Why I think MLP is so fantastic (long)

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

I was bored so I made this long thing on why I like horse show.
 

Why My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is so great.

By: Drunfrank

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is an animated Television series created by Lauren Faust, Hasbro, and DHX media. What at first seemed like a no potential little girls cartoons soon was revealed to be something so much more, even attracting a large fanbase known as "bronies". My Little Pony has been through multiple incarnations in the past, but this is the only one most people feel got it right. But why is it so enjoyable, what makes it so popular? Well, to start:

The World

If there is one thing that MLP immediately delivers on on all fronts, it is the fact that it has a world that is instantly interesting and enticing. It does a fantastic job feeling cute and fun to kids, but seeming interesting and fantastical to adults, a kid will see a town named Ponyville and think it's cute, an adult will find it generic yet endearing, but when an adult sees a name such as "Canterlot (Camelot)" or "Tartarus" or even the punny names such as Yakyakistan or Manehattan, they think it is clever and interesting (who doesn't want to see a pony version of these great mythological places?) The world only expands from there though, it starts off nice but grows into so much more, with interesting places such as The Hollow Shades, the Well of Shade, the Jungles with ancient temples, the badlands, the Egyption towns of Somnambula, or even the floting cloud city of Cloudsdale, it has so much more depth and layers than what one would expect from a world based on a show with this age demographic. Immediately you will learn of The Everfree Forest, which at first feels like the only dangerous place in Equestria (the name of the country the ponies reside in) but you will soon find out of so many more places with threats lurking, like the ghastly gorge, dark caves or even the nearby Dragon lands. The world of MLP is unique and interesting, blending a modern aesthetic at times with a fascinating fantasy environment as well. When you go from Las Pegasus, which is a parody of Las Vegas, to somewhere like the Dragonlands where it is all fantasy and monsters, you know the show has so much more worth exploring.

 

However, a world is only as interesting as it's...

Lore

Lore is one of the most important things a show can have in my opinion, it lets the audience feel more connected with the universe at large, knowing a great history of this fictional place will make a viewer interested in learning more and seeing what the future holds, and lore in My Little Pony, is excellent. Throughout the shows life, you learn so much about the history of characters, villains, heroes, and the world itself, you find new mysteries and tales throughout every season that makes it all feel like so much more, be it the original tale of the tragedy of Princess Luna, who fell to darkness and became Nightmare Moon, to the more recent lore lessons, like the Pillars of Equestria, brought together by the same pony they would later cast out, forcing him to turn to the dark forces lurking in the world. The show nails the idea of a grand history very well, with each major two parter/arc giving us new info on the grand history of Equestria, but even the more focused history is done well, with the characters we are meant to love, we learn early on the history of the main characters, but throughout the show, you learn even more about them and so many other side characters that help give the show life, very few characters in the show leave you without knowing at least a little of there pre episode life, and for the most part, it is all very engaging. One of the best examples of this is the episode "The Perfect Pear" we learn about the lives of Applejacks deceased parents, told through a heartfelt episode with amazing music and characterization, it is a prime example that the staff and crew behind Friendship are magic know how to do characters. Whereas an episode like Campfire Tales gives us the legends of three heroic ponies and their stories, we learn more about ancient Equestria and the ponies who defended it way back when. Whether it be a story from thousands of years in the past, to a journey through a single characters life, My Little Pony treats its lore with respect.

 

But what good is lore without...

Characters

Characters are the thing that makes or break a show, no one wants to watch a cartoon if the characters a dull, uninteresting, and underdeveloped. No matter how good the world and/or lore is. Luckily, Faust and crew did not disappoint, MLP launched with many likable characters right off the bat, the first season introduced many fun characters with different personalities and interesting episodes, and the series ran with that, with fantastic villains, wonderful side characters, and an ever-developing mane cast. These ponies really do change throughout the series, take Twilight, when she began, she was a novice unicorn who had no interest in anyone else aside from her mentor and family, when it came to her skills in magic just basic teleportation would make her slightly winded, and throughout the show, she is now able to do much harder magic and spells and is a master wizard, and her core character changed so much that she became the princess of friendship in Equestria, designed to spread her wisdom across the land. Twilight is just one example though, nearly all the mane characters have completed their dreams they have had since early in the series and now are moving to bigger and better things, each character changing in some way every episode they star in. Mane characters aren't all that matters though, when it comes to the side cast, MLP has done a great job with them as well. Be it the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the Princesses, or Spike and Starlight, every major character is unique and goes through their own stories and changes (admittedly it did take Celestia some time) Starlight is a good example of a great character though, she went from a villain to a mane character throughout seasons 5-7 and progressed very naturally and really grew into her own character, with her own hobbies, traits, and abilities. Even one-off characters or characters with few appearances rarely feel forced and usually have solid motivations or backstories and personalities, occasionally there is a hiccup but for the most part, characters like Princess Ember, Thorax, Lightning Dust, Zecora, and Iron Will are well remembered for being very additions to the series. And then we have the villains, villains in My Little Pony are top notch, every single villain in the series is distinct and interesting, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Discord, these three characters were the first three major villains and none of them are even close to alike, Nightmare Moon being the evil form or Princess Luna, turned to darkness with a desire to force eternal night. Discord, the insane reality warping being who thrives on laughs and Chaos, and Chrysalis the queen of the Changelings who will stop at nothing to consume all the love in Equestria. King Sombra comes next, and while he wasn't very talkative, his purpose was a dark force looming over the ponies at all times, and he played that part well, after that the villains only get more interesting and complex with the likes of Starlight Glimmer, Tirek, Stygian, and even Tempest Shadow from the official movie. In short, all types of characters in MLP are handled very well and despite a few hiccups, nearly every one is memorable.

 

however, what makes characters so great is usually

Storytelling & Continuity

My Little Pony is first and foremost, a slice of life series with a side focus on an adventure, the prime conflicts for most episodes are usually self-contained and don't really impact future episodes all that much (though it definitely has happened.) However, the continuity is there, it isn't all random like a sitcom, previous episodes and locations are mentioned quite frequently and there are a share of recurring characters that were introduced in random one-off episodes, So the feeling that everything connected is not absent from the show, in fact, compared to other slice of life cartoons I think it handles continuity amazingly. What really shines though is the storytelling, the episodes of the show are usually quite mature (especially in later seasons) and don't often hand-hold you through the plot, the interactions and events that happen in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd acts of an episode is generally done well with shining moments in each act. There are the rotten episodes no one wants to bother with but that is to be expected honestly with a show that has 169+ episodes. The fact that the storytelling is able to make these years old characters still feel fresh with interesting stories is a testament to the writing quality.

