Key Gear

I thought we could only choose from the mane 6? Oh... Well, I guess not then. In that case I think that Apple Bloom acts the cutest. How can you top this for cuteness?

I have to thank you for writing this post. In just a handful of well-written paragraphs, you build a fantastic explanation for why being a brony is so strangely controversial. (I hope you don't mind if I keep a copy of it around to quote to people - with proper citation - on occasion.) Actually, when I was reading your post I started to think, so I greatly apologize for the following rant. The next few paragraphs are probably going to be fairly dry and boring. I probably shouldn't even post this here, but I have been trying to wrap my head around the "brony controversy" for so long. Well, I tend to over-think things, so it was really starting to drive me up a wall. I agree with you that gender stereotypes are a contributing factor to why so many people have such strong reactions against being a brony. However, I also think that there also be something slightly more primitive at work. My reason for thinking this is that I have seen reactions against bronies that come from quite a few angles. When I introduced my sister to the show, she liked it, but when she attempted to introduce her female friends to the show, some of them had a surprisingly visceral negative reaction. To them, it was insulting to suggest watching a show for "little girls". I have heard of other female bronies having a similarly cold reception. And so now we have some type of agism being a reason for disliking the show.... And then there was this: Yes, that is something that I have often wondered about. Why was it the case that ponies became so controversial in a place where social deviance and general anarchy are, seemingly, everyday things? It just doesn't seem to make any sense, and the more I thought about it the less sense it made. But then I thought about something. What if it wasn't necessarily about sexism or doing something out of the ordinary? In other words, what if it was about these things but at the same time was about something broader? Something that is fundamental to human nature that encompasses all of the myriad of reasons why bronies are attacked. What if it was about tribes? What if it was about "the other"? In philosophy, the "other" is a concept that refers to anything that is in opposition to the "same", and the "same" is a concept that refers to the traits that people use to identify themselves. These traits are not physical traits, but descriptive traits that a person derives from their gender, heritage, or culture. If we think of people as being members of different tribes, then the "other" is anything that is completely foreign to your tribal identity. Just as an example, if someone identifies themselves as being from the "Green" tribe then anything from the "Purple" tribe is automatically bad. To a member of the "Green" tribe, the "Purple" tribe is the other. I think that when we self-identify as bronies, we become "the other". This means that people that have very strong "tribal identities" will make the assumption that we are opposed to their core values, and they will see us as something that should be attacked. This is when they reach for anything and everything that they have to demonize us. The reason that we become "the other" is simply that they have no knowledge of what we actually are. The word "brony" didn't even exist before Friendship is Magic. To people who hear it or see it for the first time, it is a completely foreign term. This is where the tribal identities kick in. If someone very strongly identifies with a group that has a well-defined way of thinking, then it is not worth the risk to their self-identity to even consider that bronies could be people *like them*. I don't think that this theory explains everything, but I do think that some of this does play a role in the reflex reactions against bronies that I have seen from so many different sources. If we were known as "fans of MLP that are outside of the target demographic", then I do not think that there would be so much negativity out there. But, I also think that it is an unavoidable tradeoff. If we didn't call ourselves bronies, then we would have had to call ourselves something else, and we would have had the same problem. We are a real group and there is a cohesive, identifiable thread that pulls us all together. I think that this may scare some people, but I think that this also allows an amazing amount of creativity and other positive things to flourish. Oh man.... This is way longer than I originally intended...... Well, if anyone actually reads this far, I hope my rant made some kind of sense.

I don't know. I think that Celestia and Luna are probably immortal. I mean, they have been around for over a thousand years and they haven't aged visibly. Lauren Faust has said that neither Celestia nor Luna actually have any kids or other siblings. I would guess that they would probably just continue doing what they have always done. I don't think that Twilight Sparkle could take over because most likely she won't be around for thousands of years and she isn't an Alicorn. I don't know....

I have not yet encountered any haters in real life. On the Internet, I usually try not to react to haters at all. The problem with reacting to haters online is that you will probably be wasting your time. If a random person online dislikes the show enough to let me know about it, then they are probably set in their opinion. Responding to them in any way would just add fuel to the fire. If someone that I know has a negative reaction to the show, then I will usually try to pitch the show to them. I'll talk about Lauren Faust and her previous work. I'll talk about the quality of the animation and characterizations. Finally, I will invite them to watch just one episode. If they refuse to watch an episode (or watch an episode and don't like it), then I suggest that we agree to disagree, and I won't bring it up again. If they refuse to watch an episode and attempt to make fun of me, then I suggest that they grow up and contact me after this occurs. If they watch the show and they like it, then I welcome them to the herd. So it goes....

1986, Male, Green I'm a little surprised by the age distribution here. I thought that there would be something of a bell curve, but I expected the center to be around my age. I'm not used to feeling old....

I'll probably just work through Saturday. I'm running behind schedule on a project right now, so having one less excuse to goof off is actually a good thing for me.

Ok. I have been thinking about this, and I think that I have it all figured out. You see, Gummy isn't actually real. He is a figment of Pinkie's imagination that is made manifest by Pinkie's power to warp reality. I think that this explains everything.

