BornAgainBrony

It may have been unexpected, and having Twilight become a Princess in what was believed to be the end of the story was fine. That the story continued after that may be one of the things that makes it so unique. No, you're not done now, you've just started. You accomplished something great, but the story isn't over. The struggles continue. With your new power and status comes responsibility. Becoming a Princess is no "happily ever after." It's not going to get easier. It's going to get harder, but if you're strong enough, it will be more than worth it. These are GREAT lessons, ones rarely shown to us, because it doesn't fit the usual "Hero's journey" format of storytelling.

Has it really become so much of a common headcanon that Unicorns can fly just as well as Pegusi? Were that true, I think it would drastically screw up the balance of the three tribes, and even make the idea of Alicorns meaningless. Arguably, a unicorn could also use magic to move a cloud (probably still wouldn't be able to walk on it though). I feel like while they CAN do this, it's probably much more draining than it would be for a Pegasus to do the same thing. And also, this is Starlight, probably the most powerful Unicorn of the time who can actually duel against a freaking Alicorn, so that's probably not the best example for asking, "Is unicorn flight practical?"

I'd be interested in reading a good one if anyone has a recommendation. I'm kind of curious to see a non-obvious take on the idea. "Humans are evil?" Heh... that's almost definitely something I would've done if I wrote such a thing when I was 20 years younger. Now it wouldn't be all black vs. white, but definitely a, "Been there, done that, my T-shirt never arrived in the mail" approach to life on Earth. Surprisingly, the first mention I stumbled upon early this year of someone talking about writing a "Bronies in Equestria" fanfic was some seasoned psychologists who had originally heard about the Brony phenomenon, took efforts to study it, and became fans themselves. Oh, geeze... that movie. First time I saw it, I absolutely hated it. I was too young to realize the whole thing was a metaphor so I just took the plot at face value and was pretty ticked off by the time I got halfway through it. Seriously? Send society into complete chaos so you can get lucky just one time? Same thing happened in "Stardust" ... sort of. My Bestie and I did an ultimate crossover Kingdom Hearts-ish thing last year and one point, Tony Stark of all people ended up in Equestria during S1-E2, and within minutes he had figured out the Elements and that the Mane 6 were being put through trials. For the duration of the Nightmare Moon arc, some non-indigenous members of the party realized he was right, but also were constantly trying to get him to shut up so he didn't wreck anything. All things considered, even knowing it wouldn't be nearly as epic as my fantasies, I'd still opt for Equestria. Unlike certain characters in Pleasantville, I know how to obey the Prime Directive. Really though, I think what you described, would make for a pretty enjoyable story about expectations vs. reality. Might even work as a comedy. The only hole in the idea though, is if you got displaced specifically to Ponyville, the moment there was a buzz about a new mysterious visitor, Pinkie would be there trying to make friends, and probably steering you away from trouble.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..."

I must say I'm rather surprised if the "flawless insert" is the norm. Guess I must have had a certain instinct about the "Hero's journey" concept of storytelling before it was ever taught to me. First time I did something like that (it wasn't Equestria, it was long before G4 was a thing), the character was displaced at the darkest of times, and as a result, still had a lot of trauma to work through, while also adapting to the strange new surroundings. Eventually the character was transformed by the unprecedented chain of events, but it took a long time before the light of that better world was able to burn off the darkness put there by the former. That makes for a much more interesting story, IMO. There's a lot of interesting angles that could be taken there. I don't read a lot of fanfic, but I'm going to take a wild guess that it's the, "From Earth to R.D.'s bed within 24 hours" style of writing that a lot of people are sticking their noses up at. If anyone is self-inserting and not giving REAL obstacles their OC has to face, and there's a no real feeling that they could actually fail, then these people do NOT know how to tell stories in the first place.

Yeah but if Japan dropped FIM completely, that's more than being just less popular than E.G.

@Dreambiscuit Poetry.

24 hours too bad I couldn't practically take her storm chasing. A race against time combined with epic weather. Yeeeeah, I bet she'd love to see what some of us wilder 'umies are doing on the underside of the clouds. Well, she needs to see Top Gun. That right there's a must Depending on what was going on at the time, well I'm not far from NYC so either take her to one of the more funnish Broadway shows (like Rock of Ages) or find a good metal or rock concert that was playing nearby that day. Or hey, Six Flags, it's October so they've got thrill rides AND spooky stuff! Go kart racing. Maybe, just maybe skydiving, which would seem like a yawn to her and then I'd set the stipulation, "No no no, you don't get to use your wings. You have to plummet towards the ground and rely on nothing but a parachute." I bet that'd be an adrenaline rush and a dare of courage she couldn't resist But where to go at the end of the day when time is running out... play my cards and hope she's a little bit open in private about the sappy stuff? In NYC, top of the E.S.B. for sure. Just to chill and talk somewhere that feels sort of familiar to her, high up in the sky, looking down at the world. Closer to home... well there's not much around, this place is in the middle of nowhere. It's Dash. Pull out all the stops, spend the kind of money on a resort hotel that I would otherwise never think of doing. Maybe Great Wolf Lodge, since they combine that experience with some action. But a meal fit for royalty, and an epic spacious room. Doesn't mean any funny business would happen, but even just cuddling would be heaven. I think it'd depend on how things were already going to tell her how I felt, and to ask her when the final hour arrives, if I could go with her back to the world that she came from.

I'm presently wearing socks with sandals. Cue the apocalypse.

That is still so bizarre and I want to understand the psychology behind that. What's not to like about Ponies? Does it just boil down to the type of anthro? Or is it more complicated than that?

I'd be interested to know what the response was to a few of those episodes that dealt more heavily with diplomacy, or at least stories that really challenged the brain. Starlight's town was right out of hardcore dystopian sci-fi and the alternate timeline episode got pretty deeply philosophical with Twilight trying to ensure the bullying of Fluttershy continued and Starlight turning it back around on her. The first time the Yaks or Thorax/Ember come to visit are interesting too, giving a pretty zany but no less relevant look at how cultures might struggle with intermingling at first. Were things like that well-received or did kids get bored with it? I was watching Star Trek TOS at a pretty young age and was actually far more intrigued by all the diplomacy. Yeah, Star Wars was what got my adrenaline going, but Trek gave me a very different, but equally powerful kind of high.

I tend to think the Elements as a blast attack, if they're not being used to banish, don't really "turn someone good" as much as it does, absolves them of past burdens, giving them an opportunity to start again. I've kind of been asking myself this question ever since I was old enough to be philosophical when I was thinking back on the idea of the Care Bear Stare. There are a lot of interesting questions about free will in MLP that extend beyond the Elements. Perhaps an even more glaring one (since this affects EVERY pony), is the idea of the cutie mark.