 

Music

My Little Pony is a musical show as well, every few episodes you will usually be treated do a musical number, though some seasons have fewer than others and you can find yourself waiting 5+ episodes for a song. That is fine though because the music in MLP is simply, amazing. From the grand musical numbers like Winter Wrap Up, Flawless, and The Smile Song, to more toned down emotional songs like Find A Way, You're in my Head Like a Catchy Song, and Just a Pony, MLP nearly always delivers on the musical front, the songs are composed by the wildly talented Daniel Ingram, under his belt My Little Pony has produced some songs that rival even the greatest of Disney classics.

 

Recap

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is an incredible cartoon with memorable characters, locations, music, and stories, it has a slower start due to its age and initial demographic, but the potential was clearly there and was built upon in a way that I don't think other cartoons have done so effectively in recent years. It loves kids while at the same time respecting adults and creating something everyone can enjoy.

 

Edited February 27, 2018 by Ryanmahaffe

[cuteycindyhoney 13,322]

A very good read. You featured one of the things I truly love about the show. We got to watch as Twilight grew emotionally, learned how to make friends, and became more powerful in her magical abilities. I loved seeing the shy introvert eventually become the Princess of Friendship. I got teary eyed when Princess Celestia actually bowed to her after she grew her wings.

The show has a way of making you care very much about the characters and the society they belong to.

 

Oh, and I've often though there was something just a bit mythological about Manhattan!

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

25 minutes ago, cuteycindyhoney said:

A very good read. You featured one of the things I truly love about the show. We got to watch as Twilight grew emotionally, learned how to make friends, and became more powerful in her magical abilities. I loved seeing the shy introvert eventually become the Princess of Friendship. I got teary eyed when Princess Celestia actually bowed to her after she grew her wings.

The show has a way of making you care very much about the characters and the society they belong to.

 

Oh, and I've often though there was something just a bit mythological about Manhattan!

Twilight's journey was done so well and gave early seasons a very strong sense of direction, while I do think the show is better now I do see that the singular character vision has faded, which is a good and bad thing.

[Goat-kun 2,530]

And that is why it will get substituted by a different worldbuilding and character design philosophy.

 

FIM was lightning in a bottle, emphasis on was. FIM of today is outdated and rigid, its iconic characters and incoherent mishmash lore pushed into a corner by uninventive writing in order to sate inhumanly idealistic philosophy that is mercilessly shrinking the world onto the size of Lazy Town.

 

The upcoming marriage of western providers and eastern animation, the continuous stream of improvements made my various shows on FIM's formula, and the innovation bankruptcy of the average storyteller spell doom to all who are treading on FIM's current path. It will retreat back where all defenders are placing it at the first sign of opposition: kid show category.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

5 hours ago, Goat-kun said:

And that is why it will get substituted by a different worldbuilding and character design philosophy.

 

 

 

FIM was lightning in a bottle, emphasis on was. FIM of today is outdated and rigid, its iconic characters and incoherent mishmash lore pushed into a corner by uninventive writing in order to sate inhumanly idealistic philosophy that is mercilessly shrinking the world onto the size of Lazy Town.

 

 

 

The upcoming marriage of western providers and eastern animation, the continuous stream of improvements made my various shows on FIM's formula, and the innovation bankruptcy of the average storyteller spell doom to all who are treading on FIM's current path. It will retreat back where all defenders are placing it at the first sign of opposition: kid show category.

 

I fail to see how the lore of the show is "incoherent" considering it all blends together quite well throughout the whole series, and I feel like the writing has only gotten more complex and interesting over time, with more mature themes and stories. I also feel like the show has never had a more direct sense of vision in its entire life cycle. I don't see any other cartoons that are improving on FiM at least in the west as I don't care or pay attention to eastern anime. 

[Goat-kun 2,530]

6 hours ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

I fail to see how the lore of the show is "incoherent" considering it all blends together quite well throughout the whole series, and I feel like the writing has only gotten more complex and interesting over time, with more mature themes and stories. I also feel like the show has never had a more direct sense of vision in its entire life cycle. I don't see any other cartoons that are improving on FiM at least in the west as I don't care or pay attention to eastern anime. 

The moment you see the random mythical beasts and ungulates (giraffes) behave like mindless animals you realize writers are just making shit up as they go. They can't even write alicorns and Discord in a way that would allow them to use their powers in a pinch. Instead, they have to remove them from every conflict with cheap tricks or just ignore their existence altogether. And don't get me started on the use of magic. Twilight goes from magic pro to "Derp, I can only shoot lazors!" from one situation to another. And these are just some of the glaring things. Note that I didn't include my more scrutinizing take on their approach to worldbuilding.

 

Mature themes and complexity don't mean better stories, especially inside a visual medium. You can do a lot with simple themes ... like cooking. Cooking can be very interesting.

 

FIM never had a sense of vision, and now they are just wrapping things up. It's easy to know where you're going once you spot the finish line.

 

Another staunch anime abstainer I see. Your loss. Though I'm not saying you should watch it. I'm saying you should watch its conquest. Action, adventure, tragedy, adult matters, anime does it all better cause it's not as restricted. So those who like such things and can watch it will probably watch it over any iteration of MLP. It's a business.

 

As for the western shows: Steven Universe is inconsistently better and has somewhat of a fetish when it comes to them mature themes, Star vs. TFOE is THE western magical girl show, Tangled series is everything a modern princess show should be, then you have the new Ducktales for all who like action adventure but are too young for anime and western shows like Rebels, Wakfu, or Voltron. All above also have one thing in common: a group of friends interacting with each other while doing stuff. Their powers and lore are relatively consistent while the relationships are built and explored more frequently than in FIM which is kinda sad.

[Rhythm Red 6,484]

13 hours ago, Goat-kun said:

And that is why it will get substituted by a different worldbuilding and character design philosophy.

 

 

 

FIM was lightning in a bottle, emphasis on was. FIM of today is outdated and rigid, its iconic characters and incoherent mishmash lore pushed into a corner by uninventive writing in order to sate inhumanly idealistic philosophy that is mercilessly shrinking the world onto the size of Lazy Town.

