Group 31 - Crystal Empire

[Jeric 46,850]

13 minutes ago, Denim&Venom said:

Either will be fine. Heck, if I knew members could be substituted, I would've had one of them take the place of "Batpony Guard" in Group 27.

Yeah, I made some substitutions (Juniper Montage was one) based on requests. I kept having to reduce the list to get at least as many representative characters in there, I knew someone's favs got cut so I kept an open mind when someone said someone they liked was missing.

I'll add Midnight Blossom since she is the most visually appealing one. Gotta love Bat Pony armor! 

Midnight Blossom replaced Jet Set. Considering the dearth of fans for most of the Canterlot elite, it feels like a better shot for parity. 

[Denim&Venöm 18,684]

2 minutes ago, Jeric said:

Yeah, I mad some substitutions (Juniper Montage was one) based on requests. I kept having to reduce the list to get at least as many representative characters in there, I knew someone's favs got cut. I'll add Midnight Blossom since she is the most visibly appealing one. Gotta love batpony armor! 

Midnight Blossom replaced Jet Set. Considering the dearth of fans for most of the Canterlot elite, it feels like a better shot for parity. 

Thanks. I know she won't have a shot of making Group 32 with a double dose of Twi, but maybe she'll have a chance in the wild card. 

[Dark Qiviut 22,379]

Discord and Cadance got plenty of votes to make it through, so I voted for lesser candidates: Bow Hothoof, Harshwhinny, and Scorpan.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

21 minutes ago, Mirage said:

It's the way she says, 'Rainbow Dash'. o3o

For me; it's also how she is animated. There's just something so lovable about her harsh & cynical nature.

[KH7672 1,604]

I've got to go with the Mother and Father of the group, oh and Discord of course (but I would love to see Harshwhinny on that team too now that would be an interesting mash up)

Are you sure you don’t want me to come up there and calm her down for you?

Ha, don’t worry princess, woah, this is nothing! You should have seen Rainbow Dash flying around the house, now that was an uncontrollable filly!

Cadence, aren’t you going to show me around the Crystal Empire.  It would be the best thing to do for me as your guest.

Woah there, watch the pillars!

Oh, please be careful!

Cadence hello? Equestria to the love princess. You know I’ve got some ideas for how we should begin our tour. First we should take Spikes statue and turn-

I’m sorry Discord, but that’s going to have to wait. Why don’t you have Shining Armor show you around. You can even talk to him about that orcs and obstacles game.

Well considering you don’t even know what it’s even called, shows you really don’t know me all that well.  Why don’t we take the time to get to know each other, like teammates would?

I said not now Discord, why don’t you tour the Empire yourself if you’re that anxious?!

Humph, maybe I will. I hope you’ll have a better attitude when it comes to working together as teammates.

Sure whatever you sa-OH BOW DON’T LET HER GET TOO CLOSE TO THE CRYSTAL FIXTURES, THEY’RE REALLY SHARP! THAT'S IT I'M COMING UP THERE!

Don't worry Discord, you'd understand if you had children (well maybe you do depending on what fanon you follow )

And that will be my last one for the qualification rounds (I'm too busy tomorrow to make one for the last round) I want to thank everyone for they're support. And if you could do me one thing, I would really appreciate feedback on any of the commentaries and stories I did, especially that Changeling Kingdom Live thing from yesterday. No need to do it here, either PM me or post it on my profile.  Let me know what you liked what you didn't. How I represented the characters. How I could make it better. Could the visuals be improved. Regarding yesterday, was there too much, did I not cover enough. Any feedback would be great, but that's just me. Good luck to the rest of the qualifiers and maybe I'll make more for the Wild Card rounds, we'll see.

[Randimaxis 8,652]

10 hours ago, Jeric said:

Discord is up.

 

*ahem*

 

Friends!  Shetlands!  Countryfoals!

