Lerian

Cross your hands in front of you, not just use the mouse with your off hand but physically cross your hands in front of you so you are slightly restricted and using the wrong hands.

I don't use a controller enough to suggest a comparable idea for that, though if anyone has a suggestion...

Looking forward to starting my ThD (Thaumaturgical Doctrate) in Associative Mana Exchange of Ally Spirits when magic comes back.

For the unaware, the Shadowrun view of 2012 ushering in the magically active sixth world is the only interpretation of the Mayan calender that I take seriously. That is to say I take all the other conspiracy theorists and doomsayers less seriously than an interesting RPG idea...

VERY interesting screenshots.

The first one and the Trixie one seem a bit off. For one thing, the first one looks too...."basic" to me. I love the deranged look of the abandoned Ponyville shots...but the Trixie one seems odd. "Alicorn Amulet"?

I'll take these screenshots with a grain of salt. We have been fooled before...

I see what you are saying and would certainly agree with the Trixie one but as an experiment try pausing the wide angle shot of Ponyville, as Rainbow Dash is flying down in the intro, and compare it to the shot of the Crystal kingdom. (Note:- not suggesting it's part of a new intro or anything, just saying I believe I've seen the same 'zoomed out' basic look before.)

Looking forward to finding out I've been fooled, now that I've just defended it!

Also, cultural significance of a 4 cornered tower attached to a 5 pointed star arena within a 6 pointed Town centre?

EDIT:- My reasoning for the arena building goes along the following lines. It is obviously an important structure as it is in the main(?) city and attached to the main building/palace. It has multiple entrypoints along one of the main roads into the city centre. (Admittedly there are 12 'main' roads but...). It also has a third, and perhaps fourth (hidden behind it), entrance on other main roads with covered awnings, flags and a bright yellow symbol (A six or eight pointed (star?) thing...) above the awnings. (Headcanon! Graaaaaaaagh!)

Nipping back to the boutique, we can see that the mannequins (ponyquins?) have bridles, something that (according to other threads) were discussed for the show but eventually removed as it 'looked weird'. Sooooooo.... does this mean an alternate past/future or a different society where bridles aren't weird? You could massively overanalyse look into it further and say that as bridles can be used for control, their (everyday?) use in fashion reflects acceptance of being controlled. I should probably look at another society for awhile and give this a rest...

Hmmm, boutique has been boarded up from the outside and the inside....

ZOMBIE PONIES!

That is a nice layout for the crystal kingdom (Looking south from the mountains at sunrise?)

Also, central tower is 72 ponies tall with a 4 pony balcony window (if they use 2 pony high doors as per Twilights house door in Canterlot*),

or 54 ponies tall with a 3 pony balcony (if they use 1.5 pony high doors as per the Ponyville library*)

*approximate measurements from S1Ep1

Twilight is best goddess!

I like the touch that filly Twilight has put on 'grown up shoes'

Sweet Luna!

The new love child princess has really been played from the eldritch abomination angle there!

She wants your sooooooouuuuul.....

Thank you for that Tales. Really love the look of Discord there!

Also, house of eels!

Here's something I noticed in a clip of the Find a Pet song. You can see the buzzing buzzard from "The Best Night Ever"

When I noticed that my internal dialogue went something like...

'Buzzard that can really buzz!'

'Choose the buzzard that can really buzz Rainbow!'

'BUZZARD THAT CAN REALLY BUZZ YOU FRICKER!'

Also, Halloween reference seriously blew my mind.... Thanks for pointing it out Thoth.

The budget issue is the big issue. Though honestly if they make a movie, I hope they stick to their guns and gear it towards the kids like they have so far. The references and visual gags are fine and dandy, but it's not what started the massive following and kept it strong. Keep it pure, keep it positive and whimsical, and aim for the target demographic. I honestly think they'd LOSE bronies if they started overtly aiming for them. Shoutouts are nice, but it's not the cake.

Exactly my thoughts and my biggest worry for future series. Please remember what formed the brony fandom in the first place decision makers!

I felt a great disturbance....As if a play on 'you taste like cherries Dashie' was slipped into countless fanfics at once. I fear something terrible has happened.

Using the idea of 'mindless' type zombies, something that removes or obscures a cutie mark. The pony loses interest in what once drove them but unlike foals they also have no desire to regain their mark, just wander around. Different levels of 'adult outlook' would determine if they are still able to function, feed and water themselves.... Maybe a desire to just stay in bed all day. (Would be too adult, perhaps to easy, to make it a depression analogy thinking about it...)

EDIT:- It has already been mentioned that something corrupted Luna into Nightmare Moon. Perhaps such a thing could attack Celestia or Cadence or would it be able to link to a normal pony? A Normal or given the world, supernatural animal? Corrupted cockatrice, manticore or Ursa anyone? Nightmare timber-wolves or more?

Many thanks to Diego Havoc

*Yoinks*

I liked the way they did it in Hearths warming eve. They regularly broke the fourth wall for their (in-show) audience which allowed them to break the fourth wall to us, the real world audience, without being too jarring.

PP - "And with me as our fearless leader, what could go wrong?"

AJ - "Where should I start?"

PP - "I'm gonna call this new place, uhhh, Dirtville!"

AJ - "How about 'Earth'?"

Oh sweet Celestia!

As a UK brony.... WHO DO I HAVE TO BUCK TO GET ONE OF THOSE MAPS!

EDIT:- Also Applewood.... shoutout or possible future plot?

What is your Steam name? Smoothie Lyra don't care.

What game do you play the most via Steam? Really varies as I go through SP and MP phases. Probably TF2, L4D 1&2, Civ V, Terraria in stops and starts...

What is your favorite game? Long term, probably TF2 going through a SP RPG phase though so flitting tween old & new school ones of those

Do you have a group? Not really, I belong to a couple although it was more 'a friend invited me' than any long term gaming thing

Do you play on Mac or Windows? Windows

Much of my reasoning has already been said but I prefer backing up my vote to 'trying to avoid repeating posts'

Firstly, I would love a movie, the animators, writers, music crew and all the rest I haven't mentioned are certainly up to it.

I believe it may have to be a non-cinema production as a 2D 'big-screen' production is less likely to sell to those that finance/green light such things. It is almost guaranteed that bronydom would turn out to see it as well as families but that brings risks of its own. I have no idea how large we are as a demographic (1 or 2m? More?) and although it may seem a large number, very large numbers are needed to justify AAA productions. It also leads to the idea of selling/aiming it at a (widely) split demographic. Do you market it at your adult audience and risk alienating your primary market (E.g. grown up references, midnight showing etc) or do you aim at your primary market and risk backlash from the adult fandom and the media which is already giving grief. (e.g. saturday afternoon, pre-Christmas release; shock and horror at [insert comic book guy stereotype here] daring to show up at a childrens theatre, said stereotype loudly complaining that it doesn't live up to his standards by being too childish and 'dumbed down' etc)

To re-iterate, I have no doubt the MLP team could do it, they've already done it and are continuing to do so. It's those people in bold and the blessed mainstream media I would have concerns with.

Option A: As a new member of the family she may have been hoping that Celestia would love her too. Feeding from the love of a goddess? Yes please! If the love of a mortal unicorn was enough for Chrysalis to overcome a goddess, (though unknown before she did it), how much power would she have from long term feeding on the love of such a powerful being?

Option B: The original plan may have simply been to have Shining armour under control and sneak in more and more changelings. Feeding, multiplying and growing until finally the princesses have no, or very few, actual ponies left as subjects. This plan would have been made and initially carried out under the assumption that Celestia, Luna or both would have been able to defeat Chrysalis in a 'stand-up fight'. When Chrysalis was discovered there was a natural, believed to be doomed to failure attempt at self defence when suddenly..... Chrysalis beat Celestia! All bets are off, forget this sneaky infiltration stuff, lets just invade!

EDIT:- Actually, ignore both of those... Chrysalis admits the invasion before defeating Celestia....

Which then, sadly, leaves basic villain monologuing as a choice. She just got so carried away with 'Muahaha, I fooled all of you, I am in control, we will feeeeeeed.... DOH! Alicorn standing right behind me!'

It would be good to see how this is approached in the show and as someone who likes to see how shows/works interpret culture it would be extremely interesting to see if this turns out to be a show that does it well.

To explain/clarify/go off on one. We are human and only have ourselves to draw from so any music shown tends to based on a particular cultures music, especially when a fictional culture is already based on an existing (human) one. E.g. Minbari are 'East Asian/japanese', Centauri are 'Imperial English' and have similar (stereotyped?) music and musical tastes.

You then have the idea that violent/aggresive/strong races like loud music/yelling E.g. Klingon and Narn

Or you have 'futuristic' music which often sounds like synth pop (admittedly it tends to be 70's and 80's scifi that always ends up in a bar or disco with this sort of thing playing).

