Justin_Case001

Throughout my time here, I've seen so many people expressing grave concern about the state of the fandom. Some worry about the future, some long for the glory days of the past, and some panic about apparent Pony fandom decline. Frankly, I've never understood why anyone cares so much about that kind of thing. I just don't see why it should worry or bother anyone. What does it matter if others' interests shift to other things? What difference does it make to your own enjoyment of something? All the fan-made content is still there online for your consuming pleasure. It hasn't gone anywhere. Sure, production of that content will slow down and eventually taper off, and people won't talk about it quite so much, but that's to be expected with anything. After all these years, what's left to say? The show's been over for awhile, and for better or worse every inch of it's been analyzed to death. Of course people's interests will move to other things, but that's nothing to fret over. It doesn't mean that it was some frivolous, passing fad that's now left for dead in ditch. Fans still love the show, but that doesn't mean everyone's gonna continue to immerse themselves in it 24-7-365, and that's okay. I like to make comparisons to other shows or movies when it comes to this issue. Think about other wildly popular shows, movies, and franchises. I like to use something like Lord of the Rings as a go to example. I think it's the perfect example. The books have been out for like 100 years or whatever, the live action movies have been finished for... what is it, like, 15 years now? Of course it's not going to stay at peak popularity forever. Everyone has seen it/read it and moved on, but that doesn't mean it's dead and forgotten. It's still the greatest fantasy epic of all time, and everyone loves it! We don't need to talk about it every day for that to stay true. But the difference is that I don't see people fretting and panicking about a declining LOTR fandom. Well, maybe they are for all I know. I'm not a member of any LOTR forums. But I really doubt anyone is losing sleep over it. Why should Pony be any different? Other people, and what they're doing, not doing, talking about or not talking about, need not have any affect on your enjoyment of something. So, everyone just chill out and stop worrying about this stuff.

Oh my gawwwd, are you insane?! AJ wanted to blow her own brains out in Last Roundup after about 2 minutes of incessant Pinkie-ing! Being locked in a padded room with her? Suicide, man. You've got the wrong Pie. The only sane answer is Maud. MAUD. Maud all the way. Oh, how lovely and peaceful that would be. Just peace and quiet. Quiet... forever.... oh, man, give me that please. I'd trade my life for that right now.

Isn't Maya a pay-for software? I'd recommend Blender. I use Blender a ton. It gets my vote for most well-developed piece of software ever made. Anyway, if you're thinking of getting into 3D modeling, there's a lot of considerations. I mean, you can certainly just download it, jump in, and play around, but if you're serious about it, I'd recommend doing some proper learning first so you have a foundation. There are many books available on Blender. I'd recommend getting one and reading it cover to cover. Obviously, there's all the information you could ever want online, but when starting a project and a skill like this, I think it really pays to do your initial studying with a proper source, a guide that's been professionally crafted to take complete beginners to a level of reasonable proficiency, rather than bouncing around between youtube videos where you're going to get inundated and overwhelmed too quickly. I started with Learning Blender by Oliver Villar. I felt like it did an excellent job of giving me a solid foundation. I started from having never touched a 3D modeler before in my life to making Mare of Steel in a few months. (That would be the Rainbow Dash models on the banner of my profile page.) Anyone wanting to take their Blendering skills further cannot do better than Andrew Price's youtube tutorials from Blender Guru. If you're unsure of how/if you want to proceed, just go on youtube and search for "intro to Blender" or something like that, watch a video or two that looks good, and if you feel encouraged and inspired, I'd recommend proceeding with the book option, or if the videos make you think, "holy sh*t, this is crazy, f*ck this," well, that's okay too. Just start watching some stuff and see if you think it's for you.

Maud. Easy. Without magic, Twi, Sunset, and Glimmy are out. Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy never stood a chance. (Sorry). I really don't see the other princesses making it to the end without magic, either. Sombra's a dork. Cozy is too unhinged. Tirek is an interesting choice, but what level of power are we talking about? Little Tirek, or big red angry Tirek? Probably the medium sized one from basically all of S9, right? I guess it's a moot point, because I don't see him being patient enough for the cookie game. Without flight, Rainbow isn't gonna make it. She's still tough, but not tough enough. I think the cookie game would be her downfall. Patience isn't her strong suit. AJ is a boss, but I'm not sure I see her being a savy enough manipulator to pass the marbles. I'm not sure we know enough about Tempest to say how she'd fare in this environment, but I suspect she'd make it pretty far. Zecora is smart and disciplined, but not strong enough. I think you're exactly right about the final showdown being Maud vs DD. They're both tough, strong, good puzzle solvers, smart, and patient. That's what DD has over Rainbow. I think DD is smarter and a better puzzle solver. I mean, look at her resume of getting out of traps. But Maud is brilliant as well, and with nerves of steel and ice water in her veins. They both have incredible physical strength and ability, discipline, focus, and memory. There's no doubt they would face off in the Squid Game, and while DD would put up a helluva fight, without her wings, there's just no way she could overcome Maud's unparalleled physical strength. One good kick, and it would be over. But the real question is, who would make it through riot night?

