matching Transformers toys as movie merch. Now, a more interesting question would be what if Lauren Faust hadn't tried to plug her Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls to Hasbro at the right time. There would have been a new generation, and there would have been a new TV show. But I don't think that whoever they would have hired as the show head would have had their own agenda with MLP and stood up against what Hasbro wanted to have. Hasbro wanted G3.6. And I guess that pretty much everybody else they could have asked would have made just that. (Or do you really think they would've hired someone like John Kricfalusi, Matt Groening, Seth MacFarlane or Matt Stone & Trey Parker?)

Since early June 2011. That was months before MLP:FiM came to Germany. I did notice the ponies a few months earlier, but it was then that I decided to actually watch the show. A chronological seven-day pony binge later, I was a brony.

Why only one? Let's replace Applejack with Lemon Hearts as the Element of Honesty. Lemon Hearts says what she thinks. Now we're one earth pony short. So let's take a secondary character for a change and replace Twilight Sparkle with Photo Finish as de Element of MAGIKS. They even share the same cutie mark. Since Rainbow Dash needs competition, I'd like to replace Rarity with Sparkler who'd give her a hard time at the Iron Pony. Next, swap Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie for Rose and Cloud Kicker. This leaves us with Rainbow Dash. Suggestions? Other than Fleetfoot and Thunderlane?

Mint comes without the hassles associated with Canonical trying to be Apple of Linux and wanting Ubuntu to always be the first distro to roll out new stuff, and be it against the will of the users. Also, it pre-installs some quite useful codecs since it has Medibuntu added to the sources out of the box. Its downside, however, is that you can't upgrade from one version of Mint to the next. So while you can update from Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" to 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" quite smoothly with the built-in update manager, you cannot update from Mint 12 to 13 the same way, and you're actually recommended to re-install the whole system. You may of course back up your home drive, but when you're the kind who tinkers with configs and other things outside /home, you've got a problem, for you have to do everything all over whenever you update, that is, reinstall Mint. Fedora, well, I guess it's a question of personal preferences, but I've never kept any rpm-based distro on any of my computers for long. Not Mandriva, not Fedora which I tested twice, and I swore to keep SuSE off my machines altogether.

She is way more often called Mjölna (after Thor's hammer Mjölnir). Also, she's often seen with her friend to the right, the one with the wrench cutie mark, who is called either Quick Fix or Epona (because she looks like Link's horses).

To get back to topic, I remember the Disney Afternoon shows pretty well, and I'm still particularly fond of Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers and TaleSpin. That is, I don't actually have to remember them as I've recorded them both from TV.

Sounds like you're lucky enough to have a 15" FlexView model. I have two of them, but they're both flexed currently. I bought the second one after the first one went b0rk for the second time, and then I put the superiour parts from the first one into the second. Might have it fixed one day, maybe even both, but the first one requires too many replacement and upgrade parts. My current laptop is a T60, a rare 15" SXGA FlexView model with the T60p's ATI FireGL graphics adapter. It's also the first laptop in my possession on which I allow Windows to run.

Canon favourite: Daisy & Sir Colton Vines III. Also, Wind Whistler & Caramel. Headcanon favourite: Carrot Top & Written Script. Long story. Started out shortly after the events of Hearts & Hooves Day. Just for the laughs: The Great and Powerful Trixie & Prince Blueblood. The two largest egos ever meet clash. Best sitcom material imaginable.

Best pony of all: Seafoam all the way (see also my sig). Other unicorns: Sparkler, Lyra (the fun factor), Vinyl Scratch (doesn't actually compete), Maxie (because Madmax; doesn't compete either), Written Script (to have a stallion on the list) Earth ponies: Cherry, Rose, Blues, Apple Cobbler (already before Smile Smile Smile), the spa ponies. Honourable mention outside the competition for living a normal life as a blank flank: Candy Mane. Pegasi: Cloud Kicker (the winged jester mare), Wind Whistler (Seafoam's BFF), Rainbow Day. Bonus category – Best couple: Daisy & Sir Colton Vines III.

