TailsIsNotAlone

Rainbow Dash. No main character exhibits less stereotypical feminine behavior, struggles more against dressing up, or does more voluntarily tomboyish things. Which, I have to say, is not a bad thing at all. It makes her very cool, ironically adorable, and all the more interesting when she does or says anything ladylike. However, Jeric makes a good point that our traditional gender norms don't really apply to the MLP universe.

1. Lyra Heartstrings 2. Silver Spoon 3. Rainbow Dash 4. Rarity 5. Pinkie Pie 6. Maud Pie 7. Snowdrop 8. Applejack 9. Apple Bloom 10. Spike

That's a fair question. In the early days of the show it seemed pretty clear-cut: to be a princess, you had to: (1) be an alicorn, apparently from birth (2) be in charge of something extremely important (3) be named Celestia or Luna. Princess was really just an honorary title; it was what Celestia and Luna did for Equestria that made them special. But Twilight's coronation contradicted much of what we took as canon, since she: (1) was not an alicorn from birth (2) is not officially in charge of anything besides a library, which was destroyed (3) looks very different from the other 3 princesses and is probably less powerful. Cadence, Prince Blueblood, and Princess Platinum were all a little hard to explain, but it was the S3 finale that really muddied the waters. It suggests that to be a princess, all you really have to do is be liked enough by Celestia that she gives you a problem to solve and boom, you're promoted.

There it is, folks: the tournament is over, and the unorthodox team of Celestia and Sunset Shimmer are Equestria's tag team champions! This may well be the first time either pony has come out on top in a forum contest, and they absolutely earned it. Thanks so much to everyone for making this a special poll with music clips and awesome match summaries. I think I'll do it again next year with all new teams. What new ponies will enter the tourney? Who would Starlight Glimmer team up with? You'll just have to wait and see. Congratulations to Solar Eclipse! I'll celebrate the victory with their official theme music.

That's too bad. But my philosophy towards them has always been the same: even if anti-bronies have nothing better to do than harass us, we definitely have something better to do than pay attention to them. I've seen discussions where haters come in trying to get a response and everyone just ignores them. It's sad, but funny at the same time. After a few tries they just give up and go skulking back to 4chan or Youtube or wherever they came from.

I think that Twilight Sparkle, even pre-transformation, always had the power to challenge Celestia. Her strength was evident from the very beginning. The first time the Princess felt her power at the magic exam, she knew that power had to be kept under control. Taking Twilight as her personal student was just the nicest way of doing it. The question is whether Twilight, who has lived in awe of Celestia all her life, can put those feelings aside for once and assert herself independently. Sadly, it's never happened on the show, but it could happen here--and if it does, she will have a chance of winning. With Twilight and Spike catching up to Solar Eclipse, it may be happening as we speak.

MLP: FIM has the most harmonious and creative fandom that I've ever been a part of. We share our enjoyment of a great show, and we're part of a tremendously active community where new projects are constantly popping up all around us. What with limited time and real-life demands, It's impossible to give all of those stories, songs, and animations the attention they deserve. Sometimes it takes months--even years--for one of them to really sink in. Which brings me to 'Snowdrop'. You all probably know about it by now, but it's by Silly Filly Studios about a pony who discovers her special ability and makes winter a celebrated time of year in Equestria. When it came out on March 21, 2013, bronies raved about it. The animation wasn't as slick as 'Double Rainboom', but it stood out as a stellar project and a touching story that moved many of us to liquid pride. Even if you don't like the main character or SFS, the time and effort they put into this is nothing to sneeze at. 'Snowdrop' did not inspire me very much when it first debuted. I was going through a rough patch at the time: moving to a new place, starting a new job, busy with a podcast, struggling with my writing, and overall I just needed a break from the fandom. I thought the episode was mildly engaging but not exceptional, and after one watch I quickly moved on to the next thing. This week I came back to 'Snowdrop', and after watching with fresh eyes and a somewhat healthier mindset, my love and respect for that little blue filly has grown exponentially--so much so that I'm going to cap off my journey of rediscovery with a fanfic. It won't be very long or complicated; however, it will be very different from all the other Snowdrop fics you may have read. The "Luna says goodbye to Snowdrop" plot has been done before in good stories like Snowy Night and Snow Angel. Others ship her with another OC called Nyx, and to date her most popular outing is an ongoing crossover with Frozen. Mine will be an irreverent comedy, as suggested by the working title: ...And It's Freaking Cold Up Here. It's offbeat, it's weird, but with it I will pay my proper respects to this extraordinary character. I hope you guys will check it out and enjoy. The story comes out on March 21, the 2-year anniversary of 'Snowdrop'. (Time flies, doesn't it?) I would also be thrilled to get your thoughts on the animation! Until then, [lame pun] CHILL. [/lame pun] I also posted this blog on FIMfiction under the title "Thawing Out 'Snowdrop'".

