My Little Pony IX: The Best Thread Ever

[SiuiS]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah BROWSER YOU RESET I HATE YOU SO MUCH AAARGH-

[TECHINCAL DIFFICULTIES | ENJOY FLUTTERCOLA]

Ok, think I've recovered. Let's try this again.
First, I'm going to leave this here, which is only pony related by 6 degrees (so, not really pony related at all). I am doing so because it soothes me from a frothing ragefit to my normally jovial self.
(it's The Configuration Of The Northern Shore)

Not even LIX can be trusted with that much cute, you fool! BURN IT!! BURN IT WITH FIRE!!!

Lix probably shouldn't be trusted with anything we can think of. That's what makes it fun! It's gambling. Gambling is fun! and totally one of my weaknesses

Yay for orbital weaponry!

And the pic... it's so wonderful. (starry eyed)

I remember a time when we relied on our wits, cunning and character, and not futuristic military tech. I miss those times. *They will be missed, like all good ol' times should be :P

Good news! *Finished another part of my Repo!nies.

The Great And Powerful Trixie Sweet!

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Umm... *You okay there Trixie...?

>///>
I'm going to save this ... For ... Science. Just for science. No other reason.*

Image dumps? Wih some images I also considered posting (but did not do, so whatever)?

Take this!

[SPOILER][URL="http://ambrosebuttercrust.deviantart.com/art/Art-Class-210816368"]

Annotations:
*The images are links to the various artists, that saves me one work step
*15 points who recognizes the crossover from image 1
*The second Scootaloo strip is both a reference to the news I just announced and the severe lack of Trixie in this thread
*I like mooshy Twilight although no one else seems to do
*I'm the godamn Welf, and one day this will be my catchphrase

Hark! A pony!
How is work in His Majesty's secret service, friend?

So, I'm happy with the reaction to Beyond Forever. *80 stars, 4.9, woot. *I wouldn't mind more reviews, since I like to hear people's specific thoughts, but still. *

Now, I'm not just here to toot my horn. *This has made me ponder something. *Would people be interested in further adventures from Purple Pie? *I have this vague idea of her moving to Ponyville to start fresh (though not completely fresh, since she does have years of savings from her Photo Finish career), but I'm worried that it would... um... destroy Forever and Beyond Forever.*

Would people be interested? *Should I leave well enough alone? *Haven't I already derailed Photo Finish enough, have I no decency, man? *Input is appreciated.

Picture Unrelated. *

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Leave it where it's at, it's for the best.

I love it. *Though Pinkie strikes me as more the Cheshire Cat.

... Edit: On an unrelated note. *I notice that the show always has ponies blushing, and fanfiction is just FULL of it. *But... but horses can't blush, right? *I mean, they have pretty thin fur (at least some breeds) but I can't see how that would work.

Pony fur is like a cross between mew fur and polar bear fur. Each hair is actually a tube, filled with feathery strands and hot air. Unlike a polar bear, they are thin enough to view the skin through (hence mew). This is also how the cutie mark manifests, on the skin beneath the fur.

Ponies end up stark naked, with variegated skin colors, basically surrounded by a thin layer of excessively warm air. Their manes are actually hair, not fur though.

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GAAAAAAAAAAAAASP YOU'RE KICKED OUT OF THE FAMILY

Man, I've been sitting on that since it debuted, just never had time to really post it.

Good game, Bobcat. Good game ;)

You have no idea how much fun it is to have access to more than 100 pictures every day that nopony else has seen.

I have an inkling. Inkling. Inkling inkling inkling hee heeheehee hee~!
Hullabaloo.

All right, ah didn't wanna do this, but y'all ain't given me no choice but the nuclear option!



Fighting with your family is naughty and you shouldn't do it.

... Wow, that is weapons grade...

*Checks*

Oh god.

This is horribleperfect. I'll mash it up with some Evanescence and sprinkle it in to the story. But I'll do it later, because first, stories about dogs.

...

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KAME HAME HA


FIREBALL


MAGIC MISSILE


LOVE LOVE DANCING


ORBITAL FRIENDSHIP CANNON


ORBITAL ANIMOSITY BEAM


TORN HEARTS CULMINATION

there, I feel better now.

This is super handy. Thank you so much. Gonna note and practice the heck outta this.

Also, the colour is awesome.


@Beyond Forever:

Solid d'awww. Sorry for the lateness/unhelpfullness on this.

Good to hear! I remember you sayin something about cross face, but no idea why cross face. I know I don't do it right, but it does help, so.

