Tempest Rime

I thought I saw somepony else bring that up as an example, actually, but now I don't see the post I was thinking of. Maybe I imagined it. I'm sure she enjoys the spa somewhat, as she did seem to miss it when she couldn't make it, but part of it is probably just the social aspect of going out with her friend. She's obviously not into it as much as Rarity.

Fun fact: The Hobbit is Beowulf.

Only if you pick randomly, what with that term applying to all male dogs, technically speaking.

I disagree that just letting her friends walk all over her somehow makes Fluttershy a better friend. Rarity brings Fluttershy to the spa because she's trying to share something that she enjoys with her. Fluttershy pretending to enjoy it for Rarity's sake is just another example of the comminication problems that were central to that episode. Likewise, Fluttershy is quiet, but being a good listener is more than just staying quiet, you have to actually prompt people to keep talking. Fluttershy only really shines when she gets excited about something and her actual personality comes through, something which has only really happened maybe 5 times total over the course of the show.

Rarity is best pony. FACT. Fluttershy is boring.

It's true, there were tons of arguments over 'Trekkies' vs. 'Trekkers,' but nobody outside that fandom ever used 'Trekkers.' Even Gene Roddenbury called them Trekkies. My point is, you can call yourself whatever you want, but you can't really control what catches on. 'Brony' is just the term that's sticking, largely because males are the demographic that are most surprising. Look at all the media coverage: they always focus on the fact that it's adult men enjoying the show, even though the fandom counts plenty of women among its numbers. If you really want a term specifically for female fans, it should be something catchy with less than 4 syllables. No one is going to ever say pegasister. It's clever, but it's not catchy. It's just too long.

Livejournal still exists? Anyway, plenty of other fandoms have names for members. Trekkies, Whovians, X-Philes, etc. Trying to popularize a second term never worked for the Trekkies when they wanted to be known as "Trekkers." Just use whatever terms you want, but recognize that Brony is the one that stuck.

Just look at that same diagram. Clearly, ponies have no bones in their limbs.

Lets just call everypony 'ponies' and be done with it.

Mal barely registered the fight in her downed state. There was the Doctor, putting up a rather impressive fight. She'd assumed his lack of magic meant he was basically powerless, but he was apparently able to fight as well as any earth pony could be expected to. Still, he was only one pony, he would be easily overwhelmed by their numbers. Then there was some flashes. Magic, probably. Mal couldn't so much as move her head to make out what was happening, but Trixie's voice soon revealed what had happened. That awful loudmouth had saved the day. Mal had been outclassed by that pathetic blowhard. Had she any rage left in her, she would have been angry, but now the fact just filled her with a bitter despair. As the Doctor picked her up, she muttered weakly to him. "Would been fine... on my own. Your fault," she managed to say, but her heart wasn't in it, and she teared up a little as she spoke.

"Blinkie!" Pinkie yelled happily, charging at her sister and delivering a powerful embrace, making sure to catch the cookie before her violent hug could send them toppling to the floor. Before she could burble any further, her other sister stepped in the door. Without releasing Agate, she surged towards Inky, dragging the first sister into a group hug. "Inkie!" Pinkie let out a long, high-pitched squeal of excitement. "Eeeeheeeeheheeeeeeee! It's so good to see you two, I haven't seen you in ages, how have you been, I got us a whole big party set up, ooh, and I haven't had your peppermint chocolate chip cookies in ages, I mean, we make something similar here, but it's not the same you know, oh my gosh I have soooo much to tell you guys about, oh but first there's all kinds of snacks and sweets and stuff out here, a..." Pinkie would probably have continued for several more minutes, but she ran out of breath at last, and had to take a massive gasp of air. She paused for a moment, hyperventilating.

Earth ponies don't need your fancy "magic" or "flying" gimmicks to be cool.

Yet. Once SOPA passes, it's quite possible that there won't be a YouTube for much longer.

