Genepool

Really getting depressed lately and trying to find the reason to continue my Diary of the Banished story seem to elude me as of late. I feel that the story has great potential behind it. There have been so many people helping me to understand writing, correct punctuation, drawing out a scene, and other numerous aspects of story creation. However, as time goes on, those ideas I had seem to have been used by others. Even to the point it seems some appeared in the show. One prime example was an idea I teased out from two of my favorite shows, Batman the Animated Series and Batman Beyond. The idea behind a chapter of the story was my character finally arriving in Canterlot after journeying from the very most eastern edge of Equestria. He has been barred from the library that’s open to the public for unknown reasons. This is where things became a bit despondent for me. After obtaining the map, he sets off to acquire the materials necessary to break into Canterlot Castle. This is where I combined elements of BTAS and Batman Beyond with the Underdweller episode of BTAS and the return of Mr. Freeze in Batman Beyond (the ending with a sorrowful lament by the villain.) A colt runs by my character and steals the items that are needed for the break in. As a result the protagonist journeys into the lower depths of Canterlot where he finds a bunch of orphaned ponies that have been rounded up by this pegasus stallion. He uses them as cheap labor, making them believe he is their savior. It’s revealed that he doesn’t even care for his own son and merely uses the colt to help him lure in other workers. The main reason behind the stallion’s cruelty is the rumor he heard of “treasure” buried in the depths of some underground area in Canterlot. After witnessing the Canterlot Wedding it really made my jaw drop as Chrysalis (disguised as cadence) talked about the caverns/catacombs beneath Canterlot where “greedy unicorns sought crystals/gem stones.” Sorry if this sounds like rant and all, but I just don’t know what to do. I absolutely hate the thought of copying someone else’s work, but at the same time I feel like my work would be unique. Or I hope it would be unique, baring the influences on me of shows i've watched like BTAS, Batman Beyond, Darkwing Duck, etc... . I've put close to a year into the thought of my fan fiction, starting back in October 2011. Wanted to get characters down, protagonist building solidified, story element building, and finalize an ending. If you were in my shoes, having invested a year into the story, would you stop or continue?

There are a couple of reasons many fans point to the character as being hated. 1. Quick Character - Some believe Sombra was a rush job character with little to no thinking behind his motives. With Nightmare Moon we get a sublime backstory of how she was originally Princess Luna that felt jealousy towards her sister, Princess Celestia. Discord has a unique role where he's a chaos bound spirit, wanting to rule Equestria. Queen Chrysalis, while somewhat drab, is a unique entity that desires nothing more than to feed her starving populous. Dealing with Sombra, many felt he was a simplistic character that didn't have any real depth to him. He's in, out, and over with inside of two episodes with little chance for return. Though we see his horn flying away, potentially signifying a return, its potential has only a few points for debate. 2. Character Design - As mentioned by the OP, this is another primary reason people don't like him. He seems very fan OCish due to the red eyes. I don't think there's been any pony character created thus far that has red eyes due to how "cliche" it is in created stories. Discord is the only character that comes to mind who has red eyes, but it works uniquely with the character while Sombra just seems to have the cliche "red eyes" of a villain. "Ooo he has red/crimson eyes, he must be a villain," is the line of thinking with some people. Sadly, I have to admit my own guilt here as a character I created for an OC story has red eyes that "pierce the darkness," which is pretty dang bad. Hopefully we'll get a more interesting back story if the character does indeed come back. One thing I would want to see is King Sombra being the actual father of Cadence and he was a loyal friend of Celestia and Luna. However, the lure of dark magic slowly tainted him to the point it corrupted him completely. It caused him to even turn on his own daughter who was basically frozen in time.

It definitely throws a monkey wrench, though not unexpected, into the world of MLPFIM. Thankfully, the spell is contained to the "Highest level of Unicorn," so not every unicorn in equestria, not even Twilight, can cast it. Though that's not to say it doesn't present an odd set of challenges. With Cadence being introduced and growing it, things are difficult to pin down. Sadly, we don't have a 4th alicorn, pray it stays that way, to test these ideas on. Perhaps they reach a certain phase with their bodies slowly starting to age less. One potential idea is Alicorns aging extremely slowly to the point it's not existant. As the guy in the first Hellboy movie said, "think reverse dog years." Another point to make is the actual longevity of a magical spell. How long do these exactly last? Do they lose power after time, eventually returning things to normal? Or are they completely permanent? Arguments could be made for either way which makes it hard to pin down. I'll mostly go with the idea that Alicorn's have such strong magical power, it keeps them alive for so long. And, the reason Granny Smith is still alive is due to her being a hardy earth pony.