 

I utter unto you a worthy and complete manifesto of CHAOS! for your persnickety perusal; a little something to give you the full onset of the illusion of the possibility of the utmost significance of said filibustering, while at the same moment also proving beyond the doubt of a shadow that our beloved draconequus deserves the full and complete total of the votes cast herein... or, at the very least, a massively overwhelming landslide in his extreme favor!

Was this not the same draconequus who has brought us so much laughter and so many grandiose gestures since his appearance?  Was it not the said same being who bore the brunt of the Changeling masses with nothing more than stand-up comedy?  Was it not the exact same dragon horse who threatened his very existence,simply for the sake of wanting his bestest friend to be comfortable?  Was it not the self same Frankenstein lizard who provided the critical clues to unlock the chest at the Tree of Harmony, thereby bringing the Mane 6 into a level of power unforseen in the series up until then?

And his flaws?  WE COULDN'T LOVE THEM MORE!!!  His arrogance gives us all a good smirk (or at least an eye roll), and his indecisiveness reminds all of us that decisions are hard - even when you're powerful and half-crazy.  And speaking of crazy... WHOA HO HOOOOOOOOOOOO, NELLIE!!!!!  Every little thing about what makes him an occasional egotistical jerk is what many of us enjoy about him, isn't it? 

I mean, don't you see the excitement stir here on the forums when folks hear he's in an upcoming episode?  It's absolutely wonderful, the level of anticipation and speculation he brings to the entire fandom when he's on the screen!  So many others, claiming this theory or defending that headcanon and, with the chaotic nature of the guy, there's always the tiniest of chances that any given person's theory could be right!  How's THAT for keeping debate lively?

The show has many stable, stationary characters that we all know and love... but honestly tell me: how big of a percentage of the fandom do you honestly believe lights up like fireworks when they hear that Mr. DeLancie has a spot in an upcoming epi?  Few side characters ever achieve such a following during their show's actual airtime; our wonderful, marvelous-

Oh, you DO go on, don't you?

Well, speak of the-

Let's not give them the wrong metaphor, shall we?

Uhh... OH!  I get it, I get it; sorry.

Not an issue.  Shall I take over here, where I can add my own two bits?

Well, actually I was wrapping up my litt-

To each and every one of you, out there staring at your adorably portable little screens and comprehending the letters that make up the sentences that you are, at this very second, perusing at your leisure... to all of you who have available votes in this dream sequence that I'm certain the editors will claim is entirely non-canonical... to those who have been following the events and putting in the brainwork of watching all the tables turn, dodge, spin, ha-ha, parry, THRUST!... to you, I say...

Come now; you know the final round won't be any fun without me.

Given my track record, I believe you understand me when I tell you that rules are quite stifling, and that I have a tendency to... circumvent... things into a far more entertaining arrangement, hmmmm?  Honestly, if we all wanted to run around following rules all the time, there'd be absolute BOREDOM from Griffonstone to Yakyakistan!  Yawning would be the newest Friendship Games event!  Each purchase at Sugarcube Corner would come with a free pillow!  THE SOUND OF EVERY PONY IN PONYVILLE, WEEPING AND WAILING IN THE DEPTHS OF ENUUI!!!!!

...

Ah!  There, you see!  Totally nailed in with that one, didn't I?

I... I suppose... but how did we...

Shush!  Watch and learn!

*sigh* Vote for Discord, folks... why be normal?

SHUSH!  I'm talking again!

...

... I... was going somewhere with this, wasn't I?  Hmmmm... it occurs to me that, in the midst of my little rant her, I may have lost my train of thought... which means I didn't make it to the station on time after all!  DRAT!  Now I'll have to wait for the existential conundrum to beat loud enough to wake the Grateful Dead!  And believe me, if you ever wanted to see what they could ever possibly be UNGrateful about, it would be disturbing Mr. Garcia's slumber, waaaaaaay down where the roots grow deeply into the dirt.

You know, where the earthworms live.  You see, they have it right - no possessions, no wars, no depression... no rent toupee... and there's always that old chestnut about burying your head in the sand - they say it's not very effective, but that's why you should burrow all the way underground!  THEN, I guarantee, you'll be... well, you'll be safER than if you had your face covered in mud with your rump making a perfect target.