Those living in Germany, Switzerland or Austria can find stores with pony stuff on our Merchfinder map. Not everything is always up-to-date because the map heavily relies on user input, but it can still be quite useful. In general, Toys “Я” Us has lots of pony, and chances are increasingly good to find blind bags, now that Wave 3 has arrived. Also, Müller sells blind bags and other pony merch. With a bit of luck, one can find the Crystal Pony keychains at BR-Spielwaren (which in turn can be found in ECE malls). Kloppenburg and certain Rossmann stores (those that used to be Kloppenburg) usually have blind bags, but we've yet to see one offer Wave 3, and instead, they seem to stop offering them altogether since Wave 3 has a different order code. Last but not least, Real is known for selling pony.

Nokia N900. Not a smartphone but a tablet computer with a sliding keyboard that runs a Debian-based GNU/Linux distro and has a telephone app on board. Wait, Maemo is based on Debian? Well...

Well, we already witnessed the very same attitude after Luna Eclipsed when Luna hath returned. The reason for outcry: Many bronies expected to see her beloved Woona, a taller, blue, royal, horned version of cute little Fluttershy. Preferably in socks. What they got was the exact opposite. Not yay, but TRADITIONAL ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE.

You might or might not know that I stuck to the name Ditzy Doo as long as possible. For me, her name was to remain Ditzy Doo unless she would actually be called by another name on screen in the show itself. That note in the original post didn't change my mind because canon is what happens in the show only. Now, however, that she has been called "Derpy" by Rainbow Dash in an actual episode, even I shall accept this name as canon. Here's hoping that some more background ponies will be called by their fan names. At least not by their blind bag toy names given by Hasbro. As for who is behind the name Ditzy Doo then, I say it's her purple-maned colour swap who flies with the many birds in Winter Wrap Up.

...you find yourself at the main station's bookstore looking at the centerfold of—the German MLP magazine. (Hey, the current issue has the SDCC poster in the middle!)

Hm, well, kind of. There is a backstory behind the unicorn stallion in my avatar pic, so that'd make him an OC. He didn't appear in any story yet, though, and I'm not quite sure whether I really want to write his story down, let alone publish it. Nor is he not a roleplay character because I'm pretty sure he wouldn't pass anyway (despite not being a Gary Stu), and because I simply don't have enough time for regular RPing.

I myself don't believe that Dinky and Derpy are daughter and mother. If Dinky were Derpy's daughter, Sparkler – a grown-up mare old enough to lead the Winter Wrap-up animal team – would be Derpy's daughter. How come Derpy can participate in the Best Young Flyer competition as the final contestant then?

...you find yourself singing like Pinkie Pie. And you're a guy. (Eeeyup) ...you've ever had rainbow cupcakes. And a double-take when you saw them. (Eeeyup) ...you've ever had cupcakes with hot sauce. (I haven't, but bronies I know have.) ...your schneezes are graceful. ...you express varying degrees of excitement with "yay", "Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes..." or "OMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSH!!!" ...you're obsessed with a particular background pony that at least half the bronies don't even know. (Eeeyup) Eeeyup. The same with "confound". ...you have more blind bag ponies than your local blind bag provider. You've inspired one. (One? One of them became a regular monthly meet, the other one will be the biggest brony meet in Germaney/Germaneigh ever.) Eeeyup.

Celestia: conductor. Twilight Sparkle: synthesiser castle of epic proportions. No Hammond organ, no electric piano, no arranger keyboards, all synths, samplers, Fairlight etc., mostly classics. Rarity: violin. Applejack: banjo. Rainbow Dash: Fender Stratocaster. Pinkie Pie: multi-instrumentalist, plays lots of acoustic instruments. If you were to choose one, take the accordion. Second choice would be trombone. Fluttershy: vocals or flute. Spike: piano. Derpy (yes, I can now call her that name): Hammond L-100 tonewheel organ. Big Macintosh: upright bass, electric bass guitar. Fleetfoot: drums. Bluegrass: acoustic guitar. C'mon, it's his cutie mark. Blues: electric guitar, probably something like a Gibson ES. Lyra: lyre, harp. Vinyl Scratch: typical club setup, a bunch of relatively small electronic devices with or without a pair of turntables. Very likely to be in possession of Roland TB-303, TR-808 and TR-909. Not hip-hop enough for an MPC.