I truly get the sense that it could have worked as a great two parter for season three's intro instead of King Sombrero and the Chrystal Kingdom. There's a couple of reasons that lead me to this conclusion. 1. Ending - This feels a bit rushed with Trixie producing a quick light show, apologizing, then running off. We don't even hear the delegates from Sadle Arabia having any voices to them beyond a potential "Ooooo" and "Ahhh" as they stand near Princess Celestia. I really expected to see Twilight talk to Princess Celestia and the delegates before the show ended. But, when I saw what time it was, that just wasn't going to happen. 2. Magic Duel - Don't know why, but I get the feeling this had a HUGE part to play beyond the simple spells we were shown. Really expected to see some build up during their second duel. Instead, Trixie skips right to where she left off with an age spell. 3. Suffering - Have the dinstinct feeling this was limited due to it being a kid's show. However, I was definitely waiting to see a more definitive answer of Trixie being mean to ponies. We mostly see the one scene in Ponyville's Town Hall, the same being said for Snips and Snails. After that i'm kind of left shrugging my shoulders. Maybe it was a fan want, but I definitely hoped to see Trixie messing with ponies as she was pulled through down like a Highschool Bully ordering the school nerds to stand in line for their daily nuggies. Could have done a scene with Derpy having her eyes fixed to mess with the muffin loving mail mare. Unfortunately, I get the sneaking suspicion she is being phased out since she's being moved further and further into the background. The episode was great, don't get me wrong, but I do feel it may have worked better as a two part premier.

In all honesty, I was surprised by the level of quality with Too Many Pinkie Pies. Both on an animation level as well as a story level. Our exuberant pink pony is always on the eccentric side and the creators always play to that, mostly with respect. I found her demeanor in episode three to really fit the character. She is a happy go-lucky character, but when things are serious, Pinkie Pie knows how to act. One thing that really made me like episode three was her character development. Pinkie knows the situation is bad and breaks down which is the defining moment. It is during the down time that she has her eureka moment and “becomes brilliant,” in a sense. Also found the ending to episode three to be heartfelt. It was a much needed boost to prove that she’s not just some dumb pony who only cares about sugar and parties. The only thing that unnerved me was the title of the episode since it seemed very Fan Fictionish, if that makes any sense. As for Pinkie Pie’s injection into the recent episode with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I don’t think she ruined it in all honesty. Her quick puns and comic stunts help to add a good comic overtone during the serious situation. It’s kind of like a person in the middle of a fire fight that cracks of a joke to alleviate the stress of his friends so they can focus. Just my 2 bits about the whole thing of Pinkie Pie's "reputation" potentially being ruined.

Who's to say it's a 3rd, 4th really, alicorn that is unknown? Perhaps it was an amulet created by a unicorn to boost his/her powers to that of the level of an alicorn. Also, it does bring up the question of how long before Luna was actually imprisoned by her sister. Did she immediately transform in Canterlot with Celestia witnessing it? Or was there a period of time that Luna/Nightmare Moon was wandering around Equestria? That amulet could be a relic of the past, a creation of Nightmare Moon. *shrug* More fuel to the fire I guess.

With the magic duel episode there are a lot of things to speculate about. One thing I found quite interesting was the amulet around Twilight's neck which looks tribal in nature. At the moment, I wonder how dark it will be for the show creators to have pulled an Avatar end with Trixie.

I'll go with Unicorn cause of the cool magic, levitation/telekinesis, and such, but Pegasi are pretty dang cool as well. Could certainly imagine a pony having fun just leaning back off a cloud, dive bombing towards the ground, then pulling up at the last second. Earth ponies are pretty cool as well since they are hardy as heck, strong, durable, and have a decent relationship with animals. Me personally, most of the OCs I make are unfortunately Unicorns due to my personal taste towards their ability to use magic. It would be good to see a pegasus pony that can't really fly like Scootaloo, but has an aptitude with Alchemy/Chemistry like Zecora.

