ponyvangelist

Waffle Irony I don't know if he's a pansy, but according to reliable sources, he does have a weak grip. Which is why they can't make waffles in the bounce house.

Only if they were on tour with Hatsune Miku... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSyWtESoeOc

Scoff if you must, but I have a theory...

Maud Pie: Manager Maud would be the perfect choice for the band's manager. After all, nopony knows more about rocks than Maud Pie, who is pursuing her Rocktorate in Rock Science. Boulder could be the group's mascot. Somehow, it all makes sense.

Poor Spike, Nopony Loves Him! Whatever shall he do? ... (I know, I know, the premise of this thread is a hoax. Just sayin')

I'd Give It A Shot I was one of those who raged that the first MLP movie to grace the big screen was an anthropomorphized high-school spin-off that had little to do with actual ponies. I'm not a fan of high-school stuff to begin with due to it being done to death in just about every medium (I'm looking at you, anime) and so nauseatingly formulaic by nature. Lest I be unclear: I absolutely HATE the premise of Equestria Girls. Yet when I finally watched it, I discovered, to my enduring horror, that I love the movie. Just as Friendship is Magic is the only "girl's cartoon" I can stand watching (sorry to all the good people who make the other shows, not your fault), I can't think of anyone else who could possibly get me to like a high school spin-off, let alone love it. And yet they did, and made me an unequivocal Rebecca Shoichet fan in the process ("A Friend for Life", if you will). So while my head tells me an Equestria Girls TV series should be a trainwreck, and that I wouldn't want it to eclipse or interfere with the solid gold standard of Friendship is Magic (do NOT come between me and my little ponies!), my heart tells me that if anyone could make it work, it's the absurdly talented people at Hasbro and DHX who have turned the Pony franchise into the phenomenal financial and cultural juggernaut it is today. That said, I'm hoping this is all nothing more than hypothetical, because I would rather these joyfully overworked artists and producers focus on cranking out more seasons of FiM, maybe gift us with some actual pony-oriented pony movies, stay in Equestria and give us more "hooves on the ground", if you take my meaning. But if they don't, I'll probably still love their work. Dammit.

I can't be certain, but I strongly suspect someone we know had a hoof in the Rainbow Power™ design process...

How can you improve upon perfection?

I'm with Sweetie Belle on this.

WARNING: If you are a brony and you tend to take things personally, this article will probably piss you off. A lot. If that sounds like you, I recommend either not reading the article, or first reading about who Matt Labash is and sampling some of his other stories (such as his last essay, Going Dental) before reading this one to get a feel for his style, which tends to be acerbic, cynical, and acerbically cynical. Some context may help. Or it may piss you off even more. You have been warned. The August 26, 2013 issue of The Weekly Standard features an article about bronies by senior writer Matt Labash. When the subject is bronies, most commercial media journalists are all over the map, typically unsure of who or what they're covering, or why, but with an overall bias that's at least mildy negative. There's usually a baseline level of gratuitous smirking and eye-rolling, slight head shakes, subconscious dismissal and the well-worn reporter tropes we know so well. That's not the case here. Matt Labash didn't just broach the subject of bronies for a quick human interest chuckle at the end of the evening news. He did background research at BronyCon 2013 in Baltimore, Maryland earlier this month, spending three days amongst the Herd, studying the assembled bronies in a manner not unlike a patrician British anthropologist amongst "primitives and savages", or perhaps a field biologist studying herd behavior in bipedal equinoids. His findings are, to understate things tremendously, somewhat controversial... The Weekly Standard: The Dread Pony by Matt Labash (click to read the article) Characterizing the story as "unsympathetic" would also understate things tremendously. It's downright hostile and calibrated for maximum negative effect. It's crystal clear that Mr. Labash is not a fan of bronies and sees the fandom as pathological, a subject worthy of utmost derision and ruthless deconstruction. So why am I bringing this up here, in these forums, and before this community? Because I think it is good for Pony fans to know how people like Mr. Labash see them. Because underlying every insult is an insight, a kernel of truth, and it is only that which gives it the power to cause pain. Because The Weekly Standard is a well-known magazine that influences popular opinion -- even the opinions of those who don't read or agree with its editorial positions -- and that means this story will get around, and it will get attention. Because in seeing how others see us, maybe we can better understand why they see us this way. And most of all, because if we understand why they see us this way, then we can use that knowledge to make things better, and making things better is at the heart of what this community is all about. Again, I don't recommend that anyone who is emotionally sensitive or prone to rage read this article. It's okay to ignore it, move on and let it go. But for those of us willing to face it and consider what it has to say, I think this article and others like it can teach us many important lessons about ourselves and others, and with that knowledge will come the power to promote positive changes, not just for us, but for everyone around us. Or so I hope.

