HopeFox

My money says it's Fluttershy. She wants love and affection, but can't handle being the centre of attention for very long. That being said, I really hope it's Trixie.

That's a good question. I guess the Doylist answer is "The writers thought it would be cool, but they hadn't thought of it when they wrote the previous season". Continuity has never been this series's strong point, and honestly, I'm not too bothered by that. I'd prefer that the writers do whatever makes the show awesome, rather than being corralled by what's come before. In fact, Jayson said that they intentionally hadn't decided on some things, like whether Equestria was an entire world or a single nation, in order to avoid closing avenues they want to explore later. On another note, Nightmare Moon might not use the ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE, but Princess Celestia does on occasion. "TWILIGHT SPARKLE! Meet me in the library." She's a little softer about it, though, as befits her personality.

I thought this was a fantastic episode. I was rather worried by the style of Lesson Zero, both in animation and in characterisation, but Luna Eclipsed has definitely renewed my confidence in Season Two. The animation felt truer to form than some of the scenes in Lesson Zero - I do wonder if the animation for Luna Eclipsed was done earlier than that for Lesson Zero. Anyway... There were lots of little things I loved, but the big one for me has to be Luna, of course. I really like the idea that Nightmare Moon is actually quite similar to regular Princess Luna, the main difference being the evil, rather than the aesthetics. Gentle and compassionate Celestia is wonderful, but I like having a scary, dark Luna to balance her. I'm reasonably positive about Pipsqueak's appearance. I think we'll be seeing him again, and I do have a little bit of trepidation that he'll be shoehorned in excessively, but I more expect that he'll slot in alongside Twist, DT&SS and S&S to round out the CMC's class. The way they all showed up together at the start of Season Two suggests to me that any CMC episodes will involve a more stable peer group than what we saw in Call of the Cutie, which I like. He's also probably the first pony ever in Equestrian history to say that he likes Luna more than Celestia. If he'd been alive a thousand years ago, Nightmare Moon might never have existed. On a minor note, it's also great to see Zecora again. It's very nice that she's not only allowed to mingle freely in Ponyville society, but parents actually trust her with their foals. Sure, we never actually got to see how that happened, but I imagine Twilight's influence had a lot to do with it. I thought her magic powder display was pretty cool, as it links in with Zecora's established skills, in a way that doesn't quite cross into the realm of unicorn-style magic.

Rarity doesn't actually have a problem with ponies who don't want to be "ladylike". Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie aren't particularly ladylike either, and Rarity gets on with them just fine. Also, Rainbow Dash doesn't actually reject feminine culture, she just doesn't have the patience to spend much time on it. Look at Rainbow Dash and Applejack in "Suited for Success", particularly the first bit. Rainbow Dash thinks that a fashion show will be fun, whereas Applejack is determined to attend the highest society event in Equestria in her work clothes. Applejack's lifestyle generally makes her more rough and unkempt than Rainbow Dashs's, because she's got a whole farm to think about and simply can't take any time for the little things. There's also the physical fact that Rainbow Dash's profession doesn't get her nearly as dirty as Applejack's, since clouds don't leave any mess. That being said, we really haven't seen any antagonism between Applejack and Rarity since "Look Before You Sleep", and in my opinion, Applejack letting the cost of the apple fritters slide at the Gala was one of the most touching points of that episode. I think they get on alright now, and are aware of each other's limits.

I agree that it would be a bad thing if romance became at all a focus of the show. As a vehicle for friendship-based lessons and stories, though, it may have a bit of potential. For example, one of the things teenagers have to deal with is the jealousy that arises when one of a group of friends starts paying more attention to potential boyfriends/girlfriends than to their old friends. I could definitely get behind an episode where (to take one of the more common M/F ships as an example) Fluttershy and Big Macintosh start spending a lot of time together, leaving Rarity without her spa partner and Rainbow Dash without her pegasus buddy. Throw in some possessiveness on the other side from Applejack and you've got the makings of a perfectly good episode, with lessons about letting your friends have time for their other pursuits, without meaning that you aren't friends anymore. The relationship could then continue in a low-key fashion for the rest of the season, in much the same manner as Twilight's friendship with Zecora. The only problem I see with this idea is that they've already had three episodes dealing with jealousy, and while it is a big issue, that may be enough episodes for now. It would probably end up reading a lot like Griffon the Brush-Off, although the key difference would be that the "interloper" isn't actually a bad pony, but there's still enough love and friendship to go around.