I... I... I... I... u-uh... y-y-y-you...

I certainly hope that is an embarrassedly elated stammer or I will feel like the heel-iest heel EVAR. Seriously, I didn't cross a line or anything right? *worries*

I would vote for coloured. The blushes in the uncoloured one ... gave me a saucy vibe. Somehow the coloured one less so.

As DBC so eloquently put, "Yay, fanart,"

Saucy. Hurr Hurr Hurr. I wish I had remembered to use the term m'self.
Ssssssss~aucy!

I like the colored much better. The uncolored version has a roughness to it, but it's an uncontrolled roughness as opposed to an artistic one. I should hope that makes sense; I can't think of much better words to describe it than that.

Plenty of sense. There's a chance that I may have shown one of the roughs I left for Thanqol, but I doubt it. And the color photographs a lot better once the sun goes down than just the lines.

Also, glad to hear somepony else found my little tidbits of wisdom useful. I don't want that effort going to waste.

Which, tangentially, brings to mind another thing. I have a couple art guides to put together (perspective orb and eyes) and Dinnertime to wrap up as well. Lessee...90 minutes until I should be asleep. Yeah, I think I can manage that.

Aye, most advice on dynamic posing does nothing for me, because I've drawn the same way since I was 4 (literally). I've refined it a lot, but the stark outlines on rough sketchiness, with a sort of clinical, sterile harshness are trademarks of my technical drawing skills, and I don't want to change that. All yor advice is useable despite my stubborn streak, so I had to endorse it.

Uh, SiuiS? You still alive over there? Lots of quotes but nothing to say about them.

Also silly Derpy, the banana goes in the other ear!

Aye, I managed to battle off the subarachnoid hemmorhage, thankfully. Now to go polish off my last post.

Soo mad...

[darthbobcat]

... God damnit. That somewhat mediocre Soarin/Applejack fic is making me want to set things right with one where they DON'T sleep together (chastely sleep together) after talking for two minutes. It's like an itch I can't scratch; this fic must be written properly somehow, I don't care who writes it.

... the fact that I've been trying to think of a good Applejack fic to make up for the crappiness of ... And Apple Accessories isn't helping matters in the slightest.

[Thanqol]

Okay, new Art Thunderdome contest is up, and some wonderful stuff there. As usual, the challenge isn't pulling the pun out of the day's theme, but instead it's drawing out the pun no one else will think of.

I think I got this.

[darthbobcat]

Okay, new Art Thunderdome contest is up, and some wonderful stuff there. As usual, the challenge isn't pulling the pun out of the day's theme, but instead it's drawing out the pun no one else will think of.

I think I got this.

So, I wonder how many pictures of Apple-teeny we'll see.

[PhoeKun]

Okay, new Art Thunderdome contest is up, and some wonderful stuff there. As usual, the challenge isn't pulling the pun out of the day's theme, but instead it's drawing out the pun no one else will think of.

I think I got this.

So, did you notice the reason I was so upset before posting this batch?

[Thanqol]

@Bobcat: The obvious one is to draw the pony as a pistol, but I'M GOING ONE STEP BEYOND

So, did you notice the reason I was so upset before posting this batch?

#141? Mind's not clicking to the significance/reference about why Fluttershy has Rainbow's wings as it should. I feel like a complete derp for not getting it Is it based off your avatar?

[PhoeKun]

#141? Mind's not clicking to the significance/reference about why Fluttershy has Rainbow's wings as it should. I feel like a complete derp for not getting it Is it based off your avatar?

I don't know what story the image was trying to tell, or what sort of events led up to it, but the visuals leaped out of my screen and punched me right in the face. It's this horrifying twisted combination of the terrifying and the romantic, like seeing everything I care about strained through some sort of nightmare filter. I imagine I'm projecting heavily, but I can feel every part of the relationship I've grown to care about so much emanating from that image, but... shattered. Adding to that the idea of Fluttershy very literally carrying the burden of Dash's memory on her back for the rest of her life, and... I lost it. Completely and utterly. I'm losing it again just trying to put words to it.

I'm not equipped to deal with that picture.

[darthbobcat]

So, did you notice the reason I was so upset before posting this batch?

... wow, 141 is pretty messed up. I see a lot of people breaking the "breaking the sound barrier" rule, like the one with Scootaloo and her mom.