 

 

 

The upcoming marriage of western providers and eastern animation, the continuous stream of improvements made my various shows on FIM's formula, and the innovation bankruptcy of the average storyteller spell doom to all who are treading on FIM's current path. It will retreat back where all defenders are placing it at the first sign of opposition: kid show category.

 

Afraid I’m going to have to disagree with you. MLP is still as good as it’s ever been, and I would go so far as to say 2017 was the best year for the show.

[Hierok 11,832]

4 hours ago, Rhythm Red said:

Afraid I’m going to have to disagree with you. MLP is still as good as it’s ever been, and I would go so far as to say 2017 was the best year for the show.

Indeed. @Goat-kun has a point that the writers make stuff up as they go along, but this hasn't damaged the show at all. I think it made it suprising and fun to watch as they go into a different direction.

Edited February 24, 2018 by Hierok, Scoffer of Music

[Goat-kun 2,530]

7 hours ago, Hierok, Scoffer of Music said:

Indeed. @Goat-kun has a point that the writers make stuff up as they go along, but this hasn't damaged the show at all. I think it made it suprising and fun to watch as they go into a different direction.

You might very well think that, but if you're trying to state that this is good lore then you'll have to offer more than your feelings. As things stand, I'd wager that most of you on this forum share your convictions to a degree. Still, that speaks little of their usefulness.

[Hierok 11,832]

6 minutes ago, Goat-kun said:

You might very well think that, but if you're trying to state that this is good lore then you'll have to offer more than your feelings. As things stand, I'd wager that most of you on this forum share your convictions to a degree. Still, that speaks little of their usefulness.

My arguments would be that the worldbuilding is really on point and expanded on, esoecially the last seasons and characters developed really, really well. 

[Goat-kun 2,530]

25 minutes ago, Hierok, Scoffer of Music said:

My arguments would be that the worldbuilding is really on point and expanded on, esoecially the last seasons and characters developed really, really well. 

Do elaborate.

 

What I see is only the bare minimum being hastily implemented into a shrinking world on a death timer where introductions of new factions bring nothing but lesson fodder. There is a thread where OP is asking about Arthurian legend and griffin lore. I am irked that I can offer them nothing but disappointment. Their entire lore stems from a single sentence written by a man long gone.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

13 hours ago, Goat-kun said:

The moment you see the random mythical beasts and ungulates (giraffes) behave like mindless animals you realize writers are just making shit up as they go. They can't even write alicorns and Discord in a way that would allow them to use their powers in a pinch. Instead, they have to remove them from every conflict with cheap tricks or just ignore their existence altogether. And don't get me started on the use of magic. Twilight goes from magic pro to "Derp, I can only shoot lazors!" from one situation to another. And these are just some of the glaring things. Note that I didn't include my more scrutinizing take on their approach to worldbuilding.

 

 

 

Mature themes and complexity don't mean better stories, especially inside a visual medium. You can do a lot with simple themes ... like cooking. Cooking can be very interesting.

 

 

 

FIM never had a sense of vision, and now they are just wrapping things up. It's easy to know where you're going once you spot the finish line.

 

 

 

Another staunch anime abstainer I see. Your loss. Though I'm not saying you should watch it. I'm saying you should watch its conquest. Action, adventure, tragedy, adult matters, anime does it all better cause it's not as restricted. So those who like such things and can watch it will probably watch it over any iteration of MLP. It's a business.

 

 

 

As for the western shows: Steven Universe is inconsistently better and has somewhat of a fetish when it comes to them mature themes, Star vs. TFOE is THE western magical girl show, Tangled series is everything a modern princess show should be, then you have the new Ducktales for all who like action adventure but are too young for anime and western shows like Rebels, Wakfu, or Voltron. All above also have one thing in common: a group of friends interacting with each other while doing stuff. Their powers and lore are relatively consistent while the relationships are built and explored more frequently than in FIM which is kinda sad.

 

You state your opinion as if it's fact, I think the writers don't "make shit up as they go" and even if they do that say every season, they still pay attention to prior continuity when doing so, all the lore built in the series fits together nicely so I fail to see how one can label it as incoherent. I do agree with making the princesses and Discord useless or not present at all can be jarring at times, but is it really so bad to completely fault the series? I doubt it, what would Celestia/Luna added to Shadow Play aside from more characters to juggle?

I think in season 7s case, the more mature themes and complexities have led to better stories and more fleshed out characters like Maud or Pharynx, or hell, I would bet in season 1, Feather Bangs would have just ran away instead of revealing he has insecurities as well. 

I am not going to argue anime, I have watched plenty and have disliked nearly all of them.

Steven Universe is overrated, that show is stupidly inconsistent with a narrative that feels like it is going nowhere, ruining certain characters such as Jasper, awful use of Lapis giving her almost no growth since season 2, making you empathize with nearly every single antagonist. Also never providing answers but rather stringing along teases for the sake of suspense, the show has a brilliant foundation and can be fantastic but then they bust out a series of mediocre to horrible episodes lazily strung together in an arc. See the latest bomb before Stranded, didn't fit in the story at all after the events of Wanted except for Raising the Barn.

As for SvtFoe, yeah that show is fantastic, but in season 3 so far it has had extremely rushed shipping plotlines that feel like they are there just for the sake of padding out the seasons, none of the drama is written very well as of right now, but as far as my thoughts go, yeah, Star vs can compete with MLP for the most part. I have no interest in Tangled, Rebels was bad in season 1, meh in season 3, and meh in season 4 so I don't care. Ducktales offers me nothing honestly, glad others enjoy it but it is not something I care to watch, Fim has new relationships and angles on relationships explored like... so I don't get that one at all.

[Goat-kun 2,530]

11 minutes ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

You state your opinion as if it's fact, I think the writers don't "make shit up as they go" and even if they do that say every season, they still pay attention to prior continuity when doing so, all the lore built in the series fits together nicely so I fail to see how one can label it as incoherent. I do agree with making the princesses and Discord useless or not present at all can be jarring at times, but is it really so bad to completely fault the series? I doubt it, what would Celestia/Luna added to Shadow Play aside from more characters to juggle?

I think in season 7s case, the more mature themes and complexities have led to better stories and more fleshed out characters like Maud or Pharynx, or hell, I would bet in season 1, Feather Bangs would have just ran away instead of revealing he has insecurities as well. 