I tend to ship Flutterdash, even though Dash often doesn't treat Fluttershy very well. Sadly, Dash often doesn't treat any of her friends very well. She pushes Applejack to unfortunate lengths with her competitiveness, aggression and unsportsponylike conduct, she makes fun of Twilight's bookishness, she has no patience for Pinkie Pie's antics, and doesn't hesitate to call Rarity a laughing stock. Rainbow Dash is a good friend in a tight spot, but she needs to learn more compassion in day-to-day life. I ship Flutterdash because I believe that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy have a very strong connection between them, dating back to their time together in Cloudsdale. I may be imagining this due to fanfic I've read (or written - I especially like to write them with this bond), but I think their moments in Sonic Rainboom show it fairly strongly, even if Dash was being needlessly aggressive about the cheerleading. I think Rainbow Dash has a lot of growing up to do before she can be a good fillyfriend for anypony at all, but I think Fluttershy has the patience needed to let her do that growing.

It was really hard for me to decide between Art of the Dress and At the Gala. I think I actually enjoy Art of the Dress more musically, but I voted for At the Gala simply because it features all six ponies very strongly (much like the episode itself). Rarity is my favourite pony, but all six ponies are even more favourite.

Exterior-wise, I'm very fond of Rainbow Dash's cloud home. She has rainbow waterfalls outside her front door. What's not to love? I'm also always amused by the fact that the Carousel Boutique resembles an actual carousel, and has carousel horses for dress mannequins. We haven't seen the interior of Rainbow Dash's home or Sweet Apple Acres yet, so I can't say if I'd want to live in either of them. Sugarcube Corner and the Carousel Boutique are both pretty mundane on the inside. Twilight's home is a library, though, so I'd have to go with that. Fluttershy's cottage looks mundane but also very comfy.

I would definitely like Winter Wrap-Up even without the song. Well, as long as we'd still have the exposition that the song covers, just in non-musical form. I really enjoyed finding out more about Equestria's relationship with its environment. The episode gave us a good glimpse of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's careers, and it was cool to see Rarity and Pinkie Pie taking time out from their usual jobs to participate in environmental management. This is an aspect of the setting that really appeals to me, so any chance to find out more about it is good for me. I thought it also did a very good job of developing Twilight's character. Her desire to fit in and be helpful was heartwarming, and her reaction to Applejack yelling at her was very sad. On the other hand, I did actually like Owl's Well That Ends Well quite a bit. I believe that it was good for Spike's characterisation - it solidified his relationship with Twilight, making his loyalty more obvious and showing that it's out of love, not some sort of convenience or obligation. It also did a good job of showcasing jealousy within friendships. Granted, Griffon the Brush-Off did a very similar thing, but it's a pretty important lesson.

I think my girlfriend first discovered that MLP was a thing when lots of people showed up on LiveJournal with pony-related icons. She found the first episode on YouTube, and while I was initially skeptical ("Seriously? They named a character Twilight Sparkle?"), the fairy tale at the beginning, with Nightmare Moon banished to the moon for a thousand years, convinced me that the show was worth taking seriously, and by the time I figured out that that particular story arc wasn't going to last beyond the pilot, the depth of characterisation had me hooked.

Very difficult, but I went with Winter Wrap-Up. I thought its portrayal of Twilight Sparkle and her burgeoning desire to fit in with Ponyville's community was very moving and interesting. The look on her face when Applejack yelled at her was heartbreaking. I also liked it a lot for developing our knowledge of Equestria's post-apocalyptic and broken interesting environment and how the ponies relate to it. I'm fascinated by pegasus weather control, in particular. And, of course, it's the episode that gave us the first big group song number, so I have to give it credit for that. Without that, I might have given my vote to Cutie Mark Chronicles, barely.

Hello Tales! Thank you for noticing me! And for making me not feel silly posting three times in a row. I came to Canterlot via a link on Equestria Gaming, which I found via Equestria Daily. I've been looking for MLP discussion and roleplaying groups for a little while now, and this is the first really big site I've found. *prances happily* Now, to explore!

Also, it turns out that I'm totally not a spambot. For serious. What else can I say to make post #2 actually worth reading... well, I love the show! I'm still having trouble figuring out precisely what it is that draws me to it, but I think the characterisation is a huge part of it. There's a lot of depth shown in the cartoon, and even more room for filling in their backgrounds. Which explains all the fanfiction, I guess.

Hello, everypony! HopeFox here, and thrilled to have found somewhere to hang with my bronies. I'm 30, male, an engineer, and I apparently like watching cartoons of ponies. While I've enjoyed plenty of other TV shows, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the first fandom which has engaged me enough to participate in it, to the point of enabling me to write my first lot of fanfiction (something I've wanted to do for a long time but never had the motivation for). Otherwise, I'm quite a fan of the books of Tamora Pierce, and am an old hand at roleplaying games, particularly D&D and Shadowrun. So... yeah, that's me. Glad to be here!