Exactly. Already now, after The Last Round-up, there's an outcry that this one scene right after the intro sequence had the whole show jump the shark. It's not my opinion, though, but some say so.

Another musician here. I guess "keyboardist" describes the most closely what I am. But let me explain a bit further. I've been making music for 28 years now. I started a few weeks before my eighth birthday. Back then, arranger keyboards hadn't surpassed electronic organs yet as far as features went, but where I learned to play, I guess old school entertainment organ playing with bass pedal was considered outdated already, so I learned to play the arranger keyboard on an electronic organ. I was a lot into the development of technology in that field. After a few months already, I was sick and tired of imitating acoustic instruments, pianos in particular, with simple subtractive analogue circuitry when the era of samples was dawning. Also, as soon as I had something to tinker, I tinkered. When there was something programmable on an organ or a keyboard, I programmed it. With the evolution of top-of-the-line arranger keyboards, this eventually led to completely custom-made, sequencer-backed arrangements programmed on the device itself with no computer help whatsoever. This was in the first half of the 1990s. In combination with my musical preferences, this eventually led me onto the inevitable path away from arranger keyboards with auto-accompaniment and built-in speakers to the more serious stuff. Synthesisers. In the late 90s, I acquired my first workstation which served as my sole instrument until 2003 when I decided to expand because certain pieces of music put too much strain on it for both the envelope generators and the sequencer to cope with, and because I considered virtual-analogue synths to be the better choice for the music I played (classical European, non-German electronic music). I continued to use hardware instruments only, and I still do today. Instead of putting tracks together in a computer, I love to play them live on real, physical instruments which also means I don't record or produce anything. About five years ago, I joined a band. They play something different again (100% cover; R&B, soul, funk, disco, mostly from the 80s), and my method (remodeling the original as faithfully as possible instead of KISS and using as few sounds, all presets, as possible) doesn't quite fit in there, but it's fun. Playing in a band gave me the justification (the necessity, actually) to put together a second setup. Altogether, my gear consists of four workstations, two of which are also samplers, one sampler, five VA synths and some more outboard stuff and other electronic instruments. However, recording something is difficult at best. My laptop, my only computer which can get even close to my instruments, isn't quite reliable currently. I do have a decent audio interface, but it's a USB 1.1 interface with only two audio channels which means I'd have to record each stereo signal pair one by one, even monitoring through the laptop's own headphones socket if I want to go 24 bit. And to be honest, it wouldn't be worth the effort, at least not for the brony community. I'm not into any kind of music that's currently interesting (pretty much anything ranging from the mid-90s to now), and vice versa, I like the music your parents listened to. If I were to record anything pony-related, it'd sound old right away.

Yep, she's a beauty, and Season 2 gave her some very nice scenes.

I guess my sig says it all: Seafoam. Just look at her. The same rose eyes as Rainbow Dash's, but on a beautiful, classy unicorn. She's the same type of pony as Colgate, yet her colours give an impression of elegance rather than just cuteness. I'm not saying she isn't cute, mind you. Speaking of her colours, she's one of the few ponies whose cutie mark matches the rest perfectly colour-wise. She's the Rose of unicorns, somewhat. And unlike Sparkler who's different shades of purple all over, her eyes stand out. In the show, she does get her share of exposed scenes. First of all, she had a certain tendency to be in the middle of group shots during season 1, and she hasn't been cloned all over the place as much as Colgate, Lyra or Sparkler (let's ignore Hearth's Warming Eve where 14 Seafoams watched Seafoam on stage for a moment). She was one of the three ponies to say, "Muffins!" and the only one of these three to end up sick. I've actually got the impression that her scenes in season 2 are growing less and less subtle. In Lesson Zero, she was on top of the pile of ponies trying to snag Smarty Pants from Big Macintosh. The bowling scene in The Cutie Pox was remarkable—not only did it put her in the foreground in at least one shot and gave her a hobby, it also gave her her only real speaking line so far. She actually managed to totally distract me from the Dude. Last but not least, Hearth's Warming Eve gave her the most attention of all background ponies (remember the close-up when her eyes tear up) and showed what a capable actress she is. By the way, she seems to have a BFF (Best Friend Forever). She is frequently seen with Wind Whistler. Probably the only case of a unicorn and a pegasus being close friends other than Rarity and Fluttershy.

