ponyvangelist

That's odd. I would think your unicorn powers could do just about anything.

That Which Conquers All Indeed. If that were the case, then Prince Blueblood, being a prince, would be at least in the same league as the regal sisters, and that is clearly not his station. Celestia and Luna are alicorns each with power enough to control the sun and moon. They have a primordial, elemental nature that is unique to them and not seen in any other creature. That the Elements of Harmony, the most powerful magic known to ponydom, were needed to defeat Nightmare Moon (twice!) attests to the inherent strength of alicorns. Ranking relative magical power can be somewhat nebulous, however, because many factors are involved, some of which may be unknown or unpredictable, that can significantly affect outcomes. Celestia has said, for example, that she and Luna are no longer connected to the elements. The implication being that neither of them, despite their great native abilities, was as powerful because of that. Being themselves connected to the Elements of Harmony, Twilight and her friends are arguably the most powerful wielders of magic in Equestria, yet it is only when they are closely united in harmony as friends with a single purpose that this is so. Discord knew this and exploited it to the potential ruin of all, but underestimated Celestia's cleverness to his own defeat. While Celestia, Luna and Twilight are all powerful magic users on their own, the fact that "normal" ponies like the rest of the Mane Six are needed to power the Elements makes an important statement: the Magic of Friendship is a power unto itself, one available to anyone willing to share it with others. Ultimately, despite their importance as physical items, I suspect it will emerge that the Elements of Harmony are really nothing more than jewelry, a prop to boost confidence and help friends focus their will upon a common goal. Twilight said nearly as much when she described the Element of Magic as "the spark which resides in the heart of us all". It's something everyone has, not just a chosen few. And so it is with Love. Cadance, the only other alicorn so far revealed,* does not possess the stature of Celestia or Luna, but her power as the Princess of Love is elemental in its own way. Alone, neither Cadance nor Shining Armor was capable of stopping Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings. But when their power was combined, they defeated them effortlessly. Unsurprisingly for a world in which friendship is literally magic, the metaphor was plain as day. In the magical land of Equestria, when two ponies truly love each other, nothing is impossible for them. Though Shining Armor and Cadance both have magical powers, it's clear that the greatest of their powers is Love itself. With it, nothing can stand against them, and just as with the Magic of Friendship, the Magic of Love is a power anyone can invoke, and a power that can change the world. Titles of royalty and even strong magical powers are subordinate to and ultimately meaningless when compared to the unlimited power of Friendship and Love, and they are powers that can be wielded by anyone who embraces them. Perhaps a bit cheesy, but even in the Real World, not so far from the truth. * Cadance has also been described as a "pegasus unicorn" rather than a true alicorn, but the fact that she has a long horn, uses the same character model as Luna and walks with the same high-stepping gait as Luna suggests she is, in fact, like them, though presumably much younger and not yet grown into her true potential. But with Love shown as being a power like no other, it is no great stretch to imagine her being as powerful as Celestia and Luna someday, bringing Love to the world as Celestia brings the Sun to the day, and Luna the Moon to the night.

Doh! Fixed.

Daring Do's Compass Rose Adventurous, fierce, and undeniably, unquestionably, unstoppable.

"But Seriously, Folks..." WARNING: Season Two Finale Spoilers. Do Not Read If You Haven't Seen The Royal Wedding! We got a little taste of a more serious show during the Season 2 finale. How ironic indeed that the "Royal Wedding" episodes, which we would expect to be the most vapid, frilly and fluffy of all, would be the episodes that gave us... Now mind you, I think the finale and the season as a whole were awesome, quite possibly stronger than Season One, which is no mean feat, but I wouldn't want Season Three to have the same vibe as the last episode of Season Two. In small bites, it adds a cool dimension and depth to the series, but if allowed to drag on, it would utterly blow the unique appeal and incomparable "vibe" that makes this show so special. So yes, there are indeed many bones tossed to older fans, but I agree with ZirBronium that we're not likely to see it go beyond that. And while I do like the bones, I'm eternally grateful they aren't the main course.

Because the happy ones are much too boring. To wit: "Scootaloo is a young pegasus filly who was born in Ponyville. Her father is a used scooter salesman and her mother works at the safety helmet factory. Scootaloo likes to ride scooters but can't fly yet." "The end."