@ Phoe: You need an ehug. (EHUG)

[Thanqol]

I don't know what story the image was trying to tell, or what sort of events led up to it, but the visuals leaped out of my screen and punched me right in the face. It's this horrifying twisted combination of the terrifying and the romantic, like seeing everything I care about strained through some sort of nightmare filter. I imagine I'm projecting heavily, but I can feel every part of the relationship I've grown to care about so much emanating from that image, but... shattered. Adding to that the idea of Fluttershy very literally carrying the burden of Dash's memory on her back for the rest of her life, and... I lost it. Completely and utterly. I'm losing it again just trying to put words to it.

I'm not equipped to deal with that picture.

Oh. Oh, yeah. That was what I was thinking, but I reassured myself with a backdrop of "It's probably a Thing I'm not picking up on". But there is no Thing. Yeah, taken alone and out of context... that's pretty damn tragic.

It raises so many questions and gives you all the answers that matter. That's powerful. *Hug*

[SiuiS]

Well, that's passing strange.

That's how a lottery works, though. It took about 800 images, but one just sort of danced over the Sweet/Creepy divide... I'm sorry it hit so hard, Phoe.


DBC, was the sound barrier thing an actual rule? I remember pony with wings, and sound barrier was mentioned but I couldn't recall if it was descriptive or mandatory. Loaded the page, saw a pony Sonic Booming, and my first thought was "Stars and Fire, I failed didn't I?!"

Now to figure ou how to fillify a pony.

[darthbobcat]

Confound these ponies, they drive me to romance! I have a rough plot outline for an Applejack/Soarin fic.

Genre: Comedy/Romance

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The story opens up with Applejack finding Rainbow Dash napping in a tree and waking her up. Applejack wants somepony to go with her to Fillydelphia to attend Applecon. Dash has no idea what she's talking about. Applejack explains that every year in Fillydelphia, apple farmers from all over Equestria go there to show off new breeds, apple accessories (last year Jonagold was doin' great things with Apple Butter!) and new products. Usually she goes with Big Macintosh, but he needs to stay behind for some reason.

Rainbow Dash: Well, um, you see, I kinda have to... house sit... for a bear.
AJ: Dash, if y'all don't wanna go, you can tell me.
Rainbow Dash: I don't want to go.
AJ: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SO DANG BLUNT.
RD: What, I either tell you or you don't. Make up your mind!

Dash asks why AJ doesn't just ask somepony else. Cue montage of rejections. It seems that nopony else can appreciate apples the way she does.

Finally, Dash agrees to go along as a travel buddy, but not to go to the con with her. After all, it's Fillydelphia. She'll find SOMETHING to do.

They arrive in Fillydelphia, check in at the hotel (The Waldorf Horsetoria) and AJ goes off to the convention center... only to find out that it's been cancelled due to lack of interest. Instead, there's another convention (not sure what would be amusing). As Applejack is in the middle of demanding a refund she overhears somepony else ALSO demanding a refund. She happens to look over to another ticket booth and there's Soarin. (or maybe I should go with my first instinct and spell it Soren.)

After they get their money back, the two strike up a conversation. It turns out Soarin goes every year mostly for the free samples.

"But tickets are like fifty bits per day. You'd have to eat about one hundred apples per day to break even."
"Yup!"
When AJ offers to share some of the free samples she was going to give out... well, there are rapidly far fewer samples. He correctly identifies the particular types she used, and she realizes that she's found somepony outside her family who GETS apples, at least on the consumer's end. She asks if he'd like to go see the city, and he agrees. AJ considers finding Dash and inviting her along, but figures that Dash will find something to amuse herself with. She didn't want to go to Applecon? Then she misses out on hanging with the Wonderbolt who was going to Applecon!

Cue date scene. It'll be fairly short. Show off their personalities and how they interact some. Maybe it's an art museum and they don't get some modernist piece. Maybe they're at the Horshey Chocolate Factory and there's a mishap there.

But it's finally time for them to split up. They agree to meet up with each other tomorrow. AJ goes up to the room she had rented with Dash. Dash figures out that something's up, since if the convention is cancelled, then AJ shouldn't have 1/2 of three days worth of samples eaten already. AJ spills the beans and Dash gets sooooooo jealous. Not romantically, just the fact that AJ hung out with her idol. Dash asks if she can come along tomorrow and AJ pretty much turns her down, saying, "Ah don't think it's exactly the sort of thing that calls for three ponies, if ya catch mah meanin'."
"FINE. I'll have more fun than you and I'll do it faster than you!"

