AmberDust

I'm away for school, but as soon as I get home for the holidays, I'll want to listen to Christmas music 24/7. We have a certain CD that I really love...Christmas is all about nostalgia and family for me. ♥

"There don't seem to be many workers around...but perhaps we should each leave separately, just to avoid suspicion," Amber suggested. "We can pour the stuff into the smallest containers we can find, fit them in our pockets, bags, our clothes, even...we should spread them thin among us so they aren't noticable. We might have to make multiple trips." Gears were clicking in her head at this point as she peered down the aisles to see which ones were the least populated. She hated it when her mind worked like this--honesty was very important to her, but sneakiness was a talent she'd been born with. You don't discover ancient secrets by staying where you belong, after all. "Let's see...."

Amber put a hand to her chin--a gesture she was already getting used to. "Is it possible to pay for it?" She inspected the object for any hint of a price tag, realizing now that it was way too big to sneak out in any of their pockets. Maybe, if they ran fast enough...she shook her head. No, don't draw any attention. That's where things will go bad. "Perhaps we can haggle with the store owner?" Amber suggested, trying to push the idea of stealing out of her head. Regardless, it persisted... "...Or we could open it up and pour some into...something. Something smaller...we could each carry a bit..." She said quietly, and looked around at the shelves. There had to be something here they could use...desperate times called for desperate measures, after all.

"Well, maybe we can get one of the locals to help us?" she offered, but there was a note of skepticism in her voice. At this point, she thought, theft would probably be the quickest and most effective option--and even then they'd need to FIND whatever it was they were stealing first, and get it back here. "...Our options are kind of slim, Starchase," Amber said cautiously. "Doing what's fair might not be possible, given the time limit..." she looked solemnly at the crumpled bill, and wondered how charitable highschoolers were.

That would mean this giant, magic changeling rock is naturally throne-shaped...? It still sounds pretty far-fetched to me. ^^'

I wrote two long, rambling blog entries about this episode...but even though a lot of what happened in it bothered me, I still enjoyed watching..through my fingers, granted, but I enjoyed parts nonetheless. It was definitely better than the two-part season opener, at least. Anyways. The story itself felt forced, was full of headcanon-smashing, ended in a 'everything's-better-now' rush, and had one big, lazy, unacceptable deus-ex-machina plot device, but the character interactions were fun and the scenario itself was new for the characters involved. Discord is becoming a bit of a caricature of himself, but this has been happening for two seasons now. *sigh* Some characters are better in small doses, I suppose. But seriously. A magical rock that absorbs all non-changeling magic? I just...I can't accept it. If Chrysalis had a whole giant throne's worth of this rock, which is powerful enough to cripple even DISCORD from such a great distance, carrying a few pebbles into her Canterlot invasion would have GUARANTEED her success. This rock was just lazy writing. If your plot is resolved too easily, don't just throw in some magical mumbo jumbo. This would have been acceptable in season 1, but there's no excuse for introducing such a game changer this late! I realize the character's have peaked in terms of power level, but there are better ways to get around that. Also, As far as side characters go, what happened to Zecora? Or Spike, for that matter? I realize Starlight is this season's grand new character, but Zecora, guys. Imagine if she was included in this episode alongside Discord! Also: Flurry Heart was officially entirely unimportant in this season. Officially.