Pinkie dashed around the room happily. It was almost time for her sisters to show up. She checked over the perparations, talking to herself. "Hmm, plenty of streamers all around. Check. Party cannon fully loaded with confetti. Check. Balloons, double-check. Snacks, check. Cake, 17 checks." She licked her lips looking at them. The Cakes were in the back, nopony was around to see... "Ok, 16 checks. 16 should be enough cakes, right? Yeah, there's only the three of us. I can throw them another party later to introduce my friends, but this is specifically a reunion." She nodded to herself, agreeing. "Music is a check. Hmm..." She wandered outside to check over the exterior of the building. "I hope there's enough balloons out here that they don't miss it." The cakes had made her stop putting out balloons when the foundations had started to creak and the house had threatened to float away.

Mal sighed and sat back down. "I'm not saying everypony has to learn how to fight monsters they'll probably never see in their life. I mean, I only pay cursory attention to sports news or whatever, because it doesn't affect my life. But when it comes to major events, there's no excuse. Even if you let somepony else deal with the problem, there's no reason not to know the name of the pony who protected you. It's not gonna ruin your life just knowing about it." Mal blinked. She wasn't entirely sure how, but she'd somehow come all the way around from complaining about that Twilight Sparkle pony to actually complaining when ponies didn't recognize her as a hero. "Um... so... I've forgotten what my original point was now. But really, come to places like these once in a while. I mean, when they're a little less busy, at least. There's always a few papers floating around for customers to read. You can at least find out a little about important things happening in the world."

This. And really, Discord's characterization in the show is so utterly contrary to being that sort of character. He loved being bad! He wasn't driven by angst or revenge upon Celestia, he was driven by chaotic whimsy. And that, really, is the key to what differentiates enjoyable shipping from The characterization has to remain believable. Stories can be as contrived as it needs to be to get the ship together, so long as the characters themselves still act in ways that are consistent with how they act in the show. Fortunately, artwork can skip all the story nonsense. Leaving the lead up story to the viewer's imagination lets them fill in the blanks however they wish.

I dunno about this guy, he sounds pretty suspicious, what with his "friends" and his "Colorado."

Lola gave a sly grin. Snowfall was definitely going to be interesting to do business with. "Well in that case I shall let you go, perhaps mingle a bit more, see who else interesting I may find in the crowd." Lola gave a respectful nod of her head. "Miss Snowfall, Miss Rivet, it has been a pleasure, and I shall certainly be in touch. Farewell to you both." With that, Lola strode off to speak to some of the other guests, keeping a watchful eye out for Snowfall's announcement. Though her reading it aloud was a given, Lola was still somewhat interested in how Snowfall would frame the announcement.

I'd be interested in joining you guys sometime. I haven't done much with Minecraft in a while. Forum: Tempest Rime Minecraft: RabidWeevil

Lola smiled. Snowfall's reaction had been immaculate, showing both poise and maturity. "I can assure you, social events like this are not frivolous. They are vital to building and maintaining contacts within the industry. I'm sure your father knew as much." She watched impassively as the dragon gave Snowfall the letter. "Using your banquet to further his own goals," she snickered softly. "That does sound like a Rockefilly." She accepted and read the letter herself before making any other comments. "Hm... well, I've heard of Maximilian Jr., but I've not seen much information on his business practices. If he's anything like his father, though, he's a pony to use caution around. Still... permanent connections between Rockwington and Stalliongrad." She considered for a moment, recalling the current trade routes and roads. There was only one reason for a trade route to connect to Rockwington over Talonopolis, and this Rockefilly was clearly looking to profiteer off it. He'd even given as much away by mentioning Appleloosa in the message, the obvious city to bridge the gap. She smiled smugly, coming to a conclusion. "I think you can trust his intentions for now, but be careful giving him too much authority over your resources. If you want to read the letter to the crowd, you should do so personally. Make sure everyone knows you're still in charge. And when he does show up... well, be very careful not to show weakness around him. If played right, however, this could be greatly beneficial to all of us."​ She passed the letter back to Snowfall. "Either way, it's your decision." And either way, Lola was definitely going to be sticking around Stalliongrad a bit longer than she'd planned, in order to see what the Rockefilly had to say.