Truth be told, I don't particularly like the idea of the mane6 in relationships. This is something that should really be left to fandom. Fancy Pants and Rarity being close is about it with Cheerilee and Big Macintosh taking it one step further, but in a comedic way to suit the needs of the episode. I can definitely foresee a "turd storm" brewing if they introduced relationships with the Mane6. The "abelist" went after Derpy like a laser guided missile, and I can truly see the feminists getting PO'd about the show becoming more "girly" by having relationships and such. Though, to be honest, the feminists get ticked off about pretty much anything lately.

Difficult to answer really since there are some interactions that we definitely need to see brought into the light. I would like to see a bit more interaction with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. We get a small glimpse of this where RD and Fluttershy attended "Flight camp," with that being the end of it during the tale of how the mane6 got their Cutie Marks. Want to get a good bit of back story behind these two since they seem close friends. Same would go for Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie. It still intrigues me what Apple Jack said during Pinkie Keen, "If Pinkie's a twitchin, you better listen." Might even be nice to see an episode that shows how Pinkie learned about her "Pinkie Senses" in conjunction with how she met Apple Jack, and why AJ developed the notion to listen to Pinkie when her ability goes off. Wholeheartedly agree that we need some interaction with spike, and we might be lucky to get that. With them appearing so often, I still feel like the Princesses could use some of the spotlight. Maybe an episode with Twilight and Celestia as the studious unicorn encounters something from her past? Be nice to see some more "momlestia" as some call her.

Really expecting different things with this episode to be honest. One thing that i've heard is people saying she's Sombra's lackey/minion which seems doubtful to me since Trixie's personality would suggest her being above accepting help from anypony to defeat a foe. Though that isn't to say I wouldn't put it past her in using an enchanted item to augment her powers. One thing I really haven't been able to grasp is Trixie's "real" emotion towards Twilight. Not sure if it is true "raw hatred" like Sombra had, or if it's just a bit of animosity towards the studious unicorn. Though from the episode's synopsis I guess I can assume she's satisfied with just humiliating Twilight. Originally thought things would a bit more brutal where Trixie wants Twilight absolutely destroyed/removed from Equestria.

Have to concur with my fellow bronies that the show rating change despite the show's content. For it to be rated TVY7, we would have to see some serious fighting imho. Example would be Rainbow Dash going head to head with another Pegaus, bucking them, punching them, slamming them into the ground, and the like. There would be no blood of course and super violent shots would have the stereotypical "white out" sequence when the blows landed. While there is cartoon violence, it is so totally mild that it really can't be considered violence. Think the most I've seen was in Season 2 Episode 2 where Rarity *Discorded* was kicking at Apple Jack, and even that was mild.

Two sides of the coin is pretty much my theory. With Celestia talking about "Love" and light when she energized the crystal, and then "Hatred and Fear" when energizing the crystal, i'm thinking magic maybe emotionally charged. The stronger that emotion in ponies, the more it influences their magic. However, the catch comes in the form of a sort of "connection" where the stronger the pony's emotional connection to their magic, the stronger they are as a unicorn. Alicorns probably symbolize the top level of this since Celestia raises the sun and Luna raises the moon, not sure about Luna atm though, and Cadence symbolizing Harmony/Rhythm/Love of ponies. Twilight, hopefully not becoming an alicorn, symbolizes a strong with magic, if not the strongest a unicorn can potentially have. Speaking about Trixie, she symbolizes a strong affinity for magic, but doesn't have that strong emotional connection Twilight has obtained/been born with.

I would say yes, but with this recent episode i'm having my doubts. Despite it being done for comical reasons, she seemed to have difficulty turning that apple into an orange. This implies that while she is quite powerful with the ability to potentially learn any spell, she still has to practice. I'm actually curious what her proficiency with the magical wing spell would be at the moment to be honest. Also, even though she is powerful, Twilight does have flaws that keep her out of the Mary Sue territory. Only thing that would push her into the undoubtedly "Mary Sue" territory would be Twilight becoming an Alicorn.