THE NEXT DAY

Dash wakes up late, as always. Not as late as she'd like, though, because there's an insistent knocking at the door. Dash shouts a few times that she doesn't want any room service, but she finally has to just give in and answer it. There's Soarin in his Wonderbolts uniform. Dash has a fangasm when he asks if he can come in. Dash has a ragegasm when she realizes he's looking for Applejack. It turns out there's been an impromptu show called at Parliament in honor of some big wig from a foreign country being in town and he can't make it to his date with Applejack. They realize that AJ already left while Dash was still asleep. "Ah man, I was hoping to tell her in person! If only somepony could... take my place..." Soarin notices that Dash's fur is almost exactly the same color as his.

Soarin: ... Rainbow Dash, how good are you at romancing?
Rainbow Dash: Wait WHAT?
Soarin: No no, that's stupid...
Dash: Hey pal, you point me at somepony and I'll romance the cutie mark off of them! There's nothing I can't do!
Soarin: Settle down, Dash, that wasn't a challenge.
Dash: Oh thank goodness, I didn't want to have to seduce Applejack.

Soarin dyes AJ's hair his color with some stuff they find in the hotel room and gives her his costume. "We'll be doing a (insert name of show). Very textbook. You should be able to fly it in your sleep. Just don't talk and follow Spitfire's lead."

So Dash goes off to live her dream in secret. Soarin shows up at the city park for the nice picnic lunch AJ went off early to prepare. He thinks everything's going to go okay. She notices flying ponies in the distance and asks why he isn't there. He says that he got someone to cover for him, since this was important to him.

However, he and Dash forgot one important detail. DASH DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE THE CLOUD WAKE THE WONDERBOLTS ARE KNOWN FOR. It's a perfect, textbook performance, but that rainbow trail in her wake spoils the illusion instantly.

Spitfire: I'm not mad at you, Dash. It was a really good job, actually. You obviously know your stuff.
Dash: EEEEEEEEEH!
Spitfire (cleans her ear out after the screech) Right. Well. If you'll excuse me, I have to go find and kill Soarin.
Dash: Ohmigosh, can I have his spot? (realizes what she said) Heh heh, I mean...
Spitfire cuts her off: We'll see.

Applejack calls him out on the silly scheme, but he says, "Well, we just have this weekend, and I can fly a show any time. I didn't want to let you down."

"Well ain't you sweet as sugar dipped molasses."
"You don't know the half of it... I was really hoping Spitfire wouldn't..."
Spitfire: SOARIN! YOU GET YOUR BLUE BEHIND OVER HERE! I hope you enjoyed yourself, because when we get back, you'll be pealing apples until your hooves bleed!

Applejack: Y'know, Soarin, we don't just have to have this weekend. Anytime you like, yer welcome at Sweet Apple Acres.

Soarin: As soon as Spitfire calms down, I'll take you up on that.
Spitfire: SOARIN! NOW!
Soarin: I... I gotta go.
Applejack: Not just yet. (quick kiss on the cheek) Now y'all can go.

The next few weeks of KP duty were long and arduous. Soarin couldn't say they weren't worth it.

[Welf]

Dues Ex?

And did someone order Trixie?

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I approve the amount of Trixie in this picture.

EDIT: First drawing is a reference to the Shetland Pony Adventures by Kate Beaton (or however you spell it)

Indeed it is. You earned your 15 points of Internet.

The picture was drawn specifically for my Artist Training Grounds event. Most of the artists, even the clearly already established and really really good ones, seem to be eschewing any form of accolades outside of those threads.

You have no idea how much fun it is to have access to more than 100 pictures every day that nopony else has seen.

Watch out! She'll gone mad with the power!

Hark! A pony!
How is work in His Majesty's secret service, friend?

We'll never know. Shetland pony isn't the talkative.

Man, I've been sitting on that since it debuted, just never had time to really post it.

Good game, Bobcat. Good game ;)

Yeah, he's good at that. I wanted to post Banana Derp image, but he was just too fast.

[Thanqol]

The Hound Of Ponyville

Part One: A Hound From a Nightmare
Part Two: The Handsome Prince

Thoughts and feedback if you've ever loved me.

Sequel to A Study In Rainbows which you should totally have read already.

[Gamerlord]

ED is at 9000000 at rising! How many days?

[EsperDerek]

ED is at 9000000 at rising! How many days?

Uh, it wasn't many. I don't think it was quicker than the trip from 7 to 8 million, maybe about the same time?

And honestly, that #141 picture? It's pretty damn creepy even without emotional projection. I certainly didn't like it.

[Gamerlord]

Uh, it wasn't many. I don't think it was quicker than the trip from 7 to 8 million, maybe about the same time?

And honestly, that #141 picture? It's pretty damn creepy even without emotional projection. I certainly didn't like it.

I assume you mean post #140? Are you talking about the comic I posted? Note to self: read previous posts. Is it some sort of fanart for a fanfic?

EDIT: And if my research is correct. It was about 4 days. IIRC that is about a day faster. Wonder if when we will hit 10 million.

[Welf]

I think they mean this picture by Riokenn:

(mandatory warning: open on your own risk)

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Interestingly enough I don't have that much of an emotional response to the picture.

[Dispozition]

I think they mean this picture by Riokenn:

(mandatory warning: open on your own risk)

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Interestingly enough I don't have that much of an emotional response to the picture.

Same. I just see a picture with mediocre art and an attempt at symbolism that I don't care about (:

I was never one to read into pictures that much.

[invinible]

there are more pages now than when last I checked... I do not understand why I find this surprising, though.
Anyway.

Artist Training Grounds Helping Thanqol Develop Edition

or

"Yeah, all these guidelines? We have a love-hate relationship"

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First, the finished products (there are two; don't know if I should submit colored or non-colored) so ya know where I'm going.





A scene from Catching Rainbows, since I was feeling unfunny after Thanqol's masterful use of fabulous dragonfruit.

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Here we have the general guidelines I used. Each head is a circle, with a cross. The cross doesn't really help me with placement of features as far as proportion though; I instead use it to avoid constantly having the exact same face positions.
The spines, a great idea cribbed from Alterform, really added some dynamism. Then a vague outline of where the limbs would go, including the target wing. You'll not a jumbly mess in RD's head - that's not insecurity, it's the rest of her body so I didn't mess up any proportions.

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Here I show the face. The lines help me keep it pointed, but this is how I get the eyes and such; I carve them from aliens.

The trick is that an eye is always an orb, and the ocular cavity will always show through. So this big circle is the whole of the eye...

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And I'm just adding lids and lashes to define it's direction. You'll note at the end, that Fluttershy's eyes are "off" or "wrong". I took some liberty with the shape before realizing exactly how much of her face was defined by her eye shape, just like Celestia or Silver Lining (or Shimmer, since she's experienced a fanon-shift of eponyms).

Now, I need to get rid of that sultry little smirk. It is only a guideline, but it's going to subconsciously alter how I draw everything around it. Since I want a serene, loving look rather than a lusty, satisfied one (FINISH YOUR STORY PHOE!) I'll just wipe it completely.

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Here we have my replacement details. It looks more like Fluttershy (except those damned eyes! Argh!) and it only took a couple solid strokes to do it. What I really want Thanqol to see here is that I'm covering my sketch lines with one dark, solid one. It seems to work rather well for me.

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Here is the meat I've added to the sketchy skeleton from earlier. You can still see most of the guides (if faintly) and you'll notice that once I had a good base (head and body) I stopped following them so absolutely. I think in the end I added an extra wing for RD so the space wouldn't looks so empty.

Both non-occupied wings are erect, in accordance with some strange fanon that I cannot quite grasp.

So what do y'all think, of the colored versus non- business?

Always go coloured version unless there is something the uncoloured version portrays that you what portrayed that the coloured version does not.

[TheAmishPirate]

The Hound Of Ponyville

Part One: A Hound From a Nightmare
Part Two: The Handsome Prince

Thoughts and feedback if you've ever loved me.

I'll give it a read over my lunch break.

[Mystic Muse]

*Hugs Phoe*

I can see what you mean.

[Kyouhen]

Personally I'd find that picture disturbing if I wasn't so put off by the way the wings are arranged. The only explanation I can think of is that Fluttershy cut off one of her wings to put one of Rainbow's there, but that just doesn't make any sense at all.

Also I'm now joining the daily draw thing. And I intend to do the drawings for it by hand. (Colouring on computer, but drawing by hand) It's been years since I've made any effort to draw anything, so pray for your sanity at the horrors I am about to unleash.

[Kairaven]

I heard through the grapevine the Phoe needs sketch images...

so....

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still busy, still working on drawings and projects and work... and also suffering from.. what's the drawing version of writer's block?

anyway... I go!

[darthbobcat]

The Hound Of Ponyville

Part One: A Hound From a Nightmare
Part Two: The Handsome Prince

Thoughts and feedback if you've ever loved me.

