Astalakio

(Posted this on my deviantART journal, figured it works here for this discussion too) "...Now, my initial reaction, of course this sucks. It sucks bad. It feels like someone (whether it's Hasbro or whoever) has basically burned the bridge that's been built between us, the fans, and the animators, our heroes, one that both sides took great care in building. I already signed the petition for a 'retraction' so we can have the old episode back (if you want to do the same, see [link]). But there is one fact that makes me okay with this whole mess. Kreoss, an animator from TopDraw, who is also here on deviantART, posted his own blog entry on the matter here: [link] and it includes the very important information that: "On the issue on Derpy whether she'll have the same Derp face expression and stuff. As an animator of the show, rest assured, she'll be fine." So we know that, while Derpy was effectively pulled from The Last Roundup, she'll still appear in the background in future scenes, and she'll still be Derpy as we know and love her. So really, nothing has changed. Yes, that one moment in history that fully cemented and confirmed the relationship between the animators and the fans is gone (and actually, in the age of the internet, even that is far from true), but at least WE know that she's officially Derpy, and THEY know that she's officially Derpy, and WE know that THEY know that she's officially Derpy. They can take away that one appearance, but now it's obvious to everyone who exactly she is. So with that little nugget of reassuring information tucked away in the backs of our minds, everything will go back to how it was before. We'll still spot Derpy in the backgrounds, celebrate her appearances and produce fan art and fiction and whatever else. Sure, she won't be named again, she probably won't have any more lines in the future, but she will still be Derpy for both us and the creators. She'll just go back to being our Derpy Little Secret, and maybe it's even best that way. The less she's blatantly she's portrayed, the less trolls and other people have to complain about. Heh. Derpy Little Secret. That was pretty clever for me. "I'll keep you my Derpy Little Secret… doo-dee-doo-dee-doo-daa-daaa…." *walks off into the sunset singing about Derpy*"

It was curious that Winter Iris had chosen to pick on the Professor as her point of interest in the story. He had known the old fellow for so long that, in his depiction of how he was, Betterbones didn't even consider that other ponies might find his attitude a little off. "Oh, I understood him perfectly." He replied to her point, "And he understood me. It's why, for so many years, he was the only mentor I could work with, and I was the only intern he would work with. Yes, he would throw insults and scathing remarks at me and I would laugh at him and mutter things about him when I thought he wasn't listening, and the two of us were a perfect team for many years..." His words trailed off again, and it was almost visible that one thought or another interrupted his train of thought and caused his sentence to come to an end. When he snapped out of it, he shook his head (which, thankfully, was now mostly dry) and took another sip of tea. "This hermit, with his dragon, had practically invaded the streets of Stalliongrad..." He continued, as Winter prompted him to go on, "At first the officials demanded that he leave at once, but it became very clear, very quickly, that neither the pony or his dragon was going to leave without getting what they wanted... *** "Treatment, of course." Van Hoofclip explained. "For the dragon..." The intern nodded, understanding now where the story was heading, able to fill in the rest of the gaps leading up to this moment, "But why would there be a doctor in Stalliongrad who knows how to treat a sick dragon?" "Why indeed. That's why the doctors and veterinarians in the city put out a call for assistance this afternoon, asking for the best medical practitioners in every available field to come galloping off to that blasted freezing city to go and save their flanks from certain destruction!" Betterbones noted the scorn in his tone, like the older stallion was irritated by all this, but he knew him well enough at this point to see that he was really excited by this quickly unfolding adventure before them. "So unless we can cure this dragon of whatever ails it, this hermit is planning to let the creature go on a rampage across the city." "That's pretty much the sum of it, yes." Van Hoofclip grumbled, and then he folded his arms and leaned back into the corner of the carriage in an expression that meant that the briefing was over, and that any further questions would be met with no reply. So although Betterbones wanted more than anything to ask about the details, the symptoms, the other doctors that they would meet, he instead had to content himself with staring out the window of the carriage with wide, excited eyes, and daydreaming about what might await them in the great city of Stalliongrad. Cold. Cold and ice and snow, as it happened, were awaiting them. The only thing less bearable than the temperature that gave Betterbones a shock to the system when he finally stepped out of the carriage was the fact that he knew Van Hoofclip wouldn't stop moaning about it until they were miles away once again. "Snow..." The older pony mumbled as he joined his assistant, "The most ludicrous of all forms of precipitation..." The idea that the professor had taken the time to sit down and make an ordered list of how ludicrous each form of precipitation was was enough to bring a smile to Betterbones' face, at least. "When you're done grinning like a moron, we'll go on inside." "Yes sir, lead the way." Once inside the city's biggest hospital, the two medical ponies were met by a congregation of other practitioners, all of whom were chatting and muttering to one another, gathered in little clusters of three and four about the room, which was a round white space with a tall ceiling. One of the chatting ponies, who had a long beard and glasses, saw Van Hoofclip and Betterbones when they entered, and immediately broke off his conversation to come and greet them. "Van Hoofclip, my old friend!" The ancient looking stallion cried joyously, "You're late you know. Everypony else has already arrived!" "I came here from Canterlot, Tomes, what do you want from me? Now, what is this, a social gathering? Where is this supposed dragon, hm?!" The pony named Tomes chuckled at the grumpy professor, and after pointing the way to an adjoining room, turned his attention to Betterbones. "And you must be the plucky young assistant I've heard so much about!" He addressed him cheerily, nudging his spectacles up his snout where they began to slip down, "My name is Dusty Tomes, it's a pleasure to meet you at last." "You've... heard of me? You mean the professor told you about me?" Betterbones enquired, suspicious about this idea in itself. "Well..." Tomes hesitated, "He doesn't talk about anypony other than his patients, really, so the fact that he even mentioned that he was bringing an intern along counts as talking all about you, in his terms." He grinned helpfully. "In his terms." Betterbones echoed fondly, deciding that he liked Dusty Tomes. He recognised in him a kindred spirit who had been forced to deal in some way or other with Van Hooflcip for a long period of time. Considering that fact, he seemed surprisingly well adjusted. "Well then," Betterbones said, gathering himself and putting on the most professional, impressive face he could muster, "Let's see this supposed dragon of yours!" "Yes yes," Tomes chuckled again, exactly as he had at Van Hooflcip, "Right this way, Junior." He then led Betterbones to a small door, which he opened to allow him access. Betterbones smoothed his mane back with his hooves, pushed his chin into the air and walked through. Before he even registered the kind of room he found himself in, a roaring burst of yellow fire was headed straight at him, and, with a gasp that came out like a squeak, he threw himself to the ground as the scorching heat that would have burned him to a crisp bounced instead off the stone wall behind him... *** "It even singed my poor mane a little..." The doctor pouted at the recollection, "Do you know how unsympathetic the world's best medical doctors are about other ponies' manes? Very, that's how. That was the first thing I learned in Stalliongrad, I think. Unless something's broken or bruised, they don't want to know!" He sipped his tea again. It was important to make time for tea-sipping, otherwise he knew he would get absorbed in the telling of his own story and forget to drink, and nopony liked cold tea. Nopony that he had met, anyway.

Hrm, this means ponies will be released at 9:00 PM where I am... I hope somepony's quick enough to get a 1080p version up on Youtube for us before I go to sleep :\ Aw, who am I kidding? Sleep time will be pushed back to no limits for the sake of poni >.<