Bleyd

An enormous unintended message slapped me in the face after I saw the recent "Save Derpy" video. I couldn't get this image out of my head for some reason. Here we have a cartoon horse, not even realistically drawn, and non-canon to boot... and I was a grown man bawling my eyes out. After some thinking, the cause was clear. The reason so many people love MLP:FIM is because of the characters and the way they interact with each other. This applies to every show, movie, or book - establishing an emotional connection between the audience and the characters is the best path to success. Each pony has a distinct personality, far evolved from previous generations, and fans of the show go into great detail about which ones they like most and which they feel resemble their own personalities. No matter if you are timid and shy, smart and socially awkward, hard working and confident, or hyperactive and crazy, there's bound to be a pony that you can identify and connect with. Then comes Derpy. At first the one single thing that set her apart from the rest of the background ponies was her eyes. Fans noticed a simple animation error and turned it into something huge. They producers of the show saw their reaction and decided to keep up her appearance, eventually giving her more personality and some speaking roles later on. Why such a huge response? Because she was loved. What began as a mistake became a notable icon and subject of a massive fanbase all on its own. In their own way, everyone is like one of the mane six. But I think a large number of people, at any given time in their lives, are bound to be just like Derpy. Maybe you feel like nothing ever goes right for you... maybe it seems like people see you differently... sometimes you could even feel like your life, or the reason you are the way you are, is just a big mistake. But, like Derpy, you keep trying. You never give up, because you know you can pull through and there will always be people who love you for who you are - mistakes and all. I haven't really payed attention to the Derpy debate much thus far. Whether it's just the animators, or the producers, or even the powers that be from Hasbro, someone has made a grave mistake. Changing Derpy from a lovable, naive, special character into an ordinary dumb blonde is a repulsive and cowardly act, not to mention a weak attempt at subterfuge to appear politically correct for a handful of overzealous suburban mothers who find the tiniest thing offensive regardless of context or meaning. tl;dr -

I felt the same way, even after hearing the leaked one multiple times. Despite having a good message and everything, it sounded almost unfinished. Pinkie's random interjections (Howdy! Rock on! Hoof bump!) seemed forced and campy, kind of like when people say cha-cha-cha during the happy birthday song.

Big Macintosh, obviously. He would eliminate the need to reorganize or anything like that. Just tether him to the house.

Just outfit the OFC with some auxiliary party cannons and muffin afterburners

He would probably scream about giving him carrots or just tell Fluttershy what to do after she fails to get the dozen or so hints. I imagine him sounding like the guy from the Allstate insurance commercials.

I was on the official Minecraft Forums for a while, not posting much but lurking a lot. One day a well known poster showed up with a new avatar: A lot of people started judging him immediately, saying things like "your opinion isn't valid because of that profile picture." Others started joining the brony movement however, and many people on different forums now accept it and think nothing of a member having a pony picture. That was the first I had ever heard of the show, and thought it was pretty weird that grown adults could find it entertaining. A few weeks later I decided to log in to a very, very old Youtube account that had been inactive for a long time. In my subscriptions box was a old (but unseen on the account) "youtube poop" video, a mashup of scenes from different sources with sentence mixing and editing for those who don't know. In this video were many references to ponies, and i found them to be quite hilarious and fun looking even though their speech and movements had been changed. One of the related videos in the sidebar was Party Of One, and the thumbnal really grabbed my attention because of the weird expression on Applejack's face. I decided to watch it and was completely surprised. Everything about this show was awesome: the voice acting, the animation, the jokes, the character distinction, and the subtle morals. I watched the first season and have been a proud brony ever since.

Pinkie Pie, just because of how crazy and wild she is. Her fun songs would cheer anyone up, and all that baking means you would pretty much never go hungry, unless she gobbles it up first.

Ony my iPod there's every song from the first season and all from the second season except for Flim/Flam and Smile. I don't have any remixes, but do have fan made ones like Rainbow Factory and Party with Pinkie.

1 & 2. Tie between Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle 3. Pinkie Pie 4. Fluttershy 5. Sweetie Belle

I used to dislike Rarity because of how superficial she was. Her element of generosity didn't seem to fit in very well with her obsession over surface details and keeping up appearances. Getting out of an inconvenient situation in Dog and Pony Show by just being an annoying whiner was pretty weak, it felt lke they could have done a lot more to show that she was capable of standing up for herself rather than acting like a brat and hoping her captors would get sick of it. As the show went on though, her character became a lot more developed and well-rounded. Her desire to connect with her sister in Social really brought out a less self-centered side with a focus on family and love. This and some other episodes also helped to establish her as less of a fashionista and more of a businesspony, with her character centered on design and deadlines rather than the "omg clothes" attitude reminiscent of other girls' shows. I think that's the main reason so many people had little interest in her right off the bat - she started out looking like the most girly of the bunch. Among atheletes, bookworms, and workaholics, she easily comes off as way too ordinary and stereotypical.

Hmm, never thought of it that way. The way she said it always sounded sincere to me, plus she isn't really one to be sarcastic or play along with things like that. Either way, she's rather in tune with nature like that - I could imagine her loving a nest of baby birds in her branches.

To be honest, I wasn't very impressed by the song in this episode. The first time watching, I barely understood half the lyrics because of how fast it went. Use of the term nonpareil seemed a little odd, especially when they didn't even explain the phrase for anyone who misheard or didn't know anything about French etymology. Younger viewers of the show (the ones not caught up in the flow of the song, at least) wouldn't know what it means, and Pinkie Pie even asks what it was they said and they basically ignore her. It also felt incredibly repetitive. "Opportunity in your community" is a cheesy line to hear over and over again in such a short chorus. The hightlight was Granny Smith's solo, a very refreshing bridge that laid groundwork for the brothers' defeat. Don't get me wrong, the song was fine - I just wasn't as blown away by it as everyone else seemed to be. The rest of the episode was thouroughly enjoyable, despite being predictable as hay. The Squeezy 6000 was an impressive steampunk style machine, easily one of my favorite props/set pieces. It was great to see the mane six working together to solve a problem, each with their own strengths and contributions. I also loved how there wasn't a forced lesson thrown in, since Applejack already knew perfectly well that genuine hard work brought quality that would always win over quantity. That and her epic troll trot. I DIDN'T LEARN ANYTHING!

Rarity finding the heart picture in Sisterhooves Social always moves me to manly tears. It connects a lot because I've been on both sides of that spectrum - the older, impatient one annoyed by inept kids, and the young, naive one just trying to help but getting in the way. There were also some hysterical tears of laughter during The Last Roundup, at Pinkie's rage face and the cherry conveyer scene, but that probably doesn't count.

Luna, because I love the night. Celestia seems a little bit cliche as a benevolent leader, maintaining her lweful-good persona even when dealing with Discord. Though to be honest, I really didn't care for Luna's design in season 2; it was so much darker and more intense than the elegant, graceful hues of her original appearance.