HopeFox

I don't think Trixie is particularly suffering. She may, technically, not have a dwelling immediately after "Boast Busters", but I doubt she's destitute. For one thing, we're really never seen anypony who could be identified as poor. There are some very rich ponies, but the poorest ponies we've seen are fairly comfortable working class ponies. Even if the Apple family had been run out of business at the end of SSCS6k, I have no doubt that they'd be able to live with friends and family until they got back on their hooves. The tragedy would have been the loss of Sweet Apple Acres as a family tradition and cultural institution, not the Apples starving. Ponies seem to have better prosocial instincts than humans, so I think they just plain take better care of each other. Now, it's possible that Trixie doesn't have a permanent home. She really seems to love being the travelling showmare, so I suspect that she deliberately moved out of her childhood residence and started her travelling show. If she still has family, then she could go and live with them, but even if she doesn't, I think she'll manage. Remember that she pulls the wagon all by herself, so losing the wagon will if anything make her more mobile. If she's been living on the road for so long, then she probably has fairly decent survival skills, and can handle the indignity of eating grass straight off the ground if she needs to. Also, towns in Equestria seem to be pretty close together, and I'm sure that somepony in any given town would give her a place to sleep. So I think she'll do just fine until she can earn the bits for a new wagon (if, indeed, she didn't build the original one herself). Another point that often gets raised in discussions of Trixie's fate is that her reputation has been ruined and she can never put on another show anywhere else. I don't think that's really true. Gossip doesn't seem to flow between towns very quickly - look at the Flim-Flam Brothers - and even if it does, she still has the skills that make her an excellent showmare. Remember, she captivated almost all of Ponyville before the mane cast showed up. At worst, she might have to attach herself to a larger troupe for a while. (Actually, that could be kind of cool.)

I'm starting to suspect that Celestia has actually been keeping an eye on Twilight's entire family for quite some time now. There may be some prophesy or some hereditary trait that highlights that family line as being likely to produce the new Element of Magic, and hence lead to her sister's redemption. I believe that this is suggested by the fact that the Element of Magic big crown thingy, when Twilight wears it, matches her cutie mark... but when we see Princess Celestia wearing it in the storybook opening of the pilot, it still looks the same - a six-pointed star. And Shining Armour's cutie mark has the same star device. This could be interpreted a lot of ways, but I think it means that Twilight's entrance exam wasn't the first time Celestia became aware of Twilight's potential.

Watch G1. Our household just bought 25th Anniversary DVD collection, and we've watched the movie and Rescue at Midnight Castle. I actually really liked the movie. "I'll Go It Alone" is surprisingly catchy, and was seriously competing with "This Day Aria" for earworm status for a few days.

How about "Master of the House" from Les Miserables? Has the added bonus of being hilarious, while showcasing the Thenardiers' utter contempt for anyone but themselves. Followed by "Dog Eats Dog", which neglects the hilarity and is just evil. Also anything the Phantom of the Opera sings.

I'd love to hear Jennifer Hale on the show. She actually does a great British Received Pronounciation voice (Bastila in KOTOR and Mazzy Fentan in Baldur's Gate II), and she would make an excellent Canterlot unicorn with that voice. Her Shepard voice would be great for a royal guard pony, too.

Let's hope they don't end up covered in tree sap this time. Also, in case anyone hasn't seen it yet, there was a "Bridle Shower" event in California on Saturday, complete with an advance screening of the finale. Some of the EQD crew got an invite, and here's their writeup of the event: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/04/inside-my-little-pony-royal-wedding.html They do note that this means the potential for spoilers has gone up, so be careful! They say that the two-part episode is "seriously the most epic two part we have received so far".

Also, we now have official confirmation that Twilight Sparkle is Best Pony. It says so right there in the advertisement.

I'm still going with the theory that Celestia's "nieces and nephews" are really just her children or grandchildren. She's the Princess, she doesn't have to get married if she doesn't want to. Blueblood's father would have been a unicorn, whereas Cadence's father could have been any pony with a strong expression of all three pony tribe magics (like how Fluttershy has some earth pony magic despite being a pegasus). Judging by Cadence's full name, she might be explained away by saying that she spends her time ruling one of Equestria's more distant provinces (one where they eat a lot of pizza and spaghetti). That could explain why she's never seen in Canterlot. Still no idea about Cadence's "dark secret", but I agree that it won't be anything that makes her less marketable. Normally I'd say "she's not really royalty", but being an alicorn makes that difficult.

Nightmare Moon for me. It was the opening storybook narration that hooked me on the show in the first place. Nightmare Moon works really well as an evil goddess figure, and her motivation is actually understandably human. I really like her mane, and the rest of her artwork. There's something about the style in which she was drawn that I find very appealing. Also, her voice. Second place goes to Diamond Tiara, especially after "Ponyville Confidential". One of the highlights of that episode for me was Diamond Tiara making the jump from common schoolyard bully to clever, scheming manipulator.

"Best Night Ever" for me. I'm still amazed that the writers managed to fit six separate storylines into the episode without it feeling rushed. It was really great seeing everypony pursuing her dreams, and then so very moving to see them get crushed. I mean, it was sad, but so well done! And the dresses. So amazing. From Season 2, I think I'll have to say "Sweet and Elite". The storyline was very mature, while still entertaining and fun. The fact that I honestly believed, for just a few seconds, that Rarity was going to forsake her friends in front of the Canterlot elite, is a testament to how powerful and skilful the writing and acting was.

I can - I strongly suspect that Celestia sensed the connection that the Sonic Rainboom made between them, and knew that they'd be the ponies who would help Twilight redeem Luna. Celestia might have been keeping tabs on them ever since that day, and may even have been responsible for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy moving to Ponyville, instead of staying in Cloudsdale or moving to another town.

Twilight Sparkle seems to be fairly involved in Ponyville's organisation, ever since Winter Wrap-Up. Her schedule in "It's About Time" included a meeting with the Ponyville Hay Board, and ponies seem pretty well disposed to following her directions in "Dragonshy" and "It's About Time". She may just be an overachieving busybody, but it seems more likely that the Mayor has integrated her into the bureaucracy of the town, possibly combined with her status as Princess Celestia's protege. I think it's reasonable to conclude that Rainbow Dash is the leader of Ponyville's weather team, between "Winter Wrap-Up" and "Hurricane Fluttershy". This makes her pretty highly known and regarded (for that, at least, even if they don't like her other qualities) among Ponyville's pegasi and farmers. I expect that she reports directly to the Mayor. Applejack probably has no official status, but she is the face and brains behind Ponyville's oldest and most culturally significant farm (it literally predates Ponyville), even if she doesn't actually own it (I think Granny Smith does). She's also recognised as a local hero, somepony who's reliable for whatever the town needs from her. She drew a crowd for her Iron Pony competition with Rainbow Dash pretty quickly, too. Rarity is big in fashion circles, but otherwise I don't think she gets much attention in Ponyville. If somepony needs a dress, she's obviously the pony to talk to, and she seems to be fairly well-regarded in her social circles (her neighbours like her, at least). She's not exactly important to the town, though. Fluttershy seems to be pretty important in the animal care arena. This is easy to miss, because in the real world, wild animals can look after themselves, and most humans don't see themselves as having a spiritual obligation to help wild animals gather food, make nests and so on. In Equestria, though, animals (outside the Everfree Forest) need ponies to help them survive. I think this is a very important duty, and she probably has a lot of meetings with the Mayor about it (for such things as the bunny census). The average pony probably doesn't pay much attention to her for it, though, much as most people don't know or care who's in charge of their city's water supply. However, most of Ponyville probably knows what she does, and know to seek her out if they have a problem involving wild animals. Pinkie Pie is interesting. Everypony knows her, and she knows everypony - "A Friend In Deed" made that pretty clear. Sugarcube Corner seems to be the most important, or possibly only major, party venue and sweet bakery in town, considering that it was in charge of catering for Princess Celestia's visits in "Swarm of the Century" and "A Bird in the Hoof". While Pinkie's role at Sugarcube Corner isn't precisely spelled out, it seems obvious that the Cakes do most of the baking and Pinkie sets up the parties. Thus, Pinkie is basically a town fixture - somepony that everypony knows, who's always there to throw parties when they're needed. She has no actual authority, and sometimes ponies think she's annoying or crazy, but she's able to get lots of ponies to show up at a party on short notice.