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The dark will rise. Abandon your freedom. Give up the right to find your true self. Forsake your own reason. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZFCKvzZhBI I think this is Starlight Glimmer in a nutshell. The question is, can she see the darkness that shadows her path? That part bothered me a little. It was sort of a stereotypical villain moment. I hope Starlight's motivations are sincere, because she will be a much more interesting character if that is the case, and the Mane 6 will have to address her differently from other powerful figures they have disagreed with. I hope we see some Starlight/Pinkie moments. Of all the Mane 6, I can imagine Pinkie being the one that Starlight fears most. Ponies don't come any more individual than that. Another interesting point will be whether Starlight used magic to "convince" (i.e. brainwash) her followers, or if they joined her of their own free will. Where did she, and they, go wrong? And just how wrong have they gone by the time we meet them? My anticipation is really building for this one.

WeLoveFine has some really cool looking shirts, but I prefer RedBubble because their site is easier to use. Plus they have a much wider variety that I can see. RedBubble has 21 Maud Pie t-shirt designs, WeLoveFine has 2; I rest my case.

Imagine, for a moment, that you are Rainbow Dash... Viola. They're such a cute combination too. Pinkie is the only one who can keep up with Dash, while Dash is the only one who can match her energy and impulsive nature. I loved a lot of things about Season 1 but most of all the Pinkie and Dash moments.

And Rarity can certainly follow good advice! Hee hee. I want to see an episode where Rarity gets really silly. It would be so adorable. We saw some of that in 'Simple Ways', at the end where she and Applejack clearly weren't taking the whole thing seriously anymore. It was delightful.

I have that same Dashie plush. She says hi. Oops. Correction: By saying hi, I mean she's actually saying hi...and by plush, I mean the real Rainbow Dash is sitting right here at my dining room table. Sorry, I get those two mixed up all the time. (How awesome would it be to have Dash over for dinner? Just don't forget the cider... )

Pinkie doesn't party down--she parties up, because her parties uplift everypony around her.

I'm positive about them. The more the merrier. I think of them the same way I think of bronies, and it's not a big deal to me if they define themselves by a gender-specific term. I still use words like "actress" and "heroine," so there you go.

I agree! Maybe she would be more popular if her portrayal in the animation was deeper and less melodramatic. Still, she's a really interesting character with a wonderful design. There's just so much potential in her. Art and fanfiction have delved into that a bit, but something tells me her finest hour is yet to come. I want to know what she was like as a mare. I think if I write something about Snowdrop, I won't take the "I'm blind, feel sorry for me" road. Her real problem isn't being sightless, because what does that mean to a pony who has never known sight? Her real problem is that she's very lonely and (until Luna perhaps) has only her mother and her teacher for emotional support. We don't need to pity Snowdrop because she's not weak. On the contrary, it takes a lot of strength to make something of yourself in the environment she grew up in.

Purr-ity. I probably should have warned you guys that this kind of adorability was coming. It's just too much to take in all at once. Oh, well. I regret nothing!

Looks like we may never get to see this epic battle: Lucky for Celestia. Not even she can bend the laws of time and space at will.

What don't I hate about Youtube comments? They seem to be a gathering place for every conpiracy nut, every bigot, every semi-literate preteen who just found the caps lock on the net. Basically, this is where people who feel no moral or intellectual responsibility for what they're saying as long as it's online will gather and attempt to destroy everyone else's faith in the human race. Sometimes I look at them anyway to see if someone had anything relevant to say, but a few replies down I run into the first white supremacist or anti-Semite and then give up. (There can't possibly be as many of these people in the USA as there appear to be on YT. They seem to make up about 50% of the commentators on some pages.) And let's not forget the pitiful advertising spam: "Wow guys this is a really great video and until today I had no one to watch it with but this awesome web site, HornyAndDesperate.com, just hooked me up with the love of my life. She has an unusually pronounced Adam's apple and smells heavily of cabbage but nobody could stop us from finding love on HornyAndDesperate.com. Check it out dudes." (I'll pass.)

I wonder if this character of Starlight Glimmer, and her flawed idea that "the only way to be happy is if we're all equal," is the writers' way of addressing concerns about the considerable power imbalance among the Mane 6 since Season 3...but maybe I'm just over-thinking it. If the real story turns out to be that Starlight's idea of equality is "drones with no distinct identity or skills," and that respect for each other's individuality is what makes you truly equal, then I'm interested. It's a valid lesson and hints at something the show hasn't really addressed before: a bad guy who thinks she's a good guy. Not evil, but seriously misguided. That's the kind of change I absolutely want to see. And the way they hinted at the background pony episode was funny. "We're finally going to have..." *TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES* I see where Celestia gets her sense of humor.

Soul Calibur II. Always loved that game. I'm not good at a lot of fighting games except for that one.