Yep, it's true that we European bronies are quite screwed. Or would be if Hasbro succeeded in clearing the Web of free episode downloads once and for all. See, I'm not only a European, I also don't own any iOS device, and I want to watch MLP:FiM on whatever device I want with whatever operating system I want which the most frequently by far is Linux. Here comes the catch: I can download all episodes I want. I know a place where I can get them. Yes, it's illegal. I can also watch them on YouTube. Yes, that's illegal, too. The recommended way is to buy them on iTunes. Let's ignore for a moment that that would require me to start up Windows for a change. I'd have to use a proxy and other tricks to pretend I'm an American customer just to buy these episodes. Which is illegal. Then I'd have to get rid of the DRM. Which is illegal yet again, at least according to US laws; I wouldn't be too sure about our domestic laws. You read it right. If I went the officially recommended way to watch MLP:FiM like I want to watch it, I'd break the law twice. And it wouldn't really be worth it anyway. Hasbro doesn't sell single copies of episodes via Apple, Hasbro sold Apple a license for an episode exactly once, they got money exactly once, and they don't earn a single cent from someone buying an episode. Instead, I'd support one of the nastiest corporations in existence (Apple v. Samsung in Germany, Apple v. Samsung in Australia, running OS X on non-Apple hardware is a crime...). That said, I'm no-one who pirates stuff just because he doesn't want to pay for something he can get for free, legal or not. If Hasbro finally decided to support Shout Factory in producing whole-season DVD boxes (which they'd do right now if they had enough money to risk it), if they were released in the USA, and if I could buy one of these from someone who ships to here, I would absolutely buy them as soon as I can. Regardless of region code, I didn't have my DVD player switched code-free for nothing. Also, the German dub isn't worth the wait for a region 2 release anyway.

Twilight Sparkle: Chess. Rainbow Dash: Top fuel drag racing. Also, she participates in the Bonneville Speedweek. Either that, or Reno Air Races, Unlimited class, piloting a seriously souped-up North American P-51D Mustang. Rarity: Cricket. Fluttershy: Most likely something that involves animals. Which stay alive, of course, so no hunting. Pinkie Pie: As already mentioned, figure skating. Applejack: NASCAR. Hm, how about some of the other ponies? Apple Bloom: Kung Fu. Scootaloo: Moto-cross. Snails: Ice hockey, eh? The Dude and his buddies: Bowling. Duh. Ace: Tennis. Please, he is André Agassi. Seafoam: Anything that involves swimming. Think Dean Wilson (Animalympics). Archer: Well, archery.

This is difficult to predict, for I don't think there has ever been anything remotely similar to the MLP:FiM fandom. On the one hoof, yes, the fandom will eventually shrink. It is a hype of sorts. A long-lived hype, but a hype nevertheless, as is just about everything that's declared a meme. Memes grow old, and those who have used them will move on to new memes. Also, those who were bronies just because it was cool will follow the other hipster bronies to new franchises. On the other hoof, there are really really dedicated fans of the show itself, of the stories, of the characters, of the music, of everything. And they will not drop out that quickly. I'd even say that they eventually take over the show's legacy with their fan creativity, especially since the end of the show itself means that fanon will never be Jossed again, that there'll never be another Luna Eclipsed or Sisterhooves Social. This kind of dedicated fandom is something that can continue for many years. I know fandoms of shows which were aired in the USA the last time before many of you were born (granted, that was also before there was a Web 2.0), and they're still active and dedicated. Also have a look at the sheer amount and quality of creativity this fandom comes up with. This wouldn't be the first fandom to at least partly turn into a fandom of its own fan creativity. So I wouldn't be too afraid of the MLP:FiM fandom vanishing entirely, especially not shortly after the last episode.