The Early Bird catches the worm - does THAT possibly ring any bells?  No?  Well, they'll be ringing soon enough, I'd wager - what with all this hullabaloo about sports going aro-A-HA!

That's what I was talking about!

We've been through a lot together, you and you and you and you and you and both of you and you and you and you with the mustache and you and you and you and yes, even you and you and you and you five and you and you and you and you over there and you and you and you there as well and you and you and I... and you know me. 

I feel like we're quite close... your warmth and merriment have made these last few years so very memorable and exciting - the diametric opposite of, oh I don't know, let's say... a statue in the Canterlot Royal Gardens?  Besides, it only makes sense for the neighsayers to want there to be NO Discord in the upcoming events... but, what fun i-...

Well, YOU know the line.

At any rate, I hope you all realize how ANY team whose roster I grace shall indubitably be crowned the winners of this little frolicking fracas, because between my power and my absolute charm-

Uh, Discord?

Not now, kid.  ... charm, I will help drive my team to the winning touchdown!

Ummmmm... no.

No?  Not touchdown?

NOT touchdown; that's football.

But don't the humans call THIS-

Don't go there; the Debate Pit will explode.

Fair enough.

Thank you.

Well, then - my team shall take their three strikes and score a hole in one!

Nuh-uh.

... hit a five-pointer?

Nope.

Love?

That's tennis.

Touch the sides?

What?

UNO!

Okay, wait wait wait... do you even KNOW what you'll be playing?

Of course - I'll be the handsome draconequus sports star, RAOUL!

Oh, sweet Luna's plot... Discord.

Whaaaaaaaat?

... do you even HAVE any experience in sports?  Any at all?

Didn't you see my dramatic entrance in Dungeons & Discords?

Anyone can showboat; do you have game?

Game?  Well, I suppose I could summon up a swimming pool full of tiddlywinks-

Can't you take this seriously for once!?

Of course not.

I-... you-... but-... RRRRRRRRGGHHH!!!!!

Vote for ME, folks; I promise not to disappoint - especially if the above is any indicator!

Indicator of what, exactly?

How highly entertaining this potentially is.

Oh, you can do all that?

Certainly... in fact, I'll show you, if you like?

R-really?

Of course... simply step into the shiny portal, and-

Where's it go?

Farther back in the narrative.

Oh... well, I... *sigh* got this far down the rabbit hole; might as well keep falling...

Trust me.

*snap*

 

 

 

[Jeric 46,850]

Yay Randimaxis made an appearance! 

If anyone has any feedback for @KH7672 be sure to let him know here or even a status update would be good. For me, it's one of the surprise highlights of this tournament. I personally love the fourth wall breaking moments with the comments specific about the amusing nuances of the format. The characterization is on point. One suggestion would be to maybe bold the light fonts (like yellow) so they are easier to read, but that isn't really a fault of his. Yellow on white is always going to be harder to read than darker colors. 

Remember, because this got such a late start yesterday this group and the next one won't start until afternoon. 

I'll also be posting specifics on the Wild Card rounds today so that there will be a few days of feedback because I kick that off. Two open questions (and I've accounted for both) have to do with head to head matchups. I randomized the list, and I'm also creating another list where it is based on votes for, similar to seeding (#1 vs #4 and #2 vs #3). I'll post more later today. 

[ChB 18,550]

Can't wait for next round.  

[Denim&Venöm 18,684]

I thought the wildcards of each group would just compete in their own mini-polls like the rest. 

[Sparklefan1234 169,694]

11 minutes ago, ChB said:

Can't wait for next round.  

 

Neither can I! 

 

[Jeric 46,850]

35 minutes ago, Denim&Venom said:

I thought the wildcards of each group would just compete in their own mini-polls like the rest. 

Hold that thought. 

I'm setting up results and the final Group now.

RESULTS