Sequel to A Study In Rainbows which you should totally have read already.

Phew! Good thing my feelings are summed up by friendly rivalry.

But yeah, just kidding. I'll get to it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but at some point. It's pretty much finals week for me.

[Raz_Fox]

Thoughts and feedback if you've ever loved me.

Badda-bing, badda boom. Done.

Confound these ponies, they drive me to romance! I have a rough plot outline for an Applejack/Soarin fic.

Genre: Comedy/Romance

How do you do this? It's like you can think up adorable stories that actually feel like they're a part of the show, while I'm over here doing the weirdest things ever because they come up and hit me in the face and yell "WRITE ME YOU FOOL". I mean, hay, I wish I could have come up with that.

I'm not equipped to deal with that picture.

That is one messed-up picture. Buuuuut you can imagine it's symbolic of something? Maybe? Liiiike this is what Fluttershy felt would happen if she admitted her feelings and got rejected?

[darthbobcat]

Badda-bing, badda boom. Done.



How do you do this? It's like you can think up adorable stories that actually feel like they're a part of the show, while I'm over here doing the weirdest things ever because they come up and hit me in the face and yell "WRITE ME YOU FOOL". I mean, hay, I wish I could have come up with that.



That is one messed-up picture. Buuuuut you can imagine it's symbolic of something? Maybe? Liiiike this is what Fluttershy felt would happen if she admitted her feelings and got rejected?

... oh Lord. The only thing that would make that picture worse would be an extra later of YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE ME.

Also, I don't know how I think of these things. I had some help from a friend, but this sort of cute sitcom story is the mold my brain will divert itself into if it's given the option.

[Mystic Muse]

... oh Lord. The only thing that would make that picture worse would be an extra later of YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE ME.

Yeah. No matter how you look at it though, it's kind of a messed up picture.

[Kyouhen]

Random thought time!

Rarity lets Opal hang around her workshop. A white long-haired cat. Sleeping on all the fabrics. I don't know about you guys, but my parents have a white long-haired cat and after visiting them for one day I'm picking that thing's fur out of all my clothes for weeks. How does Rarity deal with that?

[Gamerlord]

Random thought time!

Rarity lets Opal hang around her workshop. A white long-haired cat. Sleeping on all the fabrics. I don't know about you guys, but my parents have a white long-haired cat and after visiting them for one day I'm picking that thing's fur out of all my clothes for weeks. How does Rarity deal with that?

Magic.
10chars.

[TheAmishPirate]

The Hound Of Ponyville

Part One: A Hound From a Nightmare
Part Two: The Handsome Prince

Thoughts and feedback if you've ever loved me.

Sequel to A Study In Rainbows which you should totally have read already.

Didn't see that this was a sequel, so what I'm about to say is from someone who didn't read A Study in Rainbows. Does this invalidate my opinion? Probably!

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For perspective, I am an avid Sherlock Holmes fan, and have read most of the stories, including The Hound of the Baskervilles.

My main problem I had with this was that I didn't know what to think, or rather, what I was reading. Is this HotB as if it were to happen in the MLP universe, vice versa, or some crazy mix of the two? The intro and opening descriptions made me think it was just HotB with ponies, but when I got to the part where Blueblood is "flirting" with Rainbow Dash, I guessed we would be straying from the original plot some.

And on that note, the ponies themselves seem to drift back and forth between their Holmes counterparts and themselves. Rarity starts out as the purely logical Holmes, but lapses into Rarity at the mention of Blueblood. Rainbow Dash acts like Watson, except occasionally drops in an "awesome" or "cool".

All in all, I don't really know what I'm reading here. This could be because I'm missing something critical from A Study in Rainbows, but if that's the case, then it should certainly be required reading before reading this. Which you later added a note for, so I can't fault you for that.

Now, onto more positive things:

The writing itself is fantastic. Aside from the lapses in character I mentioned, everything is well-written, and you've got the style of the Holmes books down pat. The introduction/origin story of the hound absolutely floored me. If I was able to, I'd be pouring over A Study in Rainbows right now based on the writing alone. But once I do (and I honestly expect it will clear up a lot of my confusion), you can expect a much better critique.

EDIT: And in a fantastic display of willpower, I lasted about...15 minutes before picking up part 1. It's pretty clear now that you're shooting for some crazy insane mix of the two. Once I got that, then everything made much more sense. Feel free to disregard my complaints, and I'll have the aforementioned critique sometime in the next few days.