I am not going to argue anime, I have watched plenty and have disliked nearly all of them.

Steven Universe is overrated, that show is stupidly inconsistent with a narrative that feels like it is going nowhere, ruining certain characters such as Jasper, awful use of Lapis giving her almost no growth since season 2, making you empathize with nearly every single antagonist. Also never providing answers but rather stringing along teases for the sake of suspense, the show has a brilliant foundation and can be fantastic but then they bust out a series of mediocre to horrible episodes lazily strung together in an arc. See the latest bomb before Stranded, didn't fit in the story at all after the events of Wanted except for Raising the Barn.

As for SvtFoe, yeah that show is fantastic, but in season 3 so far it has had extremely rushed shipping plotlines that feel like they are there just for the sake of padding out the seasons, none of the drama is written very well as of right now, but as far as my thoughts go, yeah, Star vs can compete with MLP for the most part. I have no interest in Tangled, Rebels was bad in season 1, meh in season 3, and meh in season 4 so I don't care. Ducktales offers me nothing honestly, glad others enjoy it but it is not something I care to watch, Fim has new relationships and angles on relationships explored like... so I don't get that one at all.

I did not state my opinion, I made an observation. You think they don't make shit up? What about Meadowbrook? How about Starswirl's past and personality? What will you say if they bring Sombra back for the second (third) time? And don't act like Shadow Play is the only time princesses could have been used.

 

Again you equate mature themes and fleshing of random characters to quality. This may be what you want, but what does it really do for the show? What are the effects on less engaged fans? Does the majority even want these things in such a show?

 

You asked for shows and I provided. I don't give a damn if you like them or not. They are the future, or at least the foundations on which the future shows will be built.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

1 hour ago, Goat-kun said:

I did not state my opinion, I made an observation. You think they don't make shit up? What about Meadowbrook? How about Starswirl's past and personality? What will you say if they bring Sombra back for the second (third) time? And don't act like Shadow Play is the only time princesses could have been used.

 

 

 

Again you equate mature themes and fleshing of random characters to quality. This may be what you want, but what does it really do for the show? What are the effects on less engaged fans? Does the majority even want these things in such a show?

 

 

 

You asked for shows and I provided. I don't give a damn if you like them or not. They are the future, or at least the foundations on which the future shows will be built.

 

One, Yes, most of what you say is your opinion on how the show is and your thoughts on it.
If by "make shit up" you mean everything the show has ever done, then sure, I guess every show just makes shit up, Starswirls personality fits with what little we got from his past in Magical Mystery Cure. They left Sombras resurrection an open possibility by showing the audience his horn was intact. There hasn't been a two-parter since season 4 that I feel screwed over the princesses except maybe To Where and Back Again.

What more fleshed out characters does for the show is making more characters more relatable and make the stories less black and white and generic. Less engaged fans will likely enjoy the episode more if the stories are less simple. I don't know and neither do you.

Not SU nor Star are very original so they are not the "foundation of the future" you gave shows that you thought were better than MLP or at least did things better, and I am not allowed to say why I don't think they are?

Edited February 24, 2018 by Ryanmahaffe

[Rhythm Red 6,484]

2 hours ago, Goat-kun said:

You might very well think that, but if you're trying to state that this is good lore then you'll have to offer more than your feelings. As things stand, I'd wager that most of you on this forum share your convictions to a degree. Still, that speaks little of their usefulness.

"Offer more than our feelings?" We enjoy the show, and think it's still doing great, even seven seasons in. What else is there to say?

You are offering your opinion, and we are offering ours. There aren't really any cold hard facts in this argument, either you still enjoy the show or you don't.

[Goat-kun 2,530]

1 hour ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

One, Yes, everything you say is your opinion on how the show is and your thoughts on it.
If by "make shit up" you mean everything the show has ever done, then sure, I guess every show just makes shit up, Starswirls personality fits with what little we got from his past in Magical Mystery Cure. They left Sombras resurrection an open possibility by showing the audience his horn was intact. There hasn't been a two-parter since season 4 that I feel screwed over the princesses except maybe To Where and Back Again.

What more fleshed out characters does for the show is making more characters more relatable and make the stories less black and white and generic. Less engaged fans will likely enjoy the episode more if the stories are less simple. I don't know and neither do you.

Not SU nor Star are very original so they are not the "foundation of the future" you gave shows that you thought were better than MLP or at least did things better, and I am not allowed to say why I don't think they are?

Meadowbrook was depicted as an eastern unicorn, Starswirl changed his personality in every work he's been featured in, princesses have been made useless in every two-parter where they personally interacted with a villain, and as far as I'm aware Sombra has been confirmed as dead/reformed. Can they resurrect him? Of course. But why stop at him? FIM lore is not something you work around, it's something you retcon in favor of your story. FIM Bible is obsolete. That's the thing where writers put down all the shit they've made up. It keeps them honest.

 

Less engaged fans won't care for Maud. Fleshing out a character means nothing if the character is irrelevant. We still have Mane 6 members who are not interacting with each other. And tell me how Applejack is a popular character. Why was that never addressed?

 

You misunderstood. I don't care what you feel about these shows. I might even agree with you. However, they are the new popular shows people are talking about. The way how they develop their characters and worldbuilding is superior to FIM as they not only retain the consequences from episode to episode but also keep their character repertoire restricted mainly to those who are having an impact on the story. This makes it easier for characters, including villains, to get development and background fleshed out. The stories are not focused on lessons even though lessons are often included within episodes and lore is casually explored even in slice of life episodes.

 

1 minute ago, Rhythm Red said:

"Offer more than our feelings?" We enjoy the show, and think it's still doing great, even seven seasons in. What else is there to say?

You are offering your opinion, and we are offering ours. There aren't really any cold hard facts in this argument, either you still enjoy the show or you don't.

I can enjoy The Room. Problem?

[Rhythm Red 6,484]

Just now, Goat-kun said:

I can enjoy The Room. Problem?

 

I don't exactly understand what you're saying. Please, elaborate.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

The has its up and down, some exceeded my expectations, some just pissed me off but overall they are great, the good outweighs the bad. 

 

 

[Goat-kun 2,530]

11 minutes ago, Rhythm Red said:

I don't exactly understand what you're saying. Please, elaborate.