Fall From Grace: How Scootaloo Came To Ponyville Taking it a step further... Unlike Fluttershy, Scootaloo didn't have the luxury of butterflies, but had her fall broken by a large tree instead, leaving her in a heap on the ground, battered, confused, covered with tree sap and pine needles. She had never before been outside Cloudsdale, and looked around in wonder at the unfamiliar sight of trees, shrubs and grass. At the time, Cloudsdale had been moving closer to Canterlot for the Spring Cloud-Sculpture Festival and, much to Scootaloo's grave misfortune, was passing over the Everfree Forest when she fell. Unable to fly or even see Cloudsdale through the thick canopy of trees, she began to walk, straying ever further from her home and her family. After wandering aimlessly for days, threatened by hidden danger and narrowly averting disaster on several occasions, she finally emerged from the deep, dark forest and was found by the owner of a scooter shop located outside Ponyville: Scooter Lou. He introduced himself and asked her what her name was, but she was a very young filly, had suffered mild amnesia from her fall, and answered only by repeating Scooter Lou's name, pronouncing it "Scootaloo". Absent knowing her true identity, the name stuck. "Scootaloo's" father, Prince Stormcloud of Cloudsdale, was mortified at the sudden, unexplained disappearance of his daughter and sent the Knights of House Stormcloud throughout the cloud city, and later throughout Equestria, to find her. His vassals vowed success and flew at top speed to such great cities as Fillydelphia, Manehattan and Canterlot, determined to find her at any cost, but nopony they asked could recognize her name or description. After months of searching even in lands beyond the borders of Equestria, Prince Stormcloud's knights somberly returned with empty hooves. Alas, neither they nor the Prince thought to send word to Ponyville which, as a relatively small earth pony village, was not known to the nobility of Cloudsdale. Meanwhile, Scooter Lou reported the young lost pegasus to Mayor Mare, who brought her to several of the pegasi living in Ponyville and asked if anypony knew who she was. Nopony in Ponyville ever considered the possibility that a young pegasus who couldn't fly could have somehow fallen from the sky and lived, let alone make her way to Ponyville from a place as far away as Cloudsdale. And so, with nopony able to identify the young filly, Scooter Lou adopted her and resolved to raise her as best he could, despite his modest means. Scootaloo, literally surrounded by scooters at the shop, adapted quickly to her new home and proved to be a natural and talented scooterist, using her short wings to propel her to tremendous speeds, powering breathtaking stunts and amazing feats of skill. For her, the scooter shop was nothing short of a paradise, and her adoptive father took full advantage of her ability by hosting contests featuring her acrobatics to attract new customers, as the fact that very few ponies actually ride scooters made for a rather dismal business model. Though she loved her parents, Scootaloo couldn't remember their names after her fall, and they slowly faded from memory as the years passed, she became old enough to attend school, and found new friends in Ponyville. For their part, her parents, devastated by the the loss of their only foal, have left her room and personal effects untouched, and hold out hope beyond hope that someday they may yet find their daughter, safe and well. And so it was that young Princess Skystreak of Cloudsdale became Scootaloo of Ponyville. Will she someday discover her true heritage and be reunited with her parents? Will she ever regain her title as a Princess of Cloudsdale? Will she ever learn to fly? These questions and many others may someday be answered, but only in the fullness of time.

It's all in good pun.

The show is positively rife with puns, from the place names to the episode titles to quite a few character names. So here we have "Appleloosa", which is definitely a multiple entendre. Coincidence? I think not.

"Any way the wind blows..." -- Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody

Pegasi are never homeless. They can make houses out of clouds that are like castles in the sky. Have you seen Rainbow's place? It's amazing! So all Scootaloo has to do is fly up, throw a few clouds together and voila! Instant home for Scootaloo. Oh wait...

I want to buy six real ponies, paint their coats and hair faithfully like the Mane Six, keep them with me wherever I go and never let them out of my sight. Now granted, that won't be easy, seeing as I live in a studio apartment on the 42nd floor of my building in Midtown Manhattan, and it might be kind of hard to get bus and subway passes for them (there's always cabs, I suppose), but I'm sure if the seven of us work together and faithfully wield the magic of friendship, everything will work out okay. Here's hoping ponies like pizza, because that's pretty much all I eat these days.

Giving The Dog A Bone I'm rooting for Poochie! Turns out he didn't die on the way back to his home planet after all, and now he's looking for work. Who better to represent the much-needed Element of Radicalness? That said, if Poochie doesn't get the job, I think Scrappy Do, the Great Gazoo or Mr. T would be solid choices. And as it happens, they need work, too.