Two part episode, two part blog. Why not? Welcome to part two, the ramblier, wishy-washier conclusion to my "To Where and Back Again" review...if you can call it that. *clicks 'play' button* Now is where we get to the "appeasing the fandom" bit of my title. As much as I love Discord's relationship with Fluttershy, his protectiveness over her is a bit exaggerated, especially when you consider what he's done in the past (see: season 4 finale). I feel like this is the fandom's influence manifesting itself. This isn't a huge issue, though, as they writers didn't go too far with it...I'm just nitpicking. At least his standup is getting better...sort of. The whole "I'm the real Fluttershy" scene was cool, and I'm glad he didn't immediately fall for the oldest trick in the book. He still got captured, though, and I feel like he could have talked his way out it, but whatever. He's not used to being sans-magic, so I guess it's understandable that he wasn't quite prepared. Speaking of characters being out of their elements... I was pleased to see that Trixie's gotten brave, and wise, and even sort of selfless now that she has a friend. I was surprised that this sudden change didn't bother me. It actually didn't feel too contradictory to her previously established character, probably because we've really never seen her in a situation like this one before. She was still the scared, whiny Trixie we know, but now the stakes are high and she's getting serious. Nice! And now we enter the throne room, meaning it's time for a bunch of play-by-play rambling, because everything that happened after this point was just one big "what?" after another. Obviously, spoiler warning. -Chrysalis's weird spider crawl was cool. -"What if you didn't have to?" Oh no, Oooh, no, another reformed villain? ANOTHER? who next, Tirek? That's just absurd. -Starlight is actually trying to reason with the Changelings, and they actually look like they're listening? -What was that--a love burst? Is that how that works? Chrysalis was trying to eat Thorax's love, and he could just--blast it all out of him like that? Why?HOW? -Thorax WHAT?? He looks so cool now!* What?? -And how does Starlight know this transformation is a good thing? How does she know what caused it? How did she know releasing his love would even do anything to begin with?? -Why are all these other Changelings suddenly so full of love that they can all evolve too, just like that? -Why did love destroy the castle? -"We defeated the Changelings with no magic at all, they found a new leader, and they're all kinda...good now." Yup. All problems immediately solved. Despite their horrible upbringing and previous hive-mindedness and devotion to their queen, they're all good now. -Oh, and because Starlight says so, Thorax is the new leader. Yup. She just said so, and now he is. Congratulations! -I'm glad Chrysalis ran away, at least, but I kind of wish she hadn't almost accepted Starlight's ideal. This just feels so very...un-changeling. So un-Chrysalis. -Discord hugging Fluttershy was cute. Her reaction was a little odd though. -Trauma over? Time for tea--at your house. -Seeing Discord almost becoming friends with Trixie was actually kind of great. They make a more interesting duo than Trixie and Starlight, in my opinion, because Discord is everything Trixie pretends to be, but she still acts high and mighty Great and Powerful towards him. He just responds with playful mischief. ...The episode wraps up, and aah, all back to normal again. I liked the moral (?) of this story about reluctant leaders, and find it relatable and important, but the story itself just felt forced, and broke so, so many headcanons that were practically accepted as canon by the community after sitting on the shelf for years, untouched. I refer back to what I said in part one of my blog--the whole setup of this story feels forced and lazy. Still, I guess I did enjoy this episode...I just hope season 7, if we can expect another season, will be a little more consistent with their lore and the development of their characters. Now THAT would be the best way to appease this fan...instead of giving us background ponies, pop culture references, and shipping fodder, please just stay consistent with characters' development and lore instead! (Or do both, but really, consistency is more important.) If a story idea doesn't work because of how easily it could be resolved, either find a believable way around it, or change your story! Don't be lazy with important details--I'm looking at you, magic rock throne! Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading my mad ramblings. What did you think of this two-part finale, and season 6 in general? Agree? Disagree? Tell me your perspective in the comments. *When Thorax's green hooves first appeared, I thought he had turned into a pony and was ready to be really surprised and rethink everything I ever thought about Changelings. I think that would have been a really cool, weird plot twist...like, if changelings were ponies who had been cursed somehow, or fell from grace, and could be healed by sharing their love once more...like the inverse of Crystal ponies--ponies who had become mindless and evil through jealousy and selfishness ...I considered of all this in the fraction of a second between hooves appearing and the pan-up to Thorax's full form. *sigh*.