Just Google it. It's glorious.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

On 2/24/2018 at 12:33 PM, Goat-kun said:

Meadowbrook was depicted as an eastern unicorn, Starswirl changed his personality in every work he's been featured in, princesses have been made useless in every two-parter where they personally interacted with a villain, and as far as I'm aware Sombra has been confirmed as dead/reformed. Can they resurrect him? Of course. But why stop at him? FIM lore is not something you work around, it's something you retcon in favor of your story. FIM Bible is obsolete. That's the thing where writers put down all the shit they've made up. It keeps them honest.

 

 

 

Less engaged fans won't care for Maud. Fleshing out a character means nothing if the character is irrelevant. We still have Mane 6 members who are not interacting with each other. And tell me how Applejack is a popular character. Why was that never addressed?

 

 

 

You misunderstood. I don't care what you feel about these shows. I might even agree with you. However, they are the new popular shows people are talking about. The way how they develop their characters and worldbuilding is superior to FIM as they not only retain the consequences from episode to episode but also keep their character repertoire restricted mainly to those who are having an impact on the story. This makes it easier for characters, including villains, to get development and background fleshed out. The stories are not focused on lessons even though lessons are often included within episodes and lore is casually explored even in slice of life episodes.

 

 

I can enjoy The Room. Problem?

 

Meadowbrook was a continuity error, but at least Twilight admitted she hadn't known as much as she should and the only thing known about Meadowbrook was that she was a sorcerous. Well comics are barely canon so Starswirls personality in them is mostly irrelevant, what matters is what we know from the show, and the main thing here is that he didn't understand friendship, and also, you fail to understand how Starswirl felt in the situation. For him, the events of Shadow Play part 2 happen literally instantly after they sent the Pony of Shadows to Limbo, a battle he and the pillars were tirelessly fighting in, finally ended, just to be brought back in an instant by a naive little Alicorn. Celestia only really "lost" to Chrysalis, they couldn't fight Tirek because Discord was at his side, so they did what was at the time, a smart move and hid their magic. To Where and Back Again you can just assume they were kidnapped in their sleep. You can consider Sombra dead if you want but his resurrection has always been a possibility, and that comic is already non-canon.

Less engaged fans will find her funny and potentially relate to her in Rock Solid Friendship. "less engaged" doesn't mean not care at all about anything besides the obvious things in the show. Most of the mane 6 have interacted with each other a good deal and we still have potentially 2 seasons more of them interacting with each other. I never saw that issue. As for Applejack, yes, she has legitimate issues.

 

Ehhhh... The worldbuilding in SU is vague and unexplored (laughably so) and worldbuilding in Star is pretty decent. Star VS does not really retain consequences from episode to episode, it does during more serious arcs but most of the time the continuity is just more present, but it's not like every episode is a direct continuation of the last. I actually prefer MLPs episodic nature (GF was very similar in this regard) over say Steven Universes loosely strung together narrative.

[Goat-kun 2,530]

2 hours ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

Snip

I suppose it cannot be helped. Let me reveal to you the full scope of my subjective opinion

 

LORE

Lore is a bunch of information that conveys rules, history, and various actors inside your world. Our glorious writers are playing with blank slate while using things from past episodes not as guidelines but as doggy treats for fans. They are not obliged to follow what they created; they follow it when they want to get a few cheers from the public. Basically, they are playing MTG where every player can create their own cards without rules. Sooner or later, this game devolves into a convoluted spiral where each player wants to thwart the other with more outlandish solutions. Thus we have overpowered friendship powers/speeches, instagibs of powerful characters out of the blue even in slice of life episodes, and mares varying in strength on demand so they can bruteforce their point across without the use of their other talents/get educated on an important friendship lesson while having their known skills locked behind some invisible curse only writers can see. One must write around lore not change it on a whim. The writers of books and comics don't seek advice from the Bible. They literally make the shit up and then our glorious writers retcon it with complete disregard. Why? Cause there is no Bible! There is no lore!

 

CHARACTERS

Mane 6 and their support cast have been in a bad place since the beginning, though that wasn't a problem at first since the characters were new and had lots of simple characteristics one could play with. Mane 6 never truly clicked as a group of close friends. Rainbow Dash and Rarity are like two friendly strangers on a train while Applejack has been forced into her company for "muh opposites can has friendship" until everyone's been sick of the stale pairing that had noting more meaningful to tell. Meanwhile, Fluttershy seems to have a lot of artistic sense in her but that has never been truly explored. Her interactions with Rarity are always superficial. They interact like two housewives who just happen to have their foals in the same kindergarten and are having coffee while waiting to pick them up. Rarity gives you the image of a modern independent woman: overworked, surrounded by acquaintances, utterly friendless.

 

Pinkie ... Pinkie doesn't have favorites. Everypony is her favorite. Her depiction as an emotional bulldozer with artificial super happy personality of a beverage machine from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that rarely allows for signs and symptoms of doubt and vulnerability is quite annoying. In times when she should be "the wise janitor" for her friends she tends to make the problems worse. Instead of hope she brings frustration.

 

Applejack is a "farm boy" who never got her farm destroyed by bandits/imperials/monsters and is living happily ever after, isolated from troubles of the outside world by a thick wall of hay. The height of her life is when she goes to the "Tosche Station to pick up some power converters". Of course she saves the world from time to time by standing in the background. Sometimes she even throws a lasso. Her interactions with other Mane members are also what one would expect from a "farm boy" on her way to become just another one in a long line of "farm boys" arguing about useless drivel with their spouse and intoxicated friends while drinking cider on a porch.

 

Then there's Rainbow Dash. She's all about big adventures ... in Wonderbolts' locker room. She's the school jock who managed to live out her dream. It comes as no surprise that she feels validated to act like a jock towards her friends even after all those seasons and humiliating defeats at the appendages of villains of varying importance. What's that? She's bickering with Applejack again, and they're both doing it at the cost of safety and mood of everypony around them? Never change Rainbow Dash!

 

Fluttershy is shy. But now she's also assertive. Did I mention that she's shy but that she's becoming more assertive? She's come a long way, becoming more assertive and all. She happily hangs around animal refugees that have been inexplicably robbed of their natural environments and goes to spas with Rarity, maybe. A childhood companion of Dash, but now that she's become more assertive she has more free time cause she doesn't get dragged into friendship activities she doesn't like and oh boy is that a long list. At least Discord seems to understand her so there's that.

