SawmillTurtle

Yeah, that makes sense. I guess that's one of the downsides of getting famous in a fandom. Right now, I can claim to be SawmillTurtle and no one would question that it is me, because most people don't care one way or the other. If, however, I were to hypothetically become famous for some song or story, it would be hard to simply use my own screen name without someone accusing me of being a poser or something. Fame is bittersweet.

I am tempted to make a comparison to Star Trek. When the original series got the axe, it was a couple of decades before TNG. By then, TOS had developed such an enormous cult following that the idea of a spin off was naturally met with skepticism. By the time TNG wrapped some nine or so years later, it had become legendary in its own right. Nothing that followed after that could ever reach the high bar the series set (certainly not Voyager or Enterprise), but it proved that a proper spin off/continuation of something with devoted and finicky fans can be done and can be successful if the right people are involved. *hoof*

I was just wondering if any of the famous bronies frequent this message board? Names like Living Tombstone, Prince Whateverer, Mandopony, AcousticBrony, etc. Do any of them actually participate in these discussions? I guess because of their notoriety they probably wouldn't go declaring themselves publicly, but does anyone know if any of them are actually here? That would be really cool. For that matter, does anyone associated with the actual show ever come by? I remember when I used to frequent the Earth 2 Edd message board back in its EZ Board days, the creator of Ed, Edd n Eddy (Danny Antonucci) actually dropped in to chime in once or twice. He didn't make a habit of it, but it happened. Anything like that ever happen around here?

I have been thinking about the Tree of Harmony and how Celestia and Luna took the Elements from it 1000+ years before the Mane 6 ever existed. The Elements were each shaped like the cutie marks of ponies that would not be born for over a millenia. Does this mean they were, in a sense, prophesied by the tree itself? The tree shows some level of sentience, so I have to wonder if the tree helped to bring them into existence or possibly worked unseen to manipulate the events that helped form their characters. There is no way this is a coincidence. There are far too many factors and far too many years involved to dismiss it as something that "just happened." I thought maybe it could be like a Legend of Zelda-type world, where the characters continue to be reborn so that they can continue to play the same roles. Thoughts on this?

I think people are unfairly judging this episode. Among the criticisms I've seen here and on EQD are claims that Rainbow Dash reverted to her S1 arrogance and self-reliance and that all of her character growth was ignored for some cheap laughs. I disagree. I think Rainbow Dash was honestly just a victim of circumstance which was exacerbated by her hero worship of the Wonderbolts. She was a bit overenthusiastic at first, but she was doing fine. Things did not go downhill for her until she forgot "RULE NUMBER ONE" and walked onto the runway without looking first. The end result of this was Rainbow Dash/Crash/Trash/Smash/Splash/etc ending up in the trashcan. This whole incident happened to her before, as we saw in the flashback. Without explaining that her nickname was in good fun, the Wonderbolts began calling her "Crash." All of this led her to believe that she had disgraced herself and that she'd lost the respect of the ponies she'd idolized her entire life. Add to this her fear that she might lose out on the position she'd coveted for so long and you have a recipe for full-on panic. This explains everything about her behavior in this episode. She wasn't behaving out of character; quite the opposite. If you take a moment to recall all of her other misadventures, like breaking into the hospital to steal a Daring Do novel, or inadvertently sabotaging all of Cloudsdale because she didn't want her turtle to hibernate, then you'll remember that she is not above erratic or extreme behavior when she feels strongly about something. Therefore, Rainbow's goofy behavior can be, erm, mostly excused for this episode. She was, after all, only trying to save face in front of ponies that she'd elevated onto pedestals they didn't really deserve. The only thing that I found odd for her was her mimicry of her friends. She might have misinterpreted the advice her friends gave her, but I don't know if she would have misinterpreted it that badly. It was a bit jarring, but she's not the only one to ever be guilty of this. Remember when Rarity was in love with that socialite pony who was in love with Applejack? This led to Applejack and Rarity imitating each other in ridiculous ways. All in all, I found the episode enjoyable. Some have wondered about the absence of Twilight's new slave in this episode, but I for one was glad to be rid of her. She didn't need to be in this episode, as she would have contributed nothing and probably would have learned very little from Rainbow's mid-air demolition derbies.