"Opportunity" barely beat "Smile" for me on the basis of the song itself. Considered in conjunction with the animation, I think "Smile" wins. "Find a Pet" is a very close third, and "Becoming Popular" isn't far behind. I found "The Perfect Stallion" a bit lacking, to be honest. "Welcome Welcome Welcome" was pretty catchy in terms of Pinkie's random songs. The interesting thing about this season's songs is that there's an awful lot of variety of styles in them. "Find a Pet" sounds like a Disney song, "Becoming Popular" is basically a pop song, "Opportunity" is obviously a homage to old Broadway style, and "Smile"... I don't know how to describe it. Sort of gospel-ish, with influences from "Feelin' Groovy" and the Sesame Street theme song? Am I the only one who got that impression? By comparison, the three big Season 1 songs, while amazing, were all very much Broadway style, with two of them being specifically Sondheim homages. (The Cutie Mark Crusaders' performance defies all description, I think.)

This griffon looks a lot less mean than Gilda. And he does look like a pelican. Is that Matilda, or another random jenny? My personal theory is that the cake damage will turn out to have been an accident, and the moral of the episode will be that actually trying to fix problems is more important than pointing hooves and assigning blame.

I'm really looking forward to this episode. It's actually not a plot I've seen done in many other cartoons myself, and even if it were, I still have faith in the writing and animation teams to make it unique and awesome. The only episodes that have truly disappointed me were "Lesson Zero" and "Hearts and Hooves Day", and I am happy to admit that the latter was entirely my own fault for having unreasonable expectations. I really do wonder what sort of stories they're running that are upsetting other ponies so much. This has the potential to be quite emotionally hard-hitting. The writers have shown this season that they're not pulling their punches much.

I've read a theory that, since the migration is for mating purposes, the teenagers were all conceived and hatched during or just after the previous migration. Spike, on the other hand, was hatched when Twilight was having her entrance exam, which was after the previous migration but before this one. That's why there are no dragons of the same age group as Spike.

One of the interesting things about this episode is that it showed dragons to be a lot more social than we had previously been led to believe. The red and green dragons in Season 1 were both solitary, but Garble's gang has all the hallmarks of being a well-established group of social peers. Perhaps that's the purpose of the migration - to foster a kind of dragon society, instead of allowing all dragons to be solitary creatures. I think that might hold some of the key to questions about the draconic growth cycle. Maybe dragons who spend a lot of time with other dragons can grow slowly because they can't just hoard without restraint - there are other dragons with whom they must compete for hoarding material. This moderates their growth, allowing them to spend time as adolescents. Am I the only one who thought that the "party dragon style" scene, and the big just afterwards when all of the dragons were lying on their backs chilling out, was actually kind of nice? Yes, Spike belongs with his real family in Ponyville, but it's understandable that Spike has instinctive social needs that his pony family can't quite provide (in the same way that, say, wolves and horses have different social structures with some similarities). Garble honestly seemed to care about helping Spike shape up into a "real dragon". It then turned bad because they weren't willing to accept his different views on things like smashing phoenix eggs, and then they were pretty quick to designate him as "outside the group" rather than "inside". Group psychology can be kind of scary. I actually think that Spike could benefit from having regular contact with another dragon as a "big brother" sort of arrangement - just one, so that gang dynamics don't come into it.

Dear Spike, Have fun on the Great Dragon Migration! If you run into Garble - big red teenager, can't miss him - tell him that I've still got his teddy bear, and he can pick it up at Luna's next sleepover. Love, Princess Celestia

I think the show, particularly in Season 2, has been pretty good about not pulling its punches when it comes to challenging emotional material. We've had Twilight go into a severe nervous breakdown over her schoolwork, Rarity's career estranging her from her little sister, Rarity's ambition almost making her turn her back on her best friends, peer pressure making Apple Bloom ashamed of her grandmother, Pinkie Pie almost losing the foals she was babysitting, Applejack having a breakdown under the pressure of her community's expectations of her, Applejack's family almost losing their home and livelihood, and a decent portrayal of three nations on the brink of war. I personally found "Sisterhooves Social" and "Baby Cakes" to be surprisingly hard-hitting and poignant, and if they keep up that sort of intensity, I don't think the show will be lacking at all for darkness or seriousness.

I have a good feeling about this episode. I think we'll see a bit of exploration of exactly why Fluttershy is such a pushover in everyday situations (not involving cockatrices or manticores). I don't think it will damage her long-term characterization, though. She can still be sweet and kind and gentle and patient, while having the ability to stand up for herself when ponies are legitimately treating her badly. That ability would have served her well when dealing with Photo Finish, for one.