You skip all of the songs? So, then, you've never heard any of them? Well... Do you listen to any of the fan-made remixes? Maybe you should go back and listen to them again. I think that you are really missing out. Just give them a chance! The songs in the show do tend to be upbeat and positive (especially Smile, Smile, Smile), but I really don't think that listening to something upbeat and positive will decrease your manliness. Besides, let's think about this.... You are already a brony. If you are judging your manliness by conventional means, then you really have nothing left to lose. As a side note, I really, really liked Smile, Smile, Smile. It almost tops my previous favorite, but not quite. Maybe if I listen to it about a dozen more times.... Edit: Ooops, I forgot to say anything about the newest song!

I have seen a few people make this point in this thread. I would like to present a different way of looking at this. Rarity did not push Spike to give her the gem. She told him (quite clearly) that she thought the gem was fabulous, but Spike gave her the gem of his own free will. To Spike, it was more important for Rarity to be happy than for him to eat the Fire Ruby. Giving Rarity the gem was a tremendous act of generosity. In fact, it was that single act of generosity that was able to completely undo the transformation that occurred in Spike due to his many acts of greed that occurred afterwards. Think about it. If Spike had not shown generosity to the Rarity, the element of generosity, then it is possible that nothing would have been able to reverse his transformation. Far from using him, Rarity actually saved him. This kind of makes sense though, doesn't it? Rarity's element is the element of generosity. It doesn't seem strange that she has the power to bring generosity out of those around her. Edit: I messed up the formatting in this post the first time...

I think that there is already a lot of evidence in this thread in favor of horseshoes, but no one has pointed this out yet, so I just figured I would contribute it. If there are horseshoes, then it makes sense that someone makes them, right? Welllll.... Take a look at the cutie marks on these ponies. Horseshoes! I bet that they are probably blacksmiths or something similar to that. Of course this doesn't conclusively *prove* that ponies wear horseshoes by itself, but taken with all of the other evidence in this thread.... Edit: Forgot to say. Screenshots of the bluish ponies are from Griffon the Brush Off and Call of the Cutie. I just had an image of caramel lying around that I included as well.

I don't have the energy to assemble the evidence, but I think that MLP also has a strange number of spit takes in it. (Maybe someone else would like to put together some images??? If not, then I'll just do it the next time I watch the whole series straight through.)

I realize that some people like the older generations, and I respect that.... However, before FiM I considered My Little Pony to be just about the stupidest thing that I had ever seen in my entire life. I never watched a cartoon. The annoying ads that would come up every once in a while were bad enough. Besides, there is no way that I would have ever wanted to be in any way associated with something that was so disgusting. Of course, now I'm a brony, and I have no problem recommending that everyone see FiM. I still have a very strong dislike of the earlier generations though.

I don't mind the wait. I never get tired of re-watching the old episodes. It is also fun to go and search for more music and art from the fan community. I am constantly amazed by the creativity.

You know what... When I first saw the subject, this was exactly my thought. Most likely it would have to be some type of sci-fi space-time continuum ripping explosion. And then Pinkie Pie would break into song and the world would be restored.

I don't know. My brother has a pathological fear of things with more than 4 legs and 5 eyes, and he always tries to get a cheap shot at the spider before he makes his get away. Edit: Actually, now that I think about it. Projectiles are the method that he prefers. You're right.... Stepping on one would never happen.

Find A Pet. I didn't think much of it when I first heard it. But for some strange reason, I have a hard time getting the tune to stop running through my head. Smile, Smile, Smile promises to be yet another tune that I can't get out of my head, but only time will tell which one gets stuck on replay.

It can only be attributable to human error.

I'll tell you the truth. I have never read a fanfic in my life, but if you took the time to put something like that together... Well, I would definitely read that. I am quite sure that I would not be the only one. Mare Do Well was such an interesting concept - something that fleshes it out a bit more could be fun.

Oh wow... You're right! And that was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. I can't believe that I didn't think of the similarity. Actually, now that you mention MacGyver.... In Swarm of the Century, rigging those instruments so that they could all be played at the same time (and knowing that she needed to get them in the first place) is another example of Pinkie's intuitive intelligence.

Actually, having a great memory is strongly correlated with being highly intelligent. Of course correlation does not imply causation, but there is fairly strong evidence that memory and intelligence are linked via the way the brain functions. Here, take a look at some of these links (don't worry, no tedious academic papers): http://www.quora.com...ence-correlated http://www.aboutinte...nce-memory.html http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2502140 (Edited because I forgot a link.)

Umm, no, I don't think that people are saying that Pinkie is a genius just to be contrarian. Even outside of this thread, I have read some very long, detailed posts where people talk about their reasons for saying that Pinkie is smarter than she may appear to be. Well, yeah. It is a cartoon, but sometimes it's just really fun to overanalyze these kind of things. As far as it being something that she bought... I dunno... Take a look at the attached image... That device just screams Pinkie Pie to me.