Note to the moderators: I wasn't sure whether to place this post in Sugarcube Corner or in some other forum, I therefore made a judgment call. If this is in the wrong location, please accept my apologies. I'm a big fan of the Metroidvania genre of gaming. Exploring, backtracking, collecting items and power ups to unlock new areas; the whole thing has been a passion of mine since I played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night back in 1999. Recently, I've been playing through Axiom Verge, though not with the endless devotion that Symphony got from me during my junior year of high school. I was wondering if there are any pony-related Metroidvania games out there? I call them Equestroidvania because it seems like an appropriate mashup of two things I really love. If they don't exist, how do I go about assembling a team to make one? I'm proficient in C++, GML, JavaScript and several other languages. Graphically, I have very little talent, but the idea of playing a game like this or making one excites me. I even have original ideas in mind. Imagine you start out as Twilight Sparkle in the Castle of the Two Sisters, with none of her broken alicorn powers. As she explores, she finds other members of the Mane Six which can be played simultaneously by switching between them. This has potential for puzzles. What if there's a locked portcullis that can only be opened by having Twilight standing on a button, then switching to Applejack and entering the room to disable the lock? As the game progresses, Twilight learns spells and eventually gets her wings back. I dunno. That's a bunch of jumbled pieces, but I think it has potential. Thoughts?

Honestly, this made me LOL. You know how they say "You can't please everybody" and that "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time?" Yeah, that's true even when it comes to MLP. Methinks fans sometimes take this show a little too seriously. The target audience is and always has been five year old girls, so a bit of bad writing is to be expected. And "Trollestia" is too much, OMG. I'm gonna start using that. Hahaha. "I'm so bored right now. When are we going to have another disaster? Man, I wish we'd just given the skyscraper-sized minotaur monster two years of unsupervised probation or something instead of banishing him to Tartarus. At least he kept things interesting. Is the donkey really asking about my hair? God, I need a cigarette." #strawberrypick

This is just another example of Twilight Sparkle being a neurotic, power-hungry and controlling biz-natch. She should have trusted her student to make her own choices in the same way that Celestia trusted her. While she learned this by the end, I have to wonder why she needed to learn it at all. Did she not hear Spike tell her the same thing earlier in the season? And speaking of Spike, where was he? A no-show for this episode, which was disappointing. I am a big Spike fan, and I always enjoy his sarcasm and dry observations. His absence made the episode weaker. But back to Twilight Sparkle and her need to control everything that happens all the time; I think her willingness to concoct elaborate lies involving background ponies and her lack of hesitation to hide in the bushes and stalk others shows a real need of psychological help. I suspected as much when she bewitched her doll in Season 2, and her behavior since then has only reinforced this suspicion. I've had an epiphany just now. An incessant need to be right, insufferable personality quirks and a lack of social skills and understanding that has only grown through repeated mistakes and faux pas? Twilight Sparkle is a pony version of Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory. If she's not a greater control freak than he is, she is at the very least his equal.

While I agree with you that treading carefully is the way to go, while I was reading your post I immediately thought of JK Rowling and Harry Potter. Do you remember when she told everyone that Dumbledore was gay? She'd planned it that way from the beginning, and she proceeded as she always intended regardless of what the backlash turned out to be. She plotted those characters years in advance and she didn't change them because of the stink certain groups were making about the books. Conservative groups called them evil, spread lies about them and participated in book burnings the likes of which hadn't been seen since Nazi Germany. She was already controversial, and she knew that revealing Dumbledore's true nature was going to cause a stink, but she did it anyway. In the end, that turned out to be the right decision. Those who liked the stories continued to be fans, and those who already hated them just screamed "Rabble rabble rabble" that much louder.

Allowing the perceptions of others and ridiculous stereotypes determine the course of the story is a compromise that no writer should make. Allowing the negativity of certain members of your audience to affect the decisions of the characters is a form of literary dishonesty. As an avid writer and reader, I know all about literary dishonesty, and even though the MLP show isn't technically literature, the term still applies as they are still weaving a narrative. One of my favorite writers, Stephen King, has always talked about letting the characters do what the characters want to do. Don't try to force them into situations they wouldn't be in, or censor them because someone might not like their decisions. To hell with the criticism. If Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were meant to develop into a couple from the beginning, or if that's just the direction the writers feel the characters taking them, who are the viewers to tell them it shouldn't be? In fact, refusing to explore the idea of Rainbow Dash's sexuality simply because it might be unfavorable is just as bad as not exploring LGBT issues at all for the same reason. It's either acceptable to explore with all the characters, or it's not okay to do it for any of them.