 

Last but not least is Twilight. She's the one doing all the work in two-parters if she's not busy playing damsel in distress. She's like Valve. She was once a nerd with a quirky character, now she just makes money for H-Bro as an alicorn dress model. She cares for her friends very much, but besides friendship, she doesn't seem to have much to talk about with them. Well Twilight, you'll always have the first four seasons.

 

Mane 6 received almost no growth, and when they did they got boring. And instead of outlining of interesting new directions, work on their bonds, perhaps even construction of planned additions into their herd, we get a Marvel-esque focus on unimportant characters that will confuse new viewers and binge watchers alike. It's a difference to focus on brand new characters when you have everything under control, and focusing on them cause it's easier than working on main cast.

 

ART

Goat-kun used an anime reference. Brony faces melted away like flesh of Nazis when they opened Ark of the Covenant. It was super effective.

 

Yeah, Made in Abyss is a great marriage of Ghibli cuteness corrupted by Lovecraftian perversion of mind and body writhing just beneath the fuzzy surface. Every good IP needs a great art style. It's also something that made G4 so popular. Its pony designs are top notch, I tip my fedora. That said, the greater world didn't get that level of attention and care put into its design. Most creatures, including ungulates, still look unappealing. Everything, from donkeys to hydras, should obey the style of cuteness. Though one should still display their level of threat and the colors of their personality, they should never be so botched not to be of use to fans and marketing. Donkeys IRL look cuter. That's a bucking sin.

 

Yup, Mane 6 and art pretty much represent the entire worth of MLP and they have been managed badly. It is through your main cast that one expands the world most easily and it is through art that one enchants the audience to fall in love with it. Our glorious writers use Mane 6 only to expand the repertoire of lessons and the world beyond Equestria is a loot box full of humanoid naked mole rats, friendless beast hobos, and an occasional disharmony-immune hippogriff.

 

P.S: There is a difference between unexplored lore and no potential for well constructed lore without retcon. That is why SU and TFOE are better. They leave it open cause there's a plan. Same with their characters. GF is more similar to them than to MLP since it had everything planned out. FIM shall end the way how it began: dazed and confused. Too many cooks, only one soup.

 

SEE YOU IN G5 MAGIC COWBOY

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

8 minutes ago, Goat-kun said:

I suppose it cannot be helped. Let me reveal to you the full scope of my subjective opinion

LORE

 

Lore is a bunch of information that conveys rules, history, and various actors inside your world. Our glorious writers are playing with blank slate while using things from past episodes not as guidelines but as doggy treats for fans. They are not obliged to follow what they created; they follow it when they want to get a few cheers from the public. Basically, they are playing MTG where every player can create their own cards without rules. Sooner or later, this game devolves into a convoluted spiral where each player wants to thwart the other with more outlandish solutions. Thus we have overpowered friendship powers/speeches, instagibs of powerful characters out of the blue even in slice of life episodes, and mares varying in strength on demand so they can bruteforce their point across without the use of their other talents/get educated on an important friendship lesson while having their known skills locked behind some invisible curse only writers can see. One must write around lore not change it on a whim. The writers of books and comics don't seek advice from the Bible. They literally make the shit up and then our glorious writers retcon it with complete disregard. Why? Cause there is no Bible! There is no lore!

CHARACTERS

 

Mane 6 and their support cast have been in a bad place since the beginning, though that wasn't a problem at first since the characters were new and had lots of simple characteristics one could play with. Mane 6 never truly clicked as a group of close friends. Rainbow Dash and Rarity are like two friendly strangers on a train while Applejack has been forced into her company for "muh opposites can has friendship" until everyone's been sick of the stale pairing that had noting more meaningful to tell. Meanwhile, Fluttershy seems to have a lot of artistic sense in her but that has never been truly explored. Her interactions with Rarity are always superficial. They interact like two housewives who just happen to have their foals in the same kindergarten and are having coffee while waiting to pick them up. Rarity gives you the image of a modern independent woman: overworked, surrounded by acquaintances, utterly friendless.

Pinkie ... Pinkie doesn't have favorites. Everypony is her favorite. Her depiction as an emotional bulldozer with artificial super happy personality of a beverage machine from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that rarely allows for signs and symptoms of doubt and vulnerability is quite annoying. In times when she should be "the wise janitor" for her friends she tends to make the problems worse. Instead of hope she brings frustration.

 

 

Applejack is a "farm boy" who never got her farm destroyed by bandits/imperials/monsters and is living happily ever after, isolated from troubles of the outside world by a thick wall of hay. The height of her life is when she goes to the "Tosche Station to pick up some power converters". Of course she saves the world from time to time by standing in the background. Sometimes she even throws a lasso. Her interactions with other Mane members are also what one would expect from a "farm boy" on her way to become just another one in a long line of "farm boys" arguing about useless drivel with their spouse and intoxicated friends while drinking cider on a porch.

 

 

Then there's Rainbow Dash. She's all about big adventures ... in Wonderbolts' locker room. She's the school jock who managed to live out her dream. It comes as no surprise that she feels validated to act like a jock towards her friends even after all those seasons and humiliating defeats at the appendages of villains of varying importance. What's that? She's bickering with Applejack again, and they're both doing it at the cost of safety and mood of everypony around them? Never change Rainbow Dash!

 

Fluttershy is shy. But now she's also assertive. Did I mention that she's shy but that she's becoming more assertive? She's come a long way, becoming more assertive and all. She happily hangs around animal refugees that have been inexplicably robbed of their natural environments and goes to spas with Rarity, maybe. A childhood companion of Dash, but now that she's become more assertive she has more free time cause she doesn't get dragged into friendship activities she doesn't like and oh boy is that a long list. At least Discord seems to understand her so there's that.

 

Last but not least is Twilight. She's the one doing all the work in two-parters if she's not busy playing damsel in distress. She's like Valve. She was once a nerd with a quirky character, now she just makes money for H-Bro as an alicorn dress model. She cares for her friends very much, but besides friendship, she doesn't seem to have much to talk about with them. Well Twilight, you'll always have the first four seasons.

 

Mane 6 received almost no growth, and when they did they got boring. And instead of outlining of interesting new directions, work on their bonds, perhaps even construction of planned additions into their herd, we get a Marvel-esque focus on unimportant characters that will confuse new viewers and binge watchers alike. It's a difference to focus on brand new characters when you have everything under control, and focusing on them cause it's easier than working on main cast.