Which brings us to pony music. The shows makers are known for doing a fantastic level of research and preparation (E.g. Pinkie rolling in the grass, Zecora pawing at the ground, both things real animals do) so it wouldn't surprise me if they do come up with something that is unique and genuinely 'Equestrian'. Timing the music to fit in with a four-legged walk, trot, run? A greater emphasis on percussion as hooves and horseshoes make a different sound than soft human feet? Ponies are social animals, in the show and real life, so would their soothing music reflect/sound like the idea of (a) social gathering? (As opposed to much soothing human music which often reflects solitude).

Expanding on the idea of magical tuning...

Sound is air vibrations reaching our ears and instruments move the air in different ways. Could a unicorn use (a field of?) telekinesis to essentially 'play the air', either by focussing on a patch of air itself or using a held/hovering [item] to fix their eye on? What would be a purely unicorn 'instrument', one that can only exist in a fantasy world.

Eh, I wouldn't jump the gun on Griffins having a mostly French-based society. Gustav the Chef most likely cultivated his own French accent to give himself more 'kitchen-cred', just like how Rarity develops her posh accent.

True enough, too much 'stock' sci-fi and fantasy when I was growing up I think. I've become too used to the 'planet of hats' outlook in films and books, where one race acts in a specific way (e.g. Klingons & Vulcans & more. Elves & dwarves & hobbits and orcs. Lions & tigers & bears (oh my)).

Thankfully doesn't work like that in real life and has greatly improved with recent works.

As the mane six all seem to be in the Crystal city and surrounding areas completely alone I'm going to put forward the idea that the crystal ponies are trapped/sleeping (within crystals?) and are fading along with their memories. They need to be shown who they are to wake up or regain the will to go on.

EDIT:- Or as Lux pointed out, turning into crystal....shudder....

Sadly when I try to fit the big bad into that though, I just end up with a matrix (etc) knock off plot of their sleeping forms being used for something else (energy/emotions).

Or maybe excessive emigration..... The crystal ponies are being tempted away to another land and they need to be shown their way of life is as good as the one they are going to (or that the one they are being tempted to isn't all that good with the big bad mistreating them once they arrive in his kingdom. EDIT:- There's your gruel Rosewind!)

EDIT:- Snow flake flag....Snow crystals...... 'I'm meeeeeeeeeltiiiiiiiiing!'

Hmmmm, griffins are 'French' so Applebloom was speaking in (fancy) griffin? Which leads to ideas of having 'upper class' french/griffin (similar to 'upper class' way the snooty Canterlot ponies spoke).

Which leads to....... 'French/griffin haute couture please' Fluttershy! How could you?

Yes, I know, twisty turny mind and all....

You giggle when you see the words "plot" and "shipping."

Extra points for comment going so well with 'slightly suggestive' Pinkie Pie.

When you start mixing Equestria with your other fiction as you're reading/watching it (Off the cuff I've thought about 'what if' Equestrian magic worked as in Shadowrun, Name of the Wind, Graceling, Unknown Armies, D&D/Pathfinder, Dragon Age and then other 'mana pool' type magics)

When you think it will be a funny game to change your pony desktop every time your significant other rolls their eyes at ponies (which sets up an interesting loop sometimes)

When you try to have a forum conversation using only pony quotes (Doesn't count if you end up following an actual in episode conversation)

When you look forward, (e.g. while at work/school), to new cute pics being posted when you log onto a picture board/thread.

(Others I have noticed in me have already been said so will leave those.)

EDIT:- when you mute the Olympics because you are on the phone, synchronised swimming comes on and the sea pony song is all you can think of to go with it.

Hush little filly, you sleep tight,

Slenderpony watches you at night,

if he thinks that you're not good,

he'll whisk you away to the Everfree wood...

Haven't had any weird sleeps lately but went through a phase of waking up with my head at the foot of the bed without realising I had turned round.

The classic of your mind working the alarm into your dream as you are waking.

Ones I can remember, in the dream, are: the alarm being on TV, the alarm being a fire alarm and running for a couple of (dream) seconds and the alarm being a weird siren (I remember looking around for the ambulance in the dream)

Oh and as a child falling in the dream as I fell out of the top bunk.

Become best friends with Princess Luna. Huzzah! We can be off doing best friends stuff next time Canterlot is invaded!