I personally love Discord (I'm a Trek fan, so that's follows naturally), but I'll admit that that relationship was always a bit dodgy. I mean, the relationship started with essentially blackmail. "Be nice or we stone you." And then after they lost the elements, what choice did they have but to keep playing nice with Discord? You gonna make enemies with an essentially omnipotent being? Not smart. I mean, if they told him to f*ck off, what's to stop him from just going hog wild and destroying the world? But at least after Twilight's Kingdom, his intentions actually became good. He really does care about the ponies, in his own bizarre way.

I would say that the answer to this is exactly the same as why Rainbow Dash (who can literally break the sound barrier) is excited and thrilled to go on a roller coaster.

Well, the catch is not to think of it as a "destiny". Cutie marks only represent what the pony wants to do with their life. They're a visual representation of the pony's own inner belief and desire for their life. Nothing more. If the pony's mark represents something they're terrible at, it's because that's truly what the pony wants to do, regardless of their lack of skill. It's their choice. The pony makes the mark, not vice versa. If the pony didn't want to do that thing, then they wouldn't have that mark. Simple as that. Imagine if you decided to get a tattoo of the thing in life that you love the most, that you're most passionate about. A cutie mark is just that, but it appears magically. I absolutely love cutie mark lore. Check out my blog entry, On Cutie Marks and Pear Butter, if you want more detail.

This is a joke, right? I mean, Sunset is the only acceptable answer!

That's absolutely right. Sunset could not possibly have gotten a worlds-unifying mark before even knowing that the alternate world existed. It's been conclusively proven on the show that marks appear as a direct result of the pony making a conscious decision about their life's passion. Sawtooth's theory is dead wrong. I argue that he never really misunderstood it. His passion was the rodeo, and he knew he was meant to be there, but he sucked at it. But that never dampened his passion for it. He never stopped believing that he was meant to be in the rodeo, and that was all that the mark meant. The CMC simply helped him find a path into the rodeo with the "talents" that he had. I argue that his mark would have been exactly the same had he been as good at rodeo events as Applejack. Back on point, the question of where the human world's Sunset is and what she's up to remains one of the greatest unanswered mysteries of the G4 multiverse. In actuality, the answer is probably somewhat underwhelming. I did some math and worked out that the ponies are a few years older than their human counterparts, so human Sunset probably just attended a different high school, graduated shortly before the events of EG1, then just moved away somewhere and got a normal job. Pony Sunset is saving the world, and human Sunset is probably just working at a Clinique counter at the mall.

All 3 please. But if I have to choose one, Aria.

Well, I actually wear feminine clothes irl, so, I'd be really into it. I'd probably keep them on and suggest going out for froyo. Now, if she actually did some magic to turn me into a girl, I'd go: I've always wished I was female, so...

EG is amazing. If you have any qualms or misgivings about the high school setting like I did at first, put them aside and give it a chance, because it's outstanding. The ideal experience, in my opinion, is to watch the entire G4 multiverse in chronological order, which goes: S1 S2 S3 EG1 S4 EG2: RR S5 EG3: FG S6 EG4: LoE S7: Forgotten Friendship Rollercoaster of Friendship Magical Movie Trio S8 Spring Breakdown Backstage Pass Holidays Unwrapped Best Gift Ever S9 That's my G4 multiverse master list. I could have the Magical Movie Trio slightly wrong, but it doesn't really affect anything. I omitted the 2017 Pony movie because I don't acknowledge its existence because I was deeply offended by the animation change, and I omitted Rainbow Roadtrip for the same reason. I also played a little fast and loose with Holidays Unwrapped. Yes, I know it was released after S9, but I like to watch it before for two reasons: 1.) It meshes nicely back to back with the Pony wintery holiday special, Best Gift Ever, and 2.) I really like S9 to come last because when I do a big rewatch of the franchise, I want that book closing at the end of The Last Problem to be the last G4 thing that I see. Now, if you really want to go the distance, put every single EG short in there too!

Overall, Princess Twilight, especially when she's grown up. Super-Size Twi is hooves down the most regal and elegant thing ever created. However, I do have such a huge soft spot for those glasses. So freaking adorable. Sci-Twi in pony form, when she was in Equestria in Spring Breakdown, that was hooves down the cutest thing ever created. Pony Twilight with glasses is just heart and brain exploding adorable.

They're all pretty amazing. That group is just a waifu trio. I kinda want to vote for Taco Tuesday just so I can call her Taco Tuesday, but no, I have to vote for Aria.

She was a great character that was poorly handled at times. Rainbow Falls threw her under the bus and tarnished her character badly. I try to ignore that episode because I really, really like her. She has the most beautiful eyes of any character in the G4 multiverse. Well, 'cept maybe for pony Sunset........ tough call....