 

  ART

Goat-kun used an anime reference. Brony faces melted away like flesh of Nazis when they opened Ark of the Covenant. It was super effective.

 

Yeah, Made in Abyss is a great marriage of Ghibli cuteness corrupted by Lovecraftian perversion of mind and body writhing just beneath the fuzzy surface. Every good IP needs a great art style. It's also something that made G4 so popular. Its pony designs are top notch, I tip my fedora. That said, the greater world didn't get that level of attention and care put into its design. Most creatures, including ungulates, still look unappealing. Everything, from donkeys to hydras, should obey the style of cuteness. Though one should still display their level of threat and the colors of their personality, they should never be so botched not to be of use to fans and marketing. Donkeys IRL look cuter. That's a bucking sin.

 

Yup, Mane 6 and art pretty much represent the entire worth of MLP and they have been managed badly. It is through your main cast that one expands the world most easily and it is through art that one enchants the audience to fall in love with it. Our glorious writers use Mane 6 only to expand the repertoire of lessons and the world beyond Equestria is a loot box full of humanoid naked mole rats, friendless beast hobos, and an occasional disharmony-immune hippogriff.

 

 

 

P.S: There is a difference between unexplored lore and no potential for well constructed lore without retcon. That is why SU and TFOE are better. They leave it open cause there's a plan. Same with their characters. GF is more similar to them than to MLP since it had everything planned out. FIM shall end the way how it began: dazed and confused. Too many cooks, only one soup.

 

SEE YOU IN G5 MAGIC COWBOY

 

When I think lore I think the history and ruleset of a franchise/universe whatever you want to call it, MLP has that and that and while there are occasional errors within it, it is not as jumbled or messy as you make it out to be, when laying the history of the MLP verse out it is very straight-forward and connected, at least the grand lore of the history of Equestria. The idea that the show staff only follow the previously established lore and continuity of the series for "public cheers" is laughable to me, for the most part the greater involved show staff do care about the mythos, lore, and world that has been built from MLP and follow it not just for public approval, but because they want a consistent product as well, of course there has been times when the show has been stupid and ignore pre established ideas (no explanation will make me forgive "it isn't the mane thing about you") The OP friendshit mcguffin as a concept has been mostly ignored since the season 4 finale unless you count Shadow Play, which I don't because the villain there never had a chance of victory anyway, nore was he supposed to, the plot there wasn't about the stakes but the characters involved "instagibs of powerful beings" again, I only see this true in To Where and Back Again with the stone/throne, and the Maulwurf in To Change a Changeling. When Celestia was defeated by Chrysalis in "A Canterlot Wedding" it was stupid, but at the same time we had nothing to scale Chrysalis off of, so she was just extremely powerful after feasting on the ponies who had the most love in all Equestria, I actually like how they follow up on that by making her weaker in later appearances. If you want action scenes between unicorns to include every spell they can possibly do, well then you are asking for a massively increased budget, though I would add that most spells in the show do have a "laser" effect so who knows if they are just trying to kill each other or turn them into a frog. As for the writers of comics and books, yeah, with the exception of the guidebooks they do just make shit up as they go, which is fine as I have long excepted the comics as their own universe. Much like the Dragon Ball movies.


Okay well I had like a paragraph here but it got deleted somehow so I will just summarize what I said, I personally think the majority of the mane 6 are/were in a great spot and I think they are well rounded and relatable and I generally enjoy all of them when written well, though I do agree with you on Applejack but I do think she was much better in earlier seasons. I have nothing to say on your Fluttershy piece as I don't feel like you said much. She was shy but over the time she developed very much and truly changed and I think that is great.

Twilight, Well first off she is my favorite so I will obviously disagree with some things here. I think Twilight is the most normal of the mane 6 in that she is the most human-like character (Starlight replaced her in that role though) she is an adorkable nerd with a large interest in magic and a need to prove herself to those she looks up to. Season 1 Twilight was shoehorned into every episode and it was the biggest flaw with that season. Season 5 onwards has further explored her need to live up to a standard and her tendency to obsess with one she looks up to (EX: Celestia, Starswirl) She also wants to continue to prove herself as a leader or at least an important public figure in ways that can sometimes backfire. 

The mane 6 have grown a ton throughout the series so that point feels baseless, Twilight further learned the importance of friendship and companionship, she became less snarky and rude, improved with magic throughout the series and overall grew into a better leader throughout later seasons, Fluttershy changed from a timid pony who could barely talk to being able to confront someone she is upset with, Rainbow Dash became less cocky and arrogant and started being more accepting of help and ahieved her dream as Wonderbolt and wants to further improve as a flyer and be the best wonderbolt she can be, just some examples. I won't go into all the things they have learned over the series through the lessons and morals, which aside from occasional retreading, they stick by. Compared to other characters from other cartoons like Mabel who almost never changed and stayed a rude, selfish, mean bully throughout the whole series, the mane 6 have developed much much more.

The only thing I want to say on the art part of your post is that the "beyond Equestria" of what you are saying is lands to the south. We have seen beyond Equestria in Griffonstone, the Changeling hive, the Dragon Lands, YakYakistan, etc even the movie gave us Hippogriffs/sea ponies.


Lol, I can buy that for Star vs because it is still young and has a good amount of lore expanded upon (though it seems to think that forces shipping drama is better than expanding your universe. But for Steven Univers, no. 5 seasons of drip feeding lore and information is not just because of some grand plan, they think it builds interest to have padded out arcs that reveal nothing about the universe until the very end. It is not good writing to no almost nothing of a supposed "20,000 years" of history over the course of 5 seasons and most of it will never be known. They would rather force the viewer to pretend to care about the inner workings of the boring town with the same 10 underdeveloped characters who truly never change.

Feel free to respond with more walls, but I might not have it in me to keep going.

[Goat-kun 2,530]

On 2/26/2018 at 4:30 AM, Ryanmahaffe said:

snip

FIM info looks like this:

An associated work (book, comic) that may or may not be written by the same person that is on the current FIM team > lore constructed by said person due to lack of existing information > current team suddenly realizes they want to do something else > current team disregards everything, including their own previous works > repeat.