THANK YOU! I've been asking this same question since I finished the last movie. I like to think that Sunset is probably in another town. Although EG has established that a lot of the Equestria locations are all within that single city in the human world, the human world must surely be larger than just a single city and a couple of high schools. Perhaps Sunset lives in the human world equivalent of Yakyakistan or wherever the griffins are from (can't remember the name of their home country off the top of my head). Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing the human equivalent of Glenda the Griffin. They're probably together somewhere, talking about how lame everyone is.

I originally posted this comment on ED, but it got buried in the ED flood:

Well, I can certainly see why some people would have found that offensive. It wasn't meant to be mean, I know. It's all good, clean slapstick comedy, but people are a wee bit too sensitive these days. I had considered making a video after reading a criticism of the show from some witch at the magazine Ms., who felt that the show is racist and insensitive. She claimed that Rainbow Dash made all feminists look like butch lesbians and all ponies of color were subservient to their "white pony overlord" (Celestia). I'd considered mocking her by having Celestia beat Luna with a whip in a parody of Roots. "Your name is Luna!" *whip* "Nightmare Moon!" "Luna!" *whip* "Nightmare Moon!" But I came to the conclusion that it might be deemed offensive in a world where no one has a sense of humor.

Fair enough. I guess I don't remember that episode as well as I thought. Point conceded.

True, but who figured it out that they needed the keys to unlock their Super Saiyan forms? XD

Hello, everypony. I doubt most of you remember me. I was here about a year ago determined to join the herd. I ran an unpopular blog called "Journey to Equestria" which chronicled my journey from brony hater to brony. It's been a long time. Life got busy, life got hectic, blah, blah, blah. Shut up, Meg. Anyway, here it is a year later and I am finally caught up with the entire series. My favorite episode by far, I think, is "Magical Mystery Cure" from the end of season 3. I simply love the music in that episode, from "Life in Ponyville" to "True, True Friend;" they're all really fantastic. I hear through other bronies that they were talking about ending the series in Season 3, and if they had, that would have been an excellent way to finish it. I love almost everything about this show, from the music to the characters and the humor. I've yet to meet a person who isn't amused by Vinyl Scratch. What I haven't liked about the series is the Mary Sue nature of Twilight Sparkle. Sincerely. Every time you think she may have a flaw, it gets turned into yet another shiny gem of perfection for her. For instance: 1. Twilight Sparkle couldn't muster enough magic to pass her entrance exam until Rainbow Dash caused the sonic rainboom. Suddenly, she's Pony Potter and is selected as Celestia's personal student. 2. Twilight Sparkle enchants her doll and bewitches the town because there aren't any problems for her to solve, thus she creates one. After Celestia shows up to put the hammer down, all her friends take the blame for it and claim that it was their fault for not listening to her. What? No, it wasn't. Don't say that. It was her fault for being nuts. 3. Ponyville has never been on time for spring until Twilight Sparkle, who was essentially worthless five minutes earlier, steps in and starts commanding things like an army general. 4. Who saves Shining Armor's wedding and, by extension, all of Equestria? Twilight Sparkle. 5. Who figures out how to defeat Discord? Twilight Sparkle. 6. Let's not forget the scene in "Magical Mystery Cure" where it looks as though her friends have blasted her into a crater, but then-- WHOOPS! She's a princess. 7. Who defeats Tirek? 8. Who gets her own castle? 9. Who chases that crazy cult leader through time at the end of Season 5 and essentially saves the universe? This list is hardly exhaustive, believe it or not. I could go on for pages, but tl;dr prohibits me from doing so. Has anyone else noticed this? When things change in season 5 and her magic table starts sending everyone but her to solve friendship problems, she gets all emo about it. Suck it up, Seabiscuit. You don't have to be the center of attention all the time.