"W-wait you were there? Woah... that must have been crazy. No memories though. How convenient." Mal frowned skeptically. "And even after all that you didn't take the time to actually find out what had happened? I mean, piecing events together may not be easy, but I'd sure want to know where I'd been if I woke up with a lost day." She shook her head disapprovingly. "Ignorance is bliss, huh?" Mal scowled in disgust. "If everypony thought like that, we'd be living in eternal night under the rule of Nightmare Moon right now! Just being aware of current events doesn't mean you need to live your life in fear of every ancient evil that's been locked away. There's nothing we can do about most of those anyway. But at least you can keep abreast of what's been happening in the world, heck, even just in this city! What if Celestia enacted a law making it illegal to criticize her? Would you just let your freedom vanish without a fight?" Mal sat up straight, passion burning in her eyes. "No, there is no excuse for willful ignorance! If you take the time to learn about the monsters, find their weaknesses and how to avoid the worst of them, then you dispel the fear. The UNKNOWN is what's scary, not the monsters themselves. Hah, even a MANTICORE couldn't kill me, and while there are much worse monsters out there, most of them won't bother a pony who doesn't get too close. And allowing ancient lore to be lost, that's just despicable! Knowledge exists to be shared, it's about the only thing a society is any good for! Just closing your eyes and pretending it doesn't exist won't solve any problems, only understanding and reason will." At some point she'd stood up, her voice rising until it carried across the room. When she fell silent, she realized the whole cafe had gone quiet, listening to her. "I, uh... s-sorry about that," she said, suddenly embarrassed. She self-consciously levitated her hair closer to her face to be sure nopony would see her disfigurement, though using her magic to do so only drew attention to her mane by causing it to glow with the coruscating red and green light her magic gave off.

Mal sighed in exasperation. "It always amazes me how many ponies don't have attention to the news. I mean, sure, most of it is garbage you can safely ignore like what town gets to hold the summer sun celebration this year, or election news. Hah! 'Elections' in a dictatorship. Now that's a lark. But as for the serious, major events like Celestia's disappearance a while back, or the Discord fiasco..." She gave Scale a stern look. "Speaking of which, that was centered mostly on Ponyville. I heard he turned that place upside-down. Have you heard from any family you have there within the past month or two? If not you may want to check on them. The official reports did say that nopony was injured or killed, but you never know, those may have been censored by the government." She scoffed at the mention of the Wonderbolts. "Psh, the Wonderbolts are just another way for the system to distract you from what's really going on. I swear, more ponies pay attention to their silly games than to actual news. Of course, even the news itself is part of the problem." She lowered her voice as she shifted topic to full-blown conspiracy-theories. "You never see any articles on suspicious stuff, like, say, why certain tomes go missing from public libraries across the country. Or certain insidious bits of propaganda that they slip into the new ones. And why is it, do you think, that nopony even remembered that Nightmare Moon or Discord were real historical figures, and not just myths? It's only been a thousand years!"

Oh, true

Just posting to confirm that I did agree to them being relatives.

Lola chucked at Rivet's apology for yawning. "It's quite alright. You know, I'm rather surprised at this little soire. Generally, events like this in Talonopolis tend to be extremely elitist. You wouldn't see anyone... well, anyone like you, Miss Rivet, to be perfectly frank. I mean no offense, of course, to either of you. Opening up the banquet to all sorts is brilliant, it lets you find possible business associates who otherwise may have gone unnoticed. Quite a savvy move, and progressive too. I like that. I look forward to doing business with both of you." She shrugged in response to Snowfall's last comment. "Such is the price of success, I'm sure you're no stranger to it. Especially since your father..." She paused. "Oh dear, excuse me, I don't wish to steer the conversation into potentially turbulent subjects." Lola had heard of Northern Storm's disappearance of course, and she wasn't sure how well Snowfall had dealt with it. Bringing it up had not actually been an accident, of course. It was a subtle test of Snowfall's composure, with a little genuine curiosity mixed in.