What's In A Mane Aw c'mon, what are you afraid of? Everyone knows our little ponies are sexay! How could anyone say no to something like this?

*** SPOILER ALERT! *** Well, I thought I made a pretty good case for Princess of Magic, but with the movie out, the truth can finally be known. Twilight Sparkle will officially be crowned...

Hating The Hate Wow. I'm seeing an awful lot of hatred in this thread, which is supremely ironic, if not entirely surprising. Hatred is a product of fear. You cannot hate something you do not fear. To feed hatred is to feed fear, and to respond to hatred with hatred is to join with it, give it your strength, and spread it to others like a plague. Why jump willfully into the pit of hatred? Why not rise above it and see beyond it? Hatred is contagious. So is love. Which would you rather see more of?

Dawn Of A New Twilight Becoming a royal princess and an alicorn has definitely changed Twilight. She's Rainbow's new flying buddy, after all, and aside from the physical transformation, her new duties as the Princess of Magic will require her to grow even more than she already has and do her very best for Equestria. But I can't find anything in any of the 65 episodes we've seen so far that even so much as remotely suggests she will ever abandon her friends or drift away from them, except perhaps as a temporary plot device that would be corrected by the time the credits roll. We've seen how Twilight has handled so many different difficult situations, and she has proven again and again how honest, faithful and true of heart she is. It is clear that she has always been meant to fulfill a great destiny, and as the pivotal scene in Magical Mystery Cure is careful to illustrate, the power that transformed her came not from Princess Celestia, but from her own heart. Though it is certainly understandable that many of us will have concerns (I have mine), and she will never truly be perfect (as no one can be), Princess Twilight is who she is meant to be, and that is something to celebrate. Indeed, I am hopeful we will have many, many more seasons to do just that.

When Worlds Collide I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm thrilled to hear that so many of us who have seen it are impressed -- and even love it. As someone who's not so thrilled about the "anthropomorphized ponies in high school" setup, it's reassuring (and frankly not too surprising) to know that the cast and crew managed to produce yet another solid piece of work. Given the hullabaloo surrounding Equestria Girls, I feel compelled to urge fans of the movie to resist the temptation to say "I told you so" and berate or insult "haters" because they don't share your enthusiasm for it or you believe their rejection of it is unfounded. Likewise, I ask my fellow EG critics to maintain perspective, not allow anxiety to displace reason and remember that the people who have already brought us three solid seasons of one of the best cartoons to ever hit television can be counted on to do excellent work, even if it's on a project we have misgivings about. Whatever our individual views may be, about Equestria Girls or anything else life may bring our way, those of us who choose to boast, gloat, taunt or ridicule one another should consider that even The Great And Powerful Trixie eventually learned the folly of such ways. At least a little bit, anyway. And despite all of Trixie's mischief and misdeeds, Twilight was ultimately willing to forgive her -- even if she had to think about it for a while. My point, if I may be forgiven for taking so long getting to it, is that good people can disagree on just about anything. It pains me to see so many of us willing to take sides and condemn one another over something like this. If there is one lesson we should learn from Friendship is Magic, I have to imagine it would be how hurtful and wrong it is for us to do this. Indeed, I don't think it is overstating things to point out just how much better our world would be if more of us learned not to line up and throw rocks at one another because of our differences. Yes, we can just all get along. Finally, as an ironic footnote, and despite my lingering doubts about the premise, I just pre-ordered the Equestria Girls DVD (Blu-ray, in fact) on Amazon and will receive it on August 6. I know it's already viewable on YouTube and so forth, but I think I can wait. I honestly can't say what I'll think of the movie when I finally do watch it, but if past experiences with the brilliant work of the "Pony" team are any guide, I doubt I'll regret buying it.

For me, the problem with Equestria Girls is that I absolutely despise the premise, but it's being made by people who I know are brilliant, and I'm confident will do the best job possible with what they have. Thus I'm faced with a problem akin to an immovable object encountering an irresistible force. If their collision results in the total annihilation of everything in the ponyverse, I'll be sure to let you know.

For Those Who Dare Oh great. You had to go there, and remind me that Hasbro could have put all this time and talent into a Daring Do movie instead. A movie that, instead of provoking guarded skepticism, unbridled anger or precipitous enthusiasm, would be nothing short of AWESOME in every way. And the people would rejoice. Thanks for unwittingly breaking my heart. I will try to console myself by watching Read It And Weep over and over, and repeating the following mantra: Maybe next year, Miss Do... maybe next year...