 

That's not lore. That's called bullshit. SU, TFOE, GF and just about every show that isn't lol-so-random obeys its own history. Some of the shows are not really that good at keeping up with their own story (SU beach episodes, TFOE ships galore arc) but the path is still there (Diamonds, Eclipsa and her daughter). FIM doesn't have that. We don't understand anything cause everything constantly changes on demand. You can anticipate anything and everything. That's not a story-driven show. It's lol-so-random crap disguised as a story driven show. Well, you sure seem to like it, but that doesn't make it lore. Even H-Bro understands their shitty horses ain't fit for the modern crowd. The era of episodic randomness is ending. Welcome to the new old age. Here's your red whistle.

 

Mane 6 have resolved some of their issues, but in doing so they have undergone an unwanted transition into teachers. These stale, restricted roles are not doing them any favors. Rather than continuing to work on their quirks and strengths with new exciting endeavors tailored for each individual Mane member, our glorious writers have chosen to lock them all away into a self-congratulatory end game devoid of new personal journeys. Then again, FIM was never good with such writing. Their goals are lame and final, their paths were stretched to a fault, and now there's nothing left but for them to transfer what little they have learned in their short existence.

 

And their friendship? I didn't say much about Fluttershy cause there isn't much to say. Mane members behave like they have nothing in common with her. They accept her quirks. Well, you don't have to be a close friend to do that. You can be a coworker ... Or a human. Discord is portrayed as a closer friend than Twilight or Rarity? Where is all that great pony friendship at? I don't see it. Same goes for others.

 

When I wrote down beast hobos I meant mythic beasts like dragons and griffins. Most of their designs are not very appealing. And the same can be stated for ungulates other than ponies. You have cows, sheep, goats, and donkeys who are derpy and ugly compared to equines. Fighting Herds demonstrated that a similar style can be used on such creatures. Why do adult dragons and griffins not abide by FIM's style? Or monsters like hydras and chimaeras? If I got my clutches on FIM I'd be pumping out so many cute creatures like you wouldn't believe. This style combined with sentient animals made G4 so popular yet you're gating it for the sake of some shitty message? Stop hitting yourselves H-Bro!

 

P.S: Rainbow Dash less cocky and arrogant? You're gonna love the next season

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

15 minutes ago, Goat-kun said:

FIM info looks like this:

 

An associated work (book, comic) that may or may not be written by the same person that is on the current FIM team > lore constructed by said person due to lack of existing information > current team suddenly realizes they want to do something else > current team disregards everything, including their own previous works > repeat.

 

 

 

That's not lore. That's called bullshit. SU, TFOE, GF and just about every show that isn't lol-so-random obeys its own history. Some of the shows are not really that good at keeping up with their own story (SU beach episodes, TFOE ships galore arc) but the path is still there (Diamonds, Eclipsa and her daughter). FIM doesn't have that. We don't understand anything cause everything constantly changes on demand. You can anticipate anything and everything. That's not a story-driven show. It's lol-so-random crap disguised as a story driven show. Well, you sure seem to like it, but that doesn't make it lore. Even H-Bro understands their shitty horses ain't fit for the modern crowd. The era of episodic randomness is ending. Welcome to the new old age. Here's your red whistle.

 

 

 

Mane 6 have resolved some of their issues, but in doing so they have undergone an unwanted transition into teachers. These stale, restricted roles are not doing them any favors. Rather than continuing to work on their quirks and strengths with new exciting endeavors tailored for each individual Mane member, our glorious writers have chosen to lock them all away into a self-congratulatory end game devoid of new personal journeys. Then again, FIM was never good with such writing. Their goals are lame and final, their paths were stretched to a fault, and now there's nothing left but for them to transfer what little they have learned in their short existence.

 

 

 

And their friendship? I didn't say much about Fluttershy cause there isn't much to say. Mane members behave like they have nothing in common with her. They accept her quirks. Well, you don't have to be a close friend to do that. You can be a coworker ... Or a human. Discord is portrayed as a closer friend than Twilight or Rarity? Where is all that great pony friendship at? I don't see it. Same goes for others.

 

 

 

When I wrote down beast hobos I meant mythic beasts like dragons and griffins. Most of their designs are not very appealing. And the same can be stated for ungulates other than ponies. You have cows, sheep, goats, and donkeys who are derpy and ugly compared to equines. Fighting Herds demonstrated that a similar style can be used on such creatures. Why do adult dragons and griffins not abide by FIM's style? Or monsters like hydras and chimaeras? If I got my clutches on FIM I'd be pumping out so many cute creatures like you wouldn't believe. This style combined with sentient animals made G4 so popular yet you're gating it for the sake of some shitty message? Stop hitting yourselves H-Bro!

 

P.S: Rainbow Dash less cocky and arrogant? You're gonna love the next season

I don't think if I respond to this with another long post will be beneficial as we will just be going in circles, agreed? MLP is not a story driven show, it is a slice of life fantasy show with a semi focus on adventure and plot, the plot and new avenues to take the lore is made and revised every season but the point is that aside from a few errors (which every cartoon has) it obeys what has come before it and does form a decently coherent history of the world. That is all I really want to touch on.

Also I didn't clarify this before but when I said "Gravity Falls is more like FiM" I meant more in the way that it is presented, in that it was an episodic 22 minute series with slice of life mystery stories and occasional arcs. 

[Goat-kun 2,530]

8 hours ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

I don't think if I respond to this with another long post will be beneficial as we will just be going in circles, agreed? MLP is not a story driven show, it is a slice of life fantasy show with a semi focus on adventure and plot, the plot and new avenues to take the lore is made and revised every season but the point is that aside from a few errors (which every cartoon has) it obeys what has come before it and does form a decently coherent history of the world. That is all I really want to touch on.

Also I didn't clarify this before but when I said "Gravity Falls is more like FiM" I meant more in the way that it is presented, in that it was an episodic 22 minute series with slice of life mystery stories and occasional arcs. 

One can manage errors, but those are deliberate retcon decisions. It obeys jack. They revise it every damn season indeed

 

22 min is where similarities with GF begin. It is also where they end. Its sol stories are within the arcs. From great mysteries to love interests and rivalries, it is all gathered into one whole fulfilling story. I'm not so sure you can find such elaborate structure in FIM.

 

And don't you worry. These conversations will only get more interesting the closer we get to the promised end. That is when the hallow knights shall charge out, foaming at their mouths, typing "blasphemy" with caps lock. It shall be a great and bountiful harvest. Do not miss it.