"Now, isn't this quite the combination of secondary characters?" I don't know. Is it just me? I think I've pinpointed one of my main issues with the more recent episodes of mlp...that meaning season 5 and 6 in general. At this moment, I'm about halfway through the Season 6 finale, and I'm almost reluctant to continue because this setup, this forced storytelling just feels like a fanfiction to me, and I really don't want to see this show that I love so much stumble* like this. Now, putting aside the main characters in order to let the secondary characters shine is all fine and good, but...I don't care about these secondary characters! I still don't like Trixie, I can't wrap my head around Starlight's reformation, and although he's fine as a character, I don't like what Thorax's existence did to Changeling lore and i'm frankly finding it hard to retain my suspension of disbelief. I always look forward to Discord, of course, but even he has become a bit of a diluted caricature of himself in recent appearances, and this just upsets me. Also, the way other ponies treat him (rudely, without an ounce of caution or tact) is still just hard to believe considering he was way more destructive towards Equestria than the likes of Nightmare Moon or Queen Chrysalis ever were**. And then there's this special stone that absorbs magic...This just made me sad. An element forced into the story in order to handicap the key players and make it so the problem couldn't be solved with a simple snap of Discord's claws just feels lazy. Now, this magic rock would be totally acceptable if it appeared about five seasons ago, but it falls flat when you ask yourself "hey, why didn't Chrysalis bring some of this rock with her on her first invasion?" If it's powerful enough to stop Discord and Starlight's magic from so far away, tying a couple pebbles to your troops could have majorly affected the outcome of your raid on Canterlot. Anyways, I haven't actually finished the episode yet, so I guess I should calm down and continue watching before I get myself too riled up. Let's see how this episode plays out... --- Part 2 --- *Not crumble, stumble--in the hope that it will stand up again. ** Nightmare Moon hardly did a thing to Equestria, and was still majorly feared when she was first re-integrated into society. Discord caused mass havoc, pain, fear and general destruction on multiple occasions and still gets sassed by two-bit magicians and rock farmers. What?

*shrug* Up to you, GM.

SHOW ME MORE ART. I CRAVE PASTELS.

... Samesung? Alright, I guess this means we really do have to split the party, if the party still exists. Is everyone still here?

Three close friends going on a trip together...what could possibly go wrong? Rarity's account of Cpt. AJ was pretty fun. Pinkie's account of Rarity was also humorous. AJ's account of Pinkie Pie and Rarity was friggin HILARIOUS. It was so mean and exaggerated, but just fun to watch. And the best part is, at this point I honestly didn't know which was closest to the truth. ...The worst part is that we never find out. I guess this isn't really a bad thing, considering this wasn't really a mystery-themed episode, but I would have like to know. You know? Another criticism is that the bitter anger between the three ponies involved was a bit exaggerated. I think it could have communicated just as well if it were a bit...quieter? Also, pinkie doesn't seem the type to get angry over this sort of thing, so i feel like some character sacrifices were made for the sake of the story. Regardless, I enjoyed this episode! Nothing like a Luxury Maritime Adventure Party Episode to get you out of your element!

I never noticed. 0_0 And I never heard about it until today. What the heck??

Starlight in one sentence: "Well, when you put it that way, it sounds really bad." I'm really liking this episode. It's not amazing, but it was entertaining. I enjoyed watching Starlight in this episode. I love how she does not at all understand what these Friendship lessons are about. It's cool to see how she has these similar anxieties as Twilight, but handles them so, so differently. It was actually kind of hilarious how ignorant she was about what she was doing, or, more importantly, why she was doing it...just total social ineptitude mingled with moral amiguity, but not really breaking her pre-established character. The Hungover ponies joke was kinda funny, too. Overall this wasn't a terribly exciting episode, but it was still cool. Nice animations, cool concept, well handled.

Still turning the curious object over in her hands, Amber ran her tongue over her teeth. Yup, sharp. "I think they do, Starchase," She said, feeling a little uneasy at the thought. "They have sharp teeth, and claws like a bear." She scratched the air with her new nails for emphasis. "...But I don't think that's as important right now. We just need to get this machine assembled..." she put the bill on the table in front of her, but was hesitant to put down the phone. "One new message". What did that mean? Was it a message for her? The phone buzzed again, and she nearly dropped it. "Okay, okay!" She put it down on the table hastily, afraid it might bite.

Call it hibernation.

Hey, a season 6 episode that I actually liked! I don't know what it is about season 6, it's just been very inconsistent for me, and not terribly enjoyable. Well, no, I actually DO know what it is. The characters were becoming caricatures, the lore was contradicting itself, and the writers were getting in too deep with the fandom... that all being said, I actually enjoyed this episode, Viva Las Pegasus, quite a bit! I'm always glad to see Flim and Flam, and the story itself surprised me. I figured Flim and Flam would be pulling another con (pretending to be competitors in order to get more money and attention for both of them), but I was pleasantly surprised that it went quite differently. The antagonist was cool, even if his defeat was a little clichéd, and it was interesting to see Fluttershy use her animal affinity to actually move the story along and get an inside scoop. I look forward to more episodes like this!