"What in the name of all things cinnamon swirl is a full-grown dragon doing here in Equestria?" -- Applejack

When will season 3 begin? Not a moment too soon, as far as I'm concerned.

True, but with one notable exception... Rule 34b. There are ponies of it. No exceptions.

Hey, it doesn't get any more reliable than Zach Middler and Ed Hoch. Besides, it's on the Internet, so it must be true.

It's unlikely they would single out that one line from one of the 52 episodes of the series if it hadn't caught on with the fans the way it did. I consider it another example of the Pony Echo Chamber Effect. Eventually, the positive feedback from this phenomenon will cause a massive worldwide explosion of friendship and magically transform all of humanity into ponies. Or at least, that's what the science tells us.

BREAKING NEWS: HASBRO ANNOUNCES SEVENTH ELEMENT OF HARMONY May 26, 2012 (HASBRO STUDIOS, LOS ANGELES, CA) In an apparent response to widespread rumors of their flagship cartoon series, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, beginning its third season with the addition of a new Element of Harmony, senior executives of Hasbro Studios, Inc. held a press conference at their headquarters in Los Angeles today. In the popular animated television program for girls, the Elements of Harmony are a set of six pieces of enchanted jewelry said to represent the "magic of friendship". When worn, they give wearers magical powers which are used to defeat villains and save the mythical land of Equestria from the forces of evil. Spokesman Zach Middler, Executive Director of Marketing, Brand Development and Character Design for Hasbro Studios, confirmed that a new Element will be added, along with a new member of the main cast. Middler expressed confidence that fans of the show will quickly embrace the new character, who signals a change in direction intended to breathe new life into the aging franchise. He also confirmed the introduction of a corresponding toy line scheduled to begin distribution in conjunction with the launch of the new season. "Our focus groups and creative consultants have repeatedly told us they like Friendship is Magic, but they need it to be more proactive," Middler said. "We believe our new Element will deliver a substantially improved value proposition exploiting our core competencies." Middler then unveiled the new character and his associated Element of Harmony. Meet Poochie: The Element of Radicalness. "Poochie represents targeted outreach to a key peripheral demographic and a unique cross-marketing opportunity for bringing My Little Pony more forcefully into the sportswear and athletic gear brand space," said Middler. "By leveraging Poochie's appeal to young males in the 3-12 age range, we believe we will see significant brand synergy and volume growth in our related apparel and toy divisions, thereby bringing significant incremental returns on investment for our shareholders." According to Middler, the new character, along with his new Element which takes the form of an enchanted surfboard, will be a central figure of the new season, demonstrating how true friendship requires the "Element of Radicalness." When combined with the other six Elements, Poochie's magic surfboard will allow them to "cruise" around the world, bringing the "magic of friendship" to "little dudes and dudettes" everywhere and leading the fight to promote peace, save the environment and stamp out hunger. "We here at Hasbro Studios believe children's programming can transcend traditional norms for televised entertainment and serve as a vehicle for social justice," Middler continued. "My Little Pony isn't just about dolls with brushable manes anymore. It's about empowerment, motivation and being more proactive." "When viewers watch My Little Pony, we want them to look past the ponies and envision world change. If we can convince just one child to make a difference and take a stand for progress by purchasing our products, then we've done our jobs right." Story by Ed Hoch, West Coast Media Correspondent Copyright © 2012 PNN, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

As The Worm Turns... Despite breaking the shocking exposé that proves Fluttershy eats meat, I do think it's only fair to point out that the worms she fed the birds in Dragonshy were almost certainly alive at the time. Thus, though she is known to eat fish, baby ducks and squirrels, there isn't enough evidence to add Vermicide to Fluttershy's rap sheet. However, since she did aid and abet the eating of worms, a jury might hand down an Accessory to Vermicide conviction if it ever went to trial. Considering Fluttershy's connections to powerful ponies and the unlikelihood of the worms' surviving relatives pressing charges, however, she will probably never be brought to justice.

Hard to go wrong with Read It and Weep. It has Dashie, Daring Do, Ninja Dash and the best Indiana Jones spin-off since Indiana Jones. Everything a boy could want.

Note to self: Don't read posts about how Pinkie feeds Gummy while eating dinner.

I would add the bat wings, webbed tails, cat's eyes and spiky-webbed manes to that list. Oh yes, and the fact that they are flying, wearing plate armor and pulling a chariot that looks like something straight out of The Munsters, and which carries a night princess wearing a cloak made of bats. But other than that, they seem pretty normal to me.