True, and maybe that was the intention behind him. Maybe he was meant to be a sort of "Boogey Pony" that was manifested in physical form, turned to shadow, then brought back to be destroyed. With Nightmare Moon, she wanted to plunge Equestria into eternal night, rule over it; Discord wanted to bring total chaos, lord over it, and rule with an iron claw to his hearts delight; Chrysalis was unique only wanting to feed her subjects and potentially create a new utopia for them. Sombra seemed like a true evil villain, reminiscent of the Doomsday character. With the introduction of a Dark Magic type element, there's no telling what it could do. Perhaps it degraded Sombra's mentality to the point he was childlike and did what pleased him. Maybe his screams during the end where those of a child that was angry his "fun" game was coming to an end. I'll always remember that episode of Cowboy Bepop with that sadistic killer going around murdering people because it was a game to him. When that thing got injured it started to cry asking for mommy because its mind was so far gone it was a simple child. Also, I'm under the firm belief that there is more to Cadence than meets the eye here. During the last episode a Chrystal pony pops up saying "Look the Chrystal Princess" which I find rather interesting. Wondering if she is a Chrystal pony that got sent to Canterlot before the Chrystal Kingdom vanished. Still have no idea about the life cycles of Alicorns/Princesses, so I can only grasp what little speculation is out there. However, I refuse to believe it's simply a coincidence/dual role she serves, at least until I see proof otherwise.

It's doubtful, but that's not to say she isn't being groomed for some other important position. With Celestia and Luna I truly see them as the eternal/immortal rulers of Equestria. Only thing that would change this is if Celestia gets injured to the point she passes away or Luna has to step in for her due to problems. Have to remember these two aren't all powerful since Chrysalis beat Celestia, though she was powered up.

Hard to say and like others, at this stage in my life, it's problematic. Thought I had everything figured out, but was handed some serious real life rejection. "My dream" idea would be a test tube/beaker with a strand of DNA in it to represent my ideal job of being a Geneticist.

"Leaving doors open" is what I garnered from Lauren Faust's DA page posts and her interviews. Sombra's defeat was rather easy, yet it also easily leaves things open for his return. As we've seen before, Luna was cured from Nightmare Moon, Discord was re-stoned and Chrysalis was banished to the badlands/wastelands. With King Sombra it seemed as though was vaporized which doesn't fit well with the show, he also got his body back. Overall i'm disheartened with how little air time he head and few lines of dialogue. However, with that defeat being rather minor it definitely feels like the MLPFIM crew is leaving things wide open.

Well, there's an image up on Derpibooru with a link to a tweet saying it is basically false. While they could be saying that just to say it, i'm going to relinquish my thoughts this round and rejoice with the idea Twilight won't become an Alicorn. Even down the road i'm doubtful she'll become one since it would just open too many worms for ending the series. S3 Here we come in 13hrs 21min, at least for me.

Hard to truly say really, but it does seem to be somewhat that way. However, there are hints of stallions being in other parts since we see a male running the jewelry store during Hearts and Hooves day and a male running a shop *Mr. Breeze I think* during that one CMC episode in S1. Main reason I think there are primarily mares vs stallions shown is the foundation of the show being "For girls." Having too many stallions running the show would probably devalue that idea to some degree. Pfft, who knows, maybe it's like that Girls Bravo where stallions are rare creatures or becoming rare creatures. lol Can't imagine a MLPFIM like that with mares being deprived of stallions and the male species being on the verge of extinction. (Fan fiction already done or should I get writing?)

Trixie - Twilight ? - Apple Jack Gilda - Rainbow Dash ? - Pinkie Pie ? - Fluttershy ? - Rarity With Apple Jack I can easily see Flim and Flam being the dishonest version to AJ's Honesty. Only problem with that is I doubt 2 can make up 1 part. Perhaps 1 of the brothers becomes truly dishonest while the other learns his lesson? The Diamond Dogs would be hard to forsee since they seem more run of the mill villain types instead of mainstays like Trixie/Gilda. Diamond Tiara maybe? Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie would be tricky as heck. Perhaps Pinkie is corrupted becoming her psychotic alt again? Maybe Angel would be the element of Cruelty.