Dzastur

At some point - probably not long from now - Justin Bieber will hit rock bottom with being a jerk to someone (or a group of people). Then, he'll sit down with a famous interviewer and have the "come to Jesus" interview where he'll apologize for all of the douchy things he's done. He'll say that he's a changed human being, that he hates the old Justin, and that he'll never be like that again.

The people who would've liked to have heard this earlier won't care, because they will have moved on already. And his current fans will hate the interview because they like him as an a**hole. Karma will eventually win this battle.

"...and it's all my fault."

"Whatever."

When it was mentioned that Rainbow Dash's character would be "stretched" a little further and developed more during this season, I took note of it, and now we can see it happening. Her look of dejection in the first shot is well-enhanced by the concern on the rest of the Mane 6's faces; we haven't seen her this low in the series to this point, really. But the second shot - and Ashleigh Ball's excellent delivery of her line - trumps the first shot. Great work by the artists with her expressions.

There are 6 stockings hung by that chimney (with care), one for each of the Mane 6.

I think it'd be great if Princess Celestia came in and dropped one of the 6 keys to the mystery box in each of the stockings.

Then, Discord would come in, take all of the keys out, and replace them with pieces of coal.

Discord: "Oh, c'mon - we can't make it that easy!"

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Hub-My-Little-Pony-Yule-Log-1074795.aspx

(Just kidding. It's a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic yule log marathon for Christmas.)

...honestly not looking forward to some of the fan reaction.

I'm not saying this episode should be spared criticism. But, let's face it, we know what some of the responses might be from the overzealous contingent of the comic book / super hero fandom. I think this episode could be at the greatest risk of being nitpicked to death. 

I don't think this episode would exist if not for the creators anticipating an older audience. So, aside from a fair wish for quality in general, I'm hoping there isn't too much looking a gift-pony in the mouth on this one.

When I went to Equestria L.A., the voice actresses were pretty set on the idea that the Mane 6 really didn't have definitive ages, and that was an important characteristic to them. They were "ageless". They talked about the idea at some length...

...and then Cathy Weseluck stared straight into the audience and deadpanned "Spike's 8." It was pretty funny.

My OC would be a mysterious female earth pony who could run incredibly fast. She wouldn't say anything, only making typical horse noises instead.

However, I would want her horse noises to be recorded noises from either Zenyatta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenyatta) or Rachel Alexandra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Alexandra), two of the greatest mares in horse-racing history. Seeing those names in the show's credits would be pretty badass.

I like your idea and think that having one of them get their mark before the others sets up a bunch of dramatic possibilities which could culminate in some good lessons about friendship, and a pretty interesting set of episodes.

Myself, however, I've always seen the CMCs as eventually getting three cutie marks at the same time which reference their unique friendship: the first marks of their kind, totally unique in the land of Equestria. These 3 marks would not be the result of them learning their destiny, but a result of all the effort they've put into their friendship. And the response from the Mane 6 would be something like, "All along, we told you that working hard at getting your cutie marks wasn't the way to get them...but it turns out all that hard work you put into your friendship was your special calling."

This was never going to be an easy episode to pull off: it deals with a disability and other people (pony)'s response to it, including the disabled individual's response to their own predicament.

The gulp moment that needed to happen ("But...what if I never fly?") was there, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom's "no big deal" attitude to Scootaloo's not being able to fly was written well, and Dash was rock-solid. They could of fit in an "and as for you two..." bit with Diamond and Silver getting the business from an adult, but that's life: bullies don't always get punished or chastised.

I thought they did a great job. Great episode. And a great message for the target audience without being heavy-handed about it.

There's a lot of ambition going on thus far this season. New locations, character build-outs, all sorts of stuff...and lots of catering to the fandom. I don't know how I feel about all of that but, for me, I see the glass as half-full in the following ways:

*These episodes make for excellent repeat viewing because they're so chock full of stuff to see

*They make you believe that upcoming episodes like Scootaloo's flying one were probably handled with great care and a "knock it out of the park" approach, which gets me excited

*The voice actresses are doing the most complex work with their characters to date. They didn't just "break Tabitha"; it sounds like they're all going for broke.

BTW, I liked this episode. I was yelling "Did you see that?" every 2 minutes.

This new season is going to have screenshots a-plenty to post; I think the art direction has gotten even better.

For your consideration: Rarity's best look, ever:

"Of all the castles in Equestria, this is by far the most ungrateful!" *bonk*

I love the art in this episode. I think a bazillion stills could be posted from it, and yet people would continue to find stuff to point out.

I want it to be an Element of Harmony which can be bestowed upon anyone by the owners of the previous 6.

And, after he's been super brave during an episode which sees the Mane 6 secure all the keys, they give it to Spike.

Combining MLP and one of the best cartoons ever? Astounding.

My thoughts exactly. It's a nice bridge between the then and now.

Also, his influence definitely shows up in Mlp Fim.

I'd like any of the mane 6. But Dash with her "angry eyes" and a determined smile on her face would really work I think.

How soon? 3 years? 5 years?

Or I guess it could be Twilight... I'm good either way.

I should again emphasize that I don't personally know if he's elitist or snobby about the medium; I've never heard him interviewed. But his influence on everything from the late 80s onward in animation is huge.

He helped jump-start the entire Cartoon Renaissance with Mighty Mouse - The New Adventures, and then Ren & Stimpy. He's a pretty big deal in the medium.

He's also been called "elitist" and "snobbish" by some when it comes to modern animation. Well, if that's in fact the case, looks like MLP: FiM might have earned the right to make his "worthy" list:

This was apparently done for one of the MLP: FiM comic book artists. This is way cool. Really.

The sceptre was hilarious. Seeing selfless Twilight holding a little icon of herself was just plain funny. Clever, humorous small details are often the impetus of memes.

Here's some leaked pics from Castle-Mania:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A new season has begun - and, with it, new material for choosing your favorite screenshots!

So I'm bumping this thread. First up...

I've got a feeling that, as time goes on and more people see them with multiple viewings, the majority are going to look back and say these were two really great episodes.

I'm amazed at what I'm seeing the second go around - the writing, animation, "camera work", everything. For everypony: make sure you watch them again, and soon.

I hope that when they go out to find the 6 keys, they have to defeat a boss that's guarding it, and each of the Mane 6 have their own boss that only they can primarily beat.

I think it'd be great if these bosses represented some individual fear each pony has. And that they'd be very literal so that all audiences would understand them...

...except for Rarity's, which is revealed last - she has to fight a giant crab. "A CRAB? [whining] Oh, why doesn't mine make any sense?!"

Colts fan since age 9. They're my little ponies!

Became a fan before Peyton Manning, and before Jim Harbaugh was at QB. (In other words, since before nearly anyone else liked `em.)

I wear a Donald Brown jersey on Sundays. Yes, that's right: the 4th-string running back who scored 2 TDs last week. I bought it from the Colts gift shopped and had it shipped = nine bucks.

I asked someone on the FB page to create a MLP character for them many months ago, to no avail...

LOL - I love this one: