Adderbane

I got into this fandom through a crossover (I figured "hey, Harry Dresden can make anything cool") so I might be biased.  I generally don't like crossovers, but for some reason MLP just clicks with a lot of other franchises.

What makes background ponies more interesting than simply creating new characters is the degree to which the fandom has created generally agreed upon personalities and relationships for them.  They may not be truly canon, but in many cases they might as well be.  This gives creators a wider pool of characters to choose from and cuts down on exposition.  Creating good characters from scratch is hard.

Whats extremely unusual  is that those in charge of the show actually care about the fandom' side as and appreciate them (see "Slice of Life").

I suspect the background ponies are an important part of making the MLP fandom as expansive and prolific as it is today.

Giving a new character any important role is always a risky business; just look at Flash Sentry.    Significant roles require exceptional characters.  However, it is entirely possible that a suitable canon character may not be found.  For example I have yet to see a canon character I'd ship with Twilight or Applejack.  There's nothing wrong with creating original love interests  for canon characters, but the bar is set high.

Also it should be noted that there is a difference between inventing a character and inventing a character who you imagine as representing yourself.  Only the best of the best can pull off the latter successfully.

13 hours ago, cmarston1 said:

I mean we kinda already have a lot of them compared to the beginning of the show, so I am fine with no more new alicorns.

However if we were to get another one, there is only one other character I can see as being worthy of becoming one.

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Agreed.  I've never been opposed to Twilights becoming an Alicorn, just annoyed it happened so quickly for such a major change.  With Sunset I'll admit I more than half expected her to have wings in mirror magic...

I don't know if the writers thought it, but Cadance is a important bit of foreshadowing that more alicorns are possible.

I was going to say no, but then I realized all the ones I was going to compare it to were primarily from the 00's.

So...maybe?

If you're trying to get someone interested in the show, I'd suggest Castle Mane-ia (s4ep3 I think it was).  It gives a good introduction to the Mane 6, without depending on prior episodes, and is mostly just a fun scooby-doo-esque adventure.  The only downside is spoiling Twilight's ascension, though they'll probably forget by the time they get to S4.

I wouldn't recommend the premier; it's poorly paced and tries to fit a seasons worth of exposition into 40 minutes.  It put me off watching the rest of the show for nearly 5 years.

Especially a

17 hours ago, jorge123esp said:

Thanks Also, there's another song that is specially heartbreaking for me. Is from It's a Pony Kind of Christmas album.

 

Oh god, I can't avoid crying with that song  

This one is especially poignant after watching "The Perfect Pear"...

Lord of the Rings Online used to be great.  It still has the best class design of any MMO I've seen.  The Warden in particular is worth mentioning; you get 3 main abilities: spear thrust, shield bash, and shout.  Using them in different patterns changes the effect of your fourth ability (I.e. Alternating Shield-spear gives you a heal that increases based on the length of the chain, and alternating shout-shield gives damage over time).  Unfortunately the game suffers from mechanics bloat; simply far too many things to level and grind.

Star Wars the Old Republic is another good one; the companion characters and actual cutscenes for dialogue make solo play much more enjoyable.  It also clamps your stats based on region, so you don't have to deal with max level players running around low level zones, and prevents you from overleveling in a region.

Starlight serves as an alternate main character for episodes where the Mane 6 won't work ( such as rock solid friendship and no second prances), and as a replacement Twilight for things Twilight has had too much character development to do.  Can you imagine the people screaming "out of character!!!!" if Twilight had taken Starlight's role in a royal problem?

Hooves are sort of u shaped so depending on how flexible they are they might be able to grip objects between the points of the u.  So they would have trouble with narrow or wide objects (see mirror magic)

1 hour ago, Soaring Symphony said:

 

Sorry bro but that ship is bull crap.  Quibble Pants is an @$$hole.  I don't think he would be a good influence on Dash.  Besides, judging by what we see in the show, the only thing he and Dash seem to have in common is that they're both fans of Daring Do.  I get that there's some value in the idea of a couple having shared interests, but said interests should be genuine passions that they build their lives around (aka, they'd have similar cutie marks), not just some hobby or amusing entertainment.  Claiming that Dash and Quibble make for a good couple based solely on the fact that they're both Daring Do fans; that's about as ridiculous an idea as Brony dating websites . . . . . .

 

Oh wait. 

First of all, I strongly disagree with your assessment of Quibble as an "***hole".

Second, when dealing with one shot characters, some reading between the lines is required.  Quibble seems to share RDs love of adventure; he's definitely enjoying things when he's not screaming in terror.  He doesn't share her competence at dealing with obstacles (physical ones at least), which makes for good comedy.  Any anyways, his defining character trait is getting excited about things, and we all know Rainbow loves to be told how awesome she is.  Their personalities just fit, in my opinion.  But you can ship who you want and I'll ship who I want.

Finally, I don't think posts that serve no other purpose than to disparage other people's ships is very constructive to the thread.

You know, for kids!

(I can't seem to get the video working)

I feel like rather than attracting new fans, if it's good enough it might bring some old fans back.

Unicom, because if there's one thing I've learned from fantasy, it's magic > any other ability.

Also decent object manipulation is nice.

24 minutes ago, GrimGrimoire said:

I would like to think they would have the good sense to stay far far away from the whole damn mess that it all is.

That or start firing the friendship laser indiscriminately...

I ship QuibbleDash!

They have enough in common to get along, but enough differences to create tension and make a more interesting story.

Keep in mind since he's only in one episode everything that follows is extrapolation based on his brief screen time.

Quibbles special talent seems to be talking incessantly about something (I heard the end credits chatter was ad lib-ed, and knowing Patton Oswalt I can believe it).  Get him interested in something, or somepony, and he won't shut up about them.  Rainbow would positively love that sort of attention (I remember seeing her attitude described somewhere as "I don't care what you're into, as long as it's me" and I always thought that sounded like her). Hence, I don't think he would be put off by Dash's ego, and would probably get along excellently with Scootaloo (I guess he can be vice president of the RD fan club).  Also, since their areas of competence are totally separate, RD won't be constantly driven to one up him, like how she is with Applejack.

However, many people question whether Rainbow would want a relationship with someone who can't fly like she does, since flight is such an integral part of her identity.  What they see as a likely deal breaker, I see as a source of drama and fanfic fuel; after all, what good is a ship without anything to explore in the relationship?

Hello!

Lurking about the internet has not provided sufficient pony content, so I figured a MLP focused forum was the next step.  My favorite thing about this fandom is how prolific it is!  I read a lot of fanfics, and may even try writing a couple eventually.