"DJ P0N-3" really doesn't sound like a pony name, though, whereas "Vinyl Scratch" fits precisely with Equestrian naming convention. I'll be happy with either name, although I prefer "Vinyl Scratch", and I think it's the one we're more likely to see on the toy packaging.

It is very sensible and shrewd of Hasbro to start selling toys that will appeal to adult viewers but still work just as well for children as their existing ones. Sure, any kids who haven't seen "Boast Busters" don't know who Trixie is. But they don't know who Lily Blossom is, either, so they haven't lost anything there. (If Trixie comes with a pet swan, I'm buying her in an instant.) I think this is all just symptomatic of the long lead-time of toy development. The mane six, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Princesses weren't just created at the same time as Episode 1, they were part of Lauren Faust's Development Bible, and Hasbro has known about them and how they were going to look since day one. Whereas Mrs Cake, for example, was probably only created when "Applebuck Season" was in development, so any toy based on her would take a lot longer to come to market. Now, finally, characters from early Season 1 are coming through the process. So, how long until we start seeing fanart and fanfic about Zecora glowing in the dark? "I am glad that you enjoy my tea; the secret ingredient is radium, you see."

Christmas and Valentine's Day both refer to named Earth individuals, so they wouldn't make any sense from an Equestrian perspective. Halloween is short for "All Hallows' Eve", which, again, refers to a Catholic holy day. There's very little in the way of religion in Equestria, so the idea of a particular day of the year being "hallowed" wouldn't mean much. A generic Winter Solstice holiday wouldn't have a lot of meaning in Equestria either, since ponies govern the passage of seasons themselves. The Winter Solstice happens whenever Celestia says it does. Granted, they probably do have a Winter Solstice celebration, since they have one for the Summer Solstice too, but it wouldn't necessarily be a big thing. The passage of seasons was one of the big mysteries for civilizations who didn't understand the heliocentric solar system, but there's precisely zero mystery in it for ponies.

Actually, I had a thought on the differences between the two brothers. Flim seems to be the younger brother. He doesn't have a moustache, and his voice is higher. Their cutie marks are an apple split 75-25, and who gets the 75? Flam. What if Flam is scamming Flim out of most of the profits? I almost feel sorry for him. Almost. Also, what if they're from the Apple family themselves? One of the Apples married a unicorn, and they had two unicorn foals. They could have tried to fit in with the rest of the family, but because they're unicorns, they can't grow apples. No wonder they're so willing to drive the local Apples out of business.

Sending the message that it's not actually okay to make fun of disabled people is more important than the representation of adult fans of the show. This isn't a minor backlash like the perennial accusations that Celestia's royal guards are racist or that every male character on the show reinforces the patriarchy. This is, apparently, a lot of real people who are very upset about what just happened, because of how it affects a lot of other real people. This isn't "South Park". This is "My Little Pony". The largest audience for this show is young children. Everything that goes into the show needs to be viewed in that light. The adult references in the show are great, but that's not what the show is about. We are not the target audience. Our "needs" will and should always be secondary to those of the real audience. How many of the letters to Hasbro were from the parents of children who watch the show? Those are the voices that Hasbro will pay attention to over ours, and rightly so. It is nice to know that neither the writers nor the actors meant any harm by the portrayal. In fact, I never doubted that. I have nothing but admiration for the people who provide us with this amazing show, which teaches such good lessons. This was entirely an accident. The writers wanted to do something nice for the fans, and happened to pick the bit of fanon that had a hugely problematic following attached to it. There's no blame to be laid for it (except at the feet of the fans who created this interpretation of the character in the first place). Sadly, though, it happened, and it would have been better if it had not happened. This fandom has latched on to a lot of the show's background characters, and the writers are acknowledging this. I think SSCS6k made it pretty obvious that the writers are catering to our interpretations of background ponies, with Berry Punch and Doctor Whooves making noteworthy appearances in line with their fanon characterizations. We don't need "Derpy" in the show to feel like the writers are paying attention to us - they are. I don't think Derpy's appearance in "The Last Roundup" is the end of the world. I don't think it's a disaster, but I think it was a step in the wrong direction, and some children will take the wrong message from it. I don't know how many will. But if they'd given a similar scene to Lyra or Bon-Bon or Doctor Whooves (copyright nonwithstanding), then the adult fans would have been just as happy and we wouldn't have this problem. We can do without any more appearances of